20th May – 24th May

Unit of inquiry:

As part of the current unit of inquiry ‘Who we are’, a Summative assessment was undertaken in class where the students sorted pictures under different stages of growth.

Unit of inquiry was integrated with language where students spoke about taking care of their body.

English                      

• Reinforcement of sentences entailed sentence reading
• Dictation was taken in class.

Math

• Reinforcement of place value was undertaken with base ten blocks
• Quantity association was done through a monster dice game where students rolled the dice, recognized the number and associated it with the respective quantity

Hindi

• Students wrote vyanjan ‘ch’ in their process journal.

Music

In the class students learned and sang the song ‘Doe a deer’. Students also learned about notes in music.

Information technology

This week students engaged in a recapitulation of several apps which they have learned through the term. They enjoyed working on apps like Dr. Dino, Tiggly draw, Tux-Paint, and Code-a-pillar.

Dance

Dance lessons focused on development of postures of dance routine where students practiced same routine set to different music.

 

Physical education

Students are learning different stretching exercises and many other ways to workout with or without use of equipment. They are also learning new hoop exercises which would help them in handling the equipment.

Art

This week the students continued the use of stencils to draw. They explored natural and anthromorphic objects. They were also engaged in coloring the same using warm and cool colours.

Library

Students were felicitated as ‘Crowned owls’ to mark the culmination of the reading programme at DPS International on  May 21, 2019. The celebrations began with the ‘wise ones’ dressing up in pyjamas as they curled up to do what they enjoy most…read. Students witnessed a puppet show while savouring their ice cream in the library.

13th May – 17th May

Unit of inquiry:

Probing further into the current unit of inquiry ‘Who we are’, students were shown their old and current pictures, where they observed and identified the visible changes over time.

Field trip- Students visited a dentist’s clinic, where they learned about taking care of their teeth and oral hygiene. They also learned about various instruments used by the dentist.

To help students appreciate the importance of oral hygiene, language was integrated with the unit of inquiry through a rhyme ‘chamakte damakte daant’- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHPGD1oyR-o

English:

• Students also read sentences and pasted the correct picture next to it

Math;

• Reinforcement of days of the week was undertaken through a rhyme and a time table pictograph.

Music:
In class, students learned and sang the song ‘Doe a Deer’ by Julia Andrews (Sound of music). They also learned a few basics about notes and Solfege (Do re mi fa sol la ti Do).

Information technology:

The students explored different tools given in the app and learned to drag and drop objects using the mouse. They painted landscapes and then dragged animals, plants, the sun, and other objects using the mouse to build their own farm, jungle, ocean or a forest scene.

Dance:

Dance lessons focused on development of postures  where students practiced same routine  set to different music.

Physical education:

Students are learning different recreational activities where they are understanding the importance of team work and moment coordination.

6th May to 10th May

Unit of inquiry:

As part of the on-going theme ‘Who we are’, students were taken to a pre nursery class to observe and investigate about growth and development.

The guest speaker session with a doctor parent gave students an opportunity to learn many facts about maintaining personal hygiene like importance of washing hands and benefits of eating healthy food. Demonstration of some medical equipment was undertaken during the session.

Formative assessment was undertaken in class where the students assembled the cutouts of body parts, named each part and their functions.

Language was integrated with the unit of inquiry through a rhyme ‘If you think you’re going to sneeze’ and a song ‘chalo kasrat karo’ in the vernacular hindi language

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI15Q2r7P2Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuupYOx9dJ8

Students were narrated a story ‘How I am growing’ to understand different stages of life.

English

To understand the structure of a sentence, students were introduced to writing sentences using capitalization of first letter while maintaining proper spacing between each word.

Students learned ‘ot’ family words through a word wheel game and ‘ag’ words through tracing.

Math:

Students reinforced the representation of numbers on place value mats.

Reinforcement of backward counting was undertaken in their process journals.

Reinforcement of time was done through an activity where the student picked up a chit with time written on it and represented it on the clock.

 

Hindi:

Reinforcement of vyanjna/swar was undertaken with a popcorn floor game where the students were given pictures on a popcorn shape to be placed with the vyanjan/swar beside it.

Formation of vyanjan ‘ch’ was done with the light table activity.

Music

Students learned about notes and names of notes and sang them in a group during music lessons.

Students also learned the song ‘Doe a deer’.

Library

Very excited and eagerly awaiting the crowned owl ceremony, students were assessed on their reading log and were also encouraged to share any story that they had read. The final count of the books read by them were registered and those who have made it to the list will be felicitated in a ceremony at school shortly.

Information technology

Students learned the basics of personal hygiene and its importance through an animated lesson. The lesson was followed by two activities – sequencing the pictures in the correct order and choose the correct option. Students focused on moving the curser while using the mouse and strengthening their hand-eye coordination with these activities.

Dance

Dance lessons focused on development of postures where students loved to showcase fine and gross movements of Jazz dance style.

Physical education

As a part of the unit ‘who we are’, students are learning and understanding the benefits and importance of good posture like sitting, walking, standing and bending. A good posture is conducive to  muscles  working more efficiently, allowing the body to use less energy and therefore, prevent muscle fatigue.

Art

This week the students painted shapes using their palms, fingers, elbows and shoulders. The medium was ink and technique was- ink on paper.

 

 

 

29th April – 3rd May

Unit of inquiry:

Probing further into the current unit of inquiry ‘Who we are’, students were shown a video that emphasized the need for balanced food

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5-mRaUfm1M

Students were also informed about the rainbow plate i.e. to include all the colorful fruits and vegetables available in nature on their food plate to stay healthy.

 

English

Reinforcement of sight words was done in journals where the students rolled the dice and traced the sight word.

Hindi

Students were introduced to vyanjan ‘ch’ with a rhyme ‘Chidiya rani badi sayani’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cfq61KoUxw

Math

The concept of subitizing or ability to quickly guess quantity without counting, was reinforced in class using quick look cards.

 

Library

Students listened to a story ‘I want a friend’ by Tony Ross. The story delved into the narrative of a little princessl who started school and was eager to make friends. She had a difficult time until she realized there were lots of other children just like her who needed a friend  and eventually  became each other’s friends. It made a great read to encourage children to be make new friends.

Information technology

This week  ICT lessons allowed students to explore educational games on the laptop. They had fun engaging in the colouring activity. They have learnt to control the onscreen cursor using the mouse.

 

Physical education

Students are working on their body balance and body posture. They are also learning some martial art skills to protect themselves. By practicing these skills they will become more confident of themselves

 

 

 

22nd April – 26th April

Unit of Inquiry

Progressing further with the new unit about ‘our body’, to form a base for a healthy lifestyle, students were introduced to basic hygiene concepts and proper toilet training skills. Students were also sensitized about some common health issues. As an extension, students were shown advertisement of shampoo and hair oil and  the advantages therein of using them.

Later they decoded why it is important to look after their hair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV9uRXZaAkc

Students were involved in an activity where they self-checked their own  and their peer’s grooming. They gave themselves a smiley for cut nails and a sad face for unclipped nails and created a pictograph. A class discussion on diseases caused by dirty nails and hands was undertaken.

Hindi was integrated with the unit of inquiry through a story ‘Sonu ke pet mein dard’:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKBE4tzOgLk

English was integrated with the unit of inquiry through a story – ‘Making faces’.

To reinforce the idea of storytelling, promote social skills and boost language development, students were introduced to a new rhyme ‘Wash your hands ’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrF1e6boNbc

English

Students were engaged in an activity where they read sentences and matched them with appropriate pictures.

Reinforcement of CVC words was done through a ‘roll and colour’ game where students rolled the letter dice to build their word, after finding their word on the game board, they coloured it.

Take and talk was presented to strengthen communication skills, self-confidence and fluency in the language.

Math

Reinforcement of addition concepts was achieved with the use of  popsicles, where in the students picked up two popsicles and illustrated the quantity under the number. They then added the total quantity and picked the popsicles which had a total value.

Reinforcement of place value, greater and lesser was done with  a hands on activity where students grabbed 2 hands full of cubes/kidney beans, counted and compared the quantities.

Hindi

Reinforcement of two letter words was done through a game, wherein the students were given vyanjan/swar written on bottle caps in a mixed pool, they brainstormed and made two letter words and matched them with the appropriate picture.

To hone their listening and thinking skills, a rhyme ‘ek kauva pyasa tha’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjIVdctOm-A  was introduced to them.

Dance

Dance lessons focused on development of postures during dance routine where students loved to tap their feet on a peppy Russian song.

Information Technology

This week the students worked on an educational app Dr. Dino Dentist. Through this app, they learned about different dental instruments and treatments. They performed a variety of dental procedures and treated the cavities in the patient to get his teeth back to being healthy, shiny and pearly white.

Physical Education

Students are working on their body balance and body posture. They are also learning some martial art skills to protect themselves. By practicing these skills they will become more confident of themselves

Music

Students learned and sang ‘Hello to all the children of the World’ and ‘It’s a small world after all’.

Art

The students explored illustrating tree like figures using their hands. They also were encouraged to colour them by mixing various colours.

Library

World Book Day celebrated worldwide was marked in the library on April 23,2019.. Theoccasion aims to promote the joy of books amongst readers from across all agesTo mark the death anniversary of literatteur William Shakespear, UNESCO reinstated the day to pay tribute to great literary figure. The honors authors and celebrated books from across the world.

Students celebrated this day by browsing through various books available in the library. Many of them came forward to share their understanding of  picture books they were browsing r had read too.

15th April – 19th April

Unit of Inquiry

Moving on to a new unit on ‘our body’, a prior knowledge assessment was conducted through a game called ‘Simon says’, where students were given instructions to identify the body parts called out to them.

Students used their five senses to explore the objects in the environment like incense sticks, a fruit, a vegetable, a bell, crayons etc. and as an extension, identified the body parts and the sense organs that assisted them in making the exploration.

Language was integrated with the unit of inquiry through a rhyme on body parts ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzd8zFTR_tc

English

CVC words were reinforced through a popcorn game where students picked up crushed chits with a picture each and identified them to write the correct word.

 

Math

They were introduced to the concept of addition through a game where students rolled two dices and used a manipulative to work out the answer by putting balls/counters into the cups to add  two numbers together.

Hindi

Writing of vyanjan ‘ma’ was accomplished in their process journals.

 

Further reinforcement of Hindi ginti (1-10) was done through a game on stairs, where the numbers were placed on the steps and the students identified the numbers in Hindi and moved forward.

Circle Time

As a part of early year skill building program, students focused on:

• Screwing and unscrewing bolts to develop sorting
• A story  of the‘The magical sticks’ using audio visuals

Information Technology

In I.C.T., students further explored working on Bee-bot. They learned to move the bot in forward, backward, left and right directions.

Dance

Dance lessons focused on development of postures during dance routine where students loved to tap their feet on a peppy Russian song.

Music

The students sang ‘Hello to all the children of the world’ and ‘It’s a small world after all’. They sang with actions as a group and even took turns to sing individually on the microphone.

Art

This week the students explored drawings using their hands including the palms and fingers. They created objects like birds and butterflies using their hands as stencils and also colored the drawings.

Physical Education

Students are learning football skills to develop their strength, endurance and team spirit. During play, they are also learning to use different body parts in the game.

Library

Students were read a fast paced book titled  ‘This is the bear’ by Sarah Hayes. The book  about a bear called Fred, who was accidently thrown into the bin and then taken to the dump made interesting narration. The little boy who owned the bear went racing to the dump to find him. He took the help of a grumpy dump worker and eventually found the bear and went home. The bear was excited and wanted to go on another adventure again.

The book used rhyming words and  lovely illustrations that went hand in hand with the pace of the story to instil interest amongst young listeners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

8th April – 12th April

Unit of inquiry:

A new unit of inquiry began with the:

Transdisciplinary theme: Who we are

Central Idea: Every day I learn about who I am and what I can do

Lines of Inquiry:

• Physical characteristics
• How I take care of my body
• How I am growing and changing

 

A class discussion was undertaken after which  students were made to sit in front of the mirror and observe themselves. Some thought provoking questions like- ‘what do you see in the mirror?’, ‘what special features are visible?’, ‘how do you feel?’, ‘how are you different from your friends?’ etc. were asked.

As an extension to the above discussion, students created beautiful illustrations showcasing their facial features,  hairstyle, eyes etc.

English

Students were introduced to sentences through a ‘roll and read’ game. The sentence included sight words and CVC words taught in class.

Reinforcement of ‘am’  was undertaken as a  word mat activity.

Dictation of  CVC and phonic sounds was taken to assess their understanding in the process journal

Math

Pattern recognition in numbers was done using play doh. Students were given play doh to create numbers and understand the concept of pattern in numbers

To represent numbers 1-20 in a variety of ways: dice dots, fingers and ten frames were used. Students were given a random number card to recognise and  represent the number using dice dots, fingers and ten frames.

Discussion on symbol ’+’ sign was initiated using  a book ‘If you were a plus sign’ which included addition stories in a variety of different contexts. What would you do if you were a plus sign? You could add things together. You could add people and animals were some options explored through the book.

Hindi

Reinforcement of vyanjan/swar was undertaken with a game where the students rolled the dice to count the quantity on it and placed the figurine on the number to recognize the vyanjan.

Students inquired into a new vyanjan ‘ma’ through real life objects and picture cards. Students practiced writing the vyanjan using rainbow writing strategy.

Circle Time

As a part of early years’ skill building program, students focused on a story about body parts:

• ‘How the human body works’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFCyiqycPKw

• Spreading chocolate on bread to enhance fine  motor skills

• To perceive and recognize the form of an object in the absence of visual and auditory information, students used tactile information to decode information about texture, size, spatial properties, and temperature.Stereognostic bag was introduced  in classto hone the sense of touch.

Information Technology

Students explored ‘Bee-Bot’. They learned to move the bot in the forward and backward direction and also to clear the previous instruction, using command buttons.

Art

This week students continued to complete the drawing and colouring exercise titled ‘basket of fruits’. They used pencil and pastel colours on paper to complete their composition.

Music

Students learned and sang the songs ‘It’s a small world after all’ and ‘Hello to all the children of the world.

Physical Education

Students are learning balancing exercises to help increase  strength of the core muscles and to improve the body co-ordination. They also practiced different balancing poses to improve the ability to react to sudden directional changes, improve stability and help prevent accidental fall

Dance

Dance lessons focused on development of postures during dance routine where students loved to tap their feet on a peppy Russian song.

Library

Students were read ‘There is a lion in my cornflakes’ written by Michelle Robinson. When Dan and his brother decided to collect 100 coupons to have their very own lion, they assumed the task would be an easy one . How wrong could they really be?! To their dismay, their neighbors won the prize first. Worse still, they received a bad-tempered grizzly bear, a cranky crocodile and a destructive gorilla. But then the grizzly bear, the crocodile and the gorilla suddenly, inexplicably transformed from annoying beings  to assets (the croc used his  bite to open cans). Furthermore, they realized that the lions weren’t worth the trouble.

A wildly wacky story brought together bestselling author Michelle Robinson and an award-winning illustrator Jim Field for the very first time, with hilarious results.

1st April to 5th April

Unit of Inquiry

To deepen the understanding of the central idea,  a formative assessment was undertaken by students where they were shown stories depicting the diverse cultures (Russian, Chinese, Korean, Indian) and later they were asked to identify artefacts, food, dress, monument and utensils associated with the cultures.

English

• Students practiced sight words with a spin game where they read out word on which the pointer was placed

• Students were given pictures to decode the sentence which helped them practice both reading and writing

Math

Reinforcement of the concept of greater/lesser was done through an online game and hands on activity where students associated the quantity with the given numbers and placed the crocodile mouth towards the greater number. The concept of sequencing and missing numbers was done through a puzzle.

Hindi

• Student practiced writing swar ‘aa’ in their process journal
• To reinforce the idea of storytelling, to promote social skills and boost language development, students were introduced to a new rhyme ‘Haathi raja’

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAM6v3BkjYE

• To make story time fun and more informative, a story from panchatantra ‘Magic pot’ was shown which enhanced their imagination and taught them moral values- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHzJVnY2egA

Circle Time

As a part of early years’ skill building program, students focused on:

• Developing fine motor skills through lacing activity
• Cleaning the mirror to develop concentration and muscle control
• Receiving a sensory experience with play doh that was used to make random shapes

Art

This week, students were involved in a drawing and coloring exercise using stencils as well as free hand drawings. The subject of inquiry was a basket of fruits.

Physical Education

Students are learning a gymnastic skill called front roll. A technique called straddle press helped them to  increase flexibility, shoulder strength, body control and body awareness which lead to a better coordination between body and the mind.

Dance

Dance lessons focused on development of postures during dance routine where students loved to tap their feet on a peppy Russian song.

Information Technology

Students had an exposure to a physical bot called “Bee-Bot”. They learned basics of moving a bot over a mat.

Music

Students learned and sang the songs ‘It’s a small world after all’ and ‘Hello to all the children of the world.

Library

This week students reflected on stories they had listened to or were read at home or school. Each one of them presented a story that they could recall in the library for their peers.

 

25th March to 29th March

Unit of inquiry

Students revisited all celebrations  through the lens of artefacts and picture cards. They also marked the Hindu festival ‘Holi’ in the calendar and inquired about it through a story.

A Formative assessment on ‘reasons for celebration’ was undertaken where students picked up one picture card or artefact from a mixed pool and gave reasons for celebrating that particular festival.

English

Take and talk was presented to strengthen communication skills, self-confidence and fluency in the language.

Reinforcement of ‘at, an, ap, ab and am family CVC words was undertaken through an activity where students identified the pictures and wrote corresponding CVC words in their process journals.

Reinforcement of sight words was achieved through a game.

Math

‘Missing numbers’ concept was reinforced through an activity.

Students were encouraged to explore objects like a ruler, measuring tape, weighing machine, etc. with an objective to recognize them as measuring instruments.

 

Hindi

Introduction of ‘aa’ swar was targeted though flash cards and a poem. Students understood the directionality and formation of swar ‘aa’ while using water colors where students enjoyed manipulating the brush to form swar ‘aa’.

 

To hone their listening and thinking skills, a rhyme ‘Ek bandar ne kholi dukaan’ was introduced to them.

Students were shown ‘The four princes’ story using audio visuals.

Circle time

As a part of early year skill building program, students focused on:

• Pounding activity to reinforce wrist manipulation

• Enhancing fine motor skills by cutting paper along lines/patterns

• Refining their self-management skills by learning to polish a shoe

Dance

Dance lessons focused on development of postures during jazz dance routine where students loved to tap their feet to a peppy song.

Music

The students learned and sang ‘Hello to all the children of the world’ and ‘It’s a small world after all’.

Information technology

To further extend their understanding of 2D and 3D shapes, students practiced matching 2D and 3D shapes, colors and number of dots on an object through an educational app on iPad.

Library

‘Handa’s Surprise’ by Eileen Browne, a book about a Kenyan girl (Handa) who visited her friend with a basket full of seven different fruits as presents made interesting reading. Along the way to Akeyo’s village, Handa contemplated which fruit Akeyo would like the best. However, each time Handa thought about a certain fruit, an animal popped  took that particular fruit away, like the monkey stole the banana. Unaware that various animals had taken these tropical fruits, Handa continued along her journey. At that point, a goat bumped into a tree and a bunch of tangerines fell into Handa’s basket. Much to Handa’s surprise, tangerines were Akeyo’s favourite fruit. The book had a multicultural theme and incorporated various themes from Africa into one book.

Physical Education

Students are learning beam walk which is a gymnastic skill, thereby developing their lower body strength, body balance, coordination and spatial awareness thereby honing foot placement and body posture.

11th March to 15th March

Unit of inquiry

To further deepen their understanding of the current unit ‘Where we are in place and time’, students visualized and organized information about the culture they explored and created a graphic organizer.

In order to  actively engage in stories on different cultures and to illuminate the traditional values and lifestyles of a particular culture, students were read a Chinese story ‘The dragon’s pearl’. A story about a mother’s love for her child, it displayed the importance of work an insight into traditional villages,the importance of farming in Chinese culture.

A tale of friendship, ‘Rechenka’s Eggs’ was also narrated to explore the significance of eggs in Russian orthodox celebration of Easter and the cultural tradition which prevails in Russia.

Some prompts were used to facilitate students to make connections which they illustrated based thereby depicting their understanding of different cultures.

 

English

• Introduction to ‘q’ sound was done through flash cards.

• Introduction to ‘ag’ family words was done by using real life objects

• Reinforcement of ‘at, an , am, ap, ab’ family words was undertaken in class

Math

• Reinforcement of 3D shapes was done in class.

 

• Formative assessment was undertaken where students were asked to name a shape and associate it with real life objects

• Formative assessment was attempted where the students arranged the numbers to form a clock and display the given time

Hindi

To further understand the directionality and formation of vyanjan ‘ka’, a reinforcement activity was undertaken in the process journal.

To hone their listening and thinking skills, a rhyme ‘Mummy ki roti gol gol’ was introduced to them.

Introduction of Hindi ginti (5-9) was addressed using flash cards

Circle time

As a part of early year’s skill building program, students focused on:

 

• Extension of Brown stairs and Pink tower to enhance fine motor skills and visual discrimination by size and thickness
• Using metal insets to trace shapes thus enhancing their ability to manipulate pencil to improve their fine motor skills

Dance

Dance lessons focussed on development of postures during jazz dance routine where students loved to tap their feet on a peppy song.

Music

The students sang ‘All things bright and beautiful’ (https://youtu.be/FT_oDqOEGpc), ‘Hello to all the children of the world’ (https://youtu.be/t68cblg0Dso) and ‘It’s a small world after all’ (https://youtu.be/HsxkmsPssT0). The students were also involved in some vocal exercises.

Information technology

Students were excited to learn and explore a new app on the iPad. They used their logical thinking skills to solve puzzles using tangrams and colouring tools. They showcased their creativity by doing so.

Library

The students listened to Nick Bland’s book ‘The very hungry bear’; where a hungry brown bear tried to catch a fish, but instead of catching any fish, he managed to catch…a polar bear. The polar bear was sad and a little lost because his iceberg house was rapidly melting. The polar bear made a deal – he gave the brown bear a shoal of fish in return for a new home. The brown bear took his new friend on a tour in search of the new house and finally found the right home for the polar bear.

The story was a tale of friendship and a subtle yet an important reminder about preserving the environment.

Physical Education

Students learned different type of ‘pass’ in basketball. They are still working on passing and throwing to improve upon the skill.