Friday, November 11, 2016

November 11. 2016

In this post...

  • Veterans Day
  • MYP: Statements of Inquiry
  • Spring Journeys
  • What We Are Learning...highlights from Language Acquisition and Design
  • Upcoming Dress Uniform and Civvies Days
  • Things To Do in our Community

Veterans Day

Today included our annual observance of Veterans Day, made particularly special by the opportunity to honor faculty, staff, parents, and grandparents who have served. To all whom we could recognize today and to all who couldn't be here, thank you for your service.

MYP: Statements of Inquiry

Throughout the Middle School, you'll see posters with terse sentences in classrooms and in hallways. Too dense to be a simple conversation starter, these "Statements of Inquiry" are crafted by teachers to reflect the concepts being explored in curriculum units. As pedagogues Erickson and Marzano have described, each SOI "expresses the relationship between concepts and context; it represents a transferable idea supported by factual content. Statements of inquiry facilitate synergistic thinking, synthesizing factual and conceptual levels of mental processing and creating a greater impact on cognitive development than either level of thinking by itself." MYP provides guidelines for constructing each statement, such as the integration of the key and related concepts and global contexts that are central to the unit.

Because of the awkwardness and density of these statements, some teachers simplify the concepts further so that students can readily access the idea driving the unit. For example, in Individuals & Societies, students are beginning a unit driven by the SOI "The cause of a culture's progress is rooted in their identity, which can lead to lasting change that may still influence us today." The statement deliberately integrates words like culture, identity, and change, but Mr. Hunt gives students the simplified version as well: The cause of progressive change remains. As we prepare for our authorization visit in the spring, please engage your student in reflection on the SOIs that are guiding her or his courses. Start by asking, What is the statement of inquiry? Ask to identify the key concepts in the statement, and explore what you think the SOI means. As the unit progresses, ask about how different texts, ideas, assessments, or projects connect to the SOI and inform about the concepts driving the unit.

Spring Journeys

If you haven't already, please register your student for the Spring Journeys via the links below by October 16, 2016. 

What we are learning...

This week, we highlight our Language Acquisition and Design programs!
Language Acquisition
Spanish students working in the unit Deportes are wrapping up their summative assessment. Using their SOI (Verbal and non-verbal communication affect the way teams interact) as a starting point, students created sports trading cards that highlighted their physical and communication skills. Cards will be presented to the class next week and students will be able to choose a valuable player to be added to their team. Elements of their assessment include grammatical accuracy, presentation, audience, pronunciation, and vocabulary use.

The Sixth Grade Chinese has finished their first PowerPoint presentation on self-introduction and introducing others. They learned to dance a Chinese pop dance “ You’re my little apple.” In order to have their ears getting used to Chinese language students were assigned to watch an authentic Chinese movie “Hua Mulan”, which was in Chinese but with English subtitle. Students were also asked to answer three questions about it. They were shocked that this version was so different with the one made in Hollywood. In order to engage all students with multiple intelligences I also introduce and practice all kinds of teaching approaches and methods with my students. Students just completed their first Kahoot presentation having much fun.

The Seventh Grade Chinese class has learned how to use time phrases to express their plans on doing something. In order to engage all students with multiple intelligences I introduced and practiced all kinds of teaching approaches and methods with my students. I allowed students to make a movie called “A Little Monkey in Chinatown.” They put the whole movie together writing script, acting, videotaping, and editing it. They also watched a documentary called “Chinese schools” accessing relevant and authentic materials. Students have completed their first Kahoot presentation for this year.

The Eighth Grade Chinese has learned how to ask about and describe their schedule. They all made a Kahoot presentation on phrases and sentence structures taking their ownership for their learning. They also learned to dance a Chinese pop dance called “You’re my little apple.” In order to engage all students with multiple intelligence allow them to make a movie called “Annies vs Gators” together. They had fun writing the script, acting, videotaping, and editing it. This is a student-centered class. They are making dramatic progress this year.

 Design

The first big units in Sixth and Seventh Grades have just been completed with great success all around. Eighth Grade is currently working in small teams to submit their creations for the Verizon App Challenge. This national competition requires that each team to identify a problem in the school or community. They are then tasked with designing an app that can help solve or mitigate that problem. The creativity of the Eighth Grade has been impressive, and their knowledge of coding, gained from Design classes in previous grades, has most certainly aided in the solutions they have produced. The regional and national winners will be announced next year. However, as we stress in all Design units, it is the process of using the Design Cycle and Design Thinking that is valued in this subject and not solely the end product.

Upcoming Dress Uniform and Civvies Days
Friday, November 18: Civvies Day
Tuesday, December 13: Dress Uniform (Lessons & Carols)
Wednesday, December 14: Civvies Day (MS Holiday Celebration)
Thursday, December 15: Dress Uniform (MS Holiday Tea)
Friday, December 16: Dress Uniform (Grandparents' & Special Friends' Day)

Things To Do in our Community...

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