Author: Cebu International School

Principal’s Corner

by Mr. Andrew Powell, EY-Grade 12 Principal

It has been an incredibly busy first semester and much has been accomplished during that time. I have been extremely proud of the way in which our students have sustained their drive and commitment to their studies and extra-curricular activities over the past few months. The energy and engagement in classes and during our virtual assemblies is commendable. Our students have one more busy week to work through until their well-deserved holiday break. I wish our students, particularly in Middle and High, the very best as they work on their final assessments for the semester.

December is typically a time of giving and our students have been engaged in an array of school and personal projects to support communities in need. This year’s Tree of Giving is one such example and the Student Council are thrilled that our community has been able to reach their proposed target. This will light up the lives of many.

While acts such as these make a positive difference to the lives of others it is important that we also consider the importance of giving to our students. We are a school that very much values service as an important way to engage in principled action. Research is often quoted that shows that the simple act of giving can be as rewarding as receiving. I certainly see this in the acts of kindness and respect that take place in our virtual classroom environments. In the context of the vulnerable communities that we support however, some have such critical needs that we need to consider the long-term implications of the dispositions we are fostering in our students rather than a short-term “feel good” reward.

At CIS, our intentional commitment to service learning is such that over time our students are developing a greater awareness and a better understanding of communities’ contexts and our students’ responsibilities. We trust that our students will be the leaders of tomorrow, whether that be here in the Philippines or in various locations around the world. Providing them with a sense of duty, empowerment, and ability to influence and advocate others for the betterment of society and the environment is incredibly important.

A number of our staff are truly world leaders in the development and provision of sustained service-learning activities. I look forward to our ongoing commitment to fostering these opportunities.

Early Years 2/3

by Ms. Mary Jean Cordova, Early Years Teacher

In the Early Years, we explored how people connected to us like our family and friends shaped our community. We looked into the things we like and our roles. Being in different roles, we realized that we also have different responsibilities to our family and friends.  We have concluded that our number one responsibility to make everyone happy is to be a good boy by listening to our parents and siblings. As we are nearing the end of our unit Who We Are, we begin to reflect on how these things shaped who we are as a community and look into ways to show respect to each other’s differences.

In our homeroom class, we started our “Book of the Day,” where we can share our books with our teachers and friends. Our young learners initiated this activity in class as they love to share our books at home.  Every day, we will share at least one book, do picture reading or ask our parents/tutors to read the chosen book in class.

For our math, we practiced our numbers by recognizing the numerical symbol and matching the quantity it represents in our activities.  We had our young learners write the numbers 1-10 on each cup, then place the number of popsicles sticks in each cup. We also had another activity where we matched the numbers on the cups. We counted the number of dots in each circle drawn on paper and then matched them to the numerical symbol written underneath the cups. Our young learners can count and recognize numbers from 1-10. 

Grade 6: Mathematics

by Ms. Maria Victoria Bacus, Grade 6 Mathematics Teacher

Honoring the Grade 6 Students’ Hard work with a Celebration!

Middle School mathematics focused on the world of statistics this quarter.

The Grade 6 students classified and represented information that is gathered from a variety of sources as they explore the global context of Identities and Relationships.

They were introduced to the subject-specific terminologies; and here are some of the brainstorming sessions we had on Mentimeter and Padlet.

Guidance Counselor’s Corner

by Ms. Vangie Villagonzalo, Guidance Counselor

SEL Tip for the Week

Practicing gratitude. Appreciating things, events, and people. 

With the end of the first semester swiftly approaching and the pressure of preparing for the assessments mounting, it is important that we embrace traits that focus not only on building characters; Learner Profile (LP) traits of being balanced, open-minded, and the like are vital, but traits about making a life are equally essential. With this in mind, we would like to share thoughts on being grateful ~ the power of gratitude. The word gratitude comes from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness. Gratitude is the quality of being thankful and showing appreciation and kindness. Many studies show that having gratitude leads to greater happiness. From boosting your moods and lowering your stress, the power of gratitude is real. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, persevere through challenges, and build stronger relationships.  

As the holidays are approaching and the year 2021 is about to end, this is the best time for us to look back and reflect on the things we are thankful for. Together with Ms. Claudette, we gathered some thoughts from our elementary students on what they are grateful for.

The Dragon’s Report Card Podcast

College/Careers Counselor’s Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor 

Tip for the Week:

A lot of students ask the difference between a BA and a BS.  Some universities have IBDP subject specific requirements for BA and BS courses.  Check out the basic differences between the two courses of study.

DATE

December 9
Thursday
8:00 PM (PHT)
Link to register

EVENT

NYU Shanghai: Talk to current students and learn about NYU Shanghai from a more relatable perspective.

December 10
Thursday
8:00 PM (PHT)
Link to register

University of Westminster Debate Series: How can social enterprise, business and civil society embrace Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) post COP26*?

Discussion Agenda: We will explore what the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mean for social enterprise, business and civil society. Our panel will discuss case studies within an applied, real-world context of where these goals have been integrated into the strategies of businesses of different sizes. Our panellists will also reflect on how the Glasgow Climate Summit, COP26, will impact on businesses and help shape the net zero transition.

*The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26

December 14
Tuesday
6:00 PM (CST)
Link to register

The University of Chicago:Join a UChicago Admissions Counselor for a live virtual information session covering the college admissions process, essay writing, recommendations, scholarships and financial aid, academic programs, extracurricular activities, and campus life.

December 15
Wednesday
6:00 PM PHT

IÉSEG School of Management: Did you know that you can study in English in France? Want to learn more about IÉSEG’s
Bachelor in International Business?

SAT Update

Please refer to this link for the safety requirements.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Admin Notes

by Dr. Gwyn Underwood, Superintendent

As we approach the end of the calendar year and continue to progress out of the pandemic here in Cebu, many of our community members are wondering if we will get back onto campus after Christmas. I will send out more details in an Info Brief, but for now, I can only say that while it is looking promising that we will be allowed to resume in-person classes sometime during the first half of 2022, we do not know if it will be January or sometime after that. Despite what you might hear on the grapevine, no school in the Philippines has been allowed back on campus yet, with the exception of limited face-to-face trials in a few schools. The authorities have not given a specific date for when we might be allowed back yet, so we are preparing for the possibility of a January return to campus after our December break, while also being prepared to wait a little longer if required. As soon as we know anything specific, rest assured we will inform you!

SEL skills help with academic success!

As we near the end of our first semester, our teachers have started planning for end-of-semester reports to share with you how they are progressing with their learning objectives. As our students will be completing a variety of summative assessments to help with this in the coming weeks, it is a good time to review what skills they might use to help them prepare.

Firstly, students at all levels at CIS are constantly given implicit and explicit opportunities to develop their Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills, which are skills that help them “learn how to learn”. It may help, then, to review each skill cluster to ensure these are always being considered. Refer to the poster to the right for a summary of these, and check out our ATL Skills page for more details (poster design and site credit to our Assistant Principal-MYP, Mr. Jonathan Denton).

Secondly, I want to highlight some recent research by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that indicates Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills also help with academic success! Andreas Schleicher, the director for education at OECD noted that some people see academic development and social-emotional development as opposing ends of the spectrum, and some may even think that if you focus too much on social-emotional skills, you might be taking time away from academic subjects. Actually, they are closely connected.

The study analyzed the way social-emotional skills affected students’ performance in a wide array of educational systems and learning contexts, over five key areas:

• Task performance (such as persistence, and self-control)
• Emotional regulation (such as optimism and reaction to stress)
• Collaboration (like empathy and trust)
• Open-mindedness (such as tolerance, curiosity, and creativity)
• Engagement with others (such as assertiveness and sociability).

The results show that the development of social skills can boost students’ performance in core academic subjects. And more specifically, curiosity and persistence were found to be the strongest predictors of academic success in both math and reading, although other skills also played important roles.

These findings are not so surprising to some, as demonstrated by educational thought-leaders Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley who also stated “Intellectually demanding learning & student well-being should go together” in their recent book Wellbeing in Schools (2021). It is helpful to have this confirmed in a study, however, as it gives us the confidence to renew our focus on valuing our SEL initiatives, not only for the social-emotional learning gains, but also as contributing factors to our students’ academic development. What can you do over the coming long weekend to nurture your curiosity and persistence? Enjoy your long weekend!

References:

• Beyond Academic Learning: First Results from the Survey of Social and Emotional Skills – OECD 2021 
• SEL Skills That May Matter Most for Academic Success – Sarah Sparks in Education Week, Oct. 29, 2021

Dates for your attention

• Monday, November 29: School holiday
• Tuesday, November 30: Bonifacio Day (National Holiday)
• Friday, December 10: Last day of Semester 1 (Half day of school)
• Tuesday, January 4th: First day of Semester 2

Refer to our online School Calendar a complete listing of school events

Grade 4

by Sten Coppin, Grade 4 Teacher

Choose Your Own Adventure Story

Our new UOI unit in Grades 4 and 5 is Where We Are in Place and Time, and in the next few weeks we will be learning all about ancient civilizations, how they grew and ended, and how they still affect our lives today. For our current Grade 4 writing unit, we are creating historical fiction. We are focusing on creating interesting beginnings that hook the reader, choosing great words for showing not telling, and ensuring our writing has structure that makes it easy to understand. For this week’s Newsflash, we decided to combine the 2 units and create a Choose Your Own Adventure story set in Ancient Egypt, using some of our knowledge learned in class as well as with specialist teachers. We hope you enjoy it!

Language Acquisition Classes

MYP English

by Ms. Lana Lautamus, MYP English Teacher

Unit Two in English Language Acquisition Class

Since returning to school this quarter, we have been studying the concepts connected to “Friends Around The World”: global interactions, identities and relationships and the roles of one’s audience and the function of communication when interacting with others.

We have been looking at the hidden meanings of words, body language, cultural behaviours/mannerisms and idioms. Exploring what school experiences are like for others around the world and how school is – or will be – different in the future with COVID-safety measures in place has also been a focus of our discussions and lessons.

We have been conversing with our virtual penpals from Hanoi, Vietnam each week to continue growing our communication skills. We have been getting to know them personally and also asking questions to help us with our inquiry (What is school life like in other countries? What sayings have hidden meanings? How can you understand hidden meanings from words and phrases? Are all students the same around the world?).

To express our understanding of this unit, we will be choosing to inquire into a specific schooling experience from another country and then hypothesizing what it would be like for a student to join us at CIS and stay in the boarding house. What sort of cultural differences would the new student need to be aware of? Orally sharing these presentations with each other will allow for a summative assessment connected to Criterion C (Speaking) on December 3, 2021.

———————————————————–

In Grade 8 & Grade 9, we are in the final stages of our unit “Teen Life”. Our statement of inquiry, “Teens around the world have different goals and face different challenges.” has been intriguing, as being thirteen – fifteen years old is a time of many different challenges…. And then we have COVID-complications in the mix as well!

Our inquiry questions were composed of the following:

What are some of the goals you have? What are some of your challenges?

How does one’s life alter after one sets goals and challenges? What are good goals?

Where do we get our goals from? What level of challenge is too much?

Identity, point of view and empathy were the highlighted conceptual understandings connected to our unit. We’ve also practiced being open-minded thinkers, with our critical and reflective thinking for various learning engagements, conversations and formative tasks during the past 7 weeks.

We will be practicing our oral communication skills (Criterion C – Speaking) on Friday December 3 when students will orally share their presentations about a teen who faced challenges but overcame them due to his/her goals they had set. Famous examples such as Boyan Slat, William Kamkwamba, Malala Yousafzai or Greta Thungberg (to name a couple) will be the inspiration for our own individual inquiries.

MYP Mandarin

by Elaine Jin, MYP Mandarin Teacher

Grade 6 & 7

Grade 8 & 9

Grade 10

MYP Spanish

by Mr. Antonio Melgar, MYP Teacher

Grade 6/7

Grades 6 and 7 students learned how to mention the subjects and co-curricular activities they do in school, who teaches each of them, on what schedule, as well as the people that work on a campus. They had fun designing their schedule in Spanish and then narrating how a normal school day is for them. 

Grade 10

This term we focused on migrants’ rights and we discovered that somehow we all are migrants or the descendants of migrants and that we share a common place called earth. We discussed human rights and empathy, as well as learning how to arrange a debate and the vocabulary required for it. Students also learned how to analyze complex articles written in Spanish by answering IB type questions.

Mandarin Ab Initio

by Ms. Jinua Zou, Mandarin Ab Initio  Teacher

These past weeks Grade 11 students have been learning vocabulary about contemporary and traditional Chinese clothes – Cheongsam (长衫)/ Qipao (旗袍). They watched videos to compare the different school uniforms  from different countries and designed two sets of school uniforms during the weekly summary study project. 

Grade 12 students have successfully started their review for the IB exams. Recently they are working on the themes of Identity and Experience with class discussion and IB-style assessment practice. During the discussion of Eats and Drinks, they have explored the topic of dining culture, traditional foods as well as how to maintain a healthy lifestyle as a Grade 12 student.

Spanish Ab Initio

by Ms. Gloria Rodriguez, Spanish Ab Initio Teacher

These past weeks Grade 11 students have been practicing ways in which to describe daily routines and talking about sports and hobbies. Students created presentations to talk about habits and sports they practice daily.

These past weeks Grade 12 students have been successfully practicing ways to describe and contrast events in the past and the present. Students created presentations to talk about their daily routine, physical appearance,  and likes and dislikes from childhood to the present. Grade 12 students have also been practicing for their Spanish Internal assessment by describing images and answering general questions related to the five IB Themes. 

CAS and Service Learning

by Mr. Ace Pierra, IB CAS/ Service Learning Coordinator

Last Saturday, November 20, 2021, the Grade 11 students leading the Drop Your Share Project and the CIS Sewpports (Akeisha M., Jhirlymarie T., Gabbie C., Stephanie V., Rhett N T., Isabelle F., Selly P., Mikaela F., Lea F., and Chewon Y.) attended The Sustainability Summit hosted by International School Manila! This year’s theme was “No Change Too Small.” 

The summit started off with a talk from the keynote speaker who was a representative for the MADtravel organization. He talked about sustainability, forest, farmers, indigenous, and the vision to live in a poverty-free world.

Delegates were also given the opportunity to join their designated workshops. This year, there were three workshops: Future Fresh, Renovate to Educate, and Pure Oceans.

The speaker for the Future Fresh workshop was one of the owners himself. He gave the delegates some insight into how Future Fresh does their sustainable and innovative vertical farming. It was very interesting to see how innovation made farming more efficient. The student delegates were then divided into breakout rooms, and they were tasked to think about possible solutions and sustainable practices that a business and its consumers can practice every day. Hearing the other delegates’ ideas helped the students realize that there are many ways everyone can practice sustainability, whether you are a business owner or a consumer.

In another workshop led by the founder of Pure Oceans, delegates learned about the diversion of plastic waste in oceans and shores. The breakout room conversations surely engaged the delegates as they shared ideas on ways to reduce plastic consumption and waste. In addition, they followed a design thinking strategy that takes into account solutions to use low-impact materials, reduce waste, and promote recycling for the long term. Brainstorming with groups of delegates was indeed an eye-opener, and a great way to take small steps towards sustainability. 

The third workshop was led by a director of the project, Renovate to Educate. Throughout the session, delegates were introduced to the challenges of education that the Philippines currently faces and how this greatly affects learning. They talked about how CoVid-19 has affected students’ ability to learn. As a solution, they stressed the importance of facilitating renovation projects for public schools and creating a safe environment for the students. Breakout sessions were filled with discussions about ways to improve the quality of education in the country, as the delegates tackled questions regarding challenging issues like what hybrid learning would look like after CoVid-19.

There was also a panel discussion and Q&A session, wherein student leaders of One-Million Lights, Eco-School, and Girls Will Code spoke to us about their key experiences in their journey of advocacy. They highlighted their inspirations for launching a project and how their community of changemakers has grown over time. Most importantly, they have shown us that it is never too late to take initiative and get involved to make a good change that the world needs. 

Finally, the summit closed with a speaker from UNILEVER, who presented their initiatives that contribute to their sustainable value chain. With eco-friendliness in mind, they have partnered with businesses and NGOs to bring the vision of a green future to life. 

The Sustainability Summit has definitely enhanced our knowledge of sustainable practices. The panelists have inspired us and given us ideas on how we can run our own projects sustainably! – Jia and Akeisha G11

Drop Your Share: Our First Step!

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop

Since the initial launch of the Grade 11’s student-led project Drop Your Share in October, 2021, the DYS team has received a generous amount of overseas donations through large balikbayan boxes. We would like to hereby thank everyone who have supported our cause and continue to make efforts in donating items needed by our partner CIS communities! To share exciting updates of our project, last November 18, 2021, the Drop Your Share team made our first donations turnover at sea. The exchange, led by our project supervisor Mr. Arnulfo (Ace) Pierra, had to be made in the middle of the sea due to the low tide and covid restrictions. 

Here are the details about our very first Drop Your Share turnover update:

Our first box of in-kind donations was given to families of Cuaming Elementary School, located on the island of Bohol. It contained generous amounts of stuffed toys, clothes, books, bags, water jugs, and school supplies, that the DYS team collected from the accumulated acts of kindness from the CIS community.

This feat of success wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of the people who donated all of these supplies in support of our student-led cause. We are grateful for the overwhelming support in keeping this service-learning project in motion, and for being a direct contributor to the positive social impact needed by our community. This marks as the first step our team, under the leadership and guidance of the school’s CAS principles, has taken in brightening the lives of fellow families and students from our partner-community in Bohol.

Drop Your Share is a project led by students with a dream. There are 5 boxes currently placed in the CIS campus lobby, with each box containg a specific category for the donations (Box 1 – hygiene-related items; Box 2 – educational materials; Box 3 – recreational toys; Box 4 – food and consumables; Box 5 – pre-loved clothes). We encourage the school community to donate new or spare items specified, in support of the multiple communities that have long been the beneficiaries of CIS.

If you want to be part of our cause, please don’t hesitate to contact us and Drop Your Share! Reach us through this email: dys21cis@gmail.com, or our social media pages in Facebook and Instagram @dropyourshare.

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor

Upcoming Virtual Events and Fairs: (students & parents are welcome)

DATE

November 26
Friday
6:00PM
Link to register

EVENT

Waseda University Information Session

November 27
Saturday
11:00AM
Link to register

Career Development for International People in Japan & Business Communication
Speaker:  Prof. Furukawa Tomoki
Kansai University
Target Audience: International students who wish to advance your career in Japan. Students who are living outside Japan and wishing to study in Japan.

University for the Creative Arts (UK)
Webinar Series

Nov 28 Monday: Business School for the Creative Industries
9:00 PM     Register here

Dec 8 Wed: Webinar on Graphic Design
8:00 PM   Register here

Dec 15 Wed: Webinar on Interior Design
7:00 PM  Register here

SAT Update

Please refer to this link for the safety requirements.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Dragon’s Print

It’s nearing the end of the year, the weather has already changed and the Christmas lights are out for everyone to see. Time to sing Christmas songs, watch classic Christmas movies, and wake up early on Christmas morning. Get in the holiday spirit with a few Instagram holiday-themed bingo templates. Visit the story of @cisdragons on Instagram to view them. Happy holidays!

Principal’s Corner

by Mr. Andrew Powell, EY-Grade 12 Principal

The process of providing space for students to be heard and supporting their ideas and perspectives is just one example of the larger concept of student voice. As we know from our implementation of the IB programmes, providing students with voice and agency in their learning is crucial and results in higher levels of engagement and motivation.

Instead of a top-down, teacher-directed approach to learning, students play an active role in planning, learning and leading their classroom instruction. This is evident in the high degree of choice available to our students and is inherent within the framework of our schooling structures, inside and outside the classroom.

This approach to providing students with agency in their learning sets CIS apart from other schools in Cebu, and indeed, around the world. It is a significant philosophical shift that requires all stakeholders to embrace the belief that there is something to learn from every individual regardless of age, culture, or other qualifying factors.

Over the past week, we have seen student voice in action as part of a feedback mechanism employed to review our Remote Learning program. MYP students were provided the opportunity to share their thoughts on what has been working for them and provide suggestions on areas that they feel could be adjusted or improved. The resulting feedback was provided to our faculty who analyzed and discussed their perspectives.

As a result of the feedback from our students, we have re-examined the way our afternoon sessions are structured. Commencing Monday, November 22 our Middle and High School students will be provided a short break during their afternoon classes. This will not change the time at which classes finish. 

We will also be streamlining the way in which we are supporting our MYP students in the afternoon so that they have more sustained opportunities to engage in their asynchronous work, while still having access to teachers for support. This will be piloted over the next month and is a direct result of listening to student feedback. The afternoon blocks will remain but be amended slightly to consist of Class Study Time (led by the teacher) and Independent Study (with access to the teacher as required by students). Our teachers are also cognizant of the need for students to have downtime, especially during breaks, and meetings with MYP students will not be scheduled by teachers during these times.

 We trust that piloting these schedule amendments will support the articulated needs of our students and hope that they feel empowered as a consequence. The more educators are able to provide students with choice and opportunities to have a say in their day-to-day schooling, the greater their levels of motivation and engagement should be, resulting in greater levels of achievement.

Grade 5 Digital Citizens: Media Consumers and Creators

by Ms. Aimee Underwood, Grade 5 Teacher

How does being aware of the media’s influence empower us? Over the past few weeks, our Grade 5 Digital Citizens have been inquiring into “media” through the lenses of function, perspective, and responsibility—trying to understand how it works, how and why we respond to it in different ways, and how we can be responsible digital citizens—both as media consumers and as media creators.

Last week, the Grade 5 students enjoyed applying what they had discovered and learned across disciplines to create their own media samples. Collaborating in small groups, they considered their intended message and anticipated a range of possible viewer perspectives/responses. They experimented with using different hooks, context clues, and framing techniques (e.g., intentionally omitting information, highlighting select perspectives, choosing words that evoke vivid imagery and strong emotions). They carefully chose multimedia elements (video, graphics, text, animation, and audio) that enhanced their message.

Here are their first multimedia creations. Can you identify their messages and chosen media elements/techniques?

Looking back, the Grade 5s shared that as IB Learners, they were able to grow as Knowledgeable and Reflective Communicators. They developed their skills to critically evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility, and relevance of different media resources and communicate ideas using a variety of media and modalities. They also shared how they have a greater appreciation for the power they each have to make sense of the world around them and influence others to “help create a better and more peaceful world” (IB Mission).

We look forward to seeing how the Grade 5s will continue to take action from their learning this year and beyond!

Grade 10: Chemistry

by Ms. Christine Enrile, Chemistry Teacher

The unit entitled, ‘Chemical reactions around us’, engaged the students to develop basic understanding of the nature of chemical reactions. They had learned about controlling the rates of chemical changes by considering the effects of concentration, temperature, surface area, and catalyst. Before the First Trimester ended, the Grade 10A students demonstrated their inquiry skills in their summative assessment. They were tasked to investigate the effect of one of the aforementioned factors on the rate of a chemical reaction which they find interesting or relevant at home.

Here are snippets of their work.

The effect of concentration of lighter fluid on the duration of growing sugar snake by Hyein

Findings:
“Therefore, it may also imply that in higher concentrations of lighter fluid, more of the baking soda and sugar particles in the mixture reacted to produce the products that make up the sugar snake. With greater concentrations of lighter fluid, more of the particles in the mixture experienced reactions that are activated by heat: thermal decomposition and combustion.”

Effect of the Temperature of Water on the Amount of Bubbles formed in Yeast Growth by Victoria

Findings:
“Based on the data gathered, the effect of the temperature of the water on the amount of bubbles formed in yeast growth is that as the temperature increases, the amount of bubbles formed also increases. The increase in temperature increases the movement of the reactant particles. This causes the frequency of collisions that causes the chemical reaction to occur also to increase. Therefore, cellular respiration in the yeast occurs faster and more carbon dioxide (CO₂) is produced and the amount of bubbles produced increases.”

How does vinegar concentration affect the size of the egg after 3 days? by Ron

Findings:
“The water molecules in the vinegar travel inside the egg making it “inflate” as I’ve said in my hypothesis. I conclude that the higher vinegar concentration an egg is submerged into, the larger the size of the egg (3 days, in my case) would be and that my hypothesis is just about the right answer.”

Grade 7: Language and Literature

by Mr. Corryn Smith, Lang. & Lit. Teacher

Grade 7 students in Language and Literature are investigating the question: “What is fair and balanced media”?

To better understand this issue, students explore aspects of media bias, propaganda and rhetoric used in commercial advertising.

Their formative task challenges them to create their very own advertisement employing some of the key features explored around bias and propaganda.

The following student example demonstrates not only their creative process but the application of language and image features typical in commercial advertising.

Dragon’s Print

Family time, giving thanks to the good in life, and of course the big ol’ turkey are some of the few ways Thanksgiving is celebrated. People who celebrate this holiday every 4th Thursday of November, all have their own way of making it special. We asked a few people from the CIS community who celebrate Thanksgiving about their annual holiday customs and more!

Read more at https://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/

The Dragon’s Report Card

Have you ever wondered what life is like for students in their last year of the IB, one of the most rigorous high school programs in the world? Today’s podcast will feature our very own Seniors! Be ready to listen to their stories on senior life online and how to deal with the stress that comes with it.

College/Careers Counselor & Alumni Liaison Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers and Alumni Liaison

Celebration of the Week

Upcoming Virtual Events AND Fairs: (students & parents are welcome)

DATE

November 22
Monday
4:30 pm
Link to follow

EVENT

Bentley University Information Session

November 23
Tuesday
4:30 pm
Link to join

NYU Shanghai Information Session

November 26
Friday
6:00PM
Link to join

SUNY Korea Information Session

November 26
Friday
6:00PM
Link to register

Waseda University Information Session

November 27
Saturday
11:00AM
Link to register

Career Development for International People in Japan & Business Communication
Speaker:  Prof. Furukawa Tomoki
Kansai University
Target Audience: International students who wish to advance your career in Japan. Students who are living outside Japan and wishing to study in Japan.

SAT Update

Please refer to this link for the safety requirements.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Admin Notes

by Dr. Gwyn Underwood, Superintendent

For those who may have been wondering, the compensatory holiday this past Monday was scheduled to facilitate the kick-off to our annual Professional Learning Weekend for faculty. Our CIS Core Beliefs states Learning is a joyful, creative, and open-ended exploration, and this extends to our faculty as well, where we are constantly seeking new ways of doing things, just like our students!  

How can we learn to get on better?
We live in a divided world. Just consider different countries, organizations, groups of people, and even some families and you will know what I am referring to. It is evident that getting on with each other is a challenge for us humans at all levels of society. We can blame competing politics, philosophies, religions, cultures, beliefs, and so on – but, what if all of these are just the products of the problem? What would the problem itself be?

I will leave you to dwell on your answer to that for now and focus on options we have to learn how to deal with differences more effectively than we have collectively been doing. Actually, the CIS addresses this in little ways every day! Two structures enabling this, in particular, are the International Baccalaureate (IB) Learner Profile (depicted in the jigsaw diagram to the right), and the IB Approaches to Learning (outlined in the poster below). 

The Learner Profile can be considered the IB Mission Statement “in practice”. It:

• embodies the attributes of a true learner
• describes an international-minded world citizen
• represents the attributes and habits required for a person to be successful in our exponentially changing new world.

Why is the IB Learner Profile one of our Core Beliefs, and embedded into all that we think, say, and do at CIS? Well, it:

• describes the attributes of the type of learner CIS strives to develop
• embeds empathy toward others who may have differing world views to us
• prepares students to be successful in our rapidly changing world.

While the Learner Profile outlines the desired attributes of our students (and all community members too!), the Approaches to Learning (ALT) help students (and adults) “learn how to learn” and are transferable across curriculums and into their personal life. The good news is we do not have a fixed intelligence, so all of us can continue to develop these skills.

To conclude, let’s come back to the question, “How can we learn to get on better?”. A proven option is to value and nurture the LP attributes we hold dear, and actively develop our skills so we can learn how to learn better (ATL). The first two skill clusters of Communication and Collaboration will be a good start to explore. Just use the internet to explore the many resources available about these two areas. Or you can ask CIS Students – they are all developing their ATL skills at every grade level and it will be good for them to explain the areas, and you can discuss it together!

Celebration of the Week

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor

Congratulations to Chynna, Lorenzo, Naoki, and Hyeonjun of Grade 11! They joined a Design challenge after completing a two-week Engineering Taster Programme  sponsored by TEDI-London.

Here is an excerpt from the letter awarded to the team. “Sofia^4’s impressive final submission was selected as the joint winner for ‘Best  Engineered Solution’. The project successfully applied research into colour and  light theory and incorporated sustainable elements to create an immersive  structure to support users with visual impairments. The judging panel were especially impressed with the team-work demonstrated by Sofia^4 and their  confident delivery and coordination during the presentation.”

Congratulations team!!! Your CIS family is proud of your achievement!

Dates for your attention: Refer to our online School Calendar a complete listing of school events.

Grade 2 Class: Global Citizens

by  Ms. Marina Ocleasa, Grade 2 Teacher

The Grade 2 Global citizens have been inquiring into how multiple perspectives help global citizens respect similarities and differences. Last week, they engaged in a meaningful collaborative discussion about what it means to be a global citizen and internationally-minded. They realized that for an internationally-minded person to be a global citizen, one must be an inquirer, knowledgeable, communicator, thinker, open-minded, principled, risk-taker, caring, balanced, and reflective. These are the very same attributes that IB students strive to become. The Grade 2s shared their perspectives on what they think is the most important attribute or trait that a global citizen should have. They shared their opinion during our Writer’s Workshop using the O.R.E.O. (Opinion, Reason, Evidence, Opinion restated) as a guide to organize their opinion pieces. Then, they looked at how they can improve their writing using A.R.M.S. (Add, Revise, Move, Substitute)  to revise. We saw how our Grade 2 Writers revised and improved their writing pieces by responding and applying the feedback given by their teachers and classmates.

Here are some of the opinion pieces the Grade 2s wrote. 

I think that the most important trait or attribute a global citizen should have is to be open minded. By being open minded we are able to get along with everyone. More importantly, we would see what others’ opinions are. In conclusion, it is important and helpful to be open-minded. – Fiona

In my opinion, the most important thing a global citizen should have is acceptance. I said acceptance because I believe that there will be no misunderstanding if we accept one another. Another reason is if we accept people from other cultures or countries, we will be able to have a peaceful community. For example, in CIS we all come from different cultures but we accept one another. Therefore, we are able to learn and study together. And so, acceptance is one of the most important traits of a global citizen. – Erin

The most important trait of a global citizen is communicator. First, we can explain something properly. For example, when we go to a restaurant, we need to say that we use forks instead of chopsticks. Another reason is communication skills will help us understand each other. An example of this is, I can speak very well, I can use my body language and gestures to make other people understand. In conclusion, communication is the most important thing that a global citizen should have. – Joon

I believe kindness is the most important trait a global citizen should have. First, being kind lets you have more friends. For instance, you’ll have more friends if you are kind and don’t say mean things about others’ cultures. Finally, a global citizen should be kind. – Elise

How about you? What do you think is the most important attribute a global citizen should have? Why?

Grade 11: Visual Arts Class

by Ms. Gerri Ancajas Jumao-as, Visual Arts Teacher

This year we welcome the next promising artists of Grade 11 Visual Arts class.  While their works are diverse in both theme and technique, they all have fresh approaches and limitless possibilities  ahead of them as they pursue the IB DP Visual Arts course. 

2D Drawing

In this first piece of artwork, I especially wanted to focus on human feeling and emotions. This is because it is the type of emotion I know the most and have experienced a lot as a human being.  I think happiness and sadness is the most common emotion people feel. People easily get excited and joyful with simple things, but they even get depressed and annoyed as easily as they feel happy. So, to express these two most common human emotions, I used two different facial expressions at once, eyes crying but mouth laughing. The two facial expressions, her mouth smiling and eyes crying shows her confusion in her own feelings and thoughts. – Yoonseo

These two sketches are about my appearance, especially related to my hairstyle. When I said that I was going to have a short haircut, there were a lot of contradictions about having short hair and even some gave me bad looks. The message I want to express is that the length of my hair doesn’t change my personality. To represent the social pressure and pressure from surroundings, I decided to add hands on the second sketch. I drew hands to represent the collection of broken pieces from the head to express the stress. – Chewon

I drew a man smoking a cigarette. Instead of cigarette smoke, I drew flowers. The concept is to show a man who is depressed so he smokes. The flowers growing out of the cigarette means that after happiness comes misery, since flowers can symbolize a happy life. – Yongwoo

The portrait I plan to draw displays a woman from either the Mursi or Suri tribe without her lip plate on. The lip plate is a symbol of female maturity in these tribes. I interpret this practice as a symbol of women’s strength and what they have to give up in order to survive in society. I wanted to illustrate strength by revealing the scars that the lip plate has left on the subject’s lips. – Mikyla

I chose to create a figurative study from a reference photo I chose. In the reference photo, you can observe a nude person hiding their face away from the audience. I believe that this is a symbolism for fear within courage. I believe that the pose represents confidence but due to societal standards, insecurities can interfere.  I believe that courage is present in this because it takes a lot of courage to pose nude. – Naoki

2D Painting

The main element of this design is a person drowning in a fishbowl. I designed this because I wanted to represent water in the fishbowl as a field of education. The person is closing her eyes to represent avoiding because I want to do hobbies while studying but I don’t have enough time for it. – Chewon

The concept of this drawing time and hesitation. I drew trees with a man standing in the middle. The left tree will be colored in green to represent summer and the right side will be in orange to represent autumn. These different colors will represent how fast time goes, while the man is still hesitating to move forward. The overall mood of the drawing will be dark. – Yongwoo

I chose to draw a still life of my room, specifically my bed because the clutter that has been building up over the weeks reflects how much stress and demotivation a person could feel. I chose this angle for this artwork because I believe it can represent an out-of-body experience where we are observing ourselves. I believe this drawing embodies the feeling of being burned out and demotivation. – Naoki

Using the different types and sized shapes, I want to express the strength and the confusion of emotions. The bright tone colors will highlight the positive emotions such as happiness and excitement, and in contrast, the dark tone colors will emphasize the negative emotions such as sadness and depression. Curved lines are used for smooth and soft feelings, while the straight lines symbolizes sharpness and direct emotions. The shapes overlap and some colors are created by mixing two different colors. This shows the variety of emotions and how all these emotions can be experienced and felt by one individual.  – Yoonseo

The main concept of my design is a person struggling to get out of the grasp of multiple ivy vines. The ivy vines surrounding the subject represent the clutch that depression can have on a person. I wanted to create a piece illustrating a person being consumed by their depression to reflect what it is like to be stuck in a dark place unsure of what to do and exhausted from bearing the heaving feeling of depression. – Mikyla

Grade 6&7: Music Class

by Ms. Marie Briones, Music Teacher

Exploring Alternative Tools and Spaces for Performances

In Unit 1 this trimester, the students looked into the different elements of music such as rhythm, pitch, melody, tone, texture and form. Particularly, the students explored how patterns and symbols found in each of these elements communicate ideas, evoke emotions and influence mood.

Having established from Unit 1 how music can translate symbols into ideas and emotions, the students then connected this inquiry into the role of art and the artist in the time of Covid-19 pandemic in Unit 2. This was done via an exploration of alternative spaces, and media and technology. From balcony performances, virtual spaces, new tools like social media to using household items (when musical instruments were not readily available), the students all came to a consensus that music can be used as a way to spread cheer and hope during a difficult time in history. 

I think the role of music during a pandemic is to encourage people and give hope to people. Playing music on their balcony helps people to be in touch together since they can’t go out. Music gives a positive mood to the audience. Also the people enjoyed listening to the music since many concerts had been closed and could not go out. I also think that by playing music together, the people can confront the sad situation of COVID-19. […] slow tempo and higher pitched music gives me a feeling of happiness. Since slow tempo makes me calm. But the fast tempo makes me worried about something that’s gonna happen. Higher pitched music gives me a positive feeling but lower pitched music gives me a scary and dark mood and feeling. –Hana, G7

Art is important because it can let you breathe from all the stress and worries during the pandemic. It may also help with coping with your mental health problems and lessen your anxiety. It can also let you feel less isolated. […] Through music and art, people were able to express their emotions and feelings […] despite the cultural differences that we have, we are still able to understand one another through arts and music. –Ghea, G6

In my own words, rhythm is a pattern of music that everyone can create anywhere. For example, If I clap my hands 4 times, that can be a rhythmic pattern. If I clap my hands 3 times, that’s also a rhythmic pattern. You can also communicate with it. For example, if we make a slow rhythmic pattern, it might mean calm, steady and more. The person that is listening to the rhythm might have personal feelings. – Hinata, G7

Students further recognize that music and the inspiration to create is all around them, from the tiniest, most insignificant movements to the most elaborate gestures.

Spreading the Christmas Cheer

Since musical instruments are not readily available to some of the students, they then proceeded to assemble their own improvised, DIY instruments which they used to play a whole song. Here is a sample of a Christmas carol, the Jingle Bells, that some of the G6/7 Music played to spread cheer during the season. 

Reflections for the Trimester

To wrap up the trimester, the students also shared their favorite achievements in the class, and their most significant learnings in the subject.

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Career Counselor

Celebration of the Week

Congratulations to Chynna, Lorenzo, Naoki, and Hyeonjun of Grade 11! They joined a Design challenge after completing a two-week Engineering Taster Programme  sponsored by TEDI-London.

Here is an excerpt from the letter awarded to the team. “Sofia^4’s impressive final submission was selected as the joint winner for ‘Best  Engineered Solution’. The project successfully applied research into colour and  light theory and incorporated sustainable elements to create an immersive  structure to support users with visual impairments. The judging panel were especially impressed with the team-work demonstrated by Sofia^4 and their  confident delivery and coordination during the presentation.”

Congratulations team!!! Your CIS family is proud of your achievement!

Upcoming Virtual Events and Fairs: (students & parents are welcome)

DATE

November 26
Friday
6:00PM
Link to join

EVENT

SUNY Korea Information Session

November 26 – Friday
6:00PM
Link to register

Waseda University Information Session

November 27
Saturday
11:00AM
Link to register

Career Development for International People in Japan & Business Communication
Speaker:  Prof. Furukawa Tomoki
Kansai University
Target Audience: International students who wish to advance your career in Japan. Students who are living outside Japan and wishing to study in Japan.

SAT Update

The dates below indicate that registration is open. For the Dec 4 test, the school is working on requesting official permission from the government so that CIS can administer the SAT examinations.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Dragon’s Print

As the holiday season draws near, it is important to embrace that yuletide spirit and get in a cheerful mood. Spark the magic of your inner child with this Christmas playlist! Know more on https://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/

Principal’s Corner

by Mr. Andrew Powell, EY-Grade 12 Principal

Taking Time to Reflect

We often find ourselves so wrapped up in the busyness of our lives that it is difficult to set time aside to reflect upon where we’ve been and where we may be headed, and of course the plethora of opportunities and options we may have in front of us.

Taking time to reflect is a cornerstone of self-improvement. It is a fundamental key to progress and a practice inherent to successful athletes, sporting teams, businesses and organisations. While it’s important to set time aside to celebrate success and various achievements, taking time to reflect and understand what things are going well, or not so well, and what could be improved or done differently, can have a great impact on our productivity and confidence. 

As an IB school, being reflective is an attribute that we aim to develop in all of our students. It is a feature of our curriculum and the way in which we encourage our students to strive for self-improvement. Our teachers are also committed to this practice, from the way in which they review and further develop units of work, through to the way in which they refine their day-to-day teaching practice.

The process of reflection helps all members of our community to develop deeper understandings and enables us to share our knowledge with others. It also provides us with the opportunity to explore future directions. I know that this element will be an important aspect for our faculty as they engage with various topics and themes as part of their Professional Learning Communities.

As we enter the month of November I recognise that this becomes a busy time for our students. Some will be riding a wave of success, while others may be stumbling or feeling somewhat overwhelmed with what’s in front of them. It is important to take some now to reflect upon how the school year has progressed for your children, and if necessary reach out to teachers or our counsellor if you feel that you need some support. Where appropriate, please do recognise the value of productive struggle in which your children will have worked hard to engage with increasingly challenging problems. This develops grit and resilience. It is important to be aware and reflect upon these instances as a way of empowering and motivating our students.

I wish you all a restful long weekend and trust that it provides you with some quality family time.

Grade 3 Class

by Ms. Katrina del Mar, Grade 3 Teacher

International-mindedness is the concept we have been focusing on our current Unit of Inquiry, Who We Are. Book Week 2021 has been a great avenue for the Grade 3s to deepen their understanding of International-mindedness. One of the activities inspired us to make a collaborative storytelling video. The objective of this activity was to examine the similarities and differences in perspectives through reading and storytelling.

In line with this year’s Book Week Theme: The World of Mystery, Magic and Myths, the Grade 3s nominated the following books:

1. Matilda by Roald Dahl
2. Guess How Much I love You by Sam McBratney
3. 대장장이와 목수의 이사 written by 정지인 (Blacksmith and the Carpenter’s Director by in Ji-in Jeog)

The Grade 3s cast their votes and have chosen to storytell the Korean Folktale: 대장장이와 목수의 이사 by 정지인 (Blacksmith and the Carpenter’s Director by in Ji-in Jeog).

The activity also allowed the Grade 3s to develop different approaches to learning specifically, communication and social skills. They practiced reading, speaking and presenting the story. Also, the success of this activity relied heavily on the cooperation and collaboration of each member of the class.

We invite you to read the story. We also ask you the same questions we asked ourselves: What perspective does the Korean folktale present? How is it similar or different from other stories you have heard?

Grade 9 Visual Arts Class

by Ms. Gerri Ancajas Jumao-as, Visual Arts Teacher

The Grade 9 class prepared for the unit Self Portrait Still Life by developing their drawing skills through a series of formative drawing exercises.  

1. Messy Origami Drawing: The goal of this exercise is to improve proportion and shading skills. The task is to get a blank white paper, crumple it, and draw all the lines, creases, folds, and shadows.

Here are some students’ works:

I feel that the shading put a lot more life into the drawing, as it adds a much more realistic look to the drawing. – Roland

I think I did the tonal values pretty well. I believe I did this well because the shading looks very similar to the crumpled paper. – Aaryan

I think what went well is that I created the outline of the crumpled paper correctly in terms of point of view because for the first sketch I did it from a top angle. – Xanti

In my opinion my drawing could be better, it needs to be more accurate, the shading can also be improved. The overall shape is the good thing about this drawing. – Noam

Dramatic Lighting Exercise: The goal of this exercise is to improve observation skills and know how and where to place shadows in the drawing. The task is to observe the objects and note the differences between shadows and the object’s surface and shadows on the ground being cast by the object, and draw them.

Here are some students’ works:

I did well in the proportions but I have to work on my dark and light colors. I just have to practice applying dark and light tones. – Adam

I feel like I was able to do well in shading the cups as well as in angling the shadows. I think I was able to similarly replicate the shading and tonal values of the original image and apply it to my drawings. Being able to do that allowed me to give life to the artwork. – Gabrielle

I feel that I did well in terms of drawing the shadows and the cups. I applied more pressure in shading the surface to create shadows. These parts were darker and they made the light source more obvious.

I think I did well in the drawing of the cups because the contrast and shadow parts are expressed in three dimensions. I think I can improve on the color of the cup and shadow, to give a three-dimensional effect. – Yeseul

Shapes and Sizes Drawing Exercise:  The goal of this exercise is to improve drawing of shapes of objects and their sizes in relation to objects around them. The task is to observe the objects and note the differences between each shape and sizes, and draw them. The forms are then filled in with just flat shading.

Here are some students’ work:

I think my drawings came out pretty good, better than I expected. I think I did well in drawing the forms of the objects because you can clearly see what the objects are and you can see how big or small the objects are. – Sengo

I think the area that I did well in was the shading, because the shading looks natural, and the shapes blend together neatly.  I think the area that I need to improve on is the shapes, especially the more advanced ones, because they look messy. – Elijah

Grade 9 Language & Literature

by Mr. David Gibson, English Language & Literature Teacher

Grade 9 are working full steam ahead in putting together a complete day’s viewing on their very own TV channel. Through this they are looking into the very core of Media Literacy. Take a sneak peak at the kind of things they are engaged in currently below and see how they are getting to grips with the rules and means of Purpose, Rhetoric and Audience Imperatives through the medium of television.

All organisation, documentation shown in the presentation below is their own work.

Service Learning

by Mr. Ace Pierra, Service Learning Coordinator

CIS Turned Over Boats, Books and Educational Materials to Island Schools

The lockdown did not stop CIS from expanding its service learning collaboration to the island communities in Cebu. As we stretch our collaboration to other neighboring islands, we were able to connect to two more island schools namely Gilutongan Integrated School in Gilutongan Island in Cordova and Pangan-an High School in Pangan- an, Olango Island last October break. 

Gilutongan Integrated School received books, a boat, and educational materials while Pangan-an High School received a boat. The books were donated by CIS students through the service learning campaign and initiative we had last June.The boats were made possible through our collaboration with Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation. Aside from these two islands, CIS has been working with Caohagan Elementary School and was able to accomplish significant and sustainable projects in the island for the past years. The boats that were donated were painted by CIS students during our Week Without Walls in February of 2019. The lockdown caused the cancellation of this turn over several times. The schools will use the boat to transport students and teachers from one island to another. This is also very useful for teachers who are distributing the students’ modules, checking on their students from other islands and responding to emergencies.

The collaboration to these islands will give CIS students the experiential learning that will enhance their knowledge and understanding about ocean preservation, importance education, community empowerment and capacity building, eradicating poverty and environmental protection. 

Dragon’s Print

Have you ever heard of a day in which people pretend to be something they’re not, asking for candy from complete strangers? A haunted day wherein everyone does their best to be as terrifying as possible. With pumpkin slicing and praising the supernatural, read more about the beloved holiday known as Halloween on http://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/.

The Dragon’s Report Card

In line with Thanksgiving, the Dragon’s Report Card shares some interesting facts about the holiday and what they have been grateful for this year. Spend a cozy afternoon with the team and get ready to have an attitude for gratitude!

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jennifer Basa, College/Careers Counselor

Tip of the Week:

SRAR – Self Reported Academic Report

The Self Reported Academic Report is an initiative where students who apply to universities self-report their grades from Grade 9 through 12 in an online form.  When a student fills in the SRAR, it is advised that they follow exactly how the subjects and grades are laid out in their transcript.  Students should request their transcript from the counselor so they can accomplish the SRAR. 

Upcoming Virtual Events and Fairs: (students & parents are welcome)

DATE

November 9 – Tuesday
4:30PM – Link to join

November 26 – Friday
6:00PM – Link to register

EVENT

York College Pennsylvania (USA)
Info session

Waseda University Information Session

November 27
Saturday
11:00AM
Link to register

Career Development for International People in Japan & Business Communication
Speaker:  Prof. Furukawa Tomoki
Kansai University
Target Audience: International students who wish to advance your career in Japan. Students who are living outside Japan and wishing to study in Japan.

SAT Update

The dates below indicate that registration is open. For the Dec 4 test, the school is working on requesting official permission from the government so that CIS can administer the SAT examinations.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Admin Notes

by Dr. Gwyn Underwood, Superintendent

We have had an interesting and informative Book Week this week, thank you for joining in the activities. We will include pictures and event reports in next week’s Newsflash, but for now, I wanted to recognize the efforts of those who contributed in any way, particularly Ms. MJ and the Book Week Committee members, alumni speakers & visiting authors, and students and teachers who participated in the activities.

As we have a lot of media for you this week, I will keep this admin section short, and just finish part 3 of our coverage of the SEL “CASEL 5”, which outlines SEL competencies that are useful for our students, as well as adults!

SEL Competencies: The CASEL 5, Part 3

(refer to the Sept. 24 and Oct. 15 Newsflash for Parts 1 and 2)

Many of the CASEL 5 competencies may seem to just be common sense. And yet, it is often so challenging to apply them to real-life situations, and particularly in a crisis like the COVID pandemic, where factors outside of our control pressure us into feeling like we cannot do anything. It is critical to keep in mind that in fact, we have total control over our decisions – even if some decisions are off the table for now! Consider the following competencies now – how can your awareness of these competencies help you to prepare yourself for the next time you are faced with difficult decisions?

RESPONSIBLE DECISION-MAKING:
The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being. Such as:

• Demonstrating curiosity and open-mindedness
• Identifying solutions for personal and social problems
• Learning to make a reasoned judgment after analyzing information, data, facts
• Anticipating and evaluating the consequences of one’s actions
• Recognizing how critical thinking skills are useful both inside & outside of school
• Reflecting on one’s role to promote personal, family, and community well-being
• Evaluating personal, interpersonal, community, and institutional impacts.

(Source: CASEL’s SEL Framework)

*Click here for a link to a poster summarizing the CASEL 5!

Dates for your attention

• Monday, November 2: National Holiday (All Saints’ Day)
• Monday, November 8: School Holiday (Compensatory holiday for faculty professional learning weekend)
• Tuesday, November 23 at 9-10 am: Parent Coffee Meeting. This is a monthly meeting where you get the opportunity to chat with fellow parents, receive details of topical areas, and ask parent-related questions. The November meeting will be run by our PTA – please join us!

Refer to our online School Calendar a complete listing of school events

Enjoy your weekend!

Physical & Health Education

by Coach Jay, PHE Teacher

Early Years

Early Years students have been participating in simple games that focus on improving individual physical fitness. Games include This or That, Stop Light, Virtual Hide and Seek, Freeze Dance, and Ball Gymnastics. We were also able to do locomotor and non- locomotor exercises and distinguish the difference between the two types of movements.

Kinder/Grade 1

For the past few weeks, K/G1 students were actively engaged in different PHE activities. They showed eagerness and enthusiasm every time we had synchronous sessions. They also showed interest in animated exercises like Chasing and Dodging Games, Freeze Dance, and Mr. Hippo’s workouts. Students enjoyed receiving virtual trophies and toys after each PHE session.

Grade 2 & 3

Grade 2 and 3 students have been responsible in working on their PHE asynchronous seesaw learning engagements. Likewise, they have been consistently performing our fitness activities with high endurance during synchronous sessions in PHE. Keeping them physically active is not much of a challenge nor a struggle as they all enjoy playing and exercising with their classmates simultaneously even if it’s in a virtual set-up.

The Grade 4 and 5 students have been working really hard on performing different superheroes’ workouts. They have shown great endurance, flexibility and strength during our fitness challenge and most especially in our 60-second challenge which has brought them to the next level of their fitness. All of them have mostly achieved the skills needed at their age. Currently, Grade 4 and 5 students are extremely engaged in creating their movement sequence of the song titled “My Own Drum” by Missy Elliot. They are looking forward to their virtual dance presentation in front of the other PHE students from the other grade levels.

K/G1: How We Organize Ourselves

by Ms. Claudette Colinares & Ms. Belen Tubilan, KG1 Teachers

In our Unit, How We Organize Ourselves, we inquired about how “Systems evolve in response to human needs.” Our inquiry led us to talk about the different goods and services in our community and the systems involved to have these goods and services available to us. Using Google Earth, we explored and saw many different communities. We discussed the diverse needs of each community and shared ideas on what goods and services could be made to fit our needs. To deepen our understanding, we built our mini-community. We designed what it would look like and what goods and services are available in it. We identified the systems in our mini-community that provide goods and services. Here are some responses from our KG1 students:

In Math, we are learning about the different two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. We described and drew two-dimensional shapes such as squares, rectangles, circles, and triangles. We went for a shape hunt and looked for three-dimensional shapes in our house. In Literacy, we are continuing to develop phonological awareness and practice recognizing and reading sight words and emergent text. In celebration of Book Week, we had DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time and shared our favorite books with the class.

Grade 4 & 5: Philippine Language and Culture

by Freshal Abcede, G4/5 Phil. Lang. and Culture Teacher

The Prehistory of Philippine Pottery

As Grade 4 and 5 explorers continue to unearth the different traditional arts in the Philippines, we started to look into the prehistory times of pottery this week. We went on a virtual field trip to the National Museum of Anthropology – Philippines. In the museum, the students witnessed different forms and types of pottery that tell us how ancient people lived and interacted with other countries. Moreover, we looked closer at the common and different jars’ designs and exchanged ideas about their meanings.

Grade 10: Drama

by Ms. Stefanny Hermias, Drama Teacher

In our unit one “Creative Body Movement”, Grade 10 students have been exploring facial expressions, expressing themselves without words and learned different improvised body movements. Each of them contributed a series of unique movements to create and choreograph a three-minute summative performance. Students recorded their own choreographed body movements and combined their final videos together. The summative ‘edited’ video was showcased in one of our Monday assemblies. They also had an opportunity to do live performances via Google Meet. Grade 10 Art and Grade 6/7 PHE students graciously accepted our invite to be the audience and witnessed the summative presentation of Grade 10 Drama students.

Grade 10 Students Unit 1 Reflection

As we begin our second unit on “Voice Acting and Characters”, Grade 10 students have been doing pre-assessment activities such as One Word Scenes and Voice Over.

Grade 11: History Internal Assessment

by Ms. Joy Pierra, History Teacher

The Internal Assessment  (IA) or the historical investigation is one of the fundamental requirements of the IB History course. It comprises 25% of the IB grade for HL students and 20% for SL students. The investigation consists of four sections; identification and evaluation of sources, investigation, reflection, and bibliography. Students are given one year to complete this requirement.

The IA allows students to apply the methods used by historians in their investigation of the past. It will enhance their historical skills such as their research skills, analysis and interpretation of data, drawing conclusions, and decision-making.

It also allows students to assess the challenges faced by historians in writing a historical investigation and determine the factors that could influence the outcome of their work.

Our Grade 11 students started their internal assessment by choosing a personal historical interest. With this, they formulated a thesis question to be the focus of their investigation.

Here are their thoughts about History IA:

Grade 11: Service Learning

by Katrina, Grade 11 Student

The Grade 11s are taking on a new project: CIS Sewpports and Drop Your Share!

CIS Sewports has the goal of supporting the livelihood of two mothers from Umapad Mandaue who lost their jobs due to the lockdown. These mothers were tailors of branded sports apparel in Lapu Lapu City clothing factory. They’re in need for a new source of income, so the CIS Sewpports end of the project are aiming to provide that. Two sewing machines have been anonymously donated and will be given to these mothers alongside fabrics and ideas from the CIS Sewpports group. They’ll also help market the mothers’s products online to further support their self-sustained business. Furthermore, they’ll help create the designs for the products using research, and gather materials (such as fabric scraps) for the mothers to use. The objective is to empower the community and expand this king of livelihood among the mothers who are unemployed in Umapad Dumpsite. 

On the other hand, Project Drop and Share takes care of the communities affected by the lockdown through donations from our own CIS community! There will be 5 boxes placed in the CIS lobby: box 1 for hygiene supplies, box 2 for educational materials, box 3 for toys, box 4 for food, and box 5 for preloved clothes. The boxes are decorated really nicely by the team, you’ll be sure to spot them! We encourage you to donate if possible, as not only are you supporting the Grade 11’s dream, you’re supporting the lives of multiple communities too. These communities have been supported by CIS for many years, and we want to keep that up.

Language Acquisition Department

Last week during the culture week, we hosted a language challenge activity for ES and MHS. We got over a hundred responses on Flipgrid! Each participant is learning 5 basic conversations in 5 different languages from Monday to Friday. Grade 3 in ES and Grade 7 in MHS has the highest participant and best performance for this new language experience activity. Congratulations to Grade 3 class and Grade 7 class!

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor

Upcoming Virtual Events and Fairs: (students & parents are welcome)

DATE

October 30
Saturday
9:00am – 6:00pm
PH time
Link to register

EVENT

University of Hong Kong
Virtual Open Day

October 30
Saturday
9:00 PM
Zoom link to join

November 3
Wednesday
10:00 PM PHT
Link to register

Joint Info Session on the World Bachelor in Business
(University of Southern California, University Bocconi, HK University of Science & Technology)

November 3
Wednesday
6:15PM
Link to register

HK Polytechnic University & HK University of Science & Technology Info Session – talk to Admission officers and current students

SAT Update

The dates below indicate that registration is open. However, it is highly likely for future dates to be cancelled depending on quarantine restrictions.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Dragon’s Print

It’s Spooky Season, and it’s time for everyone to get in the spooky Halloween spirit, literally. We’ve got a list of horror stories to set you up for the perfect Halloween! From nostalgic reads such as Coraline to the darker and graphic Junji Ito, we’ve got something for everyone.

Principal’s Corner

by Mr. Andrew Powell, EY-Grade 12 Principal

Culture Week has been a colourful and vibrant celebration for many of our students and International Day promises much of the same. The week has provided us with an opportunity to proudly celebrate who we are while gaining an insight into the cultures and perspectives of members of our wider school community.

As a diverse school, we have students that can proudly declare themselves as being from a particular country, while many others identify with multiple nations due to their backgrounds and consequently have multiple ways of being. While we may currently be limited in the way we travel physically, new technologies and social media have enhanced their capacity to belong to many communities simultaneously. Our students share a dynamic culture that is open to many creative possibilities.

 For international school communities, difference has the potential to be a great opportunity. In schools such as CIS, where there is a diverse student body, difference provides students and teachers with opportunities to explore different ways of living and learning. 

Difference in this context provides individuals with the chance to learn and develop consideration for others. It is no longer a matter of teachers providing students with something. Instead, the cooperative that is formed in the international classroom fosters a mutually beneficial relationship for all involved.

 Learning is reciprocal and the diversity experienced in our classroom provides teachers and students with opportunities to learn and grow. They are able to develop new pedagogical practices and approaches that promote reciprocity and an acknowledgment that there are many and varied ways of knowing and being.

 While the array of colors and costumes worn on International Day may highlight our differences, a look beyond the superficial provides us with a view of a community that shares many similarities and the potential for unlimited opportunity.

 CIS is truly privileged in this respect, and our students, through their experiences, are well positioned to contribute to the development of a better world.

Grade 12 DP Spanish Class

by Mr. Antonio Melgar, Spanish Teacher

Beauty and Its Significance

The Diploma Programme Spanish classes have had a number of guest speakers this school year and our Grade 12 students in particular benefited from a virtual round table discussion as part of a unit that explored beauty and its significance in different cultures and environments. 

The class hosted four native Spanish speakers that represented diverse areas of the arts world: a design teacher, a prima ballerina senior, a theater director, and a multidisciplinary artist. Each of them contributed to a vivid discussion on the topic and helped our students to grasp the meaning of beauty from their own professional perspectives.  It was so refreshing to see the students interacting with professionals and discussing a deep topic in a second or third language. ¡Orgulloso de ustedes, muchachos!

Here are some reflections from our students:

Novel Studies in English Language Acquisition Class

by Ms. Lana Lautamus, English Language Teacher

For the past 6 weeks, the EL-A classes have been immersed in a novel study, directly linked to our units. 

In Grade 6 and 7, we are looking at “The Giver” by Lois Lowry and making connections to our previous unit “How Do You Pass The Time?”   When thinking of the central idea (“Hobbies and leisure activities allow for connection, creativity and support our emotional well-being”), we explored our own hobbies, cultural connections and if they support our mental health. We then thought about the lack of leisure activities, personal choice and the lack of individualization in “The Giver” and the impacts that has on the characters and the plot. 

Our next unit will have us looking at “Friends Around The World.”  We will switch our focus slightly to look at the concept of relationships and deduce how different ones in “The Giver” exist and the impacts they have. 

We will also be having virtual penpals from Vietnam to meet with third culture students living there and practice our communication skills!  Directly linked to some of our inquiry questions (What is school life like in other countries? What sayings have hidden meanings? How can you understand hidden meanings from words and phrases? Are all students the same around the world?), we will have a chance to make connections with people from other backgrounds.

In Grade 8 & Grade 9, our character analysis of characters from “The Hunger Games” linked very closely to our first unit, “How Can I Connect With Others?” Delving into personality traits, analyzing friendships and contemplating if different people can be friends are themes prevalent throughout the novel.  

Here are some student samples of their analysis of different characters’ personality traits within the novel:

As we begin our new unit, we will keep our statement of inquiry, “Teens around the world have different goals and face different challenges”, in mind as we continue to explore how Katniss, Peeta and the other teenaged characters decide on their goals for survival and react to challenges within the novel. 

We will also be reviewing and working towards the goals we set at the beginning of the semester.

Mandarin & Spanish Classes

by Ms. Gloria Rodriguez, Spanish Teacher/Jinhua Zou, Mandarin Teacher/Elaine Jin, MYP Mandarin Teacher

Language Week
In conjunction with Culture Week, the Language Acquisition Department also created Language Activities for the school. On the website International Day & Culture Week 2021 – Language challenge, we provided a challenge for the whole CIS community to be multilingual and try their best at speaking Cebuano, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. These are the major languages spoken within our community, along with English of course! We have quite a big amount of participants this year and let us listen to some students’ voices.

Kinder/Grade 1 – Exchange Class

In celebration of culture week Kinder and Grade 1 had their language exchange lesson. Students were happy to share and show  what they have been learning in Mandarin and Spanish. They also challenge themselves by saying in English, Mandarin and Spanish, greetings, numbers and farewells.

Grade 4/5 Class

During the language exchange class, Grade 4 and 5 practice using three different languages to introduce where they are from – English, Mandarin and Spanish. Students were actively teaching each other how to pronounce words about country and color in Mandarin and Spanish. They had a quick review of the “Bring Me” game about color at the end which is finding the items with color yellow.

Grade 6 – 10 Class

In the MYP classes, the students had their peer teaching on the topics of number and time. They did a mini lesson and some activities, like Kahoot and Booklet. The students enjoyed learning about how to count in both languages and it was a fun experience for them. Let us hear some voices from the students:

These past weeks in World Language Mandarin and Spanish students have been practicing successfully different learning engagements.

ES Mandarin

In Grade 2 and Grade 3 students practiced naming parts of the body and the five human senses in English and Mandarin. They also practiced using accurate descriptive words to describe appearance for different people  or animals.

MHS Mandarin (Mandarin Ab Initio)

This week, Grade 12 Mandarin students are focusing on special occasions celebrations in China. For example, the Mid-Autumn festival and Spring Festival. Students are practicing their language skills with the topic of celebration through Paper Two Reading, IA and Videos. 

Grade 11 students came up with a short story telling about the twelve Zodiac animals to introduce how Chinese people use animals to mark the year and how these animals are being chosen.

MHS Spanish  (Spanish ab Initio)

The Grade 11 students  have started  practicing how to describe daily routines, ask and answer open ended  questions related to habits. It is important that students know and practice verb conjugation and forming sentences.  As part of our daily class routine students are asked to conjugate one or two verbs and write them down in their notebooks.

This week, our students from Grade 12  shared their presentations about travel agency packages to some Spanish speaking countries. We focused on the following topics: food, accommodation, places to visit, food, transportation, indoor and outdoor activities. 

ES Spanish

Mandarin B classes

To celebrate multiple languages in our school,  MHS Mandarin students chose the song “Part of Your World” and some students participated in singing this song. The song is formed with eight languages which are the languages spoken by most of our students in MHS Mandarin class. Please check the link for the video.

Grade 10 Spanish

Our Grade 10 Spanish students took us on a tour of the world as they learnt about people that they considered important in shaping various countries’ culture and society. This included a Broadway singer, the first Puerto Rican female judge in the USA, a Venezuelan musician and songwriter, a Filipino boxer and a Brazilian football player. Through their explorations they discovered how these individuals have touched the lives of millions or people through their and how they are looked upon as positive role models and symbols of national pride.

Book Week

by Ms. Mary Jean Cordova, Media Center Coordinator

We are excited to announce our virtual book week with the theme “The World of Mystery, Magic, and Myths!” This year’s Book Week will be happening on October 25-29, 2021, and we have tons of fun activities planned for you! Please visit the book week website at  bit.ly/2021CISbookweek  for details on all of the events mentioned below.

Drop Everything And Read (D.E.A.R.) Time

We want to start Book Week with BOOKS! On Monday, Oct 25th, we ask that everyone in the CIS community DROP EVERYTHING AND READ! Snap a photo of you reading in your favorite spot and share it with your class on Seesaw or Hangouts! MHS will DEAR from 12:30 PM-1:00 PM then will have another session on Thursday, Oct 28th, and Elementary will DEAR from 8:00 AM-8:15 AM.

Story Time Videos

We invite parents and students to submit a video of them reading their favorite children’s book, short story, poem, or novel excerpt for our Story Time Video collections. We would love to have stories representing the vast diversity of the CIS community, so please feel free to share stories from your culture and in your mother tongue. These videos will be available on the CIS book week website for students to view on their own time. For elementary, please see the Seesaw learning engagement posted or reach out to Ms. Maffy (mocleasa@cis.edu.ph) for your videos. For MHS, please email Ms. Maria (mbacus@cis.edu.ph) or Ms. Jin  (ejin@cis.edu.ph)  – by Tuesday, October 26, at 7PM.

Character Parade

This year students are going to truly bring their favorite characters to life in the new version of the Character Parade! Students should dress up as their favorite character and record a 10 to 20-second video of them reading one of their favorite quotes from that character or reading 1-2 lines from the book. They can choose books in their own language.  We will post these videos together on the Book Week website by grade level. For elementary, please see the Seesaw learning  engagement posted or reach out to Ms. Vangie B. (ebelono-ac@cis.edu.ph) for your videos. For MHS, please  email Mr. Alejandro (aguerratibocha@cis.edu.ph)  by Tuesday, Oct. 26th, 7PM. 

Living Library

The Living Library is a chance for students to hear first-hand stories of a wide variety of careers from CIS Alumni. Check the Book Week website for details about these guests.

Guess Who’s Reading Contest

Take a look at the photos on the “Guess Who’s Reading” page of the website and see if you can identify your teachers behind the book. We’ve used props to make it a little tricky. Good Luck!

Book Talk 

This year, students are going to meet and have a live chat with these two inspiring authors. There will be two sessions for both authors in Elementary and MHS. Please check the Book Week site for the schedules. 

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor

The Virtual Living Library for Book Week

Please take time to view the Living Library videos on the Book Week Website next week.  It is highly recommended that Grade 10, 11 and 12 students view the videos, these will be very helpful as you start to forge your career path.  Learn about the variety of careers as CIS alumni talk about what they do.   They will share insights about their jobs, what it entails and some advice on how to choose one’s career.

Upcoming Virtual Events and Fairs: (students & parents are welcome)

DATE

October 27
Wednesday
8:00PM PH time
Link to register

EVENT

Northwestern University in Qatar 
Virtual Open House

October 30
Saturday
9:00am – 6:00pm
PH time
Link to register

October 26 and 27

University of Hong Kong
Virtual Open Day

Brussels School of Governance Open Lecture Series:
“The EU and the Rule of Law: about foundational values, enforcement possibilities and limits”
Prof. Kristin Henrard – International and European Law
October 26, 2021    1800H CEST/ 12:00MN PHT 
Link to register

“U.S. reputation after Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan: Implications for US-China competition”
Prof. Tongfi Kim – International Affairs
October 27, 2021   1800H CEST/ 12:00MN PHT
Link to register

October 30
Saturday
9:00 PM
Zoom link to join

SAT Update

The dates below indicate that registration is open. However, it is highly likely for future dates to be cancelled depending on quarantine restrictions.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Dragon’s Print

Seven billion people in the world, thousands of languages, and several continents we can simply count with our fingers; yet there is much more in the world to explore! Read more about cultural diversity as Akeisha M. shares her perspective as a new student in CIS on https://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/.

Admin Notes

by Dr. Gwyn Underwood, Superintendent

It was wonderful to see our students return from October break looking rested and eager to start our second quarter! In addition to the publishing of MHS quarter 1 reports today, we now look forward to an eventful couple of months, starting with our virtual Culture Week next week, which culminates with our virtual International day on Saturday 23 October. We then transition to our annual Book week from Oct. 25! You will receive details of all these events via your registered email address.

Please read on for our weekly showcasing of various class activities at both elementary and middle/high school levels. Firstly, however, we will take a quick look at another two “CASEL 5” competencies (Refer to our Sept. 24 Newsflash for Part one).

SEL Competencies: Social-Awareness and Relationship Skills (The “CASEL 5” Part two)

To recap, the “CASEL 5” competencies (refer to CASEL’s SEL diagram) can be “taught and applied at various developmental stages from childhood to adulthood and across diverse cultural contexts to articulate what students should know and be able to do for academic success, school and civic engagement, health and wellness, and fulfilling careers.”

This week, we reflect on Social-Awareness and Relationship Skills. Please review the descriptors for each of these competencies below, and consider how you could respond to the following questions: 
• To what extent am I (and/or my child/ren) aware of, and understand, these areas?
• What can I (and/or my child/ren) do to recognize what behaviors I can choose to develop my competencies in these areas?
• These areas can be particularly challenging with remote learning and communicating virtually. What are some of the challenges I am facing, and how can I compensate for not being able to see my peers in person? 

SOCIAL AWARENESS
The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, & contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports. Such as:

• Taking others’ perspectives
• Recognizing strengths in others
• Demonstrating empathy and compassion
• Showing concern for the feelings of others
• Understanding and expressing gratitude
• Identifying diverse social norms, including unjust ones 
• Recognizing situational demands and opportunities
• Understanding the influences of organizations/systems on behavior

RELATIONSHIP SKILLS 
The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed. Such as:

• Communicating effectively
• Developing positive relationships
• Demonstrating cultural competency
• Practicing teamwork and collaborative problem-solving • Resolving conflicts constructively
• Resisting negative social pressure
• Showing leadership in groups
• Seeking or offering support and help when needed
• Standing up for the rights of others 

(Source: CASEL’S SEL FRAMEWORK: What Are the Core Competence Areas and Where Are They Promoted?)

Kinder/Grade 1 Philippine Language and Culture Class

Ms. Bebelin Tubilan, K/G1 Teacher

In Philippine Language and Culture, the Kinder and Grade one students have been learning about famous/ influential people from their home countries, especially the Philippines. Our Unit, Who We Are, connects to how these influential people affect our community. We talked about the different traits and characteristics they possess, the talent and skills they showed, and the positive impact they contributed to their country.  

We got to know Mr. Manny Pacquiao, a famous boxer; Ms. Hidilyn Diaz, a weightlifter, the first Filipino to win a gold medal during the Olympics and Mr. Remy Presas, the Father of Modern Arnis. Arnis is the Philippines’ National Martial Arts. We dive deeper into how Arnis was played before and how it changed over time.  

In the first few weeks, we tried to create our own baton/ arnis sticks using some newspapers or other recyclable materials at home. We also learned some basic skills of Arnis, or they call it stances. Stances are the different positions we do when we play Arnis:

1. Grip or hawak, it is how we should hold our sticks properly.
2. Salutation or pugay,  how we give respect to our opponents.
3. Ready or handa means that we are now ready to play Arnis.

Then the forward stance or pasulong, it’s how we position ourselves when we want to attack, and the backward stance or paatras when we want to defend ourselves from getting struck. 

To get the point in Arnis, we should hit or strike the twelve (12) different parts of our opponent’s body, but we only focused on five (5). The right and the left temple is part of our ulo, the stomach or tiyan, and the left and right knees or tuhod.  

We showed what we learned by playing Arnis with one of our family members. We tried to demonstrate the different stances while playing and scored a point by hitting the right areas. 

We will be getting to know more influential people/ athletes from the Philippines in the coming months.

Grade 2 / 3 Philippine Language and Culture Class

by Ms. Ann Codoy, G2/3 Teacher

In our Philippines Language and Culture, we talked about influential people. We shared some of the influential or famous people we know and are from our country. We continued exploring the different influential people in our host country, the Philippines, particularly in Cebu. We discussed the Influential Cebuano Artist from Carcar Cebu, named Martino Abellana, who is considerably recognized as the “Dean of Cebuano Painters.” Most of his paintings significantly represent the culture, values, daily life of Cebuanos, and beauty of nature in Carcar, Cebu. As the Grade two and three students observed Abellana’s painting, we reflected on how we might show the things that reminded us about Cebu. 

We mentioned Bahay Kubo which is the native Filipino house, the whale shark, one of the animals you could see in one of the tourist spots in Cebu and others. We used our creativity in painting, drawing and coloring to show what we think best represents Cebu, Philippines.

CIS students participate in the MUN LOCALS Conference

by Emily Cornet, MUN Co-Advisor

Each year during Quarter 1, the CIS Model UN club participates in the MUN LOCALS Conference, usually hosted in Manila.  This year the conference was held virtually towards the end of our October Break on October 8 & 9, involving 272 total delegates from nineteen different schools across the Philippines.

Each student chooses to represent a country in an assigned committee — all based on the allotment we are given.  Then that student must represent that country’s viewpoint in arguing for solutions to the problems being discussed.

Of particular note in our group this year, we had three students present as Main Submitters of a Resolution — Selly P. (G11), Daigo K. (G12), and Dominic L. (G12).  We had another seven students co-submit a resolution, and five who authored and presented amendments.  The group as a whole was actively engaged in the two-day conference.

An additional part of the MUN LOCALS Conference is what is called Crisis, when students are presented with an unpredictable scenario where they must use the MUN-style debating and resolution-building techniques to create solutions to an unpredictable (and slightly unrealistic but entertaining) scenario.

Of our full group of 22 CIS students who participated, this was the first ever MUN Conference for a number of them, and just the second or third conference for even more.  The group did a superb job, despite their anxiety and relative newness to Model UN, and represented CIS well!!

Alessandra F. (G10) was a first time participant and was also selected to be a member of the Press Team, reporting throughout the weekend on the MUN LOCALS Social Media page.  And Dominic L. (G12) was selected as Best Speaker for his committee.  Well done not only to Alessandra and Dominic, but also to all of the CIS students who did such a great job!!

Grade 11 Extended Essay

by Mr. Jessie Saclo, MYP/DP Teacher

The Extended Essay, alongside CAS and TOK, is one of the three components of the IB Diploma Programme core. An essential requirement for all students in the DP, the EE is a 4,000-word paper students write independently through self-directed research of a focused topic from any of the available DP subjects. 

More than a DP requirement, the Extended Essay provides a practical preparation for undergraduate research to prepare students for success at university and other pathways beyond the DP. Through the process of research, students develop skills in formulating a research question, engaging in a personal exploration of the topic, communicating ideas, and developing an argument. Students, through this process, develop their capacity to analyze, synthesize and evaluate knowledge. 

Around this time of the year grade 11 students have already begun to formulate research questions for their chosen topics. By next week, the research skills teacher will present these research questions to the rest of the faculty and staff, a custom signifying the start of the supervision process. Incidentally, during the same period, the incumbent grade 12 students are intensively completing the final stages of their Extended Essays. With this system in place the load is spread amongst supervising teachers and staff, allowing for a seamless transition between incoming and outgoing students. 

Ideally, grade 11 students are encouraged to complete their first EE drafts by mid-August of the following year. The draft is then endorsed to their respective supervisors for review and evaluation. Based on the feedback they receive, students revise and develop their EEs for completion, leading to a final reflection session with their supervisors and a concluding interview known as viva voce. 

The Extended Essay process culminates with the EE Cafe, an event held in January, where grade 12 students prepare a short presentation of their research journey, challenges, and successes in completing their Extended Essays. 

To have a glimpse of the extensive process involved in writing the Extended Essay, here is a list of the research questions developed by the graduated Class of 2021.

Physical & Health Education (PHE)

by Mr. Ron de Villa, Design & PHE (MYP) Teacher

Physical & Health Education (PHE) can be the starting point for our students to be physically active throughout their lives. Positive experiences in PHE – especially when students feel a sense of responsibility and accomplishment –  have been beneficial for long-term physical activity, most especially in this time of pandemic where a lot of students are still ‘locked-in’ their homes. 

This year, the PHE Department has introduced a program wherein students have a choice on whether to take the Standard Class or an Extended option. The standard class promotes physical activity from a more casual, or social perspective. We might not be a Novak Djokovic, a Florence Griffith Joyner or even a Patrick Dangerfield, BUT we do appreciate that physical activity is important in our lives. The Extended class allows students to really push themselves and strive for excellence (it must be pointed out that this innovation was put in place with face to face lessons in mind). Both classes follow the same units and complete the same assessments. 

Giving the students an option on which class to take allows them to be more responsible for the task they will undergo and give them a sense of accomplishment. Our PHE program highlights different physical activity capabilities and allows students to experience multifaceted fitness activities, movement, and individual sports – at least those they can do indoors or in a limited space and equipment set-up –  culture in order to find their individually preferred activity. This way, the units are designed in such a way that daily lessons could address each student appropriately.

The PHE Units this term focused further more on student’s choice wherein they chose the exercises they wanted to perform and master in a span of at least 6 weeks. This gives them the opportunity to evaluate their progress and identify which areas they need to work on. Also, as they learn to master each skill, they now have a chance to impart their knowledge by creating workout videos or slideshows which can be used by fellow students.

We understand that students usually learn by observing others. They require someone who can act as a role model and help them to exercise. Grade 10s have created workout videos that are presented in virtual school assemblies. Since these are exercises which the Grade 10 students have chosen themselves, there is a sense of mastery and accomplishment as they teach the proper way to perform these to their fellow students.  With these, we hope that the students are inspired to work out on their own too even beyond the PHE classes as they see a co-student exercising and teaching them how each exercise is done well.

Here are some examples:

Grades 6/7 (Standard)

Grades 6/7 (Extended)

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor

Quotes from Alumni on career choices:

Upcoming Virtual Events and Fairs: (students & parents are welcome)

DATE

October 16
5:00 PM
Link to register

EVENT

Japan University Consortium:  Why Study in Japan?

October 22
7:00 – 8:30 PM
Link to register

Explore Singapore Universities:  Singapore Management University (SMU) and Singapore University of Technology & Design (SUTD)
Participants will have a chance to learn more about the education landscape and opportunities that students can look forward to in Singapore, including an introduction of exciting programmes that are offered by SMU and SUTD.
There will also be breakout sessions where students and parents can interact with the admissions representatives from the different universities.

October 23 – December 31

EduCanada Fair
Link to register

SAT Update

The dates below indicate that registration is open. However, it is highly likely for future dates to be cancelled depending on quarantine restrictions.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Principal’s Corner

by Mr. Andrew Powell, EY-Grade 12 Principal

The first quarter has positively flown by and I’d like to extend my appreciation to everyone that has helped to make my transition to the school a smooth one, and trust that all of our new students have had as equally a positive start to the year.

I’m sure there have been many highlights. In reflecting on the quarter, I would like to recognise our youngest students who have navigated their school journey for the very first time. They have certainly taken on a new challenge and have been supported by teachers and caregivers who have helped them to explore new possibilities through a range of creative activities.

Many of our students will be looking forward to the break as it provides an opportunity for them to relax their focus, sleep in and enjoy some downtime. With the increased screen time that our students have had to engage in as a result of our Remote Learning situation I do hope that computers are set aside and time in front of gaming consoles is limited. Getting as much physical activity as possible over the next week is strongly recommended.

While the majority of our students will be able to take a break, I know that many of our older students have already committed themselves to using some of this time to make a start on their Personal Projects, work on Internal Assessments and finalise their Extended Essays. This is commendable but it is also important that it is done in a balanced manner and enough attention is given to recharging batteries. Our Kindergarten and Grade 1 students recently reminded me that the keys to a healthy lifestyle are having balanced meals, getting enough sleep, exercise, practising good hygiene, and having a positive attitude. Please do heed their advice.

I’d like to thank all of our families once again for their positive support and know that through continued communication and commitment we will achieve the best possible emotional and intellectual growth for our children.

I look forward to the commencement of the second quarter and the opportunity to share in our community’s diversity during our International Day which will shortly be upon us.

Early Years Class

by Ms. Freya Abella, EY Class Assistant and Ms. Mary Jean Cordova, EY Teacher

In the Early Years, we read the story Not a Box by Antionette Portis. This book showed us different ways of what we can make out of our box. Our young learners used their imagination and created their own interpretations of their boxes. One student says it’s their house, and the other one made a car. We have asked the young learners to describe what they made and what materials they used. By using different kinds of materials, we have also developed a sense of resourcefulness. Our young learners have created their own stories from what they have made, and through this, we also developed our communication and thinking skills. We have encouraged them to have characters, the setting, and the plot. With the help of several guiding questions, they were able to narrate their stories. 

Our young learners continued to have different adventures. We drew our favorite toys during one of our drawing parties and described what materials we used and how we made them. Our EY students made stories out of their drawings with the help of guiding questions. Through this, we aim to develop our thinking and communications skills. We made interpretations, and we expressed our thoughts by creating and narrating our stories.

We have now started practicing our letters, as this is one of the goals we want to learn for this school year. We begin with our names by identifying the letters and their sounds. To better understand our letters, we sound them out first, then think of words that start with letters in our name. We also looked around our house and searched for things that began with the letter asked. We used various materials to create each letter, such as playdough, clay, or painting.

Grade 9: Individuals and Societies

by Ms. Florimee Joy Pierra, I&S Teacher

This quarter in I&S, the Grade 9 students explored the topic “The Impact of the Past to Present” focusing on the impact of technological breakthroughs and how they changed people’s lives. Students identified different technological innovations and discussed their roles in improving the lives of people. 

Then, they were asked to choose one innovation that is very useful to them and explain its significance.

Here are some of the responses from our Grade 9 students:

How about you, what do you think is the most important technological breakthrough and how did it help you at present?

Grade 11: Math Applications and Interpretation SL

by Ms. Maria Victoria Bacus, Grade 11 Mathematics Teacher

Celebrating our 11th Graders’ 1st Quarter of the DP Maths AI-SL Course

Mathematics (Applications and Interpretation) Standard Level is a course that emphasizes the topic of Statistics, modelling relationships and use of technology. 

In the first quarter, students were introduced to the unit of Number and Algebra which is comprised of the following subtopics.

Major conceptual understandings highlighted this quarter are the following:

“Modelling real-life situations with the structure of arithmetic and geometric sequences and series allows for prediction, analysis and interpretation.”

“Different representations of numbers enable quantities to be compared and used for computational purposes with ease and accuracy.”

The students who are new to the DP Math AI-SL course completed different explorations, modelling and investigation activities independently and collaboratively. They maximize the use of technology in and out of the classroom to justify their conjectures and explain their reasoning using appropriate mathematical language. 

Here are some reflections from the Grade 11 Math AI-SL students; from their expectations, to the use of technology in the classroom, to the things that they look forward to over the two-year DP course.

Things Students Look Forward in the Math AI-SL Classes

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor

Tip of the Week

Three basic differences  between the CommonApp Essay and the UCAS Personal Statement:

Upcoming Virtual Events and Fairs (students & parents are welcome)

DATE

October 1-14

EVENT

NYU Virtual Events in Southeast Asia
Link to the Registration & Schedule per Event
Topics:
• The “Why NYU?” Supplemental Essay
• Meet your NYU Rep – Southeast Asia
• Common App 101 – Southeast Asia
• Standing Out in the NYU Application Process ( 1 in 100,000)
• Selecting a Major & Professional Pathways
• High School Visit

October 5 – Tuesday
8:00 PM
LINK to join

National University of Singapore (NUS)
Information Session on:
• NUS and NUS Scale
• NUS Learning & the Campus Experience

October 7
Thursday
7:00PM
LINK to register

Explore 7 Universities: From the East Coast to the Rockies

SAT Update

The dates below indicate that registration is open. However, it is highly likely for future dates to be cancelled depending on quarantine restrictions.

The Optional SAT Essay and Subject Tests have been discontinued.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Dragon’s Print

Do you ever get the random feeling of wanting to go back to your childhood days? Although we can’t go back in time, what we can do is remind ourselves of that childhood feeling by reminiscing on movies we all loved as kids and no movie can bring back memories like Disney movies can! Read about some of our favorite throwbacks at http://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/

Admin Notes

by Dr. Gwyn Underwood, Superintendent

As we finish up the week with only one more week before our mid-semester break, it is heartwarming to see and hear how our students doing well in both classes and school-related activities, such as ASAs and last Friday’s House Activity Day (HAD). Please enjoy the various report below from representative classes and events!

SEL Competencies: Self-Awareness and Self-Management

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework introduced in a previous Newsflash article indicated five broad, interrelated areas of competence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. 

These “CASEL 5” competencies can be “taught and applied at various developmental stages from childhood to adulthood and across diverse cultural contexts to articulate what students should know and be able to do for academic success, school and civic engagement, health and wellness, and fulfilling careers.”

This week, we will be highlighting the attributes of two of the CASEL 5. As we reflect on our week and prepare for next week, we encourage you to take some time to go over these competencies, and consider: 

• To what extent am I (and/or my child/ren) aware of, and understand, these areas?
• What can I (and/or my child/ren) do to recognize what behaviors I can choose to develop my competencies in these areas? 

SELF-AWARENESS: 
The abilities to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose. Such as:

• Integrating personal and social identities
• Identifying personal, cultural, and linguistic assets 
• Identifying one’s emotions
• Demonstrating honesty and integrity
• Linking feelings, values, and thoughts
• Examining prejudices and biases
• Experiencing self-efficacy
• Having a growth mindset
• Developing interests and a sense of purpose

SELF-MANAGEMENT: 
The abilities to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation & agency to accomplish personal/collective goals. Such as:

• Managing one’s emotions
• Identifying and using stress-management strategies 
• Exhibiting self-discipline and self-motivation
• Setting personal and collective goals
• Using planning and organizational skills
• Showing the courage to take initiative

(Source: CASEL’S SEL FRAMEWORK: What Are the Core Competence Areas and Where Are They Promoted?)

PTA Matters

Please join us for our September virtual Parent Coffee Meeting next week, 29 September from 9-10 am. (The meeting link will be emailed to our registered email address prior to the meeting.) 

We will be forming our PTA Board for the year, looking at our classroom parent reps and a WhatsApp group system, and providing time for discussions and any questions you might have!

Grade 5 Philippine Language and Culture Class

by Ms. Freshal Abcede, Grade 5 PLC Teacher

The Art of Weaving
In our unit How We Express Ourselves, the Grade 5 students have been learning about the different traditional arts in the Philippines. One of the traditional arts we have been exploring is the art of weaving. The students shared that weaving highlights Filipino artistry and creativity. This kind of traditional art is a form of expression and part of the culture and heritage of the Filipino people.

The students made their basket-weaving out of paper with the colors, patterns, and styles they chose. This activity helped the students better understand how weaving culture is distinct among the various Filipino indigenous people. The experience of doing the weaving process made them realize that weaving may differ and be distinct but it has the power to unite people. 

KG1 Class

by Ms. Belen Tubilan and Ms. Claudette Colinares, KG1 Teachers

In our Unit, Who We Are, our KG1 students have been inquiring about how our daily choices and routines help us be balanced and healthy. We identified the four pillars of a balanced and healthy life. These are having a balanced meal, sleep and exercise, hygiene, and a positive attitude. 

We named our favorite food and sorted it into five groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy. We planned our healthy meals and made breakfast together. We shared the exercises we do at home and what our bedtime routines are. To connect this to literacy, we made a book about our habits at home, including practices during bedtime, brushing teeth, and washing hands. We also learned about hygiene and its importance. We experimented with soap and pepper to prove how washing our hands can make germs disappear. We have also been learning alongside our friends, Katie and Mojo. Their experiences help us to reflect and think about how we can develop a growth mindset. 

We are very impressed with how our KG1 students demonstrated their understanding of their new knowledge and skills!

IB Math Class

by Mr. Nick Arnsby, IB DP Math Teacher

Paying it Forward is one of my favourite films. As a teacher (and a human) it inspires me. Simply put “paying it forward” is when someone does something for you, and instead of paying that person back directly, you pass it on/forward; ideally to more than one person. Personally I see this mantra as a mechanism to create a utopian society and a life that we deserve. This theme appears throughout CIS’s guiding statements to paraphrase, we believe students should positively contribute to a better world. Indeed, our ATL skill indicators of helping others to succeed and practising empathy align with this lofty goal; as does the IB Learner profile trait of being principled. I encourage my students to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask themselves how are they paying it forward? I’ll let you into a secret, CIS students never disappoint.

The video above from Jhon Kim is an excellent example of this philosophy. She created this instructional/reflection resource for the juniors which gives a taste of the challenging Maths Internal Assessment (IA) worth 20% of their IB diploma. The IA allows students to explore the awesome power and beauty of Maths by applying it to a real life situation that intrigues them.  

Jhon modelled tuition fees for one of her prospective colleges, giving insight into her budgeting decisions. She uitilised linear and quadratic regression techniques. However, Jhon did not just want to use the linear regression formula (we’re far too curious to rely on another person’s formula), she derived it from scratch using calculus (partial derivatives), and then used matrices to solve the normal equations generated. All of which are beyond the rigour of this course. I’m sure Maths savvy parents will be impressed by this video and the copy of her full IA.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”…….Winston Churchill

“Together, we can change the world, one good deed at a time.”…… Ron Hall.

Grade 6-7 Science

by Ms. Haydee Montero, Grade 7 Science Teacher

Grade 7 Science Class

Introduction to The Changes that Rock the Scientific World!

In search of evidence and patterns as the related concepts covered in Unit 1: The Changes that Rock the Scientific World, the Grade 7 students went off to explore Matter. They were exploring concepts on What makes up Matter? while they Built an Atom and gained an understanding of how temperature and heat change on the Heating & Cooling Curve Diagram, which shows the Phase Change of Matter to be a Physical Change only. 

Build an Atom emphasizes the idea that all matter is made up of atoms. While noticing some patterns, the students were brought to “Aha” moments through their explorations. Here’s what a few shared:

When adding protons one by one, it will change elements. The number of protons (atomic number) determines the element in the periodic table. – Hinata

The net charge can be determined from the number of protons and electrons. More protons mean a positive charge, while more electrons make it negative. – – Chloe

Phase Change of Matter, on the other hand, emphasizes phase change as a reversible process, hence it is only called a Physical Change. As evidenced, there was no new substance formed in any of the phase changes. Boiling Point and Melting Point as intensive properties of matter are inherent to a certain matter. From their explorations, they realized that:

The temperature of the water rose while it was being boiled. This was the process of vaporization. When reaching the boiling point the temperature doesn’t rise until the process is completed. While the water was melting the temperature also rose but stopped at its melting point. This was because to change solid to liquid the temperature had to change for it to melt. – Niño

At 0 degrees Celsius temperature and 10 (KJ) heat,  the ice cube started melting. It starts to melt little by little. The temperature starts rising again when it turns into a gas. – Hana

Grade 6 Science Class

How does the planet work?

In Knowing how the planet works, the Grade 6 students explored natural calamities that occur on Earth, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, tsunamis, typhoons, and many others. These are natural occurrences that play a role in shaping the Earth. Understanding these occurrences is a very important part of the mitigation of their adverse effects on humankind. Thus, understanding the Earth’s system using models and patterns of natural events helps us realize the impact of humans on the environment.

Working on the Related Concepts: Models and Patterns, the students navigated Google Sheet as they transform data into a model representation through graphs such as pie, bar, or column graphs in order to see patterns and gain a  better understanding of how things work as a system based on what the patterns reveal.

The Dragon’s Report Card

Get your ears and headphones ready because The Dragon’s Report Card is back for a second year! Meet the new voices and talent for the podcast and entice yourselves with all the exciting things coming up this year.

Dragon’s Print

Christmas in the Philippines is a treasured event, and boy do we like it early. It’s as if the world transforms at the stroke of midnight on September 1st — suddenly there’s red and green everywhere, the lights are warmer, the air is cooler, and everyone’s spirits become jollier than ever. But how did this all begin? Why does the Philippines have the world’s longest Christmas season? To find out, read more at https://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/.

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor

Tip of the Week

Here are a few common acronyms used in college applications:

Upcoming Virtual Events and Fairs (students & parents are welcome)

DATE

September 27
Monday
8:00 PM PHT
LINK to register

EVENT

Brown University, Columbia University,
University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University

Links to register
Tuesday Sept. 28
7:00AM Pacific time
Tuesday Oct. 2
9:00AM Pacific time

University of California – Los Angeles (USA)
Information Sessions: You will have the opportunity to learn more about the academic and student life at UCLA, the admission process and meet guests such as current students and alumni.

September 25
Saturday
9:00AM PHT
LINK to join

New Zealand Universities Info Session:
Auckland University of Technology
University of Auckland
University of Canterbury
University of Otago

September 25
Saturday
9:00PM
LINK to join

Alumni Chat Series: Focus on Stem Careers

September 27
Monday
9:00 PM PH time

September 28 & 29
Tuesday & Wednesday
5:00-8:00 PM PH time

Application Review and Financial Aid at Harvard,
Pomona, Stanford and Wellesley
LINK To register

European Universities Virtual Fair 2021
• Study in Europe Live Session
• Careers in Europe Session
• Country and University Specific Sessions
•Virtual booths
•1-on-1 meeting options
Participating universities:
Bocconi University (Italy)
EHL (Switzerland)
IE University (Spain)
Jacobs University (Spain)
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany)
Modul University (Vienna)
Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)
Brussels School of Governance (Belgium)

September 30
Thursday
7:00 PM
Link to register
(zoom link will be sent after registration)

Parent Conversations: Studying Abroad
A Question/Answer session for parents to learn about the experiences of parents when their child studies abroad. 
Guest Panel:
• Mr. Bernard Villamor : father of Bianca who studies at UCLA (USA)
• Mrs. Chorie Chan: mother of  Andie who studies at UBC (Canda)
• Mrs. Mylene Suarez: mother of  Catrina who studies at Polimoda (Italy) and Joaquin who studies at Simon Fraser University (Canada)
• Dr. Clementino Diez: father of Dominique who studies at University of Toronto (Canada)

September 30 – 
October 14

NYU Virtual Events in Southeast Asia
Link to the Registration & Schedule per Event
Topics:
• The “Why NYU?” Supplemental Essay
• Meet your NYU Rep – Southeast Asia
• Common App 101 – Southeast Asia
• Standing Out in the NYU Application Process ( 1 in 100,000)
• Selecting a Major & Professional Pathways
• High School Visit

October 5 – Tuesday
8:00 PM –  LINK to join

National University of Singapore (NUS)
Information Session on:
• NUS and NUS Scale
• NUS Learning & the Campus Experience

SAT Update

The dates below indicate that registration is open. However, it is highly likely for future dates to be cancelled depending on quarantine restrictions.

The Optional SAT Essay and Subject Tests have been discontinued.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.