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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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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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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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!

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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Parents' Day

It was fun to see you at Parents' Day! The Grade 5/6 'Uniters' were thrilled to share their stop motion animation video, Save the Water, with our school community. Please enjoy watching it, too!

I was happy that the Parents' Day visit happened during Independent Inquiry. It was a fantastic chance for parents to see the students pursuing their own interests and collaborating on each others' projects.

Sule enjoyed participating in Bushra's 'make up' project while listening to music. Bushra also recruited her mother to illustrate her sense of beauty and fashion!

Suheda and her mother brainstormed ideas for the PYP Exhibition. Even though their heads were 'empty', they worked together to make many ideas!

Miray used some of her time to master mathematics facts. It's great to see the students improving their time management and taking responsibility for balance in their learning.

I can't believe that next week is the end of the term! We will decide and schedule our Exhibition 'kick off' trip and begin gathering ideas so that the students can start inquiring during Spring Break.

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Circles & Drama

Miray and Sule had a special challenge this week to divide three circles into four equal parts. I was excited to see their creative strategies. We applied just about twenty minutes per day to the task and both were finished on Friday.

These days, we have had a strong attraction to drama. The students love playing drama games, but I thought it was the right time for them to consider their audience and create some improvised drama that is more serious and emotional.

After organizing our ideas on paper, we designed new drama games to create more meaningful improv skits.

Of course, we also take time to play drama games 'just for fun'.

The students wanted me to share the picture below as an example of them being courageous while playing jenga.

I'm glad they are noticing when they express our IB attitudes and I hope they will transfer that awareness to other areas of learning and living. We are all tired after working hard for our IB PYP verification visit and ready for a restful weekend.

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Science & Numeracy Week

This was a busy and productive week. We started by rearranging the furniture in the classroom. We were all happy with the new arrangement.

Inspired by an activity at Edcamp Tokyo, the students wanted to to try a challenge. They tied ribbon to their wrists so that two people would be stuck together. It is possible to escape, but it takes creativity and cooperation.

Bushra and Suheda even tried staying tied together until they solved the puzzle, but it was a bit too inconvenient.

The Science & Numeracy Week activities were a hit as usual. I was working in the 'volcano balloon' room and captured pictures of Miray and Safiye working together on a fun chemistry experiment.

On Thursday, our class schedule cooperated with the weather, and we took our field trip to Yoyogi Park to conduct the students' Fashion Perception Survey. If you have a few minutes, please complete the survey!

It was inspiring to see all of the students acting with great confidence and enthusiasm! We published the survey online and were excited to see that Julia, from last year's grade 6 class, had responded!

In the next weeks, we will be completing all of our inquiry tasks so that we can 'kick off' the Exhibition. Please visit our Exhibition website for details!

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