IBPYP In Action For children the need to walk, talk and communicate is instinctive. Of course they are encouraged, and taught, along the way. By the time they come to school, and join the Grade 2 class, they are already immersed in learning through language and applying the skills of communication. As learners they bring with them a range of experiences and knowledge. Every day, as teachers, we see the qualities of effective learners as defined by the IB learner profile. There are many moments when the actions taken by the students are inspiring. Especially as they encounter an English language classroom for the first time. How do the students communicate in this environment? Given a choice they will begin from what they know. For some it is visual, for some it is non-verbal, sometimes it is through music, or drawing. For those who choose to write in their Mother Tongue they feel secure in what they know. As they acquire the language of the classroom (in this case English) it seems that suddenly a transition happens and you see a student is writing, in English, in their journals. Here is an example of one student who went through this process. When Johann came into Grade 2, at the beginning of the school year, he chose to write in German. So he could share his writing with us we had Mr. Harris and his secondary students busily translating everything he wrote. We discovered that Johann, as a writer, in German had a lot to communicate. This is what he was writing early on in the school year. Johanns Informationsbericht Herr David Williams hat das Didgeridoo gespielt und er hat ganz viele Tiere nachgemacht: ein Kaenguru, einen wilden australischen Hund, eine australische Schlange und einen Vogel. Manche durften sogar das Didgeridoo auf der Buehne ausprobieren, aber die haben gar keinen Ton rausgebracht. Und alle haben gelacht und die, die auf der Buehne waren, waren Konstantin und Richi, beide aus derselben Klasse. Konstantin hat am wenigsten rausgebracht und David Williams konnte so lange die Luft anhalten, weil er eine halbe Stunde das Didgeridoo gespielt hat. Fertig. Johann’s information report Mister David Williams played the didgeridoo and he imitated many animals: a kangaroo, a wild Australian dog, an Australian snake and a bird. Some of us were even allowed to try out the didgeridoo themselves on the stage, but they couldn’t produce any sounds. And everybody laughed and those who were on the stage were Konstantin and Richie, both from the same class. Konstantin produced the fewest sounds and David Williams could hold his breath very long because he played the didgeridoo for half an hour. The End. Translated Harris Kara
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Communication Is the Key by Catherine O’Brien GRADE 2 TEACHER
It is known that people learn best when they can make connections to what they already know or have experienced, before applying their new knowledge in a different setting or context. The Supportive Classroom by Elaine Reimann Two Poems: written by students in different phases of their English learning. OVER MY TOES Over my toes Goes The soft sand Drips, the wind Blow and the sound Comes wos wos ! Aman Singh THE GOLDEN SUN The Golden sun The blaze makes it shine Like beautiful GLITTER It makes us play All day When it falls To dusk It lets out The silver moon Sidney Lampayan This next piece is an example of Johann’s English writing; he wrote this independently: My Holiday I found out about elephants that not all elephants can walk fast. I also found out you can’t just drive from Vientiane to Luang Prabung because you need 11 hours. I found out that Luang Prabung is not like Vientiane.