Taking Action

We all know that GEMS American Academy is dedicated to developing global citizens who have the confidence and conviction to pursue their dreams and impact the world. It is our missions. As educators, we have a responsibility to ensure that our students are encouraged and motivated to become the best versions of themselves. Taking action should be central to this education, allowing our students to discover, develop, and pursue their passions.

When our students our students are with us in classrooms, hallways, and the cafeteria of GAA, we want them to be thinking about how their unique ideas, knowledge, and critical thinking skills can foster positive change in the world. More importantly, we want them to act on this. We want our students to use their learning to explore the world around them and apply their knowledge to real-life situations. We believe that identifying and understanding problems and finding solutions is essential to further the growth of our students.

Taking action starts with understanding how to take that first step. At GEMS American Academy, we strive to create an environment that encourages our students to take the initiative and be immersed in the problem-solving process. We do this by providing experiences such as real-world projects, community engagement activities, and problem-solving challenges. We hope that these experiences will lead our students to develop a passion for making a difference. 

As parents, it's important to have conversations with your children that foster awareness and engagement in the world around them. Talk to your kids about how they can apply their learning to the real world. Discuss with them ways that their knowledge and ideas can be used to solve problems and make a positive impact. Support your children when they become curious or want to take action, as these are the moments they can become empowered to make a lasting change. At GAA, we are committed to encouraging our students to take action and create positive change in the world. We strive to develop globally minded leaders who use their knowledge and skills to think critically, express themselves creatively, and discover how to make a meaningful difference.

Furthermore, we invite you to send photos or stories of your children engaging in these activities. Please send them to our Parent Relations Executive at pre_gaa@gemsedu.com and watch as their learning is published to the world by having it posted on our social media accounts. The world is watching! Let’s share the great things our GAA students are doing!

Justin Kirby

K-12 Curriculum Director

Dear PreK Parents, 

At GEMS American Academy, preschool and kindergarten students approach learning in a play-based, inquiry rich environment. This environment allows us to monitor the development of your child through authentic, observation–based assessments. 

Teachers capture and record children’s learning using a list of stages that are rooted in developmental milestones. Then, they use that information to plan and differentiate for our individual learners’ needs. 

The Term 1 report is designed to share those learning stages with you. These developmental stages should not be looked at as ‘scores’, as it is a walk through their learning progression. Each child learns at their own pace during the early years, and this progression helps us guide and support their learning needs by understanding where they are. 

We look forward to sharing this progression with you and working together to continue to enhance your children’s learning experience. 

Please take a moment to watch below explanatory video.

Lauren Sargent 

Vice Principal of PreK-G2       

Greetings from KG1C,

The children have finished their second Unit of Inquiry “How We Express Ourselves.” Children inquired into and explored their feelings and emotions through a variety of fun activities and continuous provision centers.  We learned about the importance of finding ways to self-regulate and how emotions can be expressed in different ways.  We got a chance to look at famous artists and recreate some of their unique pieces like “Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh, “Concentric Circles” by Kandinsky and we even created our own abstract art inspired by our artist study.

Look at some of our work.

What a fun-filled month we’ve had in the PreK-Grade 1 Library! We held a Mock Caldecott over the past three weeks. We read books that were possible contenders to win this year’s coveted 2023 Caldecott Award. The Caldecott Award is given to the preceding year’s “most distinguished American picture book for children”. This week, students voted for their favorite to win the award. They were so excited when they found out that their choice actually won! We celebrated this event with balloons, of course!

Wednesday, February 1st, was World Read Aloud Day. Guest readers (including many administrators and parents) visited the classrooms to share engaging read-alouds with the classes. In Library class, we read aloud stories and made reading crowns to celebrate this special day!

We also participated in #READBowl over the past few weeks. In Library class, we spent a lot of time reading with flashlights and stuffed animals. The students enjoyed celebrating their reading accomplishments together over the past month.

Parents, the final day to submit reading minutes for #READBowl is this Sunday, February 5th. If your child reads or listens to any stories over the weekend, please submit their reading minutes here:  www.bit.ly/gaa-readbowl Any time spent on reading apps, such as Lexia, RAZ Kids, EPIC, and/or Teach Your Monster to Read also count. Let’s work together to see if our school might be crowned the “World Reading Champion” on February 12th!

Grade 1D’s current Unit of Inquiry is Sharing the Planet where students have been exploring the idea: where and how people live is influenced by their environment. Students are learning about different climates around the world; such as rainy climates in the tropics and cold, snowy climates in the arctic. Students have discovered different weather, animals, and plants that are in each type of climate. Students are now learning about different types of houses and schools that are found in each climate and how the weather patterns affect how structures are built. Students got to go to MakerSpace and use Legos and coding to learn about which house would be best in an earthquake. Trying using Google Earth to explore different structures around the world with your student. 

Welcome to 5A class! In this Unit of Inquiry we were learning about “Sharing the Planet.” In this setting below students were introduced to Mystery Science, which is a hands- on activity that allows students to collaborate and explore the best possibilities to build homes in a particular location where an underground water well could be found to help with the (biosphere) crops, livestock, and etc.

The images below students worked in groups of three to discuss what they have learned from the video and discussed ways how humans impacted the four spheres(atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere) and how humans can change the impact on the four spheres.

Salama in Grade 3 reading the story to encourage her friend to read every day and make it a daily routine. Thank you, Salma, for your amazing reading which shows your Responsibility, Keep it up!

قراءة قصّة (العقلُ يفوزُ دائمًا )

لقد قامتْ  الطّالبةُ سلامة بمبادرةِ  لتحفيز زملائها على  جعل القراءة عادةً يومية  بقراءتها لقصّةِ( العقل يفوزُ دائمًا )

قراءةً جهريةً صحيحةً ومعبرةً  أتوجهُ بجزيل الشّكر والتّقدير لطّالبتنا المسؤولة و المبدعة سلامة

دعونا نستمع للقصّة ونستمتع بمحتواها    

Please check out the February 3rd Update by our Student Leadership comprised of 4th and 5th graders. 

• February 8: Learn About Middle School at GAA @8:00 Auditorium (For Grade 5 Parents)

• February 8-9: GAA High School Musical @6:00pm Auditorium

• February 8-10: Elementary Sports Days

• February 8-9: Stu Williamson Official School Photoshoot (for new joiners and students who missed previous photoshoots)

• February 13-14: Mid-term break (no school)

• February 23: Parent Information Session on Artificial Intelligence and Education @8:15 GAA Auditorium

• February 24: Pizza Day by GAAPA

• February 25: International Food Festival