As an international PYP school, we cater to many non-English speakers. To encourage some of these non-native English speakers to participate and engage with the class community in Early Years, we introduced an app called Furry Friend. This interactive app is great for engaging young students in simple play and conversation. Students can play independently…
Literature Circles Part 2 Background: Before starting these Literature Circles, I consulted with MYP teachers to inquire about language used in the Language B classroom. I was given a list of terminology to expose students to such as: Plot, Exposition, Rising/Falling Action, Climax, Resolution, Metaphor etc. The students in my EAL class have only…
Last two weeks of school…enjoying reading and preparing for Grade 6! As our Grade 5 students prepare to exit the PYP and enter the MYP, we are focusing more on narrative books and literary devices. The last few weeks of school are often the most difficult for students to feel motivated…teachers as well! To…
Here are the final RSAstyle videos published by my grade 5 EAL class. The project took place over 5 weeks and the main emphasis was on the process. To see the previous 4 phases of the process click here: http://blogs.swa-jkt.com/swa/jocelynsutherland/category/ipads/ Students went through the drafting, editing, conferencing, revision phases of the writing process. The iMovie…
Week 4: PUBLISHING on iMovie Since we are not yet 1:1 with iPads, students needed to upload their iMotion HD videos from the iPad to their macbooks. Students used the microphone feature to record their written explanation. There were many challenges in recording the timing of their voice with the video…especially since 90% of…
Today we started the filming process with some of the students. They were very excited! After drafting their drawings, recording their explanation on Photobooth and practicing on a whiteboard, they were more than ready to get started. Practice makes perfect Seowon practices her drawing on a smaller whiteboard. She also thought about what title she…
Part 2: From Text to Illustrations….in 30 mins. Yesterday we started a mini-project in EAL class based around their Migration Unit of Inquiry. Click here to read the last post on how the project was introduced step by step. For homework, students had to create a first draft of their illustration which they will modify…
Today during my Grade 5 EAL class, I decided to trial a new (free!) online visible thinking tool called ‘Mural.ly‘. Its claim is that it is ‘Google Docs for Visual People‘, which couldn’t better define myself or my EAL learners. Using Mural.ly with Beginner EAL students: Tuning-in to UOI vocabulary Students are able to upload…
With just one day left for kids to put up their boards and displays for this year’s PYP Exhibition, there is serious madness happening all around! Here is a photo summary of the last 2 weeks (week 8 & 9)… Instead of Exhibition T-Shirts, we had Science Lab Coats designed! Here is Tristan modeling…
To practice oral presentation skills, I introduced my grade fives to ‘5 frame flickr storytelling’: See FLICKR website: We played the game a few times, using different prompts and different storytelling arrangements. Some students told the whole story themselves, while others told the story in 5 parts, each person narrating one picture. For homework,…
Innovative Learning in the Elementary Classroom 