Secondary Newsletter 21 – January 29, 2021
Grade 6 & 7’s One Page Wonders
CAS Corner by Pablo Arriaga Pellokila
Counseling
University Counseling
Reminder that BIS Library is still available for use
Grade 6 & 7’s One Page Wonders:
Students in Grade 6 and Grade 7 English have both just finished studying their novel units. As an activity, students had to produce a hand-written, one-page analysis of their novels using words, colors, and images.
Grade 6 students read The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. The project requirements were:
- A border of key quotations from the novel
- The top half should focus on symbolism and themes from the novel, including both words and images
- The bottom half should focus on key characters from the novel (and how they develop, change, or interact). It should also include both words and images.
Grade 7 students read The Watsons go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis. The project requirements were:
- A border that represents the key themes from the novel
- The upper left-hand corner should have an image with a quotation woven around it. The image should represent what you consider to be an important symbol so far.
- The upper right-hand corner should have images and/or doodled words that represent key characters from the novel.
- The lower left-hand corner should focus on the author’s writing style, including both words and images.
- The lower right-hand corner should show connections between the theme and ideas in the novel and what is going on in the world today.
- In the middle strip, include words and/or images that showcase the setting(s) of the novel and its importance.
CAS Corner by Pablo Arriaga Pellokila
Building and Maintaining a Healthy Body
Challenge & New skills – Commitment & Perseverance – Strength & Growth
Today I was finally able to slowly get back into the swing of things. I started by doing light workouts targeting my core, chest, and legs to wake up the muscles that have been asleep for the past month so I can ease in without being too stressed which would lead to injuries. However, I didn’t have access to a proper gym so I had to make do with the equipment I have at home, my body weight, and gravity which, at this early stage, should be enough. Since I couldn’t really do most of the workouts on my plan due to the lack of equipment I decided to try out an application called “HomeWorkout” to give me some workouts to try out at home. I ended up doing Core, Chest, and Legs workouts that they had to offer for free.
After doing the workout I realized that I have fallen off drastically. Out of the workouts, I found the core session to be easiest and the legs being the hardest. I couldn’t tell if the leg workouts were the hardest because my legs were weaker than I expected or if it was because it the last out of the three sessions I did. While doing the exercises, I was able to re-familiarize myself with the exercises I’ve done in the past such as pushups, plank, lunges, squats, etc. However, I found plentiful workouts that I have never done before such as the side-lying leg lift, side bridges, and v-ups. These workouts caught me off guard as I found myself staring at the avatar doing them quite often as I tried to replicate them myself. Needless to say, it was an exciting and new experience for me to figure out how to do certain workouts by myself and it felt rewarding to finish in the end.
Counseling
Teenagers and sleep
So how much sleep is enough? Michael Crocetti, M.D., M.P.H. from John Hopkins suggests teens need 9 to 9½ hours of sleep per night. “Teenagers are going through a second developmental stage of cognitive maturation,” explains Crocetti. Additional sleep supports brain development and physical growth spurts. It also helps protect them from severe consequences like mental health disorders or drug use.
How can you help your teen improve their sleep habits?
- Model good sleep habits (set bedtime, cutting back on caffeine, exercising regularly).
- Have breakfast outside or near a window where they have sun exposure. The sunlight helps them regulate their body’s biological clock.
- Have discussions about how they felt during the day doing their work, interacting with peers and teachers, etc. Conversations can help them make the connection between how much they sleep and how well they feel, perform and interact.
- Consider when your teen starts their school work. If it’s after dinner, they might be working until late in the evening. Some pull all-nighters at this age, which messes up their biological clock.
- Take them for a physical so the doctor can reinforce the need for sleep and screen for sleep disorders.
- Remove all electronic devices from the bedroom and make the bedroom a sleep haven. When they walk into their bedroom, their brain should not be thinking this is where I watch shows, play video games, chat with friends, etc. The signal they should get is that this is the place where I rest and sleep. Is their bedroom comfy, cool and dark?
- Make setting up the bedrooms in your homes as sleep havens a project.
- Don’t let them change their sleep schedule drastically on the weekend. Going to bed at roughly the same time is essential.
- Start a routine for mindfulness or reading a book, not the phone, before sleep (John Hopkins University, 2021).
University Counseling
Registrations and deadlines:
Upcoming International SAT Test Date & Deadline
Virtual events
Schools are offering virtual visits to their campuses. As they contact us, we share it with you. If your family is interested in specific schools, you can also look at the websites via Bridge U.
Canadian Educational Internasional Talkshow Series: Study Aircraft Maintenance Engineering in Canada – (Jan 30)
Scholarships for International Students | Temple University – (Feb 1)
British Council Virtual UK Masterclass Series – (Feb 1-5)
Your Guide to Higher Education by Aberystwyth University, Wales – (Feb 1)
Trinity College Dublin | a special session on Trinity’s Global Business programme – (Feb 2)
Biology and Genetics at Iowa State University Webinar – (Feb 2)
Mathematics and Statistics at Iowa State University Webinar – (Feb 3)
Study Dentistry at Queen’s University Belfast
Medicine Work Experience by Dr OJ’s Surgery | Live Every Saturday in Feb
Digital Discovery Day Breda University of Applied Sciences – (Feb 6)
Computer Science Day with the University of Washington – (Feb 6)
IDP Education | Australia & New Zealand Virtual Education Fair – (Feb 6 and 7)
Stanley Prep | United Nations Semester Online (UNSO) Program – (deadline Feb 26)
EU Business School Summer Program Scholarship – (deadline Feb 28)
International Student Scholarship Information from University of Macau
Carl Benz School Application Portal is Now Open – (April 30)
Webster University is accepting applications for Fall 2021 – (deadline June 15)
Resources
BridgeU 15 questions to ask when choosing a university
List of scholarships for international students
Opportunity for a scholarship from Seton Hall University by sharing a unique business idea
Guide for International University Admissions
BridgeU Supporting your child through the application process (G12 should have shortlists completed and should be moving from shortlists to applications.)
BridgeU tips for parents of 2021
BridgeU tips for parents of 2022
A reminder that BIS Library is still available for use
As the island government requires that BIS remain in Distance Learning mode (as of this writing), the Library has usage protocols that allows users to schedule appointments to check out books or to have the Library prepare books for pickup that you request after viewing our online catalog.