Exhibition: A Few Days Away

The Exhibition Showcase is just around the corner. The Exhibition will be held in the MPR and Black Box at the following times: 9:30-10:30, 11:00-12:00 and 2:00-3:00. We hope that you will be able to join us during one of these times.

Students continue to work on getting their presentations ready. It's amazing to see all the creative ways that students will share their learning. Skits, puppet shows and songs have been written; movies have been filmed; and models, games, mobiles and posters have been created. Something for everyone!

Maryam, Tanya, Anna and Nurin working on their Central Idea

Armaan (aka, Graph Man) proudly presents a bar graph

Ayla, Shunta and Aryan creating books and a mobile

Getting Ready: The Exbition Showcase

Students have analyzed their research data and determined the big ideas that they can take away from it. Now students are preparing for the Exhibition Showcase. The first thing we did was brainstorm different ways that inquirers can share their information and new learning. Some examples include:

Skit                                 Picture Book                        Song                        Poem

 

Bookmarks                      Essay                        Model                 List                     Movie

 

Puppet Show                         Experiment                               Graphs                 

 

 

After brainstorming ways to share, students were asked to create a plan to share their big ideas. In particular, students were asked to consider the BEST way to share their ideas, think about their passion (singing, writing, etc.) and think about their audience.

 

Now that students have their plans, they are busy carrying them out. Over the next 7 or 8 days, students will be working hard to get their presentations ready for the Exhibition Showcase on Wednesday, 22 May.  

Finishing Up Our Research

 

Last Friday marked the end of the research stage of the exhibition. Students have been meeting daily to discuss their progress and revise their research plans. In addition to using different research methods to answer their quesitons, students have also demonstrated time management and teamwork skills.

Groups Meeting to Discuss Research

 

 Next up:Thinking about their new learning. Students will discuss the information they gathered and determine the "big ideas" to take away from their research. 



Author Study: Roland Smith

Read alouds are an incredibly useful teaching tool. Read alouds and the discussions we have about them are one method used to teach students about the different comprehension strategies, how to monitor their thinking, and how to share ideas and use the text/background knolwedge to support their thoughts. More broadly, read aloud discussions help them learn how to talk about and enjoy books.



In addition to the above teaching points, read alouds can also be used to do author studies; that is, learn about the style of a particular author. In our classroom, the author we studied in depth was Roland Smith. Two of his books, Zach's Lie and Thunder Cave, were used as read alouds. Additionally, students had the opportunity to use his other books for book clubs. Some of the books read include Jack's Run (sequel to Zach's Lie), Jaguar and The Last Lobo (book 2 and 3 of Thunder Cave series), Sasquatch, Storm Runners, Cryptid Hunters, and Tentacles.







As part of our "Month of Reading" celebration, our class decided to dedicate our door to Roland Smith. Students decorated the door with illustrations of book covers, book summaries, a Roland Smith  biography, illustrations and descriptions of characters and much more. Students have also decided to contact Mr. Smith. They will share a few pictures, as well as a classroom letter. They also want to invite him to Tashkent for an author's visit. They have their fingers crossed that he will say yes.

Exhibition: Week 3 of "Finding Out"

Just a quick update on the exhibition. Students continue to work hard on finding answers to their questions. It's fun and exciting to see all of the different methods that they are using to gather information.

Oltan searching for books

Mujtabo, Firdavs and Ryouta reviewing their plans

Zoe, Yerin and Ania using their iPads to locate books and websites



In addition to the use of books and the internet, students are carrying out surveys, interviewing experts and going on field trips,. For example, the group researching cross-breeding, cloning and genetic engineering, visited a local garden to interview the gardener about cross-breeding. They came back with a lot of great information, as well as a few samples of plants that had been cross-bred. Fun stuff!

Students have approximately 8 more days dedicated to research. They will then move on to thinking about the information they found; they will analyze their data, draw their conclusions and think about what they have learned.

Exhibition: Here we go!

Students have begun the "Find Out" stage of the exhibition. We spent time discussing the different methods that can be used to answer questions. Some possible methods include:

• read books/websites/articles
• observations
• experiments
• surveys
• interviews
• watch video clips/documentaries
• go on a field trip

After discussing methods and resources, students created a plan to carry out their inquiry work. Students were encouraged to use a wide range of methods AND to use multiple methods to answer a single question.

Now the fun begins! Students are gathering books, searching for websites, creating interviews and surveys and thinking about possible field trips. It will be interesting to see what students learn during the "Find Out" stage. Please ask your child daily about their exhibition.

More on the Exhibition

This week students have written inquiry questions, sorted them according to lines of inquiry, discussed research methods and created a plan to carry out their inquiries. They have also been assigned a mentor. The mentor will support and encourage students throughout the exhibition.

Students reflecting on the inquiry process



The exhibition groups for this year are again based on student issues/passions. Here are the groups for this year:

Crime
Human impact on plants
Waste (water, electricty and money) and its connection to the environment
Expressing ourselves through music and dance
Systems management
Genetic engineering
Unexplored places
Human impact on animals
Rivalry
Cyber-bullying

As you can see, our students have a wide range of issues and passions they care about. We look forward to guiding students through the inquiry process.

Please ask your child to tell you about the work they have done so far for the exhibition.