Recent Learning & Activities

Wow, we have certainly been busy in Room 12. If you have some time, be sure to check our class photo gallery -- there are over seventy photos from the past two months showcasing all sorts of learning.

You might see some photos of our 1st and 2nd graders working with the 3rd and 4th graders from Ms. Byrne’s class. Our two classes have been chosen to help design the sets for Kahalaopuna, the opera we will be performing in May. After hearing the story read by its author, James Rumford, the two classes met to begin brainstorming.

As you can imagine, the children have some pretty vivid and fantastic ideas of what the background scenery should look like. Our classes will be getting together next week as well, and they’ll be working in groups to paint, draw, or sketch various scenes. These proposals will then be given to Mrs. Koshi. She hopes to choose various elements from different proposals to come up with our set designs.

To help us generate ideas, we took a trip to the Blaisdell Concert Hall for a backstage tour of the Romeo & Juliet set. It was incredibly exciting for our two classes (and for Ms. Byrne and me) to see how many people it takes to design a professional set. We learned it takes sixteen carpenters to assemble the set and that it is all carefully measured and drawn out in blueprint form before assembly begins.

Thanks to the lighting crew, the costume and wig masters, and the props crew who gave us an intimate tour of the backstage area of the Blaisdell. It definitely motivated us to get going on our own set designs. If you feel you’d be able to help assemble the sets for Kahalopuna, be sure to let Mrs. Koshi know; we’ll begin construction in early April.

This morning we had a visit from Wilbur Wright, and tomorrow George Washington and Thomas Jefferson will be stopping by Room 12! It’s all part of our biographical research. All 2nd graders have selected a famous person in history to research and learn about. The children will be presenting their learning to our class and their parents today and tomorrow. It is truly amazing how much energy and enthusiasm the children bring to these projects. To see them presenting in front of their class in a calm and poised manner is so impressive. I know that they will forever remember details about Paul Revere or Betsy Ross’ life because it was important and meaningful for THEM as children to read about these people and to present to us what they feel is impressive about the person they researched. I’ll add those photos to our gallery next week after the rest of the children do their presentations.

Posted at 2:13 PM| Permalink

Inquiry

All of the students in grades 1 and 2 are taking a different approach to inquiry this quarter. Since Mid-Pacific Institute is celebrating its 100th year in Manoa, all elementary students are conducting an inquiry with a focus on Manoa. All four grade 1 and 2 classes took a walk to a very special place on campus. Although we adults know it is an underground natural spring called Kawailele, we wanted to allow the children to sit, ponder, brainstorm,and come up with their own hypotheses of what this place was that we were visiting.

I began by asking the children,”What do you think this place is?” Thoughts ranged from " a pond" to "a lake" to "some sort of a pool." One child thought it was part of the sewer, and another that it was simply a giant puddle. One quiet girl chimed in and announced that it was, in fact, an underground spring because her mother told her so!

Once we all came to that conclusion, I then asked the children,”Where does the water come from?” Some of their thoughts included,“I think it comes from the ocean. It comes from the rain and it fills up! I think it’s connected to the sewer!” Finally, one observant boy stated, “I think it comes from the mountains and fills up this hole.”

We have all these great quotes, observations, and wonderings on videotape. We teachers have decided to document this inquiry by utilizing technology to create an i-movie of what we’re learning as a grade level instead of in individual classes.

Now that we think the water is coming to our campus from Manoa somehow, we are planning on taking a field trip to the back of Manoa Valley to do some hiking. We are waiting for Mr. Louie’s bus to return from its tune-up and paint job. As soon as that happens, I’ll let you know the date of our hike to Manoa Falls. We will be needing 3-4 parents to join us on the hike.

Posted at 1:08 PM| Permalink