Science, History, Geography turn into projects
As grade 5 is the final year of their primary school, students have to prepare for a finish of this grade level and move on to a new phase with many changes in learning methods and curricula. Understanding the difficulties that they may encounter, as from late September 2012, the "project-based learning" program was proposed for students of grade 5 to familiarize them with all such subjects as Science, History, Geography and prepare them for ending primary school and transferring to junior secondary school.
After discussing and agreeing, form teachers quickly allowed classes to choose and carry out their projects. Classes 5.1 and 5.2 were in charge of the Science Project while class 5.3 chose the History Project and class 5.5 the Geography Project. Within four months, they completed choosing and learning about the project themes. Finally, the "project leaders" of grade 5 were ready to celebrate their achievements.
At 8 am sharp on Friday April 5, 2013, Class 5.3 warmed up the whole campus hall with the song "Dong Mau Lac Hong" (Vietnamese people’s bloodline). The song seemed to offer the students a smooth start for the History Project called «The epic liberation campaigns in the 1954-1975 period». Thien An brought the audiences in the hall back to the period when the country was divided and many innocent people died in this war. The bombing scenes and the battles shown was to help the students understand and remember the lessons better. When Ms. Tran Thi Hoa told the story about the uprising in 1968, the audiences commended Kim Ngan for her great roleplay! When hero "Pham Tuan" came to the stage, people could not realize that was Quang Vu, because he looked great in his white suit! The most impressive part of the project was the interview by Minh Huong with ‘uncle’ Pham Tuan. The questions were natural and challenging. Unfortunately, when Ngoc Lan playing Uncle Bui Quang Than, talked about raising the victory flag on the roof of the Independence Palace, the clip showing tanks crashed the gates signalling the end of the war could not illustrate in tune with what Lan said. However, that was not a big deal since the 5th graders proudly sang "Spring in Ho Chi Minh City" to finish the sophisticated and impressive History Project.
Minh Huong and ‘Uncle’ Pham Tuan (Quang Vu) in the interview
Related to real life circumstances, classes 5.1 and 5.2 chose topics that drew a lot of attention like"Puberty hygiene" and "Safety at all times". The students worked very hard to find witty illustrations and very funny comedies about gender, traffic safety, abuse avoidance and problem solving skills.
Anh Thu and Tram Anh from Class 5.1 emceed the Q&A session very successfully. ‘Doctor’ Anh Thu was so smart that she could answer all the questions she got.
When Thuy Tien from Class 5.2 appeared gracefully and stately in her police uniform, she drew all the attention in the hall. Thanh Nguyet was also very immersive with the "special gift" skit thanks to her genuine, innocent and carefree performance style. Hoang Khoi was totally different when he played an evil person, a danger to children. For the short clip about traffic law violation, when the comment of the MC who could speak “as fast as lightning" said: "Almost died. Can’t imagine!", all the parents and teachers were breathless and heaved a sigh of relief when they witnessed a biker wriggling through a crowded street, just narrowly escaping death!
Thuy Tien playing a police officer
The final project was presented by Class 5.5, with Quang Viet in the role of an overseas Vietnamese student who could speak English very well, returned to his homeland to visit Vietnam Australia International School. Class 5.5 offered the audience some quizzes about America and Africa. The students listened carefully and observed the slides before answering the questions. Nhat Vy and Doan Trang hosted the presentation and invited answers. If all the Geography periods were presented like this, perhaps all students could no longer be afraid of Geography.
At the end of the project presentations, all students, parents and teachers could feel the relaxing atmosphere that this learning method offered. The presence of parents showed that they cared very much for their child's education, which is always a good thing to do and also a source of great encouragement for the children on their knowledge exploring journey.
Information provided by Ms. Le Van - Hoang Van Thu Campus
