News From the Elementary Principal Ben Vaborsky and Vice Principal Josh Doubleday
Hello GAA Community,
I hope everyone had a fabulous week and that you were able to join in our Elementary Arts Night. From Drama and Dance to the Xylophone the exhibitions were fantastic. If you missed the Visual Art displays, they will be up next week as well. Our energy continues into next week with assessment. MAP assessments (https://www.nwea.org/) will kick off. Don’t worry this is not an assessment that children can “cram for” and it is one that is adaptive which is personalised to each child. If you would like to learn more about MAP assessments, please visit https://www.nwea.org/resources/parent-toolkit/. This Parent Toolkit is a resource and a guide for parents. You will find frequently asked questions, tips for parents, and more!
There are a lot of other exciting events on the horizon. Spring break is just around the corner with Student Led Conferences rounding out April. KG play based learning sessions and the Grade 5 Middle School Experience are all in the cards. Please book mark tiny.cc/thelauncher on your web browser for everything you need to know about GEMS American Academy.
Have a great weekend,
Ben Voborsky
Elementary Principal
I hope everyone had a fabulous week and that you were able to join in our Elementary Arts Night. From Drama and Dance to the Xylophone the exhibitions were fantastic. If you missed the Visual Art displays, they will be up next week as well. Our energy continues into next week with assessment. MAP assessments (https://www.nwea.org/) will kick off. Don’t worry this is not an assessment that children can “cram for” and it is one that is adaptive which is personalised to each child. If you would like to learn more about MAP assessments, please visit https://www.nwea.org/resources/parent-toolkit/. This Parent Toolkit is a resource and a guide for parents. You will find frequently asked questions, tips for parents, and more!
There are a lot of other exciting events on the horizon. Spring break is just around the corner with Student Led Conferences rounding out April. KG play based learning sessions and the Grade 5 Middle School Experience are all in the cards. Please book mark tiny.cc/thelauncher on your web browser for everything you need to know about GEMS American Academy.
Have a great weekend,
Ben Voborsky
Elementary Principal
Dear GAA Community members,
This past Wednesday, our wonderful Elementary Arts team held the Elementary Arts Festival. During the event, student’s artwork was displayed in the lobby, and performances in the Auditorium in Drama, Dance and Music displayed the diverse talent that is present within our amazing student body. It was great to see so many parents and relatives come out for the event. If you missed the artwork, please come to the lobby next week as we will keep the artwork on display for our community members to enjoy. Thank you to all who assisted and those who were able to attend and show your support.
Next week, students from Grades 2-5 will be taking MAP testing. MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) tests give us data that can drive instruction, improve differentiation as well as assisting us in the task of setting goals for our students. Students will only take a maximum of one test per day. In Grade 2, students will be tested in Math, Reading and Language Usage. In Grade’s 3-5, students will be tested in Math, Reading, Language Usage and Science. This is our second and last round of MAP testing for this year. We recommend that students read questions carefully and if they are unsure of which is the correct answer, they should first eliminate the options they know to be incorrect. We also recommend that students get a good night’s sleep before a test and have a complete breakfast before coming to school.
This week’s Community Share was an excellent event that was put on by Grade 1E. The students presented on a current Math unit as well as their Unit of Inquiry. The assembly was wonderful in that it was student led. During this assembly we also recognised the wonderful achievements of our students during the Elementary Sports Day. Well done to the PE team and all students for participating.
Have a great weekend!
Josh Doubleday
Elementary Vice Principal
PYP NEWS
Inquiry based learning in the Elementary classroom
At GAA our teachers spend time ‘tuning in’ to students’ thinking early in an inquiry The early phase of inquiry (often referred to as ‘tuning in’) is commonly seen as a time in which to engage students – often by ‘immersing’ them in experiences related to the topic. This phase, however, is also critical as a kind of ‘reconnaissance’ time. Here, we encourage students to share the conceptions and misconceptions they have and to make ‘visible’ their current thinking about the subject/question. This can be a challenging phase for a teacher because it requires a deliberate ‘stepping back’ as students theorize, hypothesize and wonder. The work that is produced at this stage can activate powerful reflective thinking later in the inquiry as it is returned to and self assessed. When they can compare their earlier and later thinking they become more conscious not only of what they have learned but of how their thinking has changed along the way. Using structured learning journals is useful way to document changes in thinking and understanding as a unit progresses.
This movie from Mr Farrow and his students demonstrates what the tuning in phase of the inquiry cycle looks like in a PYP classroom.
Sofia Lyons, IB PYP Coordinator
At GAA our teachers spend time ‘tuning in’ to students’ thinking early in an inquiry The early phase of inquiry (often referred to as ‘tuning in’) is commonly seen as a time in which to engage students – often by ‘immersing’ them in experiences related to the topic. This phase, however, is also critical as a kind of ‘reconnaissance’ time. Here, we encourage students to share the conceptions and misconceptions they have and to make ‘visible’ their current thinking about the subject/question. This can be a challenging phase for a teacher because it requires a deliberate ‘stepping back’ as students theorize, hypothesize and wonder. The work that is produced at this stage can activate powerful reflective thinking later in the inquiry as it is returned to and self assessed. When they can compare their earlier and later thinking they become more conscious not only of what they have learned but of how their thinking has changed along the way. Using structured learning journals is useful way to document changes in thinking and understanding as a unit progresses.
This movie from Mr Farrow and his students demonstrates what the tuning in phase of the inquiry cycle looks like in a PYP classroom.
Sofia Lyons, IB PYP Coordinator
What Does An IB Audience Look Like?
With the upcoming Elementary Arts Festival next Wednesday, March 11th, we will be implementing a new policy of audience expectations for all GAA Auditorium events. As an IB school we practice our best attitudes during performances, empathizing with the performers on stage. These are the actions we observe:
1) We are silent and listen respectfully.
2) We sit still in our chairs with our hands in our lap. (Please refrain from waving to performers on stage as this distracts the performer).
3) We focus our attention on the presenter and appreciate their hard work.
4) We clap when a performer is finished to show our appreciation.
5) We keep our feet on the floor instead of the chairs, and to switch rows, walk to the end of the row and use the aisles instead of climbing over the seats.
We will have a wonderful student house crew to help out with the ushering and audience traffic flow. If you have any questions, please locate a student wearing black with their student ID.
Food or drink should be consumed in the lobby. During the performance, please turn off your cell phone so as not to disturb the performers with a ring or the sound of text messaging. If you must take a call, please wait until the performer on stage is finished and then quietly leave the auditorium. Last but not least, please turn off the flash on all cameras as this will distract the performers.
We look forward to sharing our performing arts next Wednesday! Please come see us!
With the upcoming Elementary Arts Festival next Wednesday, March 11th, we will be implementing a new policy of audience expectations for all GAA Auditorium events. As an IB school we practice our best attitudes during performances, empathizing with the performers on stage. These are the actions we observe:
1) We are silent and listen respectfully.
2) We sit still in our chairs with our hands in our lap. (Please refrain from waving to performers on stage as this distracts the performer).
3) We focus our attention on the presenter and appreciate their hard work.
4) We clap when a performer is finished to show our appreciation.
5) We keep our feet on the floor instead of the chairs, and to switch rows, walk to the end of the row and use the aisles instead of climbing over the seats.
We will have a wonderful student house crew to help out with the ushering and audience traffic flow. If you have any questions, please locate a student wearing black with their student ID.
Food or drink should be consumed in the lobby. During the performance, please turn off your cell phone so as not to disturb the performers with a ring or the sound of text messaging. If you must take a call, please wait until the performer on stage is finished and then quietly leave the auditorium. Last but not least, please turn off the flash on all cameras as this will distract the performers.
We look forward to sharing our performing arts next Wednesday! Please come see us!
Kindergarten Corner
Math in the KG Kitchen Lab
MEASUREMENT – Using both standard and non-standard measurment
MEASUREMENT – Using both standard and non-standard measurment
TIME – learning about the passage of time
AREA- determining how many cookies cutters will fit on a rolled out dough. Learning how much sauce they are able to spread on a pizza and how much cheese is needed to cover the pizza.
Dear Parents,
As we are getting close to the end of our second swimming unit, we would like to invite you to come and watch your child during their swimming lesson. This will take place during the week of the 15th to the 19th March.
Please ensure that you confirm with the class teacher as to what day and time your child has swimming.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Kind regards,
Ms. Iliana, Ms. Claire & Ms. Rachelle