News from our Elementary Vice Principal, Louise Dunn
Dear Parents,
Writing, writing and more writing is what this week has been about at GAA.
We have been fortunate to have working with the staff and students all week literacy specialist Erin Kent from Concordia School Shanghai. Erin visited our school in the fall to support teachers as they adopted a writer’s workshop approach to writing instruction. This visit was an opportunity to solidify that work and then take teaching and learning to new levels in our classrooms.
Erin worked with the teachers in workshops to plan content and delivery of lessons and then modeled lessons with the homeroom teachers and their students. These lessons were followed by detailed debriefs and the creation of plans for the future. Teachers were also able to work with Erin in other small group seminar settings as they sought to deepen their knowledge of literacy teaching and learning.
The buzz in the hallways and classrooms this week was all about how much we had achieved as teachers and learners of literacy. For all us the learning never ends!
Have a great weekend,
Louise Dunn
Writing, writing and more writing is what this week has been about at GAA.
We have been fortunate to have working with the staff and students all week literacy specialist Erin Kent from Concordia School Shanghai. Erin visited our school in the fall to support teachers as they adopted a writer’s workshop approach to writing instruction. This visit was an opportunity to solidify that work and then take teaching and learning to new levels in our classrooms.
Erin worked with the teachers in workshops to plan content and delivery of lessons and then modeled lessons with the homeroom teachers and their students. These lessons were followed by detailed debriefs and the creation of plans for the future. Teachers were also able to work with Erin in other small group seminar settings as they sought to deepen their knowledge of literacy teaching and learning.
The buzz in the hallways and classrooms this week was all about how much we had achieved as teachers and learners of literacy. For all us the learning never ends!
Have a great weekend,
Louise Dunn
Grade 2
The 2nd grade students have been inquiring into “How We Express Ourselves” during our last unit of inquiry. It has been a very exciting and productive unit that peaked students interest through various avenues. In this unit of inquiry we spent time learning about various patterns and how they are interwoven into our daily lives. Students learned that patterns come in many forms such as Fibonacci, Tessellations, African patterns, Rangoli; just to name a few.
Students also came to understand that patterns can be seen in the mathematical arena in various areas such as fractions, hundreds chart, addition and subtraction problems and on the number line. Hands-on activities made the learning fun and thought provoking.
To further extend their inquiry, they learned to express themselves in written form through the avenue of poetry. The various styles of poetry proved very interesting to the students. Every one of our students came to realize how exciting and fruitful their poems can be. We ended our unit of inquiry during our Community Share presentation where 2C read their favorite poems to the audience.
Students also came to understand that patterns can be seen in the mathematical arena in various areas such as fractions, hundreds chart, addition and subtraction problems and on the number line. Hands-on activities made the learning fun and thought provoking.
To further extend their inquiry, they learned to express themselves in written form through the avenue of poetry. The various styles of poetry proved very interesting to the students. Every one of our students came to realize how exciting and fruitful their poems can be. We ended our unit of inquiry during our Community Share presentation where 2C read their favorite poems to the audience.
Grade 4
How We Express Ourselves Art Gallery and Reflection
As our unit, How We Express Ourselves, came to an end, our Grade 4 corridor became a vibrant, colourful and inspiring art gallery. It featured the best work from students in each and every class—a piece that students chose themselves for various reasons. In order to share our understanding of the concepts of Reflection and Perspective, students reflected on their own work, as well as responded to a selected piece from the Grade 4 Gallery that inspired them.
Our Artwork:
As our unit, How We Express Ourselves, came to an end, our Grade 4 corridor became a vibrant, colourful and inspiring art gallery. It featured the best work from students in each and every class—a piece that students chose themselves for various reasons. In order to share our understanding of the concepts of Reflection and Perspective, students reflected on their own work, as well as responded to a selected piece from the Grade 4 Gallery that inspired them.
Our Artwork:
We Chose:
In 4A, we have been addressing the idea of having a growth mindset—an understanding that not knowing “yet” is okay, as long as we try and search for answers. We have been working in Google Classroom for a few weeks and trying new things. Some things work well. Some do not. And that is okay! As an advocate of growth mindset, I explained to students that I was not entirely sure how our online assignment would work, but that I would try and encourage them to do the same. Within minutes, several leaders took charge in teaching others how to upload pictures directly into their reflection, including giving me a lesson! Not only am I inspired by the Grade 4 Art Gallery and degree of reflection I have seen by all Grade 4 students, but I am inspired by the risk taking, growth mindset, and positive communication I have seen within our 4A family.
Dear parents,
Our school always has many events and rich celebrations of learning.
Thank you to all our staff, students and families for their support of our Sports’ Days and our Arts’ Festival.
Students thoroughly enjoyed their time on the field engaging in a variety of activities organized by our amazing PE team. A great deal of work went into the planning and setting up of the activities. Thank you also to our GAAPA parents who cut up many oranges and dispensed water to our students.
Next week is our Arts’ Festival from the 15th to the 18th of February. The festival is open each day from 1:30 until the end of the school day. Grade 2 families are welcome to join us on the 15th, grade 3s on the 16th, grade 4s on the 17th and grade 5s on the 18th. Once again,
thank you to our elementary arts’ teachers for their celebration of the arts.
We invite you to join us as we continue to share our learning journey with our families.
Sally Potts
KG Vice Principal
Our school always has many events and rich celebrations of learning.
Thank you to all our staff, students and families for their support of our Sports’ Days and our Arts’ Festival.
Students thoroughly enjoyed their time on the field engaging in a variety of activities organized by our amazing PE team. A great deal of work went into the planning and setting up of the activities. Thank you also to our GAAPA parents who cut up many oranges and dispensed water to our students.
Next week is our Arts’ Festival from the 15th to the 18th of February. The festival is open each day from 1:30 until the end of the school day. Grade 2 families are welcome to join us on the 15th, grade 3s on the 16th, grade 4s on the 17th and grade 5s on the 18th. Once again,
thank you to our elementary arts’ teachers for their celebration of the arts.
We invite you to join us as we continue to share our learning journey with our families.
Sally Potts
KG Vice Principal
KGCORNER
KG1B had a great day on Monday for their first ever sports day! Children enjoyed wearing team colours and participating in Soccer, Gymnastics, Basketball and so much more – ask your child what their favourite activity was!
KG2E enjoyed their sports day this week! There were many fun activities were student got to showcase their sporting skills. It was a fantastic day, enjoyed by all! :)
Arabic
لقد بدأنا في الوحدة الثالثة من برنامج السنوات الأولى لمرحلة الروضة الأولى وهي مشاركة الكواكب حيث سنقوم بعرض مفرادت أجزاء النبات عن طريق قصص باللغة العربية وذلك ليستمتعوا و ليتمتعوا باللغة العربية أما بالنسبة للروضة الثانية فقد بدأنا بشرح الوحدة الثالثة عن مفهوم الأشياء الحية و غير الحية مع الطلاب عن طريق عرض فيلم يوضح المفهوم كما أن طلابنا استمتعوا بالخروج الى ساحة المدرسة و التعلم عن طريق اللعب .
In Arabic, we started Unit 3, Sharing the Planet with the KG1 classes first. We used some related vocabulary, listened to Arabic stories and students cooperated with each other to create a poster of plants and label their parts.
As for the KG2 classes, we began to explore the concept of living and non-living things from Unit 3. Some students were able to watch a film in Arabic to show the concept, we explored the school yard and learned through observation.
In Arabic, we started Unit 3, Sharing the Planet with the KG1 classes first. We used some related vocabulary, listened to Arabic stories and students cooperated with each other to create a poster of plants and label their parts.
As for the KG2 classes, we began to explore the concept of living and non-living things from Unit 3. Some students were able to watch a film in Arabic to show the concept, we explored the school yard and learned through observation.