Dear
parents,
Thank you
to all the Early Years parents who joined us for our parent coffee earlier this
week. For those who missed it, this parent coffee focused on the
importance of language development; particularly exploring the rationale behind
parents supporting their child by continuing to build a strong foundation in
your home language first. This has proven impacts on academic success as
children learn English as an Additional Language.
Meet AISC - David Allen - Incoming Elementary School
Associate Principal
Last week we welcomed Mr Dave Allen to our
school. Mr Dave comes from Portland, Oregon, and will be joining us next
year as our new Elementary Associate Principal. He is joining us from the
Richmond Elementary School (Oregon, USA) where he has been the Principal since
2016 and was Assistant Principal from 2014 to 2016. He has previously worked as
Assistant Professor of Education at Portland State University and as a special
education teacher and learning support specialist. David has international
experiences working as a consultant in Bulgaria and English language teacher in
Japan. He has a Bachelor’s degree in educational psychology and rhetoric, a
Master’s in special education from the University of Minnesota (USA), and a
Ph.D. in early invention from the University of Oregon. He will be joining us
with his wife, Deb, and son, Sawyer (age 9).
English Language Development through MUSIC!
Music class has a special way for children to
become more fluent in English. Music itself is a new language for many.
Learning to read notes, understanding solfege with it’s new language and
rhythms that have a new language gives all students an opportunity to grow in
language of “music”. For English fluency, it is particularly important.
· Music allows students to learn the natural flow and rhythm of
the English language.
· Music has rhyme and meter that help students feel the
graceful lilt of the language. Music lyric fluency stimulates the brain to
retain information in a unique way. Adults often have fun memories of songs
they learned as children and can still sing all the words. They also can feel
the difference between the duple meter feel of a sentence and the compound
duple meter.
· Music has tempo. The speed of the song that is sung will help
develop word sequence as well as pronunciation practice. Some songs have a fast
tempo. Some have a slow tempo. These tempo changes help the student develop
anticipation of the line of the music and word flow.
· Music is fun to translate into a new language. Learn a song
in English, then translate into the student’s native language. Using musical
lyrics students can see the differences of one language as it relates to the
other. Using their own language not only honors their language, but gives
strong understanding to the English words.
· Students gain cultural understanding when learning the
meaning of phrases and the history behind them. For example, in third grade, we
are playing a singing game that American children played during the pioneer
times. The students needed to understand that the pioneer children helped their
parents farm and settle in the new country, The pioneer children would make up
songs and games about their everyday jobs such as “drawing a buck of water”,
“Did you feed my cow”, “our old sow is getting very fat,” “no one in the house
but Dinah”, “chicken on the fencepost” and on and on.
· Music fosters analysis whether it is about simple concepts or
the more abstract. The students need to speak in sentences to describe what
they heard, saw, wonder about, and question [Inquiry]. Was it high? Low? Fast?
Slow? Did the melody go up in pitch? Did the melody go down in pitch? What was
the rhythm (decoding the rhythm in a functional language called “Takadimi”
language)? What was the form? What value do certain rhythms have? What did you
like? All of these questions are asked in English. Answering in English will
help in conversation flow as the students have to think of the questions in English
and answer in complete sentences in English.
· Music is fun!! Children want to verbalize what they
enjoy. They work hard in class to speak in their new languages (English,
functional rhythmic language [aka Takadimi language], solfege [do, re, mi, fa, so,
la, ti, do], artistic realizations). All in a short 45 minute period!!
Please come and visit the music classes and
observe first hand how music and English fluency make perfect partners!
Keeping Students home when Sick
To prevent spread of contagious diseases and to enable a student
to receive the rest needed for recovery, please do not send your child to
school if he/she has any of the following within the past 24 hours:
● Fever
● Vomiting or diarrhea
● Scabies or lice (the child may attend school after
treatment and the nurse has checked)
● Severe cough
● Severe sore throat
● Red eyes that are crusting or with discharge
● Body rash, unless a note from the doctor is presented stating
that the child may attend school
● Severe “common cold” symptoms - stuffy nose, body aches, cough,
thick nasal discharge, headache, itchy throat
● Whenever your child looks noticeably unwell
Students who come to school with any of the above symptoms will be
sent home.
Medication - A Reminder from our Handbook
Please do not, under any circumstances, send your child to school
with medication to self-administer. If a parent wants the school to administer
medication to their child during school hours, an “Authorization for Medication”
form must be filled out. These forms are available in the Health Office. If it
is prescription medication, a copy of the doctor’s prescription must accompany
it. The medication should come in the original container and be properly
labeled. The Health Office also has some over-the-counter medication available.
To give permission for these medications, sign the appropriate spot on the New
Students Enrolling Health Form and Returning Student’s Annual Health Forms.
This must be signed each year should you desire this option for your child. You
may choose to authorize this medication for a shorter period. Students are not
allowed to carry or administer their own medication without receiving
authorization from the Health Office. Teachers will not administer medication
to students in the classrooms.
Student Led Conference - Friday 13 April - repeat announcement
Student led conferences are next Friday 13th April. No
regular classes will be held on this day. This Student Led Conference is the
time for your child to share their learning growth and future goals with you.
Please expect teachers to be involved as facilitator and not
directly involved in the discussions; on this day the main focus is between you
and your child. There will be multiple children and their families sharing
their learning at the same time in each classroom.
- The conference will take approximately 30 - 40 minutes in the classroom and 30 - 40 minutes with the specialist areas - Music, Art, PE, Indian Studies and World Language.
- Your child will have a passport to lead you through each area and will know whether to begin in the homeroom or in the specialist areas.
- Students are responsible for
leading the conference and also take responsibility for their learning by
sharing the process with their parents.
- Supervision for siblings will be
in the ES CIC and outside play areas, with Early Years 3 and 4 children
supervised in the library only. Please note that this is only for enrolled
AISC students. You will need to make your own separate
arrangements for younger children and babies.
- Please do not hesitate to contact
either the homeroom/specialist teachers, or Lori or myself, should you
have any questions regarding these upcoming conferences.
If
you have not already done so, please click here
to sign up for your child’s Conference
Earth Day Spirit Week, April 16-20
To show
our continuing commitment to sustainability, we are happy to have our first
Earth Day Spirit Week from April 16-20. During this week we will make an effort
to positively affect our environment along the five categories of LEED: energy,
water, human experience, transportation and waste.
We would
like our community to join us in the Earth Day Spirit Week by participating in
the daily challenges and wear Earth Day colors of green and blue for the week!
Please see the Head's Notes for more details.
Meatless
Monday
April 16
|
Nothing New
Tuesday
April 17
|
Buy-A-Plant
Wednesday
April 18
|
Carpool
Thursday
April 19
|
No Waste Lunch
Friday
April 20
|
Beach Clean Up Weekend
April 21-22
|
Energy
|
Water
|
Human Experience
|
Transportation
|
Waste
|
Waste
|
MS Theatre
Production – Switching Principals
Marvin
Gardens Middle School is in all kinds of trouble. When a new principal is
scheduled to arrive, everyone is hoping for a fresh breeze. What blows
in, however, are George and Madge, two con artists who slipped in through
the principal’s office window while hiding out from the law. It’s
not long before the two criminals are mistaken for the new
administrators. But can they turn the school around?
The MS
team that brought you “A History of the Universe in Seventy Seven minutes” and
“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” are proud to present “Switching Principals”,
a door slamming fast paced farce guaranteed to leave a smile on your
face.
The play is HS, MS and ES
friendly!
Tickets
go on sale next week, and will be sold before school at ES/MS
entrances. Performance times are Wednesday April 11th at
4pm and Thursday April 12th at 5pm. 100 rupees per
ticket.
Parent Coffee for 5th Grade Parents
Each
year, the PE teachers and counsellors meet with grade 5 students to share
information about the physical, social, and emotional changes that occur during
puberty. We provide a comfortable and safe atmosphere for them to engage
in truthful and honest conversation about the changes they are, or will soon
be, experiencing. We will meet with
boys and girls separately. The girls all meet together in one room with Coach
Donna, Ms. Jane and Ms. Linda and the boys meet together in another room with
Mr. Ron and Mr. Jack.
We are
holding an informational meeting about our puberty lessons on April 17th at
8:45 am in the BBT. We will tell you what our two lessons look like, when they
will happen and offer resources you can use for supporting your child in these
discussions at home.
Linda
Gerberich, Donna Fava, Jack Bissonnette, Ron Wilson, Jane Fijman
AISC
Summer Camp 2018
Summer
Camp is a two-week program held for Elementary & Middle School students. A
wide variety of age appropriate activities including sports, arts, and crafts
classes are offered. Summer camp dates: Starts on June 4 and ends on June
15, 2018.
Registration link - Closes April 11th.
Have a
wonderful weekend,
Keryn
Dowling and Lori Newman