Anne Zhang

    zhangy49@gmail.com

    About 80 students from Shenzhen American International School’s (SAIS) preschool to seventh grade exhibited a variety of projects last Thursday, displaying what they have learned in the past year.

    The exhibitions included “Perspectives” — a study of the character of some notable people from different points of view, “Shenzhen for Kids” — a tourism website for children that introduces the most popular and interesting scenic spots in Shenzhen, a live cooking show and a movie premiere, among others.

    Brandon Isita from Mexico displayed his research about the health impacts of soda on kids and urged his school to stop providing it to students. Gigi Wu, a 12-year-old girl from the Netherlands, painted a portrait of Sacajawea, a Native American tribal woman known for accompanying the Lewis and Clark Expedition in their exploration of the western United States.

    Some students in Grade 1 through 3 designed a tourism website showing children where to visit and what to do in the city. The students did several field studies to conduct interviews, take photos and get first-hand knowledge of the places they would recommend on the site and they wrote articles and made the layout of the page, an instructor at SAIS said.

    Groups of preschoolers demonstrated their cooking skills in a live cooking show during the exhibition.

    Mike Lehan, a SAIS teacher from the United States, said that the 4-year-old students prepared the show for about two months, learning how to read a recipe, how to measure ingredients and how to explain what they are doing.

    The exhibition drew more than 200 audience members, including parents and people from local education institutions.

    Lisa Guo runs an institution for preschoolers in Shenzhen. She said she came to the exhibition to learn how the project-based learning method has worked at SAIS.

    “I am so impressed by the skills and knowledge the students at SAIS have acquired through various projects,” Guo said.

    In project-based learning, students go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem or challenge, said SAIS Principal Deborah Summers.

    “Projects allow students to address community issues, explore careers, interact with adult mentors, use technology and present their work to audiences beyond the classroom,” Summers said. “The knowledge, skills and confidence gained in projects will help students be successful inside and outside of school.”