We set up five stations for students to perform different activities to get preliminary exposure to the different forces. It was also a great opportunity for us to assess their prior knowledge.
What are the forces that work around us? We set up five stations for students to perform different activities to get preliminary exposure to the different forces. It was also a great opportunity for us to assess their prior knowledge. After a few tuning in activities, these are some questions our students showed they were curious about. They also recorded their hypothesis. Next step: inquire into these questions in their independent inquiries. There were lots of interesting presentations on topics such as - pollution of seas, plastic problems, electronic waste, how to recycle metals, the importance of the ozone layer, impact of pollution on marine life. The students developed questions; they used their research skills to find the information from online sources and books; presented it creatively as - posters/ films, models and booklets. The progress in their research and presentation skills was evident and quite incredible!
0 Comments
Not much! A NASA scientist visited our school and gave a talk to g3 and 4 students today. He showed pictures and a video on satellites and a space station. We returned to class and students were given the option to use some recycled cardboard boxes that Ms Noreen and I had found. In no time, they became busy - sketching their ideas and then constructing models for space. We started our inquiry into weights by seeing what 10 grams really look like. We worked in small groups. One group of students used standard and non standard weighing scales to weigh objects in the classroom. We discovered that pencils and erasers weighed less than 10 grams. Another set of students used online sources to inquire into the meaning of the terms - weights and capacity and shared their findings. We compared water bottles and made estimates of the quantities. After constructing knowledge of weights, we decided to apply it to real life examples - we made chocolate oatmeal cookies in class! We worked in groups of 4 in the Yishun room next door, where we used digital weighing scales to measure the ingredients. Students showed off their talents in singing an performing instruments at the Spring concert. It took a few months of practice, collaboration and commitment on the part of students to put this wonderful performance together. SHARING THE PLANET - In our inquiry into the unit, we looked at what are resources, what is equality, and what does inequality mean in terms of resources that are available. Next, students developed some questions, that they will inquire into - To make a connection between what we learn in the classroom and the real world, we watched a short video on the food crisis in Venezuela. We identified the resources the people in Venezuela did not have access to, and recorded our responses.
We showed a lot of creativity and used our number skills to show that we love maths. Students wrote math problems, created puzzles and mystery numbers for others to solve in the elementary school. The challenge and the choice made it a fun experience for all the students. We started our inquiry into Sharing the planet with a water walk. Students imagined that they belonged to a poor family and their job was to fetch water that would be used for cooking, drinking, cleaning purposes. What started as a fun activity, soon became a challenge. PETER: I felt very tired because I had to walk so much. I am a little sad because in some countries in Africa, children have to walk so much everyday AXEL: I feel bad for the children who have to walk two miles for water. It was hard!!! KAJSA: I felt thirsty!!! I learnt that it is hard! Our g3.2 students amazed me with their clever inventions. They all used their thinking skills and thought of problems at home and in the classroom that they could solve. Some made inventions that could be used to pass erasers around; Peter made a magic glove that could be used to clean and scrub dirty dishes in the kitchen by his mum. Class Party brought excitement and a show of cooperation skills. Odrita, Fatima, Linda and Ilakshi were on the Planning committee. They did a survey to find out the most popular games for the praty and the schedule. Taiga, Liam, Aki and Apple were the decorators of the table- they laid the food for the buffet and made posters with directions. Then there was the cleaning committee: Axel, Eagle and Peter. To make the day more fun, we made ice lollies a few days ahead of time and stored them in the freezer to enjoy at the class party. As the photos show, there was a lot of enthusiasm to cut the fruits and mix the liquids! International Day! Inquiring into angles - can we find acute, obtuse and right angles in the real world?After a field trip to Newater where we learnt how water was cleaned and recycled, we decided to build our own mini water filters. First we used our thinking to design our water filter. Next we had to explain our thinking - why these materials would work.
|
Shagun Batlaw
I am excited to work with 8 -9 year olds and view the world from their perspective. Archives
May 2019
Categories |