Three groups of grade 3 students at the International School of Moscow (ISM) organized charitable drives as part of their Citizens in Action (CIA) project. The Green Team received permission to create a presentation about the community garden and take photos to post on the garden's blog. The Amazing Donators set up a toy drive for grades 3 and 4, collecting donations until December 9th for a charity. Hello Clothes collected reusable clothes and shoes for another charity until the same date. The emails show the students communicating their projects and seeking permission from teachers.

1. CIA ARE EFFECTIVECOMMUNICATORS!

2. Here are some emails that have been sent by grade three students, describing some of the activities that they have planned to implement over the course of the year.

3. From: Shortridge, Amber Sent: Friday, October 15, 2010 11:55 AMTo: Rea, JuanitaSubject: Dear Mrs. Rea, We need permission to make a presentation about the community garden and howwe can help the environment and put the presentation on your community garden blog. So please send the answer to Ms Shortridge. This presentation will be made onComic Life. We also need permission to take picturesof the community garden. From,The Green Team(3 Students from Ms Shortridge’s Class)

4. Dear Green Team I am very excited to hear that you want to work together with us! That is wonderfulnews. We definitely need to take care of our environment so thank you so much forthinking about our community garden and our blog! I love Comic Life and think it’s a wonderful way to communicate news about what we are learning. Not only do you have my permission but you are very welcome to drop by to ask meany questions. We also have an after-school activity every Wednesday from 2:15 to4:00 so let me know if you would like to join us and when.I am looking forward to meeting you!Ms Rea

5. From: Chopra, MuskaanSent: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 12:26 PMTo: Hamaguchi, Kris; Quinlan, Michael; O'Neel, Travis; Shortridge, Amber; McGrath, IlanaCc: Gillespie, Simon; Rea, JuanitaSubject: FW: Amazing Donators Dear Grade 3 Teachers, We are from Ms. Remoroza’s class and our group is called the Amazing Donators. WithMr. Gillespie’s permission and Mrs. Rea’s help, for our CIA project we decided to set up a toy drive for 3rdgrade students to participate in. Another group is holding a clothes drive for grade 4. If you can please show this video to your class to give them more information. We will be putting a box in your classroom today where students can put what they decide to donate. Students can bring their reusable toys starting this week until next Thursday, Dec. 9 when some of the organization which ISM works with willbe visiting. We will be giving them the clothes and toys then. We appreciate any help and support you can give. You can reply at this email or email Ms. Remoroza if you have any questions. Thanks again,Muskaan, Danielle, Patricia, and Max

6. From: Bohn, Madison Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2010 2:48 PMTo: Cooney, Teresa; Costa Garcia, Roseanne; Patterson, Jona; McElhinney, Joanna; JimenezOcson, Anna; Markovich, Annie; Hamaguchi, Kris; Gillespie, Simon; Rea, JuanitaSubject: Hello Clothes Dear Fourth Grade Teachers, We are from Ms. Remoroza’s third grade class. With Mr. Gillespie’s permission and Mrs. Rea’s help, for our Citizens in Action (CIA) project we decided to collect reusable clothes and shoes and donate them to a charity that ISM works with. We will be putting a box in each of the fourth grade classrooms tomorrow afternoon where students can put donated clothes and shoes for us to collect at the end of each week. Another CIA group will be setting up a toy drive where they’ll be asking third graders to participate. We will be collecting until Dec. 9 to give to the charities who will visit ISM on Dec. 10. Here is a video link which we ask you to show your students. Thank you for your time and any support you and your students can give. If you have any questions, you can reply back to this email Or ask Ms. Remoroza. Sincerely,Madison, Adam, Truman and Rikuto

7. There are other teams who have given seeds to grade one students so that they can plant them during the growth unit of inquiry. Many other CIA students have dropped on aWednesday afternoon to help to care of our Community Garden.

8. THANK YOU CIA STUDENTS! You are leading the way by designing solutions and taking positive action in our school community!