We all had a week long holiday and came back to school relaxed, full of impressions and ready for learning and having fun with friends and teachers.

In Class Support

Both Grade 2 and Grade 3 started their new units. It is one of the most exciting phases of the inquiry process, as our students share their wonderings with us about the theme of the unit.
In Grade 2 we began to discuss food as a resource. We began introducing our students to the new vocabulary of the unit and I prepared several activities for the whole class. In order to set the mood and give our students some food for thought we watched a video about World Hunger and Food Waste. A meaningful discussion took place after we finished watching the video. The targeted language was used again and again during this discussion. After that the children were involved in a cooperative learning activity. I chose six new words to focus on and all the students worked in six groups. Each group received cards with the word and definition and the word and image. The task was to discuss the cards with their parters and on an A4 sheet of paper write down the various connections they could make and come up with several wonderings. We worked in mixed ability groups and EELs had plenty of support from their peers. In the end of the session we shared our connections and wonderings with the rest of the class, while sitting in a circle on the carpet. We all enjoyed the activities and all the students had multiple opportunities to construct their understanding of the new words and practice the new language of the unit.

Kim Veng, Lukas and Erika were learning together.

Alicia actively participated in the discussion when learning with and from her peers.

While planning together with the Grade 3 team we decided to do the Color Symbol Image thinking routine with our students. Following Kath Murdock's recommendations we asked each student to complete his or her own CSI chart. The word in focus was PERFORMING. In the end of the session we all had a chance to share our thinking and perceptions with the rest of the class. This class was very insightful and we learned a lot about each other. For some people dancing was flowing like blue water and for others dancing was like hot red lava. Our Grade 3 kids came up with fascinating and wonderful symbols some of them common and some of them quite unique.

Yubin chose a yellow color for PERFORMING because yellow is a happy color.

Sharing in Miss Lisa's class was a great time for teamwork and even the shy team members spoke.

EFL Classes

In our EFL classes we began the week with reflecting on our holiday. My ELLs had to recollect their holiday experiences, plan their writing, write about their holiday and illustrate their writing.

We also began to think about our units and create concept maps and discuss our prior knowledge.

On Earth Day we listened to a podcast about water pollution and answered comprehension questions. 

EAL Beginners

We continued reading books  and developing our literacy skills in a small group of EELs. 

We discussed the main idea of the book and the importance of the author's message. My students practiced making connections to the unit theme, reading out loud and giving reasons for their opinion. 

We also enjoyed retelling the story at the end of the class and were proud that we remembered all the characters. 

Our plan for the next session is to make puppets and act out the story.