Friday afternoon is time to look back and reflect on the fantastic first week back at school after Qing Ming festival. This week we will look at one of our new options program and Grade 3 Social Studies.

LEGO CLUB | CIS OPTIONS PROGRAM

As part of our new options program at CIS some of our students are really enjoying the Lego Club. Each class Ms. Gee presents a Lego Challenge and the students work together and in teams to complete the building challenge of the day. Not only is playing with Lego fun but it helps our students to be creative, innovative and problem-solve.

GRADE 3 | SOCIAL STUDIES

In Social studies in grade 3 we examine the traditions of 4 diverse cultures around the world. The grade 3’s designed Pysanky, which is a traditional Ukrainian Easter egg decorated with folk designs using a wax-resist method. The word pysanka comes from the verb pysaty, “to write” or “to inscribe”, as the designs are not painted on, but written (inscribed) with beeswax. They used melted beeswax to create designs in layers and dyed in multiple colors. Once complete, parents helped to melt the wax and wipe it off to reveal the colors underneath. The children had a great time and were very careful around the candles and hot wax. Thank you to the wonderful parent volunteers who came in to help. Some even made their own to take home.

It’s Friday on our first week back after the holidays, time to get a sneak-peek at some of the learning happening at CIS, today we hear from Grade 3 and Grade 11.

Grade 3B – Ms GuzzoIn grade 3 we used our visible thinking routine of see, think, wonder. The students were given pictures and had to use thinking strategies of that the images where. From there we made a model using clay of what the inner ear looks like. Using hands on learning the students become more engaged then just by memorizing a worksheet!

Grade 11 – Ms GriggerGrade 11 did their first lab to investigate the properties of molecular and ionic compounds. As it was our first lab we also took the opportunity to practice general lab skills like using measuring cylinders and recording results. Before we started the lab we each wrote our own hypothesis about what we expected to observe and then after the lab was finished we discussed the validity of our hypotheses in our lab reports.

That Friday feeling means one thing to us at CIS, sharing the wonderful memories that our children have been making this week!

Please find our middle school Basketball match review article posted on the CIS wechat subscription or our website under COMMUNITY – GRIZZLIES ATHLETICS.

This week for Celebration of Learning, we will focus on two of our Grade 3 and 4 classes, let’s hear from Ms Guzzo and Mr Rankin!

GRADE 3 – Ms Guzzo: Different forms of summative assessment are used in grade three. Rather than just using a multiple choice or short answer test, the grade threes created mind maps to show all they have learned during our rocks and minerals unit. This differentiated method ensures all children are successful and able to show case what they know in a manner they understand. Much more information is given than just what a paper and pencil test can give. Please enjoy the pictures below!

GRADE 4 – Mr Rankin: Fourth graders have been exploring how to retell the events of a story using a different form or medium. Tableau is a form of dramatic art in which participants silently hold different poses to convey meaning. We learned about the criteria of a successful tableau and then performed a routine consisting of three important scenes from whichever book we were reading. They were able to convey so much using only their body shape and facial expressions!