On Wednesday, 24 April middle school students participated in their IMYC Unit #5 Entry Point learning activities. The purpose of the Entry Point is to establish the new unit Big Idea and invite students to consider its significance. The ‘Entry Point’ forms the beginning part of the IMYC Process of Learning, and aims to kick off a new unit of learning in a fun, hands-on and enjoyable way. Read on to learn about our learning on Wednesday!
The Big Idea: Formal arrangements and relationships underpin or give organisation to complex issues.
To introduce this unit Big Idea in a fun and engaging way, the Grade 6 class designed and constructed their own marble-runs! By building their own marble run, the students explored the importance of a good basis, as well as our school Core Values of Cooperation and Communication. Please have a look at photos from our day and read on for reflections from students on the important of our new unit Big Idea.
“Structure is important for almost everything. To achieve structure you also need resilience, thoughtfulness, adaptability, cooperation, respect and communication”. - Timucin
“Structure lets us grow and getting better at things we want. You can’t built on nothing so you need a solid base for support.” - Dean
“Structure is also important in your schoolwork. Writing an essay is easier when you think about structure and order” - Char
“To have a good structure you need a good base. Buildings need structure to carry other parts at the top. Relationships also need structure because if you have a good structure in your family, you have a stronger bond and a better support system.” - Shaqueel
The students experienced that structure is important. They worked together to construct a marble run. They explored the importance of a good basis, cooperation and communication.
Big Idea: It’s important to honour behaviour and processes that have proven merit.
The 7th graders walked to the complex intersection of Molenlaan with the Van Beethovensingel and Van Kempensingel. Many of you will know the place at the tram stop and the COOP.
We visited this intersection to observe how pedestrians, bikers and drivers respect the rules and each other while passing this busy roundabout. It was a lot quieter than during rush hours, but there was enough traffic to watch.
We did a 5 minute count of traffic:
Risky moments:
"I found the Grade 7 Respect Entry Point cool because we got to see people trying to follow the rules, while also learning about those rules of the road. They were respecting the rules, but with so many vehicles and humans (we counted 96 cars!), it can be tricky to keep all of them in mind. Someone can unintentionally break the rules, but if they were aiming to follow them, then you could still say that they have respect for the rules of the road." - Mattia
"I think the entry point was an interesting way to show different ways of respect. I thought it was interesting how we were seeing if people followed the rules and did their part on the road as for example a pedestrian. Tip 3 is about how "a smile can be contagious". This links to respect because you can be respectful to your peers by making their day and giving them a positive look." - Nishi
"I found the entry point kind of good because it was fun but I wanted more time (two blocks)." - Vagif
"I liked it because it was very fun to count all the cars and map the roads." - Felix
"It was great to be able to walk down to the round-about and learn the importance of signs, and how all people should respect the rules." - Meredith
"I found the entry point cool because we got to go see accidents almost happen. It was exhilarating. We also got candy after, so that was cools." - Emma
"I found the Entry Point boring because we were only standing and observing the streets, seeing how people respected each other on the road. I was expecting something more interesting, like a more active activity. We did go to the Coop for small snacks, but that wasn’t really part of the Entry point." - Dominic
The Big Idea: Facing up to or overcoming problems and barriers increases possibilities in our lives
Students learned about what challenges they faced already and were asked to participate in a game of which the purpose was to overcome some obstacles but finally to become a stronger person. If all your goals were easy, then you’d feel nothing at the end of the process.
Since the best feeling about reaching a goal is the journey it takes to get there, students played a game outside on the playground. In turns, they threw a dice, once the six came up they had to run, put on a pile of clothes and take a bite of the apple. While they were trying this the rest of the group went on throwing the dice and the next person throwing six, took over from the person who was putting on the clothes, and so forth.
"I found the entry point awesome and really challenging and fun since it was outside and we laughed a lot." - Erik, Kawtar and Ruben Grade 8
