As we explore the Atlantic provinces of Canada, students were challenged to design and construct a ship that could hold weight and stay afloat. In their teams, students had to work on social skills and self-management skills as they completed the challenge. Then, we got to test the boats in our water table. We had so much fun!
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The September IB PYP Learner Profile of the month is Communicator. As we start off the school year, we worked on becoming expert communicators. We learned that being a good communicator doesn't just mean I have to be good at sharing my thoughts, but I also need to be a great listened. We played various communication games, but this one was our favourite! We had to create an image using fall items, and then clearly explain our image to our partner who couldn't see what we did, and they had to recreate it on their page! As students in Grade 2 explore measurement, they were challenged to use non-standard units of measurement to measure various objects around the classroom. They were given a string (1m), a popsicle stick (1 dm), and a centicube (1cm). In groups, they had to decide the best way to measure the various lengths of objects and record their information. This activity gave students experience measuring objects in real-life, and challenged their thinking skills as they had to get creative to measure objects bigger than their supplies. Upon our return to school in January, students in Kindergarten and Grade 1/2 got to play with language in a hot chocolate centre. Students got to play different roles, such as customers and workers, and used French language skills to communicate. Students also got to practice math skills, as they had to use play money to pay. This cross-curricular centre allows students to practice various skills through one activity. What fun! Writing letters to the North Pole before our Winter Break was part of our French class. We followed a template, learned about the structure of letters, and used vocabulary words to write our letter to send. Here, you can see us using a word wall to write our letters independently. Luckily, they got there just in time, and we were able to hear back from them before we left for the holidays!
Students in Grade 1/2 took on the role of researcher and author to create their own research guides about a nocturnal animal of their choice. We worked on research skills such as: finding information, taking notes and summarizing. Then, we took our information and created different sections for our books. We looked at different non-fiction texts, and noticed that we should include a table of contents, so we made sure to write out the titles to our chapters. Then, we wrote out our books and worked on the illustrations. Now, we've finished our books and we've published them in our classroom!
Students in Grade 1/2 are currently learning about the Earth's Natural Cycles. In addition to that, they are learning about different types of weather that typically happen during the 4 seasons in Canada. To learn and develop language, students can play at a weather station and practice being meteorologists. They learn about extreme weather and play pretend all in French!
Students in Grade 1/2 are wrapping up their first unit of inquiry on Artists' Expression. Throughout this unit, students learned about a different artist each week. We learned about Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Keith Haring, Yahoo Kusama, Alexander Calder, and Hannah Hoch. We explored different mediums, tools, and types of artwork. Each time we learned about a new artist, we focused on expressing ourselves, or communicating a message. As our summative assessment, we wrote an autobiography about ourselves as artists. We got our hands messy, enjoyed the process, and had a lot of fun! The class is learning how to create strong sentences with proper punctuation. Students used a graphic organizer to create two sentences about their favorite animal. They drew a picture of their favorite animal and then wrote two ideas to put in their sentences.
This week in iSTEAM, students explored how arctic animals stayed warm even though temperatures are often below freezing. We learned that some arctic animals have blubber to keep warm in the water, others have multiple layers of fur and fat, and some huddle together to protect themselves from the icy arctic wind. For this experiment, we focused on animal blubber. First, we made predictions about how long we could keep our fingers in ice water. Then, we tested out our theories and recorded the results and observations. Students lasted between 10 seconds and 1 minute. Then, we predicted how long our fingers would last in the ice water with a layer of blubber - we used baking shortening. Then, we covered our fingers in a thick layer of blubber and put them back in the water. Most of us lasted longer than 4 minutes! It was so cool to see how we couldn't feel the cold water through the thick layer of blubber! Take a look at some photos below. |
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