Final week

Our last week as the 'Uniters' class focused on reflection and preparing to celebrate our learning for the entire school year at the Year End Show, School Awards, and Graduation Ceremony.

The grade five and six students wait with patience for younger classes to rehearse their stage entrances and exits.

You can't hide on stage. Our rehearsals were a unique opportunity to learn and practice stage presence and other performing arts and presentation skills.

One of my favorite types of photographs is the 'preshow', taken moments before a performing group takes the stage.

The students' show, being totally student created and collaborative, was a very authentic product of their understandings of 'How we organize ourselves'. It was our summative assessment task for the unit, and a valuable artifact of learning across disciplines and elements of the PYP.

This has been a rewarding school year for all of us. I truly appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow together and wish everyone the best for their future endeavors.

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Preparing a musical

This week, we have been applying our new understandings of how people organize themselves to collaborate with the Grade 4 students to produce a mini musical.

With Suheda serving as Producer and Miray as Musical Director, the students have written a script, organized music, and choreographed original dances.

They have enjoyed working together and practicing their social and communication skills.

I was very impressed the first time I saw the 'dance battle' and recorded the time lapse video above to give you a preview of what to look forward to at the Yearend Performance.

This week has also been the final chance for a few activities, such as visiting the Harajuku Public Library. We will have more of these closure activities next week, particularly the Yearend Performance, Graduation, and Student Led Conferences. I look forward to seeing you there!

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compound words

Grade5/6 students have been learning about some compound words in Japanese.
Since they have already learned about Wago which is known as Yamato kotoba , Kango, words imported from China long time ago, Gairaigo, words mainly from Western countries, they all enjoyed looking for the compound words.

Inquiring into How we organize ourselves

Now that Exhibition and Undokai are fond memories, the Grade 5/6 'Uniters' have returned to more structured inquiry.

One of my personal goals in this final unit is to help the students to see that the Internet is not necessarily the best, and certainly not the only, resource for research. We spent some time in the library this week using books to help formulate questions about our inquiry with the central idea of 'Government systems and citizens are interdependent.'

Vocabulary is critical to inquiry learning, and this warm up on the concept of 'authority' was particularly stimulating. I was impressed with the variety of examples that the students shared, as well as their willingness to listen to and respond to each other.

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5kinds of Hakaru

Grade5 students were experts with Japanese dictionary this week.

They learned when we use 図る、測る、計る、量る、謀る.

Those words are all pronounced Hakaru which means check,measure,weigh,but they are used in different situations.

Some students still didn't finish making their own story(fantasy!)  so they kept writing.

Undokai fun and sweat

You'll know it's the week of Undokai because everyone is wearing their PE uniform, the schedule changes daily, and energy and excitement fill the corridors and classrooms.

Sule, Miray, and Suheda are honored to be this year's English language announcers.

It's important that we be well prepared, so a good amount of time is devoted to practicing marching and standing to ensure that the ceremonies go smoothly.

This year's musical numbers have been the best I've heard!

We have been blessed with lovely warm weather for exercising outside.

We still manage to squeeze academics into our hectic schedule. The students truly developed their capacity for assessments and examinations, skills that will serve them well as they move on to middle school and beyond!

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Exhibition

After weeks of planning, researching, organizing, creating, revising, etc, we finally held our PYP Exhibition. The process of setting up began with hanging black fabric to create an intimate gallery space to display our artwork and other learning.

There is something very satisfying about seeing a painting properly hung and lit. The students also used some of their materials to promote the event on a corridor wall display.

On Thursday, we officially opened the doors. The students seemed nervous about how their work would be received by the school community and about delivering their speeches.

Students poured in to see the exhibits and ask questions. Listening to their observations was one of my most enjoyable memories from the event. For example, one younger students commented about how the animals in Miray's Puppy Mills looked sad. Some students found humor in Sule's slideshow, BUILDING BREAK.

 

Another touching moment was seeing Suheda explaining mental illness to Kindergarteners in a way that they could understand and answering their questions.

I was also a bit surprised at the enthusiasm that the third graders had for the essays!

Finally, it was a pleasure to see Ms Gouge at the evening event. She was impressed by the hard work and deep learning that went into the Exhibition. As one parent said, we are proud of these students for their independence and commitment.

Next week, the students will turn their attention to documentation and self assessment on their Exhibition wikis. Please click on their names below to view their work and reflections.

Miray    Suheda    Sule

My appreciation goes out to everyone who contributed! Thank you!

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Undokaimania

The warm weather and rest of Golden Week have perfectly prepared us for Undokai. This week, our only activities have been collaborating with our friends at Jinsho and putting the final touches on our Exhibition.

I am always impressed with how courageously JIES students dive into this challenging cultural exchange. Their willingness engage with new experiences is evidence of their international mindedness.

I'm also impressed with their increased physical strength, agility, and endurance.

Undokai is an opportunity for students to challenge their bodies and will. Sule and Miray asked me to help them practice gymnastics during recess!

Of course, next week is all about Exhibition. As a newly authorized IB World School, our Exhibition is truly the culmination of a year of inspired and independent inquiry learning.

We look forward to seeing you at school on Thursday, 21 May, at 5pm.

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Exhibition nitty-gritty

PYP teachers around the world agree that the Exhibition is unpredictable. When children direct their own learning, they often find was to make their learning meaningful and messy.

Suheda used this week to complete an exploding balloon painting while wearing wacky professor goggles and listening to Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra. It was great to see Sule and Miray collaborating with her to shoot video of the project and set up all the balloons.

I can't wait to see what they all come up with during Golden Week!

 

We are also looking ahead to the year end performance. The grades 4-6 will be collaborating to create a short musical theater piece incorporating music, drama, and dance. Naturally, our 'Uniters' have taken leadership roles early in the project.

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Being an author part2

Now G5/6 students are finishing their own story.

It was a great chance to review how to write on the manuscript paper properly since there are so many rules.

They are excited to read their friends' stories soon.

They also made a surprise present for you...

Global issues

This has been the most important week of Exhibition thus far. Our Global Issues Expo for International Children's Day was a perfect way to help the students to focus on globally significant issues and engage with our school community.

Each student created a poster to raise awareness and a sticker survey. They wrote one question related to their global issue and asked visitors to place a sticker for their answer.

Miray's Animal Abuse display led to interesting conversations among our guests which helped her to more deeply understand the issue.

Sule's Public Safety survey was a hit among younger children.

Suheda's Mental Illness exhibit led to eye opening results to her poignant question, 'Do you know any person who has a mental illness?'

Taking turns supervising the exhibits led to each student learning more about each others' issues!

I've been very excited to see moments of inspiration occurring this week. Miray's bloody paw prints are certain to evoke empathy in her Exhibition.

On Friday, all of the Grade 5/6 students became engrossed in documentary videos about mental illness. This kind of collaboration is one of the most difficult to achieve goals of the PYP Exhibition!

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International Children's Day

Our International Children's Day exhibit is a prelude to our Exhibition. I asked the students to focus on their globally significant issue and create a display to raise awareness. They were busy researching and discussing all week. Finally, we created our materials.

We will also be hosting a game, Rafa Rafa. It is an activity to practice intercultural communication and promote international mindedness.

It was a lot to ask the students to learn this activity while working on their Exhibition projects, but they have been very patient and committed.

I am sure that we will continue this spirit of collaboration as our Exhibition preparations continue. I look forward to seeing your at International Children's Day!

Being an author!

Grade5/6 students have been making their own story this month.

They picked one picture and wrote down the keywords they were inspired from the picture.

They also learned how to use ki-shou-ten-ketsu, the four-part organization of the story.

(Ki（起）is introduction. Shou（承）is development.Ten（転）is turn. Ketsu（結）is conclusion.)

Exhibition week 1

We have literally started this years Exhibition with a BANG! Suheda has been pursuing inspiration to create art by exploding paint filled balloons onto paper. She conducted many experiments related to the amount of liquid and air to put into the balloons and methods to puncture them. 

Miray and Sule have been very cooperative whenever she needs extra help. We shared her first product on our class twitter feed:

First exploding paint balloon artwork. #pypexhibition pic.twitter.com/SoIYr2uaNQ
— 'Uniters' JIES Gr5/6 (@JIESgrade6) April 10, 2015

I was impressed that Sule began her project by making a memo book to help keep herself organized.

She struggled to think of a global issue connected to wrecking balls and building demolitions, but she's going to research Public Safety to get started. I expect that her Exhibition will include a lot of building and destroying!

Miray's passion for animals helped her to settle on a global issue quickly: Animal Rights.

For International Children's Day, she will be exploring 'Sharing the planet' by raising awareness for animal rights. 

Raising awareness for #AnimalRights. #pypexhibition pic.twitter.com/zxCWRkDaez
— 'Uniters' JIES Gr5/6 (@JIESgrade6) April 10, 2015

She rushed to make a poster, but decided to start over and take more time to make it look better.

It's very exciting to see the Uniters working independently and I expect that this Exhibition will be a fascinating experience for all of us.

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Farewell, Bushra.

Although we did our best to remain positive, this has truly been a sad week for the JIES Grade 5/6 Uniters. We must say farewell to Bushra and family as they move to a new city and school. She seemed to enjoy one of her final inquiry activities of building a model of a tower and wrecking ball.

We all certainly enjoyed our trip to Toshimaen! I don't think I have ever seen the students run so much! It was a fun way to spend time with our friend before she leaves.

The trip to Toshimaen was our PYP Exhibition 'Kick Off'! Please enjoy the motivational video I made last year to help set the mood.

The Exhibition is a rite of passage from elementary or primary school into middle school. It is an opportunity for students to reflect on the learning and growth they have engaged in and demonstrate their maturity as internationally minded global citizens.

On Friday, we recorded our first interview reflection videos. Please click on a student's name (Miray, Sule, Suheda) to view.

I can't wait to see what they accomplish over the Spring Break!

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