1 more school day until GENIUS HOUR!...
3B has been counting down to genius hour for the past couple of weeks – without even knowing what genius hour might be! Have you ever heard of genius hour? I put a chart on the wall that says “What in the world do you wonder?” without any directions. Sure enough, over the past few weeks, that “Wonder Wall” is full of your children’s questions and wonderings. What curious kids! They are natural inquirers! Their minds are so open for learning. Yet often in school, children’s natural curiosity gets ignored. There is so much they must learn! So many skills, so much knowledge to attain – what time do we have for natural curiosity? Well, there is a movement in education that is exploring just that, asking “What if we help children develop those natural curiosities into passions?” The educational philosophy of the PYP is that through inquiry, students can gain skills, understanding, and knowledge that can be applied to other areas of learning. Genius Hour allows students to apply those skills to their own inquiries – gaining knowledge, understanding, and a love for learning that will carry them through their lives. If you are interested in learning more about Genius Hour, check out this website: http://www.geniushour.com As an educator, I have dreamed of incorporating Genius Hour into my own classroom for a few years now. I look forward to embarking on this journey with your children, anxious to find out more about who they are, what they are passionate about, and to learn together along the way. What will Genius Hour look like in 3B? What will they inquire about? 3B students will brainstorm topics of interest, rank their topics, then choose one to explore further. They will develop a question that they can research over time. It could be something they want to learn more about, something they want to find out, or something they want to learn to do! When? Every other Wednesday from 12:10 – 1:10pm (non-assembly weeks) How? 3B students will follow the inquiry process – using a planner that I have developed through the framework of the PYP. Can my child work on his/her Genius Hour project at home? Sure! Parents are a wonderful resource. Also, your child may be so passionate about his/her topic that 1 hour is just not enough time! However, I ask that your child use the planner to guide him/her through the inquiry process. Parents, you can play as big a role as you’d like in your child’s genius hour inquiries this school year. There is certainly a lot of opportunity to share in your child’s explorations. Will my child be assessed on his/her project? Yes, your child will choose certain skills to work on. S/he will self-reflect on how well s/he accomplished his/her goals for the project. I will also assess your child in the same areas. Their efforts will be reflected on their report cards. Can I help in class? Sure! If you are interested in joining us for Genius Hour sometime, just e-mail me at [email protected]. Tuning Into our Lines of InquiryWe tuned into each line of inquiry using a visual thinking routine called "Color, Symbol, Image" PeaceConflictResolution....and how do they guide our thinking?I like to think of concepts as the lens through which we see and think about our topic. We can put on our "perspective spectacles" to see the different points of view in a conflict. We might put on our "responsibility glasses" to think about our responsibility to resolve a conflict. Or, we might put on our "causation lenses" to think about all the possible causes of a conflict. The metaphor of glasses helps to make these concepts more concrete for our Grade 3 students! We first explored the word <perspective> by thinking of words that share the same base <spect>. We discovered that most of those words have something to do with seeing or looking. We looked at images of optical illusions from different perspectives. We noticed that you can see the same picture in different ways. We read Judy Blume's The Pain and the Great One. This story shares two perspectives - how two siblings see each other. Then we explored conflicts through the lens of perspective! When your child finds himself or herself in a conflict, ask them to think about the perspective of the other person. This will help your child to develop empathy and avoid or resolve conflicts more easily!
Taking action is an essential part of the PYP. Students at a PYP school are strongly encouraged to take action. At the beginning of each unit of inquiry, I send home an action menu - with suggestions for ways to take action during the unit. Taking action is the "So what?" of learning. You are gaining knowledge and understanding, so what? What will you do with that knowledge and understanding? Parents can play a big part in encouraging students to take action at home - and sign up for an action share on Fridays!
Action Share Applications are due on Thursdays of that week. Students should accept the responsibility of preparing for their action share before they present on Friday. It is a great opportunity for students to practice their oral presentation skills. |
Quick LinksBrainpop Grade 3 at LCSWe are Class 3B in Accra. Check in regularly to see what we are up to! Archives
June 2016
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