Table of Contents Message from the Principal page 01 Message from Head of Elementary page 01 - 02 Pre-K Updates
page 03 - 04
K1 Updates K2 Updates
page 05 page 06 - 10
Grade 1 Updates
page 11
Grade 2 Updates Grade 3 Updates
page 12 page 13 - 15
Grade 4 Updates
page 16
Grade 5 Updates
page 17
PYP Updates
page 18
PE Updates French Updates
Message from the Principal It seems so long since the previous newsletter, and when I go to the school website to see what has been added to it since that date, it is quite a shock. Immediately after the January newsletter we had the Tet celebrations in the school, which was big, colourful, noisy but most of all it was fun. Then we have had a host of field trips ranging from local outdoor sites, museums and galleries (where we bumped into a TV film crew and the students became the main feature of a news item), and a three-day trip to the Cuc Phuong National Park. Also, in the past few weeks we have held our annual International Day, where our parents played a big part in cooking food, sending children to school in national dress and colours of their flag, walking with their children behind their national flag, and enjoying the whole-school assembly. Then, the week after, we celebrated International Water Day, on a Saturday morning with lots of “wet� (in a nice way) events. Then we had the small matter of the IB sending an accreditation officer from New Zealand, to consult with us on how and when to take our formal accreditation. It is quite normal for the recommendation to be for 18-months or two years in the future, with it being in one-year for schools with a very strong foundation, or three-years in schools with a lot of development needed. We were delighted to be told we should apply for final accreditation in only one year. This validates the hard work being done by the current teachers, and should be a cause for celebration by all our parents. You are able to read about most of the above items on the school website, where you will also see details of forth-coming events, such as the sports day on 17th April and the Spring break from 27th April until 4th May.
page 18
Bryan Manditsch Principal
page 19 - 21
Science & Maths Updates page 22 Music & Drama Updates page 23 Arts Updates
page 24 - 25
Vietnamese Updates page 26 - 27 ICT Updates Humanities Updates English Updates
page 28 page 29 page 29
Page 01
Message from Head of Elementary
Upcoming Events
From the desk of the Head of Elementary …. Could it already be the end of March? Time has flown by so quickly this term. Many thanks to all of the parents that attended this week’s PYP parent meeting with Ann Green. We truly appreciated your enthusiasm and feel blessed learning of your thoughts of how to move our school forward, towards authorization. As always, we look forward to working with you, to further develop your child’s educational prowess and individual needs.
April
Just as a reminder, this term’s ECAs will commence on April 6th. A schedule will be sent out to your email accounts next week that will highlight your child’s chosen ECA. Information on School Placements …. ISV wants all students to be successful and we believe this begins with appropriate placement within the school. The subject of “which grade” is always a concern for parents, as names and numbers (for classes/grades) used at ISV may not be the same as those used in one’s home country. Because we have such a diverse population of students, as a matter of policy, students are placed in their age appropriate grade according to the cut-off birth date of September 1st. For example, students must be three years old on or before September 1st, 2011, to enter the Pre-K program, four years old on or before September 1st, 2010, to enter the K-1 program, and so on.
Apr
9
Apr
-
10
Professional Development or Staff (No school)
Apr
17
Sports Day
Apr
Saturday Spring Celebration
18 Apr
27
May
to
1
Spring Break
Once a grade placement is determined, we encourage parents to speak directly to the classroom teacher if a child’s educational needs are not being met. Our class sizes are small and our teachers are able to cater to a variety of needs, yet this can only be achieved if there is effective communication between the teacher and the parent. Another understandable concern for parents is: what happens when the family returns to their home country? Will my child be sufficiently prepared? Recent history has shown that students who are performing at grade level in ISV and return to their home countries, are usually at, or above grade level in their new school. However, if you are returning to a southern hemisphere system, parents need to understand that there may be a 6 month difference between the beginning and ending dates, and a decision will need to be made regarding “grade” placement. Please see the table below.
Age of child
Date of birth (DOB)
ISV Class Placement
3+
1 Sep 11 – 31 Aug 12
Pre-kindergarten
4+
1 Sep 10 – 31 Aug 11
Kindergarten 1
5+
1 Sep 09 – 31 Aug 10
Kindergarten 2
6+
1 Sep 08 – 31 Aug 09
Grade 1
7+
1 Sep 07 – 31 Aug 08
Grade 2
8+
1 Sep 06 – 31 Aug 07
Grade 3
9+
1 Sep 05 – 31 Aug 06
Grade 4
10+
1 Sep 04 – 31 Aug 05
Grade 5
11+
1 Sep 03 – 31 Aug 04
Grade 6
12+
1 Sep 02 – 31 Aug 03
Grade 7
13+
1 Sep 01 – 31 Aug 02
Grade 8
14+
1 Sep 00 – 31 Aug 01
Grade 9
15+
1 Sep 99 – 31 Aug 00
Grade 10
16+
1 Sep 98 – 31 Aug 99
Grade 11
17+
1 Sep 97 – 31 Aug 98
Grade 12
Page 02
Patricia McLoughlin
Pre-K Updates by Ms. Lakshmi
Our new Unit of Inquiry ‘Homes’, started on the 25th of February!! Pre K kids are architects in the making with ‘building different types of homes’ like houseboats, stilted houses, tents etc. with different materials like blocks, junk, polydrons and cloth.
We are learning our numbers.
Page 03
Pre-K Updates by Ms. Lakshmi We went on an observation walk to observe the ‘homes’ around our school, with our buddies.
We are ‘sorting’ furniture around the house into the appropriate rooms.
A big ‘Thank you’ to all the parents for your support by sending in pictures of your homes - both here and your home country!
We are learning sounds of alphabets and can recognize the sounds ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘t’ and ‘i’!
Page 04
K1 updates from Ms. Michele
As part of our Tet celebrations and building our understanding of Vietnamese culture, Grade 4 and K1 children collaborated to make dragon heads. We brainstormed ideas and looked at examples such as traditional Vietnamese dragon dance heads. The children then split into three groups, planned and designed their own dragon heads using cardboard boxes. Each group had to work together to make decisions about the design, colour and features of the dragon.
Once our heads were completed, both classes practiced dragon dancing to the beat of the drum, weaving in and out of the tables and chairs in the classroom. They then performed this dance throughout the school as part of the Tet celebrations.
Page 05
K2 Updates by Ms. Boriana
1.
Find something in the classroom that you have no explanation for
2.
Generate some questions
3.
Look around your local environment and see what you can find
Name: Boriana Stoaynova Department: PYP/ K2
Page 06
K2 Updates by Ms. Boriana
4.
5.
Look through printed materials and organise your understandings
Find out more; create and take action
a.
b. Page 07
K2 Updates by Ms. Boriana
See w
h at m
t er e ore in
sts yo
u
7.
6. Find out about it
Keep asking and experimenting
8.
9.
Share your thoughts
Page 08
K2 Updates by Ms. Boriana
10.
Express your understanding in different ways
Hey, did you read that?
Throw some language and mathematics in the mix
11. Page 09
K2 Updates by Ms. Boriana
Have some games along the way
12. And don't forget to celebrate!
13.
The end! Page 10
Grade 1 updates from Ms. Sacha
Grade 1 updates from Ms. Sacha
Our inquiry on “Plants are a life-sustaining resource for us and other living things” continues. We visited the Botanical Gardens and investigated the structure of different types of plants. We noticed an unusual type of plant where some roots hung from the branches and attached themselves to the soil. We also tried to see how the plants are connected to other livings things in the Botanical Gardens. We observed that the pigeons ate seeds and the monkeys ate bananas. Without the different parts of these plants, these animals wouldn’t be able to survive. In class, we continued to look at what plants provide for us and other living things through videos. We learned how to use the search box in YouTube to help us find videos to answer our questions. We visually depicted how plants are connected to living things through diagrams.
In Language Arts, we continued to read informational texts, to help us identify the main idea and details of a book. These skills are our building blocks that will help us towards doing independent research in our future inquiries. We also learned about how adjectives have superlatives – short, shorter & shortest, and tall, taller and tallest. This knowledge helped us describe our plants. In addition, to help us apply the usage of capital letters in our writing, we learned about what common and proper nouns are. In Math, we learned how to measure length using centimeters. Students applied their knowledge by measuring plants and block towers, and drawing lines. We continue to review the skills they learned throughout the year, such as addition and subtraction, and telling time.
This week, the students learned about how we can be responsible for taking care of plants. This means making sure that they have sunlight, enough water, good soil, air, and space to grow.
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Grade 2 Updates from Ms. Angela
Grade 2 Updates from Ms. Angela Dear Parents, As part of our Unit of inquiry ‘Lifecycles’ the children visited the Botanical Gardens. We were able to observe several stages of various lifecycles during our visit. For example, we saw trees and animals at various stages of growth. The children were very excited when walking and observing their surroundings! They did a great job at drawing pictures of what they saw. Back at school, we worked on labeling the pictures and we organized events of the day into a sequential ‘map.’ This helped the children write excellent recounts about their experiences. This writing piece has been assessed and placed in each child’s portfolio.
In Maths, the children have worked hard on developing their skills in division and now we are investigating adding several digits. Although most of the children have been able to add the numerals quite well, we have also looked at estimating (good ‘guess’) and checking each answer. When engaging in Maths activities, it is important the children also learn to reflect and check their answer is correct. I have also updated all of the children’s reading levels on razkids.com. Please let me know if your child experiences any difficulties. Thank you for working with your child when researching their chosen lifecycle. I look forward to their presentations next week! Another exciting aspect of our Lifecycles Unit has involved the children planting their own seeds and observing their growth. Unfortunately, some of the seeds we planted initially did not grow very well and I think this may be due to the soil lacking nutrients. I ordered better soil and we planted more seeds. Although it was somewhat disappointing the first batch of seeds did not grow that well, it proved to be a good opportunity for the children to investigate why this may be the case. The children have really enjoyed looking after their seedlings and observing how they have grown over time. We have kept records of the changes in a log book.
Regards, Angela.
Page 12
Grade 3 updates from Ms. Selena
Activity 1 (Linguistic Intelligence) Jong Yun reading a book
Activity 2 (Logical-Mathematical Intelligence) Jun Hyeok and Vu answering Math puzzles
Activity 3 (Spatial Intelligence) Sun Ju drawing a picture of a stuffed tiger
The third graders have started their fifth Unit of Inquiry titled “Knowing about Ourselves”. The central idea for this unit is, “Awareness of our characteristics, talents, and abilities informs us of our learning and development.” For their Tuning In, students were given one whole day to explore their interests and intelligences. Eight different activities that catered to the eight Multiple Intelligences were prepared for them. The students had a lot of fun reading books, answering Math puzzles, drawing pictures, listening to music, dancing “Gangnam Style”, writing about their feelings, solving a human knot game with their classmates, and going out for a nature walk. The following day, students were asked to write down what activities they liked the most and which they liked the least. Many said that they enjoyed dancing and solving the human knot the most, but found Math puzzles difficult to do and therefore, found it to be the least appealing. Activity 4 (Musical Intelligence) Nene listening to music
Activity 5 (Bodily-Kinaesthetic Intelligence) The whole class dancing to “Gangnam Style”
Activity 7 (Interpersonal Intelligence) The whole class solving a human knot game by communicating with each other
Activity 6 (Intrapersonal Intelligence) Phuc writing about his feelings
Activity 8 (Naturalist Intelligence) The boys drawing a millipede that they found during their nature walk out in the playground
Page 13
Grade 3 updates from Ms. Selena
As a follow-up to the UOI Tuning In activity, students answered Multiple Intelligence questionnaires to find out which areas their strengths and weaknesses are. Students sorted out their results in bar graphs. Next week, t hey will have family members answer the same questionnaire to find patterns in strengths and weaknesses within their families.
For Language Arts, the third graders have been learning how to write friendly emails. During the pre-writing stage, they were asked to think of what they wanted to write in their salutation, body, and closing. Then, they wrote their drafts and had them edited. Finally, they typed their emails using the computer. Mr. Michael gave each student an ISV email account. The students sent their first emails to their parents this week and are looking forward to getting replies!
Page 14
Grade 3 updates from Ms. Selena International Day
13.03.2015
Page 15
Grade 4 updates from Ms. Penny Inquiry
New inquiry!
This week we finished our inquiry into the human body. Each student has completed a project focused on one body system which answered three questions: - How does the system work? - How is it connected to other body systems? - What can you do to keep this system healthy?
We will be starting a new inquiry next week! Central idea: Throughout history, people have interacted with each other and communicated using arts. Lines of inquiry: • How people communicate through arts • How art works provide insight and information • The role of arts in different cultures, places and times More information about this inquiry will be sent in the unit overview.
Maths Students finished making their maths games, practicing their skills of converting between fractions, decimals and percentages. This week we have been focused on learning about probability.
They have also completed a written explanation of how the body systems work. Below are excerpts from their explanations. Students have their work on display on their e-portfolio.
This week we farewelled Seung Kyeom who is moving on to her new school. Good luck Seung Kyeom!
Page 16
Grade 5 Updates from Mr. Rob Unit Of Inquiry Over the last month Grade 5 have been working on their new inquiry which involves the students investigating a number of biomes (small ecosystems) like deserts, coral reefs, forests and aquatic. Our central idea is: Biodiversity relies on maintaining the interdependent balance of organisms within systems. And our lines of inquiry are: • Ways in which ecosystems, biomes and environments are interdependent • How human interaction with the environment can affect the balance of systems • The consequences of imbalance within ecosystems To date the students have researched the ways in which biomes and ecosystems are interdependent and how humans have impacted a biome. They have discovered that humans mainly have a negative impact on an ecosystem, however, humans can also have a positive impact on ecosystems. An example is banning people from hunting animals that are endangered. Another example is put boardwalks up so that people can view the beauty of a biome, but not destroy the fragile foliage at the same time. Our major excursion for this inquiry will be the 3-day camp at Cuc Phuong National Park. The preparations are well under way for our time on camp and with almost all Grade 5 and 6 students attending the excitement levels are really starting to build. There is an information session on Monday 30th March where parents and students can ask questions about camp starting at 2:15pm in the library. In mathematics, grade 5 are have been collecting data about the traffic passing by our school. They then collate the data and use an appropriate graph to represent the data. The students have now finished the construction of their bedrooms to scale and all have done a wonderful job. When your are in next please call by the classroom to see the students hard work. In Literacy, Grade 5 have been developing their non-chronological (information) report writing skills. As part of the process the students are researching a biome, using a graphic organiser to plan their report and then they write their report. Here are some photos of the planning phase.
Important Dates to remember: • Monday 30th March Camp information session in the library starting at 2:15pm. • 1st – 3rd April Grade 5 and 6 camp at Cuc Phuong National Park.
Page 17
P.E updates from Mr. Liam
PYP Updates from Ms. Sacha March 27, 2015
Greetings all,
Dear Parents,
Cooperative games continue to be a major focus during the warm up stage as students display what they know, and what they have learnt. This is where students display the warm up and stretching routine of the lesson and then move on to cooperative games. The focus in PE continues with big balls and small balls. This includes catching, throwing, hitting and striking. The sports we have been working on include basketball, modified hockey, non-stop kick ball, and non-stop cricket. The skill level at the moment is good, however we continue to improve as we move through the unit. I am attempting to organise more interschool sports and I am waiting for a their schedules. Mr. Alex and his football clinics during ECA time are going very well, with the students showing a lot of enthusiasm. Mr. Alex continues to coach the teams during inter school games: thank you for that. Any questions or suggestions you have, please contact me.
March has been a very busy month. We have just finished our IB Consultation visit and have received plenty of positive feedback from Ann Green, our consultant. She commented on the warm and friendly atmosphere of the school, and enjoyed her discussions with the teachers, students and parents. She also shared many recommendations which will help move our school forward. This includes increasing our library collection and the professional development opportunities for our staff. As mentioned in the previous community newsletter, I will be sharing some tips on how to promote the learner profile attributes within your family. At ISV, we strive to be Caring, Inquirers, Principled, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Open-Minded, Courageous, Balanced and Reflective. In the last newsletter, I wrote about how you can support your child to be more caring at home. In this issue, I’d like to share three tips on how you can help your child be an Inquirer. What does being an inquirer look like? Inquirers are naturally curious. They have the skills to find the answers to their questions. They show a love of learning.
Regards, Mr. Liam
How can you promote being an Inquirer within your family? First, provide your child with novel experiences that provoke curiosity. This may include visiting a park, trying out a new restaurant, watching a play or going to a museum. Hanoi provides plenty of novel experiences for families who are courageous enough to explore Hanoian culture! Second, encourage your child to wonder and ask questions about their experiences. One way to do this is to give your children a journal. Every time, they have questions, they can jot these down. Let them know that you value their questions and you will help them find their answers. If you don’t know the answers, it’s okay. It’s an opportunity for you to model that you are an Inquirer too! Third, help your child find the answers. This may be through asking an “expert”. They can also find their answers through books and looking through websites such as ‘Brainpop’ and ‘YouTube’. Where possible, do experiments to help your child think about the answers and come up with conclusions based on their observations. If you have any stories, on how your child exhibited being an Inquirer, please share this with us so we can also celebrate it in school! Warm regards, Sacha
Page 18
French Updates from Ms Perrine K1 (Zoé, Ji woo and Minatsu) Bonjour! Récemment Zoé, Ji Woo et Minatsu ont appris les fruits en français (la pomme, la poire, la banane, la fraise, la pastèque, le raisin, l'ananas, l'orange et les cerises) Les filles savent maintenant dire de quelles couleurs sont les fruits, s'ils sont grands ou petits et si c'est bon ou si ce n'est pas bon. Sur le site internet Youtube nous avons révisé le vocabulaire et joué à reconnaitre les fruits mentionnés:
(Ji Woo montre la fraise)
(Ji Woo montre la fraise)
(Minatsu montre la banane) Puis nous avons appris et chanté une chanson sur le thème des fruits:
Page 19
French Updates from Ms Perrine Grade 2 (Chuong)
Grade 1 (Lucy, Homare, Jonathan) Depuis maintenant plusieurs semaines nous étudions la date. Lucy, Homare et Jonathan savent dire la date en français en commençant par le jour de la semaine puis la date et enfin le mois. Ils savent maintenant dire leur date de naissance et chanter la chanson des mois de l'année et la chanson " Joyeux Anniversaire".
Chuong apprend en ce moment les moyens de transport. Tout d'abord, il découvre le vocabulaire puis le répète et enfin associe l'image avec le mot. Lors de la session suivante, il s'entraine à écrire le vocabulaire sur le tableau puis sur un site internet spécialisé dans l'apprentissage des langues donc voici l'addresse: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline/french/french.html
Retrouvez sur internet les chan- l apprendra ensuite à répondre aux différentes questions relatives au sons sur les jours de thème abordé. la semaine et sur les mois de l'année sur youtube.
Voici Homare, Jonathan et Lucy entrain de remettre les mois de l'année dans l'ordre. Depuis deux semaines, les enfants de grade 1 créent un calendrier.
Grade 3 Depuis plusieurs mois Laura continue à s'entrainer à la lecture. Et depuis une semaine Laura essaie d'améliorer sa compréhension orale. Nous avons joué à un jeu qui ressemble au "qui est qui". Le but du jeu est de trouver le hibou que l'adversaire choisi en secret. Pour cela, Laura doit poser des questions sur les hiboux, comprendre la réponse de l'adversaire et éliminer au fur et à mesure les hiboux qui ne correspondent pas à la réponse de l'adversaire. Puis elle s'est entrainé à écrire les questions et les réponses sur son cahier.
C'est le mois de mars, c'est le printemps!! C'est le mois d'août nous mangeons des glaces!!
Laura (Grade 3)
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French Updates from Ms Perrine Grade 6, 7 and 8
Grade4, 5 Les élèves des grades 4 et 5 ont étudié les routines de la journée. Ils savent maintenant parler de l'heure qu'il est, les routines de la journée et répondre aux questions posées par le professeur en rapport avec leur routine de la journée. Voici le résultat de leur travail:
Les élèves des grades 6, 7 et 8 commencent à étudier pour le GCSE. Sachant que les consignes des exercices seront en français nous avons lues, étudier les différentes consignes et essayer de deviner leur signification en anglais. Le but était de faire des paires. Lorsque les élèves ont réussi à associer les mots et les phrases avec leur traduction, nous avons regardé quelles consignent étaient les plus difficiles à comprendre ou bien à deviner et ils ont recopié les plus difficiles sur leur cahier.
La journée d'Alexander (Grade 5)
La journée de Mei (Grade 4)
Page 21
Science & Maths Updates from Ms. Mridula In Mathematics, the middle school students have been working on statistical data and analysis. After completing the units on statistics, probability and handling data, followed by unit tests, they will further develop their knowledge and skills in geometry following the topics covered during the first semester. Grade 7 and Grade 8 will be doing the unit on transformations and congruence, while Grade 6 will be focusing on triangles, quadrilaterals and threedimensional shapes. Activities, assignments, projects, tests and quizzes will continue to be a part of learning and assessments.
In Science, the students have prepared presentations on their chosen topics, highlighting their observations during their study tour to the Lotte and Keangnam Towers, and their recent study on human activity and ecosystems. In the forthcoming weeks, topics in chemistry will be taken in the middle school section. After the introduction to atoms, elements and the Periodic Table last quarter, the students in Grade 7 and Grade 8 will learn about metals, non-metals, molecules, compounds and chemical reactions, with relevant activities, laboratory demonstrations and investigations. The Grade 6 students have completed the chapter on acids and bases with practical work involving colourful reactions. During the next few weeks they will be learning about physical and chemical changes, properties of materials, mixtures and methods of separation, through safe and simple activities, observations and experiments.
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Music & Drama Updates from Mr. Daniel The Children of ISV are working busily toward our 2nd Annual celebration concert. This major event will include singing, dance, drama and instrumental playing from students in all grade levels. The whole school are learning certain songs which will be sung as a mass ensemble at the beginning and end of the celebration. Students will be singing the school song- ISV, Em yêu trường em, and our grand finale We are the World. Pre Kindergarten and Kindergarten 1 are learning The House Song, through which they are learning about different rooms in the house. Kindergarten 2 are preparing a song called Oh We Can Play on the Big Bass Drum. The students are plying instruments and learning the importance of taking turns while singing and playing. Grade 1 are rehearsing the dramatic song ‘Neath the Lilacs – a song with a moral. They will sing and act the song while communicating the important lesson that we shouldn’t tell lies. Grades 2 and 3 are collaborating on a song and dance entitled A Windmill in Old Amsterdam .The children will be playing mice, dancing a waltz, while being accompanied by a professional orchestra and their instruments. Grade 4 will perform a piece titled Ding, Dong the Cat She’s Gone on our recently delivered xylophones, glockenspiels and metallophones. They are working well indeed reading music notation on the treble and bass clefs. Grade 5 will be collaborating with Grade 6 on a beautiful piece named I am the Earth, the theme of which is the human race’s responsibility to caring for the planet. This is a two part harmony song, which features melodic overlaps and choral harmony. Grade 5 have also been completing their Movie Trailer project the product of which will be receiving its premier very soon. Grade 6 in addition to working on the celebration pieces have recently completed presentation and performances for their ‘What is Music?’ project . They are now beginning a new music theory unit on melodic and harmonic intervals – through which they will have to identify intervals in written and aural forms. Grade 7 are working on research for their project centred around the life and work of The Beatles. They are currently researching and will later be presenting their work and illustrating this with examples of the Beatles songs which they will have to perform as an ensemble. We are currently rehearsing a flute, violin, piano and bass arrangement of Yesterday. Grade 8 have now completed the writing of their musical theatre songs and are working, in Drama, on the staging, vocal and physical performances of the work. This will be presented at the 2nd year celebration. Grade 8 have also begun a new unit on The Blues. They are currently conducting research into the historical context and importance of this influential style. They are also learning about the structure of 12 bar blues songs and will be using this to eventually create original blues compositions.
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Arts Updates by Ms. Katherine K1 and Pre-K students are working with patterns. Pre-K artists are mastering simple alternating patterns – as shown on the flower petal pattern. K1 artists looked at West African Adire clothes. They combined geometric and organic shapes to create these batik patterned squares. The squares were then “dyed” in a deep indigo color, just like textiles made in Nigeria.
K2 After working with patterns along with K1 students, K2 students turned their attention to artist Vincent Van Gogh, and studied his flower still life paintings. They observed how Van Gogh used many different tones and hues of one color, (yellow) and various different petal shapes in his Sunflower paintings. Then they used a variety of colors and shapes to paint their own sunflowers.
Grade 2 artists have completed their study of patterns in Mexican folk art. They used repeating organic and geometric shapes to create “animalitos” or little animals, in the style of Mexican ceramic art.
Grade 1 students were introduced to the work of artist Georgia O’Keeffe. They noticed how she used enlarged her flowers and used organic shapes to create beautiful abstract compositions. First graders worked with flower photographs to create their own beautiful flower drawings.
Grade 3 artists studied artist Alexander Calder. Alexander Calder created hanging and standing “mobiles”, in which various parts of the sculpture moved due to random air currents. Third graders studied Calder’s sculptures. They then used the art principle of asymmetrical balance to draw, design and then build some amazing mobiles. Artists in Grade 2 are studying “folk art” or art that can be found in markets around the world. We are looked first at woodcarvings from Oaxaca, Mexico. Students are analyzing various types of patterns found in Mexican art: they are creating “animalitos” using these types of patterns.
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Arts Updates by Ms. Katherine 6th grade artists have been creating molas, based on a folk art tradition carried on by the women of the San Blas Islands in Panama. Mola artists use layers of multicolored cloth and stitching to create these textiles, which can be worn as clothing or used as decorative art pieces. 6th graders used layers of colored paper to create mola patterns and designs.
Grade 7 students have been looking at the stylistic figures of ancient Egypt. They combined Egyptian tomb painting compositions, proportions and hieroglyphs with modern day super hero figures to create these “hero-glyphs”. These scenes have been embellished with hieroglyphs that each student wrote to tell “comic book” stories that resemble those form the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead.
Grade 4 students are studying women artists. They have looked at two of the most famous artists from the 20th century: Georgia O‘Keeffe and Frida Kahlo. Students used the ideas of cropping and enlargement to create still life drawings and watercolors of flowers and bones. They also analyzed the symbolism in Kahlo’s paintings and included personal symbols to create their own self-portraits.
Year 8 Artists have been analyzing the work of mask makers from many different cultures worldwide. They each chose a culture and a visual style to work with, and designed some very creative masks using these styles as a guide for their own designs. Then students built armatures for the masks, and used paper-mache and clay to create the finished forms. These forms were decorated with beads, sequins, glitter, and feathers.
Grade 5 students have been looking at the work of Austrian artist Gustave Klimt. Klimt famously depicted beautiful and fashionable Viennese women using a style called “Art Nouveau”. Fifth graders used flat, decorative patterns, stylized figures, and geometric and organic shapes to create figures and backgrounds for their Art Nouveau portraits. Look for a display of these finished art works
coming soon...
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Vietnamese updates from Ms. Hong Lớp mẫu giáo bé và mẫu giáo nhỡ (Pre-K – K1): Học sinh tô màu chủ đề “đồ dùng gia đình, trường học, người thân”. Qua đó học sinh biết phối hợp màu sắc, tác dụng của nó. Chơi trò chơi: đi siêu thị: học sinh làm quen việc giao tiếp với người mua, người bán; biết phân biệt hàng hoá. Ý nghĩa sử dụng: rèn kĩ năng sống. Học hát, xem phim: ý nghĩa bài hát, câu chuyện: rèn tính mạnh dạn trước đám đông.
Lớp 1 (Grade 1): Chủ điểm thiên nhiên, đất nước: học sinh hiểu và cảm nhận được vẻ đẹp của thiên nhiên, đất nước, yêu thiên nhiên, đất nước mình hơn. Chủ đề trường học: bồi dưỡng tình cảm yêu mến trường em, tình bạn bè, thầy cô gắn bó. Rèn kĩ năng dùng từ, đặt câu, viết đúng chính tả, nối cụm từ cho có ý nghĩa. Viết, đọc vần: ôt, ơt, ghép từ có vần ôt, ơt, nhận biết vần qua các từ cho sẵn, ôn tập.
Lớp mẫu giáo lớn (K2): Chơi trò chơi: đi siêu thị: rèn kĩ năng sống, học sinh biết cảm ơn, giao tiếp khi mua bán, thanh toán tiền, trao đổi hàng. Nối hình: so sánh hình cao, thấp, dài, ngắn, đếm số mỗi loại, ghép mảng phần còn thiếu vào hình vẽ: rèn luyện tư duy toán học.
Lớp 2 (Grade 2): Chủ đề các loài chim: học sinh đọc lưu loát, cảm nhận được vẻ đẹp phong phú của các loài chim, yêu mến động vật hoang dã (xem thêm qua tranh ảnh). Chủ đề thầy cô: học sinh cảm nhận được tình cảm thầy trò sâu sắc. Luyện từ và câu: rèn kĩ năng dùng từ chính xác, đặt câu chuẩn, diễn đạt lưu loát. Đọc, viết vần: oai, oay.
Lớp 3 (Grade 3): Chủ đề nghệ thuật: rèn kĩ năng cảm nhận về vẻ đẹp của nghệ thuật, yêu nghệ thuật, tự hào về nghệ thuật dân gian Việt Nam qua các lễ hội xưa. Chủ đề sông, biển: học sinh cảm nhận được vẻ đẹp của sông, biển, và giá trị, sự gần gũi của nó đối với con người. Luyện từ và câu theo chủ đề: nghệ thuật và sông, biển. Lớp 4 (Grade 4): Kể chuyện được chứng kiến hoặc tham gia: rèn kĩ năng kể chuyện mạnh dạn, lưu loát và diễn cảm. Chủ đề: tiếng sáo diều và con người ta là hoa đất: ca ngợi giá trị con người, gương anh hùng lao động. Câu kể, chủ ngữ trong câu kể: ai? Là gì?: học sinh rèn kĩ năng phân tích câu tốt. Mở rộng vốn từ tài nguyên: học sinh làm tốt việc mở rộng thành phần của câu, làm cho câu hoàn chỉnh, hay hơn. Viết đoạn văn tả đồ vật: rèn kĩ năng viết đoạn tốt. Đọc và viết các vần: op, ap; ăp, âp, ôp, ơp, ep, êp, oai, oay: học sinh nhận biết vần, cách phát âm đúng, ghép từ: hiểu nghĩa của từ, đọc lưu loát một khổ thơ đúng vần, ngữ điệu một cách trôi chảy. Bài tập nối các cụm từ để tạo một câu mới có ý nghĩa.
Lớp 5 (Grade 5): Chủ đề: vì hạnh phúc con người: học sinh cảm nhận được tình cảm của người dân tộc đối với cô giáo miền xuôi lên dạy chữ cho con em họ, học sinh cảm nhận được vai trò của thầy thuốc đối với bệnh nhân. Ôn tập từ, câu, viết đơn, tả người. Tổng kết vốn từ. Chủ đề: người công dân: hiểu được trách nhiệm, phẩm chất của một người công dân, học tập, rèn luyện đạo đức cho bản thân. Luyện tập tả người: rèn kĩ năng tả hình thức, tính cách, hành động xen kẽ để bài văn sinh động. Câu ghép: cách nối các vế của câu ghép.
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Vietnamese updates from Ms. Hong Lớp 6 (Grade 6): Thơ hiện đại ca ngợi Bác Hồ: Học sinh thấy được tình cảm yêu thương mà Bác dành cho bộ đội và đoàn dân công trong kháng chiến chống Pháp. Thơ hiện đại ca ngợi thiếu niên Việt Nam trong kháng chiến chống Pháp. Các phép tu từ: học sinh nắm được ý nghĩa, phát hiện và phân tích tác dụng của nghệ thuật đó, sử dụng vào viết văn, câu trần thuật đơn. Kiểm tra văn, tiếng Việt 40 phút theo chương trình. Văn bản ca ngợi vẻ đẹp của biển: bồi dưỡng lòng yêu quê hương, rèn kĩ năng viết văn tả cảnh.
Lớp 8 (Grade 8): Học thơ trích “Nhật kí trong tù” của Hồ Chí Minh, học sinh thấy được sự gian khổ và tinh thần lạc quan của Bác. Qua các văn bản của các vị Vua thời Lý – thời Trần – thời Lê, học sinh thấy được lòng yêu nước vì dân và sự lãnh đạo thông minh, tài giỏi, khát vọng xây dựng đất nước vững mạnh, lòng căm thù giặc, kêu gọi tướng sĩ một lòng đánh giặc. Báo cáo kết quả cuộc kháng chiến chống quân Nguyên Mông lần thứ 2, đất nước bước sang kỉ nguyên mới: Phục hưng dân tộc. Hiểu được thể loại: Chiếu, Hịch và Cáo của văn thơ cổ. Kiểm tra văn, tiếng Việt, bài làm văn số 5, 6 theo phân phối chương trình. Lớp 9 (Grade 9): Văn thơ hiện đại ca ngợi tình cảm của nhà thơ, nhân dân đối với Bác, cảm nhận của con người khi đất nước sang Thu, ca ngợi đức tính tốt đẹp của người đồng minh. Viết văn nghị luận về một bài thơ, một đoạn thơ, nghĩa tường minh và nghĩa hàm ý trong tiếng Việt.
Lớp 7 (Grade 7): Văn hiện đại – qua các đoạn trích: học sinh thấy được sự giàu đẹp phong phú của tiếng Việt. Từ đó yêu mến, tự hào và có trách nhiệm giữ gìn sự trong sáng của tiếng Việt. Qua đoạn trích nói về đức tính giản dị của Bác Hồ, học sinh cảm nhận được phẩm chất đáng quý của Bác và học tập. Qua đoạn trích nói về ý nghĩa văn chương, học sinh cảm nhận được ý nghĩa của văn chương đối với cuộc sống của chúng ta. Phương pháp lập luận giải thích: học sinh hiểu cách làm văn nghị luận giải thích. Biến đổi câu, mở rộng câu, từ đó học sinh ứng dụng vào bài viết hấp dẫn hơn. Kiểm tra văn, tiếng Việt, bài tập làm văn theo chương trình để rèn kĩ năng viết.
MS Non – Vietnamese classes updates Students made their own conversations about people around them: they tried to practice the pattern “what’s your job?”, and learn adjectives. Through the lessons, students learned new vocabularies to practice with the teacher and their classmates, concentrating on fluency and with the right tones and pronunciation. They also developed listening, writing, and distinguishing skills of adjectives. They can apply the new vocabularies to make sentences and do exercises.
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ICT updates from Mr. Michael Grade 6 Grade 6 students have been looking at the history of gaming and also the difference between bitmap and vector images.
Grade 7 Grade 7 students have been looking at the difference between bitmap and vector images. They made their own pixel avatar in Adobe Illustrator and also looked at the advanced drawing tools available.
They made their own pixel avatar using a website http://pixieengine.com/ The students then spent a few weeks making a poster using complex techniques such as clipping masks and making their own brushes. Their posters had to be professional and include elements such as a QR code.
Finally grade 7 made cartoon characters using Illustrator which gave then a more in depth understanding of layers, gradients and the pen tool.
After that the students made a vector version of the pixel avatar using Adobe Illustrator. Students then made a little mascot using the drawing tools in Illustrator. Grade 6 then created a poster using Illustrator and finally published it onto the internet.
In recent weeks they have been making their own pixel adventure game using
In recent weeks they have been
http://www.sploder.com/ which will be published on the internet
In recent weeks they have been making their own pixel game using http://www.sploder.com/.
Grade 8 Grade 8 students have also explored the difference between bitmap and vector images. They made their own pixel avatar in Adobe Illustrator and also looked at the advanced drawing tools available. The students then spent a few weeks making a poster using complex techniques such as clipping masks, making their own brushes using gradient fills and adding symbols. Their posters had to be professional and include elements such as a QR code and have a thoughtful layout and color combination.
Finally grade 8 made cartoon characters using Illustrator which gave then a more in depth understanding of layers, gradients and the pen tool.
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In recent weeks students have been looking at information and the way it can be represented.
Humanities Updates by Mr. Ronald
English Updates by Mr. Janos Grade 6 has been working their way through Midsummer Night’s Dream. We have been examining vocabulary, character, and motivation. We are just in the middle of Act 3, and are looking at ways of interpreting conflict in terms of stage combat for Drama.
In ISV MS Humanities we have had an exciting month. In addition to the coursework in our texts that we are completing, we have been increasing our knowledge of Human/Environment Interaction. This is one of the Five Themes of Geography, and we are emphasizing this theme these days.
Grade 7 is up to Act 3, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet. We have been comparing and contrasting Zeffirelli’s 1968 film with Lurman’s 1996 version, and we are just about to interpret Romeo and Tybalt’s conflict in terms of stage combat for Drama.
Earlier this month we went to visit the Lotte and Keangnam buildings. We did this as part of a survey of our beautiful city. Students enjoyed the views and discussed efforts that could be made to keep Hanoi beautiful. They had been doing a collaborative project in Humanities and IT concerning this.
Grade 8 has been steadily working through Macbeth. We are just up to act 4 scene 1, and will soon be working on staging the final fight scene between Macbeth and Macduff. For Drama, we have recently suffered a postponement of our play, so with an extra 3 weeks students should have plenty of time for rehearsing their songs.
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We also had a visitor: Rob Greenfield, who is a conservationist from the United States came to ISV. Rob is becoming famous due to his concern about waste and the environment. He has been featured on network television and Internet channels. Our students watched a very interesting presentation from Rob, which was followed by planting some vegetables in a planter box. This is the beginning of our school garden that is a collaboration between the MS Humanities and Science classes, and will hopefully become a whole school activity! More to come on that…
The fifth and sixth graders are preparing for a field trip to the Cuc Phuong National Park. This three-day excursion will be a wonderful chance for our students to experience the natural environment that we are educating ourselves to respect and preserve.
International School of Vietnam No. 6-7 Nguyen Cong Thai,
In our ISV MS Humanities course, we are striving to make the most of our school facilities as we seek opportunities in our local community so that we can continue to improve the dynamic learning environment for our ISV school community.
Dai Kim Urban Area,
ISV Gallery
Dinh Cong, Hoang Mai, Hanoi, Vietnam. Tel: +84 (0) 435 409183 Fax: +84 (0) 435 409187 www.isvietnam.org inquiries@isvietnam.org www.facebook.com/ISVIETNAM
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