Super Science Trip

This morning, Grade 5 went on an exciting trip as part of our provocation for our new unit on Energy. It was the perfect start to what will be a rewarding journey of discovery. The unit will give our students the opportunity to work and think scientifically. It will also increase our awareness about energy conservation and protecting our resources here on earth. This trip to the Qatar Scientific Club saw the students engage in a variety of learning experiences hosted by STEM Xplorers. The aim of this trip was to develop creativity and knowledge about science through a hands on program, amazing science show and an out of this world experience with a 3D scientific movie about Climate Change.

This trip is only the beginning. This new unit will see Grade 5 go to the MYP science labs to collaborate with and learn from MYP’s wonderful Mr. Muhammed and Ms. Harang. Even our summative assessment task will be totally unique with the children designing and creating toys from recyclable materials and Little Bits. Little Bits are small, open source, modular electronics components that snap together to form larger circuits. We had the opportunity to play around with circuits today on our trip too and we might even have a go of Makey Makey circuits when we come back after the midterm break. 

We hope you are as excited as we are. Have a look at our amazing photos and please feel free to leave comments. 

Hispanic Day 2017

We thoroughly enjoyed exploring Hispanic culture through music, art, crafts, movement and play today. Thanks to our amazing Spanish team for organizing things so well.

Here are some snapshots of our morning.

5A Migration Minglers

Posted on behalf of Ms. Serene 🙂

During our unit on Migration, we have learned the reasons why different people migrate all over the world. Students have also conducted their own individual research on migration, from the different opportunities people seek, whether it is positive or negative, and how it has impacted and changed their lives. Students have also individually chosen a country that speaks of the historical migration behind it, and have presented it in front of the whole class. They will now research on the migration of animals, putting them into groups, and using technology to enhance their research skills. They will work together to gather information in the multimedia room, and then presenting it as a group to the whole class. These activities has and will enhance their research and presentation skills, and allow the chance to educate their fellow classmates in the process. Learning from each other is an essential key to our process of education.

We are reading a novel called, “The Breadwinner”, that speaks about the country Afghanistan during the war and have integrated it with migration. They have learned one of the reasons for migration is because of a war and that people need to migrate and leave their homes to find a better safer place. The story has taught the students many of the PYP attitudes, mainly focusing on empathy, as they are able to sympathize with the main character Parvana, who is working hard to survive and feed her family. She is known as “The Breadwinner.”

We have integrated migration with Math, allowing the students to analyze data and graphs on migration topics. They have observed different kinds of graphs and were able to answer the questions by connecting it to migration. They have collected data on the migration of the different countries that their classmates have migrated to, writing it in tally tables, then displaying it through various graphs like pie charts and bar graphs. They also have conducted a survey activity with both classes 5A and 5B, mingling around asking their fellow classmates where they have migrated from, and displaying their collected data in a tally table. The group collaboration was a success, as they all enjoyed going around and interacting with their friends, and collecting data. Group collaboration is key as it prepares them for the exhibition in a few months. Students will take their collected data and display it on a bar graph, where they have the required checklist to ensure that they did not miss any of the important components of drawing a proper bar graph.

READING IS AWESOME IN 5B!!!!

The more we read, the more we know and the more we know the more places we will go!!! Inspired by the words of Dr. Seuss, we know the value and importance of reading here in Grade 5. It literally makes us more intelligent, broadens our knowledge, develops our growth mindset, helps us to empathise with others and understand the world around us as well as develop our imaginations. Whether it’s DEAR time, group reading, our class novel or buddy reading, we are usually engrossed in a book of some kind. We absolutely love every opportunity to delve into a good book. We carry out “Before Reading” activities, “After Reading” activities, we make predictions and connections while we read. We visualize, summarize, surmise and infer. Need a good book recommendation? Just ask us!

Scintillating Skype Session

Last year, we said goodbye to some wonderful friends here at SEK Qatar. Some of our teachers and their families left Doha to pursue careers in other parts of the world and it is always hard to say goodbye. People migrate for many different reasons and so, to initiate our unit studies, 5B got in touch with Mr. Fernando and his daughter Julia to hear all about their recent migration to Malaysia.

We got to hear all about their big move, including the various challenges and opportunities they have been experiencing and the students were very excited to hear details of a migration journey. We found out that Julia’s class is also inquiring into migration, so we got to share and compare our ideas as well as discuss different perspectives on the same topic.

Life in Malaysia seems very different to life here in Qatar. One of the coolest things we heard about was the monkeys who visit the children in the school yard at break times. While we love to monkey around at break times too, we certainly don’t have any monkeys here at SEK. Besides the heat, our desert climate is vastly different to the tropical climate of Malaysia. Julia and Mr. Fernando described the lush green surroundings of their school. Their school uniform reflects these surroundings by being bright green and yellow. We found this very interesting indeed. Another thing the class seemed very keen to hear more about was the fact that Julia studies food technology and learns how to cook at school.

There were of course, many similarities as well. For instance, the PHE uniform consists of various house colour t-shirts and the daily schedule is pretty similar in structure with their lessons being 40 minutes long instead of 50 minutes. Even though we may be in very different parts of the world, school life is very similar and the expectations are in line with ours. They are in an IB school with the learner profile, attitudes, concepts, skills and action is encouraged in all learning areas.

Overall, this was a very engaging skype call and the students loved gaining new knowledge and reflecting on the process of migration. Next week, 5A & 5B hope to continue our skype sessions and to collaborate further with Mr. Fernando, Julia and the students in Year 6 at their school.

Spinning into 5th Grade with 5B

Here are some photos of our first few weeks. We thoroughly enjoyed our induction weeks and spent a lot of time revising the learner profile attributes, attitudes, concepts, skills and inquiry cycle. Collaboration was key during these two weeks. We established our essential agreements and have set our intentions for a productive and industrious year ahead. We had so much fun getting to know each other and settling into a new academic year.

We hope you enjoy these snapshots of our daily life here at SEK Qatar. Watch this space for more posts over the coming days.

5B Acting Workshops

Our acting workshop preparations are well under way. Today’s dress rehearsal was a success and gave the students an opportunity to self and peer assess each other’s drama skills. Receiving constructive feedback is a crucial part of the learning development process. One of the most informative learning points was the need to pronounce each word clearly and project our voices. We even had student photographers today. These Grade 5 students are awesome at taking the lead. There was a lot of fun and laughter watching each other perform. The students completely took the lead with this assignment and I am very impressed with their commitment and willingness to take risk. Suspending disbelief is a key ingredient to dramatic success and I have to applaud the class for this today. We are immensely looking forward to tonight’s Arts night.  

5B’s Mind in a Jar

Sometimes our minds become clouded and foggy. Thoughts keep coming and we are often trying to balance so many different subjects, jobs, ideas and things we need to do. In Grade 5, we wondered, what we do to support ourselves and look after our minds at times like this…

So, this week, after our exhibition extravaganza, we took some time out to create a fun, visual reminder for ourselves. We created a mind in a jar using water, glitter and sparkles and in this way we can see what our mind looks like when it is busy and overwhelmed. We can also clearly see what happens when we take a moment to allow it to settle down… When we are mindful, we become more aware of our thoughts and feelings which makes us more self aware.

“Mindfulness is paying attention here and now with kindness and curiosity.” Association for Mindfulness in Education

“The future hasn’t happened yet and the past is gone. So I think the only moment we have is right here and now, and I try to make the best of those moments, the moments that I’m in.” Annie Lenox

Mission Exhibition 2017

Thank you so much to everyone who attended our exhibition. Below you will find the introduction and opening poem. There are also many photos to enjoy 🙂

Good evening Grade 5s!

You mission, should you decide to accept it, is to engage in a collaborative inquiry experience that will synthesize the five essential elements of the PYP.

These elements are KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ATTITUDES, CONCEPTS and ACTION.

This experience will mark your transition to MYP and give you an opportunity to display independence, curiosity and creativity at every turn.

An authentic assessment process will afford you the opportunity to succeed, while displaying the learner profile attributes.

All members of the school community will play an important role in this learning journey.

As always, should you or any member of the Grade 5 team need support, the coordinator will assign someone to help you succeed in your actions.

Good luck in your inquiries!

This tape will self-destruct in five seconds!

5,4,3,2,1!

Grade 5 students from SEK Qatar would like to welcome you to…. Mission Exhibition!

Mission Exhibition was no easy feat!

You get to sit back and enjoy this treat.

But we have been working for weeks on end

Trying to make the essential elements blend.

You may not realise the journey we’re on

It wasn’t a sprint, but a long marathon.

We wish to explain just how far we have come

So much new knowledge, our heads- they spun!

We never imagined it would be so consuming

At every turn, the big event was looming.

“It’s your exhibition!” the adults exclaim

Hoping it would sink into our brain 

Time was escaping, we couldn’t rewind.

It was a challenge for us to know our own mind

Mentors kept asking “What will you do?

Remember children, it’s all up to you!

It’s your exhibition, you’re the ones to decide.

Stand up, be counted, take this in your stride.”

The message was clear, the mission was set

We couldn’t stand back, look on or just fret.

We needed to trust and really take flight

So we pushed ourselves with all our might.  

We soared up high to heights unknown

A whole group effort, no one left alone!

Music, art, drama, dance and more

So many creative avenues to explore!

We had to inquire, delve deeper and dig,

Who knew these issues were so very big?

The knowledge was hidden, we just had to look

And trawl through each website, article and book.

These issues concern us. They truly do matter.

They’re subject of current online news chatter.

We’ve internalized the value of earth’s sustainability

It was a mindset shift, a transforming epiphany.

We’ve gained new perspective, our thoughts have shifted

Our understanding’s increased and uncertainty’s lifted.

We have come so far on this long learning journey

We can fight our cause with the skill of an attorney.

We gathered information, asked questions and more

We have so much more knowledge than ever before.

Enthusiasm, passion, curiosity came like thunder 

Responsibility, reflection compassion and wonder.

These are just some words to elicit our emotion

When we talk about the life breathed into this notion.

It’s burning inside us, this powerful yearning

The duty we feel to share all this learning.

We must spread the word to all who will listen

And watch the ideas as they begin to glisten.

We all play a part, we must lead the way.

Each student before you will have their say.

So, thank you for coming to share our ambition.

We hope you’ll enjoy our exhibition.

This poem was written by Ms. Cassandra Molloy.

Mystery Readers

As part of our book week celebrations, both classes had the pleasure and delight of welcoming some mystery readers to our rooms. Emanuela read Geronimo Stilton in Italian, Ainhoa read The Smurfs in Spanish and Diana read a story about the cuckoo in Arabic and Beauty and the Beast in English. Hanan read some Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to us and we escaped to the chocolate room of the factory. It was delicious. What a wonderful treat?

When we returned from the library, there was another mystery reader waiting for us in class… Mr. Devin! He delighted us with an action packed reading session of a novel about an ogre.

We also wrote and illustrated a fairytale about sustainability to raise awareness for our exhibition and promote positive change in others. The never ending story in the hall was quite quirky and interesting and we got to see such a broad range of perspectives, ideas and writing abilities from all the grade levels. It was pretty awesome actually.

Thursday’s book parade was a marvel to behold. There were so many cool costumes. It was obvious that our school is full of risk takers who are willing to suspend the disbelief and have fun together.