MS Concert 2011

MS Christmas Concert

Written by Olena Vasyltsova:

On the night of the MS Concert, everything was in chaos! Everybody was really busy with preparations before the concert. Before the concert, we had our last rehearsal. At the rehearsal, some kids weren’t there, so they didn’t get to rehearse their performance. So, at the real concert, some of the kids didn’t even know what they were doing!! But, although the preparations for the concert were a mess, the concert itself was beautiful. Everything went the way we planned and it turned out great. I especially liked how the orchestra played, and the songs that they chose. When they played one of their songs, I closed my eyes and an image of a castle back in Medieval Times popped into my head. It was pretty cool! The concert started out with Ashley Kim playing the violin, and she was great! I alone admire the violin instrument very much, and I hope to play it one day as well as Ashley. After the violin performance, the orchestra, (my favorite part in the concert) started on their songs. The White Christmas Duet came next, and after that was the MS choir. After the middle school choir ended with their songs, Wonderful Tonight, Beginners Band, and All I want for Christmas Duet followed. The last performance was the Concert Band, and a particular song that i liked from them was the Sleigh Ride. As I said before, the concert turned out to be great. If you haven’t been there, come next year, everyone’s invited!

Assessment Hub to Summative Calendar

The Middle School will no longer be using the Assessment Hub to track summative tasks. This will now be done using Google Calendars. You can find the summative calendars for Grade 6, 7 and 8 at middle.gsis.sc.kr There is also a short video that will briefly outline the calendar features and how you can import the calendar into your Gmail account. Summative Calendar Video

Technology 7- Toy Creation

The students in Grade 7 Technology have spent the second quarter of school investigating sensory toys and how they can help children develop their physical, intelectual or emotional skills or knowledge.  This week, the students have been following their plan of the design they chose and are creating a toy.  The toys are not complete yet, but by the looks of it, they will be wonderful.

Photos by Mike Hopaluk, Dec 7, 2011

Technology 7- Toy Creation, posted with vodpod

PJ-DJ A Hit!

The Middle School SCA hosted a PJ & DJ Dance in the Gym on November 23rd from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM, the day right before we all went into Thanksgiving break. The place where the dance was held was different than the previous years, because High School was having the dance at the same time, and they had the Auditorium. 90 people attended the dance, and danced on the dance floor with the two DJ’s, Promise Kim and Heather Yang adding special effects to the music. The theme for this year’s dance was PJ & DJ, where we had two talented DJ’s and dancers on the dance floor dressed up in PJ’s.

There were many people dressed up creatively in the dance, such as people dressed up in animal PJ’s, people dressed up in full bedtime attire, etc.! It was almost as if we went back to the “I Just Got Out Of Bed Day” during Spirit Week. Of course, there were people who dressed up in normal attire, but that was okay! Everyone enjoyed the dance, dressed in PJ’s or not.

During the dance, there were two groups in circles – the groups in 8th grade, and 6th & 7th grade. In the circles, there were people getting in the middle and dancing. Jason Nam (8), showed off cool dance moves that was almost like a hidden talent – everyone was very impressed and never thought he could dance that way! Nicholas Yu (8), showed off popping skills and hip-hop dancing skills that created cheers from the crowd. Since there was no dance competition in this dance, this was a replacement (?) for it, and it was quite enjoyable.

Rohee Kim (8), says: “The dance was fun and interesting, but tiring at the same time from dancing constantly for 3 hours. I was sort of disappointed that there was no dance competition, but I was entertained by the risk-takers that performed in the middle of the circle.”

Other than Rohee, many students complimented on the dance, also giving out some improvements for the next dance. The MS SCA will remember the improvements and try to improve the April Dance next year! Food and Drinks were provided by Youth Club, thank you so much for your work! We hope Youth Club gets better and better. Middle School SCA thanks the 90 people for coming! Come to the dance next year that is going to be held in April!

Written by Sarah Lee (MS SCA PR Officer)

Using Sketch UP

The students in Grade 8 have been learning how to use sketch up. Sketch up is a free software tool that can be used to create 3D models. The students are learning how to use sketch up as part of unit titled “Virtual environments can be used to model and help create a real life environment.”

As one of the lead up tasks to the summative task the students were asked to recreate our school playground using sketch up. They took measurements, photos and drew sketches of the playground and then made a 3D model of the playground.

This is a screen shot Jaywhan Lee’s drawing.

The students in Grade 8 are now researching and designing a new playground that would be suitable for upper elementary/lower middle school students.

NJHS Induction Ceremony

The NJHS Induction Ceremony

Report by Suzy Lee

On November 8, sixteen grade eight students officially joined the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) by participating in an induction ceremony hosted by their sponsor, Mrs. Jill Martinez.  This is a traditional ritual of NJHS, an elite club, that has been in existence for over fifty years in American schools and in schools around the world.  When candidates have completed this ceremony, they are accepted as official members.

After all the parents and guests had taken their seats, the sixteen candidates filed into the auditorium, taking their seat on the stage, as a trio of high-school students played a tune on the guitar, cello, and piano in perfect harmony.  After the beautiful piece of music, Mr. Hopaluk, Mr. Rains, Ms. Currier, and Mrs. Amy Kim delivered speeches to the students and parents, stating the four attributes (scholarship, leadership, character, and service) that each student had exemplified in or to qualify for memberhsip.  Then each student participated in a candle-lighting ceremony with Ms. Brown calling student names and Mrs. Martinez dispensing certificates.  When all had received, the candidates stood and recited their pledge, their final act to complete their induction into NJHS.  After the ceremony, Mr. Schumacher snapped photos to document this memorable event, and everyone enjoyed a wonderful buffet carefully prepared by Mrs. Jean Choe.

A big “thank you” goes out to all the parents, students, teachers, and administrators for helping to make our first NJHS induction ceremony a success.

The inaugural NJHS group at GSIS

 

For more photos from the evening follow the link to the photos contained on flickr

NJHS photos

Clubs @ GSIS

There are many ways for students to get involved in activities at GSIS. Please click on the link below to see a report ont the many clubs that students are participating in .

What’s happening at the GSIS clubs?

 

 

Photos from the candle making and Math Club

 

 

 

 

 

 

Movember

The month of November (hereafter referred to as MOvember) has been designated as the month when men all over the world decide to grow mustaches in the pursuit of raising money for prostate cancer research.  This year, Movember started off with a bang as middle school Technology and Humanities teacher, Mr. Hopaluk used his beard as a way to garner some early donations.  Mr. Hopaluk’s Grade 7 homeroom class (Alex Kim, Suyeon Han, Claudia Choi, Paul Jeon, Holly Emery, Justin Kim, Jan Kim, Julie Yi, Chan Hee Han and Emily Kwon) sold raffled tickets (167,00 won worth!!! )to students and teachers with the promise that the winner would be able to design Mr. Hopaluk’s facial hair for the one day between full beard and complete shave.  It was Grade 7 student Kathy Kim who won the raffle and created the design (see photo) that Mr. Hopaluk wore on Movember Eve.

 

Why Are We Learning This?

How many times as a student have you heard the question: “Why am I learning this?”  Or, “When am I ever going to use this?” How many times did you ask the same question in class?

For the last quarter, students in Algebra and Geometry have been working on projects and investigations in which they took what they had learned in the classroom and, with the use of technology such as Spreadsheets (for Algebra) and TI-nspire calculator/Grapher (for Geometry), applied it to the real world.

Students in Algebra were given a task to collect, sort and display population data in order to come to make a prediction for their chosen country in 50 years.  Using their predictions they then had to write a letter to the president, recommending changes that needed to be made to heath and social programs.

Age Distribution Sample

Students in Geometry worked through two separate inquiry-based learning investigations to gain a better understanding of Logic as well as the slope-intercept form of a linear equation (y=mx+b).

Logic

y=mx+b

September Student of the Month

Every month the GSIS MS teachers acknowledge the contributions of students to the GSIS MS Community by nominating them for Student of the Month.  Students are nominated based on academic and non-academic factors to a committee of 5 teachers who then meet to discuss the nominees and share further information about the nominees.  This group of 5 teachers then vote for a winner, which is announced usually in the first week of the following month.

The nominees for September were:

Sarah Lee (Balanced), Paul Jeon (Caring, Communicator), Ruichiro Ito (Caring, Reflective, Risk-Taker), Jay Hwan Lee (Knowledgeable, Inquirer), David Haetty (Balanced).

The winner for September was Paul Jeon as per the following:

This student has been outstanding for over two months now. His positive influence on his peers has been immense. He frequently participates in class discussion, but healso encourages others to contribute too through positive comments and apleasant demeanor. During group work, he is collaborative and considerate, listening to others’ ideas and approaches while still taking a leadership role. By doing this, he has been a Communicator and has enhanced the learning of others within the class. He has been a patient and Caring student who does his very best both in and outside class.