News From the Elementary Principal Ben Voborsky
Hello GAA Community,
It is hard to believe that we are already heading off for winter vacation. We have had some pretty amazing experiences already this calendar year! GAA started the 2014 school year on a high note and I fully expect everything to get even better in 2015.
After Community Share today, we had a glimpse of one of the exciting PYP community learning highlights, the inaugural Grade 5 PYP Exhibition. It is going to be awesome. If you are interested please click on the attached powerpoint for more information. As this involves our entire GAA community, please let us know if you have something you feel you could offer to this experience or are interested in being a mentor. Mike Hopaluk, G5 Coordinator, and Sofia Lyons, PYP Coordinator, led this morning session and more information will be coming in the new year. Thank you for all your positive support and contributions to this school so far. I wish you all a happy and safe winter break and look forward to seeing you back January 11th.
Happy Holidays!
Ben Voborsky
Elementary Principal
It is hard to believe that we are already heading off for winter vacation. We have had some pretty amazing experiences already this calendar year! GAA started the 2014 school year on a high note and I fully expect everything to get even better in 2015.
After Community Share today, we had a glimpse of one of the exciting PYP community learning highlights, the inaugural Grade 5 PYP Exhibition. It is going to be awesome. If you are interested please click on the attached powerpoint for more information. As this involves our entire GAA community, please let us know if you have something you feel you could offer to this experience or are interested in being a mentor. Mike Hopaluk, G5 Coordinator, and Sofia Lyons, PYP Coordinator, led this morning session and more information will be coming in the new year. Thank you for all your positive support and contributions to this school so far. I wish you all a happy and safe winter break and look forward to seeing you back January 11th.
Happy Holidays!
Ben Voborsky
Elementary Principal
Around Elementary School This Week..
Primary Years Program News
IB PYP Learner Profile Of the Month
What is an IB PYP School?
It is a school that, regardless of location, size or constitution, strives towards developing an internationally minded person.
What is an internally minded person?
It is a person who demonstrates the attributes of the IB Learner Profile.
The aim of the IB PYP is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.
IB PYP Learners strive to be inquirers, communicators, caring and more in their goal to become internationally minded.
In conjunction with our Culture of Kindness, we are keen for our students to develop the IB Learner Profile, inside and outside of the classroom. Therefore we would like to ask our parents to support our goal and encourage your child to develop these attributes. Every month, we will be posting ideas in the newsletter that you can share with your child to develop their IB Learner Profile. If you have questions about the IB Learner Profile, please do not hesitate to speak with your classroom teacher or the IB PYP Coordinator, Sofia Lyons.
What is an IB PYP School?
It is a school that, regardless of location, size or constitution, strives towards developing an internationally minded person.
What is an internally minded person?
It is a person who demonstrates the attributes of the IB Learner Profile.
The aim of the IB PYP is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.
IB PYP Learners strive to be inquirers, communicators, caring and more in their goal to become internationally minded.
In conjunction with our Culture of Kindness, we are keen for our students to develop the IB Learner Profile, inside and outside of the classroom. Therefore we would like to ask our parents to support our goal and encourage your child to develop these attributes. Every month, we will be posting ideas in the newsletter that you can share with your child to develop their IB Learner Profile. If you have questions about the IB Learner Profile, please do not hesitate to speak with your classroom teacher or the IB PYP Coordinator, Sofia Lyons.
IB Learner Profile for the month of December is PRINCIPLED
Students act with integrity and honesty and a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities. They take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them.
Activities for Parents:
• Involve your child in deciding on the rules for a game or activity and then ensure that they stick to the ones that have been decided upon.
• Encourage your child to play games that involve teams. Discuss with your child the qualities of a team player. What sort of person would they want on their team?
• When your child wins a game insist that he or she is a well-mannered winner. They might want to thank their opponent or shake hands with them if that is appropriate.
• When playing a game, don’t change the rules or let your child win. Being a gracious loser is just as important as being a good winner.
Students act with integrity and honesty and a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities. They take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them.
Activities for Parents:
• Involve your child in deciding on the rules for a game or activity and then ensure that they stick to the ones that have been decided upon.
• Encourage your child to play games that involve teams. Discuss with your child the qualities of a team player. What sort of person would they want on their team?
• When your child wins a game insist that he or she is a well-mannered winner. They might want to thank their opponent or shake hands with them if that is appropriate.
• When playing a game, don’t change the rules or let your child win. Being a gracious loser is just as important as being a good winner.
Wildcats Journalism Club
Here is the second issue of the Wildcat Journalism club newsletter. Click here to find out the name of the mystery baby in last week's edition!
Here is the second issue of the Wildcat Journalism club newsletter. Click here to find out the name of the mystery baby in last week's edition!
Kindergarten Corner
Kindergarten in the Library
The children know the library is a wonderful place filled with wonderful books that are filled with wonderful adventures! The children listen and respond to a variety of literature.
In each library lesson the children have the opportunity to demonstrate:
their understanding of our library agreements
their ability to care for the books
how to find a book and follow the book check-out procedures independently
During each lesson a story is read to the class. Often the book is chosen to support the current Unit of Inquiry. It is so much fun when the children have the opportunity to interact with the story. They get to join in with what the characters are saying or doing.
Recently in KG1 we read ʻWhere the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak. This book allowed the children to identify with a little boy who was sent to his room after not doing what his mother asked ( This fitted in with the UOI- Who We Are- and specifically looking at how our behavior affects others.)The children got to, as did the characters in the story, ʻgnash their terrible teeth, roll their terrible eyes, show their terrible claws and roar their terrible roarsʼ!
The KG2 children are presently learning the difference between fiction and non-fiction books. For their current Unit of Inquiry we looked at where to find books about oceans and ocean animals in the non-fiction section. The children became more knowledgeable as they listened to many books that gave information about fish and sharks. Then we created a fish mobile to hang in the Library Oasis room.
We have just begun reading books from the Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book competition. (Last year the children really enjoyed voting for their most favorite book.) The KG2 children have their own booklet to record their response as to whether they liked the book or not.
During second semester we have Book Week to look forward to, which means dressing up as a favorite book character and bringing a favorite book to class... so stay tuned!
The children know the library is a wonderful place filled with wonderful books that are filled with wonderful adventures! The children listen and respond to a variety of literature.
In each library lesson the children have the opportunity to demonstrate:
their understanding of our library agreements
their ability to care for the books
how to find a book and follow the book check-out procedures independently
During each lesson a story is read to the class. Often the book is chosen to support the current Unit of Inquiry. It is so much fun when the children have the opportunity to interact with the story. They get to join in with what the characters are saying or doing.
Recently in KG1 we read ʻWhere the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak. This book allowed the children to identify with a little boy who was sent to his room after not doing what his mother asked ( This fitted in with the UOI- Who We Are- and specifically looking at how our behavior affects others.)The children got to, as did the characters in the story, ʻgnash their terrible teeth, roll their terrible eyes, show their terrible claws and roar their terrible roarsʼ!
The KG2 children are presently learning the difference between fiction and non-fiction books. For their current Unit of Inquiry we looked at where to find books about oceans and ocean animals in the non-fiction section. The children became more knowledgeable as they listened to many books that gave information about fish and sharks. Then we created a fish mobile to hang in the Library Oasis room.
We have just begun reading books from the Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book competition. (Last year the children really enjoyed voting for their most favorite book.) The KG2 children have their own booklet to record their response as to whether they liked the book or not.
During second semester we have Book Week to look forward to, which means dressing up as a favorite book character and bringing a favorite book to class... so stay tuned!
News From Kindergarten Arabic Class
KG kids have learned to write some of the Arabic alphabet and numbers. They can also identify the distinct sound associated with each letter. They learned the difference between the name of the letter and its sound as well as learned how to write the alphabet using the correct pencil motion and with appropriate spacing between letters. Our kids are now more confident to write Arabic letters and words.
These are fun games and activities to help our kids learn the Arabic language and through these they could identify different shapes and colors in Arabic.
KG kids have learned to write some of the Arabic alphabet and numbers. They can also identify the distinct sound associated with each letter. They learned the difference between the name of the letter and its sound as well as learned how to write the alphabet using the correct pencil motion and with appropriate spacing between letters. Our kids are now more confident to write Arabic letters and words.
These are fun games and activities to help our kids learn the Arabic language and through these they could identify different shapes and colors in Arabic.