Inquiring into Interesting Interests

This week we turned our focus from learning about needs to finding out about how interest and curiosity can help lead us to new discoveries and ideas.

Working together in groups, the students helped create a large model of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Then we listened to a story called, “Manfish” about the life of Jacques Cousteau whose interest in the ocean and sea led him to invent scuba diving gear and waterproof housings for cameras. 

The students then worked in their groups to come up with a list of topics and things that they are interested in and then they chose one topic of interest to begin inquiring into. They wrote down their questions and we learnt the difference between asking a shallow question and a DEEP question and came up with some questions to research! We learnt about the history of projectors and slideshows and the students will have a chance to make and share their own slideshows with the class.

On Monday, during our ICT time Mr Huber came to help us learn how to do some coding.

Halloween!

On Tuesday, we enjoyed some Halloween festivities, including some Karate in costumes! And of course the highlight of the day was going trick-or-treating to all of the classrooms in the school!

On Wednesday during our library visit we got together with our reading buddies from grade 4. This time the grade 2 students spend some time reading to them.

Upcoming Events:

St Martin’s (Friday November 10th from 5pm)

Next Friday will be St. Martin’s. This is a school event that will begin after school from 5pm. We ask that parents attend together with their children and accompany them on our walk. Please be at school by 5pm.

Open Day (November 23rd)

On November 23, DSKI families are invited to come in between 8:45 and 10am to see our school at work before the external prospective families come for a tour from 10am.

3D Shapes, Reading Buddies, Karate and What We Need to Survive

 This week in Grade 2, our focus switched from 2D shapes to 3D. We looked at the properties of pyramids and prisms using hands on models to sort. We also looked into sorting other 3D shape such as cubes, cylinders, spheres, prisms and pyramids according to features such as the number of vertices, triangular faces, etc.

During library time this week, we joined together with the Grade 4 class for our first Reading Buddies activity. Each week during our library time we will get together with an older partner and have the chance to listen to, or to read with a partner.

In PE, we continued our martial arts unit and began learning how to do the horse stance and how to block.

In unit, the students were very engaged in a Survival Game. Students chose one destination to travel to and gave reasons for wanting to go there and planned for their trip by coming up with a list of things that they would need at their destination. Unfortunately, their planes had engine problems and had to make emergency water landing near a deserted island. Before making their way to the the island they grabbed some supplies from the plane that they thought would help them survive. Once on the island, they had to think of activities to help keep them alive each day until a rescue team arrived. Some of the activities they came up with were putting up a tent, catching fish with a fishing rod, and building a fire. Luckily, all 5 teams had made good choices and were able to survive by taking care of their basic needs. It was a fun adventure for all! For homework over the holidays, please make sure that they complete the Survival Game Reflection on Seesaw. Some were able to finish in class today but many did not. 

Where We Are in Place and Time

 This week saw the end of unit one and the start of unit two. To complete the unit on technology, the students worked in groups to come up with Essential Agreements for using technology at school. They worked in pairs and then joined others to collaborate and come up with a list of do’s and don’t when working with computers and other devices.

To start the second unit, the students were given a “test” to see what inventions they could identify and explain what they were used for and when they were invented. This proved a bit challenging, but got them to think about where we have come from and where we are going with this unit. They also helped sort out the central idea and lines of inquiry.

In math, we finished up our unit on time and time tables / schedules with a test and played a Kahoot quiz game to review. We also began our next math inquiry into what makes a square a square?

In PE we finished up our cooperative games unit and began our new PE unit on martial arts! 

We celebrated a slightly belated birthday today as Ms Gras joined the class and treated us to some delicious crêpes!

We also welcomed a new member to our class, Gabriel! 

Cheers to everyone for joining Oktoberfest last weekend! It was great seeing everyone out and enjoying the nice autumn weather. 

Finally, here is a video montage from our field trip to Kids Plaza Osaka. We had a wonderful time!