The Communicator
PYP and MYP Update
March 2017
The Current State of IB at Peirce
Primary Years Programme (PYP) - Candidate School - Authorization Visit Spring 2017
**The Application for Authorization has been ACCEPTED!
**The Verification Visit is going to be May 25-26, 2017.
Middle Years Programme (MYP) - IB World School - Evaluation Fall 2017
SPELLING BEE UPDATE
The Learner Profile
MARCH
Open-minded
We critically appreciate our own cultures and personal histories, as well as the values and traditions of others. We seek and evaluate a range of points of view, and we are willing to grow from the experience.The IB at Peirce
How To Ask Questions
**15 Questions to replace “How was your Day” - Edutopia **30 Questions to ask your kid - Parent.co **25 ways to ask your child “So how was school today” - Huffington Post **The Importance and Impact of Asking Good Questions - Global Digital Citizen **How to be Amazingly Good at Asking Questions - LIfe Hack
Preschool - How We Organize Ourselves
Kindergarten - Where We Are In Place and Time
1st Grade - Sharing the Planet
2nd Grade - Where We Are In Place and Time
3rd Grade - How We Express Ourselves
4th Grade - How We Express Ourselves & How the World Works
5th Grade - How We Express Ourselves
Specials
Amazing Teacher Websites
Here is a sampling of them.
The MYP at Peirce
Student Spotlight:
How does IB help us "2B" OPEN-MINDED?
Xander Jones- MYP Year 3
Leah Selau-MYP Year 3
Alessandra Fiumara, MYP Year 3
IB helps you be open-minded because we have events like International Dance Night, that let you be open-minded about different dance styles and cultures.
Elliott Topp, MYP Year 1
Carter Napoli-Tager, MYP Year 3
What will the MYP students MARCH into this month?
Ms. Brugman- Language and Literature
Students will continue to travel through 8th grade history during Language & Literature. We are reading historical fiction in each class that corresponds to topics from Individuals & Societies: The Great Depression, WWII and the Holocaust, Mexican-American rights, and the Japanese Internment.
Mr. Skvarenina- Physical and Health Education
Students will finish work on their volleyball unit and begin a new health unit. Students will work in pairs to prepare and present a topic of importance to the class.
Ms. Lawrenz, MYP Year 2 Language and Literature
Mr. Greenwell- Spanish
6th grade-Students will continue learning about Mexico and present tense verb conjugations. Students will be able to talk about their classes and the classes of others.
7th grade- Students are learning about Ecuador and the home.
7th grade natives- Students will learn about past tense forms of verbs and the use of the subjunctive. Students will continue to read/write in Spanish.
8th grade- Students will learn about Costa Rica and leisure activities.
8th grade native speakers- Students will finish the unit on Puerto Rico and study jobs.
Ms. Hernandez- Science
Students explore the role of organ systems in providing nutrients and oxygen to the body and transporting and eliminating wastes (maintaining internal balance).The unit will also cover a comprehensive approach to sexual health and reproductive education
Ms Jetton- Year 1 & Year 3 Science
6th: Students will complete the unit, Earth’s Processes this month. We will explore plate tectonics and the movement of earth over time. Students will complete their current events research projects and present them to their class.
8th: Students will complete the unit, Energy, this month. They will finish their research on an Energy issue that the world faces and present to their class. Students will also bring their work to the Steam Night/Energy Fair to showcase their learning to the community.
Ms. Kerkstra- Year 1 Mathematics
Students are starting a new unit called “Don’t be Irrational.” This focuses on concepts such as rational numbers, absolute value, extending the number line to include positive and negative numbers and the coordinate plane.
Nancy Zawayta- Diverse Learners
In 7th grade Math we are wrapping up our Scale unit and students will be crafting scale models of skyscrapers/landmarks.
8th grade Science will be continuing our work with energy. Ms. Hernandez and I are pumped for the class debate in early March. Student are gearing up for STEAM Night to present their current work in energy!
Advisory will be tackling hardcore goal setting. Students will focus on academic and social emotional goals for the rest of the year.
We will focus on the following:
Where do want to be, how are we going to get there, and what help do we need to get there?
7th Science will be wrapping up the Infectious Diseases unit and will jump into Genetics. We are pumped because the correlation between invasive species (prior unit) to infectious diseases to genetics is quite serendipitous.
In Math and Science student classes have been moving towards student created rubrics. In Science some students have begun to lead Do Nows and will hopefully lead lessons soon too. Facilitating student ownership in learning and creation of learning opportunities is a goal for this year.
Ms. Hopkins- MYP Year 3 Mathematics
In the next unit, students will be asked to solve a series of crimes using critical thinking, science and math skills. As they move through the coursework and complete exploration tasks and activities, they investigate and gradually discover who, what, when, where and how of this plotted series of crimes. Ultimately the students solve the case to see how it’s happening and who is involved.
By the end of the unit, students will be able to:
● Recognize a right triangle, using the Pythagorean Theorem.
● Use the Pythagorean Theorem to calculate the length of the third side when they know the length of two of the sides.
● Apply the converse of the Pythagorean Theorem to verify right triangles.Mr. Roche- MYP Years 1-3, Diverse Learners
Ms. Puente- MYP Year 1, Language and Literature
Talyia Eve Riemer- MYP Coordinator
In honor of Women's History Month, MYP teachers share their thought on inspiring women...
Selena Quintanilla
-Jasmyn Hernandez
Cindy Crabb
-David Roche
Mother Theresa
-James Greenwell
Pam Munoz Ryan
-Tiffany Brugman
Ada Lovelace & More
-Bibiana Andrade
Angela Davis
In the face of opposition, controversy and ostracism, she held fast to her beliefs and advocated for oppressed people everywhere. She is the epitome of the strong, intelligent woman who does not back down when faced with injustice and adversity. For me, her Afro will always be an iconic representation of beautiful African American womanhood.
-Donna LawrenzMalala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai I can only wish to be that strong of a woman.
-Adrienne Keiner
Jane Goodall
-Ruth Jetton
Eleanor Roosevelt
-Amy Kerkstra
Sandra Cisneros
-Irma Puente
Marva Collins
-Talyia Riemer
Myrtle Craig Mowbray
-Jinny Gerhardt
Jane Addams
Field Trip Forecast
- A group of 7th and 8th graders will travel to our Nation's Capital, Washington, DC from May 10-12, 2017.
- On May 26th, 8th graders will visit Robert Morris College for a day of Junior Achievement.
- On Friday, June 9th,201, the 7th graders will also be visiting our Springfield during the third quarter to learn more about the history and government of the state of Illinois.
We learned Sign Language and Kickboxing at last month's LEARNING CELEBRATION!
Spread Love! It's the Seventh Grade Way!
Never fear, all the materials can be found HERE!!!
T-Shirts for Sale
We have new PEIRCE SWAG for sale. Brand new T-shirts in all sizes are available for $10!
Helen C. Peirce School of International Studies
773-534-2841
Dr. Talyia Eve Riemer - MYP Coordinator
773-534-2440
Website: peirce.cps.k12.il.us
Location: 1423 West Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago, IL, United States
Phone: 773-534-2440
PYP Disclaimer for Being A Candidate School in the International Baccalaureate
Helen C. Peirce School of International Studies is a candidate school* for the Primary Years Programme. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Peirce Elementary School believes is important for our students.
*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.
For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit http://www.ibo.org