Intro to our Unit of Inquiry 1

Unit of Inquiry: What Makes Me Unique

                                   

The transdisciplinary theme for our What Makes Me Unique unit is Who We Are. The students will begin by getting to know each other and making connections, finding similarities and differences. They will then investigate the five senses, learning "how our senses help form our preferences", and comparing their preferences with others'. Inquiring into the impact of one of the senses not functioning will help deepen our understanding of the central idea, that "each person has a unique way of experiencing the world around them."

During this Unit, we encourage families to help children notice how our preferences are connected with our senses, for example asking questions: Do you like the strawberry ice cream? Why? How do you know?

We welcome your contributions to classroom learning, so please let us know if you wish to come and visit the class.

Language Arts

Each week, Language Arts activities focus on a specific book, often chosen because relevant to the Unit of Inquiry, the Learner Profile, or other current aspects of school life. Students work individually and in groups to improve their knowledge and skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

At the beginning of the year, we assess students individually on their knowledge of letters names and sounds. Throughout the school year, students work at their own pace to extend their knowledge and strengthen their skills.

In phonics, we will begin practicing the letter name-key word-letter sound (for example, t-table-/t/, see the poster below), and students will progress at their individual speed. We will also practice handwriting, learning to form lower case letters alongside capitals.

Mathematics

In Maths, we are working with numbers 0 to 10. We are practicing counting in many different ways. We are also learning to recognize and write numerals.

Students will be engaged in a variety of sorting activities (for example, sorting buttons according to a particular attribute), that encourage them to compare objects and reflect on similarities and differences. 

We will soon begin the maths unit on patterns. We will start with AB color patterns (for example, red-green-red-green), and move on to more complex patterns (ABC, AAB),  not necessarily based on colour. We will also connect the Maths activities to our current unit of inquiry and the five senses, for example discussing how to sort objects according to the sense used to perceive them, or making patterns using sounds, textures and movements.

Maths is also incorporated into our daily routines and especially our Morning Meeting. We look at the calendar, counting forward to specific days (such as students' birthdays); we count how many children are in class, noting how many are absent by using our 'class tower'; we keep track of how many days in school, both by circling a number on the 100 chart and by adding a stick to our units-tens-hundreds cups.

Ways to support your child at home

Mathematics

• “Counting all around”: count things around you (especially numbers between 0 and 10). Examples: stairs you are climbing, chairs in a room, apples in a bag. 
• “Finding numbers”: identify numerals around you (on the telephone, on a bus, on a clock). 
• “Making numbers”: form numerals by writing, painting, modeling play dough, tracing in sand. 
• Watch these short song videos: "Ten little numbers" ; "Let's count up to ten" : "The Numeral song"
• Use a counting/number game on the iPad, such as Tally Tots or Letter School. 

Language Arts

• “Alphabet Book”: make your own alphabet book. Use a notebook, one page for each letter studied. Cut out and paste pictures of things that start with that letter. 
• Singing: practice singing the abc song, or watch and sing along with this phonics song
• “Letters all around”: identify the letters studied in the world around you (shop signs, billboards, books). 

What Makes Me Unique

• Reinforce key vocabulary: connection, unique, senses, sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell. 
• Find similarities and differences among family members and friends. 
• Discuss different preferences and the positive value of being 'unique'. 
• "Senses in all languages": learn the names of the senses and the parts of the body used in your home language(s). 
• “Using senses all the time”: discuss/notice the use of the senses in everyday situations (smelling food cooking, listening to music, seeing stars at night etc).