November 11th, 2017

           “Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.” 
​                                      Maya Angelou  
    Monday, November 13th is World Kindness Day. 

Thank you to all of the kind people in our lives. A special shout-out goes to Helena’s mom for coming with us on our fabulous trip, last Wednesday, to Maroc Bureau. We would also like to thank her for sharing her passion for baking sourdough bread - what an incredibly delicious chemical change!  
This Wednesday afternoon we are planning to go to FABLAB Casablanca, a DIY “makerspace”. It is a great connection to our unit of inquiry, as we will be changing recycled plastic physically,  using 3-D Slash software and a 3-D printer. Please send the permission slip and money (50 dhs) to school before Wednesday. *My sincere apologies for the late notice.  

Some of our talented year 5 and 6 students are playing a football match this Monday after school. They will be battling the equally talented footballers of Casablanca American School. We wish Aliki, Asma, Elias, Ilyas, Moussa and Sadio all the best! Go ISM! 
 
The lunch last Friday to commemorate the anniversary of the Green March was an amazing community event! Thank you to the ISM cafeteria staff, teachers, parents and students for sharing their time and talents.  
 
We have new books in our library! A HUGE thank you goes out to Helena and her mom who purchased and transported a number of new books for our students’ reading pleasure. We are always excited, and very grateful, to accept donations of new or gently loved books.  
 
Our learners are starting the work on their final unit project this week. Please talk to them about it. Your support is incredibly valuable. It is due at the end of next week. 
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The task is a GRASP - Goal, Role, Audience,  Situation, Performance/Product/Purpose 
Goal: Investigate a commonly used material. Provide  
information about the composition of that material, how it’s  
commonly used, and the pros and cons associated with it’s  
use in terms of its impact on the earth and sustainability.  
Role: You are an environmental consultant (someone who addresses environmental issues such as water pollution, air quality, and soil contamination).  
Audience: People looking to make environmentally-conscious choices. **Ultimately the people affected by their  
choices of materials.  
Situation: You have been contracted to get information out to  
the general public.  
Product, performance, purpose: Your organization wants  
you to come up with a plan to inform the public about benefits (pros) and detriments (cons) of the materials they use in their daily lives, including recommendations about making good choices around materials use. 
Standards and criteria: evaluated by a rubric 
students must identify 

• the physical attributes of the material chosen 

• common uses of that material in the environment  
• pros and cons of using the material, including environmental impact  
• positive alternatives to using the material 

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