Creativity Unit and Language Acquisition

UN Day Celebration

AISD will celebrate UN Day this coming Wednesday, November 25 from 8:30 to 9:30 on the big field. All students are encouraged to wear traditional clothing or colors from their home country. Please ensure your child comes to school dressed accordingly as we will not have time to change beforehand.

The UN Day celebration is a very special time at AISD. We welcome you to come help us celebrate. Please meet us out on the big field and avoid coming to the classroom as this congests things quite a lot when we are trying to line up. You will have ample opportunities for photos on the field -- I promise!

A Line Could Be......

Today we explored our creativity by making our brains really think. We were given only a line and had to turn into something else entirely. Look at how creative we were!

Inquiring into Single Silent e

One of our reading groups asked about when to use a silent e when writing a word, and also how to recognize what an e does when it's at the end of a word when we are reading. We decided we needed to inquire into this further!! Today this group found as many words as possible that end in the letter e. Tomorrow we will sort them and see what we discover. Stay tuned for our findings!

Demonstrating our Understanding of Plants

We finished up our unit of inquiry on Sharing the Planet: Plants with an activity that encouraged us to consolidate our learning and share our understanding. Our lines of inquiry for this unit were:

• The properties of plants 
• What plants provide for us and other living things
• The relationship between plants and other living things

 In order for students to demonstrate their knowledge, they were first each given a piece of paper of paper on which they recorded the things they know plants have, need, and give (to people and animals). 

From here we were able to work together to generate a list of things plants provide to both humans and animals. The next day, students were given pictures of each item generated the day prior. They then worked in partners to determine the importance of each item. They were instructed to sort the items accordingly in relation to a circle on their poster. The items inside the circle were those they felt were necessary to live. Those just outside but touching the circle were those they felt were not necessary, but quite important. Those on the outside of the paper were the items the students felt were not necessary - rather, just nice to have.

The next step was to compare their own poster with that of their teammates. The students moved around the room in their partnerships and examined the other students' work. They discussed differences and similarities and engaged in dialogue with their partners.

Comparing Circles from AIS Dhaka on Vimeo.

Finally, each group had a chance to elaborate and defend its thinking. Great discussion erupted as students agreed and disagreed about the importance of the various things plants provide. Please take a few moments to watch some of the videos below. Notice the focus, passion, and deep thinking that is capable even in kindergarten.

Ihsan and Taya from AIS Dhaka on Vimeo.

Adrian and Zoe from AIS Dhaka on Vimeo.

Levi and Hanna from AIS Dhaka on Vimeo.

Amirah and Noah from AIS Dhaka on Vimeo.

Zara and Lola from AIS Dhaka on Vimeo.

Alfred and Ilmeeyat from AIS Dhaka on Vimeo.

Nezar and Gabriel from AIS Dhaka on Vimeo.