From the Principal

November 2012

ISB Lower School Specialists’ Newsletter

Inside this issue:

French/Spanish 2

Art 3

Serbian/Serbian MT 4

PE/EAL 5

EAL 6

Music 7

primary school education. The content of these subjects is transdisciplinary in nature, meaning that the skills and concepts developed by specialist teachers have relevance throughout the Lower School curriculum and our students’ lives beyond school. A great example of this was our recent Winter Performance, “Discovering our Passions” where all our students had the opportunity to showcase their artistic abilities through music and dance. Our specialists teach-ers work alongside our classroom teachers to develop lessons that are both interesting and connected to the classroom Units of Inquiry. For this reason, we think it is important that we keep our parents informed about the teaching and learning taking place in our specialists classrooms. You will receive our specialist newsletter six times during the school year. As al-ways, if you have any questions about your child’s education, feel free to con-tact us. Enjoy your holiday season and travel safely. School resumes for all ISB students on Tuesday, January 8, 2013. Happy Ney Year to all, Brian H. Lettinga Lower School Principal

Gr. 2

Welcome to the third edition of our Specialist Newsletters! Our specialists teachers, also re-ferred as single-subject teachers, play an integral and important role in the Primary Years Program. The arts, physical education, and lan-guage study are essential elements to a comprehensive and holistic

French

Page 2

Newsletter Title

Dubravka Kostanjsek

French Teacher

Milica Rkulovic

Spanish Teacher

Spanish

Here is the third newsletter for the French class where we share things we have been

learning during the last months.

We are currently working on our Healthy Habits Unit. We have been talking about

healthy and unhealthy habits regarding what we eat, what we do and how we feel

when we do it. It is planned that we learn some food vocabulary (fruits, vegetables,

meals), as well as the difference between the structures with J’aime LE chocolat, LA

confiture, L’eau (I like chocolate, marmalade, water) vs Je prends / Je voudrais DU

chocolat, DE LA confiture, DE L’eau (I’ll have / I’d like some chocolate, some marma-

lade, some water). At the beginning of every lesson, we do some workout exercises,

which allow us to review numbers and body parts vocabulary, and also to start the

day feeling good and healthy.

Right before the holidays, we will get the opportunity to bake, which will allow us to

review some of the food vocabulary and, at the same time, practice understanding

written instructions in French. Making some of the New Year’s decorations will also

be a good occasion to develop our reading skills, since we will also need to follow

precise instructions.

Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

I hope you have great holidays and I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

As a connection to their grade level “Health” unit, in Spanish class the grade 2

Spanish students have been looking at their living and eating habits. We’ve been

using the questions “¿Te gusta la manzana?” or “¿Te gustan las fresas?” to find

out about each other’s food preferences and practicing describing different tex-

tures and tastes of food. Currently, we are in the process of discussing different

food groups and soon we’ll begin creating our daily schedules which we’ll use not

only to track the food we consume daily, but also the amount of sleep we’re

getting and the types of activities we do during the day that contribute to a

healthy life style.

Page 3

Art

Svetlana Spasic-

Glid

Art

In the previous weeks, the students spent time drawing and painting, they reflected on their

learning, and started exploring pattern through weaving. Also, we had successful parent

teacher conferences and the Winter Show which incorporated all students’ 2D work and took

the form of a LS Art Show. The students visited the Art Show and enjoyed seeing all their

schoolmates’ pieces of art.

In this period the children responded to the work of Edvard Munch in pastel technique, com-

pleted their summative assessment task for learning about shape and warm and cool colors,

and worked in groups on their street art projects as a response to the work of Keith Haring.

They started their weaving projects with excitement and visited the Art Show where they

chose a favorite piece of art and reflected on it.

I hope that you enjoyed hearing our students sing, seeing them dance, and viewing the re-

sults of their learning in art. I wish the children a joyful and restful break!

Grade 2A students have classes on Thursdays.

Grade 2B students have classes on Wednesdays.

Serbian as a Foreign Language

Page 4

Newsletter Title

Ivana Jovanovic

Serbian Language Teacher

The second graders were very excited about learning the poem”Lav“(Lion), so we

decided to extend our study of poems with the poem “Bumbar i bubama-

ra” (Bumblebee). This poem is essentially about friendship but also addresses differ-

ent feelings and importance of having good manners. Students enjoyed learning

and illustrating this poem.

Upon completion of the unit Provocations, we quickly started looking into fruits,

vegetables, and food vocabulary. Using this vocabulary we practiced sentence struc-

ture, expressing likes and dislikes. The students wrote their weekly menus, and had

an opportunity to think critically while brainstorming the ways to improve them.

The last week of school is reserved for winter and holiday vocabulary, as well as for

learning how to wish happy holidays to our friends and family.

Serbian Mother Tongue

Milena Jovanovic

Serbian Language

Teacher

Ovih dana na časovima maternjeg jezika privodimo kraju nastavnu jedinicu o

dramskim tekstovima koju smo radili i kako konekciju sa nastavnom jedinicom

Provocations. Naučili smo da su dramski tekstovi pisani da se po njima glumi i da

sadrže likove, tekst koji oni govore i uputstva za glumce koja se nalaze u

zagradama. Pisali smo dramske tekstove na osnovu priča i pretvarali dramske

tekstove u priče. Uradili smo dramatizacije tekstova „Tužibaba“ i „Dve ruke“

Dušana Radovića, „Neće uvek da bude prvi“, Aleksandra Popovića i „Car i skitinica“

Laze Lazića. Ukoliko još niste imali prilike da pogledate naše predstave možete to

učiniti na Moodlić stranici predmeta Serbian Mother Tongue, u odeljku Zavirite na

naš čas. Iz gramatike smo prešli reči sa sličnim i suprotnim značenjem i reči sa

umanjenim i uvećanim značenjem. Na poslednjim časovima smo naučili azbuku

napamet uz pomoć pesme „Na slovo, na slovo“.

Page 5

Kelly Campbell

EAL Teacher

Second graders practiced their climbing wall skills during November. We started our unit with simple climbs across the wall using all three hold colors, but then increased the challenge by excluding particular colors. Later, when we felt more confident on the wall, we practiced as individuals, in pairs or in groups creating obstacle courses to go over, under or through with the use of ribbons, poles and hoops. We also played “Ring toss” which is played by tossing rings onto poles while moving across the wall to earn points for our team. We also drew numbers for our partner to find on the wall. Since communication and cooperation are of great importance while climbing the wall, we practiced traversing the wall with partners whilst linking arms through hula-hoops. All of these activities helped our students increase their self-confidence, self-awareness, sense of fair play and positive sporting behavior. Students improved their cooperation skills by working together towards a common goal. They took positive risks and used good judgment on the climbing wall, while working on their body coordination, balance and strength.

EAL

In the grade 2 EAL language block we have rearranged the groups. My new group has

been working on sight words and reading skills. We are now beginning our second

book about Blue Dragon by Dav Pilkey. Look for a book to come home for practice

reading this week. We are working on solidifying letter/sounds of the English alphabet

in our reading and writing. Students also read a book about frogs and wrote a step by

step explanation in their journals of a frog’s life. It was a good reinforcing lesson on

procedural writing which they have had some practice in class earlier in the year.

When school resumes in January I will be on maternity leave as I will be finalizing the

adoption of my son over the break. During my absence, Ivana Nedeljkov will be my

replacement. She will be working with all my EAL groups until I return in the spring.

Physical Education

Marija Dimitrov

PE Teacher

Page 6

Beginners’ Group We continued developing oral language, focusing on learning general English vocabulary and extending short one word answers. We reviewed vocabulary covered so far and in-troduced words related to naming and describing clothes, weather, months and seasons. We reviewed basic action verbs and adjectives, as we asked each other various questions supported by picture clues. We continued reading guided EAL books, focusing on devel-oping basic reading strategies as well as reading comprehension. We read and role-played “The Three Billy Goats Gruff”, “The Three Little Pigs”, as well as a follow-up story: “Mr. Wolf Tries Again”. High Beginners EAL class supported the trans-disciplinary theme How We Express Ourselves – Artistic Provocations unit, and its central idea: The arts provoke personal responses. We read leveled stories focusing on new vocabulary, comprehension and retelling, paying close attention to the sequence of events. As we read fiction books, we talked about characters. We described their physical ap-pearance as well as their inner traits as we talked about their actions. We introduced and discussed the concept of perspective – retelling the same event through the eyes of a different character. We read two versions of the same story, which led us to using Venn’s diagram in expressing what the characters had in common and what was different. In writing, we focused on using a complete sentence instead of fragments or phrases. This unit provided ample opportunities to role-play scenes from stories we read and liked most. Students were very creative as they improvised and changed story endings. We practiced our reading fluency and comprehension skills as we read and discussed a num-ber of iPad books.

EAL

Divna Stakic

EAL Teacher

Page 7

Music

Ljudmila Janicijevic

Music Teacher

Discovering Our Passions through Music Lately, all of our efforts have been focused towards collaborative creation of the winter concert. It is a collage of various musical styles and genres, different languages as well as instruments and all other things we looked into during our units of inquiry. As it is done across grade levels it is creating a timeline of students' growth, focusing on their childhood and their friendships. As a result, it should help us all discover our pas-sion to move, sing, dance, and play. Throughout the process we found inspiration in works of Astor Piazzola, Duke Elington, Arion, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Vangelis , and Serbian own Dusko Radovic whose 90th anniversary is celebrated throughout the country.