Short weeks always seem to be packed with lots of great work!
The kindergartens and grade 1/2s have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on their animal habitats. They are looking fantastic! My hope is that over the next couple of weeks we might be able to use technology to help us capture the ideas for their creations so that others in the school will be able to see their incredible work. If you are coming by for Curriculum Night on Tuesday, please stop by and see your child's creation. Many have been proudly sharing their work with the principal during her classroom visits.
This week, the 2/3s, 3/4s and 4/5s were hard at work in the ideation phase of the Design Thinking process. Students learned that storyboards are used in a variety of industries - game creation, movies, design, etc. - and had the chance to watch a short video, helping them to see how we take an idea and bring it to life through the use of a storyboard.
After watching, they created their own storyboards, telling their peers how they hope to solve their problems. Many are still in the process of finishing up their storyboards. Next week we hope to get to some feedback sessions to help their ideas move along even further. I see the build in sight!
In French, we have finished our bioglyphs and we will be starting a new unit on food next week.
I hope that you have a wonderful long weekend and I look forward to connecting with families on Tuesday at our Curriculum Night.
What a week! It was great to meet so many families on Tuesday during curriculum night. I look forward to working with students and their families on this year's learning journey. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
Our habitats are complete! The kindergarten and grade 1/2 students had the chance to put the finishing touches on their habitats and many also had the opportunity to share the features of their habitats with a partner and the entire class. Next week we are starting to connect our work back to Media Literacy as we will be learning about what it is and creating our own media related to our habitats. Stay tuned!
The grade 2/3s, 3/4s and 4/5s have completed their storyboards. After having a lesson on how to give feedback that is kind, specific, and helpful, some classes have already begun. The process continues next week and hopefully we can begin working on creating our prototypes.
In French, we started a new unit on food. Students had the opportunity to listen to a text, learn vocabulary around pizza toppings, and started to create their own short presentations on the topings that they like and don't like. Next week, we'll be doing presentations and continuing our learning around food.
We're building, prototyping and coding!
The kindergarten and grade 1/2 students have shared their habitat creations with one another and this week, we moved on to some Lego challenges and coding. Students were tasked with creating something that made them happy and then sharing their creations with one another.
Using unplugged coding activities, students learned that when we give commands to a human - or even a robot - they are able to perform different functions. Using arrows, we followed a code to uncover a mystery animal and we started to learn how arrows can help us communicate the directions in which we move.
From unplugged to plugged, students were tasked with moving their mTiny robots from one location to another. While the remote seemed much easier to use, next week we will be focusing on using the arrows to code our path from one place to the next.
The students in grades 2/3, 3/4, and 4/5 were creating prototypes of their solutions. Some created physical solutions like a bucket or robot, while others focused on creating their screens for a website or application.
Later in the week, we took a break to build some grippers for our Dash robots. Next week we're going to be using them to complete a few challenges.
In French, students presented their pizzas and we started reading a text about a family heading to a buffet for a birthday celebration. Students were also exposed to more vocabulary related to foods. Next week, students will be tasked with making selections from a buffet and presenting their choices to the class.
This week we continued on our coding journey with all grades.
Kindergarten students and those in grade 1/2 were tasked this week with using the coding mat to create and share their own story about a day in the life of the panda. Using the expression and arrow blocks, students created great stories and added emotions to panda's events of the day.
In grades 2/3 and 4/5, students used Dash and the gripper to move objects from one location to another by engaging in a variety of challenges. Students learned to debug their code when they realized that it wasn't working as expected.
In virtual STEM, students started working on pitches this week. Given 90 seconds in an elevator with someone else, how might you share your problem, solution and impact? Creating a quick slide deck with images and facts, students considered how they would create an effective pitch. They also had the opportunity to use an online Lego building tool to create a representation of an activity in their favourite season.
In French, we continued to learn about items found at a buffet. Students created their presentations and we will be presenting next week.