The countdown to summer is on in Grade 1!
What is ISKL’s Grade 1 Countdown to Summer Holidays?
The end of the school year is often a period of transition with many things changing for students, especially in an international school. Students are moving up to the next grade, some are moving away and everyone is anticipating the changes that come with the end of a busy school year.
Change can be met with excitement, anticipation and sometimes trepidation – often all at the same time.
This year, ISKL’s grade 1 teachers have introduced a fun way to prepare students for this time of transition with a Grade 1 A-Z End of Year Activities Countdown. As Grade 1 teacher, Mr. MacRaild says, “We’re making sure our Grade 1 students are mentally and emotionally prepared for the end of first grade in a fun and meaningful way.”
ISKL’s Grade 1 teachers have planned 26 different A-Z activities from the beginning of May through the end of the school year. The activities align with the educational objectives of the Grade 1 team and are engineered to include key learning goals: numeracy, literacy and social thinking. Although some of the activities vary by class, the overarching theme is the same; following the letters of the alphabet to incorporate fun and learning into every day.
Students can look forward to something new every day including Catch Some Kindness Day, where they fill the day with compliments and kindness, to Love the Outdoors (an outdoor learning day) for the whole of the elementary school, Use Your Best Handwriting will see students practicing their handwriting, and Step-up to Second Grade is a day where students visit the Grade 2 classrooms and teachers in preparation for the new school year. These activities keep students engaged, engrossed and eager for more.
Year round, activities at the Elementary School embrace The Melawati Way, the Elementary School’s code of conduct: Take care of yourself, take care of others, take care of this place. Incorporating activities that embody the tenets of the Melawati Way serves to foster learning and encourage the characteristics of cooperation, courtesy, empathy, integrity, kindness, respect and responsibility.
Please find the list of A to Z below (some of the activities may vary by class)
A – Art Day (it’s a great day for students to enjoy an art activity in class)
B – Book Buddy Day (students get to spend extra time reading with a book buddy)
C – Catch some Kindness (students will fill the day with compliments and kindness)
D – Dance Day (students enjoy a dance party)
E – Extra Play Day (students have an extended recess)
F – Friendly Friday (students do something nice for a friend)
G – Game Day (students learn a new game or teach a friend a game)
H – Hat Day (students get to wear their favorite hat)
I – Illustration Day (students illustrate their writing)
J – Joke Day (students are encouraged to learn a new joke to share with the class)
K – Kick off Your Shoes Day (time for students to kick off their shoes and spend the day barefoot in the classroom)
L – Love the Outdoors Day (students get to have their classroom outdoors)
M – Must Get Wet Day (students enjoy Wet ‘n Wild day)
N – No Trash Day (students plan to have no food trash today)
O – Outdoor Run Day (Grade 1 students go for a run on the field)
P – Paper Airplane Day (students get to make some paper airplanes and fly them)
Q – Quiet Day (students will whisper and try to be very quiet all day)
R – Read Day (students get to read in the Grade 1 common area – and bring a stuffed animal to read to as well)
S – Step-up to Second Grade (Grade 1 students visit a second grade classroom and ‘step-up’ to Grade 2)
T – T-shirt Day (students get to wear their favorite t-shirt to school)
U – Use Your Best Handwriting Day (students will use their best handwriting all day long)
V – Volunteer to Help Day (students volunteer to help their Prep Senior friends when they visit Grade 1)
W – Watch a Movie Day (Grade 1 students get to watch a movie at school)
X – X-change Autographs Day (time to exchange autographs with their Grade 1 friends)
Y – Yoga Day in your PJs (students stretch and relax with yoga in their PJs to celebrate the end of the school year in calmness)
Z – Zip up and Zoom Out Day (students zip up their bags and zoom out of school on the last day of the school year)
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