Friday, November 09, 2018

Friday, November 9, 2018


Dear Parents,

We have come to the end of our very short week in the Elementary. We did have a lot of unrelated-to-illness absences this week, and so please do take the time to read the absence policy which is included as a repeat announcement below.

Missoula Children’s Theatre Performance - Treasure Island - Friday 16 November 2:00 pm
Parents, please join us in the FAC theatre next Friday afternoon - seated and ready for a 2:00 p.m start. Please be on time! Grade 1-5 children will be in the audience sitting with their classes (EY students are watching an earlier dress rehearsal).  
Parents with babies and toddlers must ensure strollers are parked outside, and that toddlers remain on parents laps throughout the performance.

Parent Coffee
The next parent coffee is Tuesday 20 November, from 8:45-9:45 in the Madras Hall. The session will assist parents in understanding how our academic reports look and function at AISC. Sherriden Masters, Director of Technologies and Innovation, will join me to explain the new ES report card format, as well as MAP score feedback from the latest assessment.

Early Years 3 & 4 Parent Coffee
Thank you to all the EY3 & 4 families that were able to attend our recent parent coffee on play in the early years. Information was shared about children using open-ended materials during play particularly around the idea of Loose Parts. If you are interested in the information that was shared, please visit this link to access the presentation.

Writing Celebrations
Today a few different grade levels hosted their end of unit writing celebration - thank you to all the parents who were able to join us celebrating growth in this foundational academic area. If you were not able to make it, please invite your child to share their writing at the dinner table over the weekend. You will be so proud of what they have accomplished!
 

Grade 1 KC Learning Celebration

Reminder: Maker Saturday 17 November 9 am – 12pm
Please click HERE on this link for online sign-up.
The cost of the activity is: INR 3000 - Payment can be done at the Athletics & Activities office, Room 1304 (next to the IHUB). A reminder that each child must come with an accompanying adult, and other siblings are not welcome to join because of safety concerns in the MakerSpace.  

Lego WeDo 2.0 Robotics (grades 1 - 3)
The first challenge is to build robots using our brand new Lego WeDo 2.0 kits. After that, you will program your robot to move through an obstacle course.

Lego Mindstorm Robotics (grades 4 - 5)
The second challenge is to build robots using our Lego Mindstorm Core & Expansion kits. Make your robot as simple or complicated as possible. After that, you will program your robot to move through an obstacle course.

Hour of Code Coming the week of 26th November to 30th of November
The Hour of Code is a global movement by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries through a one-hour introduction to computer science and computer programming. Many AISC elementary students will be participating in coding in their classrooms or with the Maker Space teachers during this week.  If you’d like to do more coding at home with your child, check out these excellent resources at Code.org sorted by grade level, all the way from pre-readers through high school age! Coding is a great elective  home learning choice for building logic and reasoning. 

Absence Policy (repeat announcement)
As stated in our handbook, maintaining good attendance in school is extremely important in succeeding academically. Students are expected to attend school every day, unless they are suffering from sickness. We are noticing many parents choosing to take their children out of school for various other reasons. Please know that this is not encouraged and that missing class does have a negative impact on their academic performances. It is challenging for teachers to re-visit concepts and ideas covered when the rest of the class has already moved on.

Missoula Children’s Theatre - Treasure Island (repeat announcement)
Sign ups to be part of the cast have now closed - and we already have over 140 children sign up! As you are aware, the cast selected will only be for 60 children. If your child has signed up to audition, please prepare them for the reality that over half signed up will not be selected. This may be a helpful article to read - ‘Failure Is an Option”, to help prepare children for disappointment.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen and Calley Connell
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