Name: Sonya terBorg (Wild)School: Riverstone International SchooleMail: sonya.terborg@gmail.comIB Teacher: Since 2003IB Responsbilities: PYP Workshop Leader, Elementary Art Coordinator New International School Thailand, 3-5 Coordinator Yokohama International SchoolWorkshops: Art in the PYP, Math in the PYP, Assessment in PYP

important things

iPad or Notepad?

Soccer or Wii? Spe

nding time with yo

ur

family or spending

money on toys?

Have you ever won

dered what kids in

different parts of t

he

world, think is imp

ortant?

Figuring out what

is important is som

ething even parent

s

and teachers are tr

ying to do, so don’t

feel bad if your

“Important Things

” list is looking a li

ttle bare right now

!

This magazine is d

esigned to give you

the chance to see

and

hear about how oth

er kids, just like you,

are figuring out

what is important t

o them.

How will we do tha

t? By you telling us

what is really

important to you!

What you want to k

now more, see mor

e,

hear more and do m

ore about.

By sharing what is

important, we can

understand each o

ther

better and yeah, it

might sound like a

huge task, but lots

of

people would agree

that with more und

erstanding, we mig

ht

make the world a b

etter place for ever

yone. Sounds prett

y

important to me!

And one last impor

tant thing...

JUST LIKEME!WHAT’S INSIDE...

How important is technology in your classroom? See how other kids are getting wired in class and beyond.

Your hands have a lot of power! See how a fourth grade class put their hands to awesome use on their vacation day.

Fun in the sun turned to near disaster for this family. See how their adventure helped them to know what’s really important.

“Mom, can I have a puppy?”. What does it mean when a pet becomes part of your family?

It’s our first birthday and we are pretty excited. What do you do on your birthday? Take a look at birthday celebrations around the world.

When you see this image on a page, it means we’re taking you online for more!

JUST LIKEME!News and Information for PYP Global Citizens

What is

important

toyou?

T h e t h i r d M o n d a y i n J a n u a r y i s a Na t i o n a l Holiday in the United States to honor Dr. Martin Luther King.

One of Dr. King’s passions was helping others. He urged people to look for ways to be of service and, in light of this, Martin Luther King day is also known as the MLK Day of Service. People all over the United States from all walks of life are encouraged to start the year off right by joining together in service. Schools are closed for the day, as are federal agencies and many businesses. Yes, that’s right - a day off school! Imagine all the sleeping in, the playing, the hanging out you could do!

That was not what came to mind for the fourth graders at Riverstone International School in Boise, Idaho, USA. These guys were pumped. They were ready for action. They had a plan. The students were a few weeks into their unit of inquiry about the universal importance of wellness. One of the things that kept coming up was how important nutrition was for everybody. What they soon found out, was that even close to home, not everyone was getting what they needed. Not even close!

The Idaho Foodbank is like hundreds of thousands of Foodbanks around the world. It serves the needs of the Idaho people, including some of it’s littlest people who can not serve themselves.

The Foodbank runs a Backpack program where kids who do not have enough food at home, get a backpack of nutritious food that they can prepare themselves, delivered to them at school on Friday in a backpack. The Foodbank buys all the food for the Backpack program to ensure they are packing a balanced, nutritious bag of food. One ‘small’ problem: they send out over 2000 backpacks a week and they need help packing them.

That is where the Riverstone kids come in. Inspired by their classmate, Maryana, the fourth grade all signed up to help ‘build’ backpacks on Martin Luther King day. They believed that they could help make a difference. This was important to them. More important than a morning of XBox in their PJ’s or sleeping ‘till noon.

The team were tasked with building 1000 backpack food kits and had two hours to do it. 57 minutes and 1387 backpacks later, they were done! It was a production line frenzy, with bags, packets, cans and boxes making their way into backpacks and out to hungry children. And in record time!

They didn’t know what the day was going to be like when they started. When it was over, one student said:

“This was the most importantthing I have ever done in my

life.”

Not a bad way to spend a vacation!

LOREM IPSUM

Who is Martin Luther King?

M a r t i n Lu t h e r K i n g w a s a champion of civil rights. He spoke up when others did not. He believed in the power of words and in change without violence.

Dr. King died for the important things he believed in. One of these things, was the power people have to help each other and to make a difference in the lives of others.

What do you to to make a difference? How do you let others know what is important to you?

What’s important on your day off?Life’s most

persistent and urgent question

is, “What are you doing for

others?”

What will you do for others...TODAY?

www.mlkday.gov

http://www.mlkday.govhttp://www.mlkday.gov