Ms. Emma's Data Talk

Date: Monday 9th December

Name of Activity: Ms. Emma’s Data Handling

Unit: Math

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My class just came back from the movement room near the gym where Ms. Emma talked to the whole grade about data handling. She told us that in her office, (along with the board directors) she used data. Then she showed us some pie charts where it shows how many parents think that UNIS is an appropriate place for students to learn (which I think that it is a VERY appropriate school). There were about 48% who agreed, around 40% who strongly agreed, 14% who disagreed and only 1% who strongly disagreed. Ms. Emma said that the school has to work on that because there was 14% who disagreed. She hopes the school could do better. Anyway, then she showed us some other examples of data that was for students and parents. The first one she showed us was for teachers to fill out. It was something like: Technology helps my students learn better. On the total score of the school's technology access, it was doing better than other schools. The average technology access of other schools are around 85% and UNIS is even higher. The technology access here is about 89% access to the technology. UNIS is doing a REAL GOOD JOB! On the next one Ms. Emma showed us was for students to fill out. It was: I am happy with the quality of food at school. It went from good... to BAD! In 2010, the students were happy with the cafeteria food. Then in I think 2014, the food got worse. Somebody mentioned that there were 2 variables: 1. the cafeteria food is just plain bad. 2. it's too expensive. 

That was a very nice way to figure out how the school uses data. Ms. Emma also told us that handling data is very hard to understand but once you get used to it, it'll be easier to handle and understand. 

Goal Reflection

Date: Monday 7 December 2015

Name of Activity: Goal Reflection

Unit: PSEL (Personal Social Emotional Learning)

Learner Profile: Reflective

Attitude: Integrity

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At the beginning of the year, the class each made 1 goal for English that they would like to improve. My goal was: to write stories with hidden messages in them. I have not met my goal yet because my stories still do not have much messages in them. Maybe I just care too much about the story to care about the messages. But that's sort of what I want the readers to do: care about the story and not notice the messages. I want to SURPRISE THEM!! I will try to hide some small secrets in the story later on this month.

To write stories with hidden messages

How this activity showed being Reflective was because we had to think of the things we did wrong in the past (for example: reading with no expression) and making a goal to help us (for example: To read with more expression so it feels like you are actually hearing the voices of the people in the story).

How this activity showed Integrity was because you had to be honest. You can't just say, "I'm good at everything so I don't need to write a goal!" Nobody is perfect. So you have to at least TRY to be honest with others AND yourself!

I think I could improve on being more specific on what my goal is. I also have to try harder to include secrets in the books I write. Whenever I complete this goal, I will make a new English goal! This is also a PERFECT activity because when I am older, I want to become an author! :)

Different words for "Said"

A few weeks ago, our teacher showed us a slideshow she made. We watched an episode on Brain Pop about how to write a good story and the different types of ways to write a story. After we watched that, we went back to the slideshow and our teacher showed us a slide that had the word Said in the middle. She told us to think of other words to use for Said. Here are the 10 words I remember that the class chose to replace Said: 

1. exclaimed

2. asked

3. replied/answered

4. joked

5. mentioned

6. told

7. barked

8. laughed

9. lied

10. roared

I think that this activity was VERY, VERY helpful for our writing. Especially the kids in my class that want to become authors or something when they grow up! My passion IS to write stories, so this was a REALLY good activity!

Our New UOI: Who We Are

So last week, our teacher told us that we were going to start a brand-new UOI (Unit of Inquiry).The unit is Who we Are. We are going to learn about how the human body works. For our first task (or activity) we were/are put in groups to make a human-sized body. I traced one of the people in my group, (in my opinion, I did a HORRIBLE JOB!!) and then we had materials to use when making the body. There were straws and balloons and other materials we can use. In my group, we used straws as the digestive system, we also used straws for the bones. We used a balloon for the brain (or at least we tried because we couldn't blow up the balloon). 
I am pretty excited about learning more about the human body and how it works!

One Sleepless Night

So a few months ago, the class's unit was Identitiy. We sure DID learn a LOT more about ourselves. Funny, huh? Anyway, we had to write a memoir (a memoir is a fancy word for saying memory) about somebody important in your life.. I chose my BFF Rebecca. I called the memior One Sleepless Night. Mostly because we did not sleep for 3 days. (He, hee) We are both from Italy so when we talk to our parents, we both understand. She does speak very good English though.  Anyway, she is a very important person to me so I decided to write a memoir about me and her.

 One of the funniest things that I mentioned in One Sleepless Night was that once, my mom came to check if me and Rebecca were sleeping and she knew we were not, so then she, with slightly a lot of energy, nudged my butt. And, it was just WEIRD when she did.

Homework: UOI Chromatography (feat. My little Brother)

So a few nights ago, for homework, the class had to come up with an experiment to do at home. It could be made up, or it could be one we all did in class. Mine was one we all did in class. It was the Chromatography experiment. Chromatography (if you don't know) is when you put ink on paper and it gets wet, the ink spreads. My little brother helped me a bit with the experiment. Everyone had to: or take photos, or make a video along the way as you do the experiment. I did not take any photos, but I made a video with my brother.

My Observations for the Chromatography Homework:

So nothing much changed from the piece of paper when I dipped it in water, or I did it correctly and I did not notice it because I used a different colored marker, or I made a mistake again like I did when we did it in groups in class. This is an example of Chromatography:  

A picture that my group

took of the paper we

tested. 

Media Arts: Photo Shopping

Date: Wednesday, 18 November

Name of Activity: Photo Shopping

Unit: Media Arts

Learner Profile: Inquirer

Attitude: Creativity

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Yesterday, last period, the class photo shopped one of the 4 pictures that we took last week.

Here is the picture BEFORE it was photo shopped, and AFTER it was photo shopped:

  

BEFORE

AFTER

How this activity showed being an Inquirer was because you had to try different effects to  make the picture colorful or make it look like something else. Even though mine looks the same, it also kind of looks like somebody drew it. Another reason is because I wanted to try new designs.

How this activity showed being Creative was because you have to think creatively to change your picture as much as possible (of course if you don't want to change it too much, that's fine.) 

I think I could improve on making it a little more creative because I used a very simple effect on the photo and I could use one that makes it a bit more creative.

Simple Sentences vs Complex Sentences

Date: Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Name of Activity: Simple Sentences vs Complex Sentences

Unit: English

Learner Profile: Thinker

Attitude: Communicator

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So yesterday, in English, my teacher said to the class to fix up the sentence: I love cooking. We came up with things that a boring sentence (simple sentence) has. The one I came up with was: not specific. After that, we came up with different ways to say I love cooking. We came up with only one but that's ok. The activity she asked us to do was indeed INSANE!! She was even SCARED to tell us! And we now all know why... she told us to come to a table. (my table) She got a whiteboard marker, eraser, and that spray thing that you use for erasing the whiteboard. She sat at my seat and then we all FREAKED OUT... can you guess what she did... she started WRITING on the TABLE with the WHITEBOARD MARKER!!!!!! I started freaking out inside my head! She wrote down I love cooking and her name in the corner. Then she asked the class some things we should change about the sentence. We came up with 2. Then everyone got paired up with their working buddies and did the same but with a different sentence. Me and my partner used I love reading.

How this activity showed being a Thinker was because you had to think of different ways to change simple sentences.

How this activity showed being a Communicator was because you and you and your partner had to talk with each other and agree on the things you want to change with the sentence you chose.

I think my partner and I did pretty good on the activity because we took turns writing down ideas on the table.

How the World Works: Chromatography Experiment

Date: Tuesday 3 November 2015

Name of Activity: Chromatography

Unit: How the World Works

Learner Profile: Communicator

Attitude: Cooperation+Collaboration

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For our new UOI, we have to find out who trashed the staff toilet. We have to do a bunch of experiments to figure out this mystery. The first one that we did is the Chromatography experiment. We learned that Chromatography means ink creeping up paper once you put it in water.   

This experiment/ activity showed being a communicator and being patient. Unfortunately, my group kept the paper in too short so we should have kept it in for a few minutes. I will describe to you how it should look like if you want to try the experiment: You should wait until the ink spreads up to be at least under the names of your group (or you).

The activity showed Cooperation and Collaboration because we had to work as a team. You could not do it by yourself. You needed to have 1 or more people to do the experiment.  

Blogging

Date: Tuesday November 10

Name of Activity: Blogging

Unit: Portfolios

Learner Profile: Reflective

Attitude: Enthusiasm + Creativity

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On Monday, November 9, Ms. Michelle came into the classroom to talk with us about blogging. She told us what blogging was used for something like a portfolio or a website that shows your interests. The class paired up with their working buddies and checked out some of the blogs other students made. Me and my partner’s favorite was Planet Zoe. One of the videos was called The Rhino Song. It was HILARIOUS!!!! :D! Then yesterday, we created our blogs. Our very first post was called About Me or it could be called anything else.

Why this activity showed being Reflective was because you had to think about some things about you that are very important.

How this activity showed being Enthusiastic was because you have to be excited that you are sharing your interests! Why it shows being Creative is because you have to think in a CRAZY-but-not-TOO-crazy way! In other words, you have to think of what you like and use it for something in your blog.

How I could improve on this was put in more things about me but not TOO important like my last name and my birthdate, address and things like that.

Who am I Playing With?

OK. Before my class went to recess, while we were eating our snacks, my teacher told all of us who we are playing with. I am playing with Chau Anh and Bao Han! YAY! Bao Han is already my friend but we don't play with each other often because she never really invites me to play (don't judge me that I can't just ASK to play with someone!) and I always wait for somebody to ask me to play with them before I say yes. Anyway, Chau Anh, Bao Han and I all agreed that I would play with Chau Anh at Lunch and Bao Han at morning recess. 

New Friends

So today, we had to send our teacher 3 people we would like to play with at recess. She would choose 1 person that each person chose. Last time, I played with Betty, Olga and Amelie. This week, I would like to play with either, Chau Anh, Yen or Betty again. I wonder who she will choose...

Goosebumps

What I am real interested in is the Goosebumps series. It is my favourite series ever! Plus the author is still alive and I saw him in the brand-new Goosebumps movie as the drama teacher at the end. My favourite book in the series would have to be Ghost Beach.

What I like about the series is:

• It’s the genre is horror AND mystery!
• At the end of every book, R.L. Stine (The author) gives evil a CHANCE!!
• There are so many cool monsters and mysteries in it.

What I would like to know more about the Goosebumps series is how they all end. Because the conclusion always ends with a question or something like a character saying something. Like at the end of another book I like from Goosebumps that I really like, the conclusion ends with a girl named Briana (I am not going to spoil the good part of the end) she says: “You’ll be my buddy… won’t you?” to the main character named Sarah. And then the book ends. That is SO COOL!!! I really want to do those types of things with my books when I’m older. That brings us to another thing I like about the series, the conclusion! All the books end with really cool conclusions!

Here is a picture of the book Ghost Beach…   It is SO AMAZING!!! The conclusion is a question. I read it twice already. And the second time I read it was ONLY in 24 hours! :D

How the World Works: Paper Airplane Experiment (Fair Testing)

Date: Friday 30 October

Name of Activity: Paper Airplane Experiment (Fair Testing)

Unit: How the World Works

Learner Profile: Thinker

Attitude: Cooperation

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We have to know what Fair Testing means. Our teacher decided to have a Paper Airplane contest to see who can throw their airplane the furthest. One group had an unfair victory because:

• They got more time to create their plane
• The teacher let their thrower throw at least 2 meters farther than the normal starting place
• In the group there  were more people who had experience in making paper planes

How this activity showed Thinker was because we had to think of a good style of an airplane that would fly for a long time.

How this activity showed Cooperation was because we had to work together to make the plane.

I don’t really know what I would have to improve on with this experiment. But maybe I would have to work on my communicating.

How we Express Ourselves: Mandalas

Date: Tuesday 3 November 2015

Name of Activity: Mandala

Unit: How we Express Ourselves

Learner Profile: Thinker

Attitude: Creativity

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For our unit, How we Express Ourselves, we thought about memoirs. Ms. Mel showed us some pictures of something called a Mandala. It was a big oval with pictures on it to tell stories. She said we were going to make one that showed our identity.

This is what I made

How the activity showed Thinker is because we had to think about our identity and cool designs we like.

How this activity showed being Creative  is because you have to think about your personality and draw it in different designs.

What I noticed is that I did wrong is that I glued it upside down! :l So I think I could improve on is my understanding my designs because some people thought that the pencils meant studying when they actually meant writing!

How we Express Ourselves: 6 Word Memoir Presentations

Date: Wednesday 4 November

Name of Activity: 6 Word Memoir Presentations

Unit: How we Express Ourselves

Learner Profile: Reflective

Attitude: Creativity

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To end the unit How we Express Ourselves, we wrote down some 6 Word Memoirs. 6 Word Memoirs are kind of like sayings. What I wrote was, Cherish Friendship… Never Let it Go. I know! I am SO wise :) Anyway, we needed to find a way to present them. Kids from all 4th grade classes go to each other’s class to see their presentations. How I made my memoir was actually an idea from Ms. Mel. She thought since I have a YouTube channel of my own, why not make a computer out of paper and past the logo of my channel on it as if you were on YouTube?! P.S. I will also make a blog about my channel very soon :)

How this activity showed being Reflective was because we had to think of memories you have and put them into 6 words. So what my 6 word memoir means is that I have lived in MANY, MANY, MANY places around the world and in all of them, I made a lot of friends. But when I have to transfer to another place, or one of my friends go away, I will miss them. But I would ALWAYS have a little something to remind me of them! That is what my memoir means.

How this activity showed being Creative was because to think of a way to present your memoir, you had to think of something creative that other people might enjoy!

What I think I could improve on is cutting out my memoir. It was quite sloppy when I cut out Cherish Friendship… Never Let it Go. So I think I should improve on that.

About Me!

Date: November 11 2015

(Date of edit: Monday, March 28 2016)


Hello! I am Elena! In this first blog post I am writing, I will tell you some things about me. First of all, I go to UNIS Hanoi (United Nations International School of Hanoi) I am a 4th Grade student. I am from Italy and have a little brother that goes to kindergarten at UNIS too.

 My favorite books/series is Goosebumps by R.L. Stine. He is SUCH a good author!! 

I love playing with Littlest Pet Shops (LPS) and making videos using them. I have a YouTube channel of my own where I use them. I make it with my friend though sometimes I post videos without her because I'm EVIL!!!!!! 

My favorite video game just has to be Undertale. I love to draw Frisk! She's just so cute!! I love to play it in my spare time when I am bored. 

My best Frisk drawing! (so far)
P.S. I know her hair is NOT that long in the game. I just felt like drawing it like that ;) 

Ask me any other questions you'd like for me to answer in the comments!

I hope you enjoy my blog! :) 

BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE :D

~Elena