Bonjour!

I am happy to introduce our first Academic Newsletter of the school year!
So much is happening in the classes that we don’t want you to miss out. Each time, the Newsletter will showcase several class projects amongst many.

PS / 3y-o of Alexandra & Gwladys

As par of pre-writing and fine motor skills, they have been practicing vertical lines, using top to bottom gestures, just like when writing. After beautiful rainfall, here is the class zebra!

Middle school English – Ms. Regan – Asking the best questions

In 2002, the New York Times asked several college president what students should learn from four years of college. Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College, responded, ‘The primary skills should be analytical skills of interpretation and inquiry. In other words, how to frame a question.’ Nancy Cantor, current president of Syracuse University, said that the world is so complicated the “best we can do for students is to have them ask the right questions.'”
The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) is a step-by-step process designed to facilitate the asking of many questions. Students are given the Question Focus topic and then have the opportunity to produce as many questions as possible on that topic.
The children work in groups cooperatively to produce their questions.

Middle school English – Ms. Regan – Asking the best questions

In 2002, the New York Times asked several college president what students should learn from four years of college. Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College, responded, ‘The primary skills should be analytical skills of interpretation and inquiry. In other words, how to frame a question.’ Nancy Cantor, current president of Syracuse University, said that the world is so complicated the “best we can do for students is to have them ask the right questions.'”

The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) is a step-by-step process designed to facilitate the asking of many questions. Students are given the Question Focus topic and then have the opportunity to produce as many questions as possible on that topic.

The children work in groups cooperatively to produce their questions.

CM2 of Frédéric

Over their reading classes, students participated in a “Rallye lecture interclasse” / reading contest. The read specialists answers to children’s questions: researchers, doctors, academics…in various fields.
Amongst 900 classes, they finished 13th! Congratulations!

PS / 3y-o of Helena & Jennifer

For the past few weeks, PS-A students have been working on Niki de Saint Phalle’s joyful Nanas. After observing and describing them, the class began to make their own. One of the students lent his silhouette to trace the outline and from this 2D figure, the children crumpled newspaper to add volume. Then it was necessary to fix everything with strips of paper which they tore and glued.
The students were very patient and enduring. All these steps before they could start painting could have discouraged them. But seeing this Nana take shape has a fascinating side. All that remains is to give it the final touch: painting and gluing images.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) & Mindfulness

MS/ 4y-o – Alison and Komi
The class has been working on identifying their emotions and managing them effectively with the help of Gaston, a young unicorn who is a little different. His mane changes color as soon as a strong emotion overwhelms him such as anger, sadness, or even joy. Students each have their own ‘Emotions Wheel’ and they check in with each other during circle time to see how their friends are feeling that day.

Students have also been discovering the ‘coin calme.’ This is a designated space in the classroom whose sole purpose is to be a safe space for them to go to when they feel their emotions are running too high and they need to regain their emotional and physical control.

GS/Kinder of Anne-Sophie – Sciences

After several sessions, we have discovered how magnets/les aimants properties: they can attach themselves to certain metal (iron), they can stick together or push each other. They even can attract each other when one is in a glass of water or flour and the other one is outside.
At the end of the lesson, we built a game to make a car move on the road without touching it. We use our magic wand!

Movie night

What a success! We were over 120, and had fun! Thank you for helping us reach our 1st goal! See you at the next one.

Happy holidays and stay safe!

Violette Dunn

Academic Director