Art integration

Students built models to show their perspectives on the following issues:
water, development, children's lives, inclusivity, climate and environment, living things amd peace & conflict
Below are a few snapshots of the preparation process:

Guest speakers who added value to the exhibition unit

Grade6 students had come to speak to grade5's about their experiences with exhibition, how they prepared for it and what have skills have they developed through the exhibition.

Ms Swati who is an architect gave very interesting information on eco-friendly buildings and eco friendly materials

Ms Ira, who is teaching middle school talked about personal projects and how students prepare for it in higher classes. 

Ms Roshni, gave interesting information about different types of living things, their requirements and she also took students around for a nature walk and showed them different types of plants which are considered parasites. She was a guest speaker specifically for the living things group.

Ms Shweta, who teaches the middle school talked about the The Big-6 and helped students to understand the planning process

Some visually challenged teachers and students had visited tha Aga Khan Academy and talked to students about their life, the challenges they face, how they overcame them and how some of them are very successful in different areas of life due to technological advancements. For example usage of phone and computers are easier because of certain apps which cater to their needs. They informed children that inspite of being visually challenged, they prefer to be independent and useful to the society at large.

We had students from grade8 (Aftikar, Salman and Bahar) who are from Afghanistan. They gave very insightful views regarding the lives of children, particularly girls in Afghanistan. They talked about the progress and development of Afghanistan in regards to education over the last five years.

Snapshots of the ongoing inquiry

Students brainstormed on the survey questions on their chosen issues:

Climate and environment

Development

Living things and the environment

Development

Climate and environment

In the photographs below, students are engaged in inquiring from various websites

Climate change group made questions for survey

Exhibition Matrix

Comming up soon

Understanding of action in PYP

Ms Sreelatha Kumar, the principal of Juniour school, took a very engaging session on action in PYP.
She showed the action ladder and asked students to reflect on the actions they have taken and where would they place their actions on the ladder.
Thereafter an e-book was played which talked about simple actions which children can take.

At the end students were asked to reflect on their understanding of action through a Y chart:
What does action look like, feel like and sound like:

Central ideas

Students are working on central ideas and essential elements (concepts, skills, attitudes and attributes) in their groups:

Matching issues with the various themes of PYP + making the central idea

Students tried to find the most appropriate theme which matched with the issues they had brought out during the session on Aga Khan strands.
Thereafter they highlighted the strands in the selected theme on which they could base their central ideas.
Below are some photographs of the process:

Treasure hunt

Before getting into the mode of making the central ideas, lines of inquiry and integrating the essential elements of the PYP, students needed to look at all the essential elements.
In order to do the above students were involved in a treasure hunt activity where all the essential elements were hidden in various areas of the campus and different groups were assigned to those areas in order to hunt for the essential elements.

It proved to be very exciting for students:

At the end of 20 minutes students gathered to share their information.

Similarities between the Aga Khan Academy's mission statement and the IB mission statement

Students were encouraged to find out similarities between the mission statements of the Aga Khan Academy and the International Baccalaureate.
The objective was to engage the students in a thought process which would enable them to identify the purpose of the IB program and understand the importance of the incorporation of the curriculum in the Academies.
It was also essential for them to understand the mission of the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad.
Through this session students comprehended that action was a very significant part of both the mission statements.
Below are some photographs of students comparing the mission statements through a venn diagram:

Aga Khan strands

Ms Koel took a very intriguing session on Aga Khan strands. The Aga Khan strands are:
- economics for development
- ethics
- cultures
- pluralism
- governance and civil society
Students were shown the sustainable development goals model of United Nations and they were asked to brainstorm in groups about how they would want the world to be?
In groups students discussed about the above and came out with their perspectives and sollutions. Below are some photographs of the same.

Ms Koel

Students also read stories on some issues which they had brainstormed and it enabled them to understand issues and gain more perspectives.
Through this session students were able to think and brainstorm issues which they think are affecting the world and should be attended to.
They chose an issue and got into their respective groups to brainstorm about them.
Below are some photographs: