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