Quarter 2 Newsletter June 2019

8 they loan from our wonderful library. World Book Day brought fantasy to reality as characters came to life in the classroom. Superman played with fairies and witches were friends with Robin Hood. Teachers surprised their children as they joined in the spirit of the day. The Puppet Show taught the children a very valuable lesson on respecting themselves and their bodies. Puppets created true life scenarios that addressed this important topic in a meaningful and happy way. Slipper Day saw the Grade Ones leaving footprints of a different kind as they joined in supporting this charitable cause. Snuggly dinosaur claws, unicorns and cute bunny rabbits turned the corridors into magical Hogwarts. Creative and happy times were encouraged as families got together to construct scarecrows for Drama. Birds seemed to keep a wide berth as these often life-sized creatures made their way to be displayed with great pride and children recited poetry, heard stories and sang about Dingle Dangle Scarecrows. Newly developed writing skills told stories of adventures at home and school as the children recorded their impressions with the help of dictionaries and phonic skills. iPad skills were developed as children mirrored the topics of interest during oral presentations. Digital books were also created with children adding sound to their Afrikaans books, using the vocabulary for “My Gesig” and “My Liggaam”. After a busy quarter of learning and discovery, I am sure that our Grade Ones will agree with Mr Disney - there are indeed many more doors to be opened in the exciting chapters of learning that await us. A GRADE TWO LEARNING ADVENTURE… Quarter Two presented a vast array of exciting new learning opportunities for Grade Two, focusing largely on animals. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” New concepts like “Die Plaas”, “Troeteldiere” and “Wilde Diere” were discovered in Afrikaans. In Life Skills learners explored animal habitats and how they adapt to these environments. Learners presented well prepared orals on an animal of their choice and its habitat. Beautiful Book Creator projects accompanied their speeches and learners were able to learn from one another. For their Project Based Learning, the learners combined their own imaginary creature with a real-life creature and shared its unique blend with their classmates. We concluded our “Habitats” theme with an outing to Intaka Island. The children had the opportunity to explore the wetlands and see the various bird and plant species up close. Their well-informed guides were able to point out different animals and their habitats as well as share interesting facts and anecdotes with the learners. The learners thoroughly enjoyed the boat ride along the Century City canal. They completed a matching activity where they paired various creatures to their homes, consolidating their knowledge and ending off the day in a spirited team rivalry. As Quarter Two draws to a close, we look forward to all the wonderful new adventures that the new quarter holds. A GRADE THREE LEARNING ADVENTURE… Many laughs and giggles can be heard every day in the halls around the area at Parklands College that we call school, as we continue on this great adventure called “Life in Grade Three at Parklands College”. Our first theme for the quarter gave us the opportunity to go “Around the World in Eighty Days”. The Grade Threes learnt about the various continents and will undoubtedly still be singing their “Continent” song for many years to come! We delved deep into the various fascinating cultures and foods of the countries chosen for their orals and the learners got to experience many sights, sounds and tastes, while learning to appreciate other cultures. Kirstenbosch Gardens provided the perfect venue for exploring our Plants Theme. The learners had to find leaves of various shapes and sizes while learning about the parts of plants and why they are so important, all while having so much fun! Green fingers were cultivated when we each came back to school and grew our own beans. The race to see whose grew the fastest was quite a nail biting time! Learning about Capacity was a culinary treat! The children made treats like pancakes and milkshakes to fill their tummies. Filling bottles with cups and teaspoons of water proved an enjoyable challenge for these curious minds. The Cricket World Cup started this quarter and the Grade Threes were invited to join their coaches in the Auditorium to watch the matches on the big screen. Pick n Pay cards were swapped and South African flags coloured in, while also exploring the Super Cards app which made all their heroes come to life. This was indeed a festive experience. Go, South Africa, go!! A GRADE FOUR LEARNING ADVENTURE… “And together they touched the sky…” ~ Winnie the Pooh It has been an adventure of learning this quarter in Grade Four! From learning about dinosaurs to being able to multiply, subtract and divide as well as effectively writing opinion paragraphs in English, there certainly is never a dull moment. A highlight this quarter was undoubtedly our visit to Drakenstein Lion Park where our Grade Fours learned about the majestic lions and the tragedy that we have to face as people don’t look after our beautiful animals. English is always a joy as we enhance the skills of being creative agents as well as effective communicators. The Oreo helped us to learn how to structure our opinion paragraphs and “interviewing” Mahatma Gandhi not only improved our knowledge of this famous personality, but also encouraged us to use our skills learned in Drama in a different context. We had to apply the skill of purposeful collaborators as we roamed a mysterious island from the Prehistoric past discovering unique and interesting facts about dinosaurs and meeting CEO’s and Directors from PreH. Park Corporation. This was all initiated in our Project Based Learning theme this quarter and as a result dinosaurs have taken on new meaning in Grade Four! From wearing our slippers to school in support of Reach for a Dream to dressing up as an endangered wild animal in support of WWF, we have learned the value of being contributors to our community both far and wide. Our Mathematical concepts continue to be developed and challenged through the Number Sense programme. The Grade Fours are even mastering how to work with decimal fractions! Who thought Afrikaans could also be so much fun? Vocabulary is introduced with each new theme through the helpful online site of Quizlet. Quizlet Live has also challenged the children to really get to know their content. We know that more adventures await us next quarter as we continue to “touch the sky” in Grade Four. A GRADE FIVE LEARNING ADVENTURE… “Life must not be spent always hoping, always waiting. Life is for living.” ― Michael Morpurgo, Kensuke’s Kingdom