"The Space Dream"

 The Grade 2s have had a busy week, as they finalized their preparations and presented their assembly presentation of their How The World Works unit this week. "The Space Dream" has been a labour of dedication, creativity and learning which the students should be incredibly proud of!

When designing and creating their presentation, the students' goal was to inform the learning community about what makes the planets unique and whether or not human beings could live on any of the other planets in our solar system. 

The students presented their research findings as news bulletin reports, based on their specific celestial body. The students used the knowledge that they have acquired throughout the unit, and from their research projects to write their news bulletin scripts! They used their developing English skills, their sense of humour and fascinating information about our solar system to make their news bulletin report, their own. They drew on their acting skills to play their roles as news report anchors, so well and so convincingly!

A big thank you to one of our very thoughtful class families, the students enjoyed nibbling on delicious, healthy, space-themed snacks. And as a token of our thanks to the Pre-Kindergarten students, who crafted some of the stage decor, the students shared some of the deliciousness with the young students. Thank you to Ms Anita and the students for helping the Grade 2s bring their vision to life!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Ms Theona 🪐

Surviving in the Solar System

This week in Grade 2, the students inquired into what human beings need to survive, while digging deeper into what supports life. Last week the students presented interesting and fascinating facts about the celestial bodies in our solar system. The students were on a mission to determine if human beings can live on another planet or celestial body, other than Earth, in our solar system?

Using their prior knowledge, the students recalled the basic human needs that we inquired into during our Where We Are In Place and Time unit, about discoveries and inventions. The Grade 2s are so resourceful! 

After some discussion and deliberation in groups and as a class, the students narrowed the basic human survival needs to five concepts. Their next task was to work with their celestial body buddy and use their posters, presentation slides, and our space-themed classroom books to see if their celestial body could be home to human beings. This was followed by verifying their information using online resources.

The students have been working hard (and excitedly) to prepare for our assembly next week. 

The students look forward to sharing what they have been learning throughout this unit, at the assembly next week!

Have a lovely extended weekend,

Ms Theona

Sharing our knowledge

This week, the Grade 2s inquired into what causes day and night and presented their findings from their research tasks.

The students used their bodies and worked in pairs, to model the Sun and the Earth's positions when sunrise, afternoon, sunset and night occur. They explored what happens on the other side of the world when we have daytime or nighttime, here in Japan. 

We ended off the week by being enlightened about interesting facts about the celestial bodies in our solar system. The students used their developing research skills to gather information on their specific celestial body. Some of the students created striking posters, while others created fascinating Google Slides presentations. The students excitedly shared their findings with the class and should be proud of their efforts!

Next week, we will continue inquiring into how the seasons occur and we will get started on preparing for our upcoming assembly!

Happy Valentine's Day! 💛

Have an awesome weekend! 

Ms Theona 

Research and Moon Phases

This week in Grade 2, the students continued inquiring about How the World Works, particularly about the intriguing concept of space. 

One of the skills that the students are developing within this unit is their research skills. The students are currently doing research about celestial bodies, a specific planet, star or moon. They will present interesting facts, and what makes the celestial body unique compared to others, to their classmates next week. The students understood that we need reliable resources to carry out our research. Online research using search engines has become the most common tool for finding information on particular topics. However, the students were excited to use one of the most reliable resources for accurate information... books! The students happily sought out books in our school library to help them gather information for their research project.

Some students found books with information about our theme, in our classroom library. They were very excited to share this with their classmates.

Using their creativity and teamwork skills, the students worked with their partners to create a poster to illustrate their understanding of the different phases of the moon. 

This was followed by the students peer-assessing their classmates' posters; providing positive feedback and encouragement for improvement on their pieces of work. This was an opportunity for the students to reflect on the task and consolidate their understanding of the phases of the moon. The students discussed the meaning of the phase names and consolidated the science behind why the moon phases occur the way they do.

To come in the next week is further inquiring into how space affects Earth - day and night, seasons, etc. Towards the end of the week, the researchers will present their posters or digital presentations about their celestial body research, to their classmates.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms Theona

🪐