Moshi Campus News – 8 Feb 2015

Next Saturday, 14th February at 10am, we will be presenting at the Sea Cliff Hotel for families who are interested in enrolling their children in ISM in the new school year which will begin in August. If you know of any families who would like to join us that morning, please let them know of this event. I am also happy to meet separately on that day at the hotel with any family who may wish to discuss things in more detail – please contact me on or SMS on 0767 534766 to arrange a suitable time.

As you may know, there is a strong demand for a limited number of places in the school next year. If your child may be leaving ISM at the end of the school year in June, please do let me know on . Even if you are uncertain, please let me know this as it will help in our planning.

On the afternoon of this Wednesday, 11th February, two Canadian universities, Waterloo and Carleton, will be presenting to diploma and M5 students in the school.
Memorial University from Newfoundland, Canada will be visiting on Tuesday, 24th February.

Our Student Council is organising a Valentine’s Day Dance in school on Friday, 13th February for students in M3 and above. Both day students and boarders are welcome for this evening event.

On Sunday, 15th February a group of students in M5 and above will be travelling to Nairobi to take part in the East African Model United Nations. This event will last for one week and engages more than 1000 students from across the region in political, economic and social debate. It will be a fantastic experience for all involved. The group will return to Moshi on Saturday, 21st February.

As you will know from the calendar, we will be having a long weekend holiday from Friday, 20th February to Monday, 23rd February. Classes and CAS activities will take place as normal on Thursday, 19th February. Students who wish to travel for the long weekend will not be allowed to leave before 5pm on Thursday. Boarders must return by 6pm on Monday and classes will start as usual on Tuesday, 24th February at 7:30am.
For those boarders who do not travel home, some trips and activities are being planned.

This week, we have an update on our Diploma Music students. They are busy preparing for many important dates which are quickly coming upon them.
Our D2 students have entered the final stages of preparing for their important listening paper at the end of May, as well as pulling together all of their other assessment requirements: a musical links investigation paper and a portfolio of solo performances which have been recorded live in public settting. While they are surely seeing the “light at the end of the tunnel”, there is still much more for them to accomplish in these final months.
Our D1 students are busy preparing for their first recital, in which they will start the recording process for their portfolios. As well, they are in the beginning stages of research into possible topics for their musical links investigation papers, where they must study and write on musical elemental links they find between pieces in two distinct musical genres.As well, they continue to make their way ‘around the world’ and through time as they study music from all world cultures and the history of art music that was born in western Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries.
One final note, speaking of the Diploma music recital. It was originally schedule for this coming Thursday. However, due to some last-minute unforeseen changes, we have had to postpone it to 4th March. Please make a note of that on your calendar. We would love to see you all there!

Congratulations to the M5 sudents who exhibited their personal projects last Tuesday in Karibu Hall. Photos of the exhibition are available to view at www.uwcea.org/m5pp

Last week’s secondary swimming gala was a great success. This view of the event was taken from the balcony of the new PE Office, above the new changing rooms.

The Kilimanjaro Marathon will take place in and around Moshi on Sunday, 1st March. Once again we hope to enter a large Team ISM comprising students, staff, parents, and friends of the school so that we can make a big splash in the event. We will be organising the registration of runners in the 5km Fun Run, as well as the half- and full marathons. We hope that as many ISM community members as possible will want to participate. Full details of how to register with Team ISM will be published very soon.

A group of 9 EC children travelled to Braeburn school on Friday for an early childhood football tournament. The team played 3 matches, winning 2 and losing 1. Well done to the up and coming ISM football stars who were a great credit to our school. Many thanks to coach Noah for training the team.

 
EC footballers on the way home!

“I have to say that ISM and the IB DP are the roots of my current success at university” – these pleasing words I read on an email this morning from a May 2014 ISM IB DP graduate who is at a prestigious US university.
D1 Life Skills students began the discussion of the Character Education related matter of ‘Integrity’ which they defined as ‘following your moral or ethical convictions and doing the right thing in all circumstances, even if no one is watching and to be true to yourself. ‘ Small group analysis of an array of ethical dilemmas promoted some fantastic discussion (see photo) in the class led by our outstanding Norwegian student teacher Christin Reinholdtsen.
D2 students this week held their second graduation meeting and finalized the names of their graduation speakers and analyzed a series of potential themes.
This is the time of year in which the D2 language classes organize mock oral exams (and then about a week later the final oral) on the literature works that have been studied since the start of D1. This week, for instance, the French B mock orals take place.
Within the next week parents of all D2 students will receive an email from the DP Coordinator outlining the grade results of the late-January mock exams.
This serves as another reminder to try to attend the end of 3rd quarter parent-teacher meeting on Friday March 27th.
If you know someone who wishes to enroll in the ISM Moshi campus IB DP for the new class starting in August 2015, I suggest they contact Head of Campus Mr Keiron White soon as the places for the incoming class are filling up rapidly.
On February 11th and 12th I will be at the Hague in the Netherlands attending the annual IB DP Coordination meeting as the representative for the Africa, Europe and Middle East region.
Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Sincerely, Rick Fitzpatrick – DP Coordinator

This week’s story focus will be ‘little red riding hood.’ We will continue to inquire into the characters, setting and plot of a story and make more comparisons with other traditional stories we have read. Last week we used a felt board and pictures to sing nursery rhymes. We wondered if nursery rhymes are ‘Short stories.’ We have already come to the conclusion that some songs tell stories. We would still love to have parents come into class to read stories. If you were considering this then any type of picture story book would be suitable. If anyone likes to make up stories we’d love to hear one! Or are you a talented actor/ actress… why not get a group together to act out a story on our classroom stage.


Other Language activities EC1 will be introduced to z (not covered last week) EC2 will think about the sound made by ch. Our writing focus this week will be a portfolio piece using stickers to make a sticker story. Other language activities; Sound lotto, sight word bingo, activities to develop fine motor skills, handwriting activities, puzzles.
Numeracy We will explore 3D shapes, concentrating on their properties and using appropriate vocabulary to describe them. Number work continues in differentiated groups. Over the past few weeks we have been playing lots of number games such as dominoes, matching numerals to picture cards and a game that develops an understanding of ‘taking away.’ These games also develop cooperation as children learn to wait their turn and work in small groups.

Information for Parents
This week our homework will be a bit different. Instead of a homework packet, we will make Valentine cards for our friends. Then we can bring them in on Friday to deliver. I told the children that if they like, they could even attach a candy or sticker to the cards for their classmates. I sent home the information and paper on Friday. I hope you and your child enjoy this fun project. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Literacy Focus for the Week This week we will focus on writing. We will use the words “first”, “next”, “then”, and “last” to write directions and also to write short stories.
Maths Focus for the Week We will work on estimating this week. The Group 1 and Group 2 students will estimate amounts. Then the Group 2 students will extend to estimating sums.
Unit of Inquiry We really learned a lot last week on our tour of the construction site. We will continue to learn about materials this week and about choosing suitable materials for construction. We will also start to learn about the design cycle.
What to Bring to School Children need a hat for playtime and a healthful snack every day.
Monday Library (we will choose new books) Wednesday PE (wear PE shoes and a house T shirt) Thursday Swimming (please send swimwear) Friday Show and Tell

We have been busy ‘Finding out’ in P3 this week. Using a wide range of methods, we have researched who explorers are, where they go and when they explored. I particularly enjoyed watching the children sort out photographs of exploration into different categories before arranging them onto a timeline; while the children have enjoyed watching a series of documentaries on various landscapes and listening to visitors retelling their various experiences.
They used their mathematical skills to plot positions on maps and charts and tracked movements and directions. We made compasses which helped us understand directions and to make quarter and three-quarter turns in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. In English we have been reading a range of news reports and articles related to our explorers unit. We are getting good at picking out the facts and re-reading texts in order to develop our understanding. We have also been practising writing sentences that include direct speech. In swimming the children are currently practising the races that will be included in the upcoming Primary Interhouse Swimming gala, which is in a couple of weeks.
Thank you very much to Sophie’s Dad and Dominic’s Dad for coming into the P3 class this week to share their experiences and knowledge of Journalism and Exploring place. It really makes the learning feel more relevant when different members of the community are involved. Thanks a lot.
Language focus for the week We will be checking the news daily for articles of interest. The learning will be focused on Headlines and Facts/Opinions. We will be thinking about stories of interest in our own community.
Mathematics focus for the week We will be re-visiting units of measurement and measuring in cm, mm and m. There will be lots of practical and problem solving activities involved in this. We will also celebrate the 100th day at school with some ‘100 activities’.
Unit of Inquiry Transdisciplinary Theme: Where we are in time and place. Central Idea: People explore their world; their methods and reasons are constantly changing. The children will be focusing more on their place/explorer of interest. We will be using lots of thinking, research and creative skills.
What to bring to school Hat , Water-bottle , Communication book (everyday please).
Timetable Monday: PE Tuesday: 100th Day (at school) Thursday: Swimming and Library Friday: Mini-tests day and homework handing-in day.

Information for Parents The children are very enthusiastic and are finding out a lot of information about plants this week. We researched plant based science experiments in the IT lab and are now working on going through the scientific method to carry out our investigations. We are carefully observing some leaves outside of our classroom to discover which side of leaves the stomata is located on. Ask your child about it!
Language focus for the week We are continuing to practise writing directions and have discovered the need to be very specific with our details. We are working on identifying an author’s purpose for writing a story and also trying to make connections with what we read. Reinforcing their reading at home by asking them about these two topics would be helpful in improving their comprehension of what they read.
Maths focus for the week We will be finishing our review of basic multiplication facts this week and will begin to review division. We will have a timed multiplication test on Friday, so please make sure they are practising their facts each evening.
Unit of Inquiry The children are busy planning their scientific investigations into plants. They have chosen experiments based on fruits and vegetables, so on Tuesday we will take a walk to the fruit stand on Lema Road to purchase what we need for our study. If you have interest or special knowledge related to growing plants, products that come from plants, or how plants contribute to our lives we would love to have you come in and speak with the class. Please let me know if you would be interested in sharing your knowledge with us!
What to bring to school: A hat for playtime and a healthful snack.
Timetable: Tuesday PE (wear trainers and a house shirt) Walking trip to fruit stand (make sure to have a hat) Thursday Library (bring books) Swimming (Bring swimming kit)

This week the students took what they discovered last week about advertising and created their own persuasive leaflets. They chose issues they felt passionate about and directed their leaflet at a particular target audience, e.g. asking older students to be kinder, encouraging students to remain hydrated and suggesting children stay fit, active and healthy. They included the features of good quality persuasive writing, e.g. by using slogans, buzz words, rhetorical questions, statistics, direct address and emotive language etc. They made them colourful and appealing so as to encourage their audience to pick them up, read them and take on board the message.
In maths the children have been studying the properties of 2D and 3D shapes. They carried out an investigation around the classroom and playground identifying different shapes. They also created a design for persuasive packaging which incorporated the shapes they had learned about.
In IT (Information Technology) lessons the students have been enjoying learning how to make vibrant presentations using Prezi (www.prezi.com). They have learned how to navigate their way around the website and personalise the existing templates by adding text, images and symbols. Next week they will learn how to insert videos as well.
Unit: Transdisciplinary Theme: How we express ourselves Central Idea: People use many ways to influence others
The week ahead: Monday: Library session | Homework set Wednesday: Swimming session Friday: PE lesson | Homework due

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