Expressive Learners

Macy Conde
May 8, 2015
1 min read

I did not have a chance to observe the grade 2 class since they were having a break. But, like any other classroom in a PYP community, the room is plastered with dozens of information that I can use as basis for my blog.

One of the activites that the grade 2 students did prior to my visit was about finding out different ways of expressing one's self through art. Students were given the chance to watch a video of a lovely girl dancing to "Only Hope by Mandy Moore" (see video below).

From the video, students were able to derive their own observation or interpretation of the dance. The teacher, however, made the guide questions like "What can this person see, notice or observe?" or "What does this person care about deeply?". I actually think it was a good idea to at least start the ball rolling for the students. When you read their responses, you could see how they try and view the other person's perspective and reflect on the lyrics and movement of the dancer in video. There were sentences that caught my eye. Some examples of these sentences (see more from the picture below) are, "She wonders how to fix herself and her behavior.", "The song is about sadness.", "..how she cares [of] how other people think about her."To be honest, these kind of observations and sentences could have been mistaken as sentences made by older students. For the students to create significant meanings and understanding say a lot about how the teacher lets the PYP elements trickle down to each and ever student inside the classroom.