OIS DYNAMITE
| Oulu International School’s Newsletter
| November-December |
The 2nd and 6th graders were busy this week making lanterns together for
the November in Moominvalley celebration.
Events in November
Coming up in
Coming up in
Wk 45 Tue 4.11. Dream
Team (Parent Reps
& Management)
NOTE NEW
TIME!
Wk 49 Wed 3.12.
School ends at
13:15 due to
teachers’ curriculum afternoon
Wk 2
Wed 7.1. School
starts! Normal
timetables
Wk 3
Wk 46 Parent/Teacher
Student Conferences this week
Wk 50
Wed 14 and
Thu 15.1. at
13:00 Lukioiden
avoimet ovet for gr
9
Wk 4
Wed 21.1. at 18
info evening for
potential new students and parents
Wk 47 Thu 20.11.
School ends at
12:15 for PYP,
13:15 for MYP.
Christmas Concert
”November in
Moominvalley” at
17:30 for A classes; at 19:00 for B
classes.
Wk 48
Wk 51  Mon 15 and
Tue 16.12.:
Normal timetable
 Wed 17.12.
School ends at
13:15
 Thu 18 and Fri
19.12. School
day 9:00-12:15
 Fri 19.12. at
9:00 Church service (student come to school at
8:30)
 Sat 20.12. at
9:00 Christmas
carols and report
cards!:)
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From
Fromthe
thePrincipal
Principal
“Diverse learning for all types of learners”
- Life in Moominvalley
Finnish educators have summarized the philosophy of successful teaching and learning like
this: ”Less is more and simple is beautiful.”
I have been thinking about this a lot
during the past months especially when we
have collaborated with students, parents and
our teachers creating the foundation to our
new School Curriculum by defining the values
and perception of learning.
This part of the OIS curriculum work is
ready and it is communicated in a simple and
beautiful way. The City has defined its own values and our thoughts are summarized under
these. We can easily see that our current values are important and they are worth keeping.
I have bolded them in the outcome that our
Curriculum Team put together this week.
Thanks to all parents, students and teachers for
your valuable thoughts!
Fairness:
We are a holistic, inspiring and innovative learning community where people are interculturally aware and support and respect each
other, communicate honestly and strive for
peace and equity.
Courage:
We are a caring, enthusiastic and supportive
community which critically aims for life-longlearning.
Responsibility:
We are a safe and diverse community where
teachers, students and families collaborate together through open communication towards a
fair and sustainable future both locally and globally.
Methods of learning:
We learn through inquiry-based learning, critical thinking and we function sustainably. We
use co-operative and collaborative methods to
enable students to achieve their full potential as
learners.
Aims of Learning:
We aim to be motivated, self-reliant and multiliterate with the goal of integrating locally but
being able to function globally in a respectful
manner.
~*~
We have been fortunate to host many foreign
visitors this autumn term: teacher trainee Lisa
from Germany, deputy head Lena from Ukraine, three authorities from the Thailand Ministry
of Education, a big group of educators from Belgium, 11 teachers from Holland, and more are
to come from France and the United States in
the spring term.
The education authorities from Thailand
were keen to know how educational technology is integrated in the subject curriculum at
OIS. I gave them the presentation that I did in
the IBAEM (IB schools in Africa, Europe and
Middle East region) Conference in October.
OIS has a good reputation in Finland and
abroad. We are the only basic education school
in northern Finland offering teaching through
English. It is a school which has a strong and
nourishing connection to Oulu University and
many other institutes in Finland and abroad.
Many visitors have felt the warm atmosphere of
our school. I hope that our students, parents
and staff feel the same sense of support and
acceptance, which is fundamental in Moominvalley.
OIS will turn into Moominvalley on 20th
of November. November in Moominvalley is a
celebration of author and artist Tove Jansson’s life, of our school’s talents, as well as of
respect and sense of community. This is what Tove Jansson always emphasized in her books. The
celebration is connected to Valoa Oulu! festival
which starts in November. The school day ends
slightly earlier so that we can all come back to
school for the evening event (this is compulsory
school time). I am looking forward to meeting
many of you and hope we all can enjoy the light
of Moomin Valley at the darkest time of the
year!
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2
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20.11.2014
17:30
A
19:00
B
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Primary Years Programme
Inquiry-based learning and tomorrow’s world
Heidi Tuomela, Coordinator
Inquiry is the most natural way
for humans to start learning. Babies start looking, touching, tasting and smelling things and
wondering what they are and
how they work.
Toddlers keep asking questions—but when
they come to school, traditionally their
questions have ceased and been replaced
by memorising facts and knowledge. Of
course this is not always the case, but juxtaposing the ’traditional’ way of learning
with the inquiry-based learning makes it
more concrete and easily understandable.
When we discussed students’ learning
in today’s world and for tomorrow’s world
with the parents in the Dream Team, it
was evident that we do not know exactly
what kinds of skills and knowledge students
will need in the future. We need to go past
the data and information. For educators,
this means emphasising the development of
inquiry skills and nurturing the inquiring
attitudes or habits of mind, which will
enable individuals to continue the quest for
knowledge throughout their lives. For today’s education, the skills and the ability to
continue learning should be the most important outcomes.
It will be interesting to see what the
changes in the national curriculum bring for
us, but at the moment it seems like we as
an IB school are on the right track.
In this Dynamite you can read my students’ stories of their Unit of Inquiry’s field
trips. Trips with all the different kinds of
activities are just one way of encouraging
our students in developing their inquiry
skills and natural quriosity towards the
world around them.
”For today’s education,
the skills and the ability
to continue learning
should be the most
important outcomes.”
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PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME
Retki Nallikariin
Viktor 4A
Unit of Inquiry: Ecosystems /
Ekosysteemit
Meillä oli retki Nallikariin.Tulimme kouluun kello 8.15, jotta voisimme olla siellä pitkään.
Otimme koulusta lounaspaketit
mukaan ja lähdimme pyörillä matkaan. Olimme perillä noin kymmenessä minuutissa. Kun olimme siellä, menimme heittelemään kiviä.
Kun Pöllönkankaan luokka tuli,
aloitimme aktiviteetit. Ne olivat
hauskoja. Oli suunnistusta ja muuta
hauskaa. Lopulta oli ruoka-aika. Sitten saimme olla vapaasti noin tunnin.
Sitten lähdimme takaisin koululle, jossa meillä oli vielä suomen
tunti. Ja nyt, 11.9.2014 kirjoitin
koulussa tämän tarinan muistoksi.
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PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME
Retki Timosenkosken luontokouluun (Rico 4A)
Unit of Inquiry: Ecosystems / Ekosysteemit
Kahdeksas päivä syyskuuta minä ja minun luokkani
kävimme luontokoulussa. Aamulla me kävimme ruokalassa ottamassa eväitä mukaan ja sitten kävelimme
bussille. Se oli tosi pitkä matka, mutta kyllä me selvisimme. Minun parini oli Lukas, jonka vieressä minun
piti istua ja se oli kivaa. Perillä otettiin reput selkään ja
alettiin kävelemään noin kilometrin matka. Kun me
kävelimme, oli matkan varrella tosi paljon hämähäkinseittejä.
Kun olimme kävelleet sen kilometrin, olimme meidän
oppaiden luona. Heidän nimensä olivat Outi ja Stefan. He antoivat meille paperit, joissa oli toisella puolella luontobingo ja toisella puolella kysymisjuttu.
Aluksi pelasimme bingoa. Ensin luimme kaikkien kuvien nimet, joka oli tylsää. Sen jälkeen menimme pariemme luo. Toisella parilla oli kynä ja toisella se bingo. Sen leikin tarkoitus oli, että kävelimme reitin ja
siinä samalla piti löytää ne paperissa olevat kuvat. Aina, kun löysi yhden, piti ruksata se. Minä ja Lukas
saimme neljä bingoa.
Pysähdyimme nuotiopaikalla ja siellä söimme. Siinä vieressä oli kota, jonka sisälle pääsi pienestä neliön
muotoisesta putkesta. Siellä me söimme, kun yhtäkkiä meidät kutsuttiin ulos. Siellä oli nuotio sytytetty
tuleen. Sitten paistoimme makkaraa.
Sen jälkeen oli vapaata aikaa. Söimme marjoja, jotka poimimme metsästä. Ne oli hyviä. Sitten teimme sen
paperin toisen puolen. Meidät laitettiin luokan pöytäryhmien mukaisiin ryhmiin. Sitten Outi antoi meille
paperit. Niissä kaikissa papereissa oli jokin eläin ja kaikki
tärkeät tiedot siitä. Meidän eläin oli siili. Sitten luimme
sen ja kirjoitimme sinne paperin taakse metsästä hankkimamme tiedot ja esitimme sen koko luokalle.
Sen helpon jutun jälkeen me jatkoimme matkaa ja kävelimme pitkän matkan. Kun me pysähdyimme, laitettiin
reput puun juureen ja istahdettiin. Outi kertoi meille
ekosysteemistä ja miten se toimii. Sen jälkeen me olimme ekosysteemihippaa ja se oli hauskaa. Sen jälkeen
olimme semmoista, että Stefan antoi sinulle kortin, jossa
oli eläin tai kasvi. Sitten piti keksiä sen ekosysteemi ja
kertoa se Stefanille tai Outille. Minun ryhmäni, jossa oli
Lukas, Viktor ja minä, keksimme seitsemän osaa ekosysteemiin.
Sen jälkeen lähdimme kävelemään bussia kohti. Samalla kun kävelimme, minä näin suon ja myrkkytatteja.
Bussissa menimme parien viereen istumaan. Sen jälkeen olimme taas koulussa ja lähdimme kotiin.
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Middle Years Programme
An IDU – what? by Marja Peedo, MYP Coordinator
The world is full of acronyms and it’s difficult to remember what they mean.
In the MYP (which is an acronym for Middle Years Programme) we have
something called an IDU.
An IDU stands for an interdisciplinary unit. This means that a deeper concept is studied together at
the same time through different disciplines - or subjects. Each grade level in the MYP should have at least
one IDU a year.
Grade 9 started the autumn with an IDU through the disciplines of: Finnish, English and visual arts
with a common inquiry into the concept of identity. The plan of what we were exploring looked like
this:
Inquiry statement:
Language and arts are a creatively selected composition of ideas that can be both a personal expression of
identity and a means to affect others.
Inquiry questions:
Factual — What is identity? Is identity fixed, or does it change?
Conceptual — To what extent do language and arts interact with identity?
Debatable — Where is the truth: your perception of your own identity, or others’ perception of your
identity?
Concepts:
Global Context:
Learner profile:
Identities and rela- - Reflective
Key – Identity
tionships
Related – Composition, expression
- Knowledgeable
- Risk-taker
The grade 9s held an assembly in September to share what they were working on. Visual arts students produced animations on identity; students from Finnish mother tongue lessons shared some aphorisms in different languages from the perspective of language and identity; and English students performed
poetic pieces related to identity.
IDUs are therefore a good reminder that life is usually a whole which is not broken into fragments.
By looking at the same concept, theme or idea through different disciplines, a broader understanding of
the world can be reached.
Aphorisms from Finnish class:
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MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAMME
9B Identity Rap
When you’re walking on the streets at MYP watcha gonna see is 9B
The spirit of our class can’t be divided – coz each individual is open-minded
In each of us there’s a communicator – we have huge mouths like an alligator
Our class has had some issues – but they’ve been wiped away with tissues
Our class is wise – we know it twice
9B, always on top of the charts; nothing could ever pull us apart
Everyday our skills are put to the test; there’s no better you should’ve already guessed
Coz it’s the 9B identity –
there’s nothing we can’t do, if you see us in the hallway, you better MOVE, uh
We’re the troublemakers of this school, but we are still very cool
In class we don’t pay attention, that is why we get detention
You don’t want to mess with me, coz guess what, I am from 9B
And 9B is from MYP and this is our identity
Lost in Language
I WANT TO GO BACK HOME
When I was young, I went to another country.
My mom took me by the hand
When we arrived, I didn’t know
as we went to the airport
the language, the area, nothing.
I was an island of language, lost in another
country, another culture.
But then I learned
what a word meant in my language
and day by day,
little by little, every word
flowering my seed of language.
And even now, when I can speak English well
here in Finland,
I remember
the moment when
I was lost in language
I want to leave Finland because
Winters are so terribly cold
And the weather so awfully grey and the ground is covered with
Never ending snow
Then there is summer that is always
Too short and
Going abroad is what I want because
Oulu doesn’t feel like home
Against myself and Finland because
Cyprus is where I belong and
Kisses from the sun is what I need
Having these thoughts makes me sad and
Of course I’ll have certain things I’ll miss, if I leave like
My friends and Finnish foods but
Eventually, everything will work out just fine
We are From…9A Identity Poem
(Each line of the poem represents one member from 9A)
I am from the tacky orange sofa
from crazy frogs and cream cows
I am from an ancient capital
And a Finnish house
I am from massive Maple trees
Whose leaves whisper in the wind
I am from white socks and school uniforms
from Niko and Saila
I am from tall people and mathematical skills
and from impeccable work ethics
from lullabies and angel wings
I am from hummus and falafel
I am from Ailikki and Giulio
from The Turkish invasion
from surviving the war
I am from those moments that I carry with me
now and will cherish forevermore.
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MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAMME
How to stay fresh and energetic after the holiday, too?!
At the beginning of our last school year here at OIS we 9 th graders have
been a bit overwhelmed. We really should take things seriously now in order to make our dreams come true in terms of our further studies. However, in the middle of these endless piles of homework, essays, Personal Project sheets… We must admit that it’s sometimes pretty hard to stay focused!
So, what to do? We made a rather easy plan to follow: 9 steps for a balanced life! It’s all about doing your studies properly but still having some
quality time with your friends and family, not forgetting e.g. hobbies.
Please do give these 9 tips a go! They are worth trying in order to keep
that fresh and energetic feeling after the autumn holiday, too.
P.S. The secret lies in repetition: keep following these steps over and over
to gain best results!
Yours sincerely, Relaxed (yet focused?) 9A students
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Photos by Satu Larivaara-Heikkala
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Teachers were given a lecture on ”Humanizing the Web” by Prof. Harri Oinas-Kukkonen on Saturday 11.10.
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