*UNICEF Spirit Week*

Next week, the ES will be hosting a fundraising spirit week to support Varkey GEMS Foundation’s  partnership with UNICEF.  

The Schools for Asia Project is a UNICEF initiative that aims to provide access to basic education to millions of children in countries in Asia, namely India, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Nepal and Vietnam. Among the 57 million primary age children that are not enrolled in school in the world, 18 million of them live in the Asia-Pacific Region. Across the region, those denied their right to a basic education remain the same –children of poor or of ethnic minority families, children with disabilities, children of low castes, children living in remote areas and children affected by emergencies.

In order to raise awareness for this cause, students will be able to participate in fun games and activities during their lunch recess times Monday through Wednesday. 

Students who wish to participate can  purchase a game card ticket  for 10 dhs to be used for the entire week from their classroom teacher.   

There will also be a dress down day on Thursday for an additional 5 dhs. 

Students will culminate their spirit week with a recess dance party. All students are invited to celebrate in the dance. 

Next week will be a way for students to have a good time while giving back to a great cause.

Bring-Your-Own-Device-Day!

The class has been working hard to earn "compliments" as part of our class reward system. Finally, today, they have reached their goal! 

The reward is to bring their own device (ipad, ipod, iphone...but please, no laptops) to school for one day, which I will allow for limited periods during the day for both fun and research. 

Please know that if your child does bring his/her device to school, it is his/her own responsibility to take care of it. I will happily offer my locked desk drawer for safety, if preferred. 

We will also enjoy some cookies, so if you are in the baking mood tonight, please feel free to send some in. (I will also do some baking, hopefully.) 

We are looking forward to a fun day of devices and cookies, as well are our regular lessons. :) Thanks for your support! 

A Note from the Health Office

Hi Parents, 

Please read below as a reminder of when to keep your child at home so we can continue to keep our students healthy and our school as germ free as possible. Thanks!

When To Keep Your Child At Home:

A sick child cannot learn effectively and is unable to participate in classes in a meaningful way. Keeping a sick child home prevents the spread of illness in the school community and allows your child the opportunity to rest and recover. It is recommended to keep your child at home for the following reasons:

• Vomiting and/or diarrhea: A child with either of these problems should stay at home and return to school only after being symptom free for 24 hours.

• A temperature of 37.8c/100f. and above: Even if the temperature has been reduced with medication please keep your child at home until they have been 24 hours without a fever.

• Conjunctivitis: Following a diagnosis of conjunctivitis (also known as “pink eye”), a child may return to school 24 hours after the first dose of prescribed medicine.

• Rashes: Common infectious diseases with rashes are most contagious in the early stages.A child with a suspicious rash should return to school only after a doctor has made a diagnosis and the school nurse has seen your child before returning to the classroom. Many rashes are not contagious. If you are in any doubt please take your child to see the school nurse before he/she attends class.

• Colds: Consider keeping your child at home if he/she is experiencing discomfort from cold symptoms such as nasal congestion and/or cough. A continuous green discharge from the nose may be a sign of infection.

• Sickness: If your child is sick and unable to attend school please inform your class teacher via email by 8 am.

 Please see the Health Office for any questions or concerns about your student.

Thanks Again!

♥ Valentine's Day ♥

♥ We enjoyed a "lovely" Valentine's Day as a class family. :) ♥

Here are a few of the highlights: 

• Exchanging Valentine's Day cards and Kindness Grams
• Watching a bit of Charlie Brown
• Eating some delicious treats
• Enjoying warm-fuzzy feelings of love, kindness and affection for our friends 

 I even received a few very thoughtful gifts! Here was of the more creative ones... 

Enjoy these few photos...

Field Trip to Bur Dubai Area

Our field trip today to the Dubai Museum and the Sheikh Mohamed Centre for Cultural Understanding was a fantastic time for everyone as we enjoyed a beautiful day, smooth trip and plenty of hands-on learning. 

Together with Ms. Connor's Class (3DC), we first visited the Dubai Museum where we explored the traditional Bedouin houses, including the wind tower, then the underground "souk" area, which was just fascinating. The children were impressed to see the life-like statues set up as they would've been in the not-too-distant past. It was particularly interesting to visit the pearl diving exhibit as we recently read The Pearl Diver by Julia Johnson, a captivating fictional account based on real events. 


The class was intrigued to see ancient findings from recent excavations of Jumeirah, Al Barsha and Bur Dubai as they included skeletons (eek!), as well as pottery, jewelry and weapons from 3,000 B.C. 

After the museum, we walked about 10 minutes through the historical neighborhood of Bastikiya and the Al Fahidi District in Bur Dubai. (Even that was interesting as we passed textile shops and other stores, which have been around for many years.) 

Soon, we arrived to the cultural center where the students removed their shoes and entered the majlis area of a relatively old (1941) traditional wind-tower Emirati villa. Ms. Debbie was our host and did an excellent job teaching the students about Emirati and Bedouin culture, customs and even a bit about the religion of Islam. 

Then, we happily moved onto the next event, which was drinking Arab coffee (with lightly roasted Arabic coffee beans, cardamon and saffron), eating delicious dates and then, finally, eating a traditional meal. The children seemed to love every bit of it, especially the dessert. :) 


We went up the roof afterwards to get a view of the area and the Dubai Creek and see where Emiratis and Bedouin sleep on hot summer nights. 
It was truly a fantastic day of hands-on learning that we will all remember for a long time to come. 

I hope you will enjoy these photos of our fun, hands-on-learning day! 

Track and Field Day: Sneak Peak Photos

The students had a truly fantastic time as they enjoyed Track and Field Day! I'll share more details about the day later when I'm not so tired (!!!), but for now, enjoy these "sneak peak" photos...

{Valentine's Day News}

Have you heard? Love is in the air in 3LN. Yep. (Well, all the students reading this will probably groan, "ewwwww!") Fine. We can say that KINDNESS is in the air as students write "kindness grams" to give to their friends and teachers in the Elementary School. It's all very exciting and fun. :) 

We are going to have a very low-key party on Thursday to celebrate Valentine's Day. Stephanie Nooren is going to send in some cookies and if anyone else wants to donate a treat, please just let me know by email or feel free to send it in to school on Thursday morning. 

As for Valentine's cards, your child is welcome to bring some in to share, as well. (If they include candy of some sort, please kindly supply one for each child, so no one feels excluded.) 

Here is a list of the names of children in our class, if needed: 

Looking forward to a "lovely" day! 

What's Happening This Week?

Be sure to remember to check out the Assignment Sheet and News section each week as I post what we are learning, including specific learning objectives. 

This is a great way to engage with your child because you know exactly what I'm teaching and can ask related (guided) questions, such as, "Can you tell me what the main idea is in this text? How about supporting details? Did you find any there in the text?" 

Even taking just a few minutes to talk with your sweetie about what he/she is learning in school can have long-term effects on his/her success. You can do this in the car, while eating dinner, or when you're tucking your child into bed at night. 

I hear so many great stories of parents who do this on a regular basis, so keep it up! 

Volunteer(s) Needed

We are all looking forward to Track and Field Day on Tuesday! The class is very excited and has been working very hard in PE for the last several weeks. 

I need at least 1-2 volunteers to help for this big event. While this is a fun day for the students, we teachers will need all the help we can get to help guide children, provide bathroom breaks (for both Veronika and me), as well as general assistance. 

If you are available for even 2 hours, it would be a HUGE help. Please send me an email to let me know if you can make it. And, thank you so very much in advance!! 

{Class Pictures}

Our class of the most beautiful and handsome children I know will be photographed as a class on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 9:15 am in Room 150. 

Students should be looking their best in their regular uniform with BLACK/WHITE SHOES AND SOCKS.   Individual pictures for students who are new or were absent in September will also be taken. 

***Important note about Thursday, Feb. 6th***

**Please note these two important items for Thursday**

Dear Parents, 

As you are aware from media coverage, the Dubai Tour cycle race will impact on traffic in the Dubai area tomorrow and over the weekend. GEMS schools will remain open on February 6^th as normal. However we do acknowledge that school buses and general transport might have difficulties accessing certain areas; more specifically in Motor City, Al Sufouh Area, Media City and The Palm Jumeirah. Therefore drop-off at the end of the school day could be adversely affected and delayed. Should you have any specific difficulties, kindly contact your school directly. Thank you for the understanding and cooperation. 

Best Regards, 

Servee Palmans

Director School Administration & Business Operations

GEMS Education

Dear Parents,

Due to the Dubai Cycle event taking place over the next four days and its impact on the traffic around the Dubai American Academy campus, we have decided to postpone the ES Track and Field Day.

The new date of the ES Track and Field Day will be Tuesday, February 11^th between 8am-1pm.

This means that tomorrow, Thursday, February 6^th, will be a normal day of school.  Please have your students dressed in the proper school uniform, formal or PE (save those colors for Tuesday!).

There will be no hot lunch service tomorrow due to the short notice, so please send a lunch with your child.

Thank you for your understanding as we do our best to manage this situation.

Kind Regards,

The ES Admin Team and ES PE Department

Interesting India!

As an extension to our Parent Engagement Week last week, Kaavya's mother, Ritu, came in to the class to teach us more about her home country and culture of India. 

The students were captivated as they learned about everything from Indian geography, customs, traditional dress, food and architecture, as well as other interesting facts. Here is the lovely slideshow she presented, if you care to learn a few things, as well.  (Or if your child wants to review it.) 

We are so appreciative of your time, effort and support, dear Ritu. Thanks, again, for coming!  

I hope everyone will have the opportunity to visit beautiful India sometime very soon! 

(I had the privilege of visiting New Delhi and Agra last January and I absolutely loved it!) 

Track and Field Shirts (update)

T-Shirts for the ES Track and Field Day will be on sale after school this week in the ES lobby.  All shirts are printed with the logo and are 50 AED each. Colors and sizes are limited.

Don't forget, our class's color is ORANGE. 

Let there be cookies!

So, a few of you requested to have the recipe for the cookies I served at our UN Day event. I'm happy to share it as it's really one of my absolute favorites! I just love the combination of sweet and salty. 

I am a big believer in using fresh, quality ingredients, so I recommend French butter (President), Fair Trade Brown Sugar and American flour, although flour is usually pretty standard around the world. 

Also, I always double the recipe, so it yields more to share. (Don't forget your teacher!) 

Recipe: Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Pretzel Cookies


Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. of salt To convert teaspoons to ml, click here.
• 1/4 tsp. of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of butter at room temperature (113 grams) To convert from cups to grams, use this link. 
• 1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar 
• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (or imitation vanilla) 
• 1 cup milk or semi-chocolate chips (I use the whole bag)
• 1/2 cup peanut-butter chips (Reese's) (Again, I use a whole bag)
• 1/2 cup broken up pretzel pieces 
• Sea Salt

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl. (I always just start with the wet ingredients, then add the dry and it's fine. No need to dirty two bowls.) 
3. Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and preztels. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. (I never do this.)
4. Preheat the oven to 350F/177C.  Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough and sprinkle with pretzel salt. Leave about 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 10 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies increase the baking time by 1-2 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing.

I hope you enjoy the deliciousness!