Welcome back!
After the summer holidays, Grade 5 has been busily working on planning their upcoming two-day trip to Nagoya. The entire planning was completely student-led with very little guidance from the homeroom teacher. Each student took on a role of their choice, one took on the responsibility of budgeting, another worked on the hotel accommodations, and transportation, food, etc. It was a beautiful sight as we all gathered and realized how deeply interconnected our planning was!
Naturally, there was concerns regarding their selection, whether it would be a good choice for learning, rather than it becoming a vacation. However, after some discussion and looking at our third UOI, the title “Global Economic Interdependence”, it became rather easy to begin defending our choices! It was an excellent opportunity for G5 to participate in their own learning and taking agency in how they approach it.
Afterwards, we began to explore our LOIs more deeply by discussing trade, economic systems, goods and services by exploring the supply chain! We began a very big project that focuses on products of their choice, ranging from personal pencil cases, their parents vehicles, grandparents watches, to their favorite fruit or grocery products! After awhile, the classes became more like student-led inquiry when they took charge of their own learning by using the information I provided in class by creating slideshows or models of their products to display their learning.
I look forward to sharing their progress as we venture through this UOI. Next week, we will be joining Grade 6 and 7 on a field trip to Nagano city. G5’s responsibility will be to do a case-study on Ancient Egypt and focus on how we can explore ancient trade routes, etc.
Until then!
