Happy Spring Break!

Dear Parents and Students,

I just want to take a brief moment to wish each of you a lovely spring break. We've all worked so hard these last 3 months and have truly earned this rest!

I want to also thank you for all of your tremendous support. Seeing you recently for our parent conferences was such a treat as we were able to have quality conversations about your darling and discuss ways to progress even further in our last trimester. After those two days of meetings, I honestly couldn't help but feel so thankful for such a wonderful class of students AND parents.

But for now, I hope you'll just rest, relax, and rejuvenate with your friends and family, wherever this holiday takes you. I'll be leaving to go to Florida on Sunday, right after an evening at the Dubai World Cup. I'll be returning on Saturday, April 11, so I may require some extra coffee on our first Sunday back.  :)

Until then, I will leave you with sincere love and hugs,

Ms. Laura
PS. NO TIES AFTER SPRING BREAK! Due to the warm weather that makes the wearing of ties particularly uncomfortable, students will not be required to wear ties after spring break. Please note that all other aspects of the dress code will remain in effect. 

Here are some lovely pictures of the place I call home...

We love to snorkel in the Jupiter Inlet.

Seeing the Jupiter Lighthouse is always one of the things I love best about being home.

Going home also means, seeing these fur-babies (L-R: Max, Oakley, and Keebler). Oakley, the one in the middle is pregnant and will be giving birth around April 16. She is a service dog for New Horizon's, so her puppies will become service dogs, too!

And, of course, I will get to see my FAMILY! 

This picture was taken in Dec. 2013 when we were all together in Dubai. 

Wooly Mammoth

To culminate our Unit 2 in science, we had fun creating fossils yesterday and also viewed this news story about the discovery of a wooly mammoth in Siberia that was so in tact that paleontologists were able to extract DNA from it! The students were absolutely mesmerized as they learned more about such a well-preserved 40,000 year-old whole body fossil. (To view the entire documentary, click here.)

It has been a fascinating journey as we've considered the interdependence of organisms in ecosystems (how plants and animals depend on each other for survival), the effects of changes on a habitat (such as fires, landslides, deforestation, pollution, and invasive species), ecosystem engineers (like in the example of the wolves in Yellowstone National Park), various types of fossils (trace, cast or mold, and whole body), and an inquiry to determine what fossils can tell us about the plants, animals, climate, habitat, and problems of a particular geographic area.

After our spring break, we will be returning to Social Studies for about 5 weeks and then we'll finish the year with our last two science units.

We are all looking forward to learning even more in these last few units!

PS. For further reading about the wooly mammoth, you may enjoy this. 

Links

Here are a few links, which I promised the students I'd share. :)

• Unlikely friends
• For all of the cat lovers out there 
• Pompeii (related to our lesson on whole body fossils), fault lines of the world
• Ten most dangerous volcanoes
• Kids interviewed about love (so cute and yet also so profound)

Yearbook Request

Teachers are in the midst of gathering pictures for the yearbook, as well as getting some text prepared. For our page, I thought it would be interesting to hear from the children.

Please take a moment and fill out this form. The due date is Monday morning. Thanks so much! 

Science Request

Does your child love to help you in the kitchen or even make things  independently? (I know many do as I've sampled their cooking/baking!) 

Well, this is their (or your) opportunity to help us with a science lesson.

Please view this google form and sign-up to help if you're able.

Thanks so much! 

Make-Up Work from Mar. 15

As we had so many children absent today, I thought it would be a good idea to post information about what students missed. 

Writing

To better prepare us for our fairy tale unit, which we just started, started, I taught that many fairy tales have adaptations. From our recent science unit, the students know this term refers to the idea of a change.  The same is true for fairy tales. An adaptation is when an author makes changes to a classic version of a text. 

We then visited this site and completed a "fractured fairy tale" as a class. We then watched this fractured fairy tale to get an idea of how a fairy tale could be adapted in a fun way. 

Students should start thinking about which fairy tale they would like to adapt. Here are some more examples of fairy tales that have been adapted from their original version: 

• Cinderella
• Snow White
• Red Riding Hood
• Pinnochio
• Puss in Boots
• The Ugly Almond Duckling
• The Elves and the Shoemaker
• All 12 episodes of Fractured Fairytales

Here is a great article, which includes a few more examples of modern day adaptations. I hope these will start to get your darlings thinking about which one they will do! 

Reading

We wrapped up our social issues book clubs today and will begin our mystery book clubs tomorrow. Please remind your sweetie to check out a mystery chapter book from the library or bring one from home. We will be having a lot of fun with this suspenseful unit! For our class read aloud, I have selected The Westing Game, which has received many awards, including: Winner of the Newbery Medal, Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, and An ALA Notable Book. To learn more about the book, click here. There's even a Disney Channel movie that was made in 1997 called Get a Clue, which was based on the book and stars Lindsey Lohan in her younger, more innocent years. 

Math

As we are wrapping up Unit 7, today we spent time reviewing for the test, which will be on Tuesday (or next week if your child is not ready). I distributed this review sheet and we also did a self-assessment on Unit 7 for students to reflect on what they knew well and what they still need to master. Tomorrow, we will continue our review. We will not begin Unit 8 until April 12, so please don't worry if your child needs more time. Next week will be a sort of extension, enrichment, and review week in math. 

Science

Science was not our schedule today, so don't worry about that at the moment. We will have a double science lesson tomorrow (Monday); however, this is enough to focus on for now. 

I think that's it for now. I hope those of you who are struggling with sickness will feel better very soon!! We miss you! 

Illness in 3LN

Please read this letter that the nurse shared with me on Thursday. It's good to be aware of such illnesses, so you can carefully monitor your children and be proactive in treating symptoms if you observe them. (Also, please forgive me for failing to share this info. on Thursday. We had an abnormally busy day with Spirit Week activities, a poetry workshop, pizza day, and Ms. Csilla was with Ms. Connors, so I was very busy from start to finish!) 

We have several absent today, so please continue to monitor your sweeties and let me know if your child is sick. Also just as an FYI, here at school, we have been extra mindful to ensure that children wash their hands after sneezing, cough in the crux of their elbow, and visit the nurse if they have any healthy complaints. 

Please feel free to view this short movie as a great reminder of how to defeat germs. PDI! (Protect! Don't infect!) 

Thanks so much for your support! 

How Wolves Change Rivers Science Lesson

In our Unit 2 of science, we have been studying Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems. It's already been a fascinating study as we've discussed social animals versus those who prefer to live alone and how this behavior contributes to their survival. We've also examined how ecosystems change through natural events, like landslides, fires, and invasive species, as well as through human causes, like deforestation. 

Today's lesson was about the dramatic impact that wolves had after being reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. (They had been absent for 70 years.)

"Wolves were once native to the US’ Yellowstone National Park — until hunting wiped them out. But when, in 1995, the wolves began to come back (thanks to an aggressive management program), something interesting happened: the rest of the park began to find a new, more healthful balance. 

In a bold thought experiment, George Monbiot imagines a wilder world in which humans work to restore the complex, lost natural food chains that once surrounded us." (You can watch George Monbiot's TedTalk here.)

The students thoroughly enjoyed noting all of the causes and effects and making connections between them on a chart we made in class. This required some higher-level thinking as we analyzed the many changes to the ecosystem and evaluated if these changes were positive or negative or both.

For those who were absent, please view this short movie two times, then answer these questions on a sheet a paper and submit them to me by Sunday, March 15: 

1. How do wolves "give life" to other organisms? 

2. What is a ecosystem engineer? Use examples from the movie to support your answer. 

For those interested, these are the Next Generation Science standards we specifically tackled today: 

3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

3-LS4-4. Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.

Happy 50th to The Sound of Music!

A Classic Revisited

The class and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching small portions of the Sound of Music this week. It began when we were unable to have our regular Counseling special with Ms. Lesley on Day 7 and continued today when outdoor recess was canceled due to a dust storm. 

A few of the children are familiar with this movie, or at least the music, but for those who are not, it's been so fun to see them so engaged with such a lovely, wholesome classic. 

We will continue watching it on special occasions or if there are more dust storms. Until then, I hope you will watch it at home if you've never seen it. 

On a personal note, I was part of this cast in my high school musical many years ago and played two characters: Frau Schmit, the housekeeper, as well as the woman who keeps bowing and bowing when the children are about to go on stage for their performance towards the end of the movie. Watching this again brings back so many wonderful memories and I can't believe I remember all the words to the songs!! 

Lastly, if you were able to watch the Oscars this year, you may have seen Lady Gaga perform many of these songs in true Julie Andrews style to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the movie. It was quite impressive! 

Here are some more related articles: 

• An Interview with TIME magazine 
• Ten things you didn't know about the Sound of Music
• Wall Street Journal article
• CNN: Where are the actors now?

Sign-Ups for Parent-Teacher Conferences

You are invited to parent/teacher conferences, which will occur next Wednesday and Thursday (March 18 & 19). Please visit School Bookings. 

Primary & Elementary School Event Code = VY8QR

For more information please visit gemsdaa.com and look at the front page for the parent teacher conference info. If you need more specific information, you may also click this help link. 

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Music News

Dear DAA Parents and Students,

Music reading is part of the music curriculum in all grades and one of the most effective and fun ways of learning this is to play an instrument!  The recorder is a woodwind instrument ideal for students and will prepare them for music in middle school. In grades 3-5, the recorder will be included in instruction.

Recorder instruction will begin April 12, 2015. If your child’s recorder is still at home, please have him/her bring it to school and keep it in the locker until then.  

All students are expected to have their recorders in class by April 12, 2015. If a student doesn't have a recorder in class by April 19 (the following Sunday), it will affect their participation grade.
Students are REQUIRED to have a recorder by April 12, 2015. 

We ask all students to bring their own recorders to class as part of their normal school materials. New recorders are reasonably priced. You can get cheap ones for as little as AED 15; however, you can expect to pay about AED 25-45 for one that is better quality.

Good Brands: 

Aulos - my recommendation
Yamaha
Harmony
Angel

Where to buy: 

Times Square Mall, Music Chamber, off Sheikh Zayed Road (04-346-8046)

The Beach Center, The Music Room, off Jumeirah Road (04-344-8883)

Souk Madinat, Sadek Music Center, (04-368-6570)

Ibn Battuta Mall, Sing and Swing, (04-366-9385)

Dubai Mall, Sadek Music Center 
Mall of Emirates, Virgin Megastore

Arabian Ranches, Brooklyn Melodies, next to Burger King
The Meadows, Brooklyn Melodies

If you have any questions, please contact me at kat.rich@gemsdaa.net.

Thank you,

Ms. Rich

PS. If your child is particularly forgetful, I'd recommend purchasing two recorders. Keep one at school and one at home for practice. 

Movie Night

Just a reminder that DAAP is hosting a movie night on Thursday, March 12...

Spirit Week!

March 8-12 is ES Spirit Week!  

Each day, there will be a small spirit-spreading activity (think DAA trivia and teacher fun-facts), that will culminate in a student door-decorating spirit parade on Thursday afternoon, when we will be voting on our favorite door in the ES that will be decorated by the students of each classroom.  

Students are invited to wear their best Leopard pride outfit on Thursday, March 12 (red, white, blue or leopard will be allowed), in order to help celebrate being a member of the DAA community.  (Please remember appropriate school attire: short pants must be the length of the PE uniform, no tank tops or spaghetti strap tops.)

Everyone is invited to participate, no fundraising necessary...Go Leopards!!! 

Also, parents, please don't forget to join us (if you're free) on Monday, March 9, at 8:30 for our Grade 3 Assembly in the auditorium. The children have been working hard to showcase some of the recent things they've been learning. We hope to see you there! 

March Madness!

March Madness Reading Challenge

We are having a March Madness Challenge in 3LN. Every student will be responsible to participate by reading as many chapters as they can during the month of March. Together our class has set a goal to read 1,250 chapters in all. 

In your reading log, please record and count each chapter you have read in your books starting March 1, or use the Chapter Tracker on this sheet. After each book is read, you will take a book report from our classroom to complete at home.

Each child who meets or exceeds his/his March Madness goal will be given a certificate and small prize. If our class meets or exceeds our goal, we will enjoy a pizza party as a reward. The class is already very excited and has set some challenging, yet realistic goals!!

Happy reading! :)

Dress Code Reminder

Dear Parents, 

We are noticing a large number of students who are not in compliance with our DAA Student Dress Code.  Please review the dress code below with your child and check you child's attire before they leave for school in the morning.  We appreciate your help with this.

DAA ES Dress Code:

• Black shoes or white shoes only (other colored sneakers may be brought to school in a bag for PE, if necessary).

• Ties are required.

• Only the DAA sweaters or sweatshirts are approved for in school. 

Thank you for your support, 

ES Administration