Monday, June 30, 2014

Farewell Message from Principal - Capt Rohit Sen Bajaj

Celebrate With Story Books

Birthdays are a meaningful milestone and a special moment for celebration —but there’s more to celebrating this occasion than candies and chocolates. Rhea Kartik Raval of Grade 3F brought a set of story books for her class friends on her Birthday.


 

Vacation in a jar

Everyone waited for the day that the holiday specials were on and we all watched them (and then talked about them endlessly at school to discover the enjoyment, excitement and adventure they have experience during their vacation.

We had a fun time making the holiday jar and I am going to preserve it for entire life. (Vidhusi)
I enjoyed my vacation and I loved preparing the holiday Jar. (Srihan)
My holiday project was really exciting and enjoyed a lot while doing it (Anmol)

 


 
 
 
 

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Design: Student Orientation

"Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things."

— Theodore Levitt

The students of Grade 6 and 7 endured a Design orientation session to get a first-hand understanding of the subject. Design is the link between innovation and creativity. Inquiry and problem solving are the  heart of this subject group.
The importance of the design cycle as a tool which enables the students to investigate the problem, plan for solutions, create and evaluate the solutions was emphasised upon.
Apart from subject outline, the students were updated on the importance of the subjects’ Digital design, Food design and Fashion design which fall under the umbrella of the subject ‘Design’. Thus kick starting a year loaded with lots of new learning and excitement.
Students speak …
I really enjoyed the Design Orientation as it is a subject I have never been exposed to. All the teachers have interesting activities planned for the year. I am really looking forward for all the 3 subjects this year.
                                    -   Saloni (Grade7)
The subject Design is very interesting and new subject that will help us learn about new things but also will expose our creativity in various ways.
                         - Subhash (Grade 7)




 

'Teaching and assessing practical skills in Science’

Practical work is an essential part of science education. To understand the purpose and to maximise the effectiveness of practical work a professional development workshop was conducted by Head of Faculty of Sciences Ms. Molly Biju for CIE and MYP teachers on June 26, 2014. The topic covered was ‘Teaching and assessing practical skills in science’. The teachers brainstormed and discussed the different types of practical work and how practical work in science helps in practising skills, developing specific knowledge and understanding the process of scientific enquiry.
As every learning process ends with an assessment, the role of criteria based assessment was discussed. Teachers were also trained about how to guide the students with respect to their understanding of the processes of scientific enquiry. The session ended with an experiment in Observation ‘A Burning Candle’ in which teachers explored the difference between a casual observation and expert observation. Skills on guiding students to conduct expert observation were also the focus of the workshop.



 



  

Learning week for the Drama Students

Learning to learn week was fun for the drama students. They had ice breaking sessions through various fun games. The games they enjoyed were, Name Game in which they have introduced themselves with just three words, Simon says, Imaginary Ball game, Passing the emotion game, Zip-Zap-Zop game. Children played these games with lots of enthusiasm. They not only enjoyed, but developed important attitudes and profiles through these games and reflected on the same. Their parting shot was that they are eagerly waiting for their next drama session.




Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment

“Confidence comes from discipline and training”. Drama Class students have formed essential agreements and have agreed to follow all the agreements which they have made. They enacted in various situations on how and why to follow essential agreements.  They also watched a video on essential agreements which was directed by Drama Teachers. "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."-Aristotle. We are sure that Oakridger’s are going to make it their habit which will lead them to excellence.





















Activities and learning engagements

During these two days, students were introduced to the curriculum and its process of learning. Students participated with great enthusiasm and curiosity in snowball activity to understand the nature of Math. They shared their opinions and thoughts on “Math everywhere” and “Role of Math in real life”.
Students were good communicators and open minded to share and respect each other’s view in “Pair and Share” activity, to know how Math is used in problem solving.
Students were also given general instructions on the requirements of stationary, routines and practices that they need to follow in the classroom to have better learning sessions.
At the end of these activities and discussion sessions, students showed their readiness and enthusiasm towards further proceedings and productive learning from the next week.







Workshop on Teaching and Learning Strategies

A workshop on Teaching and Learning strategies was conducted by Ms. Nagamani for the teachers on the 26th June.  Ms. Nagamani spoke about effective teaching strategies. She spoke about the necessity of involving the class through activities and questions. Emphasis was also laid on differential teaching in a class with varied student interests. An activity for the teachers about focus helped in acknowledging how students behave in a class.  The importance of homework, correction and timely feedback was emphasised. It was an effective blend of theory, analogies, stories and practice. It was exceptionally informative, balanced and interactive workshop.  It was a wonderful experience being a part of this workshop.




 

Friday, June 27, 2014

Summer Fun Passport !!!

Students of Grade IV E presented their Summer Fun Passport on 19th of June as a “JAM” activity. This was there summer vacation homework.
Students were supposed to create a journal during their summer vacation which includes the photos of the exciting places they visited, a photo of the event with the date or a ticket stubs or any other memorabilia.
10 points were added to the Oak Champs scorecard for the students who submitted their summer Fun Passport.


 

Double-2 This-2 Double-2 That-2

The energizer Double-2 This-2 Double-2 That-2 is now one of the most popular energizers for the students. Students love to do this activity. This activity energizes them because it is funny and at the same time they learn the self-management skills also out of this.




















Fantastic First day of Grade IV

After the refreshing summer vacation, all the students were so excited to come back to school waiting for the new opportunities. All of them packed their bags filled with new stationeries, new books, and wore their new uniforms and that is what made them excited about the New Year in Grade IV. Everyone was busy finding a buddy to make them comfortable. The 1st half of the day was little calm but once the students mingled with their new classmates, the 2nd half was full of pleasure for them.
Students were busy introducing themselves, arranging their cubbies, understanding the new teacher, framing the essential agreements and much more. The 1st day was a busy day.

By the end of the day, all of them went happily with a reflection on their face , that the day was “AWESOME”.








National Spell Bee Champion

Avinash Sai Gogineni of Class 4E has been selected for the MARRS International spell Bee which is going to be conducted in Bangalore on July 6th 2014. Avinash has already secured a lot of ranks in State and National Spell Bee (Written and Oral Rounds). He appeared for an International Written round on April 27th, 2014 conducted in Delhi, and he was awarded and qualified for the final round. This Exam in Bangalore is an International spell bee Oral round in which there are going to be participants from our neighboring countries. We all should wish Avinash “BEST OF LUCK” for his final round.



Thursday, June 26, 2014

Farewell to the Principal from Junior Oakridgers

Oakridge jr. school, Newton Campus organized a farewell ceremony for our beloved Principal, Capt Rohit Sen Bajaj.
It was truly an emotional ceremony wherein all the students, teachers, Capt Bajaj and all the coordinators were involved. 
Students wrote a few lines for Capt Bajaj and Symbolized him with the IB Learner Profile.
It was indeed an emotional Farewell Mr. Bajaj shared his feeling & thoughts which encouraged & motivated the young Oakridgers.
The below lines go for this
"Some people and then memories have left in us no matter they are with us or somewhere else".
We wish Capt Bajaj a very blessed & happy journey further.
 









 

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIC CARLE

Students of grade1 visited the library to celebrate the birthday of illustrator and writer of children’s books Eric Carle. He is most famous for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a picture book with few words that has been translated into more than 58 languages.
To bring in a lasting effect amongst the little ones, the librarian decked up the library with the setup we find in the book. While she read the story, children were engrossed to see and hear about the Very Hungry Caterpillar. The read aloud story session gave the children an insight about an illustrator and an author and the story itself.