Dear 5R Families,
Things are rolling along beautifully in grade five. In Math, we’re deep into our exploration of Place Value and will soon be transitioning into a further part of this unit, reviewing the four operations. In Writing after developing a number of strategies for story ideas and writing short “seed stories”, we’ve chosen particularly meaningful seeds to draft into longer stories, and will be revising and editing them over the coming weeks. In Reading, we’re learning to record our thinking while reading, focusing on character traits. In Unit, we’re launching our Genius Hour inquiry which will go strong for the next three weeks. For more on these, log in to zis.ch and keep an eye on the G5 Newsfeed.
Two main notes to this post: Agendas and Genius Hour
Agendas
Over the past several weeks a group of 5R students volunteered to trial and provide feedback on our agendas. The results are in and starting on Monday, Sept 25 every 5R student should have their agenda in their backpack each day going home and each morning returning to school.
- To help students stay organized with upcoming responsibilities
- To record reading
- As a conversation starter/communication aid between home and school
- look at the agenda each evening with your child
- use their notes as conversation starters to chat about their day
- support them to record their reading in the agenda
- initial at the bottom of each day’s column, each evening
Last week, fifth grade students were asked: “If you could learn about one thing (a skill, subject or passion), for three weeks, what would it be?”
This weeks sees the start of our Grade 5 Genius Hour projects. From gourmet meals, to shooting hoops, to building with Lego; we are in for a wide range of creative and thoughtful projects over the next three weeks!
What is Genius Hour? Have a look at this short video to get an idea, or this site to go deeper…
How will students get started?
During the first week, the students have the chance to meet with their homeroom teacher to plan out their project as if it were a mini unit. Together we will identify key questions and skills to be developed throughout the project and a timeline to help the students keep on track.
As this form of learning varies somewhat from what the students have done before, here are some guidelines for the process and answers to some questions.
Our first Genius Hour project will last just 3 weeks. There will be several hours each week at school to pursue this learning, but we encourage students to spend additional time at home in the evening working on their projects. Parents should feel free to enjoy researching and learning alongside their children.
Week 1: This is a research week. Having chosen their subject (e.g. soccer, origami, fashion, painting, baking), the students may wish to research something of the background or history of your subject area (e.g. how ladies’ fashions or make-up techniques have changed over the last 100 years, the history of origami, the life of a famous artist). Alternatively, they may wish to research material to support your personal inquiry in week 2 (e.g. 3 different recipes for baking chocolate brownies from 3 different chefs). The student are encouraged to look for primary sources (people in your family, people in your community) who might be able to help you with your research. On Wednesday, students will be “pitching” their ideas to the class.
Week 2: This week, the students will be investigating and creating. They might be baking cakes and bringing them in for taste tests, trying out basketball techniques, making different origami creations or painting in the style of a famous artist. Experimenting, investigating, taking photos, making notes and creating videos are all possibilities.
Week 3: In this final week, the students will share and reflect on their project, share their experiences with the rest of the class and post a final reflection on their blog. The following questions will give an idea of what this reflection might look like: What progress did you make towards your identified skills? Did you manage your time independently, or did you need reminders? What aspect of the process did you find challenging and how did you overcome these difficulties? What was the most exciting part of Genius Hour?
We are looking forward to an exciting three weeks.
