K1 Dolphin Class

Research Skills Questioning As we continued on with developing our research skills, we discovered that it was a lot easier to learn new things if we could put our thoughts into question form. In the AM class we looked at a selection of unusual ocean-related photos, and in the PM class we checked out some jungle-related pictures. We found that we could easily make observations and judgements about the pictures, but that it took a bit more practice to be able to build our questions. As we progressed through the photos, forming questions became easier and more natural and we came up with some great wonderings from "how can the tree grow underwater?' to "why is the vampire floating in space?' to "why is the tiger wearing a jacket?" and "what is the red part of the frog's mouth?" Weird and Wonderful Creatures On our research journey, we dove into the world of weird and wonderful creatures from around the world. After hearing some facts about each an...

Dear Parents and Caregivers, I am pleased to share that after our inquiry into animals, the children are now exploring the fascinating world of plants. They have previously planted various seeds with their teacher and are currently engaged with the informative book "A Seed" (一粒种子), which highlights the essential needs of plants, including sunlight, water, and soil. Through hands-on sorting activities, they examined seeds and enjoyed playing with fruit and vegetable puzzles that connect seeds to the plants they grow into.  Additionally, they have learned a delightful song called "一颗小小种子“ (A Tiny Seed), featuring catchy lyrics that reinforce the key vocabulary about seeds and their growth into plants. To further relate planting to the fruits we enjoy, we will read "A Cow that Loves Eating Fruits" (爱吃水果的牛), which beautifully illustrates how plants produce our food.  Children will be feeding the "cow" with various fruits, which helpesthem memorize the voc...

Habitats As part of our unit Sharing the Planet, we have a strong focus on habitats. As a class, we are learning that a habitat is the natural home for plants and animals across the globe. Below, I have included some of the learning practices and activities we have been implementing as part of our learning journey.  Circle Time We started by introducing our self to different habitats in Circle Time. We wanted to share our prior knowledge of habitats around the world, starting off with desert, jungle, forest and arctic. We began by working together to name each habitat as a group, shouting out our answers as we went from one picture to the next.  Next up, we worked to extend our plant knowledge by taking a closer look at a selection of plants from each habitat. We noticed that although there were plants as far as the eye could see in the forest and jungle, they were a lot more sparse in the desert and arctic. We discussed why this might be the case as we reviewed our prior know...

Dear Parents and Caregivers, We have had another two exciting weeks in our classroom. Last week, we celebrated Halloween by learning about the tradition of making jack-o-lanterns through the story "Pumpkin Trouble" (问题南瓜). The children enjoyed taking turns playing with hopping pumpkin toys, which helped reinforce our keywords while adding a fun element to the day! This week, we returned to our Unit of Inquiry (UOI) and explored farm animals through the story "你是谁？" (Who Are You). In this story, a rabbit invites his animal friends to a party. The children actively memorized the pronunciation and characteristics of various animals by participating in the game "动物配对游戏" (Animal Matching). Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in your child's learning journey! Class Blog:  Dolphin Chinese Albums: Dolphin AM                 Dolphin PM Chinese Learning Slide：  K1 Chinese learning slide