This week students have been making progress on their community inquiry and are really understanding what makes a community and how people in the communities are connected.  The students worked in groups to make a brainstorm poster about all the different aspects of a community; the places, people, things they share, jobs they do, ways they help, and things the community believes in.  It was a great way for them to learn how to organize and present their thoughts and ideas.  It also helped reinforce ideas we have been talking about with visual presentation and using font, color, shape, and layout to give a stronger impact on the audience.

The students also presented their ideas about why they and their parents decided to become a part of the JIES community and what they believed were important parts of a school.  I took some quick notes on what each student mentioned and in the end we had a nice list of all the common things that our school community believes in! 

 The students then began the first steps in their final assessment on communities by observing different travel guides that they brought in from home.  They looked for positive aspects in the different guides to help them when they make their own travel guide for an important community that they are a part of.  After seeing them get started on the rough drafts I think we will have some very nice community travel guides this year!