December 12-16

Dear parents,

We read the famous Christmas story, The Gingerbread Man this week. (It’s a about a cookie that comes to life and jumps out of the oven.) As a class, we made our own gingerbread people. The students really enjoyed baking, so I’ve attached the link to the recipe below. Perhaps you can bake these cookies at home as well!

I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays.

Sincerely,

Ms. Estee

holiday crafts

mixing the ingredients for gingerbread

making gingerbread men!

yummy cookies

A holiday feast

Gingerbread cookie recipe:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gingerbread_men_99096

 

 

December 5th-9th

Dear parents,

I say this with utmost assurance: we had an amazing week. Wednesday was the much anticipated winter concert; it was a pleasure to see so many of you in attendance. The Pandas have worked very hard practicing the music several times a week. I would also like to congratulate Ms. Htu San, our music teacher, for putting together such an awesome performance.

Our trip to the Golden Circus in Takata township was also spectacular. According to the circus manager, there hasn’t been a circus of this magnitude in Myanmar for quite some time. I am so glad that my students had the opportunity to experience this unique performance!

In addition to all of this, we found time to create and decorate a Christmas tree, and wrap presents to put beneath it. Each student also made a Christmas tree craft and had fun with marble painting some candy cane cut-outs.

Happy Friday,

Ms. Estee

P.S. Please bring a gift-wrap present on Monday for our holiday gift exchange. Also you will receive student reports next Friday. Thanks.

an aerial performer

tightrope walker

Pandas are excited

putting gifts under the tree

Winter Concert 2016

fine motor skills:gift wrapping

November 28-December 2

Hello Parents,

Each student had an alphabet knowledge pre-assessment this week. I do this to determine what the students already know, so that our lesson planning is more effective. Students are also learning the beginning of Myanmar alphabet with Ms. Grace and Ms. Ei EI. The students also had a lot of fun with some new math apps that explore number recognition and counting on the ipad.

As you can see, our final week of November was a an engaging one, but next week will be even busier! Please note that Wednesday is our Winter Concert and both classes will be arriving at 9am and leaving at 11am after the performance. (Don’t forget to dress your child in their snowman costume.)

Also, Friday, December 9^th, is our trip to the circus. Both AM and PM classes will arrive at 8 am. Buses leave ISM at 9am and the show is from 10-11:30. You are encouraged to attend. Please meet us at the circus grounds. (Tickets are 8,000 kyat/person.) Please take your child home after the circus. If you are unable to attend and bring your child home directly from the circus, you may pick him or her up at school when we return at 12:30.

Happy Friday,

Ms. Estee

cooperation in action

season trees with handprints

Making it snow with cotton balls and a parachute

learning numerals

November 21-25

Dear Parents,

The G07 Pandas will be performing at ISM’s Winter Concert on Thursday, December 7 from 10:30-11am.

Our costume will consist of a white shirt with large black buttons, a red scarf, and a black hat. Girls also have the option of wear a white dress with a red scarf and black hat. Please have your child’s costume ready by December. See the photos below.

Both morning and afternoon classes will arrive at 9am on December 7^th and leave at 11am upon completion of the performances.

 

Thank you,

Ms. Estee

November 14-18

Hello everyone,

I’d like to take some time to share the finer details of our classroom activities. Our play dough supply was nearing completion, so we made some more from scratch. You can find the play dough recipe below. Also, as you may know, some 5^th graders have been visiting our class daily to help with activities and routines for their service learning project. Mr. Dean has shared the writing assignments from our 5th grade helpers. You may read about our classroom from their perspective below.

Happy Friday,

Ms. Estee

5th graders experience our class:

piersen-service-learningcindy-service-learning

vivian-service-learningwai-yam-service-learning

How to make soapy play dough: https://www.safariscience.com/soapy-playdough-recipe/

 

November 7-11

Hello G07 parents,

We are exploring the theme of trees and leaves and seasons for November and December. The G07 students have been painting autumn leaves and making tees. Also, in celebration of International Cultural Day, we invited several parents to come in read stories and play games from their respective cultures.

In addition, after a long sabbatical, we have resumed the Reading Buddies program with Ms. Elizabeth’s 7th grade class. The children were separated into three groups and rotated between my class, the indoor playground and information center.

Please don’t forget that this Saturday, November 12 is a school day. See you all at the International Cultural Day at the M.S. from 8:30-12.

Thank you,

Ms. Estee

 

October 17-28th

Hello parents,

We’ve had tons of autumn fun since the last entry. Last week, we baked apple pies and started a multi-step art project: building farm animals from papier mache. This week we carved a pumpkin for our Halloween jack-o-lantern. We roasted the pumpkin seeds with different spices-a tasty treat! Also, Mr. Brian, the MS drama teacher, performed a short skit about a farmer named Mr. Po for us on Tuesday.

It was a pleasure meeting you all for conferences last week. Please note that Monday is Halloween and we’ll be trick-or-tricking. Don’t forget your child’s costume!

Cheers,

Ms. Estee

Week of October 3-7

Hello families and friends,

This week each student was assessed on; counting in English and Myanmar; identifying shapes, body parts, feelings and family  and healthy food classification. These assessments are a learning tool to understand what the children have retained. Overall the class has made a lot of progress since the first day of school.

Our theme for October is the “Farm.”  We completed many activities centered around barnyard animals including a matching game on the ipad and a counting game on pbs.org. We are really working on technology integration in the preschool classroom this year. You can find the links to the farm activities below.

Conferences and the Thadingyut holiday are right around the corner. We had 2 Thadingyut parties and Lein Lein’s birthday celebration today!

http://pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/games/count_your_chickens/count_your_chickens.html

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/preschool/animals/farm/animalfarmgame.htm

Happy Thadingyut,

Ms. Estee

 

September 26-30th

Greetings families and friends,

This week concludes the end of the “All About Me” Unit. We spent the week reviewing the body, family, healthy eating habits, and feelings. Next week we will commence with the October summative assessment in preparation for parent-teacher conferences. Conferences are October the 20^th and 21^st after the Thadingyut holiday.

But it wasn’t all work! We had a lovely student of the month assembly and celebrated Austin’s birthday on Friday. We also received the newest addition to our class: Rainbow, a Siamese fighting fish. He lives in a bowl near our window and the Pandas love him.

Happy Friday,

Ms. Estee

September 12-23

Hello families and friends,

We have accomplished a lot in the two weeks since my last entry. To start, last week we practiced the ISM earthquake procedure.(The students thought hiding under tables is super fun.) Mr. Dean’s 5th grade class has begun the “Helpers” program with us, in which two of them come to our class for an hour and assist the preschool teachers. The 5th graders really love spending time with us.

We are also coming to the end of the “All About Me” unit. We’ve been learning to identify and express feelings. We spent two days on a process art project for this month’s character trait- “friendship.”  The students understand that friendship means sharing and love. The pandas stuffed a large heart full of newspaper, found images of friends in print media and made a collage on the hearts. They also really enjoyed playing together on the ipad. For math work this week I rented an ipad and downloaded “Shapes” for a classroom activity.  To reinforce the character trait of friendship, the students would do the activity together, taking turns and sharing. Finally, this week was Health Week and a dentist and dietician presented to the entire ISM student body. The students were very engaged for the dentist’s presentation in particular.

Many exciting things have been going on in our classroom.

Thank you for your interest,

Ms. Estee