Author of the month: Mem Fox

Mem Fox was born in Australia, grew up in Africa, studied drama in England, and returned to Adelaide, Australia in 1970, where she has lived with her husband, Malcolm, and daughter Chloë, happily ever after.

Mem Fox is Australia’s most highly regarded picture-book author. Her first book, Possum Magic, is the best selling children’s book ever in Australia, with sales of over four million. And in the USA Time for Bed and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge have each sold over a million copies. Time for Bed is on Oprah’s list of the twenty best children’s books of all time. Mem has written over thirty five picture books for children and five non-fiction books for adults, including the best-selling Reading Magic, aimed at parents of very young children. Her recent book: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, beautifully illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, was on the New York Times bestseller lists for 18 weeks in 2008/2009. It also won the ‘best book for 0-3 year olds’ award (May 2010) at the International Book Fair in Turin, in its Italian edition.

Mem Fox was an Associate Professor in Literacy Studies at Flinders University in Adelaide (Australia), where she taught teachers for twenty four years until her early retirement in 1996. She has received many civic awards, honours and accolades in Australia, including two honorary doctorates. She has visited the United States over one hundred times, mostly in her role as a literacy expert although she is also a well-known author in America. She is an influential international consultant in literacy, but she pretends to sit around writing full time.

Her latest book is A Giraffe in the Bath. She hopes four year olds, and over, including adults, will adore it.

-Taken from Mem Fox's web site: http://www.memfox.net/welcome.html

Guess what?? Ms. Sloan is from Australia!! She came over during Literacy time and read to us a wonderful book by Mem Fox called "Koala Lou". We learned about Australia's animals (some are different than ours), we learned how to say some words with an Asutralian accent, and she even gave us a cute little koala to take home! 

We recommend you check out some books by Mem Fox at the library, we promise you will love them!

Science: The Water Cycle

The rainy season is a great time to study the water cycle. Study brings up some questions like how much water is on the earth? In the earth? Is water old? Is some of the water you drink today water that was on the earth centuries ago? Can water be wasted or is it always recycled in one way or another?


What is the Hydrologic Cycle?

First look at what water cycle being referred to. What is the water cycle? The water or hydrologic cycle is the continuous movement of water between the atmosphere, clouds, land, plants, and oceans.

Since no new water is entering the earth’s atmosphere, the water on and inside the earth must be very old water. It is water that has been flowing and evaporating and raining since the beginning of the earth.

Water and Soil Experiment

Place some dirt and seeds in a shallow pan. Set the pan on a rock or something to hold up one end. Spray or sprinkle water unto the dirt. Watch what happens. Did any of the water seep into the dirt? Did any create rivulets to run through down to the lower end of the pan? Has a pool formed there? Set the pan in a sunny place to see what will happen. Did the topsoil dry out and evaporate because of the heat? After a few days dig up the seeds to see if they absorbed moisture.

Rainfall Observation

Test the effects of rain on soil and plants by observing an area before, during, and after a rainfall. In a notebook record what you notice before, during and after. When you see that rain is expected, walk outside and check the foliage. Is it wilted and dry? Check the ground. Is it dry? Is there much dust? How does the dirt feel?

During the storm watch to see how the water moves when it falls. Does it run off roofs and cars and drip from tree leaves into the grass? Where does it go then? Into the grass where it seems to disappear, moving down a ditch, hitting the surface of a fountain or pool, lake or pond? Does the water run downhill with the slope of the street or land? After the rain, check out the same area again. What can you observe about the water? Has it puddled up in holes or depressions in the ground? Has any of the moisture evaporated? Is rain still moving in the ditches? Is the ground very wet? What happened to the water?

Water Cycle Experiment

This experiment takes a longer period of time. Fill a fish bowl with some soil, a small plant, a few rocks and some water. Top the jar with plastic wrap held in place with a rubber band. Set the jar in a sunny place. After the air inside the jar becomes warm, water will condense on the plastic and /or sides of the glass. It will eventually begin to rain (drip) off the lid into the soil. Plants catch, use, and hold water. The terrarium establishes a mini-water cycle.

The water cycle is the movement of the resource living things need everyday on the planet earth. Water evaporates from oceans and forms clouds. Clouds redeposit the water over land as snow or rain. The water eventually gets back to the ocean and the cycle continues.

Read more at Suite101: Teach Kids about the Water Cycle: Rainfall Experiments to do at Home with Your Children http://www.suite101.com/content/the-water-cycle-a118553#ixzz155rBlgva


Check out this cool video the kids loved!
The Water Cycle Song

Crazy Dress Day

The red hats organized a fundraiser called "CRAZY DRESS DAY" for Pakistan. They also worked on getting people to donate cupcakes and sell them, also for this cause. The fundraiser was a big success. They collected around 4.000Bs, and we all had a lot of fun wearing our crazy outfits! Check out the pics!

Antonio Cardoso's Bday!

BACK TO THE BLOG!

GEEZ! I didn't realize how long it had been since the last time we posted something. We have been busy bees learning so many things! So much has happened since September, and so many pictures have been taken. Hopefully we'll have the blog fully updated really soon. Ready or not, here we go..!

HAPPY 5 DAY WEEKEND!

There will be NO SCHOOL next Thursday Sep 23^rd, Friday Sep 24^th, and Monday Sep 27^th, due to Venezuelan parliamentary elections on Sunday.  We will resume classes on Tuesday Sep 28^th, normal start time. Kids are taking home a homework packet to practice during their free time, but it is not required to complete it. 

Check out the faces on the kids when they heard they had 3 free days.

Have a great long weekend, and be safe!

We're Counting Money in Class

Teach Your Child How to Count Money

Learning about money, how to earn it, save it, and spend it is of great interest to children! So they are naturally very motivated to learn how to count it.

Children also instinctively recognize money as a medium of exchange and a symbolic form of power. Gradually involving children in the everyday financial affairs of the home makes good sense and will help take the mystique out of those shiny coins and crisp bills.

Kids can begin to count money as soon as they begin learning to count. They may not know coin values, but show them small sets of coins separated by denomination and let them count with you.

Keeping a “piggy Ebank even at this age is a good idea. Children seem to know they are collecting something important. As your child puts coins in her bank, say 1 penny (or other coin name), 2 pennies, 3 and so on. Then go to the next type of coin and repeat. If there are bills to deposit, do the same, separating and naming denominations while counting.

Let your child make small purchases with some of their savings. Have them count out what is needed with you. When you get home redeposit the coins and bills and do the same.

Older children are very interested in earning, saving and spending money. Allow them to continue saving, or go to the bank and open up a savings account. Many banks promote the idea and provide special perks just for kids!

Young elementary children learn “skip counting" easily, an important skill for counting money. Practice counting 5, 10, 15, 20, and so on, then 10, 20, 30 …. Count to 100 with 5s, 10s, 25s and 50s. 

When your child is handed money to make a purchase count it out to them and have them count it back to you. Do this by “adding on" as you go. Say, “There’s 3 dimes making 10, 20, 30 cents and 1 nickel, makes 35 and 4 pennies makes 36, 37, 38, 39. Add on values as you count. Start with the coin of the largest value. You will be surprised how quickly they learn to "add on".

Resources
Resources that can help you in your venture include:

• Free E-booklet from National Endowment for Financial Education -
  http://www.smartaboutmoney.org/nefe/documents/pdf/raisingmoney.pdf
• A Coin Counting Bank – http://www.taylorgifts.com/prodetail~itemNo~24201.asp
• Interactive Money Games – http://www.moneyinstructor.com/interactive.asp
• Skip Counting and More –http://www.coe.uh.edu/archive/math/math_lessons/mathles5.html
• Online game: make change in U.S., U.K., CAN., AUS., MEX. currency -
  http://www.funbrain.com/cashreg/index.html

Taken from: www.teachkidshow.com

Dhofin's Eid ul Fitr Celebration

Our friend Dhofin is from Indonesia, and his family celebrates a Muslim day called “idul fitri”, also known as “Ramadam”. This day is celebrated on the ninth month of the year and it is when Muslims all across the world abstain from eating during daylight.  During Ramadam, they try to give up bad habits, and become better Muslims by praying a little more.

Eid ul Fitr is a Festival of the Breaking of the Fast (abstinence).

Muslims are not only celebrating the end of fasting, but thanking Allah for the help and strength that he gave them throughout the previous month to help them practise self-control.

The festival begins when the first sight of the new moon is seen in the sky.

There are special services out of doors and in Mosques, processions through the streets, and of course, a special celebratory meal - eaten during daytime. Eid is also a time of forgiveness, and making amends.

During Eid-ul-Fitr Muslims dress in their finest clothes, give gifts to children and spend time with their friends and family.

Dhofin’s mom kindly brought the class some yummy treats to celebrate their holiday with us (including teachers!). We are very fortunate to live in an international school where we can celebrate multicultural traditions and beliefs. There is always something great to learn every day!

Thank you Fadluhraman family!

Martina's Birthday

We celebrated Marti's birthday last Wednesday. Gaby, Pablo, and Gonzalo brought some cake and chocolates to share with the class, Mr. Leichner put some music, and we had the party started! The kids loved the cake, we had a good time! Happy Pappy Birthday, Martina! :)

SOFI'S BIRTHDAY!

Sofi's mom brought a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting that was SO yummy! Um-um! Sofi looked so cute with her birthday crown, you had to see her.  She gave a piece of cake and some juice to all her friends and was so happy to be 6!