In Kiga 2, we use storybooks as a valuable tool to enhance knowledge, vocabulary and communication skills within the classroom. Recently, we delved into a fascinating story about sea horses and their ability to blend seamlessly into their surroundings, rendering them almost invisible. This narrative sparked the curiosity of our students, leading us to embark on an imaginative journey where we envisioned ourselves as invisible beings. Inspired by this, the class eagerly embraced the challenge of creating their own stories, each centred around a character with the power of invisibility.
 
To kick start this creative process, students had the opportunity to choose from a diverse range of themes for their stories, ranging from a supermarket setting to adventures on the moon. It was wonderful to witness how the storybook experience in Kiga 2 not only facilitated learning but also fueled the imagination and deepened the understanding of essential literacy elements. This collective effort resulted in a vibrant and diverse collection of books, showcasing the enthusiasm and dedication each student poured into their projects.
 
The accompanying photos capture the impressive dedication and hard work the Kiga 2 students invested in bringing their stories to life, highlighting their final products.

Sam Jones, Kindergarten 2 Teacher

This term in humanities the primary 4 students were assigned to create a video, research and to craft a 3D model of a planet, dwarf planet or the sun. Each student chose a planet, dwarf planet or our shining star/the sun to research. We had to include important facts, e.g. the number of moons, distance from the sun, six to eight interesting facts and where its name came from. Once we had done enough research, we could start making our posters and writing our presentation cards. Instead of presenting live, we recorded a video of our presentation and crafted spectacular 3D models. Most students made them out of Paper-Mache but there were other base material options. They were made in almost all shapes and sizes. After the students presented to the class, Mr. Drummond invited other grades to see all the extraordinary planet models. 

Here are some facts that year 4 flamingos and parrots have learnt about our solar system. Nothing could live on the sun and its energy is vital for most life on earth. Mercury is a little bigger than Earth's Moon. A special gas on Venus keeps the planet toasty and warm. Humans can only live on Earth because the planet has everything we need. Mars is home to the biggest volcano in the galaxy, Mt. Olympus. Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system. Saturn has eight rings, nine if you count Cassini Division. Uranus is tilted on its side! Neptune is an ice giant, so it is quite cold.
Here is an interview of two year 4 students

Question: What was your favourite part of the project? What planet did you do?

Answer: “The 3D models! And I did Mars.” ~ Ilya

Question: Why did you choose your planet?

Answer: " I chose Saturn because it looks nice and it is my favourite planet.” ~ Hitha

That is what we did for our amazing planet project!

Wimberly & Leona, Primary 4 Students

An der SIS Zürich-Wollishofen fand in der letzten Woche “Reading Schoolhouse“ statt. Jede Klasse las ein Bilderbuch namens Flotsam von David Wiesner. Das Besondere an diesem Buch war, dass es keinen Text hatte, sondern nur Bilder. Das Buch handelt von der Unterwasserwelt und was wir als Menschen nicht sehen können. Wir wissen weniger über das Meer, als über die Galaxie, sagte Eliza aus der sechsten Klasse und hat recht. Niemanden weiss genau, was dort unten am Meeresgrund alles passiert.  
Die Kinder jeder Jahrgangsstufe haben es selbst interpretiert und eigene Geschichte daraus entwickelt. Die erste Klasse malte und bastelte eine Unterwasserwelt. Sie malten verschiedene Bilder mit Meerjungfrauen, Fischen und Algen. Sie arbeiteten eine ganze Woche daran. Die zweite Klasse schrieb Buchrezensionen und illustrierte diese. Die dritte Klasse entwarf Unterwassercomics, die vierte Klasse erfand eigene Unterwassergeschichten, die fünfte Klasse arbeitete an einem Kunstprojekt und die sechste Klasse entwarf eine Unterwasserszene mit einer passenden Geschichte. 
Alle Projekte werden anschliessend im Schulhaus ausgestellt. 

Sofia H., Schülerin der 6. Klasse 

Reading Schoolhouse is always an exciting week at SIS Zürich-Wollishofen. There are many activities centered around reading that get the entire school involved. All the students are full of energy and look forward to the week.
Normally, the week ends with a book fair, where students get to bring money and browse a room full of new English books. However, this year, the book fair kicked-off Reading Schoolhouse. This allowed students to have a new book in their possession for all the reading activities in the coming week. 
The official Reading Schoolhouse week started with buddy reading. Each class buddied up with their buddy class and spent time reading together. This was an enjoyable way for the classes to connect and allowed the students to spend time together sharing their love for books. 
On Tuesday, students participated in a book swap. Students brought in a book to be enjoyed by someone else, and in exchange, they could leave with a book brought in by another peer. This was kind of like the book fair all over, only with used books. Between this event and the book fair, students had plenty of new material.
On Wednesday, teachers selected some of their favorite stories and rotated to different classrooms reading parts of these adventures. This was a cool way for students to hear from different teachers and listen to a variety of stories. Some teachers read in German, others read in English, and some teachers even read in languages such as French, Spanish, and Italian. 
On Thursday, students were allowed to bring in some of their most comfy clothing, along with pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals. Each class was then given time to make themselves cozy in the classrooms and dive into their books. Thankfully, everyone had something great to read, either from home, borrowed from school, or something new from the book fair or the book swap.
The week ended with everyone dressing as their favorite character from a novel. This was an enjoyable way for students to share their love for reading by getting to be one of their favorite book heroes. 
Overall, it was a wonderful week, and everyone already looks forward to Reading Schoolhouse next year.

Kristina Kontny, Primary 6 Teacher