The Power of Persuasion
This week, we are learning about persuasive language. This is a powerful form of writing which can cause people to change their minds or take action. We have been practicing persuasive techniques such as repetition, rhetorical questions, exaggeration, inclusive phrases and emotive words. We are learning to balance this language with factual evidence. We always try to give a point, reason, evidence or examples, then re-state our point (PREP). Together, we wrote this memo to Ms O’Dwyer. We tried to make it really emotional and convincing. And guess what? It worked! She has agreed to give us a 1-week homework holiday, on account of our excellent persuasive writing. Read our work below: Cancel our Homework! Cancel our Stress! Grade 4 students are terribly stressed. Every night we are trapped under a mountain of homework. We work hard all day and then at night we work like slaves to finish our homework. Is this how you want us to live? We are certain that Grade 4 should not have homework because we have many other commitments. For example, most of us have at least 3 hours per night of academy homework. Others have extra homework given by our parents. On top of that, we still have chores to do, such as clearing the table, washing dishes and laundry. On other days, we have religious festivals and family celebrations. If visitors come to our house, we also have to help prepare food and play with their children. How are we expected to fit in our homework? It is impossible for us to manage all these commitments. In addition, homework interrupts our sleep and causes stress. Imagine sitting at your desk night after night until after 9pm. Our parents won’t let us go to bed until all our work is done. This causes arguments, fights and stress in our lives. Experts say that children need at least 8 hours of sleep each night in order to concentrate and have enough energy for the next day. Don’t you want students who are sharp, alert and ready to learn? Homework only makes us more sleepy and stressed each day. Finally, Grade 4 needs less homework and more free time. Everyone knows that children need time to play with friends, exercise and enjoy hobbies. This is essential for stress release, health and social skills. Do you want us to be narrow-minded students, who only know about spelling, grammar and times tables? Or do you want us to be balanced, caring people who have many interests and skills? So, please don’t let homework ruin our lives. We trust that you want students who are well-rested and happy. Cancel the worksheets. Cancel the spelling list. Cancel the stress! By Grade 4 Task Description: This text was constructed jointly with the students and teacher. Each student brainstormed ideas and these were combined into 3 key reasons. Then, each student wrote individual paragraphs and conferenced with the teacher. Finally, the students combined their ideas and sentences...
Read MoreCan you make a square meter that’s not a square?
Can you make a square meter that’s not a square? We did! Last week, we enjoyed an investigation into area and perimeter. We were challenged to make two shapes with the same area of exactly 1 square meter but different perimeters. All our shapes looked different: triangles, hexagons, octagons and even an icosagon (20-sided polygon)! In each case, when we changed the form of the shape, the perimeter increased. At the end of the task, we recorded our understanding in a mathematical reflection. Take a look at Kazuki’s excellent explanation of the task below. Great mathematical thinking, Grade 4! It is wonderful to see you talking to each other, asking questions, checking measurements and solving problems! Square meter investigation new from...
Read MoreGrade 4 Goes Global
As part of our Communities Unit, we have joined a community of 800 students from all over the world. We are connecting via Edmodo to make friends and teach each other about “A Week in Our Lives”. So far, we have submitted a class handshake, to let the other schools guess where we are located. We have also posted individual handshakes, using pizap photo editing, to introduce ourselves to our teams. Now we are chatting in Edmodo about our commonalities, our differences and our topic. We have learned some important rules for participating in an online community. We have also learned about other types of communities, such as interest, cultural, language, professional or action. We are making concept maps to represent our identity through community membership. This is a busy and exciting unit! Stay tuned to see our final projects, which will be VoiceThreads made by students from all over the world! What are the benefits of belonging to a community? Why is the Flat Classroom Project fun and important? What are you learning about yourself and...
Read MoreWriting Super-Stars!
Congratulations to our classmates Sajid and Benedict who won 1st and 2nd places in the Little Star Magazine Short Story Competition this year! From hundreds of entries, all over China, their stories were selected as the major prize winners. 1st Place – Sajid – for his story “Blaze Saves the World”. 2nd Place – Benedict – for his story “Aliens Adventure”. Congratulations also to Chae Yeon in Grade 3 who received an Honorable Mention for her story “A Lucky Year”. BISS writers dominated the 9 years of age category! We are very proud of our talented friends! Read the winning stories below: Blaze’s adventure sajid hassan-under9-beijing biss from grade4biss Aliens adventure benedict eugene lim-under9-beijing biss from grade4biss What is your favorite part of each story? Which writing strategies do you recognise from our...
Read MoreStudent Led Conferences
Thank you to our parents for coming to Student Led Conferences today. We were very proud to share our learning with you! We enjoyed sharing writing samples, videos, assessments and reflections. Thank you for listening, making positive comments and asking questions about our work. We’ve grown so much in Grade 4 and we are having a wonderful year! What were you most proud to show your parents? What advice or feedback did your parents give...
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