TGS Newsletter 22 nd August 2020 (LKG – Grade 2) Page 1 of 15 Gera SThe Gera School Newsletter LKG – Grade 2 22 nd August 2020 THE MINDSET OF A CHAMPION : SPORTS In sports everybody believes in talent even – or especially – the experts. In fact, sports is where the idea of ‘a natural’ comes from someone who looks like an athlete, moves like an athlete, and is an athlete, all without trying. So great is the belief in natural talent that many scouts and coaches search only for naturals. Billy Beane was a natural. Everyone agreed he was the next Babe Ruth. He lacked one thing. The mindset of a champion. As Michael Lewis tells us in Moneyball, by the time Beane was a sophomore in high school, he was the highest scorer on the basketball team, batting 500 in one of the toughest leagues in the country. His talent was real enough. But the minute things went wrong, Beane did not have the mindset of a champion. It wasn’t merely that he did not like to fail: it was he did not know how to fail and then pick himself up and strive harder. As he moved up in basketball from the minor leagues to the majors, things got worse and worse. Beane the player never recovered from the fixed mindset, but Beane the incredibly successful major-league executive did. How did this happen? There was another player who lived and played side by side with Beane in the minors and in the majors., Lenny Dykstra. Dykstra did not have a fraction of Beane’s physical endowment or ‘natural ability’ but Beane watched him in awe. As Beane described. “He had no concept of failure…. And I was the opposite.’’ It dawned on Beane that mindset was more important than talent. Armed with these insights and learnings of his life Beane became the general Manager of the 2002 Oakland Athletics and led his team to season of 103 victories almost breaking American League record for consecutive wins. They discovered and inculcated The Champion Mindset. To give another example, Michael Jordan was one of the hardest –working athletes in the history of sport. It is well known that Michael Jordan was cut from the high school varsity team. His mother says, “I told him to go back and discipline himself’’. He used to leave the house at six in the morning to go to practice before school. At the university of North Carolina he constantly worked on his weakness - his defensive game and his ball handling and shooting. Even at the height of his success and fame, his dogged practice remained legendary. We too must strive to inculcate in our students the mindset and perseverance of being a Champion.
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TGSNewsletter22ndAugust2020(LKG–Grade2) Page 1 of 15
GeraSThe Gera School Newsletter
LKG – Grade 2 22nd August 2020
THEMINDSETOFACHAMPION:SPORTS
Insportseverybodybelievesintalenteven–orespecially–theexperts.Infact,sportsiswheretheideaof‘anatural’comesfromsomeonewholookslikeanathlete,moveslikeanathlete,andis an athlete, allwithout trying. So great is the belief in natural talent thatmany scouts andcoachessearchonlyfornaturals.
BillyBeanewasanatural.EveryoneagreedhewasthenextBabeRuth.Helackedonething.Themindset of a champion. As Michael Lewis tells us in Moneyball, by the time Beane was asophomoreinhighschool,hewasthehighestscoreronthebasketballteam,batting500inoneofthetoughestleaguesinthecountry.Histalentwasrealenough.Buttheminutethingswentwrong,Beanedidnothavethemindsetofachampion.Itwasn’tmerelythathedidnotliketofail:itwashedidnotknowhowtofailandthenpickhimselfupandstriveharder.Ashemovedupinbasketballfromtheminorleaguestothemajors,thingsgotworseandworse.
Beanetheplayerneverrecoveredfromthefixedmindset,butBeanetheincrediblysuccessfulmajor-league executive did. How did this happen? Therewas another playerwho lived andplayedsidebysidewithBeaneintheminorsandinthemajors.,LennyDykstra.DykstradidnothaveafractionofBeane’sphysicalendowmentor‘naturalability’butBeanewatchedhiminawe.AsBeanedescribed.“Hehadnoconceptoffailure….AndIwastheopposite.’’ItdawnedonBeanethatmindsetwasmoreimportantthantalent.ArmedwiththeseinsightsandlearningsofhislifeBeanebecamethegeneralManagerofthe2002OaklandAthleticsandledhisteamtoseasonof103victoriesalmostbreakingAmericanLeaguerecordforconsecutivewins.TheydiscoveredandinculcatedTheChampionMindset.
Togiveanotherexample,MichaelJordanwasoneofthehardest–workingathletesinthehistoryofsport. It iswellknownthatMichael Jordanwascut fromthehighschoolvarsity team.Hismothersays,“Itoldhimtogobackanddisciplinehimself’’.Heusedtoleavethehouseatsixinthemorningtogotopracticebeforeschool.AttheuniversityofNorthCarolinaheconstantlyworkedonhisweakness-hisdefensivegameandhisballhandlingandshooting.Evenattheheightofhissuccessandfame,hisdoggedpracticeremainedlegendary.WetoomuststrivetoinculcateinourstudentsthemindsetandperseveranceofbeingaChampion.
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Acommonassemblywasheldon74thIndependenceDay.MsDelailaconductedtheassemblywhereshenarratedthestoryaboutIndia'sIndependence. Thechildrenexpressed their thoughtsonwhat Independencemeant to them.Someof themsharedthewaysINwhichtheycouldkeeptheircountrybeautiful.
Children sang the song "We Shall Overcome". Thereafter,Ms.Delaila explained to themthemeaningofthesong.
The little patriots along with the teachers sang ‘'Nanha Munna Rahi Hoon’'.Naomi andIshaanfromUKGclassandspokeabouttheposterthattheyhadmade.Theydescribedthewaysthey could keep India clean and remain connected together by respecting and celebratingdifferentfestivalsandcultures.
Children alsowitnessed afew captivatingperformances byJeremiah, Shannon andParth.ThePre-primaryteacherssangthesong‘'ChhodoKalkiBaatein"tomarktheday.
The Principal and the Pre-primary Coordinator addressed the TGS community.TheCoordinatorspokeonthevaluesofkindness,sharingandcaringandbeingaresponsiblecitizentomakeIndiaabettercountry.
The LKG class made an Indian flag and the UKGhad ‘’Poster Making’’ activityto createawareness of 'Clean and Green India''andto showcaseunity in diversity through differentfestivalsandculturesacrossthecountry.
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a) ArtThelittleingeniousmindsofL.K.GmadeapeacockheadbandonaccountofJanmashtami.Theyenjoyedapplyingmultiplecolourstoformattractiveheadbands.Whatafeastforoureyes!
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d) DramaThe Drama session was about understanding thedramatic element of space. L.K.G students were madeaware of different bodymovementsandhowtousethemcomfortablyandconfidently.Theatreexercisesandactivities were all about developing alertness, listeningskills and acting on cue and also responding to theinstructions.
‘‘What's in your Box’’ was an imaginary pretend activitythe U.K.G learners had for theirsession.Childrenwereencouragedtoexpressthemselvesverbally,throughfacialexpressionsandbody language. Theyalsohadtoguesseachother’sexpressionsandbodygestures inturns.
e) Dance-IndependenceDaySpecial
Thelearnersweretaught‘BodyIsolationTechnic’’,wherethekidscouldonlyusehandsand head movement in a fixed space. Using this technique, a performance was puttogetherbasedonthethemefortheIndependenceDay.
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THEMATICLEARNINGThe students of L.K.G arelearning about vital internalorgans like heart, lungs andbrain. They are keen to studyabout this and are pleasantlysurprised with facts abouttheirinternalorgans.
NUMERACY The young mathematicswizards are developingtheirproblem-solvingskillsby applying differentconcepts like findingmissingnumbers,numbersbefore and after and counting numbersforwards and backward. They wereintroduced to different terms used ingradationofsizelikebig,biggerandbiggest.
LANGUAGE
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PuzzleDay-ThinkAndSolveThestudentsofL.K.Gworkedondevelopingtheirproblem-solving skills as they solved the shapepuzzles and tried their hands on completing acomplexcolourmatchpuzzle.ThelogicalreasoningandcriticalthinkingskillsofU.K.Gchildrenwereputtotestthroughvariedpuzzlesandactivities.
a) FRENCHGrade1TheFrenchlearnersrevisedtheirknowledgeof how to introduce themselves. Theywere able tofluentlytelltheirname,theirageandwheretheystay.(J’habiteaGoa, J’habiteaPanjim.)The learnersalsorevised the numbers from 1-10 using differentlisteningandspeakingactivities.Grade 2 The French learners also revised theirknowledgeofhowtointroducethemselves.Theyalsolearnttoexpresshowtheywerefeeling:cavabien/cavamal.Movingon,thelearnersrevisednumbersfrom1-20 with different listening, speaking and writingactivities.
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b) ICTGrade1continuedworkingonPaint,andwereabletoput shapes together to create an elaborate design inPaint. They were also able to name their filesappropriately,andsavetheminaspecifiedlocation.
Grade2workedonExcel,andweretaughttoenterdata.Learnerswerealsoabletoeditandformattextinthecells.Sarvadnya (Grade 2B) further went on to create herFriday’s class timetable on Excel as part of an extendedactivity.AspartoftheIndependencedayactivity,learnersalsoexplainedtheirpostersandtoldtheirclassmateswhatIndependencemeanstothem.
Grade 1 learners learnt to read the chapter ‘NamasteLalaji’.TheyunderstoodaboutgenderandalsogottoknowabouttheJanmashtamifestival.Grade 2 learners introduced themselves in Hindi. Theylearnt theartofrecitingapoem. Ingrammarthey learntaboutgender.
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Learnerslearntbodyisolationtechniques,wheretheywererestrictedtouseonlyhandsandheadmovementandinafixedspace.Using the technique, we put up a performancetogether based on the theme of 'IndependenceDayspecial'.
Grade1and2 studentsarebrushingupontheir one-minute stories or readings fromrhymesandtales.
Grade1Thisfortnight,thelearnersofGradeoneexploredthemagnificenceofbeinguniqueand following their hearts. They first analysed a video of a boy speaking to himself, andappreciatinghimself;thentheydiscussedthestory‘FredricktheMouse’.
Grade 2 The learners of grades 2A and 2B explored their creativity and displayed theirspeakingskillswhentheypresentedtheirposterson‘WhatIndependencemeanstothem’.Theythendelved intoself-reflectionswhentheyworkedontheirself-portraitsandwrotedownthingsaboutthemselves.
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The focusofP.E. thisweekwas to continueour journey to teachourlearners importantcharacter traits fromlegendaryUCLACoachJohnWooden’s Pyramid of Successand hisdefinition of successforchildrenwhichis:“Successishappinessinyourheartbecauseyoumadetheeffort,100%,todoyourbest!”Eachmonth,ourlearnerswillfocusononeortwocharactertraitsfrom Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success. This month we arefocusingontheimportantfoundationalcornerstonetothePyramidofSuccess:HardWorkandEnthusiasm.
ENGLISHLearners learnt how to sequenceand change a story. The learnersdidaquickrecapofspeechmarks,captions and writing lists. Theywerealso introducedtoverbsandlearnt how to change verbs in instructions. The learners also learnt how to speak usingsequencingwords.Theywrappeduplearningfortheweekwithanexplanationandexerciseonwhentousebutandand.
SCIENCE The learners were introduced to the topic electricity byidentifying the partsof a torch. Later they identified objectsthatuseelectricity.Thelearnerswereintroducedtomainsandcellelectricity.
ENGLISH
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After understanding in depth about settings and characters, the learners are now beingtaughtabouthowanexchangeofwordstakesplacebetweenthecharactersinastory.Thelearnershaddialogueswitheachotherandlearnttoidentifydialoguesfromthetextpassagesandotherstories.Theyarenowallsettorighttheirowndialogueinagivensetting!
SCIENCEThefirstwhalesevolvedover50millionyearsagoandtheancestorofboththesegroupswasterrestrial.Whenaseven-yearoldlearnertalksaboutsuchinterestingfacts,weteachersare nothing less than amazed! The learners were motivated to create beautiful andinformationalchartsontheirchoiceofvertebratesandpresentitduringtheclass.MATHThereisaseasonsalegoingonandyourfavouritetoysarehalfthe price! You have been good children today and now yourparents give you double of your favourite chocolate! Theconceptof‘doubling’and‘halving’areasexcitingastheseabovestatements. The learners are being taught about the variousstrategiestheycanusetosolvesuchproblems.Thesestrategiesareclearlydoublingtheknowledgeandreducingthestressoflearnersbyhalf!!
MATHThisfortnight,thelearnersofgrade2Bworkedondoublingand halving numbers. Theylearnt how to double biggernumbers with thedecompositionmethod.SCIENCE“Weareallthesameandyetwearedifferent.”Thelearnerswerespokentoonhowwearealldiverse inourcultures,languagesandourphysicalattributesbutweareall thesame.Duringthetopiconlivingthings,thelearnerswereintroducedtothetopic‘Sortinglivingthings’.
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ENGLISHThelearnershavebeenintroducedtosynonymsandantonyms.Theywereencouraged and guided to use thedictionaryandthesaurus.Duringthisfortnight they answered a fewassessments.
a) JanmashtamiCelebrationsThestudentsacrosstheprimarysectioncelebratedthefestivalwithalotofenthusiasm.Theylearntaboutthehistoryofthecelebrationandhowitiscelebratedacrossthecountry.
