To share with others what they learnt in our second unit of the year, the first and second grade students created displays about things that have changed in children's lives and presented them to visitors to our Mini-Museum.
During English language time, the Grade 2 students have been learning about paragraph writing, and were tasked with writing an informational paragraph about how things have changed. Their paragraphs were expected to have a topic sentence, at least two details about how it was in the past, as well as two details about it now, as well as a concluding sentence.
Ryann explained how the soccer ball has changed.
Richard looked into how the toys, such as toy cars have evolved.
Brandon explained how the changes to something as functional as the heaters in the class has made a difference in children's lives.
Tiago noticed that boys and girls used to be separated but now get to learn together.
Hirohito explained how different generations of kids enjoy playing games, but that the types of games and the way that we play them has changed.
Aira explained how computers and the internet have changed the way students do research.
Aruto demonstrated how pencils and erasers have made writing easier to correct your mistakes than pen and ink.
Airen wrote about how toys today are made of plastic and often use batteries.
Riku wrote about the change from firelight to electrical light.
Over the past six weeks, the second grade students have been inquiring into how children's lives have changed over time. Throughout the course of the unit we focused on three main aspects of children's lives; life at home, at school and the games that they play.
Through stories, narratives of children from the past, as well as interviews with parents and grandparents, as well as a simulation of an "Old School" day, the students had the chance to see for themselves what school was like in the past.
As a Show and Tell activity, students brought in games or toys that their parents or grandparent had played with, as well as some of their own in order to contrast and compare, in order to see how toys have changed.
Students also did some research using topic related books about: Cooking and Eating, Homes Today and in the Past, Washing and Cleaning, Travel Then and Now, and Communication. Students then presented on those topics to the rest of the class.
For the end of the unit, each student chose one thing that has changed in the lives of children and created a mini-museum display and description about how it has changed. Together with students from Grade 1, we held the Mini-Museum in the Grade 2 classroom last Thursday and many classes came to check out our displays. Please look forward to more details about the Mini-Museum in the next post!
As the holidays are quickly approaching, the second grade students started took a break from their regular work to inquire into the art of Christmas ornament making. Instead of choosing one type of ornament for the whole class to make, we let the students do some research to find an ornament that they liked online and could be made within a very strict timeline...one hour!
They quickly got to work. They were only given 10 minutes to find one design they liked, and would also be able to make with the limited resources in the class. Most were all set to go after 10 minutes and were busy gathering materials from around the school and even some from outside!
Working carefully with scissors, hedge trimmers and hot glue guns, the busy little crafters crafted away! Just narrowly meeting the 3 o'clock deadline and big event for lighting up the Christmas tree!
Check it out in the school entrance area the next time you're in the school! Some of their ornament designs might even end up being chosen for this year's Christmas market!
Last month on the day before DSK's Oktoberfest, the students in Grade Two joined together with those from Grades 1 to 6 to have a fun day out at Suma Athletics park.
Thanks for joining us on our learning journey this year. After a busy start to the year, the Second Grade class at DSK International has just wrapped up our first unit of inquiry about how our senses help us to learn about and interpret the world around us.
The unit began with a visit from a special visitor, Mr. E Bin. This strange alien creature came to learn more about the Earth. In order to help him, we first needed to think about how we learn about the world around us. Then we had to take what we knew about ourselves and then apply that to Mr. E. Bin to see if he might learn about the world around him in the same way that we do, by using our 5 senses!
Mr. E. Bin was also very helpful during our "No Show and Tell - Day" as he helped hide some of the items that the other students brought in. Students had to shake Mr. E Bin and listen to the sound it made or reach into his mouth to feel different things before guessing what they were.
As we discovered how our senses help us interpret and learn about the world, we also looked into how people who are missing one or more senses are able to live a normal life. We tried several different activities, such as blindfolded art and a blind walk through the school and down the stairs with the help of a guide. We also learnt about other ways to communicate, such as reading Braille or through sign language with Ms. Kate.
By literally looking closer at our sensory organs (with magnifying lenses) the students came up with more questions to research the answers to. One group examined the eye, while two others checked out the nose and ears. To demonstrate what they learnt, each group made up a diagram and model to use in a presentation for others about how the organs work. This inquiry into how to observe and interact with the world around us will help us out throughout the year as we continue on our inquiry journey.
Riku wrote about the change from firelight to electrical light.
