Term 2 Week 4

Sharing the Planet 

3/2/20 to 13/3/20

Term 2 Week 4 (27-31 Jan 2020)

On Tuesday 28th, we had such a great opportunity to meet our new principal Mr Robert Taylor who will be working here at UDIS next academic year. We were delighted to see him in our classroom. He answered a lot of our questions and gave us a clearer understanding of MYP. 

On that same day, we were visited by some Year 7 parents for our end of the unit showcase. We were glad to see them and show them what we have learnt about natural resources from the earth.  They were impressed to the ebooks we had created.  

Maths

We have had another maths-packed week, covering new content and recapping previous learning. This week, we continued with our subtopic 'Problem Solving with Multiplication and Division', focusing on:

• Understanding and using factors and multiples
• Multiplying and dividing using powers of 10
• Converting metric units
• Solving word problems

It is very important that the students are practising their multiplication and division facts as this plays a key role in our sub-topic and nearly all of our other maths topics. Websites like 'hit the button' are incredibly useful, but also using good old pen and paper too. hit-the-button

Next week. we will focus on:

• Using formal methods to multiply and divide integers and decimals
• The order of operations (BIDMAS)
• Calculating areas of rectangles and parallelograms

A final note. The students have been given the date for their 'Problem Solving with Multiplication and Division' assessment, which is Wednesday 19th February 2020. However, as we have a few events and half term coming up in the next week or so, this may be extended. If this happens, you will be notified as soon as possible. Please ensure that your child is revising at home in preparation for this assessment. If you would like me to email the Term 2 Revision List again, please contact me: charlotte.r@udoninternationalschool.com. 

Thai

Congratulations to our wonderful students, Pordee, Bua, and Natasha who received certificates for attending provincial academic competition last term. We were ecstatic and thankful to see their enthusiasm to be parts of this honoured competition representing our UDIS community.

Next week we will start on new unit of inquiry:

Central idea: Conflict resolution requires patience, compromise and negotiation. 

Concepts: Causation, Perspective, Responsibility    Related Concepts: Peace, Reconciliation, Exploitation

Lines of inquiry 

• Causes of conflict (local and global)
• Human rights and equity
• Strategies used to resolve conflicts

Integrated Science

Sharing of energy sources can be a source of conflict

• identify and describe different forms of energy

• demonstrate how energy can be stored and transformed from one form to another 

• explain the impact of diet in providing the body with energy

• assess renewable and sustainable energy sources

• local community improvement in relation to the conservation of energy.

Personal & Social Education

Techniques of mediation and negotiation within the class and/or school community 

Comment on examples of conflict (local and global) and identify the causes 

Reflect on his or her own strategies in dealing with situations of personal conflict

Reading 

Case studies of conflict. Makes correct inferences based on evidence from more than one place in the text. Identify and comments on relevant points, information, ideas and events in texts

Writing 
Focus on persuasion and giving reasons.

Establish and maintain a straightforward viewpoint on an issue

Present an argument with sequences ideas and clear points

Skills to be developed 

• Social skills  - Able to build relationships that can withstand conflict. 
• Communication skills - Exercised through learning how to communicate in times of conflict. 

Learner Profile Attributes 
Knowledgeable about world news Balanced -listening to various points of view

Homework - Everyone has now learned to use Google calendar and that will help in being more organised. PYP Exhibition Everyone should be working on their projects in their own time. Please ask your child about this. I will share their journals with you so that you can continue to support.

Term 2 Week 3

Central Idea:  Natural materials can undergo changes that may provide challenges and benefits for society and the environment

Science - This week we were able to have a video chat with Gaffe's dad in New Mexico. He works for Exxon Mobile and is very knowledgable about the exploration, drilling and extraction of crude oil. This was most helpful in clarifying our understanding. We had a good opportunity to ask questions and think about the important issue of renewable and non-renewable resources. Here is a video that is worth discussing with your child:

This week we're working towards writing an information text on a natural resource of personal interest. The text will be revised and edited before using it as the basis of an ebook or similar resource to publish. These will be shared during our end of unit showcase next Tuesday 28th January during the last period of the day. Please come along at 2pm and see what has been achieved. 

English 

The written work has continued to be related to the above science. It has involved reading informational books, identifying key information and then expressing clearly in ones own words. We've talked a lot about the fact that is is better to write just a few simple sentences than to copy lots from a website. 

The collection and analysis of useful new words has been going on continually. Much of the new vocabulary comes from reading and discussion of the science inquiry.  This exercise has been an important opportunity for conducting online research. 

Homework
Everyone is now familiar with Google calendar and has practised using it this week. We've added our homework tasks on there. Please ask your child to show you and explain it all.
There is flexibility in when tasks can be completed, but they are all on the calendar now. Please discuss the PYP Exhibition with your child and encourage them to stay on top of their calendar appointments related to this.

Here is a reminder about what PYP Exhibition is;

Next week we will be completing the present unit of inquiry on natural resources from the earth. The written assessment of a resource of personal interest needs to be completed by Wednesday. The student will be asked to share their completed work with the class and we will reflect on what has been achieved during this unit.

Maths

Now finished our sub-topic 'Problem solving with addition and subtraction' and moved onto our new sub-topic 'Problem solving with multiplication and division'.

Congratulate the students for their scores, including those who achieved 100%.

Importance of practising multiplication and division facts. Use hit the button to practice at home. link

Next week, focusing on understanding and using factors and multiples, multiplying and dividing by powers of 10 and converting metric units.

Term 2 Week 2

Central Idea:  Natural materials can undergo changes that may provide challenges and benefits for society and the environment

Science - This unit of inquiry involves the students in thinking and communication skills. As they learn about retrieval and use of natural materials from the earth, they also have to think about how they are going keep organised notes and how to present the information as a book, video or other resource. In this way, the inquiry learning has two purposes. Firstly, the content knowledge has to learned and there needs to be some thought as to how we can make a difference towards protecting our environment from huge companies destroying it with mines. Secondly, the student then has to think about how to share this information so that it has a wide audience. We. discussed several digital solutions to this.

Please discuss how local issues relate to our central idea. Here is an example.

English - the above task is closely interlinked with our English work. This has involved a lot of reading and vocabulary extension. The scientific texts we are reading are challenging. Many of these are also available on Get Epic, and so please ask your child to keep up the reading at home. Keeping organised notes is one of the main English objectives we have been addressing. Students are learning that 'copy & paste' functions on the keyboard are not allowed.

Maths - Miss Charlie has been ill for a couple of days, and so she will update you with information as soon as she recovers. The main point to keep in mind is to revise for the assessment on Jan 22nd.

PSPE This week we talked a lot about teamwork. There are still opportunities for Year to improve in this area. We've learned the word ' empathy' and are thinking about how to show a greater depth of this kind of caring within our classroom.

PYP Exhibition - here is a something we discussed this week. The students agreed that Caine :
1.had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve.
2. Kept going even when he had only one customer
3. exercised his creativity and thinking skills
4. helped the environment by reusing junk.

Please have a talk with your child and help them to keep the focus on the PYP Exhibition process. At the weekends they should be doing something practical towards it. Please ask me if you need more explanation.

Next week-
We will continue working on the Science / English task. The challenge is:
Research  a case of the retrieval of a natural resource and show the impact of retrieval, production and use of the  materials on the environment. 
Here is the link to the document used to assess the work. This work interweaves both English and Science. Please discuss it with your child.

Term 2 Week 1

UDIS inspires internationally-minded, balanced learners who thrive and become active, global citizens.

Our unit of inquiry - How the world works

The line of inquiry this week -How societies take advantage of the property of materials.

This week the concepts of  Sustainability, Transformation, Industrialization have been the focus of the inquiry. We have been inquiring into what exactly minerals are, how they are mined and what properties of some very common ones are. As we come to understand more about mining we realise that the question of sustainability arises.

Next week this work will develop into looking more closely at elements and compounds. We'll then inquire into the uses of specific minerals in our modern society. If you have any electronic devices you don't mind us taking apart, please send them into the classroom, It is going to be interesting to see what we find on circuit boards.

Our reading work has been linked closely to the inquiry. We've looked at building vocabulary through reading scientific texts. We've talked a lot about how to read with understanding; it is no use reading ahead when meaning has been lost. 

Writing has involved note-taking skills. This is an area that we need to work more closely on. It is very important that we write original work. Copying and pasting from an online source is not allowed. It is much better to ask for help in understanding the text, than just copying from it. Next week we will look again at simple ways to take notes.

As always, the main and ongoing homework is to read for thirty minutes. Please listen to your child read and talk about the book with them. Also, encourage them to read in their home language too. 

The PYP Exhibition is an important part of the Year 7 curriculum. Please ensure that your child is working on something towards this. The journal should be updated regularly too. Ideally, a good collection of photographs should show the process of what they have been doing.  

Maths

                         

It is the start of a new term and it has been all systems go! As some of you may know, our new topic this term is Applications of Number, which has three sub-topics:

• Solving problems with addition and subtraction
• Solving problems with multiplication and division
• Fractions and percentages of amounts

At the start of any of our topics, the students always complete a pre-assessment. This is not graded but allows me to see the skills that they already acquire and need to learn and develop. I am happy to say that the students have a good understanding of number and the four operations. That being said, it is essential that the students don't just answer the questions, but show their working out on how they achieved their answers. This is something we will be focusing on a lot this term. In addition, this is something that will definitely be required in the end of year assessments. 

This week, we have focused on properties and mental strategies for addition and subtraction. We have also begun to look at using formal methods of addition with integers and decimals. The students have been working with number lines, column addition, bar modelling, part-whole models and using tables to retrieve information to solve problems. 

Next week, we will focus on formal methods of subtraction with integers and decimals. In addition, we will look at choosing appropriate methods like mental strategies, formal written or calculator.

New building
On Friday afternoon we went into the new building. We looked carefully at the plans and tried to understand what it will look like in August with all of the new contents.

A Gentle Reminder

Next week on Thursday 16th January 2020, we will have an overnight camp at Tanita Tara beach. This camp is planned to foster team-building amongst students and develop their social, emotional and life skills. Students will take part in activities which will promote confidence, resilience and a sense of appreciation toward each other. We hope to see you all there.