How far?

Calculate how far your food/clothes and toys/electrical toys have traveled to get to you:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distance.html

ISD Calendar Change

“Please note that there is an error in the ISD calendar. May 27^th is a normal school day. This is not a conference day. We have already had our second conference day.”

Divine Chocolate

Learn more about where Fairtade chocolate come from....

http://www.divinechocolate.com/about/default.aspx

An important insert for your blogs

IMPORTANT NEWS FROM THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRARY

Dear Parents,

The Elementary School Library is using the month of May to prepare for its move upstairs.

There is going to be a lot of work to do and all of the Library's books and shelving must be packed into boxes by Wednesday the 7^th of June, just two days before the end of this school year.

Because of this there is going to be a change to this year's Summer Check-Out programme.  Summer Check-Out is the term used to describe the borrowing of books for the summer holidays.

This timetable shows the plan we have put in to place:

20 May 2011	All things borrowed by parents and by children must be returned to the Elementary School Library by this date.
23 to 25 May 2011	The Elementary School Library will be closed. In this time we will prepare the library for Summer Check-Out
26 and 27 May 2011	Summer Check-Out will take place over these two days

This is how Summer Check-out will work:

Summer Check-Out only applies to families who are returning to ISD in August and only if all of your family's library books have been returned.

Each family may borrow up to 15 items

Check out will take place from 8.15 to 9.30 and from 3.00 to 4.00 on both days and all books will be due back on 16 August 2011.

Books chosen in the morning will be available in the afternoon.  If you choose your books on the afternoon of 26 May, they will be ready on the afternoon of 27 May.

If you have any questions, please feel free to come and talk with either Mrs Dawber or myself.

Yours Sincerely,

Kirk Owen

Elementary School Library

Descriptors for German Native Reports

Für alle Eltern, deren Kinder in einer German Native Klasse sind.

Nachstehend finden Sie die Beurteilungsstufen, die in den deutschen Zeugnissen verwendet werden:
Der Schüler zeigt stets gründliche Kenntnisse und ein gründliches Verständnis der Inhalte sowie eine hohe Kompetenz der Inhalte sowie eine hohe Kompetenz in den Lernprozessen und Fertigkeiten. Darüber hinaus ist der Schüler in der Lage, diese Kenntnisse und Fertigkeiten in authentischen Situationen anzuwenden.


Der Schüler zeigt fundierte Kenntnisse und ein fundiertes Verständnis der wichtigsten Lerninhalte und erreichte eine angemessene Kompetenz in den Lernprozessen und Fertigkeiten der Bereiche Sprechen, Lesen und Schreiben.


Der Schüler zeigt grundlegende Kenntnisse und ein grundlegendes Verständnis der Lerninhalte und verfügt über eine begrenzte Kompetenz in den Lernprozessen und Fertigkeiten der Bereiche Sprechen, Lesen und Schreiben.


Der Schüler zeigt begrenzte Kenntnisse und ein begrenztes Verständnis in einigen Lerninhalten und verfügt über eine sehr begrenzte Kompetenz in einzelnen Lernprozessen und Fertigkeiten.

Important links

Paul McCartney's ideas:

http://www.meatfreemondays.com/helptheplanet/

Clever farming:

http://www.verticalfarm.com/

Carbon Footprint

Calculate your own Carbon Footprint:

http://www.planet-positive.org/how_2_kidscalc.php

What do you think?

Now try this one:

http://calc.zerofootprint.net/youth/#

Why do you think they are different?

Parent Letter

March 18^th, 2011

Dear Parents,

Drop-off and Carline: Thank you so much for your patience and flexibility this week. Your swift adjustment to the limited parking now available means that our students continue to be dropped-off and dismissed in a safe and orderly manner.

Sodexo Update: As mentioned in my previous letter, lunch ticket prices have increased as follows,

·      Pink ticket (large meal) is 3.50 euros

·      Yellow ticket (small meal) is 2:00 euros

Following recent discussions, Sodexo have agreed to revert back to the old system where any child, regardless of grade, may choose to purchase either ticket.

Calendar Change: Please note that there is an error in the ISD calendar. May 27^th is a normal school day. This is not a conference day. We have already had our second conference day.

Spirit Week: Spirit Week is coming soon!  This year Spirit Week will begin on March 28^th. The student council have organized a different theme for each day. More information should be on the way soon.

Thank you again for your continued support.

Warm regards,

Alan Lorenzini

Elementary Principal

Elementary News - 2nd Edition

Please click on the link below to read our 2nd edition of the Elementary News

written by the Student Council Alternates.

Enjoy!

http://voicethread.com/share/1804234/

German Beginners Update

     Dear Parents,

          Our topic during the past weeks has been Kleidung. We were involved in the following activities:

·        Learning all of the names of clothing

·        Playing dress up

·        Making costumes and masks: Ich möchte den König sein. Ich brauche die Krone.

·        Role playing in our costumes and taking pictures

·        Singing songs to match our topic

·        Playing our Schokolade game. Ask your child to tell you what we did.

·        Having several opportunities to have Free Reading (with German books)

·        Completing lessons 5 and 6 in Tamburin 1

.  

We have started writing our own stories in German by using the Storybird program. The students are very motivated to choose the topic and art to go along with their own stories. They have been working in partners and are being risk-takers in this new venture. As soon as they are finished we will publish them for you to see.

 I hope your child has the opportunity to use German in everyday situations. I would also encourage the children to use the search engine "Blindeküh" accessible from the ISD Intranet. They can play games, watch special TV programs and much more. Have a look!

Have a wonderful and safe week!

Frau Scherpel

Crazy Hat Day

Reminder:

Friday March 4th, 2011 is...

CRAZY HAT DAY

Wear the craziest hat you can find!!!

grade 3 assembly

We had a fantastic assembly about our fourth unit ' People express their ideas and emotions through the arts'. We learned that art is different for everyone, it also depends on how the person is looking at the art work. We hoped that we inspired all the children and adults in the Elemetary school. We were lucky to have 4 artists visit grade 3. We made a piece of music with our own 'instruments' that we brought in from school.

    Phillip

News from the German Natives Group - Frau Laute

News from the German Natives Group - Frau Laute

Liebe Eltern,

hier ein Überblick über unsere Arbeit der letzten Wochen:

Rechtschreibung

Erarbeitung der Verlängerungsstrategie: Diese hilft uns herauszufinden, ob ein Wort am Ende z.B. mit ‚d' oder ‚t' geschrieben wird. So hören wir ‚Kint', müssen aber am Ende ein ‚d' schreiben. Das können wir erkennen, wenn wir das Wort verlängern und so das ‚d' hörbar machen: Kinder – Aha! Also müssen wir auch ‚Kind' schreiben. Gleiches gilt für die Frage b oder p und g oder k.

Überarbeitungslineal

Mit dem Ziel, eigene Texte immer selbstständiger zu korrigieren, haben wir das Überarbeitungslineal kennengelernt. Dazu wird ein A4 Blatt zu einer Art Lineal gefaltet. Die Seiten des Lineals beschriften wir mit jeweils einem Kontrollauftrag, z.B. Sind alle Nomen groß? Sind die Wortenden richtig (s.o., Verlängerungsstrategie)?

Mit dem Lineal kontrollieren wir den Text dann Wort für Wort.

Grammatik

Wiederholung der Wortarten Nomen, Verben, Adjektive.

Ziele im Deutschunterricht

Die Schüler haben sich persönliche Ziele gesetzt, die sie in diesem Semester erreichen wollen. Vorangegangen sind ein Brainstorming zu den Themen „Was gehört zum Deutschunterricht?" und „Was kann bzw. was tut jemand, der richtig gut im Deutschunterricht ist?". Die Schüler sammelten, sortierten und kategorisierten die Ideen. Jeder beurteilte sich selbst in Bezug auf die gefundenen Kriterien und setzte sich ein persönliches Ziel.

Verbindung zur PYP-Unit „How we express ourselves" (Kunst)

Ausgehend von der Betrachtung eines alten Stücks Gemäuer mit einem Marmorstein in der Mitte haben die Schüler assoziiert und verschiedene Landschaften darin erkannt. Wir haben ein dazu passendes Zitat von Leonardo da Vinci gelesen, bei dem viel Wortschatzarbeit geleistet wurde. Anschließend haben die Schüler einen eigenen Stein betrachtet und dazu eine Landschaft assoziiert. Diese Landschaft ist das Setting für eine (fiktive) Erlebnisgeschichte, die die Schüler zur Zeit verfassen.

Nach wie vor beginnen wir den Unterricht mit einigen Minuten freier Lesezeit. Das  Antolin-Leseprogramm wird weiterhin von uns genutzt.

Bei Fragen sehe ich wie immer gerne zur Verfügung.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Sabine Laute

German News from the Intermediate group

Recently we have discussed the grammar topic of cases when it is correct to change the definite article "der" to "den." This can be tricky for non-native speakers. Students explained their own ideas and we settled on some common criteria for making the change. If you could say "he" in the sentence in English, then "der" is correct. On the other hand, if him sounds right, then "den" is the proper choice.

Our old friends Igel und Schildkröte helped start a discussion about trading things (tauschen). Students discussed rules for fair trading and wrote their own lists.

Several students have volunteered to present the comics they have created and to show us what they collect. Feedback has been positive for the presenters, and the comics and mini-books are available for free reading.

Students chose to participate in the first grade's kindness challenge by making cards for others. One student taught others how to make origami flowers and swans.

Here are links to a film of "Tall Painting" and to the "pulsate" digital music creator which we used to discuss art and music.

"Tall Painting" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdWcFp0NWCw

"Pulsate" http://lab.andre-michelle.com/pulsate

Best Regards,

Herr Neas

Parent Letter

                                                            February 25th, 2011

Dear Parents,

Here are some announcements to consider before we break up for Ski Week.

Math Open Day: Please join us on Wednesday, March 2^nd for our Mathematics Open Day. You are invited to join

• Prep to Grade 2 between 09:00 and 09:40
• Grade 3 to Grade 5 between 09:45 and 10:30.

The children will share some of the math games that are used during the school day.

Lost Property: Please check the lost property containers before we break up for Ski Week as everything will be donated to Frauenhaus during the holidays.

Elementary Extension: As many of you know, the construction of the new Elementary Extension will begin during Ski Week. This means that when we return from the holiday a significant section of our playground and car park will be fenced off. Half of the parent parking spaces will disappear temporarily so many of us will either need to park further away from the school or use the drop-off system.

From next week onwards, students who normally exit via the Art/Music room stairwell will exit down the central stairwell at the end of the day. I would ask that all parents wait in the playground to collect their children as it will be too congested inside the school at this time of day.

Even though we are temporarily losing some playground space, we will proceed with our plan to introduce table tennis tables (courtesy of the parent volunteer fund) and swing ball poles to enrich recess opportunities for our students. We will also use the holidays to secure the bicycle stands and re-arrange the playground bins into colour-coded re-cycling stations.

The construction project is scheduled to be completed in time to begin the new academic year in August 2011, however no internal work will begin until the end of this academic year. The extension will house our new fifth grade wing. The library will be relocated to where the current 5^th grade classrooms are, allowing Reception to move into the space where our current library is situated. We will become a 3 section school from Prep to Grade 3 and a 4 section school in Grades 4 and 5. In addition to this, there will be a multi-purpose room that can be used for movement, music and drama.

Sodexo Price Changes: After Ski Week Sodexo will be increasing the prices of their food and drink tickets. Upper Elementary Children (Grades 3 – 5) will only be able to use pink tickets. Lower Elementary Children (Prep – Grade 2) will only be able to use yellow tickets. Please remember that no money is exchanged in the cafeteria. All purchases are made with tickets. These can be bought at the snack bar in the front foyer before or after school. The food prices are as follows.

Pink (big meal) 3.50 euros

Yellow (little meal) 2.00 euros

The price of cappuccino in the front foyer will also increase to 1.50 euros. Please direct all inquiries to Mr. Andreas Tegeler. He can be contacted at isd.3107@sodexo.de

Thank you for your patience and understanding in the coming weeks. We will do all we can to ensure that the construction project has a minimal impact on our students' learning.

On behalf of all the teachers and staff at the school, I wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable Ski Week.

Warm regards,

Alan Lorenzini

Elementary Principal

 

German News Advanced, Frau Thielmann

German News

Grade 3 Advanced / Frau Thielmann

February 2011

I would like to give you an overview of the work covered in the German class.      

Around Christmas time we sang a lot of German Christmas songs and talked about different traditions to celebrate Christmas. The students created their own Christmas card with a German text. After the winter break the students wrote a short text about their holiday in order to practice their writing skills in German.

We started with the fifth unit in "Tamburin 2, Deutsch für Kinder" which focuses on animals. The students learned to talk about things they do every day and to use the correct time expressions (Am Morgen, am Abend..).

We talked about different kinds of animals and the special vocabulary we use in this context. The students created their own poster about their favorite animals (alone or with a partner) and presented it to our class and to the grade 3 Advanced class.

They also got their own animal book called „Mein Tierbuch". Here they have to focus on correct and detailed reading in German as different texts tell them how to draw certain pictures.

We continue to use the German books in class. Whenever a student finishes a task he/she can choose a book and read. In addition we sometimes do reading lessons. In order to further support your child's reading skills, please encourage your him/her to take a German book home from the library for his / her reading pleasure.

If you have questions please contact me.

Birke Thielmann

Math day Wednesday 2nd March 9:45 - 10:5

Dear all parents,

A reminder that the 3rd grade have their math day next week on Wednesday between 9:45 and 10:25. This is a chance for the parents to enjoy mathematics with their child in their learning environment. You never know...you might even learn something!

:-)

3rd Grade Assembly

A fourth grade student filmed the wonderful 3rd grade assembly that was full of performances. The 3rd grade students did a great job up there in front of so many people. The student audience was highly engaged and thoroughly enjoyed it, as did the teachers and parents. The quality of the video isn't great but the sound is fine. It was a good attempt at filming from a difficult position!

Here's the Voicethread link:

http://voicethread.com/share/1768158/

 

 

 

Mr. Hall creates music from everyday objects with 3rd grade

Mr. Hall set the challenge to the 3rd graders to bring in everyday objects to create music. Using the sounds that the students brought Mr. Hall organized the instruments to create a piece of muisc that represented a 'storm'.

Here is the final performance:

3rd Grade Assembly

The 3rd Grade assembly is next week on Tuesday 22nd February. All 3rd grade parents are invited to watch the assembly after the whole school assembly during first period. The parent assembly will begin at around 9:30am and last for about 20 minutes. We would love to see you there!

Mr. Fred Scofield 'the haiku man'

Grade Three have had the pleasure of working with Fred Scofield who is a poet specializing in Japanese poetry called haiku. He has been working with the students to help them understand what haiku is. He took the students out into their environment and helped them develop their own haiku.

Supported by Mrs. Gunn (art), Mrs. Borofsky-Borchert (drama and movement), and Mr. Thompson (music) the students of third grade have been using what they have leanrt in their workshops with the artists Mrs. Godsmark (Illustration), Mr. Hall (music) and Mrs. Coffey (dramatic reading) to create ways to deliver their haiku. They will be sharing these on Friday afternoon with all of third grade and many will be performing in assembly next week.

Here's a little insight to some of the preparation:

World Maths Day 2011

It is coming...

World Maths Day - March 1st, 2011

You can participate from school, home and now also by

downloading an app for your iPod Touch, iPhone and your iPad.

The free App is called:

WMD2011

World Maths Day 2011

Everybody can use their normal mathletics username and password to join Maths Day.

Here is the link for World Maths Day:

http://www.worldmathsday.com/ 

 You can go to that link NOW and practice, practice, practice before the BIG DAY comes!! 

Enjoy ;-)

Ms Kashkari

Nature walk

 Today we went on a walk to explore nature. Nature and the invironment is what inspires Haiku.  
  Haiku is a kind of poem where you write about nature and the seasons of the year. It was fun
  being able to go outside and explore the nature and invironment when you should be in class
  We observed the different kinds of sounds that you can hear in nature. I heard mostly birds,
  cars and airplanes. I really enjoyed the walk!

    Phillip

Unsure about the Central Idea?

3.3's translations of the current Central Idea so that we all understand in our mother tongue.

Dramatic Poetry Readings with Mrs. Coffey

After Mrs. Coffey's 'dramatic reading' presentation the students of grade three were very motivated and excited about the prospect of performing. The students searched through many many poetry books with the help of Mr. Owen and selected poems that they liked. They could work by them selves or in a group no bigger than three. Mrs. Coffy came back to workshop with them to help them improve their dramatic readings. This was the criteria for a good dramatic performance that the students of 3.3 created:

Criteria for a Dramatic Reading

How to engage with the audience

Dramatic reading by:

Assessed by:

	1	2	3	4	5
Use different voices
Use expression in your voice (excitement, anger, fear, surprise…)
Speak in different volumes
Use a prop (and things around you)
Use movement (body language)
Eye contact, face the audience
Try not to look at the book (learn your poem!)
Speed up, slow down, pause
Enjoy it!