Nearing the end

Hi everyone
well we are certainly in the busy and frantic race to the end of the year. Our current unit of inquiry is all about CHANGE and the students are looking at how they have changed and the changes that face them next year. Last week they had a taste of Grade 6 with Shadow Day where they attended Grade 6 classes for the day. This was a positive experience for most and the feedback from them was good. i think it also answered a few questions they had.
recently in math we have been doing some geometry and in particular transformations and tessellations. this gave is a great opportunity for some real hands on work.
please keep in mind the end of year concert and for Grade 5 the small graduating gathering. I will advise a time and date for these soon.
Please also remember the reading Challenge sleepover on Friday night, should be fun.
Mike

Here are a couple more images from exhibition.


Some exploring of tessellations in Geometry.

Exhibition

15th March, 2013



Dear Fifth Grade Families,

We would like to send you some information about our upcoming Exhibition Evening.

The evening starts at 7:00pm but we require ALL students to be present at 6:30pm.

Dress is semi formal, so no blue jeans please.
(No ties required for the boys but nice tidy trousers and shirts.)

Exhibition is the culminating event for the Primary Years Program. The students have been working very hard and are excited to share their work and ideas with you.
If you have any questions regarding all that we are doing, please stop by or send us an email. We’d be happy to help you understand the process that your student will be working through.
Thank you for your continued support at home.
Best Regards,
Sarah Mueller and Mike Stanley

Looking at things from a different perspective

Hi everyone
recently we have been studying about the Easter story but looking at it through a different perspective.
We spent quite some time reading the different Gospels and watching Skit Guys clips to identify all the different characters involved in the Easter story. The students chose one of the characters and wrote the story from their characters perspective.
The students produced some fine pieces of writing. This particular story was written by Yerine


Mary

‘Crucify him! crucify him!” the crowd hollered.
“Yeah crucify him!”. the priest said
I was one of the crowd, but I didn’t want know what to do. I was puzzled. I didn’t want to crucify someone, but i also didn’t want to be the only one who was standing still.
But a minute later I realized that i was not the only one who was standing still. I saw a woman standing still looking at the man who was going to get killed. Her eyes were filled with tears. then tears rolled down her cheeks. i thought, ‘who is that woman?’. she must be someone who is close to the man.

“I have no choice, I will lead this fairly, by democracy. Since the crowd wants to crucify Jesus ......”

What? oh now I get it! the man is Jesus, and the woman crying is Jesus’s mother Mary!
I thought, now I get the whole thing. I mumbled under my breath. “Oh... Jesus...my baby...”

Mary looked so depressed and sad. Even though I don’t have a child, I had a feeling how Mary would feel now.

‘According to democracy, everyone voted for Jesus. So I will follow the crowd.”

I looked at Mary, she was still crying. Pilate let go of Barrabus, the bad guy, and then said, “Soldiers!”
Just then a group of soldiers marched toward Jesus. Then they started to nail Jesus on the cross.
“AHH!!” Jesus groaned. Blood came out. It was violent. I tried to cover my eyes but my hands did not move because my whole body froze. It was monstrous! shocking!
I looked at Mary, of course she froze too. I mean how would she feel if her one and only son is getting nailed to the cross? In front of her?
You know readers, this was not the end.
They pierced Jesus ribs with their spiky spears. More blood came out. It was horrible, yucky awful!!
when I looked at Mary, she was already on the floor crying with all her might. Even though I did not vote, I felt guilty. I don’t know why but i felt guilty. Is it because I am one of the crowd and i felt like I had voted? Umm I don’t know.
I wonder how Mary will get over this agony?

“Ahh!!” Jesus kept screaming. I could feel that scream was full of pain. Then for the last time the soldiers pierced spiky thorns through his head.
“Yeah” the crowd cheered.
As time went by Jesus became weaker and weaker.
At last Jesus died.
I cried. Not as much as Mary, but I wept and wept.
John, one of the apostles took Mary back home.
I thought, “Mary will take time to recover..”

The next morning it was time time for Jesus to be buried. Mary was the first person to come see Jesus in the tomb. Just one second before Jesus got put in the tomb, Mary held Jesus hands and mumbled.

‘Take care.. take care..”

Something a little different

Hi everyone
Well the last quarter started with something a little different. On Monday the students were given a cooking lesson in the cafeteria by J and J catering.
This involved ALL the hygiene items you see in the pictures. We made some Mandu which we then had the pleasure of cooking and eating. It was a lot of fun and a new experience for some.

Action Day

Dear Parents, 

Next Thursday, March 21, the grade five students will be participating in Action Day in the basement lobby and the cafeteria. 

Action Day is an event that has taken place annually with the goal of explaining world issues the students are studying for Exhibition and sharing how others can help. 

The students will be organizing games, selling items, and sharing information. Each game or item is around 500-1,000 won. The students can bring a small amount of money to participate in this event.

Thank you for your support of our students who are taking action. 

A week of planning

Hi everyone
This week has been busy with the students deciding on actions to take for Exhibition. We discussed at depth about what is an action and what types of action we knew about. We decided on 4 types of action which we are going to take over the 6 week period.
1. Direct action: which we said was person to person.
2. In direct action: where we would help a group or organization.
3. Advocacy: we plan to raise awareness for our chosen issue.
4. research for action: in depth research about what is really the problem so we can be informed about how to make a difference.

Some fantastic ideas and planning has occurred and the students are really becoming specific on the actions and steps they need to take. Not too much detail from me at this stage as we would like some surprises to share with you on Exhibition evening on the 17th of April.
Enjoy the photos from the week.
Mike.

A sharing time

Hi everyone
Last Thursday we had a time of sharing our research and our Inquiry process so far. Students and teachers from other grades came down to see and hear what the students of 5M and 5S have been up to. We have 10 groups studying different areas of interest. The initial research part of the process is over and the students have gained a deeper understanding of what their chosen topic is about. The next step is that the students will decide what to do with this new knowledge, "what else do I want to know and how can I use it to make a difference?"
During the next 2 weeks the student groups will put together an action plan including 'Action Day' and the date for this is next Thursday the 21st of March, from 10:00 till approximately 1:30. This will cover all the lunchtimes of the Elementary and Secondary.
Meanwhile here is a few photos from Thursday.
Mike