It is hard to believe we are coming to the end of Term 3 already! It has been full of exciting learning moments.
The students in 1/2 N1 have been waiting excitedly for the arrival of our special Gratitude Journal workbooks – and this week their patience was rewarded! These journals bring together opportunities to develop self reflection and foster wellbeing, as well as writing skills. We have seen plenty of pride and ownership amongst the students as they created their first entries. With the beautiful weather this week, some students took the opportunity to be in nature, writing and illustrating about what they are grateful for in the sunshine.
Project Groups and Lines of Inquiry
The 1/2 students have been working together in their project groups, each focusing on different lines of inquiry related to gratitude. Here’s a brief overview of what each group has been up to:
Personal Gratitude
In the personal gratitude group, students have been busy creating their very own “Gratitude Dictionary.” This project has seen students surveying their peers about how they express gratitude and then creating dictionary pages that describe each of these scenarios. It is hoped that this dictionary will become part of a resource that will be shared with all neighbourhoods across the school. Watch this space!
Environmental Gratitude
These students have been hard at work developing research questions and following their curiosity to find out more about the importance of trees. From wondering why trees live so long to investigating how trees can provide shelter to animals, this research is deepening our understanding of why caring for different aspects of our local and global environments is so important. The students have used non fiction books and online search engines to find information and then used note-taking techniques to record findings.
Cultural Gratitude
In the cultural gratitude group, students have been immersed in the creative world of puppets and performances. They’ve been crafting colorful puppets that represent different cultures and creating performances to showcase their newfound knowledge. They have also begun to explore recipes from around the world, understanding that food can play a central role in cultural identity.
Grouping and Sharing
In addition to our gratitude-focused projects, all our students have been actively engaging in numeracy activities. We’ve been working on the concepts of grouping and sharing, which are fundamental skills essential to real-life tasks such as organising party bags! Through various hands-on activities and games, these mathematicians have been consolidating their skills while also learning the importance of cooperation and teamwork.