Parent Engagement Opportunity

ES Parents, 

Have you ever struggled to find good books for your child? Please mark your calendars for our next Parent Engagement morning in the library on Monday, December 14 from 8:00-8:30, ES Librarian Sarah Mollenkramer will talk with parents about resources, perspectives, and tips for building a home library for your child. 

Please join us! 

Winter Carnival

Dear Parents,

The Winter Carnival is fast approaching. (3LN will be going first thing on Wednesday morning.) As always, there will be a photo booth to capture the spirit of the season. This year there will be an elves backdrop and holiday props where the children can take pictures with their friends. There can be up to 4 children per picture. The photo will be set in a frame.  

If you wish to order a picture, please return this form to your teacher along with the payment by Monday morning, Dec. 14th. The cost is 15 dhs. (Exact change, please.)

Looking forward to seeing you there!

DAAPA 

Winter Carnival Committee

Class Party

As 2015 comes to a close and we prepare to have time off with our friends and families, we would like to celebrate the holidays together in 3LN. 

Please view this invitation and mark your calendars to join us, if possible. The invitation also includes important information about our class gift exchange. 

We are looking forward to a special time of festive holiday fun as a class family! 

Winter Concert

I want to thank those of you who were able to come to our ES Winter Concert yesterday. The children did a truly remarkable job and demonstrated such excellence, professional performance behavior, and of course, plenty of cuteness! 

It was a treat to see so many of you there. I just feel remiss that I didn't have the time to personally welcome and greet each one of you; however, with all of the picture-taking, movement, and excitable children, it just wasn't possible. Please know that I appreciate you coming and hope that we can connect at our class party next week. (Details on that coming in the next blog post.) 

Here are some truly beautiful pictures that one of class mothers, Mikyung, captured and shared. I'm so appreciative of her talent and willingness to help, as it frees me up to focus even more on the children. 

I hope you'll enjoy these precious memories and give your sweetie an extra big squeeze for a job very well done. 

Front Row and other Apps

Today, I sent home some personalized log-in information for a fantastic program called Front Row Math. I'm excited to try this as it's designed to help students practice Common Core aligned mathematical skills at their own level, which ensures that every student improves his/her math skills or is challenged in a greater way. The program quickly learns what your child needs and tailors the activities accordingly.

You can use the instructions and codes I sent home today to sign up for a parent account. There is also information at the bottom of the sheet to sign up your child.

It would help if you download this free app onto the device your child uses most often. Also, please send in this device to school on Wednesday as we'll get some practice using it. (If your child will not be bringing a device, we will provide one for him/her at school. No worries!) We will also be using devices next Sunday and Monday.

I want to recommend some other great apps, as well, but please remember that they are only suggestions. (There's no need to feel any pressure to purchase them.)

• Cursive Wizard You can use this with a finger or a stylus (Daiso sells them for only AED 7.)
• Xtramath
• Math Slide (FREE)

Also, as we are now taking weekly times table tests, please feel free to print any extra copies of the fact tests your child needs by visiting this great website, which is where I got them.

Thanks so much for your support. It's my hope that the class will enjoy and benefit from these terrific resources. 

Souk Day

What: "Souk Day" This is a great day for students to use their business passes to purchase items. 

Why: To be rewarded for excellent work, self-control, time-management, and behavior 

When: Thursday, December 10th (Each Souk Day is at the end of each trimester.) 

How you can help: Each student should bring in 10-12 small items that would be worth about 1 business pass each. (These can be homemade or store bought and anything from cookies, to pencils, to bookmarks, to... you name it!) 

Please let me know if you have any questions and thanks so much in advance for your support. The children always really love Souk Day. :) 

Candy Cane Sale

To help raise money for Dubai Cares, our ES Student Council will be selling candy canes. Each one costs just 1 dirham and the maximum number of candy canes each student may purchase is five. 

Our Student Council Representative, Omar, will making announcement on Sunday to explain the details to the class. 

Thanks for your support!   

Innovation Day

Last Monday, our students stretched their thinking and demonstrated their creativity during our Innovation Day, since it was just Innovation Week in the UAE. 

Using just a few simple materials (boxes and tape, as well as recycled materials brought from home), they constructed some truly amazing and innovative projects! Students drew inspiration from a wonderful, true story about a very clever boy named Caine, who set up his own "Arcade" by using cardboard boxes. Watch it here. 

Students first planned their design, then began constructing it (alone or in a small group). After about 40 minutes, Ms. Jamie's class came to observe, test, and play what our students had created, and then we visited her classroom to get some inspiration of our own. 

After making a few minor revisions to their projects, students put their final touches on them and then we voted as a class to select which ones we liked best. 

First place went to Yihyun who worked very diligently to create an exciting game called "Ball Shooter." 

Second place went to Hafsa and Andreea, who created a fun vending machine. 

And, Lyn and Nia received third place for their creation, which was a gamed called "Basket 5000." 

All of the students did a really great job and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be innovative. All of our projects will be on display (on top of student's lockers) throughout the coming week with the winners on display in the foyer. To see all of the pictures and a few short videos, please click here. 

Well done!! 

Happy National Day!