Author: Lianna Krantzberg

We were so excited to receive a package of handwritten letters from our new pen pals! We have connected with a Grade 1 class at the Cornel English School in Taiwan.

Today we read our letters from our pen pals. We cannot wait to write back to them. 

Over the last couple of weeks, the Grade 1 students have all become researchers and teachers who specialize in the study of the human body.

We kicked off our project by having a class discussion to decide which different topics we need to learn about in order to know all there is to know about the human body. The class decided on the following topics; a labelled diagram of the human body, internal body parts, external body parts, bones and muscles, and what we need to do to keep our body healthy.

 

In line with one of our OJCS North Stars (we own our own learning), the students went off in their groups to begin their self-directed learning. How did I group the students? Great question. The answer is: I didn’t make the groups at all! The students put their names under the topic that they found most interesting and wanted to become the experts in. The class was buzzing with research and learning! The students had a large stack of human body books from the library, iPads to watch videos and read/listen to articles from Kids Health, and some students even brought in books from home!

 

It was wonderful to walk around the room to see and hear the learning going on. Students were sharing their own experiences about broken bones, exercising, feeling their heart beating through their chest… the list can go on and on! This science project truly demonstrated our OJCS North Star – we learn better together!

Don’t believe me? See for yourself! This is what happens when the students become the teachers…

 

What happens next? We reflect! After the excitement of the presentations, each student completed a self-evaluation form. We will use this as a tool to help us continue to learn and develop our skills with our next group project and presentation.

What a fantastic way to end 2018! Enjoy your winter break, grade 1!
See you in the (secular) new year!

Many of you have been following along on our journey through our community helpers unit through twitter (@lkrantzberg) and our OJCS Hadashot. Incase you missed it, here are the hi-lights!

For every visit, we did a ‘pre-visit lesson’ to discuss what we thought the visitors’ roles and responsibilities are and to create a list of questions for our visitors.

 

 

 

 

We were so lucky to have so many community helpers come visit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After each visit, the students did a follow up activity where we discussed why our community helpers are important and what their responsibilities are.

            

Are you curious about which community helper presentation your child enjoyed the most?

See the students’ reflections on flip grid!