ST. MARK'S INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL eNewsletter

PRE-PREP MUSIC

In their latest music class, our pre-prep students had an exciting and enriching experience learning how to sing along with the piano. The lesson focused on listening carefully to each note and starting to sing at the perfect moment, ensuring a harmonious blend of voices with the music. Each student also had the opportunity to shine individually, taking turns to sing solo in front of their classmates. This helped them practice timing and melody and boosted their confidence as performers. It was a delightful mix of fun, learning, and personal growth for our students!

YEAR 3 MATHS

Our Year 3 students are getting more familiar with bigger numbers now. These two weeks, they had been working on the topic of addition and subtraction within 10 000, including the all-time favourite method of renaming and the method of mental calculation.

To apply their learning in the real-world settings, students need to learn how to solve the application questions. Students were taught to:

1. Read and understand the word problems.
2. Plan and solve the problems by drawing models.
3. Check their answers.

In this class, students were given an opportunity to first read aloud the question. They were then required to draw a model and decide which numbers to use. By drawing a model, students would be able to visualise and understand the question better. At the end of each question, students were asked to do their workings on the whiteboard. This engaging activity will help to enhance their learning and to build their confidence in math.

YEAR 5 THAI

In their recent Thai class, Year 5 students learned about prepositions. The lesson began with a detailed explanation from their teacher, who described how prepositions function to connect nouns, pronouns, or phrases to other parts of a sentence, highlighting their importance in understanding sentence structure.

To reinforce this new concept, the class moved on to a fun, interactive activity. The teacher projected a variety of sentences onto the board, and students were invited to come up one by one. Their task was to identify the preposition in each sentence and explain how it connected different parts of the sentence. This exercise not only encouraged active participation but also helped students sharpen their analytical skills.

Through this engaging activity, Year 5 students demonstrated a solid understanding of prepositions and their role in everyday language.

YEAR 8 PHYSICS: DISPLACEMENT LAB

In Year 8 Physics, students recently participated in an engaging lab lesson on density. They explored how to find the volume of irregular-shaped objects using the displacement method, where they measured how much water the object displaced to determine its volume. Afterward, they used an electronic balance to find the object's mass. The final step was calculating the density by dividing the mass by the volume. This hands-on experience not only helped students understand density practically but also allowed them to practice using scientific equipment and methods.

YEAR 11 BIOLOGY: FRUIT DNA

In their recent laboratory session, Year 11 students took a hands-on approach to studying genetics by extracting DNA from a banana. As part of their Genetics Topic, students were provided with detailed instructions on a worksheet, guiding them through the extraction process step by step.

The experiment began with students crushing the banana and adding a buffer solution to break down the cells. They then carefully filtered the mixture to separate the solid particles, leaving a filtrate that was placed into a boiling tube. Next, detergent was added to dissolve the cell membranes, followed by ethanol to precipitate the DNA. At this point, students could clearly see the strands of DNA forming.

Afterward, students ensured all equipment was cleaned, and they wrapped up the session by answering a series of questions on their worksheet, reinforcing what they had learned. This engaging experiment allowed the Year 11 class to experience the wonders of DNA extraction firsthand!

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS: 4TH BANGKOK INTERNATIONAL PERFORMING ARTS PIANO COMPETITION

We are excited to announce that our students Weerasil Wongsrisant and Mira Hanpanich have achieved remarkable success in the 4th Bangkok International Performing Arts Piano Competition, held on August 31, 2024.

Weerasil (Y1) is just six months into his piano studies, competed in Category Children A (ages 6 & 7) with “Muss i denn” from the ABRSM book 2025 & 2026 Grade 1. Weerasil won the Gold Medal for his impressive performance.

Mira (Y3) performed "Spillemarket" and "Esquisse in D" from the ABRSM book 2025 & 2026. She earned the Gold Medal in Category Grade 6 and the Silver Medal in Category Children B (ages 8 & 9).