Dear all, please refer to enclosed weekly updates on PM2.5 readings.
Duties Wednesday-Friday
I will be away in the IB Asia-Pacific conference. Marina is kindly taking care of duties in my absence, so please email her any duty related mail.
Language Acquisition
CALP isn’t just the understanding of content area vocabulary. It includes skills such as comparing, classifying, synthesizing, evaluating, and inferring.
GAMES!
Do you like to play games? Me too! Do you want to challenge a teacher to a board/card/dice/other type of game? Of course you do! Well there is some good news: Friday Game Day is continuing this Friday during the first half of lunch in the fishbowl (the room across from IT). Bring your own game or play one of ours (Uno, Spoons, Uno Attack, Jenga, and a variety of others). Challenge your friends. Challenge your teachers. Challenge yourself. As Author Unknown once said, “The way a man plays a game shows some of his character. The way he loses shows all of it.”
Sub Rota Semester 2, Version 1
Dear Teachers,
Please have a look at the new Sub Rota, and get back to me asap ifSub Rota 14:15.pages you have any clashes/problems…..
ACAMIS Badminton
The NIS badminton team brought 24 players up to Beijing for the ACAMIS badminton tournament.
Fifteen different schools came to the tournament to compete inside the famous ISB dome.
At the end of three days of badminton, the NIS 1 team finished third in Division 1 and the NIS 2 team finished first in Division 2. These were great results for the NIS shuttlers. All the NIS players improved over the course of the tournament but special mention should go to Jia Yue Seow, Jason Oh and Hyunuk Kang for their outstanding performances.
While not playing badminton, many of the Grade 12 students spent their free time preparing for the upcoming mock exams. These students provided a great example of what it means to be a student athlete.
MYP Tech Challenge: Friday March 20th – Block 5
The MYP inter house Tech Challenge is rapidly approaching. It will be block 5 on Friday March 20th. This is day 4.
The following teachers will miss the chance to be involved because they are teaching grades 11/12 at that time: Ruth, Rob Battye, Danny Clarke and Cheryl.
Due to the sheer volume of grade 12 artwork spread throughout the design centre there has been some changes in locations for some activities. Please see the updated version. Note: DC Courtyard is the outside area behind the cafeteria.
Task sheets will be emailed out to teachers (please keep secret from students) on Tuesday.
Language Acquisition
This week the Language Acquisition post will look at Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP).
BICS is the ability to function in everyday situations and CALP is the ability to use academic language. Research shows that children immersed in English can develop BICS in 2 years whereas CALP takes between 5 and 7 years. Non-native speakers who have attained a high degree of fluency and accuracy in everyday spoken English do not, in most cases, have the corresponding academic language proficiency.
Chaperones needed
If you would like to chaperone the Grade 8 Displaced People experience on March 31st please get in touch with Ruth or Francis. Luxury cardboard box guaranteed..!
Grade 8 teachers
This is an advance warning for Grade 8 teachers that all Grade 8 students will be off schedule on Wednesday March 31st as they will be involved in a Design and Humanities Displaced People IDU. They will be in school the following day for their Student Led Conference.
Ping An & OWC monthly visit on Wed. March 18, 2015 (11:30 ~ 16:00)
Dear overseas staff,
Ping An & OWC monthly visit will be on Wed. March 18, 2015 from 11:30 to 16:00 in the Board Meeting Room (H303) @ Centre.
Best wishes,
Clara
Assistant coach position available
An opportunity has arisen for an assistant coach position in CISSA basketball. No experience of coaching basketball needed. If you think you might be interested please send me an email. The season runs from next week for the next 7 weeks.
Pi Day is Here!
Why did the pie go to the Dentist?
Because it needed a filling! A filling that you can enjoy because the day has finally come!
The day that we have all been waiting for!
Pi Day! During both break and lunch today, the Student Council will be selling delicious circular foods such as Pizza, Pie or Cake. All money raised goes to Amy Yang Fund & Pfrang. Please come to the foyer outside the red doors today for an awesome auction!
Congratulations to Arainna!
Arainna gave birth to a beautiful little girl on March 7. Her nickname is Chu Chu, and her English name is Cassie. Both Mom and Baby are doing well. Best wishes!
Inter house trivia quiz
The inter house competition resumes next week with the annual inter house trivia quiz.
Get your teams together. If you have good general knowledge and like the challenge of a quiz speak to your house leader or house captains.
Quiz will be on Wednesday 18th March lunchtime in D220
Each house needs 3 people per team, boys and girl mixed, and one team from Grades 6-8 and one from 9-12.
Language Acquisition
Helping Non Native Students Understand What You Say 5:
Increasing wait time will give students a chance to process what they have heard and formulate answers in their mind. It is particularly helpful to repeat or rephrase questions that are in complex syntax or require more than simple answers. If the same type of question is going to be asked, asking native speakers first will give non native speakers more time to process and will also provide an example of what is expected, which in turn will boost confidence.