Ms Courtney's Class

How we approach inquiry at ISPP.  There are many different approaches to inquiry based teaching and learning. At ISPP we have adopted Kath Murdoch's Inquiry Cycle. In this model students work their way back and fourth through the six different stages of the cycle as they develop their understanding of their inquiries. Students will work through the stages at different speeds, spending longer on some than others. They may also find they need to revisit an early stage of the cycle as they find misconceptions in their inquires or need more information about one aspect of their own inquiry. At the beginning of each inquiry we spend time 'tuning in' to the inquiry. Questions such as "What do I know about this topic"? and "What questions do I have now'? are asked at this time. To help engage students in the inquiry we set up provocations to enable students to reflect on what they know and to think about what they want to know. Each student will arriv...

What are your current wonderings about this unit of inquiry? Central Idea:  Personal perspective influences how we create art. Please add your wonderings to this Padlet. http://padlet.com/wall/do6tnttqhxuo

Last Friday we concluded our first unit of the year with a healthy snack party. For homework students were asked to prepare a healthy snack to share with the class. The excitement surrounding the party was high and students enjoyed talking in front of the class what snack they made and why they had chose to make the different snack. After we had heard what all the snacks were, we enjoyed eating them together.

Last Tuesday we inquired into why we wash our hands and completed an experiment using bread. Students touched a piece of white bread without washing their hands and we placed it into a ziplock bag. Next students washed their hands and touched another piece of bread, this was also placed inside a ziplock bag. We also placed an untouched piece of bread into a ziplock bag. All bags were placed on the whiteboard and we waited to see what would happen. Day 1 It took 5 days before we started to see the affects of our unwashed hands on the bread. When the mould started growing we were really able to see the difference between the three pieces of bread. Day 5 Day 7 Day 10 Two very interesting student questions arose from the discussion we had about the bread. 1. Why can't we see germs on our hands? 2. Why did the untouched bread also go mouldy? If you know the answers to these questions comment below and help us answer our questions.

There are two online programmes each student has an individual account for. We use these in class and they can also be used at home. Mathletics http://www.mathletics.asia/ Mathletics is a super fun math activity website. This highlight of Mathletics is being about to play against other children live anywhere in the world. I have used Mathletics at three different International Schools and have seen it motivate the most reluctant math learner. The desktop version allows students to access more features of the website including using credit to change their avatar, which students like to do. There is also a free app that can be downloaded for student use. Each student has the log in details on their home folder and can play at anytime. I am able to track progress and change the tasks to be either easier or harder. Raz Kids https://www.raz-kids.com Students who were at ISPP are already familiar with this programme. Raz Kids is a online resource of e-books. The programme ...

Today your child will bring home a letter with the date and time of their Hopes and Concerns meeting. All meetings will be in the afternoon of either the 15th or 16th September 2015 and last for 15 minutes. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss what hopes you have for your child this year and what your concerns are. I have found Hopes and Concerns meetings very beneficial as a teacher and parent. As a teacher I am able to gain a better understanding into each student's social, emotional and academic needs from the perspective of the parent. As we are a month into the school year I have been able to get to know each student and with the knowledge from parents can deepen this understanding. As a parent attending my son's Hopes and Concerns meeting I have been able to talk openly to the teacher and mention those worries you often have, what hopes I have for the coming year and help strengthen the home/school connection. Here are a few questions to help you prepare ...

We celebrated Jasmene's 7th Birthday today with some delicious cup cakes. Everyone made a Birthday card for her and sung Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday Jasmene! We hope you have a wonderful celebration.