Friday, 27th February 2009

Weishan Road,
Shuanggang Jinan District
Tianjin 300350 P.R.China
Tel: 86 22 28592001
Fax: 86 22 28592007
Email: info@istianjion.net
www.istianjin.org

THIS WEEK IN BLAZE

PYP News Student-Led Conference Tournaments Updates Year Book Advertising
Sports Brief PFO News Grade 5 Exhibition Update Diary Dates
Library News Green Tips Weekly Menu ACAMIS News

Dear Students and Parents,

U14 Girls Volley Ball Tournament
Last week I informed you all that one of our teachers, Jiaping Zhao
Ms. Barbara Wrightson, gave birth to her beautiful new Last Saturday, U14 Girls went to TEDA for their
baby daughter Frances. I am pleased to inform you all volleyball tournament. The girls performed their
that both mother and child are doing very well. I am also best and played high team spirit by cheering for
pleased to be able to welcome back to IST Ms. Pam each other. Though other teams were compara-
Nathan who will cover Ms. Wrightson’ s classes during tively strong and there was no award coming back
her maternity leave. It is wonderful to have Ms. Nathan with us, our girls well presented our school by
with us until the end of the current school year.
cheering for
A parent asked me this week to clarify the school ’s pol- other schools
icy on ‘English Please ’ as it applies to parents. I wish to during their game
make it clear that it is perfectly acceptable for parents time. As a coach,
to use their mother tongue language when they are talk- I was happy and
ing with one another in the school; however, we do ask proud to be with
that parents try to use English when there is no other them.
common language available to all participants in a
conversation so that all parents feel included. We also
ask that parents follow normal expectations and en-
deavor not to chat loudly, be it in English or any other
language when others are formally addressing an
assembly of parents or students.

I look forward to seeing lots of parents at next Wednes-

day ’s PFO meeting!

Warm regards,

Steve Moody, Director.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF TIANJIN

1 is accredited by:
Council of International Schools and
Western Association of Schools and
Colleges
International school of Tianjin newsletter FRIDAY, 27TH FEBRUARY 2009

PYP NEWS
PYP Action at IST
Josianne Fitzgerald, PYP Coordinator
After inquiring about nutrition, a second grader decides to drink more water and asks her mother not to
pack apple juice in her lunch any more.

After inquiring into homes, a kindergartener goes home and makes houses out of cardboard.

A few weeks after inquiring into the choices we make about garbage, a first grader comments over wasted fruit
from a science experiment during an unit on the human body.

A year after their grade 5 exhibition, a group of sixth graders offer to come and talk about their exhibition experi-
ence with the current fifth graders.

These are all examples of action. They may not seem like big actions, but they represent a change in the way
these students see the world and their place in it.

The PYP says that action needs to be “voluntary and should involve students exercising their own initiative.”
Teachers can guide action and help students make the most of their ideas, but action does not always happen at
school or immediately after an unit. This is where parents can help us. When parents notice students making con-
nections to what they have inquired into at school, we would like for them to write the teacher a short note about it.
The teacher will then make a note of it on our PYP planners and this will help us see which lines of inquiry are most
effective. The action can also be noted on the student’s portfolio.

Action can start small, but it always comes from true concern and interest. It is an excellent measure of the suc-
cess of an inquiry and can be the springboard for further learning and inquiry.

Dear Elementary Parents,

Student-Led Conferences for grades K-4 will be held on 30 and 31 March. The Student-Led Conference is a cele-
bration of your child’s progress through the school year.

New parents are welcome to

join an information session
about the Student-Led
Conference on 4 March, at
2:30, in the art room. We will
talk about how the confer-
ences are structured and how
to support your child.

Child supervision will be

provided by elementary TAs in
the playroom from 2:25 to 3:30.
A form was sent out with
students. Please detach and
send bottom slip to your child’s
teacher if you are planning to
attend.

2
Weishan Road, Shuanggang Jinan District, Tianjin 300350 P.R.China
Tel: 86 22 28592001 Fax: 86 22 285920
Email: info@istianjion.net www.istianjin.org
International school of Tianjin newsletter FRIDAY, 27TH FEBRUARY 2009

LIBRARY NEWS
This Week at the Library AND INFORMATION LITERACY CENTRE

We would like to welcome and introduce Bärbel Fromman. She is a parent

volunteer who will be helping in the library on Monday mornings. Welcome!

The library is fortunate to be the hub and information outlet for a variety of
activities, and we will try to share highlights:

On Mondays after-school Mac-users (parents, students and staff) are invited to stop by. The MacWorld
Superguide Basics will be the foundation for the group.

Teaching staff continues to work on their technology skills to increase their efficiency and productivity. A
sampling of some tutorials can be found @ TECHAID

And as you are making plans to attend the PFO Auction on 25 April, Saturday, you may want to get into
the mood for the 20’s by viewing some of these sites: Flappers, Fashions of the 20’s, Aaron1912 has a channel
on the 20’s (lots of music)

Elementary Highlights

The elementary sessions this week for K-2 have been centered around their current units of study: Kindergar-
ten is starting an inquiry into homes, grade 1 is inquiring into the human body, and grade 2 is starting an unit on
communication. Our read alouds have all been related to those central ideas.
Grade 3 this week looked at the Panda Books for Middle Readers, a collection of chapter books suited for stu-
dents in grades 3 to 6. This week we have highlighted Ottoline and the Yellow Cat, by Chris Riddell, Born to
Run, by Michael Morpungo, Archer’s Quest, by Linda Sue Park.
Grade 4 this week looked at the Panda Books for Older Readers, a collection of chapter books suited for
students from grades 6 to 9 – and advanced grade four readers as well. The highlighted books this week were
Charlie Bone and the Beast, by Jenny Nimmo, and The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart.
Grade 5 students looked at our WorldBook and Britannica databases to support their exhibition inquiries. Links
to the databases are found in the library homepage. Click on Library OPAC from the IST webpage quicklinks,
then log in either with our general login, IST Library, or with your own username and password. You will be
taken to the library homepage where links to our databases, as well as usernames and passwords, are listed.

Secondary Information Literacy Highlights

Grade 12 students are completing their Theory of Knowledge (TOK) papers

(http://www.ibo.org/diploma/curriculum/core/knowledge/), a culmination of their study of the responsibili-
ties and complexities of how we know what we know.
Grades 8, 9 & 10 math students are exploring the uses of various tools like sketch pad, autographing and calcu-
lators to further their mathematical investigations of how to coalesce.
Grade 8 art students have been scrutinizing aspects of Van Gogh’s style. Click to view the Grade 8 Art Work.
Encouraging comments are invited.

Grade 7 humanities students are all able to write the “perfect” works cited page. They are becoming our resi-
dent experts. Just ask them.

3
Weishan Road, Shuanggang Jinan District, Tianjin 300350 P.R.China
Tel: 86 22 28592001 Fax: 86 22 285920
Email: info@istianjion.net www.istianjin.org
International school of Tianjin newsletter FRIDAY, 27TH FEBRUARY 2009

By Margaret Hu, Grade 7

Bright and early, the Middle School U13
Girls Volleyball Team arrived at ISB for the volleyball
tournament. After warming (and waking) up, we Sports Brief
headed in for our match against BCIS. But we were
still exhausted from our trip to, and weren’t in our best
form. We lost the match, but despite the bad start, we
didn’t let this dampen our spirits. Last Saturday, U13 Boys Volley Ball Team went to
After an hour of practicing and observing, we WAB for the ISAC tournament and won 2nd place.
felt a lot better and were up against IAB. Now warmed
up and ready to play, we made great progress. We There were 7 teams entered in the tournament,
were very close this time to winning both sets, but divided into 2 pools. IST was in Pool 1 with TEDA,
alas, luck didn’t go our way, and we lost again. It was
clear that it would be unlikely for us to go into the BCIS and ISB and entered the semi-final with 2nd
semi-finals now, but we still did not give up. Our next place in the pool. In the semi-final, all the players
game was against ISB, proven a formidable opponent played very hard with the host—WAB. The match
before, so we were very determined to finally win
lasted for 45 minutes, 3 sets, before IST finally won in
against ISB.
The time came for our match against ISB. 2:1. IST then entered the Championship match. In the
We went into the game, more determined than ever to final, IST again played ISB. During this final match,
win. Our strength was rewarded and we won the first both games were very close before ISB won the final
set! Delighted by our win, we knew we still had to
concentrate: a whole different team was up and they game and the match. ISB is a very strong team. They
seemed very tough. Both teams kept on surging in have a comprehensive grasp of the basic skills of
front of each other, only for the other team to catch up volleyball and seldom make any unforced errors. Our
and lead in points. In the end, the set was a close 1
point lead, and the score was in the 20’s. Unfortu- players played very hard and should be proud of their
nately ISB caught up and won that set by 2 points, 28- effort and result. The IST players were very tired,
26. It was time for a third set. Rather exhausted by with only 9 players. After 4 games in 6 hours and only
now, but still ready to fight until the end, we went in
15 minutes rest after the semi-final, the IST team fell
for a third set. The score was close, but it finally came
down to 14-9 and our serve. Up went the ball, once, just short of the championship. But they never gave up.
twice, three times. But the fourth time it failed. ISB In the second set in the final match, the IST boys fell
had won the game, 15-12. But we were happy none- behind 18:9, but came back to 22:17 and then 22:22.
theless, to come so close to beating ISB, who turned
out to be the champion team in the end. At last IST lost by scores of 25:23 and 25:22
When it was time for the awards ceremony,
we were there, only accompanied by 4 other teams. Sports Dates
Though we knew we weren’t going to win any of the
trophies, we didn’t care. We just wanted to be at the Sat., March 7: HS Soccer, WABJV @ ISTV girls,
ceremony. And that’s when we found out that we had WABJV @ ISTJV boys, ISBJV @ ISTJV boys, ISTV @
won the sportsmanship award! We were very happy ISBV boys, ISTV @ WABV boys.
that we had won this award. It meant a lot to us.
We went home that day with a great feeling Mon., March 9: HS Soccer: TIS @ IST girls, IST @ TIS
inside us all. It was pride, in everything that we had boys
done.
YEAR BOOK ADVERTISING Thur., March 12: MS Basketball IST vs. TIS
The work on our this year’s Year Book has al-
ready started ! Sat. March 14: MS ISAC basketball exchanges: U13
boys @ IST, U13 girls @ TEDA, U14 boys @ DCB,
If you would like to advertise your business or
your Company’s profile in IST’s 08—09 Year U14 girls @ ISB
Book, please contact Mr. Steve Moody
(steve_moody@istianjin.net) or Ms. Radha
Kulkarni (radha_kulkarni@istianjin.net) for more Go Blaze!!
details.

4
Weishan Road, Shuanggang Jinan District, Tianjin 300350 P.R.China
Tel: 86 22 28592001 Fax: 86 22 285920
Email: info@istianjion.net www.istianjin.org
International school of Tianjin
Grade Five Exhibition Update
Gurkriti Singh & Philip Johnston, Grade 5
Greetings, we are part of the grade Five
Documentation Team for the Grade Five Exhibi-
tion. We are staying after school to work in our
chosen groups to help prepare for our Exhibition
on May 5-8. There are four groups in the Exhibi-
tion: the Documentation Team, the Logistics team,
the Production Team, and the Display Team. The
Documentation Team is responsible for most of
the photos and videos taken to record what it is
going on, and writes about the recent happenings
in the Exhibition. The Production Team prepares a
performance for the end of the Exhibition to help
show what we have learned. The Logistics Team
sets up the Grade Five classrooms and designs the
t-shirt that all the students and teachers who
helped will wear when we show during Exhibition.
The Display Team displays photos and Exhibition
work outside of the Grade Five classrooms and
other places around IST.
We have done many activities during our Tuning In
and Finding Out phases. We did an activity called
bus stop where we moved from one station to
another, writing down ideas about the Exhibition.
We also had guest speakers including Mr. Dorzha
and Mr. Simon from Gui’de and two from our
school community, Ms.Ya Li and Mrs. Pedersen.
In our exhibition journals we take notes, draw
pictures and plans, and reflect upon our week.
Exhibition keeps us very busy!
On Tuesday this week we have had a parent
information session explaining the Exhibition to
parents. The process and purpose of the Exhibi-
tion was explained to the parents. Our parents
had many questions, which they wrote down on
large sheets of paper. These questions were an-
swered by the teaching team of Mr. Chapman, Mr.
Martin, Mrs. Mitchell, Mrs. Agustina, Ms. Tracey
Li, and Ms. Liu Yan. We thank all the parents who
gave their time to join us.
5
newsletter FRIDAY, 27TH FEBRUARY 2009
PFO NEWS
The PFO Spring Fundraiser Dance will be held
on Saturday, April 25th at the Hotel Nikko Tianjin.
Our theme this year is "The Roaring Twenties!"
Parent volunteers are needed to make this a success-
ful event. If you're talented at decorating, shopping,
music, or any aspect of party planning, we welcome
your help. Please contact Aideen Murphy if you are
willing to lend a helping hand. Sign up sheets for
various aspects of the ball are in the parent lounge.
In addition, if you know of a local business that would
be willing to donate coupons, merchandise, services,
etc. to the silent auction please obtain a procurement
form (we have copies in English, Chinese, and
Korean) from Frances Tschoepel or Susan Johnston.
We are starting to compile our music list for the
night, so if you have a favorite song you would like to
dance to at the ball, please email us at
IST_PFO@istianjin.net . If you need ideas for
costumes, check out the following links that our
Librarian/PFO Teacher Liaison Beth Gourley
discovered: Flappers, Fashion Of The 1920’s, Fashion
of the Roaring 20’s, Aaron 1912
The next PFO Parent Meeting will be held on
Wednesday, March 4 at 8:30 a.m. in the school
cafeteria. Bus transportation will be provided for
parents wishing to attend. An IST bus will leave Ao
Cheng at 8:00 a.m. to bring parents to the school. In
addition, the bus will bring parents back to Ao Cheng
at the end of the PFO Meeting. A vote will be taken
on whether the PFO will partly fund a visit from
Storyteller Margaret Read MacDonald in February
2010. This visit will greatly enhance your child's
education. Please come to our meeting to have your
say, express your opinion, and vote on this positive
educational opportunity. We encourage everyone to
come to our meetings regardless of their language.
We have PFO Liaisons who can translate to English
from your mother tongue. Every parent is warmly
welcomed to all of our Parent Meetings!
cont... page 6
Weishan Road, Shuanggang Jinan District, Tianjin 300350 P.R.China
Tel: 86 22 28592001 Fax: 86 22 285920
Email: info@istianjion.net www.istianjin.org
International school of Tianjin newsletter FRIDAY, 27TH FEBRUARY 2009

Cont...from page 5
Green and Healthy Eating The PFO wishes to extend a big thank you and a sad
Series ! goodbye to one of our members. Wiki Hamilton, our
Western Liaison, is moving to Thailand this week with her
Green Tip: Get different perspectives on how 
family. We greatly appreciated how Wiki donated her
to go “green” by reading blogs or listening to 
time and spirit to our organization this year. If anyone is
newscasts. Different people   offer interesting 
different points of view. Here’s an interesting  interested in filling the newly vacated Western Liaison
blog to get you started, from Beijing:   position, please e-mail us at IST_PFO@istianjin.net
http://www.chinasgreenbeat.com   There are still IST pillow/blankets available for
 
  sale. Small pillows are 100 RMB and larger pillows cost
The author of the blog will come visit IST on  150 RMB. You can purchase them at the end of the
Earth Day!  school day in the parent lounge. Please see Aideen
 
 

Keep a glass or cup of water next to you  Murphy if you are interested in buying any. If you buy 2

whenever you'll be sitting down for a long  pillows, you get a 20 RMB discount!
time. Drink from it regularly as you're working. 
Add lemons, limes, or some mint leaves. 
These are cheap alternatives to the bottled 
flavored water.  
 
 

Green Tip: One of the best things you can do  Diary Dates

for the environment is to educate yourself and 
start conversations! Nobody has all the right 
Saturday 28 February
answers. Keep your eyes and ears open for  MYP AOI Festival Tianjin
news and information from different sources  U11 Elem School Handball
to help you make up your own educated opin‐ Wednesday 4 March
ions. Here’s an interesting website to help you  PYP Session Information
get started thinking about climate change.  PFO Meeting
http://www.realclimate.org  Saturday 7 March
 
  ISAC Invitational Swim Meet
Healthy Eating Tip: Drink more water. Our  Thu 12, Fri 13, Sat 14, Sun 15 March
bodies are about 75% water. It is a vital part of  BeiMUN
a healthy diet. Water helps flush our systems,  Thu 12, Fri 13, Sat 14 March
especially the kidneys and bladder, of waste  ACAMIS High School Cult’l Convention
products and toxins. Fri 20, Sat 21, Sun 22 March
GIN Conference IS Bangkok
Green Tip: Fill the Dishwasher: Run your dish‐ Wednesday 25 March
washer only with a full load. Save 100 lbs. of  PFO Meeting
carbon dioxide and $40 per year.  The same  Thursday 26 March
applies for laundry.  Thursday Night Live
 
 
Friday 27 March
Eat a wide variety of foods. This allows you to  End of 3rd Quarter—40 Days
obtain various essential nutrients. Healthy eat‐ Mon 30, Tues31 March
ing is about expanding your range of choices  Elem and Sec Student-led Conferences
by trying foods—especially vegetables, whole 
Refer the Sports Brief Section, pg 4, for Sports
grains, or fruits—that you don't normally eat. Dates.

6
Weishan Road, Shuanggang Jinan District, Tianjin 300350 P.R.China
Tel: 86 22 28592001 Fax: 86 22 285920
Email: info@istianjion.net www.istianjin.org
 ●Protein ●Cooked Fruit or Vegetables
●Milk product(Calcium) ●Soup
●Starch

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

2/3/2009 3/3/2009 4/3/2009 5/3/2009 6/3/2009

Fruit Salad Garden Salad Potato Salad Shredded Veg Salad Tomato & Cheese Salad
(pineapple,apple,orange) (lettuce,tomato,cucumber,carrot) (potato,cucumber,carrot) (olive,cabbage,green&red pepper) (tomato,cheese)

French Onion Soup Cream Cauliflower Soup Russion Soup Cream Broccoli Soup Beef Soup

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Fish Fillet hamburger patty Spaghetti Sweet & Sour Pork Grilled Pork Chop
(cod,tartar sauce) (beef,gravy sauce) (beef sauce,veg sauce) (pineapple,pork) (pork,onion and mustard sauce)

Grilled Chicken Chicken Curry Pork Stew Fried Chicken Ball Chicken and Egg Stew
(chicken,BBQ sauce) (chicken, curry sauce) (pork,onion,green pepper,mushroom) (chicken ball) (chicken, egg, carrot)

Mixed Veg Steamed Carrots&Broccoli Roasted Veg Green Beans Cauliflower

French Fries Mashed Potato Baked Potato Potato Sticks Mashed Sweet Potato

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Fruit Jelly Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cookies Chocolate Cake