Aveson Independent Study Academy
October Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 1
What's Happening at AISA?
AISA Altadena Business Fair!
Thank you to all who participated and came to support!
Sports Instruction Comes to AISA!!
Laying down our foundation with coach Donovan Morris
Dia de los Muertos Celebracion!
For those participating in the passion projects see schedule below:
Classroom Highlights!
Ms. Robertson
We have concluded our "All About Me" project, fostering empathy and encouraging friendship bonds among our little learners. The "All About Me" project was a heartwarming journey for our kindergarten students as they explored and shared their unique qualities, interests, and experiences. Each child had the opportunity to talk about their families, hobbies, favorite activities, and what makes them special. This project helped the children develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for themselves and their peers.
Through the "All About Me Name Stem” Assignment, this activity allowed them to create a final product that articulated their thoughts, interests, and experiences, promoting self-expression and self-confidence.
Empathy is a key theme woven into our curriculum. Students engaged in discussions about emotions. This understanding has helped form the foundation of meaningful friendships within our kindergarten community. They practiced taking turns, sharing, and actively listening to one another. These new friendships are teaching them about the importance of cooperation and consideration for others.
Our current project is the "Celebration of Skin Color" project. Our goal with this project is to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of the diverse colors and skin colors that make our world beautiful. We want our young learners to celebrate and embrace the uniqueness of each individual and create an inclusive environment within our kindergarten community.
Throughout the project, we have and will read a variety of books that showcase characters with diverse skin colors. These engaging stories allow students to explore different cultures, traditions, and experiences.
In addition to this, we will begin an Iearn Project called “Friends Around the World.” We will be paired with a class in Argentina to learn more about them, share, and celebrate each other's differences!
Here's to embracing the beauty of every shade and celebrating the uniqueness in each of us!
Mrs. Ortiz
Our “All About Me” project offered a variety of benefits for students which included:
Self-Awareness by creating projects that required students to reflect on their own lives, experiences, interests, and values. This process of self-exploration can help them gain a deeper understanding of themselves. It also increased students' communication skills, through their development of the project involving organizing thoughts, writing, oral communication, and effectively conveying personal information. The “All About Me” project increases students' confidence by having them share personal information and experiences that can boost self-confidence. While encouraging students to take pride in their achievements and experiences. The project also allowed students to convey their creative expressions by having students use various creative mediums, such as writing, art, and photography, to complete their projects. This fosters creativity and allows them to express themselves in unique ways.
Next we also focus on developing and establishing interpersonal skills in students by having students share their projects with peers. It provides opportunities for social interaction and improves interpersonal skills. For our social and emotional learning and integration of this project we focused on empathy and understanding. Learning about each other's backgrounds and experiences through these projects can promote empathy and understanding among students. It can lead to more inclusive and respectful classroom environments. As a class we developed a goal setting by reflecting on their future plans and aspirations, students can set personal and academic goals. This can motivate them to work towards their objectives. While also focusing on critical thinking skills by creating their “All About Me” project that involves selecting and organizing information in a meaningful way. This requires critical thinking and decision-making skills.This project also provided an increased engagement interaction as personal projects are often more engaging for students because they have a personal stake in the content. This can lead to higher motivation and enthusiasm for the assignment. I ensured to maintain a positive classroom culture when students share their stories and backgrounds, as it fosters a sense of community and inclusivity in the classroom.
Our project also takes into consideration how it can be utilized in the real world by developing life skills that go beyond the classroom. The ability to effectively communicate and present oneself is a valuable life skill. "All About Me" projects prepare students for real world interactions and communication skills. Lastly our project provided the students with some reflection and growth time. Over time, students can look back at their projects and see how they've evolved and grown. It can be a valuable record of personal development. Overall, the “All About Me” project is a valuable educational experience that can go beyond surface-level introductions. It encourages self-awareness, communication skills, and personal growth, all of which are essential for academic success and personal development.
All About Me discussion/ Oral communication and Reading
All About Me Tree Map
All About Me Reflection writing
Ms. Tracey
Since the beginning of the school year, we have been learning about ourselves, our classmates and our school. Through this journey, we have practiced and strengthened our collaboration and communication skills, we have had the opportunity to express our creativity and we have learned new technology skills. For example, how to use a digital camera is one skill we had to learn. Learning how to use these cameras in order to take a good photograph, is an entirely different skill that we also had to learn.
After some practice, we were able to take several photographs we were happy with, so the next step was to learn how to retrieve them from a Google folder and insert them into our slides. This part of our project allowed for some of our more experienced students to take on a teaching role, guiding their teammates through Google folders and Google Slides. Next, we spent time discussing, drafting and editing the text we wanted to use to describe the activity in each photograph.
The last part of this adventure required creativity and cooperation in order to organize all of our information on the slides. As a whole class, we reviewed the slideshow, one slide at a time, and discussed and agreed upon any changes we thought would help to improve our presentation. Overall, this has been a fun, creative and informative learning adventure as we created our slideshow presentation called, "A Day in the Life of a 3-4 AISA Student."
Ms. B
Our class is deeply engaged in a play/movie production!
We did a deep dive into the United Nations Sustainable Goals and, as a group, decided to write a play/movie script and perform that script to raise awareness about Access to Quality Education and Gender Equality. As a part of the project, we have had three guest speakers visit our class to educate us about what producing plays and movies is like in the real world. Mary Jo Smith, a VP at ABC, taught us about the collaborative writing process and introduced us to the concept of the Writers' Room. Bill Griffith, from Sleeper 9 Films, informed us about many technical aspects of movie-making, like sound, light and editing. And Kyle Blair-Henderson, a freelance editor, producer and cinematographer, gave us a full tour of the history of cinema, focusing on many of the big innovations that make movies what they are today. Bringing real-world professionals into class has brought a high level of engagement and investment to our students!
After numerous hours of collaborating on character development, plot, and writing, we have finished our storyline and are well on our way to converting it into a script. We have held auditions and our Design Team has started to consider set deign and costumes.
What makes this project unique is that our 5th and 6th graders are taking the lead! They chose the project and have refined it many times through communication, problem-solving, and collaborative decision-making. They have studied different ways of group decision-making, and have been practicing different collaboration roles. We have woven lessons about listening, empathy, leadership and emotional intelligence into our project to support personal and community growth. And it shows. Our students are deeply engaged in meaningful work that is intended to reach a wide audience and make a global impact. Great work!
Enrichment
Students joined Ms. Arlynn in the garden. They spent time digging, watering plants and feeding the chickens
Students made seasonal Pumpkin Spice Energy Bites with Ms. Arlynn, and helped trouble shoot the recipe for other classes this week. They also sang a Native American folk song, "The Earth Is Our Mother," Also known as Hey Yunga.
Students had an "Open Studio Day," with Ms. Shannon where they were able to use any of the materials they are already familiar with to do art of their choice
Instructional Funds
Each of our TK scholars will receive $450/semester ($900/year) and 1st through 6th grade scholars will receive $850/semester ($1700/year) in instructional funds (IFs)*. These funds are for use toward curriculum materials and/or Vendor-Provided Educational Activities (outside community-based or online classes) that meet the terms and conditions described herein and are provided by AISA approved vendors. We are excited to be able to offer your scholars access to many great learning adventures.
All AISA scholars will receive a Universal Curriculum Package upon enrollment. That said, there may be other resources that you choose to use in your home study. Orders for curriculum materials, online learning programs and consumable school supplies will be accepted as the school year begins. Use the AISA Curriculum Order Request Form. Follow all instructions on the form, then “share” it electronically with the the AISA Coordinator, Blanca Hernandez, at BlancaHernandez@aveon.org, and CC AISA@aveson.org. Materials will be ordered for you and (generally) sent to your home.
AISA scholars may use available instructional funds toward vendor-provided educational activities, offered by vendors in the local community or online, through our reimbursement process. All classes should support your scholars’ school curriculum (ELA, math, science, social studies, PE, electives) and must take place during the school year
You can use your IFs for vendor approved educational activities by selecting the vendor of your choice according to the guidelines stated in our AISA community site. Then, register your child and pay for the class. Following the conclusion of the class, use the AISA Vendor Reimbursement Request spreadsheet to request reimbursement. For long-term classes (8 or more weeks in length), you must complete the class at least half way through in order to start the reimbursement process. Use a separate spreadsheet for each child and follow all directions listed on the form. Multiple vendors can be listed on the same reimbursement request form. Share the completed form and your receipts electronically with the IS Coordinator, Mrs. Hernandez and CC AISA@aveson.org. A check will be mailed to your home, generally within one month’s time depending on the amount of orders that need to be processed at that time.
New Approved Vendor
City Grown Kids
Are you looking for in person, literature rich, nature infused classes in the heart of Los Angeles? Look no further than City Grown Kids, a vendor recently added to the Aveson family! City Grown Kids gathers weekly for classes in four subject areas - Social Studies, Science, Language Arts and Spanish! Their quality, enjoyable classes provide community for the students and simple work samples for the convenience of the parents. They currently have a first class free offer so you can check them out at no risk!
New Classes for Approved Vendor
🗓 Important Announcements
✏️ Compliance:Work Samples and 3 Logs
Work Samples and 3 Logs
Thank you for being on time to all of your progress meeting as well as with uploading your work samples to School Pathways prior to your progress meeting date with your advisor.
Teachers Weekly Newsletters!
AISA Website
If you missed the email from your advisor with your weekly newsletter or would like to go back and get that special link that you missed, then go to the AISA website and see all previously sent newsletters. Link on the button below.
Fall Fest and Movie Night!
💡 Reminders
Drop Off
- Please arrive at 8:20 and no later than 8:30am to drop off your student.
- After 8:30 gate will be closed and you will have to drive around and park and enter at the front office.
Pick Up
- It is essential that you arrive at 2:00 for TK-k and 3:00 for 1-5 to pick up your student/s so that we do not run into ASL pick up line folks.
- After 2:10pm or 3:10pm you will need to circle back to the front office and pick up your student there.
Shout-Outs 🙌
Ms. Tracey, for Master Compliance in LP1
Ms. Judith for being a Flexible Collaborator
Ms. Judith is new to our AISA program but she has been great at collaborating and supporting our students, teachers and program. She communicates consistently and positively all of the time and is ready to help as needed. Thank you Ms. Judith!