Lower School Update - March 26, 2018

Student-Led Conferences

Our next round of Student-Led Conferences will take place the afternoons of April 3, 4, and 5. Students will attend classes in the mornings of these three days and will be dismissed at 11:30 am each day. Each child will have a time set in the afternoon of one of the days to attend a conference with their parents. Please sign up for conferences on Veracross. Below is some additional information about Student-Led Conferences:

Student-Led Conferences Mission Statement:
We believe student involvement in conferences is critical to active learning. Student-Led Conferences (SLC) provide a collaborative and authentic opportunity for students to showcase their work. Through this process, students are able to take responsibility for their learning by reflecting upon individual strengths and challenges.

Benefits of Student-Led Conferencing:
- increases self-directed learning and personal goal setting
- develops a stronger sense of pride in achievement

- improves collaboration between home and school
- fosters accountability and self-advocacy skills
- students reflect on their learning
- teachers can observe interactions, comment, offer suggestions, and model strategies

What does a Student-Led Conference look like?
Parents will come into the classroom with their children.  Families visit four to six stations set up around the classroom.  Families will arrive every twenty minutes. They move from station to station as they complete the tasks.  The last station will be a three-way conference with the parents, child, and teacher. Families will be scheduled for 1 hour in the classroom, but may stay longer if needed.  Students will take their parents to visit specials prior to, or after the classroom activities.

What are some questions parents can ask their children during the conference?
- Which is your favorite subject?  Why?

- Which piece of work are you most proud of?

- Which subject is challenging for you?  Why?

- What have you learned this trimester?
- What would you like to learn that you do not already know?
- What makes you happiest at school?
- What would you like to accomplish by the end of this year?
- What are three things you hope to change in the future?
- How can I help you achieve your goals?

Grandparents and Special Friends

Last Friday Learning Community C welcomed grandparents, parents, and/or special friends to their assembly and then to their classrooms for activities. It was a huge success. We will take a break from assemblies while we prepare for Student-Led Conferences. Our next assembly will take place on Friday, April 13, where Community D will welcome more special guests! We encourage grandparents who live in Sao Paulo (or are visiting) to join us. If your child’s grandparent is not here, or unable to attend, we welcome you to invite any other relatives or friends to visit. Of course, parents are always welcome as well! We look forward to many visitors to share our learning with! Please RSVP for your grandparent and/or special friend.

The Eagle Way

Congratulations to this week’s “Golden G” class winners who were recognized at this morning’s Nest assembly for working together and following The Eagle Way:  Ms. Alex’s Pre-primary class and Ms. Mendonca’s 1st Grade class

Celebration of the World

Come celebrate our school’s diversity and global outreach! Order your Tickets Now, by filling the form attached in the BackPack flyer. Please return this form inside your child’s folder, in the sealed envelope labeled “COTW” (provided). You may also purchase tickets and raffle bundles at the booth in the Student Center or outside the Cafeteria beginning Monday, March 26th.

Upcoming Important Dates

March 29	- 5th Grade Field Trip: Instituto Gustavo Rosa (12:30 to 4:00 - Ms. Murphy and Ms. Patrick’s classes)
March 30	No School: Good Friday
April 3, 4, 5	Student Led Conferences (half day of classes, students dismissed at 11:30 am)
April 7	Celebration of the World (10:30 am to 4:00 pm)
April 10	PTA Book Club (1:00 pm Room E12)
April 13	LS Community D Assembly (8:15 am Auditorium) Grandparents and/or Special Friends please RSVP here
April 18	Half day of classes (students dismissed at 11:30am)
April 23, 24, 25	- 4th Grade Field Trip: Sitio do Carrocão - 5th Grade Field Trip: Republica do Lago
April 24	Parent Coffee (8:30 am Auditorium)
April 27	LS Community A Assembly (8:15 am Auditorium)
April 30 / May 1	No School (Labor Day Holiday)

Around the Lower School

Curriculum Update: What's going on in First Grade

Literacy: In the upcoming writing unit students will be writing realistic fiction using characters in a series of books. In Reader’s Workshop students will investigating characters.

Math: In math the students will be increasing their fact power through function machines, name-collection boxes, fact families, and fact triangles. They will be introduced to centimeters, reviewing telling time and adding coins.

Social Studies: Students have finished up the unit on School Community. Now we will begin our last social studies unit on Family. They will be learning about their own family and other students families along with similarities and differences.

Portuguese PLA: Os alunos estão no processo de finalização, revisão e edição de seus livros de rimas divertidas. Em breve, vocês poderão ver o resultado. Depois, iniciaremos uma unidade de leitura e escrita de histórias de um personagem em uma série de livros.

Portuguese PAL: Students will be working on their book of rhymes, “Não Confunda”. They will be creating new and fun rhymes. We will also sing Easter songs and read books about Easter.

Lower School Update - March 19, 2018

March 21 - Students Dismissed at 11:30 am

On Wednesday students will be dismissed at 11:30 am. Students who ride the school bus will depart at 11:45 am. Any students who do not ride the bus, and are not picked up at 11:30 am, will be brought to the Lower School Office to wait for their ride. The afternoon will be a professional development time for our faculty.

Destination Imagination (DI) Tournament

On Friday and Saturday the Brazil DI tournament took place at Graded. Teams had an opportunity to present creative solutions to a variety of challenges. We were very proud of the hard work and dedication of our Lower School teams! See below for a few pictures from the event.

Flu Virus

We have had a number of students with the flu in the past week. We have taken extra sanitary precautions in the Lower School over the weekend. Classrooms were cleaned and ventilated thoroughly and will continue to get extra cleaning attention and sanitation throughout the week. However, as it is a virus, we know the most important way to stay healthy is to take the measures below provided by the Ministério de Saude (Department of Health):

· wash hands thoroughly or use hand sanitizer
· utilize proper and thorough hand-washing practices
· clean and sanitize door knobs, computer equipment, and other commonly shared objects frequently
· drink from individual cups and bottles
· increase ventilation by keeping windows open
· cover mouths when coughing or sneezing

To minimize the spread of the virus, if your child shows any of the following symptoms please keep them at home, contact your child’s healthcare provider and notify the school secretary.
· fever
· sore throat
· runny nose
· muscle and/or body aches
· headaches
· fatigue

If your child has a positive test result for the flu, please inform the Graded Nurse's Office at 3747-4846.  Students should not return to school until they have been symptom-free for at least 24 hours.

Student-Led Conferences

Our next round of Student-Led Conferences will take place the afternoons of April 3, 4, and 5. Students will attend classes in the mornings of these three days and will be dismissed at 11:30 am each day. Each child will have a time set in the afternoon of one of the days to attend a conference with their parents. Sign up for conferences will begin this Wednesday at 10:00 am on Veracross. An email with more details will be sent to families on Tuesday.

Grandparents and Special Friends

Last Friday Learning Community B welcomed grandparents, parents, and/or special friends to their assembly and then to their classrooms for activities. This week Community C is prepared to welcome our special guests! We encourage grandparents who live in Sao Paulo (or are visiting) to join us. If your child’s grandparent is not here, or unable to attend, we welcome you to invite any other relatives or friends to visit. Of course, parents are always welcome as well! We look forward to many visitors to share our learning with! Please RSVP for your grandparent and/or special friend.

The Eagle Way

Congratulations to this week’s “Golden G” class winners who were recognized at this morning’s Eagle's Nest assembly for working together and following The Eagle Way:  Ms. Joyce’s Pre-primary class and Ms. Heineberg’s 1st Grade class!

Celebration of the World

Come celebrate our school’s diversity and global outreach! Order your Tickets Now, by filling the form attached in the Back Pack flyer. Please return this form inside your child’s folder, in the sealed envelope labeled “COTW” (provided). You may also purchase tickets and raffle bundles at the booth in the Student Center or outside the Cafeteria beginning Monday, March 26th.

Upcoming Important Dates

March 19/20/21	3rd Grade Field Trip: Republica do Lago
March 20	- 2nd Grade Field Trip: Toca da Raposa - 5th Grade Field Trip: Instituto Gustavo Rosa (12:30 to 4:00 - Ms. Sanchez and Ms. Kitto’s classes) - Parent Coffee (8:30 am Auditorium)
March 21	Half day of classes (students dismissed at 11:30am)
March 22	4th Grade Trip To Santos
March 23	LS Community C Assembly (8:15 am Auditorium) Grandparents and/or Special Friends please RSVP here
March 29	- 5th Grade Field Trip: Instituto Gustavo Rosa (12:30 to 4:00 - Ms. Murphy and Ms. Patrick’s classes)
March 30	No School: Good Friday
April 3, 4, 5	Student Led Conferences (half day of classes, students dismissed at 11:30 am)
April 7	Celebration of the World (10:30 am to 4:00 pm)
April 10	PTA Book Club (1:00 pm Room E12)
April 13	LS Community D Assembly (8:15 am Auditorium) Grandparents and/or Special Friends please RSVP here
April 18	Half day of classes (students dismissed at 11:30am)
April 23, 24, 25	- 4th Grade Field Trip: Sitio do Carrocão - 5th Grade Field Trip: Republica do Lago
April 24	Parent Coffee (8:30 am Auditorium)
April 27	LS Community A Assembly (8:15 am Auditorium)
April 30 / May 1	No School (Labor Day Holiday)

Around the Lower School

Object for writing

As we finish our new unit on "Writing Reviews" tomorrow (Friday, March 16) the students may bring in an object or picture  to help them write about their favorite or least favorite thing. Having an object or picture allows the students to gather more reasons and details to explain their opinions. Options could be Pokemon cards, LOL dolls, TY stuffed animals, books, shoes, fun socks, movies, jackets, baseball cards, candies, spinners, sea shells, etc. If you have further questions please feel free to contact your teacher. We are excited to see how much they have grown this unit!

Community A Assembly

Last Friday, March 9 was community A's assembly. Our class performed NÃO CONFUNDA on the stage. We did a great job! Afterwards, we hosted grandparents and parents in the classroom for a family tree activity. It was fun to work together. Success!  Enjoy these pictures with our grandparents!

Lower School Update - March 12, 2018

Technology Use and Lower School Students

As a school, we remind students that devices (whether tablets/phones/iPods/laptops) are a powerful tool for learning. We teach students the skills to use the tools appropriately, and give reminders when necessary.

We are also reminding students (and ourselves!) of their digital footprint to ensure they understand the impact of their online actions. The rise in popularity of messaging applications like WhatsApp prompt us to face increasingly frequent challenges of students using unkind language, posting inappropriate content to each other, and in some cases targeting individual students. This note is meant to be a reminder of the responsibility that comes with using technology.  Social media platforms have minimum age requirements for use as well as guidelines for responsible use. WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat are applications for youth aged 13 and above. If your child is below this age, you are encouraged to remove these applications from their personal devices. If you continue to allow your child to use these messaging and social network sites despite the age recommendation, we suggest you monitor your child’s interaction on a daily basis as you assume responsibility for their use.

Here are some things we are doing at school to promote responsible use of technology:

- limiting technology use to school appropriate tools and sites

- reminding students that personal devices are best left at home

- reviewing LARK policies found on pages 22 and 23 of our Lower School Handbook

Here are some things you can do at home to promote responsible use of technology:

- Reinforce the expectations for use of technology at school, including reviewing the LARK policies together

- Visit the Common Sense Media “Parent Concerns” section for a variety of resources on teaching your children how to navigate the digital world safely and responsibly

- Create a screen time agreement in your family.  Click here for steps to take and some examples.

Keeping our children safe is our utmost and collective responsibility. We are working at the school to teach the children the foundations of digital and online safety. We ask that you spend some time having similar discussions and routines in your own home if you haven't already.

Grandparents and Special Friends

Learning Community A had a great time welcoming grandparents and/or special friends to their assembly and then to their classrooms for activities. This week Community B is prepared to welcome our special guests! We encourage grandparents who live in Sao Paulo (or are visiting) to join us. If your child’s grandparent is not here, or unable to attend, we welcome you to invite any other relatives or friends to visit. Of course, parents are always welcome as well! We look forward to many visitors to share our learning with! Please RSVP for your grandparent and/or special friend.

The Eagle Way

Congratulations to this week’s “Golden G” class winners who were recognized at this morning’s Nest assembly for working together and following The Eagle Way:  Ms. Burnquist’s 1st Grade class and Ms. Kulikowsky’s 3rd Grade class

March 21 - Students Dismissed at 11:30 am

Just a reminder, on Wednesday, March 21 students will be dismissed at 11:30 am. The afternoon will be a professional development time for our faculty.

Celebration of the World

Our annual celebration of the different cultures at Graded will be on Saturday, April 7. It is always an enjoyable day of culture, food, and fun. Please mark your calendars!

Upcoming Important Dates

March 13	PTA Book Club (1:00 pm Room E12)
March 16	LS Community B Assembly (8:15 am Auditorium) Grandparents and/or Special Friends please RSVP here
March 19/20/21	3rd Grade Field Trip: Republica do Lago
March 20	- 2nd Grade Field Trip: Toca da Raposa - 5th Grade Field Trip: Instituto Gustavo Rosa (12:30 to 4:00 - Ms. Sanchez and Ms. Kitto’s classes) - Parent Coffee (8:30 am Auditorium)
March 21	Half day of classes (students dismissed at 11:30am)
March 22	4th Grade Trip To Santos
March 23	LS Community C Assembly (8:15 am Auditorium) Grandparents and/or Special Friends please RSVP here
March 29	- 5th Grade Field Trip: Instituto Gustavo Rosa (12:30 to 4:00 - Ms. Murphy and Ms. Patrick’s classes)
March 30	No School: Good Friday
April 3, 4, 5	Student Led Conferences (half day of classes, students dismissed at 11:30 am)
April 7	Celebration of the World
April 10	PTA Book Club (1:00 pm Room E12)
April 13	LS Community D Assembly (8:15 am Auditorium) Grandparents and/or Special Friends please RSVP here

Around the Lower School