IB Learner Profile

Spring Break! Finally.

I recently started a learner profile chart with my firsties. Every day, in the morning, they had to decide which learner profile they'd like to work on for the day. Some of my firsties tend to put Caring or Risk-taker and talk about how they tried new food or how they were nice to friends. I try to encourage them to be a Risk-taker and try to work on a different learner profile. At the end of the day, we would sit together while they have snack, and each of them would discuss the goal they were working on and how they reached their goal (being Reflective!). Sometimes, they might not have reached their goal, which is fine. I like to see how they're using my learner profile wall, and being able to reflect on their actions. My firsties also enjoy setting their goal, giving them ownership.
It takes about 10 minutes towards the end of the day or while they're having snack.

Let me know your thoughts!

I downloaded and printed the learner profile stickers, which I printed on paper and laminated, from Pinterest (IB Learner Profile from thepedagogs.com).

Have a great Saturday! (: 

Responsibility

For our new unit, Sharing the Planet, "responsibility" is our driving concept. We started to discuss what responsibility is. We looked at the dictionary and as a class, defined responsibility as "doing the right thing." We made an anchor chart with the definition and discussed what it means to be responsible for ourselves, at home, in school, and for the earth.

The students went on to fill out a graphic organizer. They picked three of the four (myself, home, school, earth), drew a picture of how they were going to be responsible in that area of their life, and wrote about it. 

When they were done with their worksheet, they got to choose a badge (I had 2 types of badges for them to pick from) and they got to decorate it. I laminated it and they got to bring it home. They loved it! You could even make it into an actual badge by purchasing the plastic cover and pins. 

Let me know what you think! (: If you'd like the templates, shoot me an email and I will send you a copy! 

Enjoy! 

Sunday Surprises (:

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! Some schools are having Spring break right now. Ours is in one week. I'm very excited as I'll be heading back to Singapore! I haven't been back since July and can't wait to eat good food and see my big old family.

First off, happy World Water Day!! We have just started a new unit- Sharing the Planet. We'll be talking about water for the next few weeks (which I'm very excited for!). On Friday, we did an activity to celebrate World Water Day. I've just introduced non-fiction books, and this activity also allows them to explore non-fiction books- hitting two birds with one stone!

They cut out a water drop. I had to emphasize that they had to cut a big water drop as we will be hanging it up. If it was small, would they be able to see it? Nope. Many of my students used pencil to draw and then a sharpie to outline it, and then they cut it.

After cutting it out, they picked a non-fiction book on water and chose 3 facts they wanted to put on their water drop. They decorated it and I used a hole puncher to punch a hole at the top of their water drop and tied it to a string. I then used sticky tack to stick on the wall (hopefully it stays up!). We hung it by the windows, which also made it look like rain. My first graders were very proud of it!

I made a template that you may download for free! One with lines and one without. I did not use it, but if I did this activity again, I would provide this template as a choice for the students. You may also use it for younger students!

Let me know what you think!

Click here (Without Lines) if you'd like to download the PDF file for the water drop template.

Click here (With Lines) if you'd like to download the PDF file for the water drop template.

Below are pictures of what it looks like in my classroom. (:

Red Velvet Cupcakes... Rose Colored Velvet Cupcakes?

I'm still on holiday. We officially start school at our new campus next Monday! Since it's cold and raining outside, I decided to whip up something sweet inside. I decided on Red Velvet Cupcakes. I researched and found a few recipes that looked great. I decided to try the recipe from girlsinaprons.blogspot.com.

Halfway through, I came to realize that I didn't have all the ingredients (whoops!). So... I had to substitute here and there. I'm sure the recipe is awesome, but I had to tweak it. Feel free to share your thoughts! (: 

To see the actual recipe, here's the link: http://girlsinaprons.blogspot.com/2013/03/red-velvet-cupcakes.html

First off, I didn't have all-purpose flour at home (I thought I did). I did, however, have cake flour! Thus I used cake flour (I found out on the internet to put 2 extra tablespoons of cake flour to be equivalent of 1 cup of all-purpose flour, so I adjusted it). 

Second of all, I didn't have baking soda. On the internet, I found out that I could substitute baking powder for baking soda, which I did, and added a bit more. 

Thirdly, I ran out of vegetable oil (go figure)! So I used another kind of oil, similar to vegetable oil. 

Fourthly, I couldn't find buttermilk. Thus I substituted with 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of white vinegar in a measuring cup, and poured milk into the cup until it reached 1 and 1/2 cups total. I let it sit for 5 minutes. 

Here is where things became interesting. I didn't have the right food coloring either! (It's hard to find baking ingredients in China...clearly) I bought a Rose color for icing. I decided to use it and experiment! The color is lighter...like roses! The color was very light, and nothing like red velvet. But! After putting in the dry ingredients (with cocoa powder), the color became darker, similar to red velvet. Whew! 

I baked it at around 350 degrees Fahrenheit, approximately 180 degrees Celsius, for about 25 minutes. 

The cake is very moist (could bake it a little longer) and the taste is there. My mom thought the cupcake was too moist, but loved the frosting! I hope to get the right ingredients next time and try it again. (:  

Reminder-- let the cupcake cool completely before putting the frosting on (mine was still a tad bit warm, so the frosting was slowly melting). I did put the frosting in the refrigerator for a couple minutes so it's not too soft, which was better. 

Here are some pictures of the finished product. 

Love for SWEETS

Any of you enjoy baking? Have a sweet tooth? Come and join me as I explore different recipes! Feel free to share any of your baking adventures too! (: