A math time of year…

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Lana

We’ve got some great activities going on to complement our math program right now. Students have been introduced to IXL math over the last two weeks and have put in over 35 hours on this site answering over 5000 problems; surely the extra skills practice will extend their learning, they are certainly having fun mastering specific categories, remembering that fractions and ratios are the focus for the next few weeks.

Our class has also been signed up for the World Education Games. The World Education Games is the exciting event for ALL schools and students around the world. It runs from 6-8 March, involving 5.5million students from over 200 countries and territories. Practice opens on 1 February. This is the global challenge to get ALL students (4-18 years of age) excited about learning, and to give the top students in each school an opportunity to see how they measure up against the best.

The format is:
1 February – The Games open for Practice
6 March – World Spelling Day
7 March – World Maths Day
8 March – World Science Day

Everyone has received their username and password and they can now start practicing during their free time. It’s lots of fun and kids get to challenge others from all over the world in real-time!

News of the Moment

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Lana

Do you like animals? Do you like doing fun, animal-themed activities? Do you like munching on popcorn while watching animal movies and thinking about how much you like animals? If the answer to these questions is yes, you should come to Animal Rescue’s Elementary School Fun Night!

You’ll be divided up by grade level (grades 1-3, grades 4-5) and even if you’ve seen the movie before, we also have fun activities, snacks, HS students arranged to talk with you about our club, and buses to bring you home. So make sure to bring your friends on Friday, March 23rd! We aren’t charging admission but suggest a 50RMB donation, with all money going to Jaiya’s Animal Rescue. Permission forms will be coming around on February 21st and 22nd; you have until Feb 29th to turn them in to your teacher, along with your donation. Don’t miss out!

Invention Convention Update

Parents, in class today we looked at past 5KP Invention Convention Presentations to give our students a better idea of the end product they are expected to create. Please take 5 minutes to read Mrs Rekate’s blog post, where she gives more details, showcases several former students, and hopefully puts your mind at ease over this project. The main message is:

We are more interested in process than end result!

Writing and Reading

In our Writing and Reading Workshop lessons, students are learning about various inventors, and writing their Research Paper on a particular invention or inventor they are interested in. This paper will be due by Wednesday the 29th of February as we will then display it, along with your child’s invention or research project, on Friday March 2nd.

Friday March 2nd: You’re invited!

Please plan on being here at school between 8.00 and 9.30 that morning. Activities will begin shortly after 8 am with all students showing off their work at their desks and in the 5th grade project area. We will then move over to the Library Lecture Hall by the Main Cafeteria at about 8.45 to have our New Inventors Show with special guest judges. The main winner of the New Inventors Show will win a one year family pass to the Science and Technology Museum in Pudong; you won’t want to miss this thrilling showcase from the ‘best of the best’.

Math

We reviewed the Unit 7 math test today; things were not as bad as they seemed last Friday (apologies for anxiety caused, I had a substitute teacher mark the test which did result in some confusion). This test was actually a more difficult test for many of the students however so far the class average is 88% which is pretty impressive. Well done to Erika for earning her 3rd perfect score this year and a big congratulations to the following students who showed improvement between Unit 6 and Unit 7; Michelle, Taeyun, Pepo, Joon Soo, Aavia and Alex A; especially considering this was an intense unit.

We begin our next unit on Fractions and Ratios tomorrow. Students will benefit from working on the IXL site, in particular on the ‘L’ and ‘V’ sections.

Check out the Unit 8 Family Letter

Animal Rescue

1:1 Laptop Program

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Lana

Hi Parents
As I sit with all of the 5th grade teachers and students today listening and participating in a session run by Robyn Treyvaud about Cyber Safety, I can’t help realize that it is only six months ’til my own daughter will have her own laptop in our Middle School’s 1:1 Laptop Program. My daughter is growing up way too fast.

Considering my 5 year old cried in the car on the way to school today because I wouldn’t let her use the ipad… maybe she is the daughter who should be going 1:1!

During Robyn’s Presentation, I had time to check through my google reader and saw a relevant post by a former colleague, Jeff Utecht. I think in this post Jeff sums up nicely the concerns we may have as our children move into the program. I found this paragraph particularly timely if you don’t have time to read his post:

Remember That You Are The Parent

When it comes to technology, many parents feel that they do not know enough to create limits and boundaries. Because of this they do not feel right taking the technology away. You are still the parent and in your house you make the rules. You have every right to take the computer away from your child if you feel they are not having enough “down time”. I know one family that the whole family felt out of balance so they unplug the Internet in their house. So everyone has to be disconnected at the same time. They use this time to reconnect as a family and just have some ‘down’ time.

Smart Students make Smart Goals

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Lana

Hi Parents

We had a great lesson just now on our Invention Convention Project. Most of the students have made a good start to either their research paper or their research project over the last ten days; however with only 16 days until these items are officially due, it is time for them to create a ‘plan of attack’ and so that is what they did this morning.

We discussed S.M.A.R.T. goals as a class and then wrote up our own goals, using SMART goals as our guideline. We also talked honestly about the other expectations that impact their daily lives and will get in the way of them achieving their best results on the project and paper. Many of our students are extremely busy in their out of school time, some with as many as three activities a night; it is unrealistic to expect them to do project work on these nights when there seems barely enough time to eat a meal with their family so we took nights like this, as well as sleep-overs, birthday parties, family events etc into account in our plans.

Tonight, please look at your child’s science notebook and please read their Invention Convention plan through with them if you have time. I believe that them knowing that we are both focused on them following this plan over the next two weeks, will help your child to stay on track and not be rushed our stressed leaving things ’til the last minute.

Don’t forget to save the date! We want YOU in our project area at 8.10 am on Friday March 2nd to share in our success as we have our Invention Convention presentation.

Below is a video from Youtube on smart goals, I apologize in advance, that it will only work in China if you have a VPN.

Happy Tuesday

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Lana

Monday, February 13 6:30 – 7:30 PM

Raising Cyber Citizens

Parent Evening – Radisson Thumb Plaza, Pudong

Hi Families

With 8 weeks until Spring Break begins, we have a lovely stretch of class time broken up into the month of February and March. During February, a big focus for 5th grade is the Invention Convention which we are studying in Writer’s Workshop, Reader’s Workshop and Social Studies. In our writing time we are learning to write a solid research paper; during reading we are looking at biographies and have also been dabbling in Reader’s Theater which was a lot of fun. During our Social Studies time we are learning about what makes an invention an invention, that inventions are all around us, what the acronym S.C.A.M.P.E.R means and what some of the most important inventions have meant to our world. We are also learning how to be better researches and that ‘googling’ is not the answer to everything; therefore we’ve utilized our online databases this week and I encourage you to check them out as your child will be becoming more and more familiar with them as they continue their schooling.

Invention Convention Clarifications

1. Every child will be writing a Research Paper on and inventor or invention of their choice using the 5 paragraph essay format. Research skills and paragraph writing are being taught and modeled in class, resources are available through our classroom and school libraries as well as the above mentioned databases. Students are not to just ‘google’ for this project. Of course there are some excellent websites out there, one we looked at today is very useful, but we don’t want our students thinking that the internet is the only place to find information.

2. Students are given 3 options for their major Invention Convention project:

*Create/Adapt (an existing) invention using the design process discussed in class, S.C.A.M.P.E.R. guidelines, diagrams, sketches, prototypes etc and be prepared to present it to the class no later than March 1st.
*Complete a research project based on and inventor (not the same one you did your research paper on). This paper should be in depth, including a time line of the inventor’s life, illustrations and/or pictures or the inventor, facts about the person etc.
*Complete a research project based on an invention (not the same one you did your research paper on). This paper should be in depth, including a time line of the invention and how it has changed over it’s ‘life’, the impact it has had on people, illustrations and/or pictures or the invention, facts about the invention including cost, distribution etc.

Only the students who choose the first option are eligible to participate in our “New Inventors Show” in the Project Area on Friday March 2nd. This Show is modeled from the Australian TV Series “The New Inventors” and we are watching several portions of the show in class, ask your child about it. In the past, everyone has had to invent something new, and some students (and parents) have found it very difficult, time consuming and stressful. The added two options are hopefully going to alleviate some of that stress. Students can still have a wonderful and successful experience, learning all about inventors and inventions in class, and still score brilliantly, without creating their own invention. All of the 5th graders projects and research papers will be on display on the morning of Friday March 2nd and we encourage you to mark this date as we would love you to join us here at school, more details to follow.

P.S. If your child could bring a set of headphones to school it would be useful during class time right now.

Math

We are progressing well on our Unit 7 studies in Math and will have our end of unit test on Wednesday the 15th. I am encouraging the students to review their work every single night, rather than waiting until next Tuesday.

Events for your diary…

Treat Day IS this Thursday, send in some cash if you’d like your child to buy a treat.

Monday, February 13 6:30 – 7:30 PM

Raising Cyber CitizensParent Evening – Radisson Thumb Plaza, Pudong

Wednesday, February 29, 10:00-11:00 a.m.

Parent Coffee Hour with Dr. Yong Zhao

Location: Pudong, Library Lecture Hall

Wednesday, February 29, 11:00am-12:00pm Location: Pudong, Library Lecture Hall

The Balance Between Homework and Play: A Presentation for Middle and Elementary School Parents

An Evening with Dr. Yong Zhao (English Presentation)

Location: Kerry Hotel, Pudong Ballroom 1388 Hua Mu Road

Valentines Day is Tuesday February 14th and we want everyone to wear RED! We also want every child to donate a minimum of 10 rmb, giving the money to their teacher on the day, as we’d love to raise enough money for two children who need heart operations. We weill be donating our money to Heart to Heart Shanghai .As my own foster-child has recently had heart surgery that was paid for through the generosity of others, I feel this is a cause close to my own (pardon any pun) heart! So please, dig deep, buy a heart bear for 200 rmb if you want to give even more (see flyer below), and wear red to school (it also happens to be my favourite/favorite colour/color, go Pumas!!!

Important Information:

Treat Day – Thursday, February 9^th

Wear Red Day – Tuesday, February 14^th

Unit 7 Math Assessment – Wednesday, February 15^th

Assembly on Digital Literacy for fifth graders – Wednesday, February 15^th

Invention Convention project and research essay due – Thursday, March 1^st

Invention Convention Science Show (for parents to attend) – Friday, March 2^nd

^{May Day Holiday -Friday April 30th-Monday May 1st}

Band and Orchestra concert – Friday, May 11^th

All Day Field trip to Jinshan Peasant Painting Village – Friday, May 18^th

the barefoot librarian

Kimbra Power

Monthly Archives: February 2012