Moon Festival Puppets (very very very late post)

Date: Monday March 28 2016

Name of Activity: Moon Festival: Making Puppets

Unit: PSEL

Learner Profile: Open Minded

Attitude: Commitment

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At the beginning of the year, it was the Vietnamese Moon Festival. We got to make these traditional puppets that kids in Vietnam used to play with. It was very hard to make because I kept on messing up with the shoes of the puppet.

I look so dull XD

How this activity showed being Open-Minded is because you may hear a strange step and think, while making the puppets, Well that'll never work, that's just silly. Because you may not know if you didn't try.

How this activity showed Commitment is because if you make a mistake, and can't fix it, you would have to deal with it. Like I did with the shoes of my puppet.

This was a hard task. I couldn't give up though but in the end, I liked my puppet.

How We Express Ourselves: Silloets (very, very, very late post)

 Date: Friday March 25 2016

Name of Activity: Silloets

Unit: How We Express Ourselves

Learner Profile: Thinker

Attitude: Commitment

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First of all, sorry for this really late post! I should've posted this way back in 2015 but I didn't have the picture for it. Anyways, the class made something called a Silloet. The whole grade actually did it. We had to dig through some magazines to find what you like and stick it on your picture. This is mine:

I dug through several magazines to find all of these. After we finished the picture part, we went onto our computers to a website that I think was called Wordle or something, and we typed up all what we love and things about ourselves. Then after we printed them out we stuck them onto the bottom of our Silloets as you ca see.

How this activity showed being

How the activity showed the attitude

Concluding statement (could you improve?)

How We Organize Ourselves: Wants and Needs

Date: Friday March 25 2016

Name of Activity: Wants and Needs

Unit: How We Organize Ourselves

Learner Profile: Reflective

Attitude: Integrity

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So a few days ago, our teacher told us to get into our table groups and gave us a piece of big paper and several magazines. Then she told us to get some scissors and some glue sticks. Then she told us to write Wants on one side of the paper and Needs on the opposite side. After that we searched through the magazines to find some Needs and Wants, agree which one it is with the group, and glue it onto either the Need section or the Want section. In my group, we found that there were more Wants than Needs. Most wants were fancy hotels and resorts. Others were fast foods like hamburgers and french fries. There were also electronics and I don't know why we put this one down: Santa Claus. I had no idea. Even though I was the one choosing it as one.

How this activity shows being Reflective is because you had to think about what a Need is and what a Want is in order to know which is which.

How this activity showed Integrity is because you had to be honest and not say "This is a fancy resort we need it to be with the needs". You had to be honest and say "You want a fancy resort".

I really enjoyed digging through magazines with my group. I liked finding the needs and wants of people.

My English Goal #2

Date: Wednesday March 23 2016

My English goal is/was to write stories with hidden messages in them. I think I need to continue working on the goal because I have thought way to much about my plot and story line to think about the hidden messages in it. 

I will achieve this old goal by trying to remember the hidden messages in the story line because in my opinion, I think the hidden messages have a HUGE impact on the story line! Because after the readers find out the secret in the book/story, it changes the whole thing.

My New Math Goal #2

Date: Wednesday March 23 2016

My old math goal was to memorize my 9 times tables. I think I have achieved this goal because I have remembered a strategy from Grade 3 and my teacher told the class that the easiest way to remember the 9 times tables was to add to the tens and minus the ones. Ex: 9, 18, 27 etc. 

My new math goal is to memorize my 6 times tables. I do know some of the numbers but I cannot say it fluently. I will achieve this by letting my grandma repeat the 6 times tables several times each night before going to bed. That was what she used to do to me with the 3 times tables when I was in Grade 2. I also think I can remember this easily because I remember the rhymes. Ex: 6 x 3 = 36. It rhymes. Also this one:  6 x 8 = 48. If you say those two equations out loud you can see that they rhyme.  

To memorize the 6 times tables

Slice of ICE Performance

Date: Monday March 21 2016

Name of Activity: ICE Block performance

Unit: ICE

Learner Profile: Knowledgeable

Attitude: Appreciation

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On Thursday last week, we performed our Slice of ICE performance!! I was so excited and it was SOOOOO much FUN!!! If you do not remember what the Slice of ICE performance is, here is a link to the blog post I made that was about preparing for it: http://unishanoi-24-ebargellini.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/slice-of-ice-preperations.html
Anyways, the whole grade dressed in black and brought their Ao Dai's (A-oo Za-iz) which P.S. are the Vietnamese traditional outfits. And when we were singning the Rattli'n Bog (an Irish song cause it was St. Patrick's day) we would put our Ao Dai's on over our black and sing. 

How this activity showed being Knowledgeable is because when we danced, we needed to remember the moves and that we couldn't mess up. Because if you remember in the link above, I mentioned that Ms. Sam said not to just stand there doing nothing or else you'll stand out.

How this activity showed being Appreciative is because we had to appreciate the learning we had with the ICE teachers and the work it took to prepare the show.

This was super fun! I loved showing my grandma and brother everything! Especially the dancing and playing the anklung (an Indonesian instrument we learnt to play in music). I had so much fun that night! I hope we have something like that another time!

New UOI: How We Organize Ourselves

Date: Thursday March 17

Name of Activity: New UOI

Unit: How We Organize Ourselves

Learner Profile: Inquirer

Attitude: Curiosity

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Not so long ago, our teacher told us about our brand new UOI which is How We Organize Ourselves. The topic about the new unit is Marketing or running a buisness. One of my friends is going CRAZY about the new unit! I have had some units about the same thing in earlier years and I don't know what our big project is going to be for this unit. But I'll find out in a while...

How this activity shows being an Inquirer is because you have to try new things in order to be a good listener in the unit and find out new things.

How this activity showed Curiosity is because you have to put effort in the research you do on this unit. And if you don't then you won't understand what the teacher is talking about when she/he says about the unit. Even worse if she/he asks you a question and you don't know how to answer it, then they may ask yo if you did the reasearch you were supposed to do or not.

I am very excited for this new unit! I have wanted to know more about this unit!

Slice of ICE Preperations

Date: Wednesady March 16 2016

Name of Activity: Slice of ICE Preperations

Unit: Music + Drama

Learner Profile: Reflective

Attitude: Enthusiasm

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Tomorrow is our Grade 4 Slice of ICE show at school. My grandma and brother will be coming! So this week, every morning, we would head to the theater to practice the dance. My class and another grade 4 class will be doing a song. It's an Irish song. And we know it very well by now so every morning we practice the dance. The whole 4th Grade will be dancing. At the end of the dance we'd all go onstage to dance with the other 2 classes. The song we'll be dancing to is Verge from Owl City. I can't wait for tomorrow!!

How this activity shows being Reflective is because when we are dancing and singing, we need to remember the lyrics of the song and the dance.

How this activity shows Enthusiasm is because when we dance (and our drama teacher told this to us yesterday morning) even though you might hate the song and hate the dance, fake it. Fake it that you LOVE the song and LOVE the dance. Because if you don't put the energy into it, you'll stand out to the crowd. Instead if you join everyone else into the dance, you'll blend in.

I cannot wait for tomorrow! From my grandma and brother coming, to the amazing finale of the show!

Thinglink

Date: Wednesday March 16 2016

Name of Activity: Thinglink

Unit: Where We are in Place and Time

Learner Profile: Thinker

Attitude: Independence

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A few weeks ago, my teacher showed the class a website called Thinglink. Thinglink is  a website where you can make and account and post photos. People can follow you and see your photos. But my favorite thing you can do on it is that when you choose a photo, you can ACTUALLY put links on it! It’s so cool! So the whole class has a Thinglink account now and we posted a photo with at least 6 links on it. We used it for the UOI Heritage Field Trip pictures.

How this activity shows being a Thinker is because you have to think about what links to put on your photo. And also what description to have to go with it.

How this activity shows Independence is because when you choose your main photo, you have to think: Hmm... Is this a good background photo? Or does it have anything to do with my topic?

I have to improve on putting more writing into the description of the links I put on my photo. I know I did a pretty bad job because my teacher told me.

What Does Happiness Mean to You? (Preparing for International Happiness Day)

Date: Tuesday March 15 2016

Name of Activity: Interviewing Students: What Makes You Happy?

Unit: PSEL

Learner Profile: Caring

Attitude: Tolerance

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This morning, just before lunch, Bao Han and I went around school to interview students about what makes them happy. This is for our class assembly we will have. We video-taped Middle Schoolers, Discovery kids and also teachers about what made them happy. We had our assistant teacher with us so we can ask people we didn't know. It was so much fun! Too bad I wouldn't be at assembly to see the videos on screen :(

How this activity showed being Caring is because when we asked the Discovery kids, since they are still very young, we had to be caring and kind to them so they don't hesitate or think we are mean.

How this activity showed Tolerance is because when we asked the Middle Schoolers and the teachers and the Discovery kids, they all said very unique ideas about what makes them happy and if we didn't like some of them, we wouldn't say: Really? That's the dumbest thing ever. Why would ANYONE like to do THAT?! Nope. We would just play along. We would think: Well, that's what they like to do, so that's what they like to do! We will not judge other people for what makes them happy.

Maybe I could improve on keeping the iPad still while filming because it kept on shaking on one of the videos. Other than that I think it was great!

Where we are in Place and Time: Presentations

Date: Monday March 14 2016

Name of Activity: Presentations

Unit: Where we are in Place and Time

Learner Profile: Principled

Attitude: Confidence

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On Friday, last week, we presented our World Heritage site to the class. Remember the blog post I uploaded a few days ago? http://unishanoi-24-ebargellini.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/who-we-are-in-place-and.html (Click on the link if you haven't seen it) Well, me and my partner told the class information about it. And we remembered our script by heart and we have practiced a lot. So I am very proud of myself and my partner!

How this activity showed being principled is because people asked us questions at the end of our presentation, and we didn't want to lie to the people asking the questions and say that we knew everything, so we sometimes said We're not so sure about that.

How this activity showed being confident is because if we aren't confident about showing the class our presentation, we won't get a good grade on it.

I think that I should've practiced my speech on the first day so that I didn't have to waste my partner's time teaching me the script.

Poems

Date: Wednesday 2 March 2016

Name of Activity: Poems

Unit: Poems

Learner Profile: Reflective

Attitude: Creativity

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Ever since we started reading Word After Word After Word, a book, my teacher liked for us to write poems. I usually write about what is real, but I have written 1 poem that was about my imagination. It's called A House of Endless Rooms. And it was actually inspired by a book I read called The Cabinet of Curiosities. And I absolutely LOVE that book. I will now write down some of my favorite poems I wrote. This first one is about my best friend Rebecca:

Rebecca

I like it when she laughs

I love it when she giggles

I adore it when she jokes around

Always making me feel better whenever I'm sad

Because she is one of the very few who knows me best

I remember when and where we met:

My house, August 12 2014 11:30 am

We call it our best friend anniversary

I will never forget her...

Because she is my best friend.

-Elena

The second poem is the one inspired by The Cabinet of Curiosities:

A House of Endless Rooms

A house of endless rooms I go into

Inside the first room is a collection of shrunken heads

In the next, a collection of wands

The third, a black rose

The fourth, the pointy hat of a witch
So many rooms, I don't think I can count
How many this house has.

I don't think I can ever escape

This house of endless rooms.

This is the last one and it's about my brother:

My Brother

I hate you

I love you

I try my best to avoid you

You're annoying in multiple ways

And I know I constantly smack your butt

But I love you

Because you are my brother...

And also because you let me smack your butt.

How this activity shows being Reflective is because you have to think about what happens in your life and also what happens in your head. Your imagination, in order to write a good poem. I write poems about what is real and what is inside my head. 

How this activity shows Creativity is because of your imaginative part of your head. Don't only write about what is real and happening... write about how you think. What you think. Ask yourself this: What's going on inside my head? How do I think... and what? Is it something to write about... and why?

I think that I could add more to some of my older poems as if they were a song or book. I personally think that a poem is like a mini-song. I'll try to make it longer and better. I'll try to add a beat to them.

Where We are in Place and Time~Heritage~Field Trip

Date: Wednesday February 24 2016

Name of Activity: Heritage Field Trip

Unit: Where We are in Place and Time

Learner Profile: Knowledgeable

Attitude: Curiosity

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Yesterday... we had our first field trip this year. It was very exiting and very unexpected to me because we haven't had a field trip ever this year in Grade 4! This was our first one this year. Anyway, there were about 6, I think, places to go to in the trip. One of the choices was the prison which nearly all of my class wanted to go to! Including me! Only 2 people didn't choose the prison as one of their 3 choices of where they would like to go to. We were put into groups of 3 in each classroom. Then all the 4 classes and the mini groups of 3 combine with each other despite where they are going to go. My group went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. It was so fun! We saw the gardens, fed fish popcorn. Really. And I thought my brother loved popcorn! And we also saw a video about Ho Chi Minh's life. It was pretty sad and I think that video is kind of old because it was in black and white. We also saw where Ho Chi Minh lived. I absolutely believe this place should become a World Heritage site! You see, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum isn't a World Heritage site. And my group strongly believes that it should be. Here is a link to a YouTube video of me and my partner talking about the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRU852SyZZI&feature=youtu.be  

How this activity showed being Knowledgeable is because if your teacher said something important about something of the Mausoleum, and you write it down late, you may have to try to remember what she/he said. Or else you won't have that piece of important information.

How this activity showed being Curious is because if you are not curious to find out what the Mausoleum is about, your presentation at the end will get a low grade/score/won't be interesting.

I think I could improve on using my note-taking space more wisely because on my paper it's all squashed together in one place and it's a bit difficult to understand what is what or if I missed writing about something. So yeah.