Project Week，a Culmination of Learning

G4 Student's Artwork

Over last couple of weeks, the students have been exploring their surroundings, near and far, and building up skills which culminated in a presentation of their learning last week.Working online this semester has presented a unique opportunity to explore, research and acquire new skills, through observing the local environment or reaching out to others across the globe.

The rapidly changing season also presented a great opportunity for students to get out and explore their surroundings, reminding some that while parts of their lives may have changed for now, aspects of the world continue on as normal.

As we start our final theme for the year ‘Our World’, the students take with them a wealth of new knowledge and learning which they will be able to apply to their new topics. Join me in celebrating the achievements of our students during project week.

01

Prep – We’re Going on a Plant Hunt

Following on from their theme book ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’, Prep children embarked on a Plant Hunt where they explored their gardens and local parks to observe five different types of plants: vines, bushes, flowers, trees and grass. They made observations about the colour, texture and size of the plants, and took pictures and made videos to document their observations. Artwork linked into the project highlighted Van Gogh’s technique. 

▲Preps' Students are going on a 'Bear Hunt'

02

Grade 1 —— Diary Writing

Diary writing is an important skill for children to learn. Not only is it a way to practise their writing skills but it also a great way for them to process their thoughts and express their feelings, through which they build confidence and resilience.

Having learnt what the features of a diary are in English and how to create a diary during DT lessons, Grade 1s were given a range of spring activities (which included: spring bingo, spring word hunts, insect drawings, reading stories aloud to family members and a phonics game) to complete throughout the week and record a written or video diary.

Click here to watch G1 student's video

▲G1 Students' English Dairy

03

Grade 2 — Poetry and Arts

Students in Grade 2 worked hard on writing descriptive poetry. They discussed the use of effective adjectives in order to create imagery, as well as the poetic technique of similes. After drafting their spring-based poems, the students had the chance to edit their work to create an amazing piece of poetry.

Linking with art lessons during project week, they created a scene from their poem in the form of a pop-up book. They added their poem to the page to create the final project which they presented through video and pictures.

▲ G2 Students English Poetry

03

Grade 3 —— Protect endangered species

Learning about endangered species and how to protect our environment is a key lesson for children of this generation. Using guiding questions, Grade 3 students spent time researching their chosen endangered animal before writing a non-chronological report about the species. Following that, they made presentations and videos to show what they had learnt and used persuasive techniques to persuade the viewer to save the animal, as well as giving suggestions on how to help these creatures.

In their art lesson, students drew a picture of their endangered animal.

Click here to watch G3 Student's Video

▲G3 Students' Reports

04

Grade 4 —— Make a children’s book

If there is one thing we hope to instill in children, it is a passion for reading and sharing stories. Grade 4 students have spent time reviewing the structure, content and vocabulary of many popular children's books, including ‘The Gruffalo’, ‘Elmer’ and ‘Dinosaurs Love Underpants’.

They then wrote, revised and created a final product of their own children's book, linking in with art lessons where they worked on the illustrations for their stories. 

Following this, the Grade 4 students joined the Grade 1 live sessions to read their children's books aloud to the younger students.

▲HD student's Artwork

05

Grade 5 ——

Connect the other part of the world

We have all learnt many lessons during this time of COVID 19 and we have all faced challenges on our journey. Grade 5 students spent some time creating artwork on the Coronavirus and writing newspaper articles on the challenges they have personally faced during this time of online learning. They also wrote about whether they preferred learning from home or from school. They did not all agree with each other, but they all had valid reasons as to why they preferred what they did.

Following this, the Grade 5s connected with students in a school in Wellington, New Zealand. After creating reflective video diaries of their experiences, they shared these with their new friends from across the globe and received video diaries from them in return. The students were able to see a glimpse into the lives of children from another country who are going through the same COVID 19 restrictions in their homes. Empathizing with others is key to developing a global mindset.

▲HD Students' Artworks