Dear Parents,
Happy weekend! Lots of excitement is building at AISC in the Elementary section as we prepare for our first ever Vision Week for students in Grade 3-5. From projects re-designing ES spaces, designing Animal Habitats, creating a video about Chennai to surfing at Covelong, there is something for everyone!
Many of these projects have a culminating project that will be shared next Friday afternoon.
Vision Project Culmination and Missoula Children’s Theatre Performance
Please join us next Friday 15th at 1:30pm in the FAC theatre for our culminating projects, including some student videos, a dance performance, and the final Missoula Children’s Theatre performance.
Air Quality Update
As you are likely aware, this week the Air Quality has been unusually poor in Chennai. This has meant that we have kept children indoors at all recess times this week, and even from Wednesday morning upon arrival at school. We have also had to close the playground afterschool from Wednesday. Because this is so unusual for Chennai, (and we are hoping it will be gone soon), we are using the following guidelines to influence our decision making regarding Elementary School students use of outdoor facilities.
Air Quality Considerations and Practices at AISC
- We use the air quality data sourced from a variety of sources that are publicly available online. AISC is currently in the process of acquiring our own monitors for use on campus.
- School administrators will communicate to the faculty and students any need for modification of outdoor physical activity, keeping in mind both the AQI (Air Quality Index) and the multiple other factors influencing the health and well-being of students.
- If necessary, the PE and Athletics Departments will modify activities in order to keep heart-rates and respiration-rates low, while still providing instruction and movement opportunities for our students. Any activity will be short in duration and of minimal physical demand.
- Parents always have the right to request that their child(ren) does/do not participate in aerobic activity, or go outside for recess or classes, and under such circumstances, students will never be penalized for non-participation;
- Students exhibiting or complaining of shortness of breath or irritation in the throat are routinely sent into a building with conditioned air until they feel relief.
The guidelines we use to determine if outdoor physical activity will be modified are as follows:
Early Years Parent Coffee - November 19th
Please join us for an Early Years Parent Coffee on Tuesday, November 19th from 8:45 - 9:45 a.m. in the BBT. We will be talking about the Early Years standards and the emergent curriculum.
Celebrating our Identity in Grade 2
Congratulations to the Grade 2 students who created a beautiful and meaningful Identity Museum this week, and thank you to the teachers who supported them and the family members who attended. We all value the opportunity for our students to explore their identity and share their learning.
The Inquiry process for learning about our identity - photo by Ms Deepa
Jihyeon in 2 FL shares her identity artifacts - photo by Ms Leontheen
This session is our second Maker Saturday for the 2019-2020 school year for Grades 1- 5. We are offering two choices. Please choose one activity from the options below to challenge yourself and your child on Saturday. If you have children doing different activities, you must have one parent at each activity.
REGISTRATION DETAILS
Please click HERE on this link for online sign up. The cost of the activity is: INR 1500 - Payment details will be communicated after the online sign ups are finished.
Stop Motion Animation with Lego
The first challenge is to make a stop motion animation movie with Legos and other materials in the makerspace. Use your imagination to create your own story or use a book as a guide to create a Lego movie. This activity will take up most of the entire three hours.
Hour of Code Exploration Centers
The second choice is to spend some time in different centers exploring some of the technology that we have for Hour of Code! Scratch, Makey Makeys, Lego WeDo, Little Bits, etc - projects as advanced or basic as you need for you and your child!
This Maker Saturday is limited to 24 students (maximum of 12 per activity). Parents must accompany their child to Maker Saturday and stay with them the entire time of the activity. The activities are designed for Grade 1 and up; children in Kindergarten or younger may not attend due to safety reasons, even as an observer. Thank you for your understanding.
Be prepared to be creative!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen, and Calley Connelly
Elementary School Leadership Team
Elementary School Leadership Team