plinary in nature, meaning that the skills and concepts developed by specialist teachers have relevance throughout the Lower School curriculum and our stu-dents’ lives beyond school. A great example of this was our recent Winter Perfor-mance, “Discovering our Passions” where all our students had the opportunity to showcase their artistic abilities through music and dance. Our specialists teachers work alongside our classroom teachers to develop lessons that are both inter-esting 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 re-ceive our specialist newsletter six times during the school year. As always, if you have any questions about your child’s education, feel free to contact 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

ISB Lower School Specialists’ Newsletter

Inside this issue:

From the Principal 1

PE/ M&D 2

Art 3

Music 4

From the Principal

November 2012

PreK

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 primary school education. The con-tent of these subjects is transdisci-

Physical Education

Page 2

Marija Dimitrov

PE Teacher

Our Pre-Kindergarten group kept working on improving their gross motor skills in November. We

visited some new exotic lands and magical cities, involving ourselves more in paired activities this time.

We practiced being respectful and supportive to one another, sharing props and taking turns in our

tries.

Even the most hard-working adventurers and explorers need time to play. So we decided to change

the pace and enjoy ourselves by learning to play various group games.

First we went to the seacoast. While there, we practiced passing a beach ball in pairs and learnt the

game “Let it Shoot”. However, we pretend rats appeared to spoil our fun, so we had to turn into cats

and chase them all around the beach (In a game called “Cat and Rat”). We also refreshed ourselves by

swimming in the ocean and trying to escape from the hungry sharks! (In a game called ‘Sharks and Sail-

ors”).

Sometimes, when you have fun, you can spend a lot of money! Luckily, we heard about a cave, full of

treasure. So we are currently making plans to sneak in there…

And we have to leave some games for the next month!

In all of these games students practiced following directions and playing by the rules, taking

on different roles. Some they like more and some less. They practiced their social skills as

well, through group work and cooperation.

Movement & Dance

During November Pre-K started working on expressing feelings through body move-

ments. Students explored creative movements in response to different stimuli and

practiced gross and fine body actions. We’ve learned that dance can be provoked not

only by music, but a poem or a story, too. Students enjoyed dancing a poem Little

Shadow. They did great performing a mime play related to feelings in front of their

peers and showed that they are real risk-takers.

Ivana Jovanovic

M&D Teacher

Svetlana Spasic-

Glid

Art

Page 3

In the previous weeks, the students spent time drawing, painting, and making forms and collages. 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, chose one that ap-pealed to them, and reflected on it. The children continued expanding their knowledge of mixing colors while painting and using watercolors, and used clay to make their forms. We focused on learning about texture. The students explored different ways of using paper, practiced their cutting skills and formed compositions with cut paper while expressing their ideas. 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! Pre-Kindergarten students have classes on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Page 4

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.