May - June, 2016

J.K. Rowling

British writer Joanne Kathleen Rowling, born July 31, 1965, is the creator of the wildly successful Harry Potter book series. Rowling reported that she was on a train when she began to imagine the first book of the series. She later said, “Harry just strolled into my head fully formed.”

In 1991, Rowling moved to Oporto, Portugal, where she taught English as a second language. She then moved to Scotland in 1994 and finished her first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, in 1995.

Rowling went on to write six more Harry Potter books. Film versions were made for all of them (8 movies, with the final book split into two films).

The Harry Potter books proved to be a worldwide publishing phenomenon; new editions were greeted by millions of fans, some of whom waited in costume for a midnight release.

In 2007, Rowling produced seven individual copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a volume of five fairy tales left to the character of Hermione Granger by Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

In 2011, she announced a new Harry Potter website called Pottermore, which features new and previously unpublished material about the world of Harry Potter.

J.K. Rowling lives in Edinburgh with her husband and three children and continues to write about Harry Potter.

(Source: Adapted from an interview with Scholastic Authors)

PazMun is a recreation of the United Nations Organization that our school: “Instituto La Paz” does annually. PazMun consists of debating different global issues and reaching possible solutions.

I was the President of a new committee named Historical Security Council. As some of you know, being a president wasn’t an easy task, I chose my topics, investigated the backgrounds, chose my DAIS and the countries for my delegates, but of course, I had some help from my DAIS, Uriel Pinéda Cortes, Ixchel Morales, and Ana Karen Tamayo, working with the committee was team work, we all had to do our best for the delegates and for the HSC, we wanted to make a big introduction for that committee.

By Uriel Pineda / Karla Mondragón

My first time in PazMun was as a delegate in 2014, (I was in sixth grade), in my first year of junior high I was a president, and I can assure you that PazMun 2016 was the best one yet, (not only to the credit of my DAIS and my committee). Historical Security Council was a wonderful experience thanks to the amazing Secretaries, they were awesome as they managed to bring new ways of thinking to PazMun. They really inspired me and helped me to make a great committee.

I think that PazMun is great if you give it a shot, if you think that PazMun is awful it’s because you expect it to be like that, and you don’t want to give it a proper chance. But if you arrive open minded, I can bet you, PazMun is great. It’s a awesome experience, in which you can really learn stuff like history, as well as current international issues, and how the different people of our world are treated.

PazMun it’s only great, if you want it to be.

Since last year’s PazMUN finished, I was left in the mood for more. Last year’s event was in my eyes, so fun and interesting that I really wanted to see how it could turn out this time.

The whole process began in November 2015, a bit earlier than the year before. The members of the secretariat asked all of us who wanted to be part of the DAIS to write down an essay on an important, current topic. I did it, and I was assigned as a moderator in the Historical Security Council. The rest of my members of the DAIS were all fellow classmates so I really didn’t feel uncomfortable around them.

As of January they started asking us to stay at school until 4:00 pm for meetings where they would explain our roles and the protocol for the event. Not that different from last year’s. I started to become more involved in the whole process as the time went on, helping my President choose topics, choose delegates, write emergency situations, and oversee the development of the committee in general. Those are all things I didn’t get to help my President with last year.

After so many months of expectations and daydreams, came the day of the event. PazMUN took place on April 29th and 30th 2016. The previous day, I had spent all the evening working on the façade of the classroom where our committee was going to be located, making it look like a shiny and beautiful time machine.

The classroom was ready, my outfit was ready, and I was ready. I walked into school a bit nervous, but ready to do everything perfectly. The sessions were very fluid, the debate in general was interesting, and I really saw actual interest in (most) of the delegate´s eyes. They came up with proposals, we made suggestions, they made a resolution, and I moderated in the best way I could. Not that different from what it was a year ago.

I really thought I had a big chance of winning the Best Moderator award, but, in the end, I didn’t, but anyways, it was not all about winning, was it? PazMUN is mostly about having fun in different and new ways. Having fun while meeting people you don’t know and, of course, practicing the English language.

That’s what PazMUN is really about for me. Not about winning. And now I look forward for next year’s PazMUN. Let’s wait and see how it turns out.

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)By Marissa MeyerRecommended for: MYP

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Continue this epic twist on fairytales with; Scarlett, Cress and Winter.

National Geographic KidsThis summer we are recommending our children to use one of our HPL databases:

National Geographic Kids is a kid friendly version of the iconic magazine. This database contains full issues of National Geographic Kids magazine from 2009 to present. It also contains 500 pictures and 200 National Geographic Kids books.

Harry Potter Yoga

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-BS87NTV5I

This month we have discovered for our younger readers a wonderful site that will allow you to join in with Harry Potter and his friends learning about yoga.

Yoga is a great way of relaxing and also enables you to learn in a more controlled way.

Just follow the link below

A great way to help children understand subjects taught in school is to let them cook with you this summer. They can learn maths as they measure out ingredients, they can discover chemistry as the ingredients react with each other and they can learn languages as they follow the recipe instructions. So here are a few recipe ideas to get you started:

Mini pizza quiches

Ingredients

2 large tortilla wraps4 eggschopped vegetables (optional)6 slices salami3 cherry tomatoes, halved, plus extra to servehandful basil leavesvegetable sticks, to serve

Milkshake ice pops

Ingredients

405ml can light condensed milk1 tsp vanilla bean paste1 ripe chopped banana10 strawberries or 3 tbsp chocolate hazelnut spread

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Using a 12cm cutter (or a small plate) cut circles from the large tortilla wraps – you should get 6. Use the circles to line 6 holes of a muffin tin, pushing them into the holes to make cases.

Beat the eggs and pour into the tortilla cases (you can add some chopped vegetables too, if you like). Top each case with a slice of salami and 1/2 a cherry tomato. Bake for 15 mins until the egg has set. Top with a few basil leaves, if you like, and serve with extra tomatoes and vegetable sticks.

Method

Pour the light condensed milk into a food processor and add the vanilla bean paste and chopped banana. Whizz until smooth. Add either the strawberries or chocolate hazelnut spread and whizz again.

Divide the mixture between 4 paper cups, cover with foil, then push a lolly stick through the foil lid of each cup until you hit the base. Freeze for 4 hrs or until solid. Will keep in the freezer for 2 months.

It was a great year with a lot of expectations and learning moments. Students developed scientific topics and researched about ecosystems, chemical reactions, Newton’s law, life cycles, evolution, animal adaptation, extinction, communication, biomes, solar system, types of energy, volcanoes, etc.

We enjoyed practicing scientific skills and creating opportunities to understand complex information through experimentation and fun activities. We were pleased to share all these great moments during this wonderful school year.

By: Profr. Kevin Ortegón

As the upcoming “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” movie release approaches, JK Rowling has been posting some short stories in Pottermore, which expands the Wizard world, explaining the presence and manifestations of magic in North America. From its government, The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA for short), to one of the best schools of magic in the world, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Within the website one can read about the foundation of said establishments and their relationship to Native American culture, as well as taking a quiz to know which house you belong in the school (Horned Serpent, Wampus, Pukwudgie and Thunderbird). Although these stories do not mention our lovable Potter, they´re awfully interesting and will give loyal fans and No-Maj (Muggles) a peek into what this new franchise means.

Visit POTTERMORE at this link:https://www.pottermore.com/news/pottermore-reveals-ilvermorny-writing-video-and-sorting

By: Olinka Romano 3B Sec.

We invite you to be part of this newsletter by sending us all your recipes, articles

and mind games to:

colibri@ilp.edu.mx

Where we are waiting to be enthralled.

Together we Educate!