The 2A Express
The Weekly Roundup
Week Fourteen....
Greetings Parents and Caregivers,
Well, this week was a marked improvement than the tail end of the last one!
It was just as busy but much drier. The students all had stories related to the downpour that Doha suffered. The stories ranged from water in your homes, people needing rescued from flooded areas and hanging out in the ASD High School gym for a few hours before getting back on the bus to go home again.
This week 2A have started two new units of learning. We have started a Math unit titled Geometry and fractions and a Weather and Seasons Science unit. Both letters are available below for you to read and get some insight into what your child will be undertaking in the coming weeks.
As well as starting new units, some units will be ending as the year 2015 comes to a close. In the coming weeks we will be completing our nonfiction reading and writing units, and hopefully presenting these before we depart for our vacation break.
Also, the completion of 2A's report cards for this trimester have been completed and should be reaching you soon, if not already opened, read and discussed. As always, I'm very happy to make an appointment and discuss your child's report card if you would like further clarification.
There are many things happening at ASD so please take the time to read the 'Things to Know' section of this newsletter, especially when it includes information regarding International Week.
Please take the time to look through the bulletin, click on the images of your child engaged in learning and feel free to contact me with any queries or issues that may arise.
The Fourteenth Week
The Subjects
Math
This week has seen 2A move from the previous place value unit towards geometry and fractions.
In the first few lessons 2A have been identifying the attributes of 3, 4, 5 and 6 sided polygons and labelling them with the correct title: triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, and hexagon. This week there has been an emphasis on drawing these two dimensional shapes on paper and constructing polygons on a geoboard.
As of today we also looked at the relationship of a square and the three dimensional cube.
Attached below is the parent letter for this unit. This letter includes all the terminology and learning foci for this lesson that you can use to discuss with your child at home.
If you were looking forward to the accompanying YouTube clips from Duane Habecker to support home learning, unfortunately he has not produced any for this unit yet. As soon as these become available i will link these for your perusal.
Parent Letter: Unit Four - Geometry and Fractions
Creating Straw Polygons
Creating Polygons on a Geoboard
Constructing a Cube
Investigating Three Dimensional Shapes Using Geometry Build Kits
Reader's Workshop
This week our readers continue reading a range of nonfiction books.
We are beginning to read two or more books about a certain topic that interests us and further grow our knowledge.. We have been crosschecking the information within these books making sure that the information is accurate.
This is a skill that we have linked to our writing of nonfiction books. As we have spent time researching our topic for our nonfiction books, we have been checking to see if the information is accurate between at least two or more websites.
Below is a slide presentation of the text features that we will be identifying and looking to understand. These text features are also the key elements when it comes to our new writing unit.
Writer's Workshop
This week 2A asked ourselves if our Table of Contents matched what we had written in the chapters we would like to cover in our books. Some of us decided to rearrange the order of our contents, add new chapters and combine chapters together.
We also re-read our draft books with our audience in mind and tried to anticipate what extra information a reader might want from our book. A few authors decided to add more facts in text boxes, others added chapters.
Next week, we will be publishing our books using the iPad application BookCreator. This application will allow us to use a range of new skills, aside from being responsible digital citizens, but also the layout of our text, images as well as time management.
These finished nonfiction books will be emailed home in PDF form and presented to our audience in our buddy class.
Crosschecking Website Information
Science
We had quite a lead up to this unit last week with plenty of discussion about rain and related storms!
The budding scientists were asked to share their understandings of what weather is, and how it controls the way we live, how we live, where we live, what we wear and what we eat.
We ventured outside and looked up at the sky and recorded what we saw and we will continue to do so on a regular basis, keeping in mind that weather changes day-to-day.
We also looked at the relationship between weather and air, conducting an experiment that considered that attributes of air (a gas, invisible, odorless, tasteless, silent) and how we know that it exists, further experimenting with the force air has on light weight and heavier objects.
Next week we look closely at temperature, recording it and looking at the relationship between this and air.
Please find attached below a link to the parent letter for further information.
Parent Letter: Weather and Seasons
Observing and Recording the Weather Around Us
Investigating the Properties of Air
Exploratory Time
The teams sat down and moved through the reflection process, looking at how well they thought their solution performed, if it needed to be tweaked or redesigned to perform better, and what interesting things they noticed.
Next week we have a new team design challenge before the designers of 2A tackle their own defined problem and work towards a realistic solution.
Stay tuned!
In Other News.....
Altynai Discusses What It Takes to Defeat the Dark Side
Ibrahim Shares the Wonders of Ski Dubai
Things To Know:
ASD International Week: December 6th - 10th
Here is the itinerary for ASD's International Day
December 7th: Opening Ceremony *encouraged to wear traditional dress
December 7th: National Costume Day
December 8th: Sports Jersey Day
December 9th: International Buffet & Qatar Colors Day
- December 10th: International Week T-shirt Day and Closing Ceremony
Next week should be a wonderful time to celebrate cultures from across the globe and within our own classroom walls.
Movie Nights
There are two upcoming movie nights both organized by high school students for their service learning projects.
The outdoor movie RIO is on Dec 10th, proceeds benefit Syrian Refugees.
The rescheduled Minion movie will now be on Dec 15th.
If you previously purchased tickets you may attend, ask for a refund, or donate that money to the cause.
If your child did not sign up but would like to they may still do so. Please stay tuned for paper clarification, most likely to go home next week.
Tuesday After School Activity Pick Up
Parents picking up students from After School Activities on Tuesdays should enter through Gate 8.
A kind reminder to all parents to bring and display your ASD Dragon Card at all times while on campus.
Arab Mothers Association Fundraising Activities
ASD 2016 Calendars FOR SALE!
The 2016 ASD Calendars will be for sale in the Elementary Office starting Sunday December 6th.
These make great gifts for friends and family, get yours today!
December Dates At A Glance
- December 7-10 International Week
- December 15 Movie Night Rescheduled
- December 17 Christmas Class Party – 40 minutes
- December 17 Pajama Day Rescheduled
- December 18-January 2 Winter Break
Mr Craig Campbell
Email: ccampbell@asd.edu.qa
Location: American School of Doha, Al Bustan Street, Doha, Qatar
Mrs. Danijela Delic-Domazet
Email: ddelic@asd.edu.qa
Location: American School of Doha, Al Bustan Street, Doha, Qatar