News from our Elementary Vice Principal, Louise Dunn
Dear GAA Community,
On Tuesday evening May 2, the grade 5 students launched their 2017 Exhibition. Wow, if you were fortunate enough to attend that night I am sure you were in awe as was I of the depth of knowledge that these young students demonstrated. To reach such levels of academic and social-emotional knowledge was not a quick and easy journey. These students have worked in groups for weeks to unpack and then ultimately present their experience. This work was conducted with support from the school-wide community. The students had support from teachers across the school and our parents.
The students are proud of what they have accomplished and the journey they just completed.
Well done Grade 5, and all that you have achieved.
Louise Dunn
Elementary Vice Principal
On Tuesday evening May 2, the grade 5 students launched their 2017 Exhibition. Wow, if you were fortunate enough to attend that night I am sure you were in awe as was I of the depth of knowledge that these young students demonstrated. To reach such levels of academic and social-emotional knowledge was not a quick and easy journey. These students have worked in groups for weeks to unpack and then ultimately present their experience. This work was conducted with support from the school-wide community. The students had support from teachers across the school and our parents.
The students are proud of what they have accomplished and the journey they just completed.
Well done Grade 5, and all that you have achieved.
Louise Dunn
Elementary Vice Principal
News from our PYP Coordinator, Mike Hopaluk
Dear Parents,
I would like to congratulate the Grade 5 homeroom teachers, Grade 5 learning support teachers, Grade 5 specialists, Grade 5 education assistants, the Exhibition mentors and our GAA support staff for the amazing efforts they put into the last 8 weeks that culminated in the extremely successful 3rd Annual GAA PYP Exhibition Evening last night. It was a truly collaborative effort.
On Tuesday parents of our Grade 5 students were treated to an experience that left them extremely proud of their children. From the evidence of deep inquiry into relevant issues to the displays of art work and performances, it was evident that the students had challenged themselves to develop a better understanding of how their actions can make a difference.
You can view some photos of the evening here:
https://goo.gl/photos/tvZrByms5WKjQ75DA
I think we are all very fortunate to be a part of a community of such dedicated educators and inquiring learners.
Have a great day,
Mike Hopaluk
PYP Coordinator
[email protected]
I would like to congratulate the Grade 5 homeroom teachers, Grade 5 learning support teachers, Grade 5 specialists, Grade 5 education assistants, the Exhibition mentors and our GAA support staff for the amazing efforts they put into the last 8 weeks that culminated in the extremely successful 3rd Annual GAA PYP Exhibition Evening last night. It was a truly collaborative effort.
On Tuesday parents of our Grade 5 students were treated to an experience that left them extremely proud of their children. From the evidence of deep inquiry into relevant issues to the displays of art work and performances, it was evident that the students had challenged themselves to develop a better understanding of how their actions can make a difference.
You can view some photos of the evening here:
https://goo.gl/photos/tvZrByms5WKjQ75DA
I think we are all very fortunate to be a part of a community of such dedicated educators and inquiring learners.
Have a great day,
Mike Hopaluk
PYP Coordinator
[email protected]
In 4F, we have been inquiring into How The World Works. We have been focusing on the line of inquiry, the condition and position of Earth makes it livable. We extended our knowledge of Earth by inquiring into why NASA thinks we can live on Mars. We compared Earth and Mars environments, focusing on the atmosphere, temperature, and things humans need to survive, such as food, water, shelter, clothing, and oxygen. We then used Lego Mindstorm to build rovers with different sensors, for example ultrasonic, touch, gyroscope, and colour sensors. The rovers and sensors were then coded with specific tasks like collecting data, similar to what NASA would do for their own rovers on Mars. This took a lot of collaboration and positive communication skills to be successful. With the data collected, the students problem solved realistic solutions to make human life possible on Mars, researching devices NASA has developed to create water on Mars, create oxygen to breath, and an atmosphere to contain all of the essentials of life on the planet. As their culminating project, the students had to document and record their whole process on video and create a movie on imovie showing their learning continuum including designs for colonizing a habitat on Mars. This project was a way of authentically incorporating a variety of technology, blending learning objectives and learning engagements with innovative learning.
KG Corner
On Thursday 27th April GEMs held an International Dress Day which saw many children come to school wearing traditional clothing from their home country. It was a wonderful day and so great to see children and families sharing and celebrating their country. Here are a few snaps of KG1C…
KG1D enjoying dress down day and having a picnic outside!
KG2C has been learning about 2D and 3D shapes. Students ventured into the properties of the shapes and then went around the classroom looking for them in real life situations. They grouped them in their groups and shared their knowledge with their friends.
In KG2D we are learning different ways to add and subtract using different manipulatives…here are some examples in our classroom
KG Arabic
KG1 is discovering different artificial and natural light sources. The students had fun taking turns to talk in Arabic about different topics in center time.
KG2 have been learning about materials and their properties. The students picked different materials from the classroom and named their properties. They had fun making letters in different positions and continued to develop vocabulary and simple sentences.