March 2022

FROM THE LOWER SCHOOL HEAD TEACHER

Dear Parents and Guardians,

What an exciting time to be part of the Brent Baguio community! We have officially started our Hyflex classes, and Lower School has done a good job easing into new routines and schedules.

We have several exciting events to look forward to this March. There will be a special assembly to show our appreciation for parents and guardians, and another for our school staff, both led by NHS and STUCO. We will also be connecting with the community and celebrating students’ successes in our LS Assembly.

By the end of the month, the annual Art Exhibit will also be launched. The exhibit features artworks of our Grades 1-10 classes with the theme “Extinction”. It will be held during an All-School Assembly, and all viewers are invited to join an iSpy game. More details will be sent to the community by our Art teachers as the event nears.

Here are the important days for LS in our School Activities calendar:

Date Activities
March 9th, Wednesday Parents & Guardians Appreciation Day

(℅ NHS and StuCo)

March 16th, Wednesday Lower School Assembly
March 23rd, Wednesday Staff Appreciation Day
March 30th, Wednesday Gr. 1-10 Art Exhibit

We appreciate all of your support in continuing to help us keep strong home and school connections, especially as we approach the last few months of school. Please continue to regularly check updates posted on the Brent website, Brent Announcement emails, and messages sent via our homeroom apps. May we all be safe and healthy!

Warm regards,

Ms. Kim Arganda
BISB Lower School Head Teacher

Grade 1
Mrs. Adamey Peniano

Here’s a pat on the back, First Graders, for a great job this 3rd Quarter! Keep it up and finish strong this 4th Quarter. As the school resumes in-person classes, I look forward to the time I will see you in the classroom as you learn with your classmates. 

Topics Included in Language Arts for the Month of March:

  • Vowel Teams
  • Noting Details
  • Special Naming Words

Essential Questions that promote inquiry in school and at home. 

“Be a learner for life.”

Language Arts: Fiction Stories    

  • How can we extend our characters through a series?

Math: Three-Dimensional Geometry    

  • How can you identify and describe three-dimensional shapes?
  • How can you combine three-dimensional shapes to make new shapes?

Science: Balance and Motion    

  • How can we make things balance?

Social Studies: Community    

  • What is a community?

Grade 2
Ms. Elaine Ferrer

A warm welcome to you all! It was amazing to see everyone enjoying each other’s company back here. I felt the excitement of friends and peers being together again, the laughter was really so good to hear. We had a great start and hopefully this face-to-face setup will go on until the end of the school year. 

Onward, March!

Essential Questions that promote inquiry in school and at home. 

“Be a learner for life.”

Math:     Length and Data

  • How can I determine which tool to use to measure the length of objects?
  • How can information be collected and displayed?

Science:     Matter and Heat

  • What are objects made up of?
  • What makes objects similar?

Social Studies:     Product Development and Marketing

  • Why do people make/buy products?

Religious Studies:     Stories About Jesus

  • Why did Jesus choose humble people as His followers?

GRADES 3 & 4

My heart is so full to hear all the sounds that children make on campus and we are off to a great start with our Hyflex learning. The kids are enthusiastic and excited to be back in the classroom. This makes for a wonderful way to start the month and hopefully end the year with as well.

Grade 3

This month, we’ll be starting and/or continuing the following units:

Science: on Solar Systems 

Writing: Adapting and Writing Fairytales

Reading: Research Clubs

Math: Fractions

Social Studies: Communities Over Time and Communities and Geography

Religious Studies: Easter, Lent and Pentecost

Grade 4

Math Unit: Geometry

Science: Body Systems: Digestive, Respiratory, Circulatory

Writing: Writing About Fiction

Reading: Historical Fiction Clubs

Math: Measurement and Data

Social Studies: Trash Management

Religious Studies: Easter, Lent and Pentecost

Grade 3

Essential Questions

Language Arts:     

  1. Why is it important that writers set goals?
  2. Why is it important to revise and edit? 
  3. What is the importance of paragraphing and organisation
  4. What can we learn about writing through the use of mentor texts?

Reading: 

  1. How do readers respond to the text and each other with reactions and questions, and read on to draw conclusions?
  2. How do texts differ, and how should I read as a result?
  3. How does what I read influence how I should read it?

Math:     

  1. How can you use fractions to describe how much or how many in everyday situations?
  2. How can you compare fractions?

Science:     

  1.  What makes a planet a planet?
  2. Why do planets travel in an elliptical pattern rather than a circle around the Sun?
  3. How did the planets get there?
  4. Can we live outside of Earth?
  5. Why should we investigate the sun and planets in our solar system?
  6. Why is it important to understand the sun and planets’ sizes, shapes, and location in our Solar System?

Social Studies:     

  1. What is the difference between invention and innovation?
  2. Why do people invent things?
  3. How do inventions change people’s lives? (good/bad)
  4. What inventions do we need today?
  5. Why do people invent and innovate things?
  6. How do inventions change people’s lives; for good or bad?

Religious Studies:

  1. Why is Easter more important than Christmas to Christians?
  2. What’s the point of giving up something for Lent?
  3. Why did Jesus let Himself be crucified?

Grade 4

Essential Questions:

Language Arts:     

Reading:

  1. How do readers analyze the setting at the start of a book?
  2. What are the different ways to keep track of story elements to build understanding?
  3. How do characters’ timelines fit with the historical timelines?
  4. What can readers do to deepen their understanding of characters and perspective?

Bend II 

  1. What are the clues that suggest a passage is worth pondering?
  2. What are various ways to think deeply about important passages in a book?
  3. How can readers develop an interpretation of a book?

Bend III 

  1. How should readers use primary sources to better understand history?
  2. What are the different ways that historical fiction readers deepen their understanding?
  3. What can readers learn from historical narratives?
  4. Why is it important to recognize the different perspectives of people?
  5. What are power dynamics in stories?
  6. Why do readers look for similar themes across different books?

Writing:

Bend I – Essential Questions:

  1. How can close reading help in generating ideas about a text?
  2. How do we write a literary essay?
  3. What are the different ways essayists collect evidences to support their ideas?
  4. How do writers create drafts out of the collections of evidence?

Bend II – Essential Questions:

  1. How do writers use patterns in books and stories to develop theme or messages?
  2. What are ways to add complexity to our ideas?
  3. What is flash-drafting?
  4. What are the steps to writing a lead?
  5. How does an author’s craft highlight the deeper meaning of a text?

Bend III – Essential Questions:

  1. What are the similarities and differences between comparing and contrasting?
  2. How does a reader make deeper-level comparisons?
  3. How does an essayist tackle new projects?
  4. How do we “untangle” ideas on a writer’s draft?

Math:     

  1. ​​How can we use benchmarks to understand the relative sizes of measurement units?
  2. How can we use models to compare customary units of length, weight, and liquid volume?
  3. How can we use models to compare metric units of length, weight, and liquid volume?
  4. How can we use models to compare units of time?
  5. How can we use a formula to find the perimeter of a rectangle?
  6. How can we use a formula to find the area of a rectangle?
  7. How can we find the area of combined rectangles?
  8. How can we find an unknown measure of a rectangle given its area or perimeter?

Science:     

  1. How do the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems work independently and together to keep the body functioning properly?

Social Studies:     

  1. What do people throw away and where does it go?
  2. How can trash affect our resources and our environment?
  3. How would our world be different without trash?
  4. When is trash no longer trash?
  5. How can you help reduce or solve the trash problem?

GRADES 5 & 6

It’s great to have you back on campus! This is especially important because March will be a month of inquiry and application. We will be working on several projects showing what we’ve learned so far. Manage your time wisely by planning ahead, estimating time needed, pacing yourself, staying focused, and reflecting on your progress.

Let’s have fun learning while keeping safe and healthy!

Grades 5

Essential Questions

GRADE 5

Language Arts: Fantasy Book Clubs, Writing Fantasy   

  • What elements are essential in Fantasy writing?

Math:     Fraction Operations

  • How can you add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators?
  • How do you multiply fractions?
  • What strategies can you use to solve division problems involving fractions?

Science:     Simple Machines

  • How does the use of simple machines make doing work easier?

Social Studies:  Why Civics and Government Matter Essential Questions   

  • What would the world look like without laws? 
  • How can I make a positive difference in my world? 
  • What is one thing I can work on to make me better in group tasks?
  • Who do I think is a great leader? Why? 
  • What is the best decision I have ever made? 

Grade 6

Essential Questions

Grade 6

Language Arts:     Literary Essay

  • How can I think critically about the texts I read? 
  • How
 can
 I
 write 
literary essays
 using
 a
 different essay
 structures?

Math:     Expressions and Equations

  • How do you evaluate an algebraic expression?
  • How do you check a solution to an equation?

Science:    Energy and Energy Transformation

How can you use energy more efficiently? 

Social Studies:     Modern Africa

Essential Questions:

  • What causes conflict?
  • What causes poverty?
  • How could the issues in modern Africa be addressed?
  • Are democratic governments better than dictatorial ones?