Last week of Term 1

After a long and dynamic first term, it's time to bid farewell until next year. There were so many outstanding events this week and the pace was so fast, most of my photos are blurry!

One of the great successes of our most recent unit of inquiry was Suheda's periscope as a way to change point of view. It's a very unique project that authentically demonstrates the concept of Perspective while exploring mathematics, optics, and construction.

As part of their Cultural Expo, the students researched and created models of fashion from different parts of the world and historical eras.

Their outfits were not only creative, but historically and culturally accurate!

Planning for the Winter Performance Celebration of Learning was a valuable lesson in planning and time management, as the students wanted to create 'sets' just one day before the show! Although they did make backgrounds, we didn't bring all the necessary equipment to quickly mount them on stage.

The students were probably most excited to share their food. Unexpectedly, the JIES community ate everything!

We were all impressed and proud of Suheda's first public violin performance. Brava, Suheda!

Our trilingual dramatic production about perspective and point of view was interesting and entertaining.

Of course, who doesn't love a heartwarming song like That's What Friends Are For during the winter holiday season?

Now, we all deserve a rest, time with family, and a few homework assignments to keep our minds sharp and continue our inquiries. I've also sent it in an email, but here is the list of Winter Homework Tasks:

1 Personal History Project (interview, gather primary sources)

2 Independent reading (30 minutes per day, at least five days)

3 Daily Tasks Form (check email, Kidblog, XtraMath, Geography quizzes; at least five days)

4 Independent inquiry (at least one reflection)

5 Journal (Kidblog; at least two posts)

Thanks to everyone for your enthusiasm and commitment to learning this term! Happy New Year!

jies.jp

Counting down...

These last two weeks of Term 1 have started very well, with all of the students very engaged with their inquiries and excited to learn with their friends at school.

It has been a particularly busy week for Miray, starting with her blog post about one of her favorite television programs. Below is the tweet from our class Twitter account (twitter.com/jiesgrade6).

Miray blogged about a #greatstory, @digeryarimatv! http://t.co/UwzTZJtXg4 #Turkey
— 'Uniters' JIES Gr5/6 (@JIESgrade6) December 8, 2014

Sule and Miray worked together to measure the area of the school playground as part of Sule's inquiry into 'how many soccer balls would it take to fill the playground?'.

Congratulations to Suheda for completing XtraMath! Each student in our class practices XtraMath daily and can easily access their account from the JIES Grade 5/6 wiki (jiesgradefiveandsix2014-15.wikispaces.com).

It was difficult to keep the secret, but many students at JIES planned a surprise birthday party for Bushra!

Of course, finishing inquiries and preparing for the Winter Performance Celebration of Learning takes quite a lot of work. The class is collaborating to write a trilingual script about alien abduction and cultural perspectives over time. View their work in progress by clicking this link!

They also made a fun discovery while writing their script:

We have discovered the chat function in Google Docs. BAHAHAHA!
— 'Uniters' JIES Gr5/6 (@JIESgrade6) December 12, 2014

We're very excited for next week! See you on Thursday!

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Sky Tree and The Fab Mind

Before the next two weeks become too busy, we decided to squeeze in a field trip as part of our inquiry into Perspective, 'point of view', and how our 'personal histories connect us to the past and help to determine the future'.

Exploring #perspective at Tokyo Sky Tree! pic.twitter.com/UgDhc2J7QN
— 'Uniters' JIES Gr5/6 (@JIESgrade6) December 5, 2014

Seeing Tokyo from 450 meters altitude provides a rare and unique opportunity to experience Perspective visually and physically. I am curious to see how students apply this new understanding in other areas, for example, interpreting research or drawing.

The Fab Mind at Tokyo's premier design museum, 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, was the perfect compliment to our unit of inquiry. Our central idea, 'personal histories connect us to the past and help to determine future', might have been the theme of the exhibit. It features conceptually rich, technology and solution oriented, culturally and socially conscious, design and art work from around the world.

Next week, the students will complete their inquiries and begin to assemble their presentations for the second Celebration of Learning and Winter Performance.

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Growing independence

Independent Inquiry is an activity we do in the 'Uniters' class every Thursday. During this time, students are free to manage their own time and direct their own inquiries. Of course, they still have responsibilities to complete ongoing assignments and inquiry tasks, so it's an excellent opportunity to practice time management and reflecting on priorities.

Sule drew a meaningful graphic to remind herself to be balanced.

During the Peace Crane Project, one of our partner schools in South Africa was under a postal strike. They couldn't mail their peace cranes to us! Finally, the strike was resolved and the cranes arrived this week.

Seeing the students lackluster efforts during marathon a few weeks ago, I decided to set a goal that each one of us would run or 'fast walk' twenty five laps around the track every week. We have a goal sheet in the classroom. Thus far, we've run 384, but we're behind schedule!

Today, since we didn't have marathon due to Pika Pika Keyakki, all of the grade 5/6 students were completing their laps during recess. Miray's extra challenge was to bring a little friend along with her!

The class is digging deeper and deeper into 'points of view and how they change'. Suheda started a brilliant project of building a periscope to explore the scientific aspects of changing perspective.

Next week will be devoted almost entirely to inquiry as we begin exploring 'the links between world events' and 'how we record history'.

jies.jp

Going divergent

As our new unit of inquiry heats up, we begin new lines of inquiry. This week, on Wednesday, we starting inquiring into 'Points of view and how they change'. One fun and engaging way to explore this idea is by practicing divergent thinking through a series of challenges. My favorite is the candle problem.

Students were presented with a cardboard box containing a candle and several thumbtacks. Their instructions are to 'attach the candle to a corkboard so that it won't drip wax on the floor when lit'. To deduce the solution, one must think divergently, or see the problem in a different way.

How would you solve it?

Next, we played with circles. We all tested our imaginations by thinking of many different illustrations that could be made with a page full of circles.

I'm curious to see how each student applies their understanding of these exercises in metacognition, or thinking about how they think.

On Friday, we enjoyed modelling factorization of numbers.

Many mathematics curricula teach tricks for solving problems, but the PYP emphasizes conceptual understanding through modeling, making, testing, and other hands-on inquiry approaches.

We also finished reading The Fault in Our Stars and wrote our final reflections on the class blog. You can read all of our reflections for the Global Read Aloud by clicking this link: kidblog.org/JIESGrade562014-15/tag/gra14.

We have also been more active on our class Twitter account. Here are some recent tweets:

Please help Bushra with her #inquiry into 'blue #food'! http://t.co/q55Bb2oGIC
— 'Uniters' JIES Gr5/6 (@JIESgrade6) November 21, 2014

'How do you make yogurt?' pic.twitter.com/77oadpOEHi
— 'Uniters' JIES Gr5/6 (@JIESgrade6) November 20, 2014

Harajuku style! pic.twitter.com/FgaPTsap2s
— 'Uniters' JIES Gr5/6 (@JIESgrade6) November 20, 2014

If you use Twitter, please follow us at twitter.com/jiesgrade6. We would love to interact with you!

I look forward to the remainder of the term as we continue pursuing our inquiries more deeply and prepare for the second Celebration of Learning, the Winter Performance.

jies.jp