Saturday, August 30, 2014

Scholastic Book Order

This last Friday, you may have received something that look like this:

If you would like to order some books for you or your child, you can!


You can order in 2 ways:
1. Order by marking on the back of the paper the quantity (how many) and which book you want while adding up the total. Send that back to school with the money in US$ Dollars.

2. OR Order by Credit Card online.

Here is the website: http://world-schools.scholastic.co.uk/okinawa-christian-school-intl
You can now browse books online as well.

I followed through a few of the steps to show you if you wanted to order online with a credit card.

1. Select what books you want and add them to your basket. When you are finished, press "Go to Checkout"
2. Type in your email address, press "next"
3. Schools - Make sure it says Okinawa Christian School, press "next"


4. Deliver Option. Make sure it says OCSI and my name, Sarah Turner and select "Dispatch Order to School."

 
5. Child Details - Enter your child's name and the class (ex. 1.2, 2.1)

6. Choose Payment Method - enter Credit Card information and select "Pay Using this Address" 

7. The last step should be confirm! You should get an email about your confirmation and Scholastic will also send me a confirmation email. 

THIS CURRENT September Order is due by September 12!

Friday, August 29, 2014

Fantastic Friday News!

This Week: 
We had a fantastic 2nd week of school. This week, we started doing actual first grade work! The students did great! Here’s a recap:

Reading: For reading, we started discussing about a weekly program we will do called Weekly 4. Every week, students will read to self, read to someone, word work, and work on writing. We work with building stamina so that the students can do independent work for up to 20 minutes! This week, we established that we need to read a lot to become better readers and because reading is fun!

We also discussed what Read to Self looks like - read the whole time, read quietly, stay in one spot, start reading right away, and build stamina. Next week we will start to put that into practice and start to build our stamina.

For Math, we started in the first unit where we learned tally, and practiced writing our numbers (so easy). We also played a few math games in partners and by ourselves. Today we did rock, paper, scissors, and tallied how many times rock won, how many times, paper won, how many time scissors won, and how many times it was a tie. The students had fun and worked great in their groups!




Bible: We started with the first story in the Bible- Creation! We learned that God created the whole world and everything in it in 6 days. On the 7th day, he rested! He saw all that he had made and it was all good! Until... Adam and Eve disobeyed God and so sin was introduced into the world. We will continue next week with Noah and the flood as well as a few other stories. 

Phonics: This week we have reviewed all the letters of the alphabet and all their sounds!

Writing: For writing, we started only a few days of Writer’s Workshop. 
Write together - Teacher will model the writing strategy
You write! - Students will write a story
Author’s Chair - Students can share their writings with the class

Social Studies - We started with learning about the globe and a map. We also put a sticky note on all the places that 1.1 students have ever visited or lived! Wow, we are world travelers!

Next Week:

No School on Monday! - September 1st - Labor Day

1st and 2nd graders will be going to Toguchi Beach for a Field Trip on September 26, Friday from 10:30-2:00pm. All parents are invited to join. Please check and sign the permission slip and send it back to school by September 5th. For any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! 

Spelling Words: am at cat can man ran had has I the


Bible Memory: “I have hidden your words in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11

As always, please don't hesitate to email me with any questions. Enjoy your weekend!
-Ms. Turner

Monday, August 25, 2014

Open House Forms

About the forms you received at Open House

Family Information Sheet - please return by Friday, August 29

Friendship Friday T-shirt Form - needs to be returned to school with ¥1500 by Sept 12. This is not mandatory. The T-shirts are worn at field trips and on Friday's for class unity.

Library Permission Form - Must be returned by Thursday - because we will be going to the library on Thursday and if the form is not returned by then, the student cannot check out books this week.


Homework Checklist for August 25-29

Good morning!

Here is the homework checklist for the week of August 25-29.

This week is easy to get the students into the groove of doing homework every night. We also do not have spelling words or a Bible memory verse this week - that will come next week.


Sunday, August 24, 2014

Open House Presentation

Good Morning!

Here is the presentation used at Open House!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

First Week of School - DONE!


Hello everyone!

Thank you to all the parents who came out to Open House on Friday night. I enjoyed getting to meet all of you and I'm really excited for the rest of the school year.オープンハウスでみなさんに会えて嬉しかったです。今年よろしくおねがいします!

I am still looking for a room mom if anyone would like to volunteer. You don't even have to speak any English! If you are interested, please let me know. まだクラスママを探しています。興味があれば連絡ください。

Please fill out all the forms and return them to school by Monday! 家族アンケートの通訳が必要ならここをクリックしてください。家族アンケート

This week - we learned what First Grade would look like.

We started music and PE class. We learned how to sit on the carpet. We learned how to walk around the classroom. We learned how to line up quickly and quietly outside. We learned how to walk in the hallway. We learned how to sit at our desk. We learned new friend's names. We enjoyed extra recess. It was a lot of procedures, but procedures that are necessary for the whole school year!

Next week, we will start diving more into real school subjects such as math and reading.

For week of August 25-29 there will be no Spelling words yet.

Bible Memory verse for next week "I have hidden your words in my heart, that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:11

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Welcome to the 2014-2015 School Year!

Welcome parents and 1st grade students to the 2014-2015 school year at OCSI! We have already finished the second day of school - and we have already had a lot of fun!

We made new friends, learned new rules and procedures, and got used to sitting in our desks. I am excited for the rest of the school year!



Please remember that OPEN HOUSE is this Friday night starting at 6:00pm. I hope to see all of you there! If you can't make it by 6:00pm, there will be two sessions -


  1. a)  6:00 - Parents in the Cafeteria; Mrs. Bezner’s Presentation !
  2. (b)  6:15 -6:20 - Parents Transition to Classrooms!
  3. (c)  6:20 - 6:35 - Classroom Session 1 !
  4. (d)  6:35 - 6:40 - Parents Transition to Another Classroom!
  5. (e)  6:40 - 6:55 - Classroom Session 2 !
  6. (f)  6:55 - 7:00 - Parents Transition to Cafeteria for Secondary Presentation