The children have been enjoying solving maths story problems so much that we decided to create our own! In an integrated maths/language lesson, students worked in small groups to create their own story problems using the concepts of addition and number bonds. We drafted our stories and self-edited, checking for correct spelling, punctuation, and, of course, correct addition. We also created an answer page, including a variety of different solutions. Our Story Problems book is now available for use in our maths games basket.
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As an invitation activity to our unit about the imagination, Grade 1AC was given a big open-ended activity: Create something using your imagination! We used the art studio as a space to imagine and create using fabrics, dress-up items, leaves, flowers, rocks, building blocks, construction pieces, and arts and crafts materials. Some of us role-played, some created symbol alphabets, some created imaginary playgrounds and other environments . Every child created something different!
In each unit of inquiry, learners have the opportunity to:
An inquiry cycle guides the learning. There are many different versions of the inquiry cycle, but my favourite is developed by University of Arizona College professor Kathy Short. In Short's "Authoring Cycle", children become protagonists of the learning process. They construct meaning about themselves and the world beginning with issues that are significant to them. The picture below shows what questions students might ask themselves during each phase of the inquiry cycle: For more information about each phase of the cycle, open the file below:
From: Taking the PYP Forward, "Chapter 1: Inquiry as a stance on curriculum", Kathy G. Short (2009)
We are beginning a new unit in mathematics called "Making Shapes and Designing Quilts". This geometry unit focuses on two-dimensional shapes and the relationships among them. Students will observe, describe, compare, classify, represent, and build with 2D shapes. They will also also combine triangles and squares to make quilt patterns. Students will continue to engage in math problems and activities and share how they solve problems. During our Literacy block, we've been investigating the common elements of fairy tales and how stories can be told in different ways from different authors' and illustrators' perspectives. We've also been practicing retelling stories in sequential order and organizing our stories into beginning, middle, and end. Our Goldilocks and the Three Bears work spanned several lessons over the course of a week. First we read the traditional story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Then we read an alternative version called Goldilocks and the Other Three Bears. We compared the two stories using a Venn diagram. We also completed a beginning, middle, end organizer for each story. Finally we made a unit connection, and used our imaginations to create another alternative version of the story. We came up with some very inventive ideas! After planning the story in our organizers we wrote and illustrated our stories. Yesterday we started our new unit of inquiry. It is under the transdisciplinary theme "How we express ourselves". We are exploring the central idea "Imagination is a tool for extending people's ability to think, create, and express themselves." Our lines of inquiry are:
So far we have done a lot of thinking about how imagination connects to our lives. We are sharing common understandings and being introduced to new perspectives. Stay tuned to our blog for more updates on our new unit! For a few weeks now we've been working on understanding and solving maths word problems. We've even created a few of our own! Here is our story problem routine:
This routine has helped us to make our thinking visible. The materials we are using, including number lines, cubes, and counters, support us to solve problems with accuracy and build concept of number. Over the course of our first unit of inquiry, Grade 1AC documented the connections we made between important topics, ideas, and concepts. Our mind map made our thinking visible to other members of the school community and we received lots of comments about what a talented group of thinkers we are! Jack B. was unable to do PE this week due to an injury. Click here to see a PE lesson through his eyes on the ISS PE blog.
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Grade 1ACWe are a group of Grade 1 students at the ISS International School in Singapore. Our teacher is Ms. Alison. Take a look at how much we're growing and learning! VisitorsWhat's happening in PE?What's happening in Art?What's our Principal up to?What's happening in Literacy?Grade 1 Classes We Follow:Ms. Cassidy's Class (Moose Jaw, Canada)
Mr. David Bullio's Class (Tokyo, Japan) Mrs. Frazier's Class (Ohio, USA) Archives
August 2013
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