Category Archives: News

Friday on my Mind

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Good Morning 5KP thrill-seekers…

Did you all do your morning jobs??? Or were you all too excited once you saw the instructions on the board? If so, GET BACK TO THOSE JOBS, hand those forms in and get ORGANIZED!

Here are your instructions for after you are ready for the day, PAY SOMEONE A COMPLIMENT NOW, yes, NOW, as soon as you are reading this, call out (politely) to someone else in the room and tell them something nice, DO IT!

Then…

Make sure you have saved your work in the ‘For Mrs Power’ folder, save it in word if you are having any difficulty and remember to save as “Final Narrative Kimbra” Carl B, Patricia, keep typing please, do not go on to the tasks below until that document is IN MY FOLDER, that goes for all of you!

Then…

Open the front and back end of your blog. Go into your ‘Nicholas’ entry to edit it. Open a new tab, google ‘Nicholas’ and find a picture of the book cover, or any of the covers or something relevant to the book. Copy by right clicking and saying ‘copy image location’ then go back to your back end and click on ‘add media’. If you are stuck now, ask someone for help, I know some of you know how to do this already.

When you have done that. Go to add a new post. Take out your reader’s notebook and choose one of the entries I have written comments in for you. Type up that entry under the heading ‘Reader’s Notebook’ and make sure you add any improvements or suggestions I have made and that you correct all errors.

Now, go to this site, http://www.overhereoverthere.com/ and I want all the falcons and dolphins in the class (if you are not sure which you are check here) to comment on a post Sydney has written, and all of the bears and pumas to comment on a post Hannah has written. Be positive and maybe suggest something else you would like them to write about. These girls are 4th graders now but they are friends that have known each other since pre-k 4 and have remained friends even though they now live half way around the world from each other; be supportive and encouraging and check your spelling before you hit ‘comment’.

IF you have done all of that, and only then, you may have some free blogging time, if you HAVE NOT finished, please do so over the weekend.

Maddie, don’t forget to take Shadow home today in the small cage, clean it out first and I have put a small zip-lock bag of food in there for him and you can also give him some vegetables etc, but not too much. The most important thing is water. You can take the ball home but please bring it back (and Shadow, on Monday.) Ask Patricia, Claire or Ingrid if you need any help and Carl B and Mike have also got ‘hamster experience’. Good Luck!

Have a great donut/brownie eating experience today and a wonderful weekend. Be good for Mr B please, very very good!

Happy Birthday to Claire and Thomas for the weekend.

News of the Moment

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Hello 5KP families

The class are enjoying preparing their first personal narrative for publishing. Using some of the new tools I was taught about at the Mac conference last Thursday and Friday we have been reading each others work, saving the work as a Pages Document and then using Voice Candy to give feedback to our writing partner. Ask the kids about it, they really worked hard. We will hold our first publishing party next Monday. It would be great if we could have some volunteers to send in a few treats for the kids. Please mail me if you are able to make brownies or cupcakes or send in some juice, pop-corn or potato chips, we would really appreciate it and then we will celebrate by sharing our stories aloud with each other.We are about half way through our second math unit and I anticipate having our second unit test first thing on Thursday the 23rd of September. That week is a busy week with our publishing party on Monday, school photos on either Monday the 20th or Tuesday the 21st (times to follow), an elementary assembly at 2 pm on Tuesday (you are always welcome to attend), our day off from school on Wednesday the 22nd and our first soccer day of the year on Thursday the 23rd, starting out on the fields at 10 am, please join us if you are able, we play about 5 matches between 10 am and 1.30 pm (details to follow).

All of these dates are in the google calendar at the left of this screen and are updated regularly.

All new students have now been put into their school houses, either Puma, Dolphin, Bear or Falcon so check out who is where.

names

Finally, if you are anything like me, you will sometimes find it difficult to get your child organized in the morning. Some of the students have been coming to school without their writer’s or reader’s notebooks, their study-links or other things they need for the day. I found this link handy in my own life and wonder if it may be helpful in yours. The site, unclutterer.com is in my useful sites category too on the right of the screen as I have followed it for a few years; there is always something handy on there to help me or my family/my class become more organized.

I look forward to perhaps seeing some of you at the S.A.S. swim meet of the P.T.S.A. barbecue this Saturday. Over and Out!

Missing You 5KP

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http://portal.saschina.org/video/flv_player/Main.swf

Hi Students, I hope you enjoyed your two days with Mr Bromley and are keeping yourselves well behaved and impressing him with your strong skills and good manners. I have had a great two day conference and have learned a lot of fun and helpful new applications that I look forward to sharing with you soon, we are going to have such a great year. The mac computers offer us many new learning opportunities.
If you are still having trouble with your comments “DON’T DESPAIR” but be patient, it is a school-wide problem and Mr Power is doing everything he can to fix it. Keep posting blog entries and as soon as we can we will fix the issue.
Good Luck with Ash this weekend Mike, look after your little hamster.
Monday is a day 2 so don’t forget you have music last period and that Monday Reader’s need to hand in their Reader’s Notebook.
Have a great weekend 5KP.

News of the Moment

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Hello Parents

I look forward to meeting many of you at Open House tonight. Here is the information that will be discussed this evening in a more formal format for your reference.

Introducing 5th Grade Procedures

Homework Expectations

Each weeknight students are generally expected to:

Complete a study link related to that day’s math content

Read for 30 minutes

Complete any specific writer’s workshop or reader’s workshop tasks assigned by their teacher

Review and revise math, science and social studies concepts as needed

Complete any homework requirements from specialist teachers

Homework will be written down each day in the students’ agenda (diary, assessment book) and will usually not be given over the weekend unless a project is being undertaken

Assessment Practices

Math

There will be an end of unit test given as summative assessment at the end of each math unit (there are 12 for the year). Students will know about these test dates at least a few days before the test is given. They will receive their raw score as soon as possible after completing the test, we then go over the test together as a class and the students are then asked to have the test signed by a parent and returned on the next school day.

Formative assessments will also be completed in class and these may include mad minutes, oral questioning, submission of study links and spot quizzes.

Language Arts

We complete six units of study in our Writer’s Workshop lessons and at the end of each unit (approximately 4-6 weeks long) a piece of work will be published and the student will receive comprehensive feedback for that work in the form of a rubric.

Formative assessments will also be completed in class and these are generally based on anecdotal evidence collected by the teacher during conferences and class participation during the mini lesson.

In our Reader’s Workshop students are asked to maintain reading logs whether in their Reader’s Notebook or through their blog. Students also maintain their Notebook and regularly confer both with their Reading Buddies and their teacher.

Science and Social Studies

These subjects are generally project based and may involve the student maintaining notebooks, completing posters worksheets and tests and completing tasks that will be introduced to the parents through the classroom teacher’s blog.

Standardized Tests

Throughout the year there are several opportunities for the children to be tested in a standardized manner. Parents will be notified when their children are to take part in the I.O.W.A. and E.R.B. tests and also the D.R.A. test that will be taken by each student twice a year, once in the Fall and once in the Spring. A spelling inventory is also undertaken in the first month of the year to gauge what areas need to be focused on in our Word Study lessons.

Technology Requirements

5th grade students will be set up with their own blog before the end of September. Students will be taught during class time how to maintain and add to their blog responsibly. There will be opportunities to enhance student learning through the use of the blog and it is an expectation that students have some access to a computer in their home. Classroom teachers will communicate with their class the requirements that need to be met here and if any parents need clarification they should immediately e mail the classroom teacher.

Completing writing and research tasks whether on the blog or the Internet in general does not mean that students take over their home computer for hours on end playing games and adding widgets!

It is very useful for your child to have their own usb stick/thumb drive that they keep with them in their school bag.

Parent Teacher Communication

E-mail is the main form of communication between teachers and parents and we aim to return your e-mails on the same day we receive them. If it is urgent that you relay a message to your child, please call Carol in the office and she will get a message to us a.s.a.p.

Teachers would appreciate the parents viewing their blog at least once per week and suggest the best day to do this would be Monday. While we may be adding to our blog more often than once weekly it will often be specifically aimed at the students. Our goal is to relay the most important news to you at the beginning of the school week.

In other news

Just a reminder that the Scholastic book order forms and catalogs went home with your fifth grader today. Knowing that it is sometimes difficult to find English language books for your children here in Shanghai, the Scholastic book orders are a great way to buy books for your child to have on hand when they’ve finished up their library books and need something to read or to have to take on a holiday break or even to keep on hand for gifts. Best of all, every time a child orders a book from the Scholastic catalog, the teacher earns points from Scholastic that they can use to order books for their classroom. What a great way to build your child’s library and their classroom library at the same time?

Please note that the students’ due date for this order form will be Monday, September 13th, 2010. As there is always a crunch for time, the teachers will not be able to process any orders received after this cut-off date. Also note that money must always be paid at the time of the order in the correct amount (no change will be given) and in R.M.B.

Friday Update

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Hi Parents, what an eventful week with a typhoon warning to spice things up… the excitement never ends. I have enjoyed your child this week; we are really getting to know each other and our expectations for behavior and the day-to-day running of the classroom are coming along beautifully. It is going to be a great year.

Only a week ago our class pet Shadow gave birth to 6 babies, 5 are alive and well at my home at least until their eyes open and their mother stops being so protective. We started science this week by looking at the scientific method although I think a look at ‘life cycles’ might have been more appropriate considering all of our hamster activity. Enjoy some photos of the tiniest little critters I have seen as well as the students enjoying their first science class.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

Today we completed our Unit One math test, I then worked through my lunch break to correct it and we spent half an hour just now going over the results. The students should all be able to explain to you exactly how each question was corrected and assessed; most answers were worth one mark; the total test was out of 22. Please sign the test over the weekend to acknowledge that you have seen it.

Please go easy on those that didn’t do to well, it is only early in the year and I would rather encourage them to do better next time than discourage them from being honest and open about how they went. It is always the ‘naturally clever math students’ that make the silly errors that I am most frustrated with as I know they can do better and it annoys me that they don’t read over the test when they are done as they would often see their mistakes.

Monday is a day three and the children have their last swimming class in PE and have been asked to bring in a bag appropriate for taking their swimwear home with them. Their next PE unit will be soccer as our first soccer day for the year is coming soon.

Your child was set up with their own blog this week and they are on a huge learning curve, they will learn far more quickly than most of us will however there will still be many frustrations in the early days of having access to this technology. They will enjoy your encouragement and interest at this stage and as the weeks go by their will be many opportunities for learning that can be enhanced through the use of their blog.

News of the moment

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It was a wonderful week of learning and adventure in 5KP and we are looking forward to it continuing as we start our second full week together. Thank you students for your effort in remembering our morning routines, our classroom rules and the way we behave and manage our daily schedules.

As of this week, if students do not complete homework; there will be consequences that involve them losing their recess time and copying out our classroom homework policy. The second time homework is forgotten I will contact the parents in the hope that there will not be a third time. The students know that I do not set a lot of homework and I expect what is set to be done, on time, and with care and effort. I try and make the consequences as boring as possible, the homework as meaningful as possible and our classroom time as valuable as possible.

Check out who your children share their day with below and take the time to comment on the blog if you care to.

Introducing 5KP
http://portal.saschina.org/video/flv_player/Main.swf
News around the School

Please click on these blog posts from Mrs Boyer regarding library volunteers and from our Principals regarding our Open House activities for September 8th for more information.

Class Pet

It was a surprise on Thursday morning when our class pet, a ‘male’ hamster named Shadow, gave birth to not one but six baby hamsters!!! That was certainly an interesting way to start the day and 36 hours later as I write this, the six babies are alive and well, small and pink with their eyes still closed. I wrote the information below before the babies were born… the only thing that has changed now is that we won’t start letting Shadow go home for weekends until the babies have been weaned. If you are interested in a pet hamster, just send me an e mail and in a month or so… voila!

The children are very excited to have a class pet and we will develop a list of responsibilities to go along
with having a pet that enables them to take turns playing with him, providing him with
fresh food and water and cleaning his cage.

Shadow has a travel cage and is allowed to go home with your child over the weekend IF you write
to me giving permission for this to happen, it is purely an option, not a necessity so do not feel any
pressure. (“Yeah, right” I hear you say… so I will re-phrase that; don’t feel any pressure FROM ME!)
My only concern with Shadow coming home with your child is that he be protected from undue stress at home
and especially on the bus ride.

I have discussed this at length with the students and they are forbidden to take him
out of the cage between school and home and encouraged to just keep a low profile on the bus and
set the cage on the floor at their feet or on their lap. The bus experience will be noisy and busy enough
without any extra attention.

I will provide the hamster food for the weekend but feel free to also give small pieces of fresh carrot
etc. The cage can be cleaned out again by the student once they return it to school on the Monday.
Hamsters can be very noisy at night time; very entertaining too. They tend to sleep for most of the day.
I find having them run around in an empty bath
with a few small bits and pieces to play with (empty toilet paper rolls are ideal) is fun to watch and
they cannot escape… Make sure they don’t go down the plug hole!

Over and Out from 5KP!

Welcome Parents of 5KP

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Hello and welcome to many of you who are visiting this blog for the first time. This will be my primary way of relaying news and information to you about your child and our lessons so I hope you find time to check it once a week. I suggest that day be Monday, as I often find time to post news and update photos over the weekend.

The blog alert e mail that led you to this page is something I will only activate when it is important for you to see what I have written (again, I will aim for Monday). There will be many other times when I post information that is relevant for the students but not necessary for you to see so I will deactivate the alert at that stage. I know you are busy, I value your time and I don’t want the blog to stress you out; rather to give you a snapshot of some of the activities we are enjoying in 5KP.

Feel free to look at it as often as you like, there are links to other classes, your child’s specialist teachers and other sites relevant to our learning. The blog will not be a way to communicate homework: that will be done through your child’s homework diary/assessment book/agenda! E mail is the best way to get to me quickly however I would love to see some of your comments on our blog and so will your child when they have their very own blog which will be set up over the next two weeks.

Here are some dates that may be worth putting on your calendar:

*Parent Information Fair Thursday, August 26th at 8:00 am
*1st PTSA General Meeting Thursday, August 26th at 9:00 am
*Open House Wednesday, September 8th (details to be announced)
*PTSA Pudong Fall BBQ Saturday, September 18th

Please now read the recent posts below which contain photos of your child and other school news. You will learn a few things about me by clicking on the ‘KIMBRA POWER’ link at the top of the page. I look forward to learning more about you too in the weeks ahead and can’t wait to see you at our Open House.

Here’s to new beginnings…

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How exciting to have met and enjoyed the students I will teach for the rest of the school year. They are a lively, enthusiastic, happy and positive bunch of young people and we had a really great first four days together. They seem to gel as a group and that is really important for our learning environment, I have had some really tight-knit classes over the past 5 years at S.A.S. and it is wonderful watching them grow and learn together.

To the right of the screen it says 5KP students and I will keep my former students up there until the current 5KP class are introduced to blogging and have their own blog set up (within the next two weeks). In the meantime check out the work that was done by last years students as a guide to what sort of events and activities your children can look forward to this year.

*Don’t forget swim tryouts are Monday and Tuesday at 3.15 pm in our wonderful aquatics center. See here for details
*Please see Ms. Denton’s blog as she has posted information for her band students. All the blog addresses you need are listed in the right sidebar, Ms. Denton is under specialists. Just click on the link.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. ~John Dewey

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

*Tomorrow is Day 5 so don’t forget we will have swimming during PE time.
*Monday Reader’s also have their Reader’s Notebook due tomorrow so write me a letter all about something interesting you have discovered while reading over the weekend.
*Enjoy the remainder of your weekend 5KP and please continue to make your Reader’s Notebook look spectacular.
*Thank You parents for your e mail addresses, I will have a group mailing list set up this week and will be in touch.

A couple of first week announcements…

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It was really wonderful today to meet the class I will be teaching and learning with for the next 10 months.

Welcome to 5KP…Spencer, Madeline, Carl B, Calen, Roxanne, Mrinalini, Xing Chen, Maximillian, Mike, Kyra, Jonathan, Claire, Ingrid, Hsuan-Hsuan, Kevin, Patricia, Carl Z, Thomas and Grace.

Homework tonight is for the students to give their parents a notice about Power School and a copy of their class schedule as well as students and parents reading this blog post. PARENTS PLEASE E MAIL ME AT kimbra.power@saschina.org so that I have a copy of the main e mail address you want me to use to keep in touch with you through e mail and also to alert you when a weekly update on the blog is posted.

Here is the schedule. It may change over the next couple of weeks, but not by a great deal. I gave the students a paper copy of it today to keep at home and feel free to print off this fancy colorful one if you need to. LLB stands for Language Learning Block.

Screen shot 2010-08-16 at 12.00.15 PM

On behalf of the Fifth Grade team and all of us here at the Shanghai American School, we welcome you to the 2010-2011 school year.   We are all keen to begin a year that will be wonderfully memorable for you and your child.

Like the beginning of any school year, the first week of school can sometimes create a variety of emotions within children and their parents.  In order to  ensure a smooth transition for you and your child, we have developed a list of essential ‘bits and pieces’. You can skip the sections you already know about, especially if you are not new to the school. The information in bold is the most pertinent for now.

LUNCH CARDS

Most students had their Eurest cards with them today, loaded up and ready to go. Don’t forget to pay me back if I helped you out today and remember to bring along some money to recharge your card tomorrow. To purchase a healthy, hot lunch from school you must first purchase a Eurest lunch card from the Eurest staff located in the elementary school cafeteria.   Money will be stored on your child’s card and deducted from the balance of the card each time meal items are purchased.  When the balance on the card becomes low, a notification will be sent home asking you to apply money to the card.  Eurest staff will provide a receipt for your records in return.  In the fifth grade, your child is responsible for his/her own lunch card, unlike in previous years.  You are always more than welcome to send a home lunch to school with your child and microwave services and assistance will be provided to warm their lunch when needed.

SNACKS

Some students did not bring along any snack today and in this hot weather, it is important to keep both nutrition and fluids up. Don’t forget your water bottles 5KP. Please provide a healthy snack and drink for snack time.  Healthy snack include sandwiches, vegetable sticks, fruit, crackers and cheese, yogurt or popcorn.  Please refrain from sending candy, potato chips, cookies or cakes and don’t forget our entire school is a nut free zone! Your child needs to bring in their own clearly named water bottle to school as we are discouraging the overuse of the paper cups with our school green initiatives.

BUS RULES

Each bus has a monitor that assists your child.  Appropriate bus rules will be covered in a grade level assembly at the beginning of the year and will be posted on the bus.  A copy of bus rules will be sent home with each S.A.S. family to ensure clarity of bus rules and expectations.  Being respectful and remaining safe while traveling on the bus is an absolute requirement.  The classroom teacher and parents will be promptly notified of any inappropriate behavior.

CLASSROOM MATERIALS

All necessary classroom materials will be provided by the school for classroom usage.   We strongly recommend that a special ‘work area’ be set up in the home that is quiet and supplied with basic school tools to ensure sustained periods of work and/or study.  Once we begin our regular routine, your child will have homework each weeknight and occasionally on weekends when we work on special projects.

HELPING YOUR CHILD ADJUST TO SCHOOL

During the first week of school, we strongly encourage you to talk to your child about school and their new classrooms.  A positive attitude from parents goes a long way to ensure that your child understands that school is a happy place to be.  We would also ask that you check your child’s backpack daily, and please read all school calendars and letters sent home from school.

We hope that you find this information helpful and rest assured more will forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead.  In the meantime, if you have any further questions or concerns, please contact the school or email me at:

kimbra.power@saschina.org

FYI this is the same e mail format you use for any teacher at S.A.S. i.e. firstname.lastname@saschina.org

and here is an announcement regarding swimming try-outs…

Swimming Team try-outs for elementary students in Grade 2, 3, 4 and 5 will be held on Monday, August 23rd and Tuesday, August 24th at 3:15pm sharp.  Swimmers need to attend both days because we will not finish testing out the students in one day.  We will be finished by 4:15pm so students can take the 4:30pm bus home.

All students should be at the Aquatic Center with their bathing suits, caps, goggles and towels ready to compete at 3:15pm.  Parents are more than welcome to watch their children from the Viewing Gallery.  No parents are allowed on the pool deck or in the locker rooms.  As we are trying to make the swimmers responsible competitors, please help us in this. Swimmers trying out must swim all four strokes proficiently.  This is not a learn to swim program but a competitive program.  If your child does make the team, they are expected to train twice a week all year long, attend all Shanghai local meets as well as one international meet.Parents, please make sure that your children know which bus to take home after the tryouts (contact YEAP if you are unsure).

And finally, though swimming is a lifelong skill and for everyone, competitive swimming is not.  Make sure your child is interested in trying out for the team and not something you as a parent want.  They might find it discouraging if they do not make the team.  Talk to them to avoid disappointment.
Parents, please do not contact your classroom teacher for any swim team try out information, contact me personally (George Carpouzis, Aquatics Director):

george.carpouzis@saschina.org

George Carpouzis
Aquatics Director

Looking forward to a great year 5KP after the terrific beginning we had today. Parents and Students, feel free to comment at the end of each blog post but if you have something in particular to ask about/comment on, it is easier to e mail me directly.