Building relationships

We have come to the end of our Who We Are unit.

This week we spoke about what happens when there is conflict in a relationship. We delved deeper into how to resolve conflict and what conflict resolution means. The students worked in pairs to discuss how to resolve the common relationship conflicts. They shared their responses with the class through role-play, and using the three-step method to resolve conflict.

We spoke about all the characteristics that help build a positive relationship, by reflecting on all the characteristics and terminology that we have unpacked throughout the unit. So, to consolidate all the characteristics involved in 'building [positive] relationships', the students built a wall! 

We ended off the week by reflecting on all the learning and growth that has taken place over the six-week-long unit.

U - What do you UNDERSTAND about the topic?

N - What NEW information do you have?

I - What's INTERESTING about it?

T - What was TRICKY for you?

When the students paused to think about these questions, 

As we end this unit, it is important to state that the students showed great interest and engagement with this unit of inquiry. However, the truth is that this unit has not really come to an end, as the students have expressed that they would like to continue taking action and implementing the strategies and behaviours that we have inquired about throughout this unit. As a learning community (students, parents and teachers), I have no doubt that we all will support and remind the students to use the skills that they have honed throughout this unit, as time goes on.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms Theona 🌿

Empathy and Poetry

 We had a very busy week in Grade 2! Between completing assessments and learning about complex concepts in Maths and English, the students delved deeper into our unit of inquiry.

As a class, we dug deeper into what empathy is.  

The students' big takeaway was that 'empathy is contagious'; when one person is empathetic toward another, that person is motivated to show empathy to the next person, and so on it goes. One empathetic act at a time.

The students spent time discussing different scenarios which require empathy. They were tasked with answering questions such as "How might the person feel?" and "What could you do?" Through this activity, the students thought about how their thoughts and actions have an effect on the thoughts and actions of the people they have relationships with.

As a way to communicate their thoughts and feelings about their relationships, the students put their poetry writing skills to the test! The students brainstormed and drafted an acrostic poem about a chosen relationship in their lives. 

I am immensely proud of the students for what they produced in their poems! Some students showed vulnerability in expressing their personal feelings, some displayed witty humour and some students expressed deep appreciation for some of the closest people to them. They also used illustrations and colour to not only beautify their writing piece but to act as a visual for what their poetry is expressing. 

We are heading into the final week of this unit, and I look forward to hearing and seeing their reflections about what they have learned about building relationships.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Ms Theona 

🌿

New Year, New Opportunities!

 Welcome back, Grade 2 students and parents!

The students started the (short) week by catching up with each other about all the activities they got up to during the Winter break. Everyone was excited to share their holiday adventures and stories with each other. We definitely all missed each other and it is good to be back together again!

We then got into setting personal goals for 2025, as a new year brings new opportunities! We used the SMART goals acronym to guide our goal-setting process. Our unit of inquiry is centred around relationships, and as a class, we discussed that setting goals for ourselves is a healthy way to hone the relationships that we have with ourselves. Setting goals and sharing them with our closest relationships is also a good way to ensure support and encouragement as we aim to achieve what we have set out. The students enjoyed this exercise - some students found it challenging to visualize what they would like to accomplish, while for others it came a lot easier. The students should be proud of the effort they put into setting their goals and they are fortunate to have parents, teachers and classmates to help keep them motivated!

 

The students completed their trees of kindness! Everyone is so happy with the end result and they thoroughly enjoyed reading the kind messages from their classmates.

We were able to celebrate Shunki's birthday together this week, too. Thank you for sharing your birthday with us, Shunki!

Here's to a marvellous new year, and the second half of your child's Grade 2 year!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Ms Theona