The Core: CAS and EE, Ms Tania and Ms Muge

CORE SUBJECTS

Extended Essay

Dear Grade 11s,

Welcome to the EE, a requirement of the IB Diploma, and a core component of the programme.

The Extended Essay process started with the launch presentation on November 1st. It is now time for all

Grade 11 diploma students to spend time reading and researching their topics of interest. The goal is to come up with a good research question, with the support of their supervisor, a question that will lead to sufficient critical thinking within the subject of choice. When students have ideas, they must speak to the teacher of the subject to ask to be their supervisor. When approved, the information should be entered on ManageBac including teacher and subject choice, by November 28th. Looking forward, we will have EE sessions during well-being lessons in the second term, where you will have the opportunity to review all resources on the research question and the EE reflections, and review assessed work on your chosen subject.

Supervisors will help students to formulate the research questions to provide the best “map” for the extended essay. This process does and should take time, so the research question is due on March 17, 2023. I encourage all students to consider options and be prepared to go through many variations of their research questions before they have their final one. If any student struggles to choose a subject, they should come and see me, I will do my best to go through their subjects and guide them in a direction to find the best topic for them. There are resources in files on the Class of 2024 team/EE channel and as links through the Extended Essay worksheet on MB. Especially the “EE question checker” is a very useful tool at this stage. One of the best strategies at this stage is to review the subject-specific criteria requirements from the online guide, and review samples. Most of the information and guidance on initial steps can also be found in the Extended Essay Student Booklet, posted on your class team.

I am excited to start a new cohort of extended essays, please contact me for any questions!

MS. MUGE OKUR

mokur@ris.ae Extended Essay Coordinator

Dear Grade 12s.

We are approaching the final stage of the Extended Essay with the class of 2023! At this point in time, all draft EEs should have been submitted to supervisors for feedback. The deadline for final essays is November28th, 2022.

The feedback on first drafts is most valuable at this stage. The final submission will be done through ManageBac calendar. After that date, the essays will then be checked, and reflection 3 meetings will be held before we are ready to send the essays to the IB.

An important note: It is crucial that your registration information matches the subject for which you wrote your extended essay. Make sure Mr. Andy has the correct information, and your MB worksheet shows the same.

A final reminder to all students to make sure they follow the format requirements correctly in their final product. There is a document called

“Criterion D-presentation” on files in your class team to help with this.

We are almost there! Let me know if you need any EE support.

Thanks!

CREATIVITY, ACTIVITY AND SERVICE (CAS)

MS. TANIA TUFT

ttufft@ris.ae CAS Coordinator

THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

Firstly I would like to say congratulations to Grade 12 for the successful Exhibition of their work. It was wonderful to see the conversations that their work was starting all week; students, teachers, and parents all had the opportunity to appreciate the hard work that went into the exhibition.

The Grade 12 have now begun work on their final assessment of the course, The TOK Essay. Students will have already chosen one of six prompts. They will then spend the coming weeks in class formulating their responses to the prompt, finally submitting their full draft in the last week before winter break. The TOK Essay will count towards 67% of the TOK final grade. The prompts offer plenty of discussions; so please, ask the Grade 12 students how they are getting on. Having conversations about their essay will further help them improve their responses.

Grade 11 have now completed the Core Theme: Knowledge and the Knower. We have now begun the study of the Area of Knowledge: The Arts. Students will be completing their second TOK Journal post and this should help them prepare for the upcoming Louvre trip which has been confirmed for the 24th of November. This trip will serve as a stimulus for the upcoming Mock TOK Exhibition that the Grade 11 students will undertake. Hopefully, the trip to The Louvre will offer many pieces of intrigue that will not only energize students' TOK assessments but also, allow them to engage with TOK outside the classroom and in the real world in a more effective manner.