The BaSICS Times

Issue IV

The beginning of the 2011-2012 school year started with 111 students and several more joined us in the first month of school. Teachers, learning assistants and support staff prepared for the new year of learning, during the week before students returned.

We were very pleased to welcome our new families and colleagues, and we celebrated with them on the first day of school with a reception organised by the Parent/Teacher group, (PTG). In our assemblies we have been focussing on the ISS Mission Statement: Our mission is to inspire, challenge and actively support our students and each other to become positive participants in a changing world. What does it mean to become positive participants in a changing world? How do we feel about change? What experiences do we have of helping each other to see change as something that can bring new opportunities to use as best we can? How do we feel about moving? We have been exploring all these questions and thinking of ways in which we can support and be good examples to one another. Whether in the classroom, on field trips, exchanges with local schools or playing in the playground, our academic, social and physical learning is affected by the four words that make up the ISS philosophy:

October 2011. Oktober 2011

Innovation: Emphasizing creative problem-solving and confident adaptation to change. Respect: Fostering empathy and integrity to nurture a caring responsibility within a diverse cultural community. Engagement: Challenging and inspiring understanding through active curiosity and individual involvement in learning. Relevance: Accessing and discerning real life connections between intellectual experience and the changing world. These are challenging ideas to grapple with. We take every opportunity to develop our understanding of what they mean and how they are relevant to our learning. As a campus school of the ISS, we continue to grow and develop our school culture of learning. This is exciting work and involves all of the community, staff, students and parents.
Sarah Kupke

Head of School

Research Unit: Family and Friends/Familie und Freunde

Classroom teacher: Lesley Gibson Learning Assistants: Susanne Alvarez & Priska Biegel

ELC: EARLY LEARNING CENTER

AGES 3-5

The Early Years students have painted their fears and worries and told each other that they need family and friends when they are feeling scared or alone. Die Schler haben ihre ngste und Sorgen gemalt und sich gegenseitig erzhlt, da sie Familie und Freunde brauchen, wenn sie Angst haben oder sich alleine fhlen.

The Early Years students have been learning how to be good friends. They have been playing coopera:ve games, taking turns, singing friendship songs and learning together. Die Schler der Early Years lernen wie sie gute Freunde sein knnen. Sie haben zusammen gespielt und dabei sich abgewechselt, FreundschaDslieder gesungen und zusammen gelernt.

Students from grade 8 have been doing buddy reading with the little ones. This has been a rewarding experience for everyone. Die Schler aus Grade 8 haben mit den Kleinen gelesen. Das war fr all eine bereichernde Erfahrung.

Right: Grade 8 student, Drake with Joseph and McKay

Right: Grade 8 student, Janine with Ritvij and Jonathan

Right: Grade 8 student, Genevieve with Soa and Madeleine

KLASSE 1/2 GRADE 1/2

Class teacher: Amanda Clem German team teacher: Elke Clarus Learning Assistants: Aaron Chivington Kirsten Donie

On the rst day of school, students spent time reading together with Easton as the storyteller.

Left: In our research unit, the students from grades 1 & 2 constructed their own 3-D houses. Kieren, Matias and Anna spent time making sure their houses were just right. Right: Grade 6/7 have paired up with grade 1/2 for reading buddies. The rst and second graders really enjoy the time they have with their older buddy every other week.

6th grader, Gabriel, enjoys reading with his buddy, Elijah.

Above: 6th grader, Luat, reads on with Kieran. Left: 7th grader, Jeick, shares a book with David.

GRADE 3/4 ON THE MOVE/ KLASSE 3/4 UNTERWEGS...

Grades 3/4
3/4 A Classroom Teacher: Rosemary Albano German Team Teacher: Ulrike Hennig 3/4 B Classroom Teacher: Jennifer King German Team Teacher: Kristin Scholz Learning Assistant: Ursula Sites

Visiting our neighboring school, the Goldberg Schule Besuch der Klasse an der Goldberg Schule
On Wednesday 12th October, grade 3/4 visited our local Grunschule, the Goldbergschule, to start an exchange project between BaSICS and Goldberg. The children met up with the 3rd grade class of Frau Dreue. The children had to nd a partner using picture cards and then while one group went on tour of the school, including visi:ng the Head of the School and the schools huge sports hall, the other group read together and played games. In a couple of weeks :me Frau Dreues third graders will be visi:ng grade 3/4s special wax museum presenta:on . Am MiZwoch um 8.20Uhr machten sie die Klassen 3/4 K und A auf den Weg, um die 3. Klasse der Goldbergschule zu besuchen. Zuerst trafen wir uns in deren Klassenzimmer, wo uns die Kinder, Frau Waldschtz und Frau Dreue freundlich begrten. Danach versammelten wir uns im groen Musiksaal, wo wir unseren Partner anhand von Bildkarten suchten. Auf ein Namensschild malten wir das Bild ab und schrieben unsere Namen darauf, damit wir uns wiedernden konnten und unsere Namen wussten. Auf der Bhne waren verschiedene Spiele und viele schne Bcher aufgebaut. Wir teilten uns in zwei Gruppen auf, wobei die eine eine Fhrung durch die Schule machte, whrend die andere aus den Spielen und Bchern auswhlen konnten und mit ihren Partnern lesen und spielen konnten. Danach tauschten die Gruppen, so dass jeder das Schulgebude kennen lernen konnte und Zeit mit seinem Partner verbringen konnte. Bevor wir gingen verbrachten wir noch die Pause auf de riesigen Pausenhof zusammen, wo wir auch unser Vesper aen. Damit wir uns bald wieder sehen, haben wir die Kinder der Klasse 3 zu unserem WachsgurenkabineZ am MiZwoch 26. Oktober eingeladen. Wir freuen uns schon jetzt, unsere neuen Freunde wieder zu sehen!

Klasse 3/4

Klasse 3/4 macht ein Projekt ber behmte Menschen. Zu erst muss man eine bestimmte Person Auswhlen und dann Forschungen ber diese Person machen. Alle mssen eine
Geschichte in 4 Arten Erzhlen. Erst muss man eine ZEITLEISTE machen und die man auch auf WORLDBOOKONLINE machen kann. Dann muss man ein INFORMATIONSBOARD machen wo Bilder und Andere Sachen drauf kommen so wie eine Karte wo die Person her kommt. Danach mssen alle Paragraphe machen. Und zwar den ersten wo drin steht was die Person so Berhmt macht oder wo sie her kommt oder wann sie Gebutstag hat aber beim letzuten mssen 5 setzte fr 3 und 4 Klasse drin sein. Also bis unsere Presentation beginnt, viel Spa beim Lesen
geschrieben von s.c.w., Klasse 4 written by s.c.w., grade 4

Klasse 5. Grade 5
Class teacher: Alan Northouse German team teacher: Elke Clarus

Research Unit: Explorers and Inventors

Despite the tough weather, our crew enjoyed a wonderful visit to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart on October 19th. We were able to connect our so much of Explorers and Inventors Research Unit to what we saw at the museum. It was great to look at how the inventors of our area have impacted the world we live today. A major highlight of the visit was getting Mr. N. to sit in the formula one racer for a picture.

Grade 5 spent two weeks at the beginning of the school year at the Fahrradschule in Sindelngen.

Middle Years at BASICS Grades 6-9

During the first week of school, all Middle Years students and teachers got to know Sindelfingen and each other better through a day exploring the surrounding area. The results of this day can be seen in the winning brochure included as an attachment.

Grade 9 students met in the market place to form a plan, while other students and teachers visited the Werk Stadt Dialog exhibition from Mercedes.

Later, students met with their groups in order to organize their findings and create a brochure, which they then presented to all Middle Years students. All MY students voted on the best organized, detailed, informative and professional brochure to be included as an attachment to The BaSICS Times. The winning group consisted of Janine (grade 8), Leonard (grade 9), Moritz (grade 9), Selina (grade 6) and Bella (grade 6).

Grade 6/7.Klasse 6/7

Homeroom teacher: Robin McMullen

SPRACHE.LANGUAGE

Im Sprachunterricht untersucht die Klasse 6/7 das Konzept Migra:on. Wir besprachen wie wich:g es ist zu wissen, wo man herkommt. Dabei fanden wir heraus, dass HerkunD komplexer ist, als wir bisher dachten. Unser Gedicht, Da komm ich her, drckt diese Idee aus. Zur Zeit schreiben wir realis:sche Erzhlungen ber Migra:on, Auswanderung oder Umzug. Die Schler und Schlerinnen benden sich bei verschiedenen SchriZen des Schreibprozesses: Revidieren, Mitschlerbesprechung, einen neuen Entwurf schreiben. Unsere endgl:gen Entwrfe werden sowohl in Deutsch als auch in Englisch verfasst.

In language, grade 6/7 has spent our rst unit inves:ga:ng the idea of migra&on. We discussed the importance of knowing where one is from and found that the answer was more complex than we had thought. Our poems, Where Im From, expressed this. Currently in wri:ng, we are crea:ng realis:c c:on narra:ves on the theme migra&on. We are all at dierent stages in the wri:ng process: revising, having a peer conference, or crea:ng a new draD. Our nal draDs will be completed in both German and English.

Language teachers:
German: Ray Schneider English: Casey Haapaniemi

Christopher uses a translation dictionary to learn new vocabulary for his English poem.

6th grade students hold peer conferences with one another to discuss their narra:ves.

GRADE 6.7 MATH & SCIENCE

Teachers: Carrie Scafe & Robin McMullen

Math: Students Create Hypothetical Number Systems

Since bees communicate through movement, Selina developed a number system for bees using dance patterns as symbols. The numbers 1 through 4 each have their own graceful movement. Higher numbers are elegant combinations of these original 4 symbols. Gabriel and Tom thought that snakes would count in groups of 5, since a healthy meal is usually 5 mice grouped together! And their number symbols look like mice! If you want to try their challenging math quiz using snake mathematics, just ask them for it! Bella and Heidi decided that dogs could use their paw prints for writing numbers by sometimes pushing more on one paw-pad than another. Jeick and Cem explored how monkeys could count and developed a clever way of making higher numbers through multiplication -using 3 x 10 as the symbol for 30. Pedro, Luat and Axel imagined dogs counting in groups of 5, repeating the original 5 symbols for the higher numbers. For example the symbol for 10 is two 5 symbols crossed together, while the symbol for 15 is the 10 symbol with a five symbol in the middle of itand the symbols are based on BONES!!

Using Science to Design Better Buildings for Haiti

Teacher: Carrie Scafe

In January 2010, a devastating earthquake shook Haitis capitol and surrounding area. So many buildings collapsed due to their poor construction and caused many to lose their lives and homes. This quarter 6/7th grade students are experimenting with different housing constructions -- nding which shapes and materials can better support a heavy load while experiencing earthquake-like forces. Top Right: Herr Buerk visits the students to talk about his role in the rebuilding of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Bottom: The students designed and built rst generation houses and then tested them with increasing levels of shaking using Cedrics earthquake machine. They then revisited their rst designs and created second generation houses.

KLASSE 8.GRADE 8

Sprache.Language
Grade 8 students have been investigating newspapers in our Community and Action Unit. We have spent time reading newspaper articles, learning about the different sections of a newspaper in both German and English and studying different styles of news. We have started applying our knowledge in order to create our own dual-language newspaper with the program Pages. We are using the writing process to create articles for different sections in both our main and additional languages and are looking forward to our celebration breakfast, where well be sharing our writing with one another. Herr Bausch, from The Bblingen and Sindelfingen Zeitung visited our class so that we could ask him questions about the process of creating a newspaper, as well as internships and careers as journalists.

Homeroom and English teacher: Casey Haapaniemi German teacher: Anja Knabe

In unserer Einheit Communitiy and Action hat sich Klasse 8 mit Zeitungen beschftigt. Wir haben Zeitungen gelesen, die verschiedenen Sparten einer Zeitung auf Deutsch und auf Englisch kennengelernt und die verschiedene Zeitungsstile untersucht. Dann haben wir unser gelerntes Wissen angewandt und unsere eigene zweisprachige Zeitung mit dem Programm Pages geschrieben und produziert. Wir haben mit dem Schreibprozess gearbeitet um Artikel fr verschiedene Rubriken sowohl in unserer Erst- als auch in unserer Zweitsprache zu schreiben. Nun freuen wir uns auf das Frhstck, mit dem wir die Fertigstellung unserer Zeitung feiern und das Ergebnis unseres Schreibens miteinander teilen wollen. Herr Bausch, von der Bblinger und Sindelfinger Zeitung besuchte unsere Klasse. Wir konnten ihm Fragen zur Produktion und Herstellung einer Zeitung, zu den Arbeitsbereichen eines Journalisten und zu Praktika stellen.

Matching newspaper vocabulary words in German and English.

Reading newspapers in German and English

Discussing interesting articles and political cartoons

What grade 8 students had to say about their field trip:

Even though the Stuttgarter Nachrichten and the Stuttgarter Zeitung compete, they share the same printing press. -- Drake The rst newspaper was printed in the mid 1600s! -- Genevieve Die vielen Tonnen Papier werden zu 50% recycelt. Damit nicht so viel Papier verschwndet wird, und das die Bume nicht tglich gefllt werden. -- Mascha Ich war berrascht ber das Ausehen des Druckers: Er sieht aus wie ein Rollercoaster! -- Irene Die hlfte des Tages werden die Normalen Zeitungen gedruckt und rest des Tages nehmen sie auch andere augtrge, angenommen wie von Bosch. Das fande ich sehr interresant! -- Liana I was surprised that they have the biggest printed in Europe. It looked like the printer was actually 100 separate pieces. --Harry I was surprised that they only had one printer for over 20 newspapers. -- Janine

A Visit to the Pressehaus

Grade 8 & 9 students visited the Pressehaus in Stuttgart and got a tour of the Stuttgarter Nachrichten, including the enormous printer! Die Schlerinnen und Schler der Klassen 8 und 9 haben das Pressehaus in Stuttgart besucht, erhielten dort Einblick in die Stuttgarter Nachrichten und wurden duch die Druckerei mit ihrer riesigen Druckmaschine gefhrt !

Man hat sehr viel gelernt: Es werden 100.000t Papier pro Tag fr 40 verschiedene Wochenbltter und Zeitungen versandet. -- Leo

Grade 8 Science
Teacher: Carrie Scafe

How can Science Help Solve the World Hunger Problem?

8th grade students have begun a year long farming project on the rooftop terrace to nd out. With their children, 3/4th grade students from Ms. Albanos class, they have become three families. With the support of science, students will try grow nutritious, abundant and satisfying crops that will feed their family at least one meal at the beginning of June.

Die Edrbaschaft ist wie ein Kreis der sich dreht zu jeder Generation ist was dabei. Mascha Inheritance is like tradition because they are both passed down from generation to generation. Drake

Left: While learning about Gene Manipulation/Modication used in crops, students came up with metaphors for inheritance.

Grade 9. Klasse 9
Homeroom teacher: Ray Schneider

Drama
Teacher: Pam Grimes

The main focus of drama this semester was looking at the historical and theatrical background of Commedia dell Arte. The students also explored the power of language and how a better understanding of language assists them socially but also in their theatrical studies. Take a guess! Which adjective are the grade 8 and 9 students acting out?

Depressed? Shy? Excited? Exhausted? Arrogant? Clumsy?

Yvonne Woon Lesung Kl. 7 9

Am 14. Oktober hatten die Schler und Schlerinnen der Klassen 7 bis 9 die Gelegenheit, eine Lesung der Jugendautorin Yvonne Woon zu besuchen. Sie las aus ihrem Debutroman Dead Beautiful: Nach dem mysterisen Tod ihrer Eltern wird Rene von ihrem Grovater auf das Gottfried-Institut, eine elitre Privatschule mitten in den Wldern von Maine, geschickt. Ihr neuer Stundenplan beinhaltet Fcher wie Gartenbau und Bestattungskunde und mit der Zeit stt Rene auf weitere unerklrliche Todesflle. Was hat das alles zu bedeuten? Bei der Suche nach der Wahrheit kann ihr nur einer behilflich sein: Dante ihr wunderschner, doch seltsam unnahbarer Mitschler, zu dem sie sich wie magisch hingezogen fhlt. Doch auch der scheint ein tdliches Geheimnis zu haben Im Anschluss an die Lesung erzhlte die Autorin ihren Werdegang und beantwortete Fragen aus dem Publikum.

Yvonne Woon wurde 1984 geboren, sie machte 2006 ihren Abschluss in Englisch und Creative Writing an der Columbia University in New York und lebt in New York. Zum Leidwesen der Zuhrer beantwortete Yvonne Woon keinerlei Fragen, die den weiteren Fortgang des Buches betrafen, wie z.B.: Was war der tatschliche Ursache fr den Tod von Renees Eltern? Ist Dante ein Vampir? Wie geht das Buch aus? Alle, die gerne die Antworten auf diese Fragen wssten sollten das Buch Dead Beautiful von Yvonne Woon lesen! (Empfohlen ab 13 Jahren)