GRADE 5 NEWSLETTER
Friday, 25 May 2012
GRADE 5 NEWSLETTER
How we organize ourselves
The Exhibition WHAT HAVE WE BEEN LEARNING?
PYP Exhibition Students are in the researching and synthesizing stages of the Exhibition. They are reading, answering questions and pulling all their new learning together. There will no other homework during this period of time as students create the 5 required products from the Exhibition Menu for their displays both in class and at home. Please find time to ask your child about his or her progress on the project. Below are some suggested ways to engage your child in a conversation about the Exhibition. WHAT ARE SOME GOOD QUESTIONS TO ASK?
• How will you share the answers to your questions? • What forms of presentation will you use other than written text? • What actions might result from your inquiry? • What local connections (to CIS, Copenhagen or Denmark) will you make to your issue? ASK: WHAT DO YOU THINK?
As the Exhibition draws to a close support your child as he or she finds a way to formulate an opinion or perspective on the issue. We have asked the students to research, read and collect information about what other people think. We also need them to figure out what they think. Now is the time for students to consider what they have learned and form their own opinions and conclusions. THE ACTION
The Action component of the Exhibition is the students’ opportunity to make a contribution to our community. Hopefully, the research and new learning has inspired students to make a difference related to the inquiry. Discuss the idea of Action with your child. Actions can be big or small, personal, or reach out to the greater community.
THINGS TO REMEMBER Action is an important part of the process. All students should have (or plan to) contribute to some kind of an action and be able share their understanding of this idea.
Dansk ADVANCED The students are working on their
stories in style of HC Andersen. And we are looking forward to listen to and read the final results. They should come out also with illustrations. INTERMEDIATE The students are working on their
cooking project. They all found at least two recipes and will shop for and cook these at home. The next step is to create a page with recipe, photo and a written paragraph about the experience. We plan to collect the pages in a class cooking book. For the Exhibition each student met with me and discussed a Danish perspective to their chosen problem. BEGINNER The students are becoming more
familiar with Danish geography and interesting tourist sites. Hopefully they will be encouraging you to do further on-location research and enjoy some of these places.
Physical Education We have been looking at different types of bats and balls and tested our batting, pitching and bowling skills. In the next half of the unit we will be looking at racquet and ball games and how we can control the ball and the way it moves both up and down as well as over.
Important Dates 07.06.12
Exhibition Open Evening
20.06.12 Grade 5 Graduation
Public Holidays – No school 28.05.1 2 Pinsedag (Pentecost) 05.06.12 Grundlovsdag (Constitution Day) ½ day
The Slump Tackling the questions and synthesizing the information is really the “work” of the Exhibition. It is normally at this point in the Exhibition when the slump hits. The work may seem overwhelming, energy is beginning to drain a bit and students may feel lost. Our message to the students: Work toward small goals—one question at a time. Talk to the teachers, mentors and parents. Take breaks and finish off the easier tasks. Most importantly, don’t be discouraged and don’t worry.
The Next Focus The main focus of the next two weeks are: 1) What are the answers to my questions? 2) What is the new information that I have learned? 3) How will I share what I have learned? 4) How will I make a difference?.