The World Math Day Challenge involves students from all over the world playing against each other in real time battles of mental arithmetic using the World Math Day game engine. Each game lasts for 60 seconds. Students can play as many games as they want to but the maximum they can score points for is 500 games. There are even prizes awarded including student prizes, and school prizes for highest achievers.

All of the class have been registered by me under 5KP and have their own password for the World Math Day Site. They go into the site and sign in when they want to practice. On March 3rd (actually March 2nd at 7 pm) we officially start World Math Day 2010.

Here is more information about the origins and organization involved in World Math Day. The kids are really excited to be involved and I would appreciate you giving them appropriate time to play these educational games to improve their fast mental arithmetic skills.

Welcome to February Parents and Students
The month will fly by due to 1. Time flying when we’re having fun and 2. The Chinese New Year Holiday we starts next week.

This morning we welcomed Samantha Li and Dennis Lee to our class. We are very happy to have our full class of 20 rearing to go on the 100th day of school…
In class right now we started our Unit 7 in Math which begins our second and final math journal for the year. The students will have a math study link to complete 4 nights a week as well as completing journal pages from class and revising new content.

L.A. – We are currently working on the unit Breathing Life into Essays by Lucy Calkins in Writer’s Workshop. Students have really started to generate more essay entries and are learning about pushing their thinking. Students understand the differences between narrative and non-narrative writing and are enjoying recording their thoughts and realizations about topics that are important to them. In Reader’s Workshop we are focussing our responses on non-fiction texts.

Unit Study – We are currently working through our social studies unit focussed on Migration. Students are learning about the push and pull factors why people migrate and the are also writing a narrative about their own migration story.
Although most of these dates also get posted to my calendar, here they are below for you as well.

February & March Dates:
Feb. 4 PTSA General Meeting & Treat Day
Feb. 5 Wear red for Charity Day
Feb. 8 CNY Dress Rehearsal
Feb. 9 CNY Performance for Parents
Feb. 11 Half Day
Feb. 12 CNY Holiday
Feb. 23 Board Meeting
Mar.11 ES PTSA Meeting, Counselor’s Cafe, Treat Day
Mar.12 SPC Committee
Mar.13 Quiz Night
Mar.15 Sarah Holbrook
Mar.15 Start of Trimester 3
Mar.17 Poetry Slam (TBD)
Mar.19 Trimester Report Cards Home
Mar.22 Spring Holiday

Parents a final note…I need your help! As part of my yearly performance evaluation I would like some feedback from YOU! The survey results will help me grow and learn as a teacher. Starting Feb 1 and ending Feb 28 the online parent feedback survey will be open to our parent community. Parents will be invited to log into the Powerschool parent portal to access the survey.

“You are invited to provide feedback concerning the professional performance of your child’s teacher. This is an integral part of SAS’s vision to engage and support faculty in a unique professional learning community that provides opportunities to grow, develop and learn together. These surveys have been specifically designed to elicit information based on your first-hand experience with the teacher, and are connected to SAS’s Standards of Professional Practice.

The information you offer will be confidential. The feedback will go to the teacher and will be shared with the supervisor.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this survey. Your thoughtful responses are appreciated, and are a constructive way of contributing to SAS’s learning community.”

Enjoy February

Looking back on the past week, I can’t believe how busy it was. It was Alan Katz week so we heard poems from him every day, we had Mr. Denton come and visit our class, I failed my driving test…again… and the last two days have been full of basketball games and team building exercises for our student leaders. Throw in a math test, a birthday party and a successful Haiti fund-raising pajama day and you can see why I am disappointed Mimi woke up at 5.30 this morning.. I am tired! Well done to our class for raising over 2200 rmb for Haiti.

Thanks 5KP for making the learning fun and flexible. With our two new students, Samantha and Dennis joining us Monday, expect to settle down to some serious classroom activity as we start our second math journal, work on our completing our migration wiki and plays and get ready to write our first essay for writer’s workshop.

It was wonderful having the Western Academy of Beijing basketball team visit our classroom. They answered many questions about not only basketball but also academics, travel and their thoughts on the future. Thanks for the Tigers you gave us W.A.B. and it was fantastic watching you play.

Students are being asked to dig deep for two fundraisers coming up at SAS over the next two weeks.
The first one is for Haiti on January 29th.
The second one is for on February 5th.
I know I have been looking for a way to help ease the suffering in Haiti in particular
so I am relieved it is being made so easy for me and will certainly be contributing as much as I can for these great causes.

Hello Everyone
I had a very rewarding experience in Manila and am already using some of the great strategies I learned there to enhance my classroom teaching. The conference was titled ‘Thinking Strategies’ based on “The 7 Keys to Comprehension” Susan Zimmerman and she was the wonderful presenter. The ways the class enhance their reading include:

*Using background knowledge
*Creating mental images
*Questioning
*Inferring
*Determining importance
*Synthesizing
*Monitoring for meaning

Thank You to Ms Sue Leary for substituting so well for me, the students were engaged and stimulated while I was absent and are looking forward to meeting Ms Leary’s mother, an author, in the Spring.

In class we are currently working on the following:

Math – We are continuing working through unit 6 focused on Data Organization and will be completing the assessment next Monday. The following skills will be assessed:

*construct stem-and-leaf plots
*read and interpret stem-and-leaf plots
*add and subtract fractions with like denominators
*add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators
*understand how sample size affects results
*find common denominators
*convert between fractions, decimals and percents
*identify and use data landmarks

L.A. – We are currently working on the unit Breathing Life into Essays by Lucy Calkins in Writer’s Workshop. Students have really started to generate more essay entries and are learning about pushing their thinking. Students understand the differences between narrative and non-narrative writing and are enjoying recording their thoughts and realizations about topics that are important to them.

In Reader’s Workshop we are focusing our responses on non-fiction texts, we are looking at the differences between fiction and non-fiction and ways to deconstruct text. It would be great for the students to check out the Newbery winners for this year and see if they recognize any of the books there. If not, they should definitely check them out as they will be in for a treat.

Unit Study – We are currently working through our social studies unit focused on Migration. Students are learning about the push and pull factors as to why people migrate and the are also writing a narrative about their own migration story. Hopefully they will have also spent some time speaking with another family member about that person’s migration story too as that can really enhance their background knowledge. Homework at the moment for this unit study is pretty intense, there is a lot to think about and I don’t want the students to be overwhelmed. However I do want them to learn to pace themselves and to feel some pressure at this stage of their schooling, but good pressure, not bad pressure…

Homework this week is:
*Math Study Links Monday-Thursday
*Revising and studying for next Monday’s Math test
*Completing a short and precise personal narrative about where their migration journey has taken them
*Discussing with another family member what that person’s migration story has been
*Small writing activities for Writer’s Workshop as ongoing work for our essays unit
*Reading Mr. Power and Ms. Yick’s blogs for links to good UDHR sites and then noting how rights were violated in the books they read in class today.

Other announcements from Diane our room Mom and the wider school community…

This Thursday January 21st, 10:00 – 1:30 is our Treat Day! Please send in
baked goods (cookies, brownies, cupcakes and rice krispie treats sell very
well) in individually wrapped portions. If you don’t have time to bake,
individual bags of chips are also a hit with the students. Remember that
the school has a “NO NUTS” policy and please do not send candy.

Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to help with Treat Day. There
is still room for volunteers so if you would like to help that day please
let me know.

EAGLE SHOP Chinese New Year SUPER SALE!
50%-80% off Selected Items
We are clearing out the OLD merchandise to make room for new SAS merchandise.
Sizes and Quantities are limited so shop early!
Track Suit = 100 RMB
T-Shirt’s and Polo’s = 20 RMB
Adult Dry-fit T-shirt = 30 RMB
Wind Pants and Sweatpants = 30 RMB

January 21st, 9:00 – 10:00 Library Lecture Hall – Counselors Café. Small
group discussion with our ES counselor/psychology team, Jeanine Merrill and
Ed Woods, and Jan Cantrill about issues that concern you and your children
both inside and outside school.

January 21st, 10:00 –PTSA meeting with the following scheduled presentation:

• Welcome & Important Dates (Admin, Heidi & Liane)
• Giving Tree Recap
• Andy Torris will present on IOWA testing 2009/2010
• Alicia Lewis will present of curriculum development and Atlas mapping
at SAS
• Mary Montgomery will present the Edge for Excellence campaign
• ES PTSA current budget will be shared
• George Carpouzis will present the Aquatics program and show us the new
pool

LAST CHANCE for Carpet Auction Tickets!
Benefitting The Charles Foundation and the Pudong PTSA
Pudong PTSA Carpet Auction: Every Carpet Tells a Story
In Partnership with Eastern Carpets and The Parkyard Hotel
Music Provided by the Pudong Middle School Jazz Band
Date: January 23, 2010
Time: 6:30 Preview 7:30 Auction
Tickets 150 RMB in advance, 200 RMB at the door
Tickets can be ordered by calling 6221-1445 X3521
or via email to jill.du@saschina.org.
Once again this year Eastern Carpets from Singapore will be bringing out some of their best carpets to share and auction for the benefit of the Pudong PTSA and The Charles Foundation. In the tradition of the Oriental Carpet Seller, Edmund and his colleagues at Eastern Carpets will be weaving in stories about each carpet as well as pertinent tips and trips on carpet care.
The evening will be a fun event for the entire community whether you are buying or just enjoying the beautiful art found in these wonderful rugs. We hope to see you all there!
Ticket Sales will end on Thursday, January 21, 2010

Have a great week and remember to bake for Thursday!! 🙂 Diane

Thanks to Diane for keeping us all informed and as she said…Have a great week!

Welcome to Winter!

With the cold weather outside at recess, and warm temperatures in the classroom it is best to layer. Please make sure your child has a warm coat, gloves and a hat for recess time.

READING: During Reader’s Workshop over the next few weeks the students will be looking at Non – Fiction Story Elements. The lessons will focus on considering some of the differences between online media and paper media and composing alternative viewpoints of a selected text. The class will be choosing a variety of Non – Fiction books to study and read from both our classroom library and Elementary library. They are already well in tune with their Non – Fiction reading and I am looking forward to the discussions that will take place among my learned pupils.

WRITING: We have begun our unit titled ‘Breathing Life int Essays’ and I am excited by what the students have begun noticing about the world around them. Their homework over the coming week is to think like a writer and notice the everyday ‘grit’ of life around them; they are to then take what they notice and connect it to a bigger idea.

MATH: We have begun Unit 6 on Using Data and Adding and Subtracting Fractions. The students should bring home a study link to complete on 3-4 nights a week and are also reminded every day that they should revise over the lesson they did in class, especially if there were concepts they needed reinforced.

SOCIAL STUDIES: We are beginning our Migration Unit which is being nicely complemented with the read-a-loud novel ‘Home of the Brave’ by Katherine Applegate. Students will be looking at various types of migration and answering the essential questions:

Why do people migrate?
What is human migration?
How does migration impact the environment of where the people come from and where the people go to; how is one’s cultural identity changed through migration?

I will be in Manila for a Literacy Conference from Thursday to Sunday so Ms Leary will be teaching the students. She is an Elementary teacher and also a parent to one of my students from last year, Isabelle Leary, and has subbed for me before. I will be leaving plenty of work for the students and they will be in excellent hands. Although I will miss them (and my own children) I know they can be trusted to work hard in my absence as they are a truly talented class.

FINALLY…ASA’s began yesterday and will continue for the next 5 weeks.

Yesterday was an action packed exciting and emotional day.

We watched (slowly but surely) the film I am David. We ate a lot of junk food…again! We farewelled Rosa.
Then the highlight of the day was the Secret Santa Swapping session; 5KP were so excited. I think many of us also learned that giving can be just as rewarding (or more so) than receiving.

Somewhere along the way the students must have got the idea that I LOVE CHOCOLATE…where could they have heard that from???? Thank you parents for your generosity and the lovely food, scarves, decorations and yes…chocolate that I received. I especially enjoy the heartfelt words and home made cards from the students. They really are a special group of kids.

Here are some photos of the action that took place yesterday and now for the last time in 2009 I wish you a very happy holiday.

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

Well, what an action packed final week this is turning out to be. I hope you have had a good chance to look over your child’s report card and IOWA test results. This was the first year that our daughter Hannah took part in the IOWA test and Simon and I were full of lots of advice like ‘just do your best’, ‘relax and enjoy it’ etc. Australians don’t tend to take test results so seriously, or so we thought…and then the results came home!
The conversation went something like this…

“Hey Han, how did you feel about the capitalization section of your IOWA test?”
“What?”
“On the IOWA’s, the capitals part, did you find it hard?”
“What?”
“Hannah, turn the t.v. off and come here please. Did you find the capitalization part of your test hard?”
“What? What capitalizationizationthingy, what? What are you guys talking about?”
“Remember the IOWA tests?
“Yes”
“Well, do you remember the part on capitalization? Was it hard? Did you finish it?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Try harder Hannah, you must remember, surely you didn’t finish it, your score was really low, I thought you knew capitals, you know capitals, I know you know capitals. Hannah, what happened? Why was your score so bad?”
“What? You said scores didn’t matter?
“Yes, we said that, and that is true, we are just wondering if there is anything you remember about the capitalization section that you could tell us about so we would understand your low score?”
“Nope, ‘coz you said, tests don’t always show the real score anyway, you said just do your best remember?”
“Yes, yes we remember, o.k., back to the t.v., don’t worry, well done on the other sections, yes, yes, good job Hannah, no problem, there’s always next year…….”

Ahhhh, the joys of being a teacher and a parent!

We have been spoiled this week with interaction from other classes. 5KP have had visits from 7th graders to discuss health and nutrition and we were also lucky to see Middle School Drama presentations yesterday that the class really enjoyed. This morning we had a great session with our reading buddies in kindergarten, making decorations and cards. As I write this I am in awe of the collective intelligence of the class (the kind you can’t measure on an IOWA test) as 5KP students engage with 9th graders who have come to talk about Stalin and his relationship to the setting of the novel ‘I am David’ I am so proud of these children.

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

We are sad to have to say goodbye to two of our students, Rosa and Whitney. Sadly we only just found out Rosa was leaving after we had our party for Whitney…so we will have to share Rosa’s farewell with our Secret Santa party that we have postponed ’til tomorrow. Tomorrow will therefore be a busy day as we have P.E. to get the blood pumping in the morning, then the Unit 5 Math test to slow it down again! After that we will finish watching I am David which I hope to start after lunch today. Then it is time to celebrate our free choice writing, farewell Rosa, open our Secret Santa gifts and a few little things I have for the students.

When Friday comes we will all be ready for a holiday I think!

Please enjoy yours, keep safe, try play some games and read with your children, studies show that they are never too old to enjoy a good book read by or with a parent. Here are some great suggestions from Amazon if you get time for some shopping or happen to see these books on your travels. I just ordered this one for our classroom library.