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Cedar Class, Blog 5, 2022-2023

French (Intermediate group with Christine)

During this period, we mainly talked about Health through Humanitarian aid. Different possibilities are offered to those who want to help, and this is what we discovered throughout the lessons.

We started this session with the case of students discussing between themselves on how to organize a fundraiser for the organization “Les Restos du Cœur” which gives food to people in need. We then spoke about “Emmaüs”, a well-known association in France which collects second-hand objects and furniture. Students from Cedar, Elm and Oak, staged a comic (“La boom Humanitaire”) talking about how a group of friends decided to give out personal things to help this association.

In addition to that, we read and discussed about other documents talking about “Téléthon” which supports medical research and deals with first aid we can give when we are part of an accident.

This is an interesting subject which has given us once again the opportunity to see and practice the grammatical side of the language.

We also read different stories involving Inspector Omniberge, to develop reading skills and find the solution to the mysteries!

French (Advanced group with Marie)

Nous avons poursuivi l’étude de notre programme de français. Durant cette cinquième période, les élèves ont continué d’intégrer les notions de français en articulant leurs apprentissages autour des différentes matières :

en grammaire: révision des natures et fonctions des mots, des compléments de phrases (lieu, temps, manière, de but, de moyen)

en conjugaison: l’impératif présent et le présent du conditionnel (avec révision des temps du passé)

en orthographe: la polysémie, les bases grecques et latines des mots, les homophones/homonymes et antonymes, les préfixes et les suffixes, noms génériques et noms particuliers

en mémorisation: 1 dictée a été faite et 1 poésie a été apprise et récitée

en poésie: création d’un poème pour la fête des mères et découverte d’un acrostiche à l’occasion de la fête des pères.

en littérature: la mythologie grecque avec la lecture du livre Le message d’Athènes d’Odile Weulersse puis différentes fiches de lecture, lectures silencieuses.

1 évaluation a eu lieu pendant cette 5ème période.

French IMYC with Marie

Cette cinquième période a été consacrée au thème de “l’entreprenariat”.

Nous avons aussi abordé le thème des abeilles à l’occasion de la journée mondiale des abeilles (le 20 mai).

French IMYC Cedars with Joanna

This term the Cedar class learned the importance of the EU Erasmus + programme for education, training, youth and sport. They researched the history of this programme, the partner countries, the allocated budget etc. They also watched videos of university students from various European countries discussing their incredible experiences studying abroad and they were able to interview Ms. Stefania Gargioni who had the amazing opportunity of being an Erasmus student.

English

Cedar continued to examine texts for argument, evaluating the use of argument and persuasive techniques in a variety of forms. They looked at how to spot bias and faulty logic, and to know when their emotions are being targeted. They learnt how to spot a writer’s purpose and to recognise facts from opinions. At the end of term, the class returned to the novel they studied at the beginning of the year, The Alchemist by Paul Coelho, and tested their recollection and understanding of the book in an Escape Room challenge.

Geography

This term Cedar learnt about the weather, something we all have to put up with and which is increasingly a subject of interest given the effects of climate change. The class learnt that it is the sun that influences our weather as it heats the Earth, but not evenly. They learnt that ‘weather’ takes place in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, called the troposphere. The class made their own barometer to measure air pressure.

History

The Cedar class continued to work on the development of dictatorships in Europe, focusing on Nazi Germany as a case study. They continued to examine the persecutions of Jews and visited the Shoah Memorial as part of the Holocaust remembrance project founded by the Olga Lengyel Foundation. The students created a Padlet to present the outcomes of their museum visits and research, sharing it with their twinned class (Liceul “Preda Buzescu” in Berbesti, Romania). They also explored the work carried out by the Romanian students for the project.

Global Perspectives

During this term, the Cedar class learned the method of qualitative research. They conducted semi-structured interviews with teachers and parents in our school community about their experiences as foreigners settling in France. The students conducted these interviews as part of the “Europe in Schools” project, which is supported by the European Association of History Educators. As part of the project, the Cedar students had the opportunity to interact with a Global Perspectives class from Canisius College in the Netherlands and examine their work on migrations in that geographical area.

Art

During this term, the Cedar students explored the works of the eclectic Irish painter Mary Swanzy, with a particular focus on her Cubist phase. The students studied Swanzy’s use of shapes and colors and created medium-sized canvases inspired by her art, representing elements of nature such as leaves, branches, and flowers.

Creative Writing and Drama Workshops

During this term, the Cedar class wrote and learned how to perform a short comedy script for the school’s summer show. In the creative writing workshop, the students collaboratively created a script, which they then performed and rehearsed in the drama class. They covered all elements of production, from backdrops to props.

Sailing Trip to Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer

One week adventure so far away from home. Oak, Elms and Cedar pushed themselves to the limit, physically and mentally while kayaking, surfing and catamaraning. Young adventurers improved or learnt new skills but most importantly matured and became a little bit more independent.

Mathematics and “Young Entrepreneurs” Project

A business is more than just a product or a service. Behind every item that we buy, every service that we use, there is a story. Running a business involves many skills – creativity, leadership, team work, communication, budgeting, planning, design, customer-awareness and many more. During this unit, children learnt these vital business skills, as they embarked on their business journey. The children were encouraged to take risks, be independent and realise that the hard work that goes into planning and setting up a business pays off.

Oak, Elm and Cedar visited Koezio , adventure park located in Cergy.

This event took place to celebrate the achievements of our Young Entrepreneurs who, as you know, recently devised, planned, acquired bank loans for and ran businesses, the proceeds of which partially have covered the cost of this well-deserved class activity.

Gardening Project

Harvesting our own sweet peas and potatoes. Cucumbers and tomatoes will continue to grow over the summer.

Green Garden – Whole School collaborative project. Our second Eco-Ecole badge ‘Alimentation’.

Accueil - L'écolomag

End of year certificates of achievements and Les Concours de Archimedes (Mathematical games and enigmas)

Well done and all the best!

Enjoy your summer!

FISP Middle School Team

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Elm Class, Blog 5, 2022-2023

French (Beginner group with Joanna)

For the final term of the school year our theme from Zig Zag was the Town Centre (centre ville). The students learned a lot of new vocabulary and they did a ‘plan de ville’ of their town and presented it to their classmates and they made posters too.

Directions- à gauche, tout droit, au coin de, en face…

Road signs- dangers/interdictions/obligations/indications/services/directions

Points of Interest- Gare, librarie, bureau de poste, école, boulangerie, boucher, cinéma,

mairie, piscine, café, restaurant, supermarché…

French (Intermediate group with Christine)

During this period, we mainly talked about Health through Humanitarian aid. Different possibilities are offered to those who want to help, and this is what we discovered throughout the lessons.

We started this session with the case of students discussing between themselves on how to organize a fundraiser for the organization “Les Restos du Cœur” which gives food to people in need. We then spoke about “Emmaüs”, a well-known association in France which collects second-hand objects and furniture. Students from Cedar, Elm and Oak, staged a comic (“La boom Humanitaire”) talking about how a group of friends decided to give out personal things to help this association.

In addition to that, we read and discussed about other documents talking about “Téléthon” which supports medical research and deals with first aid we can give when we are part of an accident.

This is an interesting subject which has given us once again the opportunity to see and practice the grammatical side of the language.

We also read different stories involving Inspector Omniberge, to develop reading skills and find the solution to the mysteries!

French (Advanced group with Marie)

Nous avons poursuivi l’étude de notre programme de français. Durant cette cinquième période, les élèves ont continué d’intégrer les notions de français en articulant leurs apprentissages autour des différentes matières :

en grammaire: révision des natures et fonctions des mots, des compléments de phrases (lieu, temps, manière, de but, de moyen)

en conjugaison: l’impératif présent et le présent du conditionnel (avec révision des temps du passé)

en orthographe: la polysémie, les bases grecques et latines des mots, les homophones/homonymes et antonymes, les préfixes et les suffixes, noms génériques et noms particuliers

en mémorisation: 1 dictée a été faite et 1 poésie a été apprise et récitée

en poésie: création d’un poème pour la fête des mères et découverte d’un acrostiche à l’occasion de la fête des pères.

en littérature: la mythologie grecque avec la lecture du livre Le message d’Athènes d’Odile Weulersse puis différentes fiches de lecture, lectures silencieuses.

1 évaluation a eu lieu pendant cette 5ème période.

French IMYC with Marie

Cette cinquième période a été consacrée au thème de “l’entreprenariat”.

Nous avons aussi abordé le thème des abeilles à l’occasion de la journée mondiale des abeilles (le 20 mai).

English

Besides working on their spelling, grammar and reading comprehension, this term Elm class discovered the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson, learning and reciting the short but striking ‘The Eagle’, as well as the anguish-filled ‘Break, Break, Break’. We also returned to a previously learnt poem by Robert Frost, ‘Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening’. The class identified the figurative language techniques in the poems and their effects. Alongside this, the class also studied persuasive language techniques, observing the use of emotional versus logical persuasion. They identified the differences between claims and arguments and read articles to observe how these are used persuasively.

Geography

Elm continued to learn about land biomes this term, finishing with the tropical rainforest biome. The class enjoyed learning about these exotic regions of the world, with their unusual flora and fauna, and the particular characteristics that make them such a rich resource for life on the planet. Working in pairs, the class put their learning about biomes to the test in an Escape Room challenge.

History

During this term, the Elm class delved into Renaissance history. They visited the Musée Carnavalet in Paris and explored its collections on the rule of Francis I and Renaissance France. The students also studied the religious changes that occurred during the Sixteenth century, particularly in the Tudor period. To represent the religious changes of the Tudor era, they created a religious rollercoaster!

Global Perspectives

The Elm students delved into the foundations of sustainable entrepreneurship, researching the reasons behind the creation and success of these businesses. They worked in small groups, examining not only the types of sustainable businesses but also the factors contributing to their creation and success. At the end of the term, each group presented their research results by creating a poster.

Art

The Elm students focused on art and design, decorating a simple everyday object like a clock. They drew inspiration from the four seasons and the books they read both in and outside the English classroom. Additionally, the students created another large canvas, choosing a beautiful garden painted by Vincent Van Gogh as their inspiration and creating their own 

Creative Writing and Drama Workshops

In both drama and creative writing workshops, the Elm class learned how to write a dramatic script and performed it on stage during the school’s summer show. The students familiarized themselves with the foundations of dramatic writing, focusing on dialogues and stage directions. They rehearsed the script and continued to learn how to move on stage and project their voices appropriately in front of an audience.

Sailing Trip to Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer

One week adventure so far away from home. Oak, Elms and Cedar pushed themselves to the limit, physically and mentally while kayaking, surfing and catamaraning. Young adventurers improved or learnt new skills but most importantly matured and became a little bit more independent.

Mathematics and “Young Entrepreneurs” Project

A business is more than just a product or a service. Behind every item that we buy, every service that we use, there is a story. Running a business involves many skills – creativity, leadership, team work, communication, budgeting, planning, design, customer-awareness and many more. During this unit, children learnt these vital business skills, as they embarked on their business journey. The children were encouraged to take risks, be independent and realise that the hard work that goes into planning and setting up a business pays off.

Oak, Elm and Cedar visited Koezio , adventure park located in Cergy.

This event took place to celebrate the achievements of our Young Entrepreneurs who, as you know, recently devised, planned, acquired bank loans for and ran businesses, the proceeds of which partially have covered the cost of this well-deserved class activity.

Gardening Project

Harvesting our own sweet peas and potatoes. Cucumbers and tomatoes will continue to grow over the summer.

Green Garden – Whole School collaborative project. Our second Eco-Ecole badge ‘Alimentation’.

Accueil - L'écolomag

End of year certificates of achievements and Les Concours de Archimedes (Mathematical games and enigmas)

Well done and all the best!

Enjoy your summer!

FISP Middle School Team

Posted on

Cedar Class, Blog 4, 2022-2023

English

Cedar finished reading The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The class held a debate on the character of Dr Jekyll, one side arguing that he is a sympathetic character and the other taking the opposing view. In pairs, they produced artwork depicting the book and presented projects based around the developments in art and science during the Victorian era, from psychology and criminology to the highly stylised manners and dress of the period, the literature and the appeal of the Gothic.

French (Intermediate Group with Christine)

During these last two months, Food and Television (stars and games) were our main topics. They gave them the opportunity to develop even more their oral expression which represented an important part of each lesson. Through these topics, they had to express their tastes, present a recipe of one typical meal of their country, present their favorite star, and present the job they would like to do later. Aside from this, we continued our Monday activity where each child has to speak about its weekend, answer and ask questions. All this developed oral interactions in French between them. Learning a poem and saying it in front of the others also had a part in this process of learning vocabulary and gaining confidence in speaking French in front of the others. Although the oral expression had an important part in this school period, children also had to work on grammar, verbs, the past tense, quantities, through written exercises to train them in building grammatically correct French sentences. In the last following months, we will work on the topics of Health and Jobs.

French (Advanced Group with Marie)

Cette quatrième période a été principalement consacrée à la mythologie grecque. En effet, les élèves ont continué d’intégrer les notions de français en articulant leurs apprentissages autour de cette thématique :

en grammaire: les natures et les fonctions des mots, les compléments de phrases (lieu, temps, manière)

en conjugaison: le futur simple et le plus que parfait (avec révision du passé composé)

en orthographe: le champ lexical, les familles de mots, les homophones grammaticaux, les mots invariables

en mémorisation: 2 poésies ont été apprises et récitées

en littérature: la mythologie grecque avec lecture du livre l’Odyssée d’Homère puis différentes fiches de lecture.

2 dictées et 2 évaluations ont eu lieu pendant cette 4ème période.

French IMYC

We have had a very busy spring term full of different themes to explore. There were two very important topics that we discussed : Journée Internationale de la Femme on the 8/03 and Journée Internationale de la Francophonie on the 20/03. We had some very interesting discussions and debates around gender stereotypes; the pay gap between men & women in countries around the world and the students created posters around these issues. We found out some interesting facts about the French language and how many millions of people around the world speak it daily.

  • preparing posters

Cedar class joined up with Oaks and Elms for the last few classes of the term where they learned about different types of flour and how flour is milled. They tried grinding the grain using a traditional method (mortar & pestle) and then they used a grain mill and saw how much easier this method was. Three teams then made three types of ‘pain fait maison’ which the students got to eat on the last day of this term with their special lunch ‘fait maison’ too.

All three classes learned a new song celebrating spring: “La vie c’est comme un jardin” des Enfantastiques:

Geography

Cedar continued their study of Africa, presenting a country of their choice to the class. The class aimed to identlfy each country in the continent on a blank map, as well as to know the capital cities. Linking with the school Garden Project and the study of soil, the class looked at the issue of desertification around the world, its causes and what is being done to combat the problem. As a starting point, the class learnt about the devastation of the American Dustbowl in the 1930s and its causes, natural and man-made.

History

During this term the Cedar class began to look at the rise of dictatorships in Europe, focusing on Nazi Germany. The students looked at the Weimar Republic and at the ways in which Adolf Hitler managed to rise to the power in 1933. While focusing on this topic, the Cedar class continued to practice GCSE-style questions, working on paragraph structure and analytical writing.

While looking at the rise of Nazi regime in Germany, the Cedar class began to work on a project focusing on the experience of Jewish communities in France before and during World War Two. Within this project, the Cedar class had the opportunity of visiting the Jewish Museum of Paris, the neighbourhood of the Marais and the Shoah Memorial. 

Art

During this term the Cedar class practiced drawing and painting to create the backdrops for their drama performance drawn on Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap”. By looking at the different ways in which the play was brought on stage in the past, the Cedar students designed different backdrops aiming to recreate the sitting room of a 1950s manor house in the London area.

Creative Writing Workshop and ICT

This term the Cedar class worked on an integrated project that brought together creative writing workshops and ICT lessons. The Cedar students worked on the description of a setting, using pictures of natural landscapes as stimuli. By drawing on the chosen natural setting, the Cedar students developed a GCSE-style piece of narrative writing, developing a 500-700 words story that would include narrative conventions and would build a balanced plot. 

During ICT lessons, each student transferred their own story into a storyboard, by using the programming language “Scratch”. While doing that, the Cedar students were able to recreate digitally the actions and the descriptions embedded in the story, working on the sounds, the images and the graphics needed to develop an animated storyboard. 

Global Perspectives

During this term the Cedar class continued to work on the project “Europe in Schools” through which they will be able to put together a short documentary on migrations and to share it with a partner school in the Netherlands. The Cedar students looked at social research methods, learning how to create an interview questionnaire that could answer to their research question. As the class’s research is focusing on the experiences of foreigners settling in France, the students started to conduct interviews with staff members and parents to gather data about the topic under study. 

The Cedar class – along with the Elm students – participated also in a webinar conducted by Adeline Barras, the project manager of the Belgian association “Hearth”. As this association aims to find solutions to local food waste, the students had the possibility of looking at the ways in which people in the food industry try to prevent food waste on a regular basis.

Science

Cedar class this term worked out about different concepts in physics , they learned about speed and the quantitative relationship between average speed, distance and time (speed = distance ÷ time), the representation of a journey on a distance-time graph and relative motion: trains and cars passing one another.

They learned about static electricity where they experienced the positive and negative charges when objects are rubbed together:transfer of electrons, forces between charged objects. As well as the idea of electric field, forces acting across the space between objects not in contact

Mathematics

During this term, Cedar Class practiced solving linear equations and then used gained knowledge while solving geometric problems where sides and angles were expressed algebraicly. Cedar students also dived into the quadratic equations and practiced using the quadratic formula while solving them. Linked to our Green Garden Project and D&T workshops we created and solved ratio, percentage increase and decrease, volume, area and perimeter gardening and farming problems

D and T

Planted runner beans,

In an old and cracked rainboots.

We are sure they will have some strong,

healthy roots.


Collected some stinging nettles,

And conjured our own plant food fertilizer.

No need to go to the Jardiland, parents.

We have a solution that is wiser.

Explorer Pythagoras,

Fibonacci and Newton,

Still plenty to go through,

Will start with Darwin’s evolution.


Found Mathematics present all around us in nature.

On the house of the snail or the beautiful sunflower.

Better start designing that

rain water collecting tower.


Compost box, windchime, 

wormery and the birdfeeder.

Observed how seeds are growing

and my fingers get greener.


Trellis for the runner beans

and horse manure for potato.

Just wonder of Mona Lisa

knew about that Golden Ratio.


Green and brown for our compost box,

Apparently it is all about the balance of Nitrogen and Carbon,

Something important

like a pair of socks.


Types of soils

and different climates,

Greenhouse effect.

Ohhh no, I have cut my finger,  not a big deal,

But I better wash it well and disinfect.


We are off on our holiday,

But plants shall continue to grow.

Automated watering system,

Will look after them,

And it should be quite easy,

Cos we planted those plants in a row.

Drama Workshop

During this term the Cedar class concluded their work on a scene drawn on Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap”. After having edited the script, tailoring it to the characteristics of the audience and of the actors’ crew, the Cedar students worked on their own characters, studying them, and rehearsing their performances. At the end of the term, the Cedar students performed their scene in front of middle school students, adding backdrops, props, and costumes to their performance.

Posted on

Elm Class, Blog 3, 2022-2023

Literacy

Elm are currently reading The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd and have enjoyed trying to work out the whereabouts of Salim, the boy who went up on the London Eye and never came down. They have discussed the possibilities and written diary entries for the boy’s worried mother and for Salim himself, based on their theories for his disappearance. The book’s narrator is an autistic teenager called Ted who struggles with social interaction and whose attempts to decode language (he often takes idioms literally) as well as body language are both touching and humorous.  The book lends itself to reflection and discussion about autism and a different way of seeing the world. The book has lots of cultural references for the class to explore, from the Tate Modern and Andy Warhol to Shakespeare’s The Tempest and the tower blocks that Ted’s father knocks down in his role as a demolition expert.

French

Beginners group with Joanna

We have been very busy this term in French class. The students have been learning new verbs such as avoir (to have) et étre (to be) au présent as well as learning about ‘les déterminants’ (determiners) those little words that are placed in front of the noun and that determine whether or not the noun is masculin/féminin ou pluriel (ex: le, la, les, un, une, des, mon, ma, mes, ce, cet, cette, ces). They have also learned a poem and presented it very successfully (videos hereunder). Since we are living in France ‘pays de la gastronomie’ we have also had the opportunity to celebrate La Galette des Rois & La Chandeleur by baking galettes and making crêpes with the two other French classes.

Intermediate group with Christine

From January to February we explored the world of collections and passions, with Antoine, one of the eight students featured in our study manual. As a reminder, in December we had spoken about the topic of houses with Manon. Through this new topic, we discovered the collections and passions of Antoine and then gave all the students the opportunity to give a presentation of their own collections or passions. By doing this, we learned that one of the students has a passion for shells, another for turtles, specific books, specific cats, dogs…

As each student gave their presentation, others were able to ask them questions about their passion (why, since when, how many…?)

In order to speak about their passions, they had to use some specific sentences such as « ma passion c’est… », « je suis passionné(e) de… », as well as specific adjectives (ce/cet/cette/ces). Those who asked questions also had to master questions « how many/combien de » etc.

In this lesson, we also had to master numbers up to 100 (orally and in writing) when speaking about prices or pocket money.

Alongside this topic, the class learnt a poem about Winter, and because of Epiphany in January and Pancake Day in February, we spent time reading and preparing two popular recipes « galette des rois » and « crêpes ». Cooking is appreciated by all the class and it was fun for us all to work together.

After the break, we will start a new lesson with Akiko who will speak about food, recipes, and healthy meals.

Advanced group with Marie

Cette troisième période a été bien chargée au niveau des apprentissages. Les élèves ont continué d’intégrer les notions de français.

en grammaire: les différentes propositions, voix active/ voix passive, les compléments de verbe (cod, coi)

en conjugaison: les temps du récit imparfait/passé simple, le passé composé, le participe passé/infinitif

en orthographe: le pluriel des noms et des adjectifs, le féminin des noms et des adjectifs, une dictée préparée

en mémorisation: 2 poésies ont été apprises et récitées

en littérature: choix d’un livre de lecture (Cheval de guerre de Michael Morpugo) puis fiches à rédiger en répondant aux différentes questions, étude du genre poétique et versification

en expression écrite: employer un verbe pour construire une phrase

2 évaluations ont lieu pendant cette 3ème période.

French IMYC with Marie

Durant ce terme, les élèves ont continué à étudier les explorateurs. Ils ont d’abord fait des recherches sur un des célèbres personnages (Zheng Hu, Christoph Colomb, Magellan, Vasco de Gama, Marco Polo, Jacques Cartier, Bartolome Dias), puis ils ont élaboré des affiches par groupe de 2 ou 3 enfants.

Ensuite, ils ont construit un des 3 objets utilisés par ces grands explorateurs

– le groupe des caravelles

– le groupe des globes

– le groupe des boussoles

Ils ont appris et chanté 2 chansons: Les petits souliers de Guy Béart et Aux Champs Elysées de Joe Dassin.

Geography

This term Elm learned to distinguish between physical and human geography. They learned that human geography involves trends and patterns in human population and the impact of human activity on the environment. They then learnt about land use and economic activity and trade links. As part of this, the class looked at the journeys that products, such as bananas and cocoa beans, take from farm to store, a multi-stage process more complex than they had imagined. This led to a discussion about Fairtrade and why this organisation had been set up.  Working in pairs, the pupils chose a specific Fairtrade product and investigated the countries in which it is produced and the benefits (or not) to the people involved in the numerous stages of the growing, processing and transporting of these products to our shops.

History

The Elm class explored the changes and the great discoveries related to the Renaissance period. They looked at the amazing improvements that the Renaissance brought to Europe, looking at art, architecture and science. The Elm class analysed the extent of the change that occurred between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, looking also at how inventions like the printing press stimulated the circulation of new ideas in Europe. They also learnt about the developments in towns and court, getting familiar with figures of Renaissance princes like Francis I and Henry VIII. 

Science

Elm students learned about material changes to help them remember information about acids and alkalis and how they work safely in the laboratory. We had the chance to create a universal indicator from red cabbage and test it on different solutions. Students learned about Litmus paper and pH scale to identify the acidity of different materials and planned a full investigation to neutralize alkali or an acid.

ICT

Elm class focused on the creation of websites for a chosen purpose. They identified what makes a good web page and used this information to design and evaluate their own website using Google Sites.  Elm class started a simple program to build in and test within the new programming environment, before transferring it to their micro:bit. They used Scratch to create a ping pong game.

Mathematics

In Statistics:

This term, Elms constructed and interpreted various tables, charts, and diagrams, including frequency tables, bar charts, pie charts, stem and leaf diagrams and line graphs. We practised solving comparison, sum and difference problems using information presented in bar charts, pictograms, tables and line graphs.  Elm students worked on solving different statistics problems where information had to be analysed in order to calculate the required average: range, mode, mean and median.

In Probability and ratio:

During this unit, we discovered vocabulary related to probability and know that Impossible, Unlikely, Even Chance, Likely and Certain relate to 0, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 1, respectively. We then solved probability problems where we had to find all possible outcomes and calculate the probability of the desirable outcome. We then moved onto solving problems with ratio and now know how to simplify ratios and how to use ratio to compare quantities.

On the 2nd of February Elm and Cedar students participated in Les Concours Archimède. Les JEUX ÉNIGMES SOLIDAIRES pour collégiens francophones depuis 1989.

These puzzle games allowed children to highlight their knowledge, clearly express their mathematical thoughts and use their sense of observation.

37th International Mathematical Games

6 of our Elm and Cedar Mathematicians will participate in the 1/2 final of the 37th International Mathematical Games and on the 18th of March will proudly represent our school. Good luck with crunching those numbers and solving tricky logical problems.

Design and Technology

Elm students will proudly represent our school in the Thomas Edison Pitch Contest where they will present their prototype, explain how it works and what difference it will make. Most importantly, Elms will work in teams and will try their best to achieve their set goals collaboratively.

Helped out with the compost bin,
And wormery contraption.
Participated in “Thomas Edison competition”,
And have acquired the DIY foundation.

Automated food dispenser for dogs
Is under construction creation.
And quite tricky system to create water
Out of thin air is our ambition.

Measuring, thinking,
designing and plotting .
Think outside the box
And nothing is blocking.

Will work hard on our projects,
To make our future brighter.
Do you know what was invented first,
Matches or lighter?

Teamwork approach,
And communication,
We will pull it through even during our holiday,
If we will find dedication.

Art

Over the course of this term, the Elm class explored the work of Pointillist painters, looking at the work of artists like Paul Signac and Georges Seurat. Each student focused on a different subject to portrait, creating different kinds of landscapes and using both their memories and their imagination to create them. By using paint, the students created their own Pointillist piece of art, working on the relationship between light and shades of colours. 

Drama Workshops

Over the course of this term, our Elms practised improvisation and learnt how to incorporate body language, face expression and the use of voice in an improvised performance. Students worked in different groups, creating improvised scenes based on different stimuli, like a specific scenario or a group of objects. The Elm class also learnt how to give feedback when watching a performance, highlighting elements of appreciation, and providing suggestions. 

Creative Writing Workshops

Over the course of this term, our Elms practised improvisation and learnt how to incorporate body language, face expression and the use of voice in an improvised performance. Students worked in different groups, creating improvised scenes based on different stimuli, like a specific scenario or a group of objects. The Elm class also learnt how to give feedback when watching a performance, highlighting elements of appreciation, and providing suggestions. 

Global perspectives

The Elm class conducted research on different languages spoken around the world. They investigated the ways in which languages have been developed and linked to different cultures. They looked at very known languages – like German and Dutch – but also at languages spoken in smaller areas, like Maltese and Welsh. The outcome of their research was communicated through the creation of a short booklet that included all the most relevant information about the targeted language, including links to literature, movies and drama pieces produced in that language. 

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Cedar Class, Blog 3, 2022-2023

Literacy

Cedar are currently reading The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, their second Victorian novella following last term’s A Christmas Carol by Dickens. The class are building on their understanding of Victorian England, particularly London, which at the time of this story was the richest city on Earth, yet with some of the world’s poorest slums. Besides reading the book and interpreting the themes of duality in human nature as well as in society, the class are learning about the culture of the era with regard to science, religion, literature and art to gain an understanding of the world that Robert Louis Stevenson lived in and to put into context Victorian literature.

French

Intermediate group with Christine

From January to February we explored the world of collections and passions, with Antoine, one of the eight students featured in our study manual. As a reminder, in December we had spoken about the topic of houses with Manon. Through this new topic, we discovered the collections and passions of Antoine, and then each student had the opportunity to make a presentation of their own collections or passions. By doing this, we learned that one of the class has a passion for shells, another for turtles, specific books, specific cats, dogs…

While the students made their presentations, others were able to ask them questions about their passion (why, since when, how many…?)

In order to speak about their passions, they had to use some specific sentences such as « ma passion c’est… », « je suis passionné(e) de… », as well as specific adjectives (ce/cet/cette/ces). Those who asked questions also had to master questions « how many/combien de » etc.

In this lesson, we also had to master numbers up to 100 (orally and in writing) when speaking about prices or pocket money.

Alongside this topic, the class learnt a poem about Winter, and because of Epiphany in January and Pancake Day in February, we spent time reading and preparing two popular recipes « galette des rois » and « crêpes ». Cooking is appreciated by all the class and it was a nice opportunity for all of us to work together. After the break, we will start a new lesson with Akiko who will speak about food, recipes and healthy meals.

Advanced group with Marie

Cette troisième période a été bien chargée au niveau des apprentissages. Les élèves ont continué d’intégrer les notions de français.

en grammaire: les différentes propositions, voix active/voix passive, les compléments de verbe (cod, coi).

en conjugaison: les temps du récit imparfait/passé simple, le passé-composé, le participe passé/l’infinitif.

en orthographe: le pluriel des noms et des adjectifs, le féminin des noms et des adjectifs, une dictée préparée

en mémorisation: 2 poésies ont été apprises et récitées

en littérature: étude du genre poétique et versification

en expression écrite: la phrase et sa ponctuation

2 évaluations ont lieu pendant cette 3ème période

French/English IMYC with Joanna

This term Cedar worked on a very important topic: the Student Council. They began the term by introducing the topic to Oak and Elm students showing their skills of public speaking, getting their points across, speaking in a clear & concise way to be understood by all. During these meetings the 0ak & Elm students voted for the person they wanted to represent their classes for the rest of the school year (Arwen for Elm and Chloé for Oak). In further meetings the aim was to brainstorm within each class (Cedar students being the activity leaders) on any suggestions students would want to present to the Head of School (they discussed various things such as the cantine, computers, field trips, equipment, craft workshops, fundraising etc). At the end of this term the Student Representatives held their very first & very successful Student Council meeting with the Head of School where all these subjects were discussed. The 3 classes also voted on a beautiful motto : Learning to Love and Loving to Learn and created a ‘Pass on the Positivity poster’.

Ils ont appris et chanté 2 chansons: Les petits souliers de Guy Béart et Aux Champs Elysées de Joe Dassin.

Geography

The focus this term was Africa and after testing our knowledge of the countries in this vast continent (by trying to identify them on a blank map), each member of the class selected a particular country to research. They looked at its geographichal location, weather and climate, population, physical and human features and, where applicable, tourism and its effects. They also researched historical facts about the country and changes in population, economy and migration over time. The class looked at the effects of climate change, desertification where relevant, rural to urban migration and the particular strengths and challenges facing their selected country.

History

Our Cedars have been engaged with the study of the struggles for civil rights conducted by African Americans in the USA between the 1950s and 1970s. The students looked at the life of famous African Americans, like Jesse Owens and Martin Luther King. They also explored how African Americans fought for their civil rights, looking at the different ways in which they protested over the course of twenty years. Alongside that, our Cedars practised analytical writing, getting more and more familiar with a paragraph structure used to answer GCSE style questions. 

Science

Cedar students enjoyed learning about more chemistry concepts around the electron’s arrangement in shells; they learned about chemical and physical properties of group 1 and their reaction with water and metals. Cedar also explored the properties and trends of halogens and noble gases. Cedar students are now capable of naming metal-metal and metal-nonmetal compounds. They explored the different chemical bondings like covalent and ionic bonds.

ICT

In this unit, Elm students explored the concept of variables in programming through games in Scratch. First, learners find out what variables are and relate them to real-world examples of values that can be set and changed. Then they use variables to create a simulation of a scoreboard. They used the Modify-Create model in which learners experiment with variables in an existing project and then modify them before they create their own project.

Mathematics

In Statistics:

Cedar students constructed and interpreted various data tables, charts and diagrams, including frequency tables, bar charts, pie charts, pictograms, line graphs, stem and leaf charts and scatter graphs (correlation). Cedar students can clearly distinguish between positive and negative correlation, identify if it is strong, moderate or weak and understand that all outliers are not taken into consideration while drawing the line of the best fit. We then dived deeper into the construction of pie charts and calculated desirable percentage and number of degrees for the specific group of data. We also solved probability problems where we had to find all possible outcomes and calculated the probability of the desirable outcome. We then moved onto solving problems with ratio and proportion and now know how to simplify ratios and how to use ratio to compare quantities.

On the 2nd of February Elm and Cedar students participated in Les Concours Archimède. Les JEUX ÉNIGMES SOLIDAIRES pour collégiens francophones depuis 1989.

These puzzle games allowed children to highlight their knowledge, clearly express their mathematical thoughts and use their sense of observation.

37th International Mathematical Games

6 of our Elm and Cedar Mathematicians will participate in the 1/2 final of the 37th International Mathematical Games and on the 18th of March will proudly represent our school. Good luck with crunching those numbers and solving tricky logical problems.

Design and Technology

So they say that I worked hard this term… I had better put my feet up then, I think I deserve it.

Mrs. Harrington would agree…

Art

Our Cedars looked at the life and work of the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, looking at the links between art and music suggested by his paintings. Using Kandinsky’s art as inspiration, Cedar students explored the use of lines, shapes and colour to communicate different moods. Over the course of the term, each Cedar student chose an instrumental piece of music to be represented through abstract painting, using both water colours and paint. 

Drama Workshops

During this term, the Cedar class began to work on Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap”. The Cedar students started to read and perform the first act of the play, also doing significant work on tweaking and adjusting the play to the performance that they wanted to create. Our Cedars also worked on the study of their own characters, using the “hot seat” activity as a way to explore the background and the main characteristics of their own characters. The students designed their own questionnaire for the “hot seat” activity, reflecting on the best questions to explore the complexity of their characters. 

Creative Writing Workshops

Over the course of this term, the Cedar class continued their creative writing workshops, looking at how to edit their own fictional texts. The students learnt how to make small or bigger changes to their own writing, making sure that their fictional piece of writing included the main elements of narrative conventions. By doing that, the Cedar students appreciated the complexity of the editing process, learning how to modify their text to convey a specific meaning. 

Global perspectives

Over the course of this term, the Cedar class learnt how to create an academic poster to communicate the outcomes of their research. They focused on migrations – choosing case studies appropriate to answer their research questions. Working in two groups, the students designed their own posters, working on all the relevant sections, like the presentation of the research questions, the discussion of the methodology and the conclusions they developed from the results of their research. 

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Cedar Class, Blog 2, 2022/2023

English

Cedar read Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol this term, delving deep into the familiar story of the cold-hearted Scrooge whose exclamation ‘Bah! Humbug’ has become synonymous with a curmudgeonly outlook on life. The class read the story in the context of London in 1843 when the Industrial Revolution was in full swing and thousands lived in squalor and misery. While Dickens used the book to express his outrage at their exploitation and to hold society’s wealthy accountable for the treatment of the poor, it is an uplifting story of second chances and redemption and has plenty of wit and humour. Cedar analysed characterisation, mood and atmosphere in the story and also discovered how our modern concept of Christmas is based on the images created by Dickens in this much-loved novella.

Alongside this, Cedar focused on Expository / Informational writing, and how authors inform and explain their purpose in writing. The class looked at the differences between informational, explanatory and descriptive writing and worked on using effective transitional words and phrases.

French

Intermediate Group with Christine

During this period, from November to December, the first topic we worked on was the one of the House with all his rooms and furniture. They had to be able to name and write properly the different places and all what is inside. We did a focus on the bedroom and each of the children had to make presentation of their dream bedroom including the things in it that reflect their passions (video games, poster or books about animals…). It was also an opportunity to speak about some castles in France and make them do a short presentation of one the famous monument in their own country. We ended this period talking about buying presents through a dialogue in their book and in another dialogue in which they had to do a roleplay.

Through written and oral exercises, they had the possibility to acquired new vocabulary, learn grammar/conjugation structures or review some others.

In January, we will go on working on the topic of purchase and we will speak about food (shops, menu, receipt, healthy food…).

I wish a Merry Christmas to all the families.

Advanced Group with Marie

Pendant cette deuxième période, les élèves ont continué à approfondir les notions de français:

en grammaire: les différentes fonctions de l’adjectif qualificatif (épithète/attribut du sujet), le complément du nom, phrases simples/complexes, les différentes propositions (subordonnées/conjonctives/juxtaposées).

en conjugaison: les temps du récit, l’imparfait, le passé simple.

en vocabulaire: étude de la notion du conte ainsi que la carte mentale du conte, vocabulaire du merveilleux et du fantastique, les différentes origines d’un mot.

en orthographe: l’infinitif et le participe passé, 2 dictées ont été effectuées.

en mémorisation: 1 poésie a été apprise et récitée.

en littérature: choix d’un livre de lecture puis rendu de la fiche en lien avec le livre, apprentissage du schéma narratif.

2 évaluations ont eu lieu durant le 2ème terme.

Spanish

This term we worked on the importance of family in Hispanic culture. We discovered the symbol of «La Llorona» through the popular Mexican song* in its most recent version* and saw the different versions of this legend so popular in the Hispanic world.

Then CHRISTMAS. They discovered the different characters existing in the Spanish Christmas and shared a moment of cooking to discover the TURRON.

Click here:

Mathematics

 Pythagoras’ Theorem. The children investigated with different triangles and understand the relationship between the three sides of the right angled triangle and know how to find the unknown side when two sides are provided. Cedar students solved different questions where the hypothenuse values were unknown and then used the trigonometric ratios of sine and cosine to find the value of certain angles. Young Cedar looked into real life applications of trigonometric ratios and solved problems with boats, planes and rockets where horizontal distance and angles of depression were unknown.

Cedar students used their previous knowledge of properties of faces, surfaces, edges and vertices of cubes, cuboids, prisms, cylinders, pyramids and cones and solved some complex problems where they had to calculate their volume and surface area.

See the source image
FFJM Fédération Française des Jeux Mathématiques

Elm and Cedar Mathematicians participated in the 1/4 final of the 37 th International Mathematical Games and those that will qualify to the 1/2 final will be notified by e-mail before 18th of March 2023. Well done Elm and Cedar, you did your very best to crunch those numbers and solved some tricky logical problems.

Science

During this term Cedar class enjoyed a wonderful time learning about chemical concepts. Students built on their previous knowledge of the particle theory of matter and developed new knowledge on elements, compounds and mixtures. They developed and demonstrate the spherical model of the atom and that elements contain only one type of atom and therefore cannot be split into different substances. 

We had the chance to spend a fantastic learning time on PhET virtual lab where all students discovered which particles affect the mass, name, and charge of an atom. And they play around adding protons, neutrons, and electrons to the atom. 

Students had time to study elements of periodic table and their physical and chemical properties. They compared and discussed chemical properties of Alkali, Halogens and Noble gases elements and their reactivity with water.

History

The Cedar class looked at women’s struggle for voting rights in the United Kingdom and in the United States, exploring how women gained the right vote. Students looked at how men and women lived in the Nineteenth and Twentieth century, making sense of the inequalities between their conditions. Students also worked on analytical writing, practicing the structure of paragraph based on the use of evidence to support a point. In the last weeks of the term, students prepared a short presentation on Suffragettes, looking at specific figures of women involved in their campaigns. 

Geography

This term the topic was Population and it coincided with Earth’s population reaching eight billion in November. The class looked at population trends, density and distribution around the world and the factors influencing them. The class discussed the challenges faced by countries with ageing populations where birth rates are low;  here, young people will soon be insufficient to fill the job market. Conversely, countries such as Ethiopia, which have a growing young population, face the prospect of its young people finding it hard to find work.  The class researched their own families for examples of the change in birth rates around the world, in some cases reporting grandparents in families of 10 children or more as opposed to their own two- or one-child family units.

Design and Technology

Birch, Walnut , Oak , Elm and Cedar collaborative Christmas decorations and costume design project.

Soap Project

ART

Over the course of this term, Cedar students worked on the backdrop representing the main theme of the school’s Christmas show “Christmas Stories from Around the World”, using different colouring techniques like water colours and paint. They also worked on other pieces of art – like the cover of the book including all the texts of the Christmas stories performed on stage – reproducing the design they had created for the backdrop. 

Global Perspectives

The Cedar class worked on migrations, looking at different case studies from around the world. The main focus of the work carried out by Cedar students was to map out appropriate ideas when having to answer a research question. Therefore, they worked on research skills, trying to select and evaluate the most relevant concepts related with the research question that they have chosen. The students have carried out this work in small groups, creating poster that could map out their ideas. 

Drama Workshops

Cedar students accomplished some fantastic work over the course of the term. The students worked on the development of a two-acts comedy that served as introduction and conclusion of the Christmas show. Cedar students worked on how to bring characters on stage, studying their emotional and physical features. They developed voice and improvisation skills, learning how a script could be brough successfully on stage. 

Creative Writing Workshops

Cedar students looked at dystopian texts, exploring a variety of mentor texts – Bradbury, Orwell, Jackson – to reflect on the main features and the most important themes conveyed by dystopian texts. The students focused on the planning stage of writing, using the Freytag’s pyramid as a tool to develop the plot of their story. During each workshop, Cedar students had the opportunity of sharing their work with a classmate, discussing ideas, and giving suggestions to each other. 

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Elm Class, Blog 2, Term 2 2022/2023

English

This term Elm studied figurative language in poetry, learning how to identify such devices as simile and metaphor, personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia. They also learned about the varying types of rhyme found in poetry and reflected on their effects.

The class read Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo, the story of a young girl who befriends a squirrel who has superpowers. This highly unusual book was a big hit with the class who found it entertaining but it also challenged them with high level vocabulary and some serious themes. The class analysed the characters and their relationships, developing the discipline of supporting their responses with evidence from the text.

French

Beginners Group with Joanna

The theme for this term linked to our daily workbook (Zig Zag 2) is La Maison (the house). We have studied new vocabulary linked to objects (lampe/lit/bibliothèque/armoire/bureau) that are found in the house as well as the different rooms in a house (grenier/cave/salon/salle à manger etc.). The students all individually presented a drawing of their own bedrooms and the objects/furniture they have, they all did a really good job. We also continue to work on our French verbs (this term spelling tests on les verbes en ER au présent). Throughout the term we learned songs in French for the Christmas show and the students sang them all beautifully on the 10th of December at the Théâtre de Bailly.

Intermediate Group with Christine

During this period, from November to December, the first topic we worked on was the one of the House with all his rooms and furniture. They had to be able to name and write properly the different places and all what is inside. We did a focus on the bedroom and each of the children had to make presentation of their dream bedroom including the things in it that reflect their passions (video games, poster or books about animals…). It was also an opportunity to speak about some castles in France and make them do a short presentation of one the famous monument in their own country.

We ended this period talking about buying presents through a dialogue in their book and in another dialogue in which they had to do a roleplay.

Through written and oral exercises, they had the possibility to acquired new vocabulary, learn grammar/conjugation structures or review some others.

In January, we will go on working on the topic of purchase and we will speak about food (shops, menu, receipt, healthy food…).

I wish a Merry Christmas to all the families.

Advanced Group with Marie

Pendant cette deuxième période, les élèves ont continué à approfondir les notions de français:

en grammaire: les différentes fonctions de l’adjectif qualificatif (épithète/attribut du sujet), le complément du nom, phrases simples/complexes, les différentes propositions.

en conjugaison: les temps du récit, l’imparfait, le passé simple.

en vocabulaire: étude de la notion du conte ainsi que la carte mentale du conte, vocabulaire du merveilleux et du fantastique, les différentes origines d’un mot.

en orthographe: l’infinitif et le participe passé, 2 dictées ont été effectuées.

en mémorisation: 1 poésie a été apprise et récitée.

en littérature: choix d’un livre de lecture puis rendu de la fiche en lien avec le livre, apprentissage du schéma narratif.

2 évaluations ont eu lieu durant le 2ème terme.

French IMYC with Marie

Cette période a été consacrée aux grands explorateurs ainsi qu’aux répétitions pour le spectacle de Noël.

“Douce nuit”

Spanish

This term we learnt about the human body, the family and the Christmas tradition in Spain. The family and its various members served as a basis for us to approach Christmas in Spain. We discovered and learned the VILLANCICO (Christmas song) «Campana sobre campana»* and exchanged «los regalos del amigo invisible»

Click here:

 https://www.google.com/search?q=campana+sobre+campana+youtube&rlz=1C1GCEA_enFR970FR970&oq=campana+sobre+campana&aqs=chrome.3.0i131i355i433i512j46i131i433i512j0i512l4j0i22i30l4.14879j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:e925e6b8,vid:c1QVf4ywHrY

Mathematics

Elm students investigated with the different 2D shapes and then found area and perimeter of compound shapes, including those with the circles where circumference and area had to be found.

Elm students used their previous knowledge of properties of faces, surfaces, edges and vertices of cubes, cuboids, cylinders, pyramids and cones and solved problems where they had to calculate their volume and surface area. Elm students understand how to use the formulae for calculating the volume but also know their meaning and how these formulae are formed.

See the source image
FFJM Fédération Française des Jeux Mathématiques

Elm and Cedar Mathematicians participated in the 1/4 final of the 37 th International Mathematical Games and those that will qualify to the 1/2 final will be notified by e-mail before 18th of March 2023. Well done Elm and Cedar, you did your very best to crunch those numbers and solved some tricky logical problems.

Science

During this term Elm students had the opportunity to learn about the the unique properties of mater and change of the state under the effect of temperature. They discussed everyday solids, liquids and gases, considering their shape and volume and tabulate their identifying properties.

Elm students could model the changes of motion and arrangement of particles during boiling, evaporation, condensation, freezing and melting.

Elm students analysed and evaluated heating or cooling curves and plot graphs, draw conclusions about the melting and boiling points of substances. 

During the PeTH virtual lab all students lerned to carry out an investigation to see how the temperature of ice changes as it is heated to its boiling point.

History

Our Elms looked at the Age of Discovery, exploring how sailors and merchants discovered new areas of the world. They looked at early modern world maps – spotting differences with the modern ones – and discovered what instruments and tools early modern merchants used to sail or to travel along the Silk Road. In the last weeks of the term, students worked in groups preparing a short presentation on a specific figure of the Age of Discovery.

Geography

This term Elm learned about rivers. Using the Thames as an example, they followed its course from source to the sea, observing how it grows from a spring seeping up from the ground into a stream to become a river deep enough for boats and barges just 40km from its source. They learned that it ends its journey in the Thames Estuary and that as a consequence it is a tidal river.

The class learned how rivers shape the land around them and looked at some of the landforms created, including v-shaped valleys, waterfalls, gorges, meanders and oxbow lakes. Rivers are a key part of the water cycle and the class studied the process as well as how rainwater reaches rivers. This led to discussion about how we make use of rivers and a look at the processes involved in obtaining our water supplies.

Design and Technology

Linked to our learning in science we created our own Christmas candles and then in ICT lessons designed different labels to

Designing and creating our Christmas costumes.

Soap Project

ART

Elm students worked on the backdrops for the Christmas show, looking at the stories to be brought on stage and using their imagination to recreate the atmosphere of each story. Students worked with stencils, collage, and paint, combining these different techniques to design colorful backdrops. 

Global Perspectives

The Elm class looked at the theme of diversity, exploring different winter traditions and celebrations from around the world. Elm students worked in small groups, researching information on five different traditions: Saint Olaf, Saint Marteen, Santa Lucia, Bonfire Day and Festa Juanina. Each small group created a poster to present the results of their research to the whole class. 

Drama Workshops

Our Elm worked steadily on two different drama techniques: freeze frames and mimes. The students used these techniques to bring on stage two stories for the school’s Christmas show: “The Night Before Christmas” and “The Fairy of Strasbourg”. Elm students worked on the representation of emotions through face expression and on the portrayal of actions through body language. They also practiced the use of voice, learning how to speak loud and clearly when on stage.

Creative Writing Workshops

Over the course of this term, the Elm class worked on fantasy stories. Students looked at mentor texts – like The Hobbit – to get inspired and gathered information about the features of fantasy stories. They created their own fantasy protagonists, drawing and highlighting their characteristics. They also worked on the design of their story’s plot, using the “story mountain” as a planning tool. Students included the opening, the build-up, the problem, the resolution, and the ending, planning their story around these sections.

Christmas Celebration

Patience, persistence and artistic flair brought us together for an amazing celebration at the Theatre de Bailly where our students and ‘Christmas stories’ shone bright on the stage.

Merry Christmas !

All the very best!

FISP Team

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Cedar Class BLOG 1 Term 1 2022/2023

English

This term Cedar focused on Narrative, examining closely the elements that make it effective through close reading and annotating of short stories and excerpts from writers including Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks and Bram Stoker. While studying details of characterisation and setting the class observed not only the power of vocabulary and figurative language but also the impact of punctuation. With these model texts in mind, the class wrote their own narratives in which the emphasis was variously on a particular incident or a location or setting.

The class also read The Alchemist by Paul Coelho, the story of an Andalusian shepherd who leaves his homeland and crosses into Africa and across the desert into Egypt, prompted by a recurring dream of the Pyramids and treasure. This deeply spiritual book calls the reader to follow their heart’s desire and so fulfil their destiny, while demonstrating through Santiago’s travails that the journey may not be a direct or easy one. Steeped in allusions to the Bible and the Koran the class learnt about some of the key teachings of Christianity and Islam and broadened their general knowledge, learning about omens, the history of Alchemy and the life of Bedouins in the desert.

French

Intermediate Group with Christine

This year students will strengthen their knowledge of French and improve it with the help of  « Adosphere »,their new learning book. We will follow the lives of 8 teenage characters (4 girls and 4 boys) who present their daily life (tastes, emotions, worries) in relation to others and to the surrounding world. In each module there is a specific dialogue with one of the characters with topic-related vocabulary, grammar and conjugation. Some additional exercises are given out to consolidate learning. At the end of each module students will create their own questions (based on what was learned) & add questions to the ZigZag game. The students learned two poems this term ( about school and autumn) enabling them to develop oral skills and vocabulary. 

Playing with Zig Zag

Just like last year, we do the daily Calendar exercise. This daily routine helps students to cover a large scope of topics like the date, the weather, the seasons, moods and activities. Each student should be able to ask questions to the others and receive answers. This is an interactive exercise in which all students of all levels partake.

The daily calendar

After the holidays, the next module (with the character Manon) will cover the topic of the Home and we will also discover Castles in France. We will also talk about Christmas to close this time period. 

Advanced Group with Marie

Durant cette période, les élèves ont étudié plusieurs notions:

en grammaire: la phrase et ses caractéristiques (formes et types), la phrase simple et complexe (1 seul ou plusieurs verbes), la phrase verbale et a-verbale, le nom et le groupe nominal, les déterminants, les pronoms, l’adjectif, les mots invariables ainsi que la nature/classe grammaticale des mots.

en conjugaison: les temps du passé, présent et futur, le verbe et son infinitif, les verbes d’action et les verbes d’état, le présent de l’indicatif de tous les verbes, l’imparfait des auxiliaires être et avoir ainsi que des verbes du 1er groupe.

en vocabulaire: le champ lexical du mythe et du conte autour du monstre, utilisation du dictionnaire.

en orthographe: 3 dictées ont été effectuées.

en mémorisation: apprentissage de 2 poésies “Ponctuation” et “Automne”

en littérature: 2 romans ont été lus et étudiés (selon le niveau de difficultés):

  • Le roman de Renart de Laurence Mokrani
  • Rémi et le mystère de Saint- Péray de Annie Coutelle

5 évaluations ont eu lieu depuis le début de la rentrée:

  • 1 évaluation diagnostique qui permet d’établir le niveau de l’élève et de voir ainsi quelles compétences il a acquises, et celles qui sont à consolider.
  • 4 évaluations portant sur la phrase, le présent de tous les verbes, la nature/classe grammaticale des mots, l’adjectif épithète ou attribut et l’imparfait.

French/English IMYC with Joanna

The Cedar students have two classes a week with me divided into 2 distinct subjects. Every Tuesday afternoon we study various aspects of the unique political and economic alliance of the European Union and every Friday we have global discussions/debates around the subject ‘enseignement moral et civique’ (EMC) – moral & civic teaching (MCT). We began our first term with an Introduction to the EU: capitals/countries of the 27 member states, the common EU values, the symbols of the EU and the goals of the EU. In MCT the students learned what the role of a Student Representative is and the importance of this role in a school setting. The 6 Cedar students will take turns being Student Rep this school year and next term they will present this role to Oak & Elm students and they will organize the vote of a class rep for these two classes.

  • EU Capital/Country quiz
  • Preparing posters
  • Definitions of role of a student representative to be sorted.
  • The students need to put cards in right category and explain their choices.
  • Symbols of EU on display and Quiz for students and adults to take on EU landmarks
  • Poster of the 8 objectives of the EU
  • Poster of the Values of the EU

Spanish

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER

Linguistic objectives worked on:

– To introduce oneself and one’s surroundings

– Talking about a person’s routine

– Talking about their tastes and school.

– Present tense, basic prepositions, linking words, affective verbs (GUSTAR type)

– Numbers and their daily use: statistics, date, time, age…

Cultural objectives worked on :

– Computer graphics of the social world

– Geography of Latin America

– Mexico and “Día de Muertos

PROJECT: ALTAR DE DIA DE MUERTOS

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER

Once the contact has been established this term we will work in a flipped classroom. This is based on prior work done by the child at home on the given topic with written, audio or visual material.

Language objectives:

– Talking about projects, giving and asking for personal information.

– Expressing gradation

– Talking about knowledge and skills

– Lexicon: countries, inhabitants and languages. Jobs and studies. Leisure activities. Family

Cultural objectives:

– Spanish as an international language

– The family in the Hispanic world

– Intercultural families.

– Christmas and Nativity celebrations.

Mathematics

In Algebra: Expressions /Formulae/Algebraic Fractions/ System of equations/Straight-line graphs

Cedar worked on simplifying algebraic expressions, used simple formulae and wrote formulae from the problem to identify how they could be applied in real life. We worked on solving problems while substituting specific values into expressions and formulae and then probed further into algebra while finding solutions for the systems of equations. Students also investigated how to find the solutions to the system of equations when they are represented graphically.

Cedar studied graphs that are expressed in the form y=mx+c and calculated their gradients and intercepts with the y-axis. We then worked on drawing parallel and perpendicular lines and found midpoints of a line segment. Cedar students prepared posters on these topics and practiced teaching/presenting them to their peers.

Science

Cedar class initiate this term with deep biological concepts by studying deeply the cellular leaf structure. Furthermore, they identified the plant cell structure responsible for photosynthesis.

Cedar class had also the chance to make an organized study about Mitosis. They were able to identify the different stages of cell division, naming the stage of the cell cycle as well as reproducing Mitosis stages on a card board project.

Students have been introduced to genetic concepts and started by buit up a vocabulary Map to identify genes, genomes, phenotypes, genotypes, and Alleles.
Cedar class then could successfully finalize a Meiosis division to find out why kids don’t look like their parents and what can increase genetic variation like the random chromosomes recombination and Crossing over.

History

The Cedar class started the year by working on historians’ methodology. The students explored different kinds of primary sources used by historians and put together a presentation on an historian’s work they were interested in. The students also started to look at global history, creating a big timeline that includes historical events from different areas of the world. They have ended the term by looking at the Industrial Revolution, analysing the impact that it had on European society.

Geography

Cedar learnt about Geographic Information Systems (GIS) this term, its manifold applications and how it has revolutionised data gathering and analysis.  

The class began the term using multiple paper maps to bring together information for choosing the location of a cinema. They then looked at the same project using the layering of information via a GIS mapping application and saw the speed and efficiency of GIS as it brought together statistical  analysis with the visualisation and geographic benefits offered by maps.  

The class looked at GIS uses in crime mapping, urban and transportation planning, accident and hotspot analyses, to name but a few of its applications.

Design and Technology

‘My chair is not very comfortable. Can I design and make my own?’ 

‘I spend a considerable amount of time sitting on my chair, I really think it should be VERY comfortable and VERY chic.’ And that is how it all started… Cedar students then researched and discovered different artistic, comfortable and not so comfortable but very stylish chair designs and embarked on the journey to create their very own. The children sketched their designs, created 3D models and presented their blueprints to their peers. 

Cedar students have sought their materials and will start building their creative constructions during the next term. 

The children continued to develop their carpentry skills by applying them to creating and building ‘Eco Logs Press’ while helping out Elm Class and enjoyed playing the ‘Sling hockey’ game made by Birch and Walnuts and came up with some design suggestion on how their game could be improved.  

Woodworking projects are extremely important for developing children’s creative and critical thinking skills. Through these projects, not only do children get to handle and smell the wood but also learn how to use the different carpentry tools. They develop their mathematical thinking, broaden their scientific knowledge and, most importantly, acquire a ‘can do’ mindset. 

ART

The Cedar class worked on the representation of global issues through art. They have looked at various example in art history, from Van Gogh to Picasso and Keith Haring. They have realised posters using different types of colours and techniques and have chosen a specific global issue to represent.

ICT

Cedar students learnt about the basic syntax and concepts of Python programming such as printing basics, comments, math, variables and re-assigning variables. They integrated these concepts and applied them into different projects and lessons. These ideas have helped them to think outside the box and practice their problem-solving skills. They’re becoming experts and we are very proud of them. They will continue to discover Python next term.

Liam

Global Perspectives

Cedar students looked at human rights, learning how to develop and investigate a specific research question based on their own interests. They have chosen different topics, analysing them from national and global perspectives. Students’ work focused on right of speech, the rights of minorities, gender and the right to education and the acquisition of civil rights. They have presented their research, by producing either a poster or a digital presentation.

Drama Workshop

The Cedar class worked on the design of crowded tableaux, representing complex scenes. They spent the last few weeks of the term developing tableaux including ten freeze frame and representing stories drawn on Greek mythology.

Creative Writing Workshops

The Cedar class created their own writer’s notebooks, setting up individual goals for the creative writing sessions. They have also worked on fictional stories and journals, writing a fiction or a non-fiction text inspired by the school canoeing trip in September. Students also worked on individualised writing goals, reflecting on what they want to focus on when writing. They ended the term by looking at the features of dystopia, on which they will continue to work in the next term.

Forest Exploration and Mushroom hunting

Canoeing Trip

Oak, Elm and Cedar classes canoeing on the tranquil waters of “the little arm of the Seine”.

Located between Vétheuil and Haute-Isle in the Vexin Regional Nature Park, this spectacular and secluded section of the Seine was a source of inspiration for many impressionist painters.

Halloween Celebration

Oak, Elm and Cedar students creatively collaborated together while designing their exciting Halloween activities for the rest of the school.

Enjoy your holiday, Cedar!

FISP Team

Posted on

Oak Class BLOG 1 Term 1 2022/2023

English

This term Oak learnt about genre, identifying a wide selection of books into the different categories. They focused on adventure and fantasy and noted how many features are shared but how there are distinct differences. They looked at the different stages of a fantasy story, from the introduction or exposition to the incident that sets off the action through to the story’s resolution. The class then wrote their own opening to an adventure or fantasy story.

We used the model texts to examine the use of adjectives and adverbs, noting how they bring colour and life to the story and help the reader to visualise a scene.

We also focused on pronouns, when and how to use them. The class are also learning to conjugate the many irregular English verbs and are practising using them in the present, past and future tenses.

French

Beginners Group with Joanna

The students have had a busy first term revising (for those who began learning French last year) & learning new vocabulary. We are beginning to grasp the basics of what may seem the rather daunting French grammar/conjugation rules in a fun, yet educational way with lots of visual prompts, class conversations as well as with the ‘Zig Zag+2 Méthode de Français’ workbooks/audio guide and through learning poems/songs with our classmates.

  • The method we use in class to learn French in a fun & educational way.
  • Sorting out vocabulary for the past, present & future into the right categories.
  • Working together
  • The final result.
  • A board game ‘tout sur moi’ (all about me).
  • A game to learn days of the week, months, seasons.
  • Poems on display that the students learned in class about autumn.

Intermediate Group with Christine

As soon as Sophie and Vega joined the Elm and Cedar intermediate level in October, they took part in the presentation of the daily calendar which helps them to learn and ask each questions about the days of the week, the date, the weather, the season, some activities, their mood… Everyone really appreciates this interactive activity which takes place at the beginning of each lesson. They also learned how to tell the time.

The daily calendar and telling the time

Sophie and Vega have their own reading and exercises adapted to their level. Meanwhile they also share some activities with the rest of the class on some specific topics for instance the presentation of class rules. Having both good French oral skills, they were part of the ‘girls team’ in one game where the older ones had to ‘build’ questions on the basis of the different themes seen in their first module of their learning book (the general topic was about school in France).

  • Reading method
  • Reading book

After the holidays, we will go back to learning, reading and writing with Ratus and other reading material. We will focus on the topic of ‘The Home’ together with Cedar and Elm classes and we will conclude this period with a Christmas song. 

Advanced Group with Marie

Durant cette période, les élèves ont étudié plusieurs notions:

en grammaire: la phrase et ses caractéristiques (formes et types), la phrase simple et complexe (1 seul ou plusieurs verbes), la phrase verbale et a-verbale, le nom et le groupe nominal, les déterminants, les pronoms, l’adjectif, les mots invariables ainsi que la nature/classe grammaticale des mots.

en conjugaison: les temps du passé, présent et futur, le verbe et son infinitif, les verbes d’action et les verbes d’état, le présent de l’indicatif de tous les verbes, l’imparfait des auxiliaires être et avoir ainsi que des verbes du 1er groupe.

en vocabulaire: le champ lexical du mythe et du conte autour du monstre, utilisation du dictionnaire.

en orthographe: 3 dictées ont été effectuées.

en mémorisation: apprentissage de 2 poésies “Ponctuation” et “Automne”

en littérature: 2 romans ont été lus et étudiés (selon le niveau de difficultés):

  • Emilie et le crayon magique d’Henriette Bichonnier
  • Histoire à la courte paille de Gianni Rodari

5 évaluations ont eu lieu depuis le début de la rentrée:

  • 1 évaluation diagnostique qui permet d’établir le niveau de l’élève et de voir ainsi quelles compétences il a acquises, et celles qui sont à consolider.
  • 4 évaluations portant sur la phrase, le présent de tous les verbes, la nature/classe grammaticale des mots, l’adjectif épithète ou attribut et l’imparfait.

French IMYC with Marie

Cette première période avait pour thème “Identité et Communauté”.

Dans un premier temps, les élèves devaient dessiner un de leur camarade (tiré au sort) et les autres devaient deviner qui c’était. Puis, nous avons étudié le monde pour ensuite converger vers l’analyse de l’Europe (d’un point de vue géographique mais aussi politique).

Au travers de leurs recherches, les enfants ont découvert et ont appris pourquoi et comment s’était formée l’Union Européenne.

Nous avons abordé plusieurs points :

– les différents continents et pays du monde et la recherche des caractéristiques de plusieurs pays (capitale, monnaie, langue parlée…)

– la formation de l’Europe (son histoire)

– les 27 pays qui la constituent

– les symboles de l’Europe

– les traités qui l’ont fait évoluer

– la politique de l’Europe

Par groupe de 3, ils ont travaillé sur un aspect de l’Europe. Ils ont élaboré des “posters” qui ont été assemblés à la fin. Puis ils ont répondu à un quizz “Jouons avec l’Europe”.

Ensuit, nous avons analysé certains monuments européens les plus connus avec un petit film projeté en cours:

Enfin, nous avons aussi appris 3 chansons: Dire bonjour c’est joli, L’oiseau et l’enfant, We can make a difference.

Spanish

Mathematics

In Number/Place Value:

Oaks worked on counting, reading, writing and ordering four- and five-digit numbers. The children ordered and compared three-digit and four-digit numbers and positioned them on the number line. ‘Crocodile Charlie’, who is really greedy, always eats the largest numbers. He showed the children where to use greater than > and less than < signs. The children practised and refined their written methods for addition and subtraction and then discovered or perfected grid multiplication and chunking division methods. Oaks then solved one-step and two-step multiplication, addition and subtraction problems involving numbers, money and measures.

In Number/Fractions:

During this unit, Oaks practised finding the equivalent fractions while analyzing different bar and pizza diagrams and then moved onto multiplying/dividing the numerator and denominator by the same number. The children can confidently add and subtract fractions with the same denominator and know how to simplify fractions or write the improper fraction as a mixed number.

Science

First Term was a great pride to Oak class, who enjoyed many scientific concepts in biology. All students made minuses observations to identify the different parts of plants and their functions. Students were introduced to photosynthesis and highlighted the importance of Light, water, and Carbone dioxide in plant growth and food making process.

We had the opportunity to learn about Greenhouse effects and to grow some seeds inside a beautiful Greenhouse that they have the chance to make at school with Mr Kralka.

At the end of the term Oak discovered more about leaving things classification and Human body systems like the circulatory system and respiratory system.

History

During the term, the Oak class looked at the idea of chronology, making sense of how historians talk about time. They also looked at Stone, Bronze, and Iron Age, investigating how people lived and which materials they used to make objects for their everyday life. They learnt how stone, bronze and iron were used to make not only hunting weapons but also house and decoration objects.

Geography

Oak learnt about the Solar System this term and made a poster featuring some key information about each of the eight planets that revolve around the sun. They know the order of proximity to the sun of each planet, about the ‘Gas Giants’ and the time it takes the different planets to orbit the sun. They also learnt about earth, in the so-called ‘Goldilocks Zone’, with conditions just right to support life. They learnt that Earth spins on its axis and takes 24 hours to orbit the sun, which led to us looking at time zones and the International dateline. The class then moved on to Weather and Climate, learning the differences between these two terms and looking at the different climate zones around the world and their distinguishing features.

Design and Technology

Linked to our learning in Science, based on plants, we measured, estimated and solved real-life problems. We worked with different materials and carpentry tools to create our own greenhouses.  The children were asked to think about the different materials that they needed to use for their specific designs. They all came up with very different ideas and were encouraged to share and discuss with each other before agreeing on the final version of their product. 

The children continued to develop their carpentry skills by applying them to creating and building ‘Eco Logs Press’ while helping out Elm Class. 

Woodworking projects are extremely important for developing children’s creative and critical thinking skills. Through these projects, not only do children get to handle and smell the wood but also learn how to use the different carpentry tools. They develop their mathematical thinking, broaden their scientific knowledge and, most importantly, acquire a ‘can do’ mindset. 

ART

The Oak class worked on their self-portrait, looking at the work of the Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo. As Arcimboldo, the students moved from a naturalistic portrait to a collage portrait inspired by the autumn nature. The students went to the forest, collecting the materials they liked the most for their collages.

ICT

Oak students were introduced to a programming application called Scratch. By the end of this term they are able to create animations incorporating movement and images, use x y coordinates to move sprites on the stage, alternate between different sprite costumes, incorporating time and motion and import sounds to use in their Scratch projects. We should be proud of their fast learning and hard-work.  

Global Perspectives

 Oak students looked at how towns could be environmentally friendly. They considered the towns in which they lived and put together some ideas to lead their local communities supporting more actively the environment. They have created a poster displaying all their ideas and recommendation in a very creative way!

Drama Workshops

The Oak class started to get familiar with the use of the body, focusing on gestures and facial expressions as ways to express emotions and to represent actions. They have practised abstract and naturalistic freeze frames, working in groups, and collaborating with each other.

Creative Writing Workshops

Oak students started the term by creating their own personalised writer’s notebooks. They also worked on a writing stimulus based on real experience – the school’s canoeing trip – in the form of a fictional story or a journal. They used their memories – and their imagination – to create very funny and interesting pieces of writing drawn on their canoeing experience. The Oak class ended the term by looking at the role that writers have in inspiring other writers.

Forest Exploration and Mushroom hunting

Canoeing Trip

Oak, Elm and Cedar classes canoeing on the tranquil waters of “the little arm of the Seine”.

Located between Vétheuil and Haute-Isle in the Vexin Regional Nature Park, this spectacular and secluded section of the Seine was a source of inspiration for many impressionist painters.

Trip to France Miniature

Halloween Celebration

Oak, Elm and Cedar students creatively collaborated together while designing their exciting Halloween activities for the rest of the school.

Enjoy your holiday, Oak!

FISP Team

Posted on

Elm Class BLOG 1 Term 1 2022/2023

English

Elm class began the term learning about different genres of writing and their respective characteristics. We began the year with this unit to remind the class that not all reading and writing is the same and that good readers approach each genre a little bit differently in order to comprehend the reading in the best way.

This short unit was followed by Elements of Fiction and Short Stories.  The class broke story plots down into six different stages, from Exposition to Resolution, and turned their hands to creating their own story outlines following the same stages. They read several short stories, Hearts and Hands by O. Henry, The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury and The Hitchhiker by Roald Dahl. The class paid particular attention to characterisation, examining the various techniques writers use to create characters and reveal their personalities.

French

Beginners Group with Joanna

The students have had a busy first term revising (for those who began learning French last year) & learning new vocabulary. We are beginning to grasp the basics of what may seem the rather daunting French grammar/conjugation rules in a fun, yet educational way with lots of visual prompts, class conversations as well as with the ‘Zig Zag+2 Méthode de Français’ workbooks/audio guide and through learning poems/songs with our classmates.

  • The method we use in class to learn French in a fun & educational way.
  • Sorting out vocabulary about the past, present and future into the right categories.
  • Working together as a team.
  • The final result.
  • A board game ‘tout sur moi’ (all about me).
  • A game to learn the days of the week/months/seasons.
  • Poems on display that the students learned about autumn.

Intermediate Group with Christine

This year students will strengthen their knowledge of French and improve it with the help of  « Adosphere »,their new learning book. We will follow the lives of 8 teenage characters (4 girls and 4 boys) who present their daily life (tastes, emotions, worries) in relation to others and to the surrounding world. In each module there is a specific dialogue with one of the characters with topic-related vocabulary, grammar and conjugation. Some additional exercises are given out to consolidate learning. At the end of each module students will create their own questions (based on what was learned) & add questions to the ZigZag game. The students learned two poems this term ( about school and autumn) enabling them to develop oral skills and vocabulary.

 

Playing Zig Zag

Just like last year, we do the daily Calendar exercise. This daily routine helps students to cover a large scope of topics like the date, the weather, the seasons, moods and activities. Each student should be able to ask questions to the others and receive answers. This is an interactive exercise in which all students of all levels partake.

The daily calendar

After the holidays, the next module, with the character Manon, will cover the topic of the Home and we will also discover the Castles in France. We will also talk about Christmas to close this time period. 

Advanced Group with Marie

Durant cette période, les élèves ont étudié plusieurs notions:

en grammaire: la phrase et ses caractéristiques (formes et types), la phrase simple et complexe (1 seul ou plusieurs verbes), la phrase verbale et a-verbale, le nom et le groupe nominal, les déterminants, les pronoms, l’adjectif, les mots invariables ainsi que la nature/classe grammaticale des mots.

en conjugaison: les temps du passé, présent et futur, le verbe et son infinitif, les verbes d’action et les verbes d’état, le présent de l’indicatif de tous les verbes, l’imparfait des auxiliaires être et avoir ainsi que des verbes du 1er groupe.

en vocabulaire: le champ lexical du mythe et du conte autour du monstre, utilisation du dictionnaire.

en orthographe: 3 dictées ont été effectuées.

en mémorisation: apprentissage de 2 poésies “Ponctuation” et “Automne”

en littérature: 1 roman a été lu et étudié:

  • Histoire à la courte paille de Gianni Rodari

5 évaluations ont eu lieu depuis le début de la rentrée:

  • 1 évaluation diagnostique qui permet d’établir le niveau de l’élève et de voir ainsi quelles compétences il a acquises, et celles qui sont à consolider.
  • 4 évaluations portant sur la phrase, le présent de tous les verbes, la nature/classe grammaticale des mots, l’adjectif épithète ou attribut et l’imparfait.

French IMYC with Marie

Cette première période avait pour thème “Identité et Communauté”

Dans un premier temps, les élèves devaient dessiner un de leur camarade (tiré au sort) et les autres devaient deviner qui c’était. Puis, nous avons étudié le monde pour ensuite converger vers l’analyse de l’Europe (d’un point de vue géographique mais aussi politique).

Au travers de leurs recherches, les enfants ont découvert et ont appris pourquoi et comment s’était formée l’Union Européenne.

Nous avons abordé plusieurs points:

– les différents continents et pays du monde et la recherche des caractéristiques de plusieurs pays (capitale, monnaie, langue parlée…)

– la formation de l’Europe (son histoire)

– les 27 pays qui la constituent

– les symboles de l’Europe

– les traités qui l’ont fait évoluer

– la politique de l’Europe

Par groupe de 3, ils ont travaillé sur un aspect de l’Europe. Ils ont élaboré des “posters” qui ont été assemblés à la fin. Puis ils ont répondu à un quizz “Jouons avec l’Europe”.

Ensuite, nous avons analysé certains monuments européens les plus connus avec un petit film projeté en cours:

Enfin, nous avons aussi appris 3 chansons: Dire bonjour c’est joli, L’oiseau et l’enfant, We can make a difference.

Spanish

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER

LINGUISTIC AND LEXICAL OBJECTIVES

-Greeting, introducing oneself and saying goodbye.

-The alphabet and the pronunciation of sounds: RR, J, CH, LL, Ñ

-Ask for and say the first name and age.

-Numbers and their use: date and age

-Time: days, months, seasons.

CULTURAL OBJECTIVES

Family names. Why do Spaniards and some Hispanic Americans have two surnames?

Song of the San Fermines to learn the months.

Día de Muertos: a festival full of joy!

*GRAMMAR: The subject personal pronouns, gender and number, the article. The present tense of the regular indicative but ONLY the first three persons

The aim is to make the children want to talk, so the class should revolve around their world and their interests, they should need to talk and the Spanish class should be the time when they can express themselves most freely…in Spanish. During my studies I wrote my dissertation on “The affective value of languages” at the age of these children it is important that the first contact with an “artificially” learned language is positive and natural, that is why grammar remains a tool in the course but never an objective.

HOLIDAY WORK: Reverse classroom. After the holidays we will work on the family to prepare the ground the children should watch the film “COCO” in Spanish with English subtitles to answer the questions given.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER

LINGUISTIC AND LEXICAL OBJECTIVES

-To talk about our tastes and habits

-Talking about food

-Animals and character.

-Family members.

CULTURAL OBJECTIVES

-Hispanic family, Christmas and its traditions. The Three Wise Men.

Project: Los Reyes Magos

Mathematics

In Number: Fractions/Decimals and Percentages

During this unit, our Elms worked on finding percentages of amounts and fractions of numbers. The children practised finding the equivalent fractions by multiplying/dividing the numerator and denominator by the same number and then converted mixed numbers and improper fractions. The children can confidently carry out four basic operations with fractions and know how to find the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) or when they need to simplify their fraction. We solved one-step and two-step problems involving numbers, money and measures including fractions, decimals and percentages and know what strategies to use while converting between them. The children worked on choosing and using appropriate calculation strategies while solving word problems.

Elm class students identified Positive and Negative numbers and then followed the BIDMAS rule to find the order of operation. We worked on finding and remembering Prime and Square Numbers and then used them while solving various problems with powers and roots. We

Science

Elm students kicked off their first term by digging and planting different kinds of seeds and testing the effect of water, Carbone dioxide, and light on plants photosynthesis.

We had the chance to explore human body systems structures and functions through a very engaging projects in which students cut a life size human body organs and built up a skeleton, digestive ,respiratory and circulatory system.

At the end of the term, Elm class explored cell mysteries and had the chance to find out about the microscopic cell organelles through a plant cell-making project. They identified each organelle function by making a structure-function finding pocket.

HISTORY

The Elm class focused on the way people lived in the late Medieval age. They have looked at the difference between the village and the town in the late Middle Ages, learning the similarities and the differences between the two contexts. The Elm class concluded the term by looking at the arrival of the Black Death in Walsham, a British Medieval village. They engaged in a role play based on the work of the historians, studying the different ways in which people reacted to the arrival of the plague.

 

Geography

This term, Elm built on their previous study of mapping, learning about Ordnance Survey maps. The class learnt how these maps were introduced in the late 1700s to map Britain for the military. The class learnt how to read grid coordinates, ‘Eastings and Northings’ and to read the topographical information provided on the maps, from the contour lines that show an area’s height above sea level and whether it is flat or hilly, to the blue tourist information and the symbols for roads, footpaths and boundaries. The class then moved on to latitude and longitude, extending their understanding of grid lines to those used to identify where places are on Earth.

Design and Technology

Elms investigated different products and discussed their design features and then clearly highlighted the purpose that they serve. 

Linked to our learning in Science, based on plants, Elms came up with their individual prototypes of different products that make gardeners or pet owners life easier. Creative sparks were flying while sketching our very own self-watering gardening system, automatic food dispenser for dogs and self-flying paper planes. The children were then encouraged to come up with a design that reduces our carbon footprint and tackles the fire wood shortage conundrum. 

 The children were asked to think about the different materials that they needed to use for their specific designs. They all came up with very different group ideas and were encouraged to share and discuss with each other before agreeing on the final version of their product.  

Oak and Cedar came to help as well! 

We estimated, measured, re-measured, sorted, cut and hammered different materials and now are very proud of our achievement. In order to accomplish our Eco Logs Press, we learnt how to use a variety of carpentry tools safely. 

Woodworking projects are extremely important for developing children’s creative and critical thinking skills. Through these projects, not only do children get to handle and smell the wood but also learn how to use the different carpentry tools. They develop their mathematical thinking, broaden their scientific knowledge and, most importantly, acquire a ‘can do’ mindset. 

ART

The Elm class worked on the construction of their self-portrait, getting inspired by the work of the Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo. The students realised a naturalistic self-portrait and they transformed it into a collage done by using autumn natural materials tha they found in the forest.

ICT

Elm students have been applying their problem-solving and logical skills to a programming platform that has shown them how to move in any direction, set a heading, create different shapes, how to make a list and insert a background by using shortcuts and a multiple set of commands. They worked hard to understand and apply what they learnt to their projects. Bravo!

Global Perspectives

Elm students looked at the various ways people use energy, at national ang global level. They worked in groups on different topics related to the use of energy, looking at solar energy, energy and pollution, uses of electricity and medical applications of nuclear energy. Each group presented their work by creating poster and digital presentations. 

Drama Workshops

The Elm class worked on the use of body, looking at miming and freeze frames as way to represent feelings and actions. They also constructed tableaux portraying crowded scenes and stories, working on the use of proxemics and props.

Creative Writing Workshops

Elm students created their own personalised writer’s notebooks, using their imagination to create colourful cover pages. They have worked on a writing stimulus based on a real experience – the school’s canoeing trip – to write either a fictional story or a journal focused on what they have done during the excursion. The class ended the term by setting individualised writing goals and looking at the role of mentor texts when writing their own stories.

Forest Exploration and Mushroom hunting

Canoeing Trip

Oak, Elm and Cedar classes canoeing on the tranquil waters of “the little arm of the Seine”.

Located between Vétheuil and Haute-Isle in the Vexin Regional Nature Park, this spectacular and secluded section of the Seine was a source of inspiration for many impressionist painters.

Halloween Celebration

Oak, Elm and Cedar students creatively collaborated together while designing their exciting Halloween activities for the rest of the school.

Enjoy your holiday, Elms!

FISP Team