From the Principal

Grade 3

October 2011

ISB Lower School Specialists’ Newsletter

Inside this issue:

French/Spanish 2

Art 3

Serbian/Serbian MT/

EAL

4

Music/PE 5

Welcome to the newest edition of our Specialist Newsletters!

Our specialists teachers (also referred as single-subject teachers) play an integral and im-portant role in the Primary Years Program. The arts, physical education, and language study are essential elements to a comprehensive and holistic primary school education. The con-tent of these subjects is transdisciplinary in nature, meaning that the skills and concepts devel-oped by specialist teachers have relevance throughout the Lower School curriculum and our students’ lives beyond school. Our specialists teachers work alongside our classroom teach-ers to develop lessons that are both interesting and connected to the classroom Units of

Inquiry.

For this reason, we think it is important that we keep our parents informed about the teach-ing and learning taking place in our specialists classrooms. You will receive the specialist newsletter six times during the school year. As always, if you have any questions about your child’s education, feel free to contact us. Be sure to schedule individual conferences with all

teachers during parent conferences on November 22.

I look forward to seeing you all here for Parent/Teacher conferences,

Brian H. Lettinga

Lower School Principal

French

Page 2

Newsletter Title

Dubravka Kostanjsek

French Teacher

Snezana Dimitrijevic

Spanish Language

Spanish

Dear third grade parents,

Here is the second newsletter for the French class in order to keep you informed

about the things we have been learning during the last period.

After finishing the “Who We Are in different communities” Unit, we started talking

about how we express ourselves and what or who inspires us. That is the perfect

Unit to introduce some cultural elements through the work of some French artists

(composers, painters, writers). We listened to some music (E.Satie, G. Bizet, C. De-

bussy, M. Ravel), worked on music instruments and musical forms and shared our

associations to different pieces (what season does it make us think of, what colors,

what emotions…). We also looked at some paintings (P-A. Renoir, P. Gauguin, C.

Monet, H. Matisse), described them and shared our thoughts about them. We are

now going to create some art work and explain what or who inspired us and why

when we do our presentation. All the activities include reading, writing, listening and

speaking skills.

For Halloween, we reviewed some of the most frequent words linked to that topic

and made posters to invite our friends and families to the party.

It will be my pleasure to see you all soon and discuss your child’s work and progress.

Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

During the months of September and October the grade three Spanish students

were talking about Spanish Class and about Family. As this is an extension of the

Classroom and Family Units from last year, we were not only reviewing basic vo-

cabulary related to our life, but also practicing stating and writing simple sentence

describing one’s preferences (“Me gusta jugar”, “No me gusta escribir”), acceptable

and unacceptable behavior (“No se puede correr en aula”), or purpose of some

school objects (“Lápiz sirve para escribir”) and trying to increase students’ under-

standing of more challenging grammatical concepts of different verb conjugation in

the Spanish Language. We also have continued to develop our communication skills

through various communicative games and activities (Bingo, “¿Quién eres?”, “Pesca”,

“Tablero”) and in accordance with the PYP unit to introduce students to elements

of Hispanic culture (learning by heart poems – “Araña, arañita”; hanging up on class-

room wall Guernica and talking about famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso and his

picture).

Page 3

Art

Svetlana Spasic-

Glid

Art

Grade 3 students started learning about architecture and drew patterned buildings with chalk pastels,

oil pastels, and markers. They continued by practicing patterns and making contrast with warm and

cool colors while making their picture frames. We used those concepts for our buildings as well.

Children were exposed to a wide range of examples of famous buildings and bridges, and the use of

sculpture in architecture. They analyzed examples from ancient to modern achievements. Some of the

architects that drew a lot of attention were Antonio Gaudi, Frederik Hundertwasser, and Santiago

Calatrava.

Children experimented with play dough and tried to achieve patterns using that media. They mixed

colors, cut play dough forms to make their forms the closest possible to their ideas, and made inter-

esting compositions.

As Halloween is a huge joy and a big event for children, students drew scary scenes using scratch pa-

per and bamboo sticks. Children loved using these materials! We have started a new unit of inquiry

How We Express Ourselves and children picked an artist who appeals to them to learn about his

style and respond to it.

Grade 3A students have classes on Thursdays.

Grade 3B students have classes on Tuesdays.

Serbian as a Foreign Language

Page 4

Newsletter Title

Sonja Stanisic

Serbian language Teacher

Grade 3 Serbian Foreign Language class really excelled during the first term. The students

successfully completed the family unit. We looked deep into the possible relationships with-

in a family and the difference in terms of naming each member in Serbian compared to Eng-

lish. The students created a family tree which demonstrated their knowledge and under-

standing of these relationships. We went further and did a project on the immediate family,

describing in detail their appearance likes and dislikes; the projects were a great success and

are displayed in the classroom. We have since moved onto the food unit. We have com-

pleted the fruits and vegetables portion and are now focusing on main meals. This unit will

again touch upon likes and dislikes in addition to the language required when in a restau-

rant. The final project will be to create a menu for an imagined restaurant. The students will

create and film skits which will display their knowledge and enable reflection. Third grade

also continues to explore the sound symbol relationships for the Latin and Cyrillic alpha-

bets. The next unit will pertain to the calendar and weather.

Serbian Mother Tongue Treći razred je nastavio sa čitanjem basni. Nove basne koje smo obradili su „Pas i

njegova senka“, „Lisica i gavran“ i „Kornjača i zec“. Kao završni projekat ove nastavne

jedinice, učenici su napisali svoje basne u kojima su jasno izdvojili pouku. Као конекцију

са наставном јedinicom koja se odnosi na ljudske zajednice, a koju su deca izučavala sa

učiteljicama u sklopu svojih razreda, na časovima srpskog jezika smo se bavili

terminologijom koja se odnosi na rođake i familijarne odnose. Učenici su tako dobili

priliku da se upoznaju sa ovom terminologijom ali i da uporede broj termina u engleskom

i u srpskom jeziku. Kroz pravljenje porodičnih stabala i druge aktivnosti došli smo do

zaključka da srpski jezik sadrži tako veliki broj termina jer odražava potrebu govornika za

održavanjem bliskosti sa rođacima. Kao završni projekat deca su napisala sastav na temu

„Moj omiljeni rođak“. U okviru gramatike bavili smo se imenicama i njihovom

kategorijom roda i glagolima i njihovom promenom po vremenima.

Milena Jovanovic

Serbian Language

Teacher

EAL Low Intermediate Group

In October we continued supporting the PYP Unit Who We Are - “Relations in Com-

munities”, as we inquired into how “interactions within our communities shape and reshape

our identity”. We enforced vocabulary and concepts covered in 3A and 3B class. Students

enjoyed reading a story: “The Dog Ate My Homework”, that inspired a very interesting

discussion about homework and excuses students make. We learnt and practiced how

to express our opinion in a polite way, and talk to someone who thinks differently. In

addition, students enjoyed role-playing the story. As we deepened our understanding

about our interactions in the school community, we began to understand the concept of

cause and effect. We talked about compound words, and reviewed basic contractions.

On Halloween, we reviewed and learnt new scary vocabulary (nouns, adjectives), and did

a number of word exercises, enforcing our spelling and comprehension skills.

Divna Stakic

EAL Teacher

Page 5

Music

Ljudmila Janicijevic

Music Teacher

While playing kazoos, xylophones, and drums, 3rd graders continued reading traditional and non-

traditional music notation. To extend their knowledge, they used classroom instruments in order

to familiarize themselves with music symbols for wind, percussion, and string instruments. Using

the acquired knowledge they created orchestration for instrumental number “The Kreb-

ble Dance” and a song “C.C. Rider”. Using a CD “Beethoven's Wig”, we looked at how music

inspires poetry. There Georges Bizet’s Carmen transformed into a “Midnight Snack”. To put eve-

rything together, we improvised using xylophones and drums creating rhythmic patterns and com-

bined singing and playing.

Physical Education

The third graders spent the month of October developing and improving their soccer skills.

Our unit started with activities of controlling the ball by feet on the spot, as well as, in

motion. We dribbled in various directions, moved at different speeds, and practiced

trapping and passing to a partner from short and long distances. Kicking with accuracy

into the goal was also one of the activities we practiced

before we played an actual soccer game.

We started with simple games 1 vs.1, 2 vs. 2 in order to

encourage passing and cooperation on court, as well as to

enable students with no previous experience with the

game to get better understanding of how it’s played.

After reviewing basic game rules and having a discussion

regarding players’ positions and roles on a team, students

set a list of attitudes and behavior that they would like to

see players displaying on a court. We split into groups to

observe and analyze each other’s game play.

The third graders truly gave their best to show their cho-

sen attitudes during the game by having the importance of

team spirit always in their mind.

Marija Dimitrov

PE Teacher