How We Express Ourselves 2021-22
The Central Idea:
The power of words and images can affect our thoughts and feelings.
Lines of Inquiry
- How images can affect our feelings
- The power of words and how we use them
- How we can respond to words and images
Key Concepts:
Connection, Perspective
Story#1
The Launch!
We visited 2 spaces on campus to help us launch our next Unit of Inquiry. The first was a Dark Room in the Early Years Centre. The second space was a small room by the previous Primary office. In the dark room, the students noticed an image projected on the wall. The students began to ask questions and react in different ways to and with the projected image.
In the second room we listened to a short audio recording.
After visiting each space, each group of students were invited to name the space. The Dark Room was referred to as:
- Group 1 – Shadow Video Room
- Group 2 – Place Machine
- Group 3 – Reflecting Room
The Primary Office room was named:
- Group 1 – Audio Room
- Group 2 – Funny Office
- Group 3 – Sound Effect Guessing Room
Each group explained why they had named the spaces this way. They all had to agree and vote on the names they had chosen.
Next, they reflected on their experience and noted their thinking individually. The following questions prompted their responses:
- How did it make you feel?
- What did it make you think?
- What do you think the unit is about?
None of the groups shared their experience with each other until the final whole class discussion.
Whole Class Discussion:
Each student shared their reflections on the two spaces. We collated our thoughts on large chart paper.
Finally, we watched short videos of the different groups engaging with the images and continued with our discussion.
How do children share their theories? How might imagination and curiosity spark inquiry? G2 on the lookout for meaningful student-driven projects @NISChina pic.twitter.com/VDZvOiHIH6
— Shemo Gani (@shemogani) October 15, 2021
The two experiences, conversations and wonderings will help us plan our next steps as we learn more about the different ways we express ourselves.
Next, the students were presented with a Chinese character during their Mandarin lesson. They needed to reflect on the following questions:
- What does it make you think?
- How does it make you feel?
- What do you think the unit is about?
Following the lesson, the students shared their thinking and feelings with each other. We documented these ideas on chart paper.
The students are curious about their next Unit of Inquiry!
We wonder where this inquiry might take us…
Story#2
Perspectives
We observed students tuning into the different perspectives shared by others during the various experiences offered for the launch for the new Unit of Inquiry. The students commented on the way different groups acted with the projected images, sounds and Chinese character.
Next, 3 different black and white printed images were shared with the students. They gathered in small groups, turned the papers around in different directions and talked about what they noticed.
“I think it is a windy tree!”
“I can see just the duck!”
Picture 1
- Seoyeon “Eyes, nose, mouth, people.”
- Fedo “I didn’t know that!”
- Yuchan “Maybe it is hair.”
- Diego “It has 3 people.”
- Ella “We didn’t saw the face but now I do! It is like old people.”
- Alejandra “First the young people, then medium and then the old.”
- Yuchan “A student, adult and a grandma.”
- Ella “People that have different types of hair.”
Picture 2
- Amber “I see these are all correct, because when you turn it, it is a 9 and when you turn it, it is a 6.”
- Hyun Seo “I see it like a 6 because I usually don’t write a 9 like this, it’s like a ‘g’.”
- Gihyeon “I think it is ‘e’ and ‘g’.”
- Grace “I think the right one is 6 because the 6 speech bubble is bigger so that is a clue.”
- Teacher “Why does the speech bubble matter?”
- Grace ““Because when I do some task on the iPad, I always choose the bigger one.”
- Ella agreed. “Both are correct. But maybe if he comes to here, he will agree with him and if he comes to here he will agree with him (people move to swap their position).”
- Agata “If he is on that side he will see a 6 and if he goes to the other side he will see it.”
- Fedo “If you put it all the way upside down he will say it is a 9 and he will say it is a 6.”
- Alejandra “I think it is a 9 because when I see this picture I always see only a 9.”
Picture 3
- Hayoon “If this is the mouth it’s a duck, if this is the ears, this is a rabbit.”
- Ella “It might be a rabbit and a duck.”
- Alejandra “If we turn the paper, no matter which way we look at it, it is always a duck and a rabbit.”
- Yuchan “This picture has 2 mouths, one for rabbit and one for duck. I think it’s a duck.”
- Amber “When you turn it you can see the duck’s body and when you turn it it’s a rabbit’s body.”
- Yuki “Rabbit or duck.”
- Yuchan “It’s a rabbit and a duck but the body is vanishing.”
- Teacher “Why do we see things differently?”
Ella “I think I know what these things are called, its something that many people see the same picture but many people see it a different way. Which way you see it, it matters.”
Why do perspectives matter?
To explore this further, the students listened to the story ‘Hey, Little Ant’ by Philip and Hannah Hoose.
- Teacher “Have you ever had an experience of squishing an ant under your feet?”
- Lawrence “I like to squish mosquitos.”
As the story was read, the students made connections with the text.
- Gihyeon “This is a fiction book because ants can’t really talk.”
- Alejandra “Ants are very strong even though we are bigger. They can carry like 20 ants even. They are very strong.”
- Lawrence “Ant grew bigger like us, then the ant will be able to lift himself.”
- Diego “I see some ants carrying some little brown things in my home yesterday. Maybe it’s their food?”
- Grace “The kid might not squish the ants. Under the shoes we have some lines and maybe they will not get squished.”
At the end of the story, the students were invited to reflect on the author’s words…
Should the ant get squished? Should the ant go free?
Teacher “What do you think will happen next?” Why do you think that?”
The students reflected and shared their ideas with each other. We had two groups share the different perspectives.
Teacher “Now that you have heard different perspectives, would you change your mind? Why?
We were not surprised to see some of the students change their mind after hearing the different perspectives!
We wonder what YOU would do…
Story#3
Powerful Images, Powerful Words
An exploration into: Powerful Images, Powerful Words
What does power sound, look and feel like? The students drew pictures to share their thinking.
What is an image?
The students shared their thinking. We recorded our ideas, questions and connections on large chart paper.
Then, the students worked with their ‘Learning Buddies’ to find ‘IMAGES‘ that show ‘POWER‘.
Their task was to:
- Find images that are powerful.
- Find images that show power.
They looked for images in books and magazines. As they looked through the different material, they shared their ideas and thinking.
A group of students had chosen an image of deer fighting. They shared their assumptions and made connections with what they already know about deer.
“Fighting shows ‘power’, they exclaimed.
The deer could be fighting to protect their territory, it was the way they show their power. We gathered as a group to think about the word ‘fighting’.
Teacher “How is fighting powerful?”
The students were encouraged to connect with the image using their own lives. They talked about how they feel when they see fighting. People fight with their hands and legs, hitting and kicking each other. “Fighting can also be with words”, they explained. They shared some examples of these powerful words.
Teacher “When you hear these words or see these actions, what does it make YOU feel like doing?”
“It makes me feel angry”, “It makes me feel sad”. They talked about the effect these ugly words had on them. The discussed the strategies they might use if they were in such situations.
The students began to create different sentence starters to help them develop deeper understandings about the concepts power, connection, and perspective.
In the coming week we will continue to explore:
- the power of words and how we use them
- how we can respond to words and images
Story#4
Moonyard 月亮院子
The students went on a field trip to ‘月亮院子’ ‘Moonyard’ to learn more about words and images. Moonyard is a cultural center in China that showcases calligraphy.
The teacher introduced the students to the space, showing them many different images displayed around the gallery.
The students were invited to choose an image that they want to learn more about. They were fascinated with the colours, shapes, pictures and presentation of ideas. They walked around, sat alone or with groups to take a closer look at the images, and put their thinking down on paper. They used the thinking routine ‘See, Think, Wonder’, to document their ideas and questions. Then, they gathered to share some of these ideas with each other.
Ella “Are these characters from a long time ago?”
Grace “Something is like a wall. It looks like thunder. Why is the thunder that shape?”
Ethan “It makes me think it looks like water, like a river.”
Diego “It looks like an elephant.”
Alejandra “Why is there a line? It looks like an eye. Wonder why the line is in a different place.”
Hyun Seo “I think it is a deer.”
Yuchan “I see an eye but the eyelashes are not good.”
The teacher explains “All the ancient Chinese characters, they copy a model of what they see, like a picture. That is how it starts. As time passes by, we are getting smarter so the character becomes more modern. So the modern characters are more detailed. There have been 5 different changes. This is a picture of a head. Our eyes exist in the body of the head. The top is the hat! If you put it together it is a man with a hat travelling on a road!”
Ella “It looks like a flower and might mean ‘beautiful’. Why do the ancient Chinese characters look different from the new ones?”
Teacher “This is fire. If you do not have the dots it is a tree.”
The students were very excited about creating their own copy of their favourite image or word. They were given a choice of materials they could use to create their image.
After having a quick snack and thanking the teachers for the exciting experience, we came back to school.
We are learning about the Power of 'Images' and 'Words' @NISChina with @BellaZhangBo #culture #inquiry pic.twitter.com/LaG3fGWXXg
— Shemo Gani (@shemogani) November 2, 2021
The students reflected on what they had learned through their experience and included this on their activity sheet. We gathered to share our reflections with each other.
- What questions do we have as a result of our experience?
- What do we want to learn more about?
- What do we want to do next?
Story#5
Powerful Words; What are they and what does it mean to you?
We have continued to explore the power of words and how we use them. Students shared examples of powerful words and then decided how they wanted to group them. After a discussion, they decided on the words they wanted to post on the chart paper. They organized the information, creating different categories.
The students provided examples of when these words are used and how it made them feel. Some debates arose on where the words belonged. We could see that in some instances, situations mattered.
They decided on the sections:
- Bad/ugly words
- Happy/calm/nice words
- Rainbow words: mixed feelings
- Sad words
Next, Mr. Mike played a game with us. It involved making decisions and choices.
The students had to work in teams to practice using language that invited and shared opinions and suggestions. Then, the students went back into their research groups to talk about their powerful images. They had to decide and share the powerful words connected to their images.
We continue to explore how WE respond to words and images and the power of words and how we use them.
Story#6
An Exploration into Colour
We have been thinking about images and words and how we react to them. We wondered about the role of colour in the images, words, pictures, and objects we see around us.
🤔 Why do we make these choices?
To help us explore this further, the students were invited to think about how colours affect their choices.
- Fedo began by stating that, “Colour is important.”
The students looked at 2 pictures. They needed to vote for their favourite picture.
5 students voted for picture 1, 4 students for picture 2.
- Seungbin “Because I like to eat food.”
Teacher: What is affecting your choice? What does this picture make you feel?
Grace” I like to eat the oranges because it has highlights.”
Ella “It makes me feel hungry.”
Yuchan “It makes me feel hungry because I like the orange and the pizza.”
The children agreed that the food looked yummy and made them hungry. A second image was shared. The food was the same but the colours were different.
- Hyun Seo “This picture makes me feel yuk and sick.”
- Seoyeon “This picture makes me feel disgusting.”
- Alejandra “I have never tasted blue oranges so I would like to try this one.
- Ella agreed with Alejandra.
The students decided that they did not want to eat the food anymore.
Teacher: What is affecting your choice and your feelings?
- Amber “I think that the colours affect my feelings, because these are the cold colours and warm colours.”
- Seungbin “These are warm colours, orange, yellow and red. These are cold colours “Black, blue and white.”
- Ella “I think the second ones are winter colours and the first ones are summer colours.”
The children talked to their elbow buddies to share their thinking about the two images.
Pointing at the first picture, Yuchan “Makes me feel scary.”
Other students agreed.
- Seungbin “Green looks scary to me. They use it in the movies to make scary things.”
- Ella “The artist used warm colours in the second picture. The second one looks happy and like joy.”
- Alejandra “All of them make me feel sad.”
- Seungbin “It makes me feel dizzy.”
The way the artist draws the picture makes him feel dizzy. Some of the colours make me happy and some make me sad. Black makes me feel sad.”
- Hayoon “I feel warm because the sun is yellow and orange and red and it makes me feel warm.”
- Ethan “it makes me feel like I want to move, like exercise and the green one makes me feel cold.”
- Fedo “Green makes me think of broccoli, so I feel hungry.”
Next, the students brainstormed the different colours and what they made them feel or think of.
Then, the students went on a colour hunt to look for signs, words, and images where particular colours were used for a purpose.
They reflected on the following:
- What do we see/notice?
- What do we think or wonder about it?
- What does it make us want to do?
The students sorted their pictures and discussed the choices people make about colour, and how words and images communicate powerful messages.
Story#7
Diamond Ranking Powerful Words
The students have been working in groups to find and document what they know about powerful words. They have written descriptions, provided explanations and presented their words to the class. But which of these words are the most powerful?
To help the students explore this further, we asked them to rank the words from the ‘most powerful’ to the ‘least powerful’ through an activity called Diamond Ranking.
The Diamond Nine is an oral language strategy that challenges students to work together to evaluate and collectively prioritise nine ideas, opinions, or pieces of information into what they consider highest to lowest importance.
We noticed how the students engaged in rich focused discussions as they tried to reach a consensus on the placement of the words. Justifying their choices and listening to others’ perspectives helped the students negotiate and decide on the final ranking.
They had opportunities to manage information, communicate with each other and learn to prioritise information.
Then, each team explored how they might show their most powerful words through performance and dance. They had opportunities to be imaginative and use their bodies and a range of materials to express their ideas creatively.
Protect
Fight
Fight
Story#8
Colour, Symbol, Image – CSI
The students have been exploring powerful words to inquire into:
- how images can affect our feelings
- the power of words and how we use them
- how we can respond to words and images
They used a ‘Thinking Routine ‘CSI‘ to help them communicate their ideas and thinking.
C – Colour –we chose a colour that best represents or captures the essence of the key word.
S – Symbol – we chose a symbol that best represents or captures the essence of the key word.
I – Image – we chose an image that best represents or captures the essence of the key word.
The students shared their colour, symbol and image with each other justifying and explaining reasons for their choices.
We wondered how these powerful words are connected to us. The following questions helped us consider our choices, and action we might want to take as a result of our learning…
• Why did we choose these words?
• Why do they matter to us?
• How do these words make us feel?
• What do we want people to know about these words?
• What can we do with these words?
• What action do we want to take?
We look forward to student ACTION!
Story#9
Taking Action
The students have been reflecting on their ‘powerful word‘ to explore how they can use it in meaningful ways.
They decided to take action by planning and creating movies, posters and models that share important messages about our ‘powerful words’ and ‘actions’.
PROTECT
Action by Grace “My powerful word is protect. I made a poster about protect. This poster is for the people who see another people hurting each other. If the people don’t know how to protect those people then they can look at my poster.”
Action by Agata “My powerful word is protect. I made a poster to tell people to protect themselves. And when you are in danger maybe somebody will protect you from the danger. So you need to protect yourself from danger or you or someone can get hurt. And protect everyone protect the people that is in danger Protect everybody. And protect the people that are mean to you. After you do that then you are proud and happy of yourself. And you need to protect people everywhere and everyone.”
Action by Federico “My powerful word is protect. I am going to tell you to watch out for rocks when you are walking down the street. Kind regard’s For the Parents and Students.”
Yuchan “Protect fish by not throwing hard things like metal and rocks where the fish live, like the sea, pond and river.”
Action by Ethan and Diego “Our powerful word is protect. We made this poster and a video in three languages because we want G1 and G2 students to know that they should not throw rocks to the big rock.”
Action by Ella and Hera “Our powerful word is protect. Ms.Delia and Ms.Shemo helped us to take the video. At first we took the video, and then we made a poster. We are going to share our video with pre-K to G1 students. Our message is “Do not fight! Protect your self !”
FIRM
Seungbin “Hold the monkey bar firmly or you will get hurt and other people can get hurt and your veins will get hurt.”
HELPFUL
Action by Amber “My powerful word is helpful. I created a poster to share it with pre-k to let them know what it means to be helpful to others. First, I made a plan for my second plan. Then, I made my poster plan to make the drawings. Next, I typed it on a computer. Finally, I printed it. Please, be helpful to others!”
DANGEROUS
Action by Lawrence “My powerful word is Dangerous, I made a poster for Pre-k ~K2. My message is keep away from Dangerous things.”
SMART
Seoyeon takes ACTION “My Powerful Word Is SMART. I created a poster to share with pre-k, k1 – Grade 3. My Message is about Why smart is a powerful word and how we can be smart and about when l am smart what are my feelings.”
FIGHT
Action by Seolah “My powerful word is fight. I made animation. First I made the characters with paper and sticks and then I made the animation with stop motion.”
Gihyeon “My powerful word is fight. Two sharks are fighting because they want to eat the fish but fighting is not good because when you fight then you can get hurt. If you fight hard then your bones will break.”
Action by Yuki “MY powerful word is fight. I made poster to everyone don’t fight.”
STRONG
Hayoon takes action “My powerful word is strong. I made this animation to show people to be healthy and strong.”
Yuchan, Gihyeon and Seungbin create models and posters to share their powerful words and messages:
– Yuchan “Protect fish by not throwing hard things like metal and rocks where the fish live, like the sea, pond and river.”
– Seungbin “Hold the monkey bar firmly or you will get hurt and other people can get hurt and your veins will get hurt.”
– Gihyeon “My powerful word is fight. Two sharks are fighting because they want to eat the fish but fighting is not good because when you fight then you can get hurt. If you fight hard then your bones will break.”
What are YOUR powerful words and how do you use them?