SC PYP Exhibition!

We did it!

2011-09-22T11:30:00.000-03:00

Wow! What an exciting night we had! The exhibition evening was a complete success! We had many, many parents come during exhibition evening as well as many teachers, principals, mentors and friends of the community in Santiago. We had a great time sharing all of our learning with everyone!

The students were very well prepared as we spent the Tuesday and Wednesday during the day presenting to all of the students of the school. We had the grade 3 and 4 students come and visit the grade five classes and give great feedback to each of the presentation groups. We also took our boards to the grade 1 and 2 classes and gave a short version of the presentations to practice using our English with different types of audiences. On Wednesday afternoon each of the grade five classes had been able to see the other grade five presentation as well. By the time it was the evening on Wednesday the students had practiced their presentations at least 4 different times. They were ready and it showed! :)

Some of the highlights of the evening were the following:

Listening and watching the student created exhibition song (with voice change effects from Garage Band and recorded on an iPad) via an animoto short

Listening and watching two grade five students explain the overall process of our exhibition to the parents and visitors

Opening presentationevening.2011

View more presentations from jessievaz

Seeing the various specialist integrations that the students collaborated on especially the recycled artworks and mobiles with discarded technology and the virtual wailing wall from the religion classes

Watching the students present to their parents in the classrooms with amazing confidence, knowledge and understanding

Seeing the parents and visitors participating in asking questions, giving feedback via google forms and QR codes and leaving "love notes" on the grafitti wall

It was an amazing end to a great unit! Thank you to all of the students, teachers, mentors, parents and visitors for helping us achieve such an amazing amount of learning and understanding in just 9 short weeks!

When we return from our holiday break, we will finish with the final stage of our inquiry process which is reflection. We will post a few reflections when we return.

In the meantime, if you visited our exhibition, what was your favorite part of the evening? Is there any additional feedback you would like to give?

Miss Jessica :)

It's all coming together now!

2011-09-09T06:17:00.001-03:00

After 6 long weeks we are at the final stages of the exhibition! We now have a title for the exhibition which was voted on by the students through this blog...

Technology... upload it to your mind!

We now have two mascots which we will use to identify the two different groups of visitors to the exhibition next week. Both mascots were drawn by students in grade five and I think they show the theme of the exhibition as well as the personality of the students very well!

Technology Gorilla: Group A

Beach Phone: Group B

And we just sent out our invitations on Wednesday inviting everyone to the presentation. I am really excited to add an extra presentation this year which is a visit to the first and second grade classes. I think the younger students are really going to enjoy seeing the "older students" showing what they have been doing. All of the different people, parents, community members, teachers, mentors, and grade level teachers and students received a version of our invitation. It was made by one of our 5th graders and I think it is an EXCELLENT example of balance in showing all students from each class as well as a little bit of our process.

Sc invitación exposición.2011

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Now, as the students finish their final reflections and evaluations and complete their presentation boards, we are in a FRENZY of creativity! The halls are covered each day with students working in the halls designing, discussing and developing their presentations! It's great to see such hands on learning!

And now as we near the end of the cycle of our inquiry, I'm interested in knowing what has been your favorite part of the exhibition inquiry cycle? Wandering and Wondering, Planning and Preparing, Finding Information, Using Information, Synthesis, Evaluation, Presentation, or Action? Why did you like that part the best?

Miss Jessica :)

We need your help!

2011-09-03T12:09:00.001-03:00

Wow! Exhibition evening is about a week and a half away and all of the students are working hard on using their information and synthesizing what they have learned! As part of that process, we asked the students to create mascots and titles that we can use on the invitations and posters for the exhibition evening. Now, we need your help in deciding which pictures and slogans best represent what we have been during the exhibition process.

Take a look at the slide show below and feel free to click on any of the pictures if you would like to see the photo in more detail. Pay attention to the mascot number that you like and then vote for the TWO photos that you like the best on the right hand side of the blog.

Also, please take a look at the second poll on the right side of the blog and vote for the title that you think sounds the best for the exhibition.

I look forward to seeing what you choose!

Miss Jessica

2011-09-01T21:29:00.000-03:00

We are really moving along now! Most students have moved right into our Using Information phase and they are starting to Synthesize everything that they've been learning. It is AMAZING to watch the students put all of their information together and discuss in their groups what they have been learning. They are looking back on their questions and their concepts and checking to make sure that they answered their questions the best that they could.

As we move into this final phase, we are encouraging all of the students to take a moment to sit down and reflect on what new information they have learned and what they are going to DO with that new learning. It's a hard task but we are all positive that the results of their thinking are going to be GREAT!

What do you think, students? What has been the best NEW piece of information that you have learned in the exhibition? Was there something that really surprised you?

Finding Information

2011-08-30T17:23:00.001-03:00

Well, it's been two weeks and we are now finishing up our finding information phase of the exhibition. During this time the students worked with their teachers and their mentors to create questions, lines of inquiry, and action plans to help focus and guide their investigations and research. The students have been using the Internet and books from the library to find lots of information! In addition, the students learned the difference between primary and secondary resources, how to write survey questions and how to conduct interviews to find and collect more information on their topic. Whew! We are tired!

One of the best parts of this phase of the exhibition was how excitedly and responsibly the students have been using technology to find out about technology! We started using Edmodo to share information and resources across the classes for students who were investigating similar lines of inquiry. It's been a great resource and one that the student have really seemed to enjoy. In addition, the students learned how to create online surveys with Google Docs and collect the information with mobile technology such as iPods, iPads and iPhones. Lastly, we've even had some students start their own blogs as a way to share what they are learning and create QR codes to encourage students in the school to visit their blog and take their online surveys! The ways and uses of technology have been amazing!

All of the hard work has paid off as the students are now moving into the next phase of the inquiry cycle which is using information. Over the course of the next week the students will be reviewing their information, sources and data and organising it all to come up with some general conclusions. From these conclusions the groups of students will be thinking about what they learned and what they want to take action on as a result of their findings. It's really going to get exciting now!

So, what has been the best part of this phase of our learning? Edmodo and the other uses of mobile technology? Finding information from interviews, surveys and websites? Balancing primary and secondary resources?

I look forward to hearing what you think!
Miss Jessica

Our Third Guest Speaker!

2011-08-05T18:06:00.001-04:00

We were so lucky to have a third guest speaker this week! Yesterday we were visited by Tomás Berkovich and he shared his story of how he has used technology to become a business owner that creates "win-win" situations for everyone.

His talk included information about how he and his classmates first came up with some of their ideas by noticing situations that needed solutions in their daily lives. After a few discussions around his kitchen table, they soon created their business called ZethaPricing. Using technology and some creative problem solving, they found a way to encourage people to buy tickets for less money and earlier for movies which brought more business to the cinemas in Santiago. Bascially a "win-win" for everyone!

Another of his businesses that he shared with us is called Cuponatic. In this business solution he and his friends created a company that offers various products and goods at discounts when people agree to use the coupons on their site as a group. The more people that use the coupon, the more discounts you can get. Companies have been using his business because they can pay less money for advertising since the coupon discounts are spreading by people sharing the coupons with one another in their social networks. Again, another "win-win" for everyone!

Here are a few of the catchy commercials that he shared with us that all the students liked!

It was a great talk and inspiring to see an alumni from our school be active in making his dreams and goals a reality! All of the students were inspired to think big and follow their dreams!

What was the most important piece of information that you heard in this talk? Which of the businesses do you think are the most useful to you as a grade five student? How do you think we should be responsible while using businesses like these with our social networks?

I look forward to hearing your ideas!
Miss Jessica

Our Second Guest Speaker!

2011-08-05T17:43:00.000-04:00

We had our second guest speaker for the exhibition on Monday and WOW did we learn a lot! Mr Claudio Cabrera visited us and give us an informative talk on the ALMA project in San Pedro de Atacama. He began by giving us a little information about telescopes and we learned that there are two kinds: optical and radio. We then watched a few slides explaining the number of systems that must work together to make the telescopes all work and function together. From computer engineers and city planning engineers to transportation engineers all of the systems must work together to make all 66 telescopes work at the same time to produce pictures for studying outer space. It was an amazing talk full of information that we are still talking about!

What was your favorite part of the presentation? What was something new that you learned from this talk? What do you think is our responsibility in thinking about the way technology is used in the ALMA project?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Miss Jessica :)

Our First Guest Speaker!

2011-08-02T04:59:00.004-04:00

Wow! On Friday we had our first guest speaker of the year and what a great way to start! Mr Cristian Mujica came and presented an interactive discussion on Telecommunications and the history of mobile phones. We learned about the development of 1G, 2G, and 3G networks as well as some important points about telecommunications and how we use them. He showed examples such as downloading music, playing games, medical information for doctors, and accessing the internet. He reminded us of some important issues especially our responsibility in using telecommunications and transportation and how we should insist that people use hands-free sets while driving and talking.

Along with the history, he also showed some new developments for telecommunications in the future. He showed a product called Gorrilla Glass and wowed us when he banged it on the wall and the floor and it didn't crack or scratch the glass! He also showed us a new type of phone that could be put completely into water and still work! Our favorite part of the talk was when he showed us a glimpse into our close future using phones with NFC or Near Field Communication abilities. Take a look at the video he showed us:

Wow! Amazing ideas, no?! We loved the presentation and are looking forwar to many more discussions to help us think about all the areas we could investigate for our exhibition projects!

What was your favorite part of this guest speaker discussion? What was the most important point that you learned? What did you learn about your responsibility in using mobile phones and technology?

Looking forward to hearing what you think!

Miss Jessica :)

Is this the future of Education?

2011-07-28T10:09:00.000-04:00

Miss Cata found a great video that shows how some teachers and students are looking at technology as a way to enhance their learning at school. Take a look at the video below about a robot who visited a school for a day:

What do you think? Is this the future of education? What are some positive things that could happen if robots started helping teachers in class? What are some negative things that could happen? Would you like it?

I look forward to hearing what you think!
Miss Jessica :)

We Got it Started!

2011-07-27T07:02:00.000-04:00

Yeah! Yesterday we had our Opening Ceremony for the official start of the Exhibition! The highlight of the assembly was a visit from three sixth grade students who came to share their knowledge and advice of the exhibition from their experience last year. Here is a summary of some of what they said:

Be sure to stay organised and use your binder
Assign your group members jobs that are in areas that they do well
Be open minded and listen to your group members
Be balanced in the work in your group
Don't be nervous
Practice speaking clearly and slowly for the presentation night
Have fun!

Was there any other advice that you heard? What was the most important part of their advice for you? Was there anything they said that helped you?

I can't wait to hear from you and get the exhibition officially started!

Miss Jessica :)

We have a Central Idea!

2011-07-10T15:40:00.000-04:00

Student volunteers for Central Idea Writing Committee

Whew, after three hard days of work, we did it! With input from the student writing committee, the grade five teachers, the PYP coordinator, and other PYP trainers in the school, we created the following central idea for our exhibition this year:

Ongoing changes in technology impact our society and environment requiring us to use it appropriately and with responsibility while maintaining balance in our lives.

Los continuos cambios tecnológicos impactan nuestra sociedad y el medio ambiente,requiriendo que usemos la tecnología en forma apropiada y con responsabilidad manteniendo al mismo tiempo el equilibrio en nuestras vidas.

We also picked the Transdisciplinary Theme of How the World Works to frame our exhibition inquiries this year. The definition for this Theme is the following:

An inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment

I am really looking forward to all the wonderful inquiries that are going to come out of this central idea and this theme. This is the first time we are working in this theme for one of our exhibitions so I am even more excited!

What do you think of the central idea? What types of inquiries do you think we could do under this theme and this central idea?

I look forward to reading your ideas!
Miss Jessica

2011-07-02T10:22:00.002-04:00

We have a topic! The grade five students voted on Friday and they agreed that the topic for this year's exhibition should be centered around technology! Great job working together and voting on what you are interested in inquiring about!

Now, we are going to start looking into exactly what that means. Watch the video above to see how technology is changing our world. Then, I would love to hear what your thoughts are on our new topic!

What types of technology might be interesting for an inquiry? What issues about technology are concerning students around the world today? In what ways does technology impact your life and your future?

I've posted a poll for you to take and some new sites on the left for you to explore and I look forward to your comments as well!

Miss Jessica

Wow, Great Graffiti!

2011-06-21T17:22:00.001-04:00

From Movies

(Click on the picture to view the video in Picasaweb)

As you can see from the video, it's day two of the Graffiti Wall and we now have some comments on the wall! A few of the classes have started walking by and writing their thoughts about the three exhibition topics.

The questions for the graffiti wall are:
1. What is the exhibition?
2. What local or global topic should we investigate for exhibition?
3. How do you feel about doing the exhibition this year?

Although it's still too early to tell yet, some of the repeated suggestions for the exhibition topic this year are impact of technology, bullying, and contamination. Wow! What a diverse group of topics we are starting with! I'm really looking forward to seeing what gets chosen!

As a student in the exhibition, why do you like/not like writing your ideas on the graffiti wall? How does seeing the ideas of the other students help you think more deeply about exhibition?

As always, I look forward to reading your comments! Keep up the great graffiti-ing!
Miss Jessica :)

References: Photos by J Allen, Music by http://www.danosongs.com

We're getting ready....

2011-06-15T21:55:00.000-04:00

We're getting ready to start Exhibition 2011! The teachers are already working hard to organize and prepare the beginning of the exhibition for this year. One of the first important starting points is getting teachers organised to be mentors for the different exhibition groups in the classes. To get teachers from around the school interested, we sent them this video to inform them and get them excited to help out.

It's only been one day and we've already received 5 requests to be mentors! You can help us by talking to some of the teachers in the school and asking them to be mentors for exhibition. The more mentors we have, the more support and help you will get during your inquiries!

What do you think of the video? Do you think it encourages teachers to help us out with the exhibition? What is something you could say to encourage teachers to help us?

Leave a comment below. I look forward to hearing your ideas!
Miss Jessica

We have two mascots! Now we need an invitation!

2010-08-26T12:23:00.001-04:00

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!

2010-08-19T09:51:00.001-04:00

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

2010-08-13T16:16:00.001-04:00

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?

2010-08-12T17:09:00.002-04:00

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?

2010-08-10T15:10:00.001-04:00

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

2010-08-09T13:43:00.004-04:00

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!

2010-08-06T16:50:00.002-04:00

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!

2010-08-05T15:18:00.000-04:00

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!

2010-08-02T15:24:00.003-04:00

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!

2010-07-30T13:42:00.000-04:00

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

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!

2010-07-29T16:59:00.001-04:00

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!!

2010-07-02T16:32:00.001-04:00

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!

2010-06-24T22:17:00.002-04:00

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!!

2010-06-17T14:58:00.005-04:00

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

We have an invitation!

2009-08-31T14:29:00.007-04:00

Thanks so much to the kids in 5A for the exhibition invitation. The design was bright and colorful and gave all of the information in English and in Spanish. Well done everyone! I've already had lots of people say how much they enjoyed seeing the invitation!

Miss Jessica

We have a title!

2009-08-25T12:03:00.003-04:00

Well, you all did a great job voting! We had more than half the grade level give their vote for the title and "It's Right to be Us" won! Great job everyone!

Now that we have a title, who is ready to make an eye catching invitation to send to our guests?!

I'm looking forward to seeing the invitations!

Miss Jessica

Guest Speaker Workshops

2009-08-18T14:37:00.003-04:00

We are so grateful to all of the parents and mentors who have helped us find even more guest speakers to come and help us find information for our inquiries about Children's Rights.

This week we have three workshops planned with guest speakers on specific topics related to inquiry groups in each of the classrooms.

Monday we had a psychologist come and discuss the affects on children when their rights are denied. In particular he focused on what happens when children are abused or discriminated against and what causes the abuse to occur.

On Wednesday we are going to have a judge come and discuss the effects on people when the rights of children are violated. She will be discussing laws that are already passed as well as ideas for laws that Chile needs to adopted to further the development of Children's Rights here in this country.

On Thursday we will have a visit from a representative from UNICEF who will speak with us regarding the role of UNICEF in general as well as here in Chile. He will focus on what his organisation does to preserve Children's Rights as well as ideas that they have to continue to educate others about Children's Rights in the future.

I encourage you to discuss what will be happening this week with your friends and family and develop some questions that you would like to ask these speakers. You can either ask the questions yourself if you are going to the workshop, or pass your questions to a student who is attending the workshop for your class.

Lastly, please feel free to leave any comments that you have about these speakers and their workshops. In particular, were they helpful? Why or why not? What could we do next year to make these workshops even more useful? Would you like more workshops or more whole level guest speakers? Who was the most helpful?

Looking forward to your comments!
Miss Jessica

Fantastic Guest Speakers!

2009-08-10T22:31:00.003-04:00

Wow! What a week we had last week! We had three guest speakers visit us over the last week and a half. We have certainly been learning a lot about Children's Rights and the many ways they impact our lives.

We started with a visit from Saúl Schkolnik, author of a children's book on children's rights. Mr. Schkolnik entertained us with many different stories about when he was younger and writing his books as well as answered many questions that we had about why he wrote his books. Mr. Schkolnik reminded us to care about many things around us, children, the world, the environment, etc. It was great to meet such an important Chilean author!

Our second visitor was Maria Jose Lemaitre who works for the Ministry of Education. Ms. Lemaitre shared many different numbers and statistics about the state of education here in Chile. Most importantly, she highlighted the various requirements that schools have with respect to children's rights to education. It was great to gain a deeper understanding about our topic from the perspective of the government. We look forward to gathering more information from Ms. Lemaitre!

Our third visitor last week was Sergio Rodrígues Tramolao from the organisation called Opción. He gave a general overview of children's rights and connected that information to what has been happnening here in Chile since the adoption of the rights 20 years ago. In his discussion he highlighted what has been done in Chile and gave suggestions on what still needs to happen here to fulfill the goal of children's rights for all children in the country. He ended his presentation with a slide show with many different statistics about children in Chile and invited all the students to go to his organisation's website (http://www.opcion.cl) and enter or vote for the question that they are most interested in regarding children's rights. Voting on these questions is one way that students will be able to have a "voice" in the government because the results of the survey will be presented to the government at a later date. We are really looking forward to seeing Mr. Tramolao again this week for a special student workshop on children's rights and violence.

Please view the slideshow on the right for all of the pictures from our guest speakers!

I look forward to hearing your comments about our guest speakers and everything you learned during their presentations!

Miss Jessica

Guest Speakers this week!

2009-08-04T16:44:00.003-04:00

Wow! We have two guest speakers coming this week to help you as you continue to focus your group on exactly what it is that you are interested in investigating for your exhibition project.

Tomorrow, we have Maria Jose Lemaitre, from the ministry of Education coming to talk briefly about the general idea of children's rights and specifically about the children's right to education here in Chile. To be prepared for this talk, take a few minutes to review the rights about education for children and think of some questions that you might like to ask. She will be visiting us first thing in the morning.

On Thursday, we have another guest speaker, Sergio Rodrígues Tramolao, from Opción which is a group dedicated to teaching others about children's rights here in Chile. This year, Opción is focusing specifically on violence against children and how we can all work together to stop it from continuing in the future. To prepare for this guest speaker, visit their website www.opcion.cl and find out more about the organisation and how they are trying to help. In addition, next week they are having a country wide poll where students are encouraged to submit and vote for questions about children's rights. After the poll closes, the questions that were most popular will be taken to the government on behalf of the children in Chile for discussion. What a great opportunity to be involved in something so important to kids your age! Please take a look with your family and discuss what you think. Be sure to post any comments that you have below!

Wow...I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about the guest speakers and posting some pictures on this site as well!

Miss Jessica

Title for Exhibition

2009-08-04T11:38:00.001-04:00

Well...after reading a few comments from students we have a suggestion for a title for exhibition. There has been a request to consider the following as our title: It's Right to be Us!

What do you think? Is this what you would like us to use as the title for exhibition? If not, post your suggestion below!

Looking forward to your ideas,
Miss Jessica

We got it started!

2009-07-30T10:02:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the official opening to the exhibition! All the students went to the Little Gym to hear a welcome message from Miss Isabel and watch videos of the exhibition from the years 2007 and 2008. Two students from sixth grade also came to the assembly to answer questions from this year's grade five students. The questions were great and the sixth grade students really showed exactly how powerful and successful the exhibition is in their learning. It was a great assembly and everyone left excited and ready....to get it started!

Take a look at the slideshow of the pictures on the right hand side of the blog!

Miss Jessica

starting off!!!!

2009-07-29T09:31:00.004-04:00

Nosotros nos sentimos muy nerviosos por hacer la exhibición porque podemos aprender muchas cosas nuevas y ver como viven otros niños, menos afortunados pero también estamos emocionados y motivados a seguir adelante en este proyecto.
5°B :).....

Online Resources for Children's Rights

2009-07-27T13:36:00.009-04:00

Welcome back from winter vacations, everyone! Now that we're back, the real fun with exhibition starts! We are going to start investigating the topic more and more and really dig into what each of you finds the most interesting about Children's Rights and how you can take action on this topic.

To get started, there are lots of websites listed on the right hand side of the blog. I wanted to make sure you looked at two really good ones, however. The first is this website from the Chilean government which is really student friendly and uses cartoons to explain the rights of children here in Chile. Take a look by clicking here: Consejo Zona Niños

The second site is this great website from UNICEF which showcases cartoons that were made about each of the various children's rights that were agreed upon by the UN. They are great to watch and really explain what each right is all about. I posted one earlier about education when we first chose our topic. Here's another preview to get you interested:

Take a look at all of them by clicking here: UNICEF Cartoons ***This will link you to the UNICEF site on You Tube so please be sure to ask permission from your parents before you go out onto the web***

What did you think about them? I would love to hear if you liked them and what questions you have now that you have seen them.

Looking forward to your comments,
Miss Jessica

A Guest Speaker is Coming!

2009-07-22T00:24:00.006-04:00

Yes, that's right! We've found a guest speaker to come and discuss the topic of Children's Rights with the whole grade level. We've organised for Saúl Schkolnik, a children's book author, to come and discuss the topic with you. Mr. Schkolnik has written a book of stories about the rights of children. (Click on the title of this post above to go to a link about his book.)

Below is some information about Mr. Schkolnik from the following website: http://www.biblioredes.cl/BiblioRed/Nosotros+en+Internet/escritores+de+san+felipe/SAÚL+SCHKOLNIK

Saul Schkolnik

Nacido en 1929. Cuentista. Diversos premios. Sus obras han sido publicadas en España y Latinoamérica. Miembro de la IBBY-Chile. Está radicado en la zona de Aconcagua, hace varios años. Ejerce como profesor de Filosofía en el Colegio Alemán de San Felipe y Cervantino de Putaendo. Hace algunos años se ha transformado en vecino de Aconcagua.

He will be coming to speak to the grade level on Thursday 30 July at 2:00 pm. To get ready for this guest speaker, visit the links above and think about some questions that you might like to ask him. Some questions to think about are: Why did he pick children's rights? Where did he get the inspiration for each of the stories about the rights? Does he think that children can make a difference at their young age?

I look forward to hearing your questions and meeting the author with you!

Miss Jessica

We did it! We wrote our Central Idea!

2009-07-09T13:35:00.005-04:00

Yesterday the students discussed with their class the concepts and knowledge that were found within the exhibition topic of children's rights. After their discussions, the students were encouraged to complete the application form in their journals to be part of the central idea writing team. Today the teachers chose 2-3 students from those who submitted applications to represent their class and sent them to the PYP coordinator to work on writing the central idea for the exhibition this year.

The students started writing the central idea by discussing the "big concepts" that were included under the topic of children's rights. This included ideas such as basic needs, education, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, happiness as a child, safety, etc. After gathering everyone's ideas, the students worked together to combine all of the important concepts into one broad statement that would be the central idea. They also discussed and debated the transdisciplinary theme that best fit the topic and central idea and agreed that Who We Are is the theme that was most appropriate this year. They felt very strongly that this was the best theme because the whole exhibition is going to be about them as children, which is what they are.

After writing the central idea the students worked together to rate it using a checklist for central ideas. When the central idea was checked and approved by everyone they copied it into their Exhibition Journals as the "official" central idea for the 2009 exhibition!

Central Idea

All children have the right to happiness, basic needs, and opportunities which need to be respected responsibly by families, communities, and governments.

The students did a great job and I was so impressed with their ideas and discussions. I can tell that this is going to be a GREAT exhibition with lots of really deep questioning and thinking this year!

What are your thoughts on the new central idea? Does it bring any questions to mind? How do you see yourself investigating this central idea?

Have a great winter break and I can't wait to investigate this further in two weeks!

Miss Jessica

Exhibition Topic Chosen!

2009-07-06T12:32:00.005-04:00

Well, the wait is over! The grade five students picked their exhibition topic and it is Children's Rights. There are so many various ideas and actions that the students can follow! I think it is going to be a great topic and one that is going to be interesting and relevant to all the students of the grade level.

To start exploring this topic, view the videos with this post. These are two videos to get you thinking about Children's Rights and what might be included in this topic.

In addition, there are a few more links on the right hand side that you may want to explore about our new topic.

As always, have fun exploring, talk to others about what you are learning, and be sure to share what you're thinking through reflections and comments on this site.

Miss Jessica

exibition

2009-07-06T09:40:00.002-04:00

Today we chose the Exhibiton topic for our level, our classe's was DISCRIMINATION. We voted and all the level chose Children's Rights that was 5D topic. We were upset that our topic didn't win but we are very exited to start EXHIBITION. 5B :)

Level Presentation of or Global issues and Exhibition vote

2009-07-06T09:38:00.002-04:00

Today we chose the exhibition global issue. The exhibitin topic that we chose was children´s rights. We will be researching about this issue for the next 7 weeks. It wasn´t our class favorite global issue, but we will try to make an effort to motivate ourselves and show enthusiasm and work hard in our exhibition 2009.

Class 5A

Choosing our class topic

2009-07-02T14:27:00.002-04:00

In this class we chose our class topic.The topics that you could choose were Animal Rights, Health (obesity, aids) ,Economy Crisis and Rasism.The topic who won was Health.We had a lot of fun this class !

Super 5A

Student interest discussions begin

2009-06-26T14:38:00.002-04:00

Over this long weekend, students have been asked to look for and discuss local and global issues that are interesting to them. Students have already seen one website, facing the future, in class and there are two more on the right side of the blog for students to explore. (United Nations for kids and Global Issues for English Learners)

Remember, the most important part of looking for a topic that interests you is to discuss it with other people. Through your discussions you will see other people's points of view as well as develop your own opinions. Be sure to investigate many ideas, even those that may not seem interesting to you at first. You never know what you will find!

If you find something really interesting and want to share it with others...post a comment!

Have fun looking and exploring!

Miss Jessica

Parent Information Meeting

2009-06-26T12:35:00.004-04:00

Today was the first meeting about the exhibition for 2009. We invited all the parents to come to a meeting about the exhibition and ask any questions that they had about the process for their child. There were about 25 parents at the meeting and we had great feedback from the parents who attended. Since the parents said that the information was useful, we are also posting the PowerPoint that we showed at the meeting on the school website. Click above on the title of this post to view PowerPoint from the Santiago College website.

I would like to take this moment to thank all of the parents for coming to the meeting and Miss Isabel, Lower School Principal, for her help in translating the workshop.

I think it is going to be a great exhibition this year and I look forward to working with all of the parents, students, and teachers!

Miss Jessica