Using the labels

This blog is for all members of the RIS learning community. Students will see weekly challenges, fun facts about the school and the people in it, links to useful websites, and occasionally examples of their own work and great achievements.

Parents will find information about upcoming meetings, specific RIS policies, and other documents containing general school information. One way to access previous information without scrolling through many posts is to click on the blog label at the bottom of the post. When you click on a label, RIS Policy for example, all other posts with the same label will be displayed in order starting from the most recent.

Challenge #3

You know that the dolphin is our school mascot. Dolphins are intelligent, playful, social, and compassionate - just like RIS students! Before Thursday at 3:00 when you go home, draw a picture of a dolphin on a piece of paper and give it to Mr. Smith.

You will need to remember the Four B's of Drawing for Mr. Smith - big, bold, bright, and beautiful. Your drawing should be on a separate piece of paper (not in your notebook), should be almost the full size of the paper, should be neat, and should be coloured carefully. Make sure you write your name on your paper.

Students who have put in the time and effort to make a great piece of art will have their pictures displayed in the school, and will be recognized here on Friday as a Dolphin Art Master of the Week. Good luck!

Happy Independence Day!

Malaysia - August 31st

What does that word mean?

You will probably learn new words every day at RIS. Sometimes you can figure out what a new word means by the context (the other words around it) or with some help from a friend or your teacher. If you are at home doing your homework, perhaps you can get some help from your parents or a brother or sister.

But what if no one can help you? You'll need to meet this challenge by yourself! A great website to use is the Online Photographic Dictionary. Type the word you are looking for into the search box, then you will be able to read a simple definition and see a photograph to help you understand the new word.

Student Conduct

RIS Conduct Policy

School Bus Conduct

School Bus Policy

Time flies!

Can you believe it is already the third week of school?

Think about everything you have learned in the last three weeks...

Pretty incredible, don't you think?

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

At RIS, every day is Earth Day! You know that making smart daily choices can have a great and positive effect on the environment.

We have recycling boxes on each floor of the school, and you can do your part by putting things in the right place. If you are not sure if something should go in the trash can, the compost bin, or in one of the recycling boxes, ask your teacher.

Weekly Menu

RIS Menu

Hahahahaha!

If you want to hear a couple of great jokes, ask Will in Grade Five or Valeria in Grade Six to tell you the kneeslappers they told Mr. Smith this week. Congratulations to you both, Puzzle Joke Masters of the Week!

Class schedules

These are the 2010-2011 class schedules for each grade at RIS.


RIS Class schedules

Short stories

Everyone knows that reading is a great way to learn and to explore. From a story you can learn interesting facts, meet strange or incredible characters, or just enjoy the way that someone else sees the world. Children's Storybooks Online has stories for children of all ages, and includes links to jokes, puzzles, colouring pages, and other fun reading activities.

Read one of these stories to your mom or dad today!

ESL support

At RIS we are proud of the vast number of skills, concepts, and ideas many of our students acquire in English, their second or third language. To be successful in school is a great achievement, and to be able to do it in a language other than what is spoken at home is simply amazing.

RIS provides ESL (English as a Second Language) support for students to improve their proficiencies in every strand of communication - listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and representing. Our incredible ESL Specialist teachers (Mrs. Cho, Ms. Choi, Ms. Lee, Ms. Bussey, and Ms. Kim) work very closely with the homeroom teachers to minimize gaps in vocabulary and language development, so that students can be successful in reaching appropriate learning objectives.

Clubs and Activities

Last year at RIS we offered a wide range of extracurricular clubs every Tuesday afternoon. Students participated in such school activities as Tae Kwon Do, Drama, Sports, Board Games, Yoga, Culture, Geography, Computer, and Arts and Crafts. These programs are offered to both complement the school curriculum and to provide unique and diverse ways for the students to express themselves in a safe and structured environment.

We will be starting our 2010-2011 Clubs and Activities program after the Chuseok break. The schedule has not yet been finalized, but we do know that this year's activities will include some of the things students are already familiar with, as well as new clubs offered by outside members of the community.

Did you know...?

Did you know that there are more than 4000 books in the RIS Library right now? And this year we'll be adding even more!

How many of these books do you think you've read?

Sick Child

Every child will likely have a cough or a cold sometime during the school year. If this is not serious, send your child to school as usual. Remind your child, as the teachers will, the importance of taking steps to avoid spreading germs, and to wash their hands often and well.

If your child is showing the symptoms of a more serious illness, such as vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps, or fever, please keep them at home and seek the appropriate medical attention.

There is a temporary First Aid station at the school, with a bed for students to rest if their symptoms develop suddenly during the school day. If your child is not feeling well, you will be contacted to discuss the appropriate action to be taken.

Thank you, parents

Thank you to all of the parents who attended the Informational Meeting in the auditorium this morning. Your questions, your support, and your enthusiasm are a major part of the success of RIS.

As we said this morning, feel free to contact the school whenever you have questions or concerns. We look forward to seeing you again in future meetings.

Parent Meeting reminder

A reminder to all parents that we will hold a Parent Informational Meeting tomorrow from 9:30-11:00 in the RIS auditorium. This is your opportunity to learn about some new RIS policies and initiatives, become involved with the PTA, and to ask any general questions you may have to the school administrators.

We hope to see you all tomorrow!

Challenge #2

Before Thursday at 3:00 when you go home, write a joke on a piece of paper. Take it to Mr. Smith and tell him the joke to try and make him laugh. If he laughs at your joke, you win!

Your joke can be long or short, but it can't be a "Knock knock" joke, because Mr. Smith has heard all of them before. You will have to practice your joke at home, because Mr. Smith will only laugh at jokes that are told smoothly.

This is going to be a much tougher challenge than last week. We all know that Mr. Smith is Mr. Serious, and he only laughs at very funny jokes.

All successful students will be recognized here on Friday as a Puzzle Joke Master of the Week. Good luck!

August babies!

Today at RIS we have our August birthday celebration, and we wish all of the students and staff born in this month a very happy birthday!

Learn about animals!

Many of you love to learn about animals, and many of you love to solve problems. A great website to learn about endangered animals is Kids' Planet. You can become a Defender of Wildlife by learning about these animals and their habitats, and by taking action to make sure that these animals are protected.

The website also has games, pages to print and colour, and ideas for you if you want to teach your mom and dad about endangered animals.

Homework

RIS has a Monday - Thursday homework policy, and all students should expect to read, write, and study when they get home from school on those days. Some teachers may occasionally add extra reading or writing homework over the weekends if they feel it is necessary.

Students in Grade 1 and Grade 2 should be doing between 30 and 45 minutes per night.
Students in Grades 3-5 should be doing between 45 and 60 minutes per night.
Students in Grades 6-8 should be doing between 60 and 90 minutes per night.

Parents should check their child's Student Planner book each evening to see the assigned homework, and sign the Student Planner after the child has completed the homework. Different teachers have their own systems to monitor and assess homework. If you have any questions about your child's homework, please email the teacher directly.

Annual Calendar

This is the RIS academic calendar for 2010-2011. If dates and events are added or altered, the notifications will be posted on this site in a timely manner. Please note carefully the four scheduled Saturday events (two Parent-Teacher Conference days, Sports Day, and the year-end Graduation ceremony). Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have any questions about this information.


2010-2011 Calendar

Rainbow Reading Stars

Thank you to all of the students who read so many books this summer. Ms. Howard was delighted to present prizes to all of you, and hopes that next year you can read even more!

RIS Readers

School Bus safety

Most of you come to school and go home on an RIS bus. You should always remember the Top Five Bus Rules. The bus driver or bus assistant will help you remember these rules, and can help you if there are any problems on the bus. Remember, the bus is part of your RIS day, so you should behave properly like you do in the school with your teachers.

Bus Rule #1 Stay in your seat with your seatbelt on.
Bus Rule #2 Keep your arms and head inside the bus at all times.
Bus Rule #3 Use your quiet voice to talk with your friends.
Bus Rule #4 Keep your food and drinks inside your bag until you get home.
Bus Rule #5 When the bus arrives at your stop, wait for the bus assistant to open the door and let you out.

By making the right choice to remember these Top Five Bus Rules, your ride will always be safe.

Weekly Menu

RIS Menu

Congratulations!

Eleven bright students answered this week's question about the capital cities of the 21 RIS countries. Some of them even knew that the question was a bit tricky, as Hong Kong is not technically a country, but a Special Region of China.

The correct answers are: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Seoul, Korea; Washington, DC, USA; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Panama City, Panama; Tokyo, Japan; Beijing, China; Ankara, Turkey; New Delhi, India; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Santiago, Chile; Kabul, Afghanistan; Yerevan, Armenia; Islamabad, Pakistan; Baghdad, Iraq; Muscat, Oman; Baku, Azerbaijan; Ottawa, Canada; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Caracas, Venezuela.

Congratulations to all of this week's Puzzle Masters!
From Grade Two...Monica, Rufat, Lora, and Sena.
From Grade Three...Badr and Majeed.
From Grade Six...Javier and Valeria.
From Grade Seven...Fatima R.
From Grade Eight...Nahan and Samar.
Great job, everyone!

Math!

A great website for you to use to improve your Math skills can be found here. If you can finish the questions for your grade, challenge yourself by trying the questions for older students.

If you think you can anwer some of these questions faster than your mom or dad could, challenge them at home!

Meeting for Parents

We will be hosting a Meeting for Parents on Wednesday, August 25th from 9:30 -11:00 in our auditorium. The meeting will serve as a brief orientation for new parents, an information session where we detail a few changes in our daily timetable, and an opportunity for you to ask questions to our administrators about student life at RIS. We do request that if you wish to speak specifically about what your child is learning or how your child is adjusting to the new school year, that you contact your child's homeroom teacher directly and arrange a separate meeting time.

We will also discuss the formation of this year's PTA (Parent-Teacher Association), and outline some activities and initiatives which we hope to put into your capable hands.

Daily timetable

We have changed our daily timetable from the format we used last year. We did this primarily to include two sessions of DPA - Daily Physical Activity. We believe that all students should have time in the morning and afternoon for some exercise and play, and that this will help them focus more clearly during class time.


RIS daily timetable

Happy Independence Day!

This week has seen four of the 21 countries represented at RIS celebrating their national Independence Day.

Afghanistan - August 19th

India - August 15th

South Korea - August 15th

Pakistan - August 14th

ESLRs

RIS ESLRs

ESLRs are Expected Schoolwide Learning Results. These are the general learning objectives and outcomes that infuse every part of our curriculum. These are the statements about the kind of learners that RIS students are, and more generally about the kind of people we hope they will become.

In every classroom students can see a D.O.L.P.H.I.N.S poster. We have made our ESLRs into that acrostic because our school mascot is a dolphin. The homeroom teachers will explain what this poster means to their students in age-appropriate language.

At RIS we are very proud of what our students accomplish and the wonderful people they continue to be.

Coming Soon

Big families often arrive to a place at different times. The huge RIS family is no different, and we expect new students to be joining the school periodically over the next few weeks.

We also have a few staff members still to arrive. We are delighted this year to welcome more staff from Turkey and Korea, and eagerly await their arrival over the next few weeks.

Our Middle School Math and Science teachers will join us shortly from Turkey. Until they arrive, our ESL and Language Specialists are hard at work with the Grades 6, 7, and 8 students reviewing important concepts from last year and pre-teaching key vocabulary for this year's new material. When the new teachers do arrive, the students will be better prepared to jump into a new year's curriculum.

Cell phones

We understand that many students have cell phones and carry them to school. We ask all students to turn off their phones before entering the school. This year each homeroom teacher will collect their students' cell phones in a basket and keep them safely for the day. They will be returned to students at 3:00 dismissal.

If parents need to contact their child in case of emergency, please call the school at 02-571-2917. Our amazing secretary, Ms. Park, will forward the call to the student's homeroom immediately.

Things to leave at home

MP3 players and iPods

Video games

If you think you will want to play with your DS or listen to some music during the school day, it is a smart idea to leave your electronic devices at home. Your homeroom teacher can collect these when you arrive, and keep them safe for you during the day. These devices will be returned to you at 3:00 so you can use them quietly and responsibly on the bus ride home. If teachers see these during class time, they will be taken and returned only to your parents when they visit the school.

Junk food

RIS is very proud to be a Healthy Food School. Please leave all of your junk food (cola, chocolate, cookies, chips, candies, donuts, and gum) at home to enjoy there.

Birthday parties

At RIS we love to be able to celebrate special days and holidays together. A student's birthday party is always a great time for classmates to say kind words to each other. Often we have parents sending cakes and snacks from home on their child's birthday. While this is both kind and generous, we ask parents to refrain from sending any food to school on these occasions. We have many students with dietary restrictions or food allergies, and want to ensure that the food we serve at school always meets these requirements.

RIS holds monthly birthday parties in our cafeteria to honour all students born in that month. This is held around the middle of the month (in August, it will be the 24th), and we provide cakes, snacks, and juice for all students.

If parents do wish to send any food or drink to school for their child to share with classmates, we ask that you send only fruit, vegetables, or fruit juice. Anything else will be sent back home with your child at the end of the day.

Challenge #1

Every Tuesday we will post a question on this site. Students can find the answers by themselves, ask their families for help, or work together with a friend to answer the question.

Try to find the correct answer before you go home on Thursday at 3:00. Write your answer on a piece of paper and give it to Mr. Smith. He will check your answers, and all students with the correct answer will be recognized as a Puzzle Master of the Week here on Friday.

Question: We have students from 21 different countries at RIS. Do you know the capital city of each of these countries?

Hint: Use the World Factbook for Kids website to find your answers. This website has great information about countries, flags, and maps.

Where are we from?

At RIS we are proud to have students from 21 different countries! This means that we will have the opportunity to learn so much about each other's countries, cultures, and customs over the year.

The 2010-2011 Rainbow family comes from Saudi Arabia, Korea, the USA, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Panama, Japan, China, Turkey, India, Bangladesh, Chile, Afghanistan, Armenia, Pakistan, Iraq, Oman, Azerbaijan, Canada, Malaysia, and Venezuela.

Four things to bring

All students should have these four things at school every day:

A water bottle

A healthy snack

Indoor shoes

A positive attitude

Welcome!

A big Rainbow International School welcome to old students, new students, and all families for the 2010-2011 school year! The teachers have been working hard to prepare for your arrival, and were so happy to see so many eager and smiling faces when the buses arrived this morning.

This blog will be updated frequently with news, reminders, and fun facts about the students, teachers, and families who make RIS such a terrific place. Please be sure to check this blog every day for these announcements. If you read anything you are unsure about, feel free to ask your teachers any questions you have.

We hope that everyone has a wonderful and successful year!