The Life of Steve Jobs Assembly

Today, we had our annual Grade 5/6 assembly! 

As a literacy component of our unit on how "technology impacts the world of work and leisure", we worked together to write a script about the life of Steve Jobs. 

For this project, we applied our research skills (media literacy) to use online platforms to find the information we were looking for. 

We also used our communication skills (literacy) to write for the school community as the audience. We did this by taking notes based on our research about Steve Jobs and rewriting the text in our own words. Each student was responsible to write a section of the script. 

If you were unable to make it, take a look at the video above!

Theatre Genres

This week, we have been exploring genres in theatre as a part of our year-long drama unit. 

First, we watched a video in which the movie Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was edited in seven different genres. 

Afterwards, we discussed what watching the video made us notice and think. Instead of having an oral discussion, we used a visible thinking routine called Chalk Talk in which we had a silent discussion by writing and responding to each other on sticky notes. 

We responded to our classmates' opinions and ideas using symbols such as a star to agree, a question mark to ask for clarification, and an arrow for responding in other ways, such as connecting, paraphrasing, and disagreeing. 

Using this visible thinking routine enabled all learners to have an equal voice which especially empowered some of us who tend to be shy during oral discussions. 

 Later on, we found out about the three main genres of theater: tragedy, comedy, and tragicomedy. 

The elements of each genre can be seen below. 

In order to increase our understanding, we decided to recreate the story of the Three Little Pigs in the following genres: tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy-horror!

Below are the success criteria we built together as well as a detailed description of our project. 

We have been working in teams to film and edit our videos. 

Stay tuned to watch the completed projects!

We are also starting a new Unit of Inquiry under the transdisciplinary theme:  

How we Organise Ourselves. 

Above is a photo of our unit wall. 

What do you think this unit will be about? 

You might get a big hint on Monday!

Christmas Market

A Belated Happy New Year!

In December, we worked with the Grade 3 class to set up booths at the school Christmas Market which took place on December 15th. 

This project served as the summative assessment task for our Unit of Inquiry with following central idea: People share their responsibilities in communities through offering goods and services in marketplaces.

After some brainstorming and decision making at the start of the month, we pitched our ideas in front of a panel of all-star judges in order to receive feedback. 

Then, we demonstrated independence and commitment by setting up daily plans using a weekly schedule to make sure we would be ready by the date of the market. 

We were such busy bees!

In the weeks leading up to the Christmas Market, we applied our social skills in order to make various decisions within our groups with the goal of making a profit. 

We needed to make sure that our visitors enjoyed our services and were satisfied with our products. 

The day finally arrived and we were ready to go!

Some of us provided services by designing different games for the customers...

...while others sold products such as ornaments and different kinds of hot chocolate!

After the winter holidays, we applied our addition and subtraction skills in order to calculate the profit made by each group. 

We needed to take into account the total amount we had at the end of the market, the change we borrowed from the school office, and the list of expenses. 

We found out that between the two classes, a grand total of 16,000 yen was made which was donated to the Kansai Food Bank! 

What an accomplishment! 😎

Project Week Presentation

On the last day before spring break, we had our final presentation for project week. 

This year, our focus was on the transdisciplinary skills. 

In grade 2, we focused on social skills, communication skills, and research skills. 

Here, Noah is explaining how he used his research skills to conduct a class survey to graph the results. 

Hariki is explaining how he used his communication skills (writing and presenting) while going through the steps in the writing process to create his own book. 

We were very proud to show the various stages of writing...

...and read our final published books!

We not only shared with our families, but also with other students from different classes!

The preschool students were especially interested in our stories!

Listening closely...

Here is a shot from our recent field trip to the Maeshima Garbage Centre. 

Enjoy the rest of your spring break, and see you next week!