Conflict Resolution Workshop

This week, we started facilitating workshops for younger students to coach them on conflict resolution strategies. 

Markus, Fabiano, and Jose joined the learners in Grade 4 on Thursday. 

After sharing different ways to solve conflicts through a presentation, we invited the 4th Graders to act out the solutions through role play. 

Below is a video of the entire workshop! 

We also applied the skills we have been learning in Writers' Workshop by creating this pop-up book on the various choices which can be made when conflicts occur at a global level. 

As a concrete example, we especially made connections to the current war between Russia and Ukraine. 

What do you think is the best option and why?

Mini-inquiries about Architecture

In the PYP, we often pursue our own interests under the umbrella of the Units of Inquiry. These "mini-inquiry projects" help us develop self-management skills and research skills to prepare us for longer-term projects such as the exhibition. 

Some of these personal projects are more structured while others are more open-ended. Since this was our first personal project of the school year, we started with something more structured. As the year progresses, we will work on projects where we decide on our own unique ways to show our learning. 

Below is the instruction that we received. 

For this project, we came up with our own inquiry questions. You might be wondering, "What are level 2 and 3 questions?" Please take a look at this blog post to find out!

Here are some of the completed collages. 

Here, we are sharing our findings with our classmates. 

We also took some time to inquire into how architectural designs have changed over time by creating these posters, listing the key features of each architectural movement. Once the posters were completed, we used our communication skills to share our new learning with the rest of the class. 

We hope you enjoyed learning about architecture!

 

Play in Grade 5/6

 

Play is not only for little kids! 

In Grade 5/6, we inquired into the following question during visual arts: 

How can we use watercolor in different ways? 

What better way to learn than through play?

We curated resources on this Padlet to help us learn new techniques. 

Some of the techniques we tried out were...

• dry wash
• wet paint onto a wet wash
• water drops onto a wet wash
• color blending
• underpainting
• layering
• watercolor blooms

Some of us used different tools such as salt and plastic wrap to see what kind of effect there would be on the paint. 

Sometimes, our art turned out differently from what we had initially expected. 

This is OK because we learn through experimentation.

 The process of questioning, trying different approaches, and reflecting with a growth mindset is so important for developing new skills and understandings!

Now that we have learned some techniques, we can't wait to create more complex pieces starting next week!

In our Unit of Inquiry, we finished our unit on human migration last week. 

Check out our unit wall and how much we learned!

Factors, percent, new unit, OH MY!

 

This week, the Grade 6 mathematicians explored the concept of percent through the lens of form, function, and connection. 

The sticky notes with the stars represent their new learning. 

Check out the conversation in the video below!

The Grade 5 mathematicians continued their investigation into the concept of factoring, through the lens of form, function, connection, and reflection. 

The writing in blue represents their initial understanding and the orange represents how their thinking has changed. We have been practicing asking each other "What makes you say that?" to dig deep into ideas in our conversations.

You can see in the chart above how the mathematicians' understanding developed over time. 

This week, we also started our new unit with the transdisciplinary theme: Where we are in place and time. 

We are applying the framework of a visible thinking routine called Peel the Fruit as we consider the following questions throughout the unit:

• What do we see and notice?
• What do we wonder?
• What connections can we make?
• What's REALLY going on here?
• How can we consider different perspectives?
• What's the central idea?

As we looked at some photos, we posted our questions on our Wonder Wall. 

Some of the questions which came up were...

• Why are so many people together?
• Where do the people in the pictures go and what do they do?
• How is the problem of people needing to go to refugee camps growing or shrinking?
• What happens to people who get left behind during a migration?
• What will happen if our country is not safe?

Zoom into the photos on our Peel the Fruit unit wall. 

What do YOU wonder about?

Making Sense of the Central Idea

This week, the central idea of our first unit was revealed: 

Our mindsets and understanding of the process of learning enable us to build skills and habits to reach our goals.  

We looked at different chunks of the central idea and considered what the words meant, made connections, and drew illustrations of our visualizations. 

Once we made sense of the four sections of the central idea, we got together in groups to rewrite it in our own words. Check out what Miles' group came up with! You can see the rewritten central ideas by the other groups on the pink slips on the photo above. 

We also used a visible thinking routine called 3, 2, 1 Bridge to reflect on how our understanding of the word "learning" changed before and after watching the video below. 

Our understanding of learning changed as we found out that our brains are malleable, meaning that they can stretch and grow like muscles! 

This realization led to our research about the concept of a growth mindset using our newly learned skill of sketchnoting. 

This visual note-taking strategy helps us as the dual-coding theory suggests that our brains process information more effectively when both verbal associations and visual imagery are being used.

Take a look at how we processed our learning in different ways by making various connections! 

We watched this video and this video as well as other resources we found through our own investigation.