Set up everything for mentor meeting and choose topic!

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The most important event that happened for Hyeon-ah and me today was organizing our first mentor meeting with Ms.Cairns. We are supposed to meet her in between 10:45am to 11:05am on Tuesday and Thursday. One of the things that surprised me was we used almost 99% of the Exhibition hours speaking in English and improved on being an inquirer by inventing lots of questions with key concepts of 'Child labor'. Our brains were exploding with ideas while we discussed together about the topic and worked on the team shield. I believe that our first meeting with our mentor is going to be exciting, and I can't wait for tomorrow.

Most exciting day ever!

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        Today was the best day ever! Phew, there are LOTS of things to talk about! To summarize it, I think this page will be one and a half mile long! Well, not really. But you get the picture. Anyway, let's start!
        First of all, the most exciting thing is my group members for PYP Exhibition. I thought my group would have more than 2 people but actually, Hyeon-ah and I were in pairs. I think I am so lucky to be together with a person who know the meaning of responsibility, keep her words, is smart and calm. I think that Hyeon-ah and I will work well together to complete our Exhibition sucessfully.

Our first mission was making our essential agreements. Our essential agreements are:

• Only communicate in Korean when necessary
• Participate and be enthusiastic
• Respect each other (no arguing)
• Show integrity by not copying word for word from somebody without any permission/citation

After we completed the essential agreements, we signed the Individual Declaration of Academic Honesty. and made our team shields. The Individual Declaration of Academic Honesty is a form you have to sign and say, 'I will not copy somebody else's work without permission/citation. A team shield is a shield that our Exhibition group gets to decorate and draw anything that might represent their group. My group didn't get to finish so we are deciding to work on it tomorrow morning.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AUJMzIJpfjRBWaTAh14XlX_SLvFaIsw8E-xSGr5Suvs/edit#slide=id.p

        I like how we were sorted into well-matching groups and have a kind mentore as Hyeon-ah says, Ms.Cairns. I hope I have an enriching Exhibition journey with Hyeon-ah and my new mentor.

Language Usage Checklist for Exhibition

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                This language checklist is for Exhibition that our G5 teacher sent us. I put a 'X' mark to show that is my answer.

What will discussion sound like in Grade 5?

• We will use English in our groups UNLESS we need to translate the meaning of a word or phrase that needs clarification or elaboration.
• Then we will remember to switch back to English once we have clarified or elaborated our ideas.
• In partners, we will use English.
• When we are thinking solo we can use either English or Korean.
• In teams, we will use English for all conversation unless we are clarifying the meaning of something.

Weekly self-assessment for language usage

This week I was able to use English and Korean as per the class expectations.

• Yes ____________ X
• Mostly ____________
• Not always _________

The part that was most difficult for me to do was:

• Class discussion ______
• Teams in English ______
• Pairs in English _______ X
• Solo in English ________
• Switch back after using Korean _____________

Strategies I used this week:

• I used Korean/Chinese when I:
• Asked a question ________
• Expressed an idea _______
• Clarified a word _________
• Clarified a phrase _______
• Elaborated my ideas _____
• Took notes ___________
• Worked in a team _______
• Worked in a pair _______
• Worked alone _________
• Joked around _________ X
• Had social conversation ______ X
• I used English when I:
• Asked a question ________ X
• Expressed an idea _______ X
• Clarified a word _________ X
• Clarified a phrase _______ X
• Elaborated my ideas _____ X
• Took notes ___________X
• Worked in a team _______X
• Worked in a pair _______X
• Worked alone _________X
• Joked around _________X
• Had social conversation ______ X

This week I am most proud of my reseach by exploring issues we are NOT okay with because I did 6 issues and I achieved my goal which was completing at least 4 issues.

Next week my goal is to use less Korean at school and use more of Korean at home so I can improve on both languages.

My favorite trandisplinary themes: How we express ourselves and Sharing the planet

        Today our blog mission is to find out which trandisplinary theme (unit) I am interested in. I chose two, because I couldn't decide on only one theme. Those are How we express ourselves and Sharing the planet.
        First of all, I chose these two units because the other four units are less appealing to me. These units were the units that I had curiousity in. I especially had a lot of questions while doing the unit, How we express ourselves. It was pretty interesting to explore variety of topics that I have rarely encountered before. It was hard work when I did a simulation acting as a child working at a factory. I hated the work, but thinking about that I had just experienced what it would be like working in factories doing difficult work. Also, it was fun while doing the unit Sharing the planet, Stop disasters. The game's purpose is to protect a piece of land from a natural disaster. I learnt more about natural diasters from other students' natural disaster presentation.

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        I loved learning about these trandisplinary themes since I started studying them and I hope to learn more about them in the future. I want to have a deeper understanding about these themes and try to find the solution to solve these problems while doing exhibition.

Nature is speaking-Soil

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       Today, I watched a video called Nature is speaking-Soil. I have to answer the following questions:

• How did watching the video make you feel? 
• What did it make you think? 
• What questions do you have? 
• What surprised you? 
• What actions do you think humans might need to take?

        Firstly, I felt guilty and shocked after I watched this video because in the video tells that we overused soil and turned soil into broken, aching and sick soil just because of us, humans. I was stunned that we had destroyed half of the soil Earth had over 100 years. As a human, I was so shamed that people have been doing such a wrong thing for such a long time. I have never thought about overusing the soil or sickening the soil before. That made me even more feel guilty.
        Next, this video inspired me to think of plants in my garden that are rooted inside the soil and how thankful I am to the soil so that my plants earn enough nutrition to grow and produce flowers and fruits. While thinking about it, we can't survive if there is no soil because most of our food is produced by plants and those plants grow because of the soil.
        What actions do you think humans might need to take? There are some reasons why soil is getting polluted; toxic chemicals, strong pesticides, trash, faulty sewage systems, and oil spills. To solve those problems, we can recycle and throw trash in the bin. Also we should encourage farmers to use non-toxic pesticide and bio-friendly fertilizers. We need to fix the drainage systems to a proper one and plant more trees. Doing these steps and we will reduce soil pollution.

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All about bilingualism!

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1542c3bf9a1b4bd0?projector=1

        Bilingualism means the ability to speak or use two different languages. Today at school, we studied about what levels of  bilingualism there are and what level of bilingualism are we at. Here is the chart:

        If I chose which level I would be in, I'd choose level 2 to 3. Korean is my weaker language and English is my stronger language. I understand the whole context of somebody's saying in Korean, even though I have no idea what those words means exactly. Interestingly, I just can't speak out the same sentences other Koreans are talking, even though I can undertand what they are talking about. In English, I understand everything and also can say it back to anybody. That relates to level two. However, I am trying hard to improve my Korean and so far, I can read Korean chapter books more often, well.. it takes LONG time to finish one book,  and finish more of my work on time like other students. I think that I am just a little behind Korean than English which matches to level 3! To summarize, I am in the between 2&3. My goal is to be level 4 or 5 as soon as possible. 

Donate a blanket to the Wrap for Love charity

http://www.pymblelc.nsw.edu.au/news/knit-in/

        In my old school, one of the Year 4 teachers told us about a charity called 'Wrap with Love'. We could knit a square and then brought it in to school. Gathered squares were sewn together to be warm blankets for poor children. I remember doing one square by myself. I tried very hard to knit a perfect square but the shape wouldn't come out properly. In the end, my square was a mess and decided to help others knit their own squares when they were busy. Since my last one turned out to be a disaster, I was very careful at knitting somebody elses'. The whole school participated for the charity and many children recieved wooly blankets from us. I felt proud (even though I didn't even get to finish mine) because I had saved a child from dying from the coldness and gave them warmth to wrap themself in.