Newsflash: November 5, 2021

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.

The grand Acacia tree in front of our school campus.

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

I think that my drawing turned out overall pretty well and that I did my best to follow the forms. I think I should fix some of the lines that are still inside the shaded area since that shouldn’t be there and it should all be one tone. – Miguel

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.

2021-2022 TEST DATES* Registration Deadline
August 28, 2021 CANCELLED
October 2, 2021 CANCELLED
December 4, 2021 November 4, 2021
March 12, 2022 February 11, 2022
May 7, 2022 May 5, 2022
*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.

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