Moshi Teaching Previews – 1 Dec 13

DP students enjoyed this weekend the fantastic spirit of completion and friendly collaboration with ten other schools in our annual Sports Weekend – a cherished memory for ISM DP alumni.
Our DP Information Technology in a Global Society teacher Eric Barrows reports that: ‘D1 ITGS students are experimenting with the use of an online classroom at edmodo.com parents can email me for a password to access the course and monitor their child’s progress. D2 students are in the final stages of their major project and about to move onto the research of eBooks and their effect on the publishing industry. We would greatly appreciate contact with anyone who has worked in this field so the students can get a first-hand picture of what this new technology means to real people.’
D2 students have begun to focus on their mock exams slated to occur as from the second day back after the December break.
A recent DP Coordinator meeting with D1 and D2 students yielded an array of positive responses to the question of what you most enjoy about ISM including these: the support from teachers; the comaradery and friendship; amazing environment; education is complete; every day is exciting; the challenging academic curriculum/the caring community and friends; the nice environment – it allows you to concentrate, and the vibe from people is good; the international diversity; the availability of teachers; the international setting which has opened my mind to different ideas; the beautiful learning atmosphere. The above comments underscore what a great place ISM Moshi is for our DP students. I particularly like this comment: ” community – we have a lot of different people with a good heart and who are always willing to give you a helping hand.”
Expanding cultural horizons is only a click away through Google’s phenomenal recent creation of www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home.
Another favorable article about the IB DP appeared this week at: www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/10449732/Varied-rigorous-global-will-the-IB-make-the-grade.html and its title Varied, rigorous, global: will the IB make the grade?
The value of the IB’s inclusion of the Arts (Group 6) is supported by this article: www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/opinion/sunday/art-makes-you-smart.html and it is great to see that about a quarter of our DP students take either DP Music or DP Visual Arts.
A reminder that we hope that many DP parents will make the Friday December 20th parent-teacher meeting. Please join us!
Feel free to raise any questions or concerns with me. Sincerely, Rick Fitzpatrick Diploma Programme Coordinator

Well done to all those children who took part in the aquathlon on Saturday and congratulations to Jemima and Townes for being first in EC! It was a great morning of exercise and we really felt part of the ISM Sports Weekend!
Unit of Inquiry This week we will inquire into our sense of touch after finishing a few tasks started last week involving our sense of hearing. Our trip to the Sculpture Park on Tuesday will involve our sense of sight, as the children look at all the beautiful statues. Learning engagements to allow inquiry into touch will include;

• Feely bag games
• Feely table of objects with different textures
• Finger painting activities
• Textured collage art
• Hot/cold activities
• Trays available with a variety of textures to feel; jelly, foam, lentils, shredded paper, cooked pasta
• Chocolate pudding to make, feel and eat!
• Seal lock bags filled with different textures to feel; toothpaste, rice, sand, lotion, sugar

Thank you to parents for sending in information about why we live here in Moshi (or the surrounding area). It was very interesting to find out the reasons people live here. Well done to the children who participated in the Aquathlon at the weekend. I will be asking children who won a certificate to bring it in to school so I can take a photo for the next newsletter.
Assessments and Reports Next week I will continue to assess the children in reading, writing and maths. I will also be making notes on their behaviour, attitudes and other areas of the curriculum. This is in preparation to write their end of semester reports.
Unit of Inquiry – Going Places Central Idea: People move around the world for different reasons. We will discuss short and longer journeys. We will talk about different modes of transport.
Art We will continue our theme on rubbings. We will begin to look at Tinga Tinga paintings.
Language focus for the week Write a recount of your weekend. Some children will be encouraged to use the language of time. (First, Next, Then, After that, The next day…) Read and write stories with predictable and patterned language. Handwriting: Patterns, own name, numerals and Zig Zag Letters (vwxz) also Tricky Letters (esf) Contractions – I am= I’m     you are=you’re Phonics: Group 1 – Learn about consonant blends (bl, cl, fl) Group 2 – oo as in moon and ew as in screw.
Maths focus for the week Mental skills will include counting on and back. From any number. Fast recall of addition and subtraction facts – 6, 7, 10 and 20. Count in 2s, 5s and 10s. Fast recall of doubles. All children will continue to learn about capacity. We will learn to measure using ml and litres. Look at bottles and cartons at home to find out how much is inside. (a carton of juice holds 1 litre). We will also begin some data handling and create some simple tables and graphs.
What to bring to school: Everyday: A hat for playtime, a healthy snack, water bottle and reading folder.
Timetable: Monday

New reading books and a homework pack will be issued.

PE (wear trainers and a house T shirt) Tuesday

Swimming (swimming costume, towel, flip flops/crocs, swim aids such as floaters if necessary. Goggles and sun cream are optional.) Thursday

Library (Bring library books in your special library bag to return and then choose new ones)

New class reading books will be issued. Friday

Spelling Test

It is hard to believe that December has arrived already! Last week, we began a few basic assessments and we will have a few more in the week ahead in order for me to have a good understanding of their progress this semester.
Unit of Inquiry – Central Idea: Images and ideas from our imagination can be expressed in many ways We enjoyed looking at optical illusions last week and will make another optical illusion during Art time on Wednesday. We will begin comparing Fairy Tales from various cultures and may try acting some stories out at the end of the week. We will continue to examine different styles used in illustrations. If your child has a favorite illustrator of picture books, please send in a book for us to discuss.
Maths – P3 will be introduced to the concept of division. P2 will wrap up on symmetry and return to subtraction strategies. We will be working on fast recall of subtraction facts as well.
Language – During our Imagine story writing, children will be asked to use better sequencing terms (First, Then, Later, etc). We have modeled good introductions to creative writing and this week we will model good endings. We will study contractions such as did not- didn’t, he is- he’s. The Spelling chunk of the week is –unk.
Our Timetable: Monday: Library, please bring your books and bag. New homework sent home Wednesday: PE, remember to wear your sneakers and a hat and bring your water bottle. Thursday: Swimming, bring your suit and a towel Thursday: Reading books swapped out, bring your Reading Log as well Friday: Spelling test and return completed homework

Well done to all the students who competed in the Primary Aquathlon last Saturday morning.
A reminder that there will be no afternoon clubs for the rest of this term, but there will be rehearsals for “Oliver”. P3/4 will be rehearsing on Monday afternoon from 3.00pm – 4.00 pm in Karibu Hall. If you have not already done so, please send the pyjamas your child will be wearing in “Oliver” to school this week in a bag with their name on it.
This is what our learning in class will look like this week:
Unit Of Inquiry Unit 3 – How we Express Ourselves – “Setting the Stage”. Central Idea – The arts are an avenue for creative expression. Lines of inquiry – Aspects of the arts         Creative expression through the arts         The role of art in society We made some fantastic collage papers last week which we will use this week to create pictures. We will be classifying different activities under the 4 different disciplines of visual art, music, dance and drama. We will also spend some time experiencing and experimenting with some different types of dance. In IT the children are learning to create power points on an aspect of the arts and in English we will be expressing ourselves through different types of writing. Of course the school production of “Oliver” will tie in beautifully with drama, music, dance and art as we have on-going practices and rehearsals.
Maths – Miss Jann’s Group Multiplication and division strategies and story sums involving these operations. Times tables. Understanding and recognising fractions. Miss Debbie’s Group Multiplication and division. Times tables.
Language – Poetry – Cinquains. Narrative writing. Similies and metaphors . Reading comprehension using a play . Spelling – group 1 o as in love e.g nothing, honey, group 2 ea as in head e.g heavey, breakfast group 3 consonant blends sc, sh, sp e.g. ship, scar, spell
REMINDERS Every day: School T-shirts, hats, zip bags (reading book, reading log, spelling book). A healthy snack. Collection – Please continue to send plastic bottle tops (any colour) and polystyrene trays to school for an art project that I have in mind. Monday: Homework handed out Oliver rehearsal in Karibu Hall. 3.00pm – 4.00pm Wednesday: P.E. – wear suitable attire – house/school T-shirts, shorts, tights (please no skirts, dresses. or jeans) and it would be useful if the girls could tie up their hair. We have started a gymnastics unit, so it is not necessary for the children to wear trainers. Thursday: Library. Please remember library bags and any books that are due back for return/renewal. Times tables test Friday: Homework due in Spelling test Swimming – remember towel, costume, goggles (if you use them), sun screen.
Looking forward to another great week together, Miss Jann

Last week the children worked hard on division strategies and writing daily installments in their migrant diaries. We also began to discuss some examples of animal and bird migration and will do more of this at the end of the unit.
UOI – ‘Moving On’ Central Idea: Migration has a wide range of effects on those who migrate and the indigenous populations they encounter. The children will continue to consider how migration affects the individuals and communities who embark on these journeys as well as the communities who receive the migrants.
Reading and Writing The children will complete their interesting and compelling diaries in which they have assumed the role of a contemporary migrant from a war stricken, natural disaster hit or economically deprived country. I have been impressed with the children’s ability to show empathy for migrants and their desire to relay a realistic story of a migrant’s journey from home to a refugee centre in another country.
Maths We will finish with some more division word problems and multi operation word problems before beginning to explore fractions. At first we will look at simple fractions of whole numbers and seek to draw connections with division facts eg. 25 divided by 5 = 5 / one fifth of 25 = 5.
P.E. – is on Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday will once again be swimming.
Library – is on Monday. Please remind the children to bring back books for exchange/renewal.

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