T1W3 Wednesday, 28 January 2015

Dear children,

      I hoped that you have enjoyed your first Science lab lesson earlier today. All of you have been creative in creating your very own insects using grapes and toothpicks. Well done! See the pictures below of your great works and happy faces!

Best regards,

Mr Luqman

T1W3 Saturday, 24 January 2015

Dear children,

      There are 2 things that I would like to address for today. First, is with regards to your behaviour in my lessons. Second, is with regards to your behaviour during the Speech and Drama class on Friday afternoon.

      Firstly, during my lessons, I have seen improvements in your behaviour in terms of giving me your full attention. I am very proud to see that all of you have made this effort to improve your behaviour. However, there is still room for some children to better improve your focus during lesson time. When I give instructions to clear your table except for your pencil case, I want you to not be distracted by other materials on your table. However, some of you will take out some stationery from your pencil case and play with it such as scissors, erasers, etc. Thus from next week onwards, when I say "Tables clear!", there must be nothing at your table, hands on the table where I can see them and eyes to the front for attention. For those who continue to chat with your friends while I'm talking, I'll give 2x warning before removing points from your ClassDojo account.

      Secondly, I was disappointed with all of you during the Speech and Drama class. Your poor behaviour had produce the following consequences:

1) You learned very little from Ms Ambrose than you are supposed to. She had a lot in store for you to learn through interesting activities but you cut it short because she had to stop the lesson multiple times just to get you to focus and pay attention.
2) You had very little time to rehearse for your play. Again, because she had to stop the lesson multiple times, you had very little time to practice your characters in the play.
3) I had planned to return your Math Unit 1 Part B booklets to you after the class. However, as the class had to be rushed to finish at 4pm exactly, there wasn't time to return you the booklets.
4) You did not have time to re-arrange your chairs and tables back to their original positions for your parents for the Meet-the-Parents (MTP) session. I have to arrange your tables and chairs on my own.

I hope to see big improvements in your behaviour and attitude from next week onwards. It is for your own good to do so as the more focused you are in class, the more you can enjoy to learn in class. I am very sure that all of you would like to learn as much as possible in school.

      Parents, I appreciate a lot that you are able to take some time off to attend yesterday's MTP session. I hope that it has been a fruitful session for you. It was also good that I was able to interact with some of you to get to know you better. I hope to build great partnerships with all of you for the benefit of the children's learning as a whole. For those parents who are unable to attend, you can find the slides from the link for your viewing; Link
Update: This is the link to the Chinese Language MTP presentation slides; Link

      Have a good weekend, children and I hope that you reflect on your behaviour for the past few weeks in school.

Best regards,
Mr Luqman

T1W3 Thursday, 22 January 2015

Dear children,

      I hoped that you have learned a lot from today's Maths lesson. Even though we had a little game during that lesson, the more important thing is for every one of you to understand the concept behind place values. When I return you your Part B books tomorrow, please do your corrections properly over the weekend. If you have questions over the weekend, you can post it here under the comments. Make sure to write your name though. We can share the questions here so that everyone can learn together. Just to recap, if a digit under a place value is more than 9, split the digits accordingly like I have taught you. For example,

250 tens = Digit 0 is under tens place value, Digit 5 is under hundreds place value & Digit 2 is under thousands place value. So, the number is as below:           
                                       Thousands           Hundreds           Tens          Ones
                                               2                        5                       0                0
So if you can see, 250 tens is actually 2500.

You must understand this concept completely first before moving on to addition and subtraction of numbers to 10,000. For example, 85 hundreds and 13 tens is the same as _____________.
If you had understood my lesson earlier, 


85 hundreds = Digit 5 is under hundreds place value & Digit 8 is under thousands place value. So, the number is as below:           
                                       Thousands           Hundreds           Tens          Ones
                                               8                        5                       0                0
So if you can see, 85 hundreds is actually 8500.

13 tens = Digit 3 is under tens place value & Digit 1 is under hundreds place value. So, the number is as below:           
                                       Thousands           Hundreds           Tens          Ones
                                                                         1                       3                0
So if you can see, 13 tens is actually 130.

Lastly  85 hundreds and 13 tens means to add both numbers together.
      So, 8500 + 130 = 8630.

      Parents, I seek your assistance to revise with them at home too so that we can further solidify the children's understanding on this concept together. Also, as a reminder, tomorrow is the Meet-the-Parents' (MTP) session. Kindly take note of the following timings:

6.45pm - 7.30pm             Meeting with myself at P3/1 classroom.
7.30pm - 8pm                  Meeting with MT teacher at designated classrooms
8pm - 8.30pm                  (For PCR volunteers only) Meeting with myself at P3/1 classroom
8.30pm - 9pm                  Sharing by the respective Subject Heads at the Hildan Ark (Hall)

 If you're unable to attend, please do notify me through email or the ClassDojo app so that I can update you accordingly on what you will miss during the MTP.

Have a good rest, children, as tomorrow will be a long day for you.

Best regards,
Mr Luqman

T1W3 Wednesday, 21 January 2015

Dear children,

      Please pass to your parents the letter that I have given to you today. It is a very important letter as it contains all the assessment dates. Parents, the letter contains the assessment dates for the whole year and it is correct as of 20 January 2015. Any updates will be made known to you.

      The letter also contains the assessment format and the scope tested for each of the subjects such as English, Mathematics, Science and the respective MT languages. Please take note of the following changes to the scope for English Term 1 Language Test & Science Test 1:

1) For English Term 1 Language Test, the scope will be "Fearless Phil" & "The Gruffalo" ONLY. "The Wolf's Story" will NOT be tested in English Term 1 Language Test. 

2) For Science Test 1, the scope will be "Living & Non-Living Things", "Plants" & "Animals" ONLY. "Micro-Organisms" will NOT be tested in Science Test 1.

      Parents, if you need further clarifications, do drop me an email or message me through the ClassDojo app. If you require a softcopy of the letter, do email me also and I'll send you a copy by tomorrow evening. Hope this will clarify on assessment matters. Thank you.

Best regards,
Mr Luqman

T1W3 Monday, 19 January 2015

Dear children,

      I hope that you have enjoyed today's English lesson on our discussion, 'Pranks'. I've shown you a video on some examples of safe pranks that had been done in another country, Canada. For those who wished to view it again, you may do so below.

      Then we had some discussion on what pranks are and what are some of the consequences of playing pranks on others. I have also asked you to go home and think of any experiences that you have of being pranked or you playing pranks on others. We will have a group discussion about it tomorrow and move forward from there.

      Parents, take note of the important dates in the term schedule that was given last Friday. This schedule has been attached together with the School Newsletter. Please inform me if you did not receive it. 

      That is all for now. Rest well for tomorrow's school day, children!

Best regards,
Mr Luqman

T1W2 Sunday, 18 January 2015

Dear children,

      I hoped that you are having a wonderful weekend with your family! Here are a few things to remember to get ready for Week 3 in school.

1) Hand in your journal homework by tomorrow, Monday 19 January 2015.
2) Your spelling will start from this Tuesday, 20 January 2015.
3) Parents, there will be a Meet-the-Parents session on this Friday, 23 January 2015. If you are driving, please park your vehicles at nearby HDB car parks between Blocks 832 & 834. Please take note that for this MTP session, I will be addressing all of you together. It is not a one-to-one meeting but if you do have queries or concerns, you may meet me after the session. Please take note of the schedule of the programme that has been prepared for you on that day.

6.45pm - 7.30pm      P3 Form Teachers' meeting with parents
                                 (Respective P3 classrooms)
7.30pm - 8pm           P3 MT Teachers' meeting with parents
                                 (Designated classroom to be informed on the day itself)
8pm - 8.30pm           P3 Parent Class Representatives' meeting
                                 (Respective P3 classrooms)
8.30pm - 9pm           Sharing on Science Curriculum, Remedial/Enrichment classes & School 
                                  Distinctive Programme
                                  (Hall) 

Have a good rest, all!

Best regards,
Mr Luqman

T1W2 Thursday 15 January 2015

Dear children,

      Tomorrow is an exciting day for all of you! It will be your first day for the SDP programme which includes the Speech & Drama class. Don't forget that your SDP programme is from 2pm to 4pm and is compulsory for everyone. I hope that all of you will enjoy the classes that we have planned for you.

       For tomorrow's art class, don't forget to bring your sketchbook, markers, colour pencils, scissors & glue. This is a reminder from your art teacher.

      Parents, please take note that I won't be in school from 10.30am onwards as I have an event to attend to at NIE. Thus, I'm only with the children for the 1st 2 periods. For Science period, I have prepared some worksheets for the students to complete.

       Rest well, children as tomorrow will be a long day for you!

Best Regards,
Mr Luqman

T1W2 Wednesday, 14 January 2015

Dear children,

      My apologies that I didn't post anything yesterday as I have some important things to do at home. Not to worry, there was not much to miss due to that. Let's get on to business.

      First, I hope that all of you have submitted your selection of CCA either through AsknLearn website or to the teacher-in-charge directly. Take note that it is compulsory for you to have at least 1 CCA since you are already in Primary 3. I am one of the teachers involved with Infocomm Club. If you are interested, you can click here to check out the club's website.

      Please remember to keep your spelling list safely so that you don't lose it easily. Take note that spelling is on every Tuesday starting from next week. Have a good rest, children!

Best Regards,
Mr Luqman

T1W2 Monday, 12 January 2015

Dear children,

      Welcome to Week 2 of Term 1! Week 1 passed by so quickly that we must not forget to thank God for the blessings that He had given upon us thus far.

      Let's work hard together to be the best class in Primary 3 in terms of academic and character! Work hard in your groups so that you can earn points for your groups and also for yourself through the ClassDojo website. Don't forget to register with the passcode that I have given to you earlier. You may watch your progress and change your profile picture once you register.

        Starting from today, we will start with journal writing for English so that you are able to express your thoughts and opinions on the topic for the week. The topic for this week is: 
Do you like the first week of school so far? Why?
Pen down your thoughts and I also want you to draw something that can show me what you did or how you felt about your first week in school. Deadline for this journal entry is on next Monday, 19 January 2015.

Best Regards,
Mr Luqman

T1W1 Saturday, 10 January 2015

Dear children,

      Hope that you are having a wonderful Saturday so far. There is no homework for this 1st school weekend of 2015. So enjoy them & spend your time well with your family members!

Best Regards,
Mr Luqman

* Children, don't forget to show your Math practice paper to your parents & let them sign it.

T1W1 Thursday, 8 January 2015

Dear children,

      Today, you were given ample time to finish your group posters. I am proud to say that all of you did a great job with your posters! Your posters were creative, colourful and well-designed. Kudos to all of you! Below are some pictures of some of you hard at work, designing the posters.

      For Mathematics, we moved forward from the heights of the 5 tallest mountains in Asia to the place values for each of those numbers. Remember that for every digit in its place value, it has a certain value attached to it. For example, looking at the 4th tallest mountain in Asia, Lhotse, its height is 8516m. So,

                          Thousands            Hundreds             Tens            Ones
                                  8                             5                      1                  6
Values                     8000                       500                   10                 6

      For English, we practiced your reading skills by having you read some of the text in the story, Fearless Phil in groups. Congratulations to "Christmas Tree" group for earning the highest points in the mini-reading competition we had! I have also introduced to you the term, "Similes". Remember that similes are used when you want to compare an item with something else. For example, "as fast as a lightning", "like silk", "as brave as a lion", etc. Check out the following website for further examples on similes: http://examples.yourdictionary.com/simile-examples-for-kids.html

      Have a good rest children!

Best Regards,
Mr Luqman

T1W1 Wednesday, 7 January 2015

Dear children,

      Today for Mathematics, we have a sense of how BIG numbers in the thousands are. Before that, we revised briefly the place values of numbers up to 1000. We then found out together what are the 5 heaviest land animals on Earth and also the 5 tallest mountains in Asia! So you can imagine how HEAVY those animals are based on their average weight in kilograms. and how TALL the mountains are based on their height in metres. Below are the animals and mountains that we have found:

Heaviest land animals:
1) African Elephant (8500kg)                                      2) Asian Elephant (4200kg)

 

3) Hippopotamus (2500kg)                                           4) White Rhinoceros (2350kg)

5) Gaur (1600kg)

Tallest mountains in Asia:
1) Mount Everest (8848m)                                                   2) K2 (8611m)

3) Kangchenjunga (8586m)                                       4) Lhotse (8516m)                                 

5) Makalu (8481m)

      For Science, remember what I have told your earlier. To be a good scientist, your must always be curious. Be observant, be alert, look around your surroundings and wonder how things work. You can check out the following website to learn more about Science: http://science.howstuffworks.com/ 

Then, we also learnt to classify (or group) objects that you can see around the school based on their size and created a classification table from that.  

     For English, we read together as a class the story on Fearless Phil. You do remember how strong and brave he was, wasn't he? He was able to make other animals in the forest quake and quiver, shake and shiver. But alas, there was 1 animal that made him bolt down the mountain instead! Who can remember the animal? Type it in the comment below!

      I would like to thank most parents who have returned the forms required as mentioned in the previous post. However, I am still left with around 20% of children who have yet to hand in the form. Please do so by tomorrow, I greatly appreciate your cooperation on this. Besides this, I would also appreciate if parents give me a letter or MC if your child will be absent for the day (Softcopy is great too since SHPS is going green). For those who have done so, thank you!

      Lastly, children, please wear your PE attire tomorrow. You will have your first PE lesson for this year during the 1st 2 periods. I hope you will enjoy it! Have a good rest tonight children and parents!

Best Regards,

Mr Luqman

T1W1 Tuesday, 6 January 2015

Dear children,

      I hoped you had fun today thinking of your group names and also designing your very own group posters! You were very creative in thinking up of the names and also coming up with the design for your posters. I know that we were short of time but not to worry, you can continue with the design some other time. I will list out the group names and members in my next post.

      We also laid out our class rules for today. As a Hildan, we must ensure that we uphold these class rules that you, yourselves have came up with. I know that you will make SHPS proud. The class rules that we have agreed upon are as follows:

1) Help people who are in need and injured.

2) We must work together as a group.

3) We must not take things from people without their permission.

4) We must not bully our friends at all times.

5) Do not run or play in the classroom without our teachers' permission.

6) We must listen to our teachers. 

      Also, I would like to thank our parents for your prompt response with regards to the forms that need to be submitted back to me. I have gotten back most of the forms from you. Take note there are a few forms that needs to be submitted back to me by tomorrow, if possible. Latest is by this Thursday, 8 January 2015. The forms are as follows:
1) Medical Record form from the School letter given on 5 Jan 2015.
2) PCR form from the School letter given on 5 Jan 2015.
3) Student Details Record given today (More details on that in next paragraph).

      For today, the children have received 2 documents from me. Firstly, the Student Details Record form with a stapled message on it. Parents, kindly check that your child's details are correct and sign to acknowledge at the bottom right of the document. If amendments are to be made, please use red ink to amend accordingly and sign at the bottom right of the document too. Besides this, a school letter has also been given to the children with regards to having CCA. Please take note that it is compulsory for students from Pri 3 onwards to have a CCA in SHPS. Follow the instructions in the letter accordingly to select the CCAs as mentioned.

      Please do contact me at my email address should you have any further queries and clarifications. Thank you!

Best Regards,
Mr Luqman Anuar 

A Warm Welcome To All!

Dear Parents & Students of P3-1 Love, 

       A warm welcome to all. Firstly, I would like to apologize for this late post as it is only now that I can find time to post this message. Anyway, it was nice to get to know the children earlier in school today. Not to worry, there is still a long way to go for all of us, including parents, to get to know each other better. 
      
      Children, I know that for this year, all of you belong to a new class, have new classmates, seated in new groups and have to make some new friends. It is always good to make new friends so that you can know many people in our school and also seek for help if you are in need. Like I have advised in the classroom today, the most important people in class are your group members as you will be working a lot together as a group for a lot of activities in school. Thus, get to know your group members better, talk more with them, eat together in the canteen and play together during recess time. With God's grace, our class will be much more close-knitted as a family. 

       My heartiest congratulations to those who had been selected as group leaders and class monitors today. I am very sure that those who had been selected will lead your classmates well and set a good example for your friends to follow. For the others who were not selected, do not be disappointed. Always be on your best behaviour and show me that you can be a group leader or a class monitor too. Good luck! Check out the happy faces of our children in their groups today! (Photographs at the bottom of this post)


      Just some updates on admin done in classrooms today. 

• Children have gotten their mini-timetables each which is to be pasted/stapled on Page 33 of their Student Handbook.
• Children have gotten a letter from the School which includes the following the following items; SDP (School Distinction Programme), PCR (Parents Class Representatives), Medical Report Form & other miscellaneous items.
• Children have gotten a Welcome letter from myself which includes my contact details and also a detailed timetable for the children.
• Children have been reminded to bring their working thermometers for tomorrow, 6 January 2015 & Wednesday, 7 January 2015 for temperature-taking exercise.

Parents, you are most welcome to join & partner with myself to be a PCR to volunteer your services for the benefit of the children. We strongly encourage your partnership to bring about the best in every child in our class. Do not hesitate to contact me at my email address or through the comments on this blog should you have any queries. Have a great week ahead!

Best Regards,

Mr Luqman Anuar