One highlight this year for the Grade 2 class was reading their stories to the Grade 1 class. It was great practice for the students to present their work, and they all improved their ability to read aloud. Here are some pictures from our gatherings. Enjoy!
Last week QISS Lower School had its final assembly of the year. Throughout the school year each class has given presentations to the rest of the students. At each of our assemblies we have focused on one ESLR - Intelligence, Courage, Sensitivity, Compassion, and Vitality. Some presentations taught us about the ESLRs, and some taught us cool things like 8 Kinds of Intelligence and the 6+1 Traits of Writing. Mr. Tony also worked with each grade to give a presentation showing a way that we can use what we learn in counseling to be better students and friends to our classmates. The Lower School Student Council used the assemblies to make important announcements, too. For the first Lower School assembly, Grade 2 prepared a video to teach everyone about the 6+1 Traits of Writing. Each student chose one trait to explain to everyone, and then gave both a good and a bad example. They did a great job! Here is the video if you would like to see it again: The other grades took turns presenting at the next two assemblies. Here are some pictures from their presentations. At the third assembly the Lower School watched a short movie that shows us that we should be sensitive to other people's feelings. Being mean to someone is never a good idea! Grade 2 worked with Mr. Tony to prepare a skit for the fourth assembly. The students showed everyone that compassion is an important part of being a good friend to your classmates. We should be sensitive by paying attention to each other's feelings, and then we should be compassionate by taking care of each other when someone else needs our help. At the fifth and final assembly of the year, Ms. Ruth's ELL students showed off their improved English abilities with a song. Amy did an excellent job representing Grade 2. Great work, Amy! The fifth assembly also included an energetic cheer showing Vitality from Grade 1, a skit about vitality from Grade 4, and a song from Grade 3 about different kinds of intelligence. Ms. Alejandra ended the assembly by acknowledging all student birthdays through the end of the school year. Look at all of those birthdays! It was a lot of fun getting together with the entire Lower School throughout the school year! Unit 3 is well under way, and Grade 2 has been hard at work studying animals, habitats, and the food chain. We are using the board to organize the members of the food chain into their respective categories. The sun is at the top because that is where producers get their energy. Consumers are separated into carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores based on whether they eat plants, other animals, or both. The students decided which category the pictures belong in, and then they drew some additional examples. Check out the board if you are at QISS! Grade 2 was introduced to the concept of food chains through three different sets of pictures of animals and plants. Each set represented a food chain in a different habitat. All of the pictures were mixed up together on the carpet, and the class was separated into three groups. The students had to work together to sort the animals and plants into their correct groups, and then each set of pictures had to be organized in the correct order. This was not an easy task, but Grade 2 rose to the occasion! They did an excellent job working together and using their critical thinking skills to accomplish this goal. They have continued to display vitality and intelligence as we learn more about animals and the food chain. After the Lunar New Year holiday break, Grade 2 returned to QISS without one student - Elijah Clifford. Sadly, Elijah had to return to America before the school year finished. The Grade 2 students knew this was a possibility, but we didn't know if it was happening for sure. Now that Elijah is gone, we all miss him very much. Elijah's classmates and teachers were all sad they did not get a chance to give him a proper goodbye, so Mr. Tony put together this video giving everyone a chance to say goodbye to Elijah, and to wish him good luck at his new school. Elijah's classmates also wrote letters to him to tell him how they feel. Elijah, we hope you see this video and read these letters so you know that all of your friends in Qingdao miss you very much! Good luck! Grade 2 worked incredibly hard preparing for their Key Assignment for Unit 2. Their study of inventions was connected to our community of Qingdao, China. The class had learned that inventions come from need, so we looked at the needs of our community. The class found that the biggest problem affecting the city of Qingdao (and our community of QISS) is air pollution. The students had some intense brainstorming sessions to make sure they looked at every aspect of the problem. We then put together an outline for our video, and began recording. The students showed great courage speaking in front of the camera, and they did a fantastic job. Here is the final product of their efforts: The students also tracked the Air Quality Index for Qingdao throughout all of Unit 2, and created a graph showing the changes in the air pollution levels. They were able to show that the air pollution gets worse as we move from fall to winter. During the brainstorming sessions, the class also came up with several ideas for inventions that could help improve the air quality in Qingdao. We chose Colin's idea for a filter around the doors of our school to show on Key Assignment day, as well as an explanation of the different types of masks that you can use to keep your lungs safe when outside in bad air pollution. The class did an excellent job overall. Great work, Grade 2! This school year, Grade 2 has been learning how to use the 6+1 Traits of Writing. The class made this video to explain the 6+1 Traits of Writing: This video was played for all of QISS Lower School at our first Lower School Assembly. Practicing these skills will help the students to become excellent writers. Grade 2 has a display in the hallway outside of our classroom with the 6 traits of writing listed on ice cream cones. Each week we will have a lesson about a new skill that fits one of the 6 traits, and when we complete each lesson the class puts a new scoop of ice cream on the cone that matches our lesson. The +1 trait of Presentation is demonstrated by the display. Here is a bigger picture of the first 3 traits: And here are the next 3 traits: As you can see on the scoops of ice cream, Grade 2 has completed lessons about the Conventions of End Punctuation and Past, Present, and Future Tense, and Beginning, Middle, and End Organization. More pictures of Grade 2's progress will be posted throughout the year! Also, this Prezi is a good resource to learn about and review the 6+1 Traits of Writing: Grade 2 recently took a field trip to the Zhucheng Dinosaur Fossil dig site. Zhucheng is the largest dinosaur fossil site in the world, with hundreds of fossils on display. Nine new dinosaur species have been discovered there! Grade 2 had lots of fun exploring the excavation and learning about its history. Grade 2 did an excellent job connecting the bone fossils to our study of the human skeletal system. They identified several bone structures that humans and dinosaurs share. It was a great opportunity for the students to think about past events, and we will utilize that in our work with verb tenses! Here are some pictures from our field trip: |