The beginning of the school year is an exciting one for everyone involved. I can publicly confess that teachers feel the same combination of nervousness and excitement as students do.
Suddenly, after days of designing and redesigning classrooms, they are filled with their reasons for being.
At IST we hit the ground running, or perhaps learning. In the first week G4 students have already had the opportunity to explore the power of word choice in descriptive writing, reviewed geometry concepts and begun exploring new extensions, launched into developing classroom reading habits and routines and unpacked the big idea of our first unit of inquiry.
But we’ve also been learning a lot of soft lessons. Informal moments and interactions that give us a window into what this year will be. The opportunities to build community, support each other and enjoy being together at school. We learn as much from these as we do from the academics.
I like the way this graphic frames the idea of classroom learning.
In many ways, these ideas support the PYP curriculum, with it’s focus on multi-faceted learning that goes beyond memorization and some more traditional academics.
We’re looking forward to collaborations with the rest of the school, parents and the broader community to make this a great year for us all.
Posted by jamieraskin 
In Grade 4 Writer’s Workshop we read the book, The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks. We really enjoyed the book. 
IST Grade 4 - Welcome! 