How lucky we have been to experience the craziest week of weather leading up to our weather inquiry! We have seen hail, snow, sun, wind, rain, and storms! Our brains are filled with questions!
Hi families!
As we progress as an I.B. school, we are taking time to consider each of the factors that contribute to an I.B. education and working to make them a daily part of student learning. Action is a critical piece of this learning! Action is a student-initiated, extension of learning. Action may have a social impact on the school or community. Action can be big projects, but more often it is embedded in the small moments. For example, a student coming home and independently experimenting with mixing colors is an extension of their current unit! Anytime your student comes home and uses their new vocabulary or extends their ideas to new contexts, they are taking action! Please help us celebrate action by sending in any examples of action that your student is taking at home. If it was part of a conversation, write it down and send it in! We would love to hang it on our I.B. board and empower students to take ownership of their learning! Student action can connect to any of the units of inquiry we have engaged in so far this year! As a refresher :) we have studied.. -systems -quilts, memories, change -color communicates and inspires Thank you to all of the families that were able to attend our story quilt celebration before Winter Break! It was a very special day for students to present their projects and hard work. Over the course of this project students learned how to use a rubric to self-assess their work. We will begin to use rubrics as a learning tool for many projects! Below are photographs of all three kindergarten classes working on the quilts. It was amazing to see the difference in their writing over the course of 6 weeks, they grew so much. We have begun a study into the way systems help us to learn, work, and play together. Students are discovering the interconnectedness of systems, in that when one part does not do it's job the system breaks down.
We have created webs with string, studied lines as systems, and organized the blocks pictured above! Students best described the mess that we had before, "if you don't know where the block you want is, you won't be able to find anything!" We will continue into our study of systems by designing classroom jobs, creating a set of classroom rules, and exploring other systems in our school (the office, the cafeteria, etc.). While you are with your student around town or at home, point out how systems operate so that people can learn, work, and play together. For example, everyone needs to follow the rules on the road or the stoplight would not be safe. At the store, someone needs to put food on the shelves while other people check the food out in line. All systems are interconnected, with each part playing an important role. In addition to this study, we will continue our conversation about the IB attribute caring, while also introducing risk-taker and inquirer. Point out with your child when they are being brave by trying new things, or asking important questions about the world around them. All of these attributes work together to create the IB Learner Profile, which will be central to our work this year. I look forward to speaking to everyone in greater detail about IB on curriculum night! September 29th! |
IB Pathway at Mitchell SchoolWe are proud to engage our students in authentic inquiry that prepares them to build a peaceful world. Archives
March 2017
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