Page 5 - SN March - Grade 4

EAL

MS. DIVNA STAKIC

Intermediate Group

Dear Parents,
In February we started supporting the PYP trans-disciplinary theme How the World Works –
Technology and Society, with its central idea: Technology is an integral part of society and is
driven by its needs. We inquired into how we understand and define technology, and the im-
pact of technology on our daily lives. We talked about inventions, and read a number of dif-
ferent non-fiction articles about unusual inventions and discoveries, how those changed
throughout the history, and if we find them useful today. We practiced listening comprehen-
sion, viewing and note-taking skills, as we watched a video about Nikola Tesla’s life and dis-
coveries. The EAL students initiated a field trip to the Nikola Tesla Museum, and prepared a
presentation for their peers before we visited the place.
As the students worked on creating their own inventions, we continued reading non-fiction
articles about natural disasters from a book series titled: True Stories. We read texts about
what could happen during an earthquake, volcanic eruption, lightening, flood, avalanche, etc.,
paying attention to technology used to advise about these phenomena, measuring severity,
and giving advice on preparing for a disaster. We also practiced finding the main idea in a
paragraph, paraphrasing and summarizing skills, as well as skimming and scanning. As a fol-
low-up, each student selected an article of his/her choice, and presented it to his peers.