This coming Thursday (April 28th), all students from grades 3-10 will be participating in our annual Track and Field Carnival at Sajik Asiaf Auxiliary Stadium. Electives will be cancelled so all participants will ride the late bus home at 4:30pm. If your son or daughter cannot attend the event, students will be required to remain at home as there will not be any classes on this day.
Parents are welcome to come cheer on the BIFS community. Students will be competing in at least 3 events by grade level and house. Check out what your son or daughter have signed up for: Track and Field sign up Students are reminded to dress in their PE clothes and in their house colors. Please bring a refillable water bottle, snacks and/or lunch (if you do not receive the school lunch), sunscreen, hat and lots of energy! Top competitors will be invited to compete in the International Track and Field Meet with 5 other schools on Tuesday, May 31st, 2016. For any conflicts or questions, please contact Ms. Plicka at [email protected]. Class and Individual Make-Up Photos The elementary will have photos taken on Monday, April 18, for inclusion in the yearbook. Each class from Playgroup to Grade 5 will have a class photo taken. Additionally, any child who joined us since we had individual photos taken last fall will have their individual photo taken (sorry, no re-dos are possible due to time constraints with yearbook layout). Please send your child in clothing you would like commemorated in the yearbook. If your child has PE on Mondays, they may come without the uniform as long as they are wearing athletic shoes (or bring the shoes to change into for PE class). IB Annual Conference in HyderabadI had the pleasure of attending the IB Annual Conference for the first time in March. It took place in Hyderabad, India, and was a marvelous opportunity for me to expand my knowledge of the IB while revisiting my former home: India! At the conference, I attended a full day session titled, "Women in Leadership" which offered some of the more recent findings on the role of female leaders in education, including the disparities in numbers when looking at this on a nation-by-nation basis. It was an interesting session and an opportunity for the IB to reflect on how it supports the development of female leaders. MAP Testing ScheduleDuring April and May, children in grades 2 - 9 will take tests called Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®). We give MAP tests as a measure of individual student instructional levels, to measure individual academic growth from year-to-year, and as a reflective tool on our programs in the areas of mathematics, reading, and language usage. Grade 2: Apr 26, 28, 29 Grade 3: May 2, 4, 6 Grade 4: Apr 25, 27, May 2 Grade 5: May 16, 18, 19 For Your Calendar....Apr 8, 2:35-3:15
Elementary Assembly Short presentations and performances to celebrate children's learning in select electives Apr 12 Field Trip Grade 2 trip to Haeundae Market & Beach Apr 12, 12:00 Half Day Noon dismissal for ES Professional Development. (MHS has conferences on this day - ES had their conferences in January.) Apr 15, 2:35-3:15 Elementary Assembly Grade 5 will share the actions they created as part of their Exhibition unit Apr 19 Field Trip LE (KG to Grade 2) Field trip to Kidzania Apr 19, 2:30-3:30 Grade 5 to Middle School Parent Evening Parent informational meeting for parents of current Grade 5 students who will be attending Grade 6 next year. Apr 20, 9:00-10:00 ES/ELC Parent Coffee Play-based learning - How does play strengthen children’s learning? Apr 22, 2:35-3:15 Elementary Assembly PYP Exhibition Showcase: Grade 5 will present an opportunity for ES students and staff to visit their exhibition booths and learn about their chosen local issue, research and action. Apr 26, 5:00-7:00 Grade 5 Exhibition Please join us to see the incredible local issues, research, and actions our Grade 5 students have engaged in during their Exhibition unit Apr 28, all day Interhouse Track and Field Event Grades 3-5 will attend the BIFS Track and Field event at Sajik Stadium Apr 29, 2:35-3:15 Elementary Assembly Art Exhibition of Grade 3 student artwork connected to their Unit of Inquiry May 3 Student Led Conferences Families join their children during a portion of the day as the children share learning from their homeroom and specialist classes. A schedule will be sent home soon. May 5 No School Children’s Day May 6, 2:35-3:15 Elementary Assembly Visiting author/illustrator Yangsook Choi will present during the assembly The visual arts program in the Elementary emphasises developing a deeper understanding of the elements of art and principles of design. Students focus on ideas and themes, use a variety of media, and plan and execute how their ideas are communicated to a larger audience. Ongoing reflection and responses to other people’s artwork are given equal importance. To promote the arts program to a wider community, our students' artworks have been used for various exhibits around BIFS, the Busan community, and internationally. This year we are proud to represent South Korea once again and have two grade 5 students’ art works selected to be incorporated into the Schools' International Peace Quilt. Congratulations to Fiona Wilson and Isabella Seidenfaden for the selection of their designs! We invite families to take a gallery walk of the elementary school hallways, where you will find a selection of semi-permanent artworks. These are individual and collaborative pieces from Mr. Quimpo’s art classes over the past several years, and they represent the elements of art and design principles mentioned above. More artworks and what the students are doing in the art room can be seen in the Art tab above. We are proud to feature our students’ creativity throughout the school! First Lego League AssemblyLearning Support Parent Coffee
Professional DevelopmentAll of our teachers worked together on Mar 1 toward professional and school improvement. We had cross-divisional teams working on accreditation teams for a portion of the day. Grade-level teams met to align curriculum to a trimester schedule for next year, and to rearrange units as needed. Additionally, the Elementary team began working on the PYP Second Authorization Self Study process which will take place over the next full year. Upcoming Elementary Events Mar 10, 2:15-3:15, ELC Parent Coffee: Reading aloud to your children
Mar 10, Field Trip -Grade 3 visits Gamcheon Art Village Mar 11, 2:35-3:15, Elementary Assembly Grade 2 Korean Language and Literature students will present a small sample of the way we have developed our poetry unit. Grade 5 Korean Language Acquisition students will share their learning about 'Media Literacy'. Mar 12, 10:00-2:00 Grades 3-5 basketball camp (sign-up required) Mar 17, 1:30-3:30, Whole School Music Concert and WOW Fashion Show Join us for the school-wide music concert, followed by the MHS WOW Fashion Show Mar 18, Noon dismissal Apr 8, 2:35-3:15, Elementary Assembly Short presentations and performances to celebrate children's learning in select electives Apr 15, 2:35-3:15, Elementary Assembly Grade 5 will share the actions they created as part of their Exhibition unit The Elementary Student Council have decided to raise money for the Aikwangwon School for Mentally and Physically Disabled in Geoje. In order to do this, on Friday the 4th of March, the Student Council invite Elementary students to attend a Movie and Pajamas Night from 3:30~6.30 pm in the Elementary Hall. The movie that will be played is called Paper Planes (G rated). Please see the Movie Trailer below, or paste the link <https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/paper-planes> into your browser to read a review.
In order to raise money, the costs will be as follows: - 1 piece of pizza, popcorn, a small sweet and a drink - 8,000 won - 2 pieces of pizza, popcorn, a small sweet and a drink - 10,000 won From 3.30 pm to 4.30 pm students can change into their pajamas (optional) and have their food. The movie will begin at 4.40 pm after electives finish. If your child has an elective, they will have the opportunity to change into their pajamas and collect their food before the movie begins. The evening will conclude at 6.30 pm. Please pick up your child from the Elementary Hall on the 5th floor at this time. There will not be buses taking the children home. If your child wishes to attend, please fill out the Google Form and send 8,000 won or 10,000 won to his or her homeroom teacher by Monday the 29th of February. If your child cannot attend, and you wish to contribute to the cause, please send in a donation. Kind regards, Sarah Toouli, Haley Melville and the Elementary Student Council Last Friday, our house coordinators, Michelle Roland and Haley Melville, organized a silly, enjoyable games rotation for mixed grade-level house groups! It was fun seeing our friends try these crazy games!
Grades 3-5 Basketball CampThe grade 10 students from Bears Club are organising a basketball camp for the elementary students from 3rd to 5th grade. This camp was planned entirely by the grade 10 students with assistance from Mr Wilson and Julia Lespine. The day will be run by them as well. There will also be first aid certified adults to supervise. The purpose of this camp is to provide an opportunity for your child to improve their basketball skills by taking part in drills and games. The day will certainly be fun for everyone involved. The basketball camp will take place on Saturday, 12th of March, 2016 in the school gymnasium. The camp starts at 10:00 AM and the will end at 2:00 PM. Transportation to and from the camp are the responsibility of the parents. Drop off and pick up should be done at the front gate of BIFS. Feel free to stick around and watch your child in action! The cost for participating in the camp is 20,000 Won. This fee will cover registration, a t-shirt and lunch (includes pizza, snacks and a sports drink). Students should bring a water bottle, and wear good trainers, shorts and t-shirt suitable for running around. If your child has any diet restrictions, please be sure to mention that below and we will be sure to accommodate those. If you wish to participate, please complete the form below. Direct any questions to Mr Wilson at [email protected]. The max number of participants is 30, so get your submissions and payment in early! Click here to sign up. Student TeachersBIFS is happy to host student teachers (teachers in training) as a means of supporting those who are beginning their careers. The students also benefit from these exchanges by having another adult in the room working with them. We have two student teachers who started this week. Please welcome them when you see them!
Upcoming Elementary EventsMar 1, No school for students, Professional development day for faculty Mar 2, 9:00-10:00, ES Parent Coffee, Information on the Special Educational Needs / Learning Support Department at BIFS Mar 4, 2:35-3:15, Elementary Assembly, Grade 1 will present their learning related to their Unit of Inquiry and Opinion Writing Mar 10, 2:15-3:15, ELC Parent Coffee, Reading aloud to your children Mar 11, 2:35-3:15, Elementary Assembly, Grade 2 Korean Language and Literature students will present a small sample of the way we have developed our poetry unit. Grade 5 Korean Language Acquisition students will share their learning about 'Media Literacy'. Mar 12, 10:00-2:00, Grades 3-5 basketball camp (sign-up required) Mar 17, 1:30-3:30, Whole School Music Concert and WOW Fashion Show Mar 18, Noon dismissal before the Spring Break Apr 8, 2:35-3:15, Elementary Assembly, Short presentations and performances to celebrate children's learning in select electives Apr 15, 2:35-3:15, Elementary Assembly, Grade 5 will share the actions they created as part of their Exhibition unit Over the past three weeks, the Playgroup children have been interested in firefighters. The children participated in role-plays and created a firetruck and fire extinguishers out of recyclables. The children were invited to watch a demonstration about how to use fire extinguishers, and they went on a fire extinguisher hunt around the school to count how many fire extinguishers are on the second floor from building A to C, documenting their count by tallying and taking photos with the iPad. Through the hunt, the children gained experience in counting, one-to-one correspondence, collecting data, and had a lot of fun! The children have been reading a book called, Fire Truck by Ivan Ulz. There is a page that describes what firefighters do when they go back to station, including what they eat. To make their learning meaningful and connected to their life, the students were invited to make a meal described in the story as, “hot, hot chicken, hot, hot macaroni and cheese and hot, hot broccoli.“ They washed, cut, and cooked the meal (with some assistance). They all enjoyed the meal, just like in the book. We love following the children and their interest in firefighters! Next up, a field trip to the firehouse! ISA-ACERBIFS is happy to host student teachers (teachers in training) as a means of supporting those who are beginning their careers. The students also benefit from these exchanges by having another adult in the room working with them. We have two student teachers starting soon in 2R and 5G. More info will come shortly, with a short bio on each student teacher, once the details of their participation have been finalized.The grade 3-5 students showed excellent focus and effort during the ISA-ACER testing on Wednesday and Thursday. Because portions of the test are hand-scored by trained scorers, the results can take several months. We will be sending your child’s score report via email after it arrives. Student TeachersBIFS is happy to host student teachers (teachers in training) as a means of supporting those who are beginning their careers. The students also benefit from these exchanges by having another adult in the room working with them. We have two student teachers starting soon in 2R and 5G. More info will come shortly, with a short bio on each student teacher, once the details of their participation have been finalized. Lunar New YearA selection of our elementary students performed skits and songs teaching about Lunar New Year in Korea, led by our wonderful Korean teachers, Ms. Shin, Ms. Meng, and Ms. Park. We will be uploading photos to the ES blog once they are available. Thanks for bringing teaching us so much, students and teachers! The elementary division wishes you a Happy Lunar New Year! Thank you warmly for your contributions to the gift baskets for our contracted staff -- what a lovely way to say thank you for the part they play in making school a safe, pleasant environment. We were so thankful to receive items not only from the elementary, but also from some of our upper school students and the PTA. Flakes!Last week our electives class Elementary Drama Club gave an outstanding performance of a musical called “Flakes.” The story was not only a celebration of our winter snowflakes, but also encapsulated our school motto, “United in our Diversity, Thriving in our Individuality” as the individual snowflakes learned that they are in some ways all the same, yet in other ways all unique. What a fun way to keep our motto alive and real to the students! Thank you to Ms. Emily, Ms. Waldman, and Ms. Swenson for leading the elective. Here is a link, if you’d like to view the show, and you can check out more photos on the ES blog. Upcoming Elementary EventsFeb 22, Term 3 Electives Begin
Feb 26, 2:35-3:15, Elementary Assembly Students who took part in the First Lego League elective and competition in Seoul will give feedback about their experience and share what it was all about. Feb 26, 2:35-3:15, Elementary Assembly Grade 1 will present their learning related to their Unit of Inquiry and their work on opinion writing Mar 1, No school for students; Professional development day for faculty On January 25-26, BIFS hosted this year’s PYP East Asia annual network meeting. This group is composed of the PYP leadership teams in PYP schools in Japan and Korea. We have eighteen participants in the meeting who discussed about curriculum developments of the PYP schools in the region. Earlier this month, Ms Haley Melville and Ms Marie Eksteen joined the PYP Exhibition job-alike at Taejeon Christian International School. Later this year, we will be participating in a Math job-alike in Seoul. Lunar New Year Gift CollectionWith less than one week to collect items, we encourage you to make a quick trip to Emart, Costco, or Homeplus and grab a few of the things listed below. Please help us say THANK YOU to our contracted support staff! We will be collecting donations to create gift baskets for the 50 employees in these areas. We will collect traditional food and personal care items, such as:
Please send your donations in with your child and they will be collected in the ES office. Donations can be brought to school any time between now and February 3. Feel free to send multiple items since we have many gift sets to create. Parent volunteers are welcome to come create the baskets on February 4 at 9:00 am. If you are interested, please inform the ES office. ELC Parent CoffeeBack by popular demand, we will host an ELC parent coffee on reading aloud to your child. Sure, we all read to our kids and understand how important this is to developing pre-literacy skills. However, there are certain questioning and reflection techniques you can use when reading with your child that will help to build a deeper understanding of stories and language. You can also practice pre-literacy reading with your child by teaching some critical reading skills, such as book orientation, finger pointing, and initial letter-sound recognition. These skills and concepts can lead to stronger reading skills in your child as he/she becomes an independent reader. Please join our ELC Parent Coffee at the ELC Hall on February 17th, Wednesday, from 2:15-3:15. Parent Coffee - PYP ExhibitionThank you to all parents who attended our information session regarding the PYP Exhibition. We were also pleased to have some students from grades 6 and 7 to share their experiences about their PYP Exhibition. Thank you to Victoria Machac, Kyle Park, Yenna Choi, Maya Moon, Zwa Inyoni and Yasar Ocackli.
To see the presentation slides, go to http://bit.ly/1KDPfIK.
The Lunar New Year is fast upon us! The elementary division would love your support in creating gift baskets for our contracted staff (school bus, maintenance, cafeteria, and security teams) to say thank you and Happy New Year! We will be collecting donations to create gift baskets for the 50 employees in these areas. We will collect traditional food and personal care items, such as:
Parent volunteers are welcome to come create the baskets on February 4 at 9:00 am. If you are interested, please inform the ES office.Thank you for your contributions! Other news...Three-Way Conferences
Thank you very much for attending the conferences this week. Please make sure to fill out the feedback form about the event. This information will be useful in improving our conferences as we review the feedback over the course of the year. http://goo.gl/forms/GmcyFkgaw7 ELC Parent Coffee Back by popular demand, we will host an ELC parent coffee on reading aloud to your child. Sure, we all read to our kids and understand how important this is to developing pre-literacy skills. However, there are certain questioning and reflection techniques you can use when reading with your child that will help to build a deeper understanding of stories and language. You can also practice pre-literacy reading with your child by teaching some critical reading skills, such as book orientation, finger pointing, and initial letter-sound recognition. These skills and concepts can lead to stronger reading skills in your child as he/she becomes an independent reader. Please join our ELC Parent Coffee at the ELC Hall on February 17th, Wednesday, from2:15-3:15. We ES Parent Coffee This month’s Parent Coffee will be on January 27, from 9:00-10:00 at the ES Hall. The topic will be about the PYP Exhibition in Grade 5. We welcome all ES parents to attend, and strongly encourage all Grade 5 parents to come and learn more about how they can support their child’s inquiry at home. What is the PYP Exhibition? The Exhibition is a requirement for students completing their last year in the PYP, typically in Grade (Grade 6 in some schools). All authorized IB PYP schools are required to participate in the exhibition. During the Exhibition, students engage in a collaborative inquiry process that involves them in identifying, investigating and offering solutions to real life issues or problems. How can parents help?
PYP Second Authorization Visit Our PYP program is authorized by the IBO, and we are preparing for our second authorization visit in the spring of 2017. While the visit is more than a year away, there is much leg-work to be done to document all of the wonderful work we are doing here in our PYP program. We see authorization and accreditation visits as an opportunity to celebrate what we are doing well, and to set goals for the school in areas we want to develop. Sounds a bit like the Three-Way Conferences for our students, doesn’t it? We are excited about the authorization process and the opportunity for external validation of our program. Upcoming Elementary Events Jan 27, 9:00-10:00 am, Elementary Parent Coffee on Grade 5 Exhibition: This Parent Coffee targeted to Grade 5 parents, but everyone is welcome to join and learn about the student-led inquiry in the PYP. Jan 29, 2:35-3:15 pm, Elementary Assembly The Elementary Drama Club will present 'Flakes'. Watch as all the flakes in the blizzard help the littlest snowflake see that no two flakes are alike and everyone is unique! Feb 5, School-wide Assembly Lunar New Year Assembly Feb 12, 2:35-3:15 pm, Elementary Assembly Grade 5 will share what they have learned in their unit about media literacy and share some of the media messages they have created. Feb 17 and 18, ISA ACER Testing (PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE) Grades 3-5 will take the external assessments provided by ISA-ACER. More details in a separate article. -Anne Sweet, Elementary Principal and Leda Cedo, PYP Coordinator |
Nate Swenson
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