5th Grade Technology Project

Our job today is to research the history of an invention. When you know what object to study, use one of these websites to search for more information.

To help you decide on an invention, you can check out this website:

Famous Inventions A-Z

Wikipedia Timeline of Important Inventions

Use the websites below to complete your paper.

New World Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia.com (various articles on each topic from different sources)

Wikipedia

To look up new vocabulary, use wordreference.com.

 

5th Graders Begin New Reading Club

Our 5th grade girls are piloting a new reading club program in the Hub! Once a week, they visit for 20-45 minutes and select books that they are interested in reading. They have the chance to look up new words and record them, along with their reflections about each book, in their official book club guide. Some weeks they also complete special activities to develop specific reading comprehension skills, such as making predictions, using context clues to understand new vocabulary, and more! Stay tuned for links to activities and worksheets we have used.

reading club1 reading club 5 reading club 4 reading club 2

 

12th Grade English Elective Students Debate San Ignacio Alonso Ovalle Students

Seven of our seniors went to San Ignacio Alonso Ovalle on Tuesday, August 25th, to participate in two debates (in English!) against the other school. They were randomly assigned to argue for the first motion: “Add English to the PSU” and against the second motion “Use a progressive tax system in Chile to fully fund university education.”

IMG-20150825-WA0008They did a fantastic job, in particular José Tomás Valenzuela, who won the Coach’s award, and  Vicente Rodríguez and Vicente Urrutia, who won MVP honors for the first and second debates, respectively. Miss Lucía Pizarro, our English Department Head, moderated the first debate. Great job to all the participants, and thank you to our hosts at San Ignacio!

Continue reading 12th Grade English Elective Students Debate San Ignacio Alonso Ovalle Students

11th Graders Stage Formal Debate

On Tuesday, June 30, Juniors from the English Elective class debated a controversial idea–the motion was “Decriminalize Marijuana in Chile.” The students chose the topic and were sincerely divided about the issue, which allowed them to argue with enthusiasm in front of the audience of Miss Andrea’s 9th grade and Miss Sonia’s 10th grade classes.  The students remained very professional while they made arguments based on research, philosophy, and theology related to the consequences of both legalizing marijuana use and continuing to prosecute those who buy, sell, and use it. No one in the debate promoted the use of marijuana. Analyzing the recent decriminalization of the drug in various US states was important to both sides as they argued that their policy would better reduce violence and marijuana use and dependence in Chile.

The debate followed the following format, which is based on that used by the international debate organization Intelligence Squared. It is adapted to last about 50 minutes, and allowed 7 different students to participate from each side. Students chose to review the spectacular debate from the US about banning college football as their model. There is even a transcript available which was useful for many of them to follow on their laptops as we watched and analyzed the debate.

(Keep reading to see the format details and the results!)

Continue reading 11th Graders Stage Formal Debate

7th Graders become Film Critics

This week Miss Marcela’s 7th grade students studied vocabulary related to the cinema. They practiced an impressive list of silver-screen vocabulary at Quizlet.com,  and then completed a worksheet comparing positive and negative reviews of films at RottenTomatoes.com. They practiced with comparative and superlative vocabulary, and finally got to get out their clipboards and be film critics themselves. We screened a popular short film from YouTube called “Post-it” and students shared their opinions and wrote their own reviews. Here are some of the most memorable:

I think the film is interesting and funny. It is a very creative film. It is happy and motivating because it’s beautiful to say different good things about some people, like “you are beautiful” or, “your t-shirt is nice.” This film is original and easy to understand.

-Antonia B.

The first part was boring, but the end was entertaining and funny. The soundtrack in the first part wasn’t very good but the music in the end was really good and made the movie funnier… I love it.

-Catalina H.

This film was 7 minutes of my life that I want to forget. It was so slow and didn’t have any action.

-Juan Pablo D.

For the resources used in this activity, click the links above, and download the worksheet below.

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An updated worksheet with clearer (but slightly different instructions and tips for writing your own film review) is also available below!

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