Unerstanding phonemes and graphemes

'Long A' investigation

Understanding how phonemes are represented in writing through different graphemes (teams of one, two or three letters) significantly helps children to make important decisions when spelling. It's fortunate that English has different ways to write the same phoneme. Through inquiry and investigation the children identified different ways to write the phoneme 'Long A'.

The children identified that a base with a final <e> can indicate that the previous vowel is 'Long', if there is a consonant(s) in between; like <crane>, <cake>, <made> or <ache>. This is one of the more common ways to write the 'Long A'.

The children went on a word hunt to discover other ways to write the 'Long A'.
As they identified words we sorted them on the phoneme chart and discovered  four other ways of writing the "Long A'
<ay> <ai> <ey> and <v + igh>

We looked for patterns to help us decide which grapheme to use when spelling.
We noticed interesting things like;

• <ay> was always in the final position, 
• <ai> was usually in the medial position, 
• only a few words used the digraph <ey> 
• and we only found two words for <v+ight>. 

Investigating, questioning, discussing and drawing conclusions ensures that children make informed decisions while spelling. It also demonstrates that spelling is a thinking activity not a memorisation activity. When children are actively involved in learning, deep understanding occurs.

Understanding suffixing conventions

Did you know that usually the final, single, silent <e> is removed when a suffix is fixed?

Do you know when to double the final consonant of a base when a suffix is fixed?

Grade 1/2 have been investigating these two important suffixing conventions. Through these investigations they discovered when to replace the final <e> and when to double the final consonant.

The children constructed a flowchart, of their discoveries, to show how this happens.

The flowchart is a useful tool to consolidate our understanding and to talk about the suffixing conventions.
Every time we construct and use the flowchart it becomes imprinted in our brain!

Collaborating together to construct the flowchart.
We need to read it each piece to help us figue out what comes next.

Is it finished? Does it work?
Flowcharts are self correcting tools so the children are able to independently decide if the flowchart works or not.
The children had a great discussion as they found one part did not work!

Once the flowchart is constructed we need to check it with some word sums like:

swim (m) + ing --> swimming. "yes the final <m> is doubled with a vowel suffix -ing>!

The children constructed a flowchart that showed both suffixing conventions...lots of problem solving!
Congratulations Grade 1/2 students...you did it!

Making the Pesto

Pesto Making

Smelling the basil

Cutting the basil

Washing the basil

Blending the basil leaves.

Blending the basil 

Adding ingredients

Final blending

Tasting

Cooking the pasta and adding the pesto...
and finally tasting...YUMMY!

Mask Making

We designed our masks before making them.

Learner Profile - Caring

<caring>

What does it mean?

How is it built?

What are its relatives?

What is its origin?

What parts of the pronunciation matter to the spelling?

Investigating <caring> to understand its meaning and spelling.

Investigating the PYP Learner Profile

Each week we are investigating one of the PYP Learner Profile words.

We are investigating the history of the word <caring> and discovered that it used to mean "to grieve, to cry"!
Its meaning has changed over time.

We analysed the word and constructed the word sum to show the spelling.
care/ + ing --> caring

We identified other words that belonged int he same word family
care + ful --> careful.
We noticed in this word that the final <e> was not replaced!

We constructed a large chart to show our investigation of the word <caring>.
Now we have a better udnerstanding of what it means and how it is spelled.
Spelling is a THINKING activity not a memorisation activity!

PYP Learner Profile

Getting to Know the PYP Learner Profile Better

What is the PYP Learner Profile?
Let's find out by playing the snowball game!

"caring" "reflective" "communicator" "thinker" "inquirer" "courageous" 

"open minded" "principled""knowledgeable" "balanced"

Tossing the PYP Learner Profile snowballs!

Oh wow, look at mine..."inquirer"!

What is an inquirer?

Now we know there are 10 ways to show that you are a good learner.

Finding the PYP Learner Profile around the school.

We all found some signs in the corridor!

Reflecting on our learning and understanding what each PYP Learner Profile word means.

New Unit of Inquiry : How We Organize Ourselves

How We Organize Ourselves :

An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.

Central Idea : 
Signs and symbols are human made systems which facilitate local and global communication

Lines of Inquiry:

·          Internationally recognized signs and symbols (form)

·          Reasons for development of communication systems (causation/connection)

·          Specialized systems  of communication (form)

Key Concepts:

Form and connection

We made the puzzle of the central idea.
When we do this we understand the meaning better.

We all had a piece to think about and add to the central idea puzzle.

We had to think carefully about the position of the words to make sure they

 made sense in the sentence.

This is our central idea!

Playing the trading game to learn about different signs and symbols used around the world.

"Mmm...I wonder what this symbol means?"

We found some countries use a red crescentsymbol for the hospital sign.
We have seen that symbol in Indonesia.

We sorted the signs and symbols to understand what they were used for.

We had to decide on the headings for each group.
Mr Jim doesn't tell us the headings we have to think about that ourselves!

Reflecting on our learning by writing the central idea for the new unit of learning.

We made some common signs we have seen in the community.

Learning about more signs and symbols that we haven't seen before.

We identified some important headings for these signs.