Projects and collaboration

The Art Exhibition with Jinsho has been an inspiring way to motivate ourselves to collaborate on creative projects. Working together toward a goal and with a deadline quickly approaching has tested our time management and organizational skills, as well as the abilities of our project managers.

Suheda is the project manager for our stop motion animation video about global water issues. She did an outstanding job synthesizing each of the student's 'chapters' into a meaningful story. Everyone was excited to see how she tied their stories together.

Miray is in charge of the art exhibit. She enjoyed holding project meetings to discuss our plans and has been open to all of the team members' suggestions.

I've enjoyed seeing the students' concentration this week. After reflecting together on our progress and some stern assessments by their teacher, they seemed to realize the urgency of the projects and were extremely productive at the end of the week.

Most interesting to me were the inquiries required to create their art. For example, Miray and Sule read books from our school library about paper and plastic to learn about how they are made, where they come from, and their consequences.

Today's 'warm up': Open the window and watch the snow fall.

A video posted by Bart Miller (@botofotos) on Jan 29, 2015 at 3:39pm PST

Finally, on Friday, it snowed. The whole class spent the morning meeting time with the window open, quietly enjoying the falling snow and the unique thoughts and feelings that it brings.

We look forward to sharing our learning with you at the Celebration of Learning on Friday, 6 February.

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Art takes over!

One of my favorite aspects of the International Baccalaureate Organization Primary Years Program is its integration. That means that when we are learning mathematics, we are also learning science and visual arts; when we are learning music, we are also learning language and history. The possibilities for deep, meaningful learning are endless!

This week, it has been the visual arts finding their way into all of our learning.

I noticed that Suheda using her graphic design skills to enhance her writing.

Miray and Bushra applied technology and research strategies to support themselves drawing storyboards for our stop motion animation movie.

 

Sule's art skills are helping her to draw models in mathematics which are more accurate and useful.

We will be applying our skills as much as possible as we prepare our exhibit for the big Jinsho/JIES Art Exhibition on 5-6 February.

On Friday, all the students together assembled and raised the colorful roof flags for the exhibit.

It is hard to believe that this inquiry is halfway finished! I've been very impressed with the Uniters' growing independence and confidence. They will need those attitudes and more to be successful in their PYP Exhibition.

We will be having an Exhibition Parents and Community meeting in February. I will send an email when the exact date and time are scheduled.

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New Reading card

This week, I gave Grade5/6 students a new reading card.
I hope this can help students clarify which project they are learning during each unit.
Thank you so much for your support at home.

This week, Grade 5 students learned Japanese words from Japan, China and other foreign countries.
(Wago/和語・Kango/漢語・Gairaigo/外来語）
They learned each one has a different role.
Grade6 students made some Haiku according to "Tanoshimiwa".
First they think which moment they feel happy and excited, then they made some poems.
Haiku is the Japanese traditional poems which has 5-7-5-7-7 syllables.
Some Haiku Students composed made us really hungry because it was about hot pancakes!

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Getting creative

In our current theme, 'How we express ourselves', creativity is center stage. After many weeks of practicing essential mathematical skills, for example, I challenged Miray and Sule to write a word problem that would use parentheses to solve.

It seems to be just the challenge they need and a great way to inquire into concepts and mechanics of mathematics.

Ms Ak has been helping the class to learn stop motion animation. For practice, they wrote an adaptation of The Cat in the Hat and recruited Kindergarten students to play 'things'.

 

The process of shooting was fascinating. It's exciting to see the students practicing so many important social skills like resolving conflicts, verbal and nonverbal communication, and adopting a variety of roles.

Regrettably, we learned a difficult lesson about technology when our director, excited to preview the film, accidentally deleted it from the camera memory!

However, seeing how well the class works together and with their little actors, I'm sure they will have no problem shooting the movie again when we have extra time.

This month, we are also emphasizing reading comprehension, formal writing, and mathematics in order to best prepare for the International Schools' Assessment in February.

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Identify yourself!

Happy New Year!

As the students organize and present their personal history research findings, we are also starting a unit in the theme of 'How we express ourselves' called Identify Yourself!. The central idea for this unit of inquiry is 'Identity is expressed through daily choices.' On the first day of the term, students wrote their initial impressions of this statement.

I was particularly impressed with the different strategies used. It's exciting to see everyone thinking in original and creative ways, something that will be extremely important when they prepare their PYP Exhibition!

Another important element of the Exhibition is engaging with the school community. We have been including the other students at school in our learning by sharing our work in the corridor.

 

Younger students have enjoyed changing their perspective with Suheda's periscope.

Sule tried to explain how to play a new game to a Kindergartener, but discovered that it may have been too difficult and complicated for him to understand and enjoy.

It's also exciting to see students taking more responsibility for themselves and our classroom.

Miray noticed that a box that had been used weeks earlier was simply sitting around doing nothing. She decided to take action. She emptied the box, sorted the rubber bands and straws she found inside, then returned them to the art supply room.

(The information below was also sent in an email to families' school email addresses.)

Our class wiki contains much information and many links related to our learning, including our daily warm ups, homework chart, and weekly schedule. Please visit!

Please continue to enjoy the weekly posts on the JIES Grade 5/6 Blog.

Kidblog is where we publish and share our learning with you and the world. Please follow our posts and add your comments!

Please join the 'Uniters' Grade 5/6 Google+ Community using your JIES email. It will be a convenient place for us all to share our learning and inspire each other. We also have a G+ Community for Performing Arts at JIES if you would like to join, as well.

Be sure to check your child's gradesheet regularly to stay updated on her progress and achievement in Reading, Spelling, Mathematics, and Homework. View the gradesheet in Google Sheets to leave comments or ask questions.

Thanks for reading!

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Writing a letter in Japanese

A happy new year!　あけましておめでとうございます。

The first week of this year,Grade 3,4,5 and 6 students decided to write their new year's resolutions on the letter to their parents.
They are writing really sweet letters while they can learn how to write a formal letter in Japanese.
Formal letter is consisted with 4 parts.
①First greeting
②Main part of the letter
③Last greeting
④Date and names
We will learn how to write zip code and address on the envelop soon.
Hopefully we can send the letter next week and enjoy the letter with their family at home.

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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!

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