Term 1 Week 16

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UDIS inspires internationally-minded, balanced learners who thrive and are active global citizens

PSPE

On Monday we gave a lot of attention to Personal and Social Education. Our focus was on diversity. This is important to us because it is central to our mission statement. We watched an international news report about the indigenous people of Bolivia. They enjoyed fourteen years of having their culture respected and openly celebrated. The president, Evo Morales,  is actually an indigenous person himself, and so he improved the situation for those who had suffered because of discrimination prior to his presidency. Now, however, he has been forced out of his homeland. This gave Year Seven students some good material to discuss. New vocabulary was learned and lots of thoughts were expressed. Please continue to talk to your child about issues of diversity as they arise. 

Reading 

We've been enjoying the work of a well-known British author, Michael Murporgo. We read and discussed the storyline together. We are learning to record words we encounter as we read, so that they can be used in our own writing. This book certainly has enough new vocabulary to stretch us. 

Taking turns to read around the circle was an activity that gave everyone a chance to practice bringing the text to life through use of intonation and occasional  exaggeration of tone.  

Unit of Inquiry / Science 

Central Idea: Natural Materials can undergo changes that may provide challenges and benefits for society and the environment

This week we have been inquiring into what is actually meant by 'materials'. We've considered concepts such as matter, states of matter, reversible and irreversible changes, chemical changes and physical changes'. There are many good online resources to illustrate these aspects of science. Here are some that you could discuss with your child:

They are obviously very simplistic, but they serve as a review of the main ideas and were used as a place to begin from.

Writing
One of our goals is taking notes as we research. The scientific videos and books this week have provided good opportunities for this.

As the central idea states, we will move on to inquiring into how societies can make use of the advantages of the particular properties of the various materials. 

The English work has been integrated into the science work, We've done a lot of reading on the above scientific concepts. Ask your child to show you the books we have read on 'Get Epic'. It would be a good idea to read them together. 

Maths

This week, we have looked further into one-step equations using the four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The students have been identifying like and unlike terms, and considering the characteristics they may hold. In addition, we have looked at the similarities and differences between equality and equivalence in mathematical terms.

The students have their Equality and Equivalence assessment on Monday 9th December. It is important that the students revise over the weekend in preparation for this assessment. They should be focusing on:

• Fact families, including bar modeling
• Solving equations using the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division)
• Creating equations from given solutions
• Identifying like and unlike terms
• Finding equivalent expressions
• Simplifying expressions

I would also suggest that if your child is unsure of their multiplication and division facts, that they practice this.

Next week, we only have two lessons due to rehearsals for the Christmas performance, which are Monday and Friday. On Monday, it will be the assessment and I hope to give the students their results on the same day. On Friday, it is the last day, so we will be doing fun Christmas Maths games.

Please contact me if you have any questions on charlotte.r@udoninternationalschool.com.

Please come to our Christmas event on Thursday evening.