How We Express Ourselves 2020-21

Central Idea: Communities come together through expressions of culture.

Lines of Inquiry:

  • Ways cultures are expressed (Form)
  • Similarities and differences of expression (Connection)
  • Why we communicate cultural stories (Perspective)

Key Concepts: Form, connection, perspective

Related Concepts: Expression, communication

 

Story #1

Storytellers

Two groups of students read interesting fictional stories that included animal characters. We decided to share these stories with the rest of the class.

The students had to decide who would be involved and what role they would play. Some decided that they would be part of the props team, helping to create the setting and the props for the story. The students had to cooperate, find ways to work together and listen to each other’s ideas.

The Setting

The Characters and Props

We reminded ourselves of what a good audience might look like. We had to plan, prepare the props, run through a practice and then perform for others in just 50 minutes!

 

Story #2

The Food We Eat

The students began by posting a photograph of their dinner. We gathered in a group to talk about the photographs.

First, the students chose a photograph from the selection. They could NOT choose their own.

Then, they worked in a team of two, or on their own to complete a visible thinking activity. Their task was to write what they ‘see, think, know or wonder’ about the photograph.

Next, we gathered again to share our initial thoughts and ideas. We documented what we heard and noted the different concepts and ideas on chart paper.

We gathered again to share our initial thoughts and ideas. We documented what we heard and noted the different concepts and ideas on chart paper.

Finally, the student who posted the photograph provided information on their own picture.

 

What do we have in common with each other? What makes us unique?  

 

Story #3

Folktales

An inquiry into Folktales:

Passed down from generation to generation, folktales provide a glimpse into a culture’s beliefs, and also insight into people’s motivations, feelings and values.

We read the folktale Stone Soup by Jon J Muth. In this story, three monks convince the people of a village to share a small amount of their food in order to make a meal that everyone enjoys.

After listening to the story, the students identified the characters, setting, problem, solution and moral of the story. We also noticed the details in the illustrations and how they give us clues about the text.

(Communication Skills: Exchanging information: Listening, interpreting and speaking)

The next day, one student reread the folktale while a story map was created. We used labels to help us remember important vocabulary and key information from the story.

(Communication Skills: LiteracyReading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information)

The students completed a graphic organizer to document the discussion points.

The moral of the story Stone Soup by Jon J Muth, is that ‘sharing benefits everyone who contributes’.

Next, we read Stone Soup by Marcia Brown. In this version, the travellers are 3 soldiers.

(Communication Skills: Exchanging information: Listening, interpreting and speaking)

Communication Skills: LiteracyReading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information)

The students helped create a story map of this version by Marcia Brown, including the important elements and key vocabulary. We compared the two versions of Stone Soup and thought about the similarities and differences between them. 

Next, we documented our thinking on a graphic Venn Diagram.

(Communication Skills: LiteracyReading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information)

(Research Skills: Information literacy: Formulating and planning, data gathering and recording, synthesizing and interpreting, evaluating and communicating)

One student brought in yet another version of Stone Soup, this time it was written in Korean. He worked with a partner to read and translate the story for the others. As they read the story, we thought about similarities and differences between all three versions. 

(Communication Skills: LiteracyReading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information)

We continued to add our thoughts and ideas on our mind map, discussing what we know and think these important words might be.

(Thinking Skills: Creative thinking: Generating novel ideas and considering new perspectives)

We continue to wonder about the concepts ‘community’ and ‘culture’, what do these words mean to us? How do communities ‘express’ their culture?

We wonder…

 

Story #4

All Together

The students were excited and energised from the Tug-of-War team activity. They laughed and shared their feelings with each other as they came back into the classroom.

We gathered to reflect on our experience. We watched a short video of the team game. How did we feel? Why did we feel that way?

First, each student wrote down their own reflections on paper. Then, while each child shared their ideas, we captured the main points on chart paper. Together we made our ‘thinking visible’.

The students continued to expand on each other’s ideas. One student said, “We do it because we want to be all together!”

Next, we wondered what ‘all together’ meant. We decided it could be a ‘community’. The students began to add their thinking. 

“We are together as a class. As a family, as a country, as a whole world!” They explained that it was important to be together.

Why is this important?
Watch this space to learn more…

Thinking Skills

  • Critical thinking: Analysing and evaluating issues and ideas, and forming decisions.
  • Creative thinking: Generating novel ideas and considering new perspectives
  • Information transfer: Using skills and knowledge in multiple contexts

Communication Skills

  • Exchanging information: Listening, interpreting and speaking
  • Literacy: Reading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information

 

Story #5

An Inquiry into Expressions and Culture

How do we express ourselves? What is expression?

The students began to share their ideas and we documented their thinking on chart paper.

“We express ourselves through, dance, music, games, drawing, painting…”

(Creative thinking: Generating novel ideas and considering new perspectives)

We wondered what we ‘value’ as a community in Grade 2A. We documented our discussion on chart paper.

We discussed why teamwork, kind words, sharing, turn taking and group work was important to us. We agreed that this was the culture of our classroom or ‘how we did things’ as we worked and learned together.

(Creative thinking: Generating novel ideas and considering new perspectives)

Three students shared photographs of different objects, experiences and artefacts that they valued (in their home/ as a family/ in their culture).   

(Communication Skills: Exchanging information-Listening, interpreting and speaking)

We reflected on the discussion we had about the different ways we express ourselves. The students began to think about the different aspects of expression they could learn more about. What tools can we use to conduct our research? How might we present our research?

(Information literacy: Formulating and planning, data gathering and recording, synthesizing and interpreting, evaluating and communicating)

The students agreed that they could conduct their research by:

  • reading books and magazines
  • interviewing people
  • watching videos

We continue to wonder ‘how communities come together through expressions of culture‘.

The students were invited to look around their home and post photographs of the different expressions of culture. These could be artefacts, traditions and customs.

 

Story #6

Research Groups

We are excited about our research!

First, we asked a question that requires information seeking.
Then, we sourced books from the library that may help us learn more about our chosen topic of interest. We used the library catalogue with assistance, to locate information sources.


We selected books on a variety of topics through RAZ Kids and EPIC.
We will refine our existing questions and dig deeper with more questions as we continue our research.

We will continue to listen to student presentations, read a variety of books and talk to the community, to learn more about ‘how communities come together through expressions of culture‘.

  • (Information literacyFormulating and planning, data gathering and recording, synthesizing and interpreting, evaluating and communicating)
  • (Communication Skills: Exchanging information-Listening, interpreting and speaking)

 

Story #7

Games bring us together! 

One student had a great idea, she asked if we can play a game together as a class. We agreed that we could, IF she planned it. The students worked together to help, share, support and have fun. Here is our learning journey and reflections.

Next, we played a traditional Chinese game ‘Bake the Cake! We continue our research to learn more about the games and sports in different communities. 

 

Story #8

Research Continues…

Our research has led to many new understandings. We have continued to include our developing theories and ideas on our mind map.

 We continue to wonder about the different ways cultures are expressed (Form) and the similarities and differences between them (Connection).

Ryder explained that “If there were no stories, in the future people won’t know things in the old time.” Why is this important to us? We continue to wonder how communities come together through expressions of culture.

 

Story #9

Story of Learning

We sat together, to gather our thoughts, to explore where our learning has taken us.

What have we learned through our research?

Over the last few weeks, we have been diving deep into our Unit of Inquiry. We have been generating ideas, sorting through information, conducting our research and making connections between concepts and ideas. Together, we have developed a deeper understanding of our unit under the Transdisciplinary Theme ‘How We Express Ourselves’.

The students have been asking questions, reading books, conducting surveys, documenting data, presenting findings, sharing ideas and taking action.

We took a closer look at our Central Idea ‘Communities come together through expressions of culture’.

Our deep dive into the different themes, vocabulary, concepts and ideas, have helped us uncover the Central Idea.

The students quickly made connections with what they have been learning. We documented our thinking on chart paper.

  • What stories might WE want to tell?
  • How might we EXPRESS these ideas?
  • What do we want others to know about OUR culture?
  • What forms of expression bring US TOGETHER as a Community?
  • HOW might we document these ideas?
  • What artefacts can we CREATE?

We wonder how we might take ACTION!

 

Story #10

Storytellers in the Community

We have been creating stories that we want to share with our community. These stories are significant as they have a message or an important idea to communicate to the reader.

The students used a story planner to help them decide on the important elements of their story.

Then, they wrote their stories and shared them with the class. After making changes and editing their writing, they were ready publish their work. Many of the students decided to create their own short stories. These stories will be included in a Grade 2A Memory Book.

The class had discussed the idea of creating a collaborative piece of art or artifact, that communicates our stories and culture to the community. We had a large piece of canvas in the classroom. We wondered how we could use this piece of canvas to create an artifact.

  • How big should it be?
  • How would we draw on it?
  • Where will we display the mural?

We made a plan. The students shared their ideas and perspectives. What if each student drew a picture from their story, on the canvas? We would have 16 stories!

The students wondered how big each section would need to be. One student measured the width of the canvas and shared his suggestion for dividing the canvas.

The students agreed that each section would be 35cms. wide. But what about the length?

The students began to suggest different lengths. 45cms in length? 50cms. in length? We created a chart to document the data as the students voted for their choice. 

Then, we drew two of the most popular measurements on paper.

Next, the students voted to decide on the best length.

An agreement was reached. Each section of the canvas would be 35cms. X 55cms.

We will have 16 sections and 16 images that share what we value as a community.

We are finally ready to divide our canvas and begin to draw our stories to create the mural.

We have a plan to guide us as we create together.

The students used Book Creator to publish their short stories. These stories will be included in a Grade 2A Memory Book.

Here are a few published books:

Each student painted an image on a mural that represented their individual story. The students enjoyed this collaborative project that tells a story about the culture and values we share as a community.

 

Story #11

The Memory Book

The students have been working on their short stories, which will be included in the final Memory Book. They have followed the writing process, moving from their draft to their edited and published versions.

These books are now displayed in the G1 and 2 corridors along with our learning stories.

We took some time to share these stories with each other.

We have followed our initial plan, created our stories and are in the process of creating our class mural. We gathered to discuss our ideas for the Memory Book.

  • What about a title for the book? How will we decide which one to choose?
  • How would we organize the different stories?
  • Where will this book be displayed?

The students continued to share what they thought our next steps would be. Some suggestions included:

  • author interviews
  • page numbers
  • a blurb
  • a contents page
  • photographs of the authors
  • headers
  • images and diagrams of planners and the mural painting

We know that these decisions need to be made as a group, as this is what we ‘value’ in 2A.

 

Story #12

The Memory Book (Continued)

We gathered to reflect and update our plan for the Memory Book. We went through the process we have followed and thought about our next steps. 

The students have all created their individual stories for the Memory Book. 

Out next step was to discuss and come to an agreement on the look and feel of the book, starting with the front and back cover. The students decided that they wanted to create both a hard copy and an electronic version of the book. 

The students decided to vote on the colour of the front and back cover. They suggested a table would be a useful tool to document our data. Two popular choices emerged. Green and Purple. 

Yet another table was created to help us decide which colour would be used for the front and back cover. 

Next, we voted on the different titles the students had suggested. A clear winner emerged. The book would be titled ‘2A Memory Book‘.

The process documented

 

30 April 2021

The Memory Book – Final Steps

Our next step in creating the Memory Book was to decide on the layout of the stories. The students suggested that the stories should be presented in ‘alphabetical order’ (student names).

They shuffled their bodies, standing one behind the other, organising themselves into the correct space.

When the students checked their list, they realised that they had not included the 3 students that had left NIS at the end of the last semester. The adjustments were made.

Then, we included the final page with the ‘Author Interviews. Each student decided what they wanted their readers to know about them and their stories. The interviews were included with photographs of the authors, as suggested on the plan.

Next, the students dictated the information that would be included in the blurb, on the cover at the back of the book. They discussed their ideas, deciding on the most relevant information that would hook the readers. A photograph of the mural was included on the back cover.   

Then, the page numbers were included, and the contents page was created.

The Draft Memory Book has been completed. We were ready to send it off to the printer!

The Memory Book and Mural Project encouraged the students to see themselves as authors, illustrators, readers, and decision makers. Through this journey, the students developed an awareness, and an appreciation for different forms of expression. They have worked collaboratively to create artefacts that celebrate the culture, values, and community of Second Grade.

Theme:

How We Express Ourselves 2020-21

Central Idea:

Communities come together through expressions of culture.

Lines of Inquiry:

  • Ways cultures are expressed (Form)
  • Similarities and differences of expression (Connection)
  • Why we communicate cultural stories (Perspective)

Key Concepts: form, connection, perspective

Related Concepts: Expression, communication