Greetings GAA Families,

We have reached the winter break mark and we are thrilled to celebrate a wonderful first part of the school year. Our term officially ends mid January but the new year always brings an energy of setting new priorities and reflecting on the most important things.

With a long break ahead, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and provide some inspiration for taking the time to read with your children at home. The break provides an excellent opportunity for learners to have time reading with a grown up. Reading with an adult makes children feel safe and supported. This time serves not only as a time to be close with your child but also creates a positive correlation for the love of reading.

At school sometimes we read for the love of reading and sometimes we read to learn how to read better. Reading at home promotes a love of reading and improves children's comprehension.

Research related to gaps in learning when students start Kindergarten supports the value of reading to our children early and often. Here is the data on how many more words children would be exposed to when they are read to at home. By the time children are 5 years old, if we begin reading to them from birth,

• Never read to, 4,662 words;

• 1-2 times per week, 63,570 words;

• 3-5 times per week, 169,520 words;

• daily, 296,660 words; and

• five books a day, 1,483,300 words.

Imagine the benefits of reading to our children early and at home every night!

I wish you all a great winter break and encourage ALL of you to curl up with a good book! See you in 2023!

Sincerely,

Leia Kraeuter

Elementary Principal

Our Mission, Our Curriculum

As with every year, our school reviews and reflects on what makes us successful and what opportunities we can explore. Through these reflective processes and protocols, I often find myself reflecting in other areas, as well.

I was asked to write a narrative for our curriculum in relation to one of our accrediting bodies, the Council of International Schools. As I wrote this, I found myself reflecting on the amazing work that is done so often here at GAA.

Part of my role at GAA is to ensure that our school’s mission is effectively reflected in, and supported by, our curriculum. What is our mission? It is to provide a diverse and caring international community offering a rigorous, relevant, and holistic education where we develop global citizens who have the confidence and conviction to pursue their dreams and impact the world.

One of the many ways in which we deliver on this mission is by providing an inclusive environment where every student is supported. Our dedicated, diverse, and world-class teaching staff and educational assistants are well trained and bring with them their expertise and unique perspectives. This, combined with our culture of kindness, allows all students to feel comfortable in taking risks and developing a sense of self as they progress through their learning journey.

At GEMS American Academy we focus on our academic program and know the value that it has for developing our student’s knowledge. What’s more, is we are truly committed to developing the skills that our students need to be successful in their learning - and life. Our approaches to learning, such as self-management and research, are the bedrocks of academic success. This is why we explicitly teach, assess, and report on these skills. They are critical in preparing our learners for today and tomorrow.

Our curriculum offers tremendous breadth and depth at all levels. We begin with play-based inquiry for our youngest learners in Pre-K. Students then move on to the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme where inquiry drives the learning while underpinned by the IB’s Learner profile and Approaches to Learning. Our Secondary school provides personalized learning experiences through our standards-based learning approach and elective options. Furthermore, as students enter their final years in grades 11 and 12, they have pathways available to them. They can take our full IB Diploma Programme, our American Diploma, or a combination of American and some IB Courses.

As we go into the winter break, many of us will relax. I would ask that as the 2022 year comes to an end, take some time to reflect on the year that has passed and the achievements and accomplishments that you have made. It is time well spent and really allows us to step back and take in all the good that we do. Enjoy your holidays, everyone. See you in 2023!

Justin Kirby

K-12 Director of Curriculum and Instruction

PreK A friends went on our very first field trip to the Abu Dhabi National Aquarium. Our first field trip was a great success in many ways. We identified many IB learner attributes in ourselves while we were there. First, the students did an outstanding job at being principled learners and representing the school while at the National Aquarium. Second, we gained knowledge and learned so much about the home of 46000 animals. At last, we remained open minded and inquired about the many different animals we met on our journey. We are already excited for our next field trip!

PreK -B has been on multiple “I spy” hunts around GAA this year, but this time was special. We worked super hard and used our imagination and made binoculars! We have been on shape and color hunts and will soon add numbers and letters to the mix. This project was just in time for our 5 senses lesson as well. This is an activity the students love to participate in, and this extra piece made it more exciting.

What a fun-filled month we’ve had in the KG/Grade 1 Library and the KG Kitchen! We celebrated National Day by reading the story, Adam Celebrates UAE National Day. We sang songs, baked UAE flag cookies, and made tissue paper flags. Next, we celebrated Dinovember (all things dinosaur in the month of November). We read the story, What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night. We sang and danced to dinosaur songs, went digging for dinosaurs, created dinosaurs with playdough, put together dinosaur puzzles, and engaged in dinosaur play. Finally, we read different versions of the gingerbread man. Students mixed, assisted rolling out gingerbread dough, and decorated their gingerbread boys and girls during our Kitchen Lab class. Afterwards, they created gingerbread houses and boys/girls during Library class. Some risk-takers decided to take part in our Gingerbread Man Bridge-Building STEM Challenge. The students used various materials, such as Legos, popsicle sticks, and straws to build their bridges to “rescue” the gingerbread man. There are many more stories and adventures to look forward to in the new year!

Don’t forget about having your child take part in the Winter Reading Challenge. The challenge is to try to read or listen to stories for a total of 24 hours during the month of December. Students should record the number of minutes spent reading on any days that they read in December, and color a circle for every 10 minutes read. Upon completion, please have your child return the form to school. He/she will receive a small treat and be entered into a drawing for a free book! Enjoy the winter break with your families. We look forward to seeing you all in January!

2E has been busy Inquiring all about animals, their habitats and food chains in our unit entitled “Sharing the Planet.” We learned how to read non-fiction books and compiled research-based facts by searching out information from texts and the internet. We have had tons of fun exploring some of the amazing animals that are found in the world and how they impact the food chain cycle. Here’s one of the fun facts we learned: Can you guess which animal is the fastest in the world? It’s the cheetah!

Grade 5 have been scientists inquiring into matter. The central idea is Matter can be changed and used for a variety of purposes. The lines of inquiry are: Physical and Chemical changes: The weight of matter: How to identify substances.

5C made ice cream while experimenting with the effects of salt on ice to see what would happen. They wrote a hypothesis first, then observed to see the outcome. There were two groups, group one had regular ice and group 2 had salted ice. Each group combined cream and sugar and took turns at shaking the mixture . The cream and sugar mixture that was exposed to salted ice froze quicker than just salt. (No we didn’t taste it!)

5C also dissolved salt in water and waited patiently to see if they could grow salt crystals! Looking at physical and chemical changes, we were surprised the salt crystals grew back!

5C have really enjoyed being scientists and are now working on their summative task.

تتحدث سلامة العلي من الصّف الثّالث عن حلمها في المستقبل مع ذكر سبب اختيار هذا الحلم ، كيفية تحقيقه ، وكيفية مساهمة هذا الحلم في بناء مستقبل الوطن.

Salma Al Ali from grade 3 speaks fluently about her dream in future , stating why she chose this dream, how to achieve it , and how this dream contributes to build the future of the country.

Please check out the weekly Elementary School Update by our Student Leadership comprised of 4th and 5th graders.

• December 12 - January 1: Winter Break (No classes in session)

• January 2: Start of Term 2

• January 3: GAAPA Welcome Parent Coffee @8-10am, Parent Cafe and Used Uniform Sale

• January 10: GAAPA Parent Coffee for Elementary (PreK-Grade 5) Parents @8-10am, Parent Cafe

• January 26-27: Aladdin Elementary Musical at GAA Auditorium @6-8pm

• January 27: GAAPA Used Uniform Sale

• January 27: Pizza Day by GAAPA

• February 25: International Food Festival