International School of Paris

'Where the world goes to school'

Grade 3 Newsletter February and March 2013
Dear Grade 3 Parents, Thank you very much for attending the student-led conferences. It was a joy to see the students enthusiasm and pride while sharing their learning with you. Please take the time to read this newsletter carefully to learn more about what is happening in Grade 3 in February and March. One highlight is sure to be the visit of Dr Jane Goodall on Wednesday, February 13. The students will have the opportunity to share their own organisations and ask questions to Jane about her work and the action she takes in the world. Also, we hope you will be able to attend International Day on Saturday, March 23, to celebrate our diverse community.

Unit of Inquiry
Last month, the students worked in groups to create a small organisation to try and make a difference in the world. Students realised the importance of working cooperatively and being organised to work with deadlines. These skills will help the students in their upcoming language work. We have just started our new unit Effective Communication. The students will be inquiring into the central idea: Many factors determine how effective communication is to an audience. In doing so, the students will be exploring different forms of communication such as visual, written and spoken forms. We will try to explore forms of communication from different cultures. If you have examples of communication that you would like to share or you are able to send in with your child, this would really help make the unit more diverse. In this unit, the students will be asked to consider what makes communication effective to an audience, and will consider factors such as voice projection, word choice and creativity. We also plan to take advantage of the cultural opportunities Paris offers for field trips. Towards the end of March, we will start the 5th unit of inquiry called Its Not Fair! In this unit, the students will have the chance to inquire into the concepts of fairness and equal opportunities and learn about different case studies featuring people who are treated differently due to things such as race, gender and age.

Language
In language, students will learn how to entertain by writing and communicating a story to a particular audience. They will engage in the steps of the writing process and work in groups to write their short story. Children will use different ways of planning their story in a group, e.g. brainstorming, notes, diagrams, etc. taking inspiration from a variety of sources. Within their stories, they will develop believable characters, setting, plots and resolution by connecting to their own experience. They will write character sketches, focusing on small details to evoke sympathy or dislike for example. They will select and examine opening sentences that set scenes and capture interest. They will use paragraphs to organise and sequence the narrative. They will use language to help their readers to imagine. To do this, the students will experiment with language by trimming or extending sentences; experimenting with powerful and expressive verbs; and exploring metaphors. They will comment constructively on different forms of communication including plays and performances, discussing effects and how they are achieved.

Mathematics
The students will be revisiting measurement this term. This time, students will focus on learning about how standard units are used in real-life situations when measuring perimeter, area and volume. The students will then go on to expand their knowledge of time by learning how to read and write digital and analogue time on 12-hour and 24-hour clocks. In March, they will then

learn about fractions, decimals and money. Students will first work on reading, writing, comparing and ordering fractions in related families, as well as equivalent fractions. They will then learn about the language of fractions such as numerators and denominators and will attempt to add and subtract fractions with related denominators. The students will then go on to learn about how to add and subtract numbers with decimals to the tenths place and will read, write, compare and order decimal fractions to tenths or beyond. They will learn how to use decimals in real-life situations through the use of money. Although the students are moving away from learning multiplication and division strategies, we will continue to focus on developing their times tables. Please help your child by continuing to work on their times tables with them at home on a regular basis.

ICT
The students have put their ICT skills to use by creating personal profiles which describe their personality, things they are good at, activities they enjoy, things they are concerned about and areas they could improve on. This task was a great way to reflect on who they are and how they learn. It also helped to set some goals for things to work on. The students have also been using PowerPoint to build flow charts to show the roles and responsibilities of teachers around the school or about the members of their class. For our new unit, the students will use a variety of ICT skills to bring their created story to life. Using graphic programs such as Comic Life and 2Animate, they will learn to use comic strips, speech bubbles and animations. The students have all received their Rosetta Stone account details and have trialled the program in class. We hope they will have the opportunity to share their learning of languages at home, too.

French
Sara: In January, the students enjoyed both sessions of the theatre workshop. They expressed a variety of descriptive words such as rabougri, suspicieux and fier through their body and their facial expressions. They were enthusiastic about writing for our newspaper called Le ptit franais. You have probably seen the first issue and the quality work they produced. This activity will help them understand that, in order to communicate effectively, they need to take into account their audience. In February and March, we will work on the concept of narrator through the reading of Histoire quatre voix by A. Brown as we did not have the time last month. Then, they will apply their understanding to rewriting a part of a storytelling through the perspective of several characters. These productions will be published in the next issue of our newspaper. Then, the students will study various grammatical homophones in order to improve their writing. Franoise: In January, the students enjoyed sharing the Galette des Rois. They learned about a part of French tradition. In February, they have started to learn time and enjoyed the activities. They are still working on the tenses and now understand the difference between present tense and past tense. Christine: In January, the children have worked on sounds in order to improve their oral and written work. In February, they will continue to work on sounds through stories. They will also work on French conjugaison. The children will read aloud in class a short book called Mamie Ptronille et le ruban jaune. They will discuss and do activities around the story. Agns: This month the children will do several activities about three French celebrations: La Chandeleur, La Saint Valentin, La MiCarme and Carnaval. We will work on the vocabulary of feelings, les crpes and les dguisements, as well as the winter sports, reading little texts and participating in audiovisual sessions.

PE
For the unit on orienteering, Grade 3 students have begun by looking at a map of their local area and marked their pathway to and from the school and park. The students have completed a Nature Scavenger Hunt, where they were asked to look for, photograph and mark on a map, natural things around them. The students have also been introduced to the main compass points, explored the directions given and used clues provided to them to create a set of common words. During their time, the students have shown their ability to problem solve, work in teams and be persistent. During February, we will continue to explore maps of the local environment. We will also continue to use the local area to build stamina when we endeavour to complete long distance

running tasks. Finally, we will be introducing the students to a camping lifestyle, by asking them to put up tents and consider what things may be packed in their back-pack. We look forward to an adventurous month ahead! Currently in dance, students are working on the composition of the dance Jigsaw. They are looking at beat actions and non-beat actions and how to combine both into a smooth performance. They are also working on developing their individual strength so that they can support and be supported in balances. To achieve this goal, the students will be getting exercises to practise in their own time.

Art
Grade 3 students have been introduced to printmaking. They started by creating monotypes by covering a surface with ink using a roller and then created their image by using a dry brush to scratch the ink off the surface. This is one of a kind type of print and does not allow variations. After that, they used polystyrene plates which became the mould from which the prints were made. With the help of an old fashioned printing press, which we borrowed from Secondary School, students were able to explore their creativity to the fullest. They created different variations of colour, and used improvisational techniques and experimental methods that produced one-of a-kind, unique pieces. In the following months, they will focus on the elements of design and explore how these elements can influence the power of communication.

Music
During the month of January, Grade 3 students worked on completing their portfolios and reflecting on work they have done over the year so far. The students also worked on the solfge music notes learning their position on the musical staff, their corresponding Kodaly hand sign and colour, and the aural recognition of these notes. We used tuned percussion instruments and songs from different countries and genres to reinforce this learning. In January, students also began to learn recorder in their rotation groups. These groupings allow for the students to develop their musicianship skills at the appropriate level. Learning recorder allows the students to develop their music reading fluency, playing technique and performance skills. They will continue to learn recorder in their rotation groups, right throughout the year. During the months of February and March, in their class groups, Grade 3 will link with the unit "Effective Communications." During this unit the students will look at how musicians can communicate effectively with each other, without language, through an understanding of the composer's intentions and/or each other's intention when performing. They will also look at how a music conductor communicates effectively with his orchestra.

Library
The children have begun to delve into the ways in which the resources are organized in the library and will continue to develop their understanding over the coming month. In conjunction with the unit of inquiry about communication, the children will also be exploring poetry as a form of communication, with emphasis on the performance poetry of Benjamin Zephaniah. The children will explore the poetry books available in the library and may even like to perform a poem of their choice. The children will reflect on what makes performance poetry effective. We have again included the Tumblebooks link and password. This is a great way to share eBooks with your child. To access the site you will need this link: http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/auto_login.asp?U=isparis&P=books. You will then need to put in the username: isparis and password: books. Please do not hesitate in contacting me should you have any queries concerning your childs library time at mmetail@isparis.edu.

Cross Cultural Events

On Wednesday, February 6, we celebrated Chinese New Year. The students enjoyed the music and learning to eat with chopsticks. This week we will be thinking about the people we love and our friendships for Valentines Day. Just before the ski break the students will be dressing up for a joint Carnival and Purim party to learn about these two religious occasions. Saturday, March 23, will be our annual International Day. This is a family event and a favourite with the children. Mark your calendars now! Thank you to everybody for your continued support in sharing your celebrations.

Eco Ecole

The Eco Ecole students are very excited that Dr. Jane Goodall, world famous for her work with chimpanzees, is coming to visit our community. They have been researching her life and work. They are preparing a gift for her in the form of a book. They have also made some large posters of chimpanzees to display around the school and they will be involved in earning money as part of our Primary School help-a-chimp drive.

English as an Additional Language

Listening is a very important skill for all students. It can be especially important for children learning a new language. You can help your child develop his/her listening skills at home by using some of the many sites available on the Internet or borrowing audio books from the EAL room. Your child can listen and read along to the story. Listening to the same stories several times is particularly beneficial. Some of the sites are: http://en.childrenslibrary.org http://www.storylineonline.net http://pbskids.org/lions/stories

Discuss with me
Different forms of communication Factors that affect effective communication Elements of a story (setting, characters, plot, resolution) Area, perimeter and volume of shapes Analogue and digital time (both 12-hour and 24-hour) Rosetta Stone and how to access this at home

Communication
Should you need to communicate with any of the Grade 3 team, our emails are as follows: Erin Oliver eoliver@isparis.edu Sean Walker swalker@isparis.edu Adivije May amay@isparis.edu Fiona Kemp fkemp@isparis.edu

Vocabulary
Communication, effective, setting, characters, plot, expression, voice projection, pause, area, perimeter and volume Best wishes, Fiona, Erin, Sean, Adivije, Christine, Agnes, Franoise, Marianne, Sara, Anna, Michelle, Barbara, Florence
International School of Paris (www.isparis.edu) 'Where the world goes to school' Tel: +33 1 42 24 09 54 Fax: +33 1 45 27 15 93