Bangla language learning in PYP
International school Dhaka is one of the renowned IB school in Dhaka where our host country language Bangla is very much valued and supported.
We believe that one’s mother tongue is a fundamental aspect of identity, culture, and expression and the preservation, pride, and development of one’s mother tongue has benefits both culturally as well as linguistically. Language development is not only depending on culture, rather these two are inseparable and interdependent upon one another. Language plays a vital role in the construction of meaning. It empowers the learner and provides an intellectual framework to support conceptual development and critical thinking. Students learn much better when they get the opportunities to learn within a meaningful context, rather than being presented with the learning of language as an incremental series of skills to be acquired so in Primary we try to integrate with many of the Units of Inquiry in different grade levels so the learners are able to transfer their knowledge and make their learning more consequential and significant.
Here is an example of how the students in Primary display their Bangla language learning and how they are developing their language learning skills.
In Pre-KG, the students are learning the name of the colors in Bangla and trying to decorate the display board with the objects that they applied their knowledge and make colorful. In KG students were great “Thinkers” and they believed that maintaining hygiene is a healthy choice so that they can have a good life.
Gr-1, in their Unit -2 learned about their family history and in Bangla, they learned the names of the different family members and learned the poem,”পরিবার” to communicate with others.
Grade -2, during their Unit celebration, students shared their cultural diversity and presented their thoughts and knowledge, and they communicated with the whole community about the different festivals around the world. In Bangla, they presented the two different celebrations related to Culture and Religion such as “Eid “ and “Nobanno Uthshob”.
During Unit 2 the Grade- 3 students shared their thoughts and perspectives about different religious aspects and communicated their understanding in Bangla using a Venn diagram.
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- Grade 1 is engaged in a group discussion and sharing their knowledge with each other
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- Grade 2 tasting different Rice cakes(Pitha) that they cooked during their Bangla class, while learning about _Nobanno Utshob
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- Grade-2 singing a _Eid Song_ to communicate with their parents about the Eid festival in Bangladesh
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- Grade-4 students are presenting their thoughts through a piece of creative writing and extended their ideas through an illustration
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- Grade-5 boys are working hard with their team members and using their thinking skills to find out the different spices by tasting them individually
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- Kg is learning about hygiene and make a good choice
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- Kiara is learning how to wash hands properly to keep safe
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- Pre-Kg students are learning the name of the different colors in Bangla and enjoying coloring different objects related to colors
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- Sabrina and Advity are great thinkers and they are trying to match the name of the spices in both the languages Bangla and English
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- Using a Venn diagram Gr-3 students are communicating their learning about the differences between the basic religions that we follow in Bangladesh
The enthusiastic bunch of Grade-4 students are always ready to present their ideas through writing on different topics in discussion and through illustration, they like to communicate with their peers and teachers.
Grade -5 for their current unit is working on innovation and they were great thinkers. They tasted the different spices and tried to apply their prior knowledge and connect the name of spices both in Bangla and English.
Wow! Lots of fun things are going on in learning the Bangla language in Primary, so please stay tuned to find out what is coming up next!
Mark your diary and remember on the 15th of December Thursday at 11:00 am we are celebrating the “Victory day of Bangladesh” in the GYM and having a whole school assembly, join us to celebrate this special event in your Green and Red attire, please.
Leena Sharmeen Haq
Shazida Begum & Tanzia Zaman
PYP Bangla Teachers
