Getting Ready for Conference Day on March 22
 Please remember that our second annual Conference Day is planned for next week and will include parent-teacher conferences in Preschool and Vorschule as well as student-led conferences in Grades 1-8. These students are getting ready for this day by selecting work for their portfolios and writing their self-reflections. By the end of the Conference Day, all of our parents will get a good summary of the work achieved thus far and some insight in how their children are working towards their personal learning goals. In some classes, parents will be asked to fill in a feedback sheet so that they can give their own input about the conferences.
On March 22 all regular classes are suspended and there will be no Hort offered.
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News from the Head of School
 The past week has been characterized by lots of rain and as a consequence indoor recess periods. The rain also forced us to cancel an Earthquake Drill, which we will move to next week. This is part of our annual safety and preparedness program in the event of emergencies. For further information please click on the Emergency Plan button under Resources on the GAIS website.
This is also summative assessment week for the PYP and many of the classes have held presentations on the unit's work. In the picture we see a Grade 4 presentation on the How We Express Ourselves Unit: "Combining different forms of art is a way to communicate thoughts, feelings, and imagination". In a particularly creative project, students Alicia Halbach, Carla Fankhauser and Alexandra Ornes played a Bach minuet, painted a scene with dancers and a portrait of Bach, and wrote and recited a poem about their instruments.
Not all summative assessments involve parent presentations, but when they do it is a great opportunity for students to show their work and hone their presentation skills. In tomorrow's end-of -unit assembly, our Grade 1 students will talk to the Elementary school students on the importance of good nutrition, a topic that I also addressed in last week's newsletter.
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PYP Corner by Maike Silver
 One question that has surfaced lately was how new teachers get supported at our school. One of the PYP requirements is that the school has a system in place that supports collaborate planning and reflection of the PYP framework.
Before I explain the support system we have in place, it is important to remember that the PYP is not a curriculum. The content is not pre-determined by IB, which makes it possible to have IB schools all over the world. Instead it is a framework, where big ideas are connected to the 6 transdisciplinary themes (e.g.'who we are', 'how we express ourselves'). 8 key concepts (e.g. change, connection responsibility); 5 skills sets (social, self- management, thinking, communication, research), 12 attitudes and action are explored across subjects promoting best teaching practices from around the world.
Before starting teachers starting are required to read the document "Making the PYP happen" and get an introduction into the program from the PYP coordinator. This Orientation process with the PYP Coordinator occurs throughout the first weeks of the school and gives the teacher the equivalent of an introductory level PYP workshop. Throughout the year the homeroom teachers as well as the English teacher meet weekly with the PYP coordinator to plan and/or reflect on the current unit of inquiry and how transdisciplinary connections are being made across the subjects.
Every new teacher is also assigned a mentor teacher. They meet weekly to discuss events, plan lessons and examine practices. Additionally there are weekly meetings scheduled between the grade level homeroom teachers, where they confer about strategies of how to best implement the curriculum with a specific focus on math and German.
Every homeroom teacher has his/her parallel teacher assisting in the classroom during 4 lessons each week. For teachers this is a great opportunity to observe others in a classroom environment and also for peers to act as a critical friend.
The senior administration also gives feedback on lesson after both scheduled classroom visits as well as pop-in visits. And last, but not least we have scheduled staff meetings every Monday as well as in service days that are often used to reflect on current practices. These include reports from teachers who have attended regional workshops or visited other PYP schools like Lexington Elementary School.
As you can see there are several levels of support integrated into our program to ensure that we work together in a collaborative environment to meet GAIS's high standards of education.
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Preschool Corner by Heike Schmalstieg
 We often have visitors in the preschool, sharing their expertise and knowledge with the children. Today, one of the children's grandmother visited the 'Gürteltier class to share her passion for yoga. Yoga is a great form of exercise for children, as it teaches them flexibility, strength, coordination and body awareness. The children were very engaged in different poses that were demonstrated in a creative and imaginative way. Different animal poses were combined with breathing exercises and one of the most challenging exercises for energetic 3-5 year olds - practicing to be still. A big thank you to Helga Brandt for the yoga class. The class was enriching and enjoyable for all!
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Student Leadership
 Last Friday the leadership team organized a school wide pajama day. While in the past this was seen more as a Preschool/Kindergarten theme many students in both the Elementary School and Middle School, as well as some teachers had a lot of fun coming to school in their night attire. Several older students who had forgotten to come in their pajamas ended up commenting: "Next time I will definitely remember". The next event on the agenda is "Wear your favorite sports jersey" on April 6.
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News from the Music Department - Amy Nathan
 For this week's newsletter, I will focus on the first and second grade music classes. In this unit, we have been learning about the instruments in the orchestra as they are used in Saint-Saens' musical 'Carnival of the Animals'. The children have been learning about how the composer has used different instrument groups to represent each animal character in the story. I like to have them think of the instruments as the actors, and the animals as characters in a play. Part of this unit includes movement to music and while they listen to each piece by Saint-Saens, they must be absolutely quiet as they move around like the characters so they can hear each instrument tell its story. Getting a whole class of 6-7 year olds moving to music in silence has been no easy task, but they are starting to become really focused listeners.
Aside from learning the instruments of the orchestra, the children have been continuing to learn melodies and accompaniments on the Orff instruments. I am continually impressed at how quickly some of them pick up a tune by ear and can play it back to me. This week, we have been learning a song called "Rain on the green grass", which is proving to be very topical!
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Easter Picnic - Save the Date!
WHEN:
Saturday, April 7th, 11 am to 3 pm
- Easter Egg Hunt at 12 noon -
WHERE:
Werder Shelter, inside Huddart County Park in Woodside.
More Information is coming soon.
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Library News
 In the Library we are working on bringing the Library catalog online so it can be accessed by all teachers, students and parents.
We'll keep you posted and let you know more details as soon as they are available.
The next event is going to be our English Book Fair which will be held in the Library during the week of May 7th - 11th. There will be more info coming as we get closer to this date.
To keep our catalog as up-to-date as possible, we do appreciate it very much if the books are returned on time.
If you can't make it to the library on time, or need to keep the book(s) longer, please email us and we'll be happy to extend the loan. We are also happy to help finding specific books or books on a specific subject. Just send an email to Jana Seidel jseidel@gais.org or Uli Francis ufrancis@gais.org with your questions and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Our Library hours are:
Monday: 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
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Yearbook 2011-12
 The orderform for the Yearbook 2011-12 has been sent out. Please order your copy by March 23rd for a discounted price of $45. Thereafter it will be $50 per copy. Only the exact number of pre-ordered books will be available! Please send your order form to offmgr@gais.org.
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Spring Break & Teacher-in-Service Day
 Spring Break will be from April 16 - 20 and the Teacher-in-Service Day on April 23. School will be closed but we do offer Hort/Day Care. If you need a space for your child/children please send your sign-up to the office.. The deadline is April 6. Sign-up sheets have been sent out.
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