We have two mascots! Now we need an invitation!

Well done!  I was AMAZED at all the votes for the mascots!  You did an excellent job!  The two mascots for this year are below:

Healthy Puff and Pastin

World of Health

So now we need your creativity once more! We need some students to volunteer to make an invitation for the parents and community members for the exhibition. The invitation needs to include the following:

What: Grade 5 PYP Exhibition
When: Wednesday 8th September
Time: 19:00 -19:30 opening ceremony in the gymnasium
19:30-21:00 student presentations in classrooms and dining rooms
Place: Santiago College
Additional information:  Parking will be available on the cancha after 18:40

It also needs to include, one of the mascots, the central idea, our title, and any additional words or pictures that you would like to include (like the profile and attitudes, skills that you used, types of healthy things we've investigated, etc.).  If you need an electronic copy of one of the mascots, please let me know.

All invitations must be handed in on Monday morning 30 August. We will have the voting for the invitations on Monday night and Tuesday. The invitations will be sent out on Wednesday September 1.

I look forward to your ideas!
Miss Jessica

We have a title, Now we need a mascot!

Well, the poll is now closed and after the voting, we have our title for Exhibition 2010:

Don't Worry, Be Healthy!

Now, it's time for us to vote on the next stage, the mascot!  Take a look at the slide show below to see all the different entries.  After viewing the show, vote for your favorite 2 mascots on the right side of the page.  The poll closes Monday night so be sure to vote soon!

I look forward to seeing your choices!

Miss Jessica

Guest Speaker: Dental Health

On Wednesday we had our third guest speaker for the exhibition this year.  A BIG thank you goes to Ms. Carolina Cabrera for coming to speak to us about dental health.  All of the students loved the presentation and especially liked learning what to do in case of a dental emergency.  Every student was affected by the information on how much bacteria was in our mouths and how important it is to brush three times a day.  The students were fortunate enough to receive toothbrushes and toothpaste from Ms. Cabrera and were so motivated by the talk that they are even brushing their teeth after lunch at school!

Was there any information from this presentation that was new to you?  What really affected you from this talk?  Are you going to change any behaviors since hearing about dental health?  How does this fit with our topic on health and children?

I look forward to hearing your comments!
Miss Jessica

What should our title be?

All of the students have been working on deciding exactly what they want to study for the exhibition by writing their lines of inquiry. It's been going well and I was so excited to see so many different and interesting topics being explored! We have everything from laws and government interventions to nutrition, addiction, and food labels! It's going to be great!

Now that we know what we are going to investigate, it's time for us to start thinking about our title! I've been collecting suggestions from the classes for the last two days and have posted your ideas on the blog.  

Take a look at the list on the right and be sure to vote for the title that best represents what we are all investigating.

The title with the most votes will be chosen!  The vote closes at 11:00pm Wednesday 18 August!

Have fun voting!
Miss Jessica

What laws should be made?

Below is a link to a news report from the Washington Post in the United States about childhood obesity and the steps the USA is trying to make to stop it from continuing.  The First Lady, Michelle Obama, is leading the changes that she hopes to take place through a program titled "Let's Move!".  Click on the link below the picture to read the article and see what you think...

Washington Post News Article

What are your thoughts?  Should the government make laws to help students receive healthier food at school?  What laws do you think Chile should have or make for the children here?  Why?

I look forward to reading what you think!
Miss Jessica

Guest Speaker: Art Therapy

Another BIG thank you to Ms. Bernardita Castillo  who was our second guest speaker for the Exhibition this year.  She gave us a great talk about the role of Art Therapy and  the mental health of children today.  I like seeing all the examples she gave us of the importance of art therapy from famous painters like Van Gogh all the way to the children who participate in Teletón and schools here in Santiago.  It was clear that art therapy helps balance the physical and mental health of everyone!


What were some interesting things that you learned from this guest speaker?  What was interesting to you about her discussion?  Has it encouraged you to find out more about other therapies and balance in our lives?


I look forward to reading your comments!
Miss Jessica

Our First Guest Speaker!

A BIG thank you to Ms. Paula Pastor who was our first guest speaker for the Exhibition this year.  She gave us a great talk about the role of Psychologists and Psychiatrists in the mental health of children today.  I was so impressed with the questions that you asked and how you were all able to connect what you are interested in with what she was talking about.



What were some interesting things that you learned from this guest speaker?  What new information did you hear?  How could her presentation help you understand your area of interest more?

Be sure to check out the photos from the discussion today on the right!

I look forward to reading your comments!
Miss Jessica

We have a central idea!

After a few more revisions we have finally created our central idea for our exhibition this year.  Here it is:

The future of our health depends on personal choices, community support, environmental regulations, and governmental policies which help maintain a balanced lifestyle that meets physical and mental needs.

What do you think?  Can you see the changes that we made?  What concepts do you see relating to this central idea? 

Looking forward to hearing what you think...

Miss Jessica

Our first attempt: Central Idea 2010!

Well, we worked really hard today and had our first meeting with the student representatives of each class to write our central idea for the exhibition.  Below is our first suggestion:

Childhood Health depends on governmental obligations, environmental situations, family support and personal choices in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle that meets physical, medical and nutritional needs.

What are your thoughts?  What do you like?  What could be made more clear?  What is it missing?

The students will work on the central idea again on Wednesday after talking about it in each of the classes and getting student feedback.  We look forward to hearing what you think and reading your comments!

Miss Jessica 

Preparing and Wondering!

Well...our first week is over and each class has had many great discussions on Childhood Health and the different areas you could investigate.  To help you continue your wandering and wondering on what YOU are interested in inquiring about, here is a list of some videos and topics that might open your mind to more ideas and questions.


After watching a video, you might want to write down some thoughts, questions, or opinions you have and share them with others in your class.  It's great to connect to what others think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUMn9ncZFjI

(26:49) A long video but worth the time to watch about Childhood Obesity and its epidemic numbers in the United States.  Considers some of the causes and preventative measures that are being taken today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY-32nGcD3E

Video from CTV the Canadian television station.  Video gives pro-law coverage on a law that was passed (2008?) that bans anyone from smoking in their car while anyone under the age of 16 is with them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QEeaZ7nQb8

(3:06) San Francisco High School senior investigative report on what happens with school lunch in their school.  Gives great information on the amount of money schools actually have to provide healthy food for students. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_rph4T9MA4&feature=related

(7:38) Pro-healthy lunch video on an “at risk” school in Wisconsin that switched from processed foods to whole-grain natural food in their school lunch.  Decrease in drop out rates, higher attention spans, decreased violence and vandalism are some of the results.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qvq5e320dE&feature=related

(1:58)  News report from Australia on a school in Japan that is taking drastic measures to reduce childhood obesity.  School lunches are calorie controlled, food from home banned, and students must participate in preparing and serving the food as part of the nutrition curriculum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lie635k0xMg&feature=related

(3:54) Investigative report on food labels and what are the real serving sizes.  Shows real serving sizes for food labels like ¾ of a pickle spear, 1/3 of a muffin, ½ of a frozen pizza as the actual serving size for the reported calorie and nutrition information.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5597820349185435863#docid=-4816814099925472987

(2:52) Basic presentation for kids on how to read food labels on different products.  Highlights the idea of starting with the serving size and working from that information.  Created by University of Kansas in the US to teach families with limited resources how to make healthy food choices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUjz_eiIX8k

(2:59) Short video on the role of the “makeup artist for food” in advertising.  Shows the real truth behind what the food is like that is shown on commercials.

http://www.necn.com/Boston/Health/2009/10/26/Study-finds-worst-cereals-are/1256611373.html

(2:26) News report explaining a study that found that the worst cereals for kids were the ones that were the most heavily advertised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exZqqd8f87A&feature=related

(2:35)  A basic presentation by a nutritionist at Harvard that reports on the history and connection of television, advertising, and overweight problems in children.  It demonstrates some common advertising techniques used on children.

After watching these videos, which video did you like the best and why?  Which video really made you think in a new way about Childhood Health?

Hope you enjoyed your first week of exhibition!  6 more to go!

Miss Jessica

We got it started!

This past Tuesday we began the exhibition with an opening celebration.  At the opening assembly we had Miss Isabel speak to the students about the exciting time ahead of them.  We also had three sixth grade students come and tell their experiences of the exhibition and give advice to this year's grade five students.  At the end of the assembly the students watched two videos from previous exhibitions to get ideas for all the various ways they could present their learning.  At the end, everyone was excited and motivated to get it started!

Now that the exhibition has begun, what is something that you are excited to do during this unit?  Work in groups?  Write your own questions?  Pick your own topic?  Post a comment and let others know!

Great assembly everyone!
Miss Jessica

PS:  Check out the pictures from the opening assembly to the right!

We have a topic!!

We did it!  Grade 5 voted today after 5 amazing class presentations and this year's topic is: 

 CHILDHOOD HEALTH!

Everyone is really excited for the topic and already thinking of ways they can investigate and take action about Childhood Health issues.


What issues are you thinking of investigating about Childhood Health?  Why are you interested in that topic right now?

Looking forward to hearing what you are thinking!
Miss Jessica

Graffiti Wall full of ideas!

The graffiti wall has been up for only one week and it is already full of great ideas!  Way to go everyone!

There are many wonderful suggestions for topics like nutrition and childhood obesity, technology in today's world, natural and man made disasters....just to name a few!  Check out the slideshow of pictures below! (Click on a picture if you would like to see the pictures larger.)

I look forward to seeing what other ideas you come up in the following week before we pick our topic!

Keep up the great work!

Miss Jessica

It's Coming!!

Another year has gone by and here we are again getting ready for the exhibition!

We recently had our parent meeting for 2010 and Ms. Isabel and I were SO pleased with how many parents attended the meeting. If you didn't get a chance to attend, please click here to see the link to the presentation on the school's main website.

We are positive that we are going to have a GREAT exhibition this year and we are looking forward to the next steps in starting the exhibition. Monday 21 June we will start our graffiti wall and exploring what we know about the exhibition! I look forward to posting some of the pictures here soon!

Let us know what you think....what do you think the exhibition is? What topics would you suggest for the exhibition this year?

Looking forward to hearing your responses,

Miss Jessica