Thursday Update

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Lana

It was wonderful to catch up with nine families this afternoon. Thank You for making the effort to come in and talk about your child; I really want their last year of Elementary School to be one they remember; together, we can make it one they remember in a positive way.

If you are coming in tomorrow, don’t forget there are plenty of great books for sale at the school entrance; you can never have too many books! I look forward to seeing you in the afternoon.

Math
We have begun our new math unit on division and I have told the students that this is the start of them being smarter and stronger than ever, a chance for them to do better on Unit 4 than on Unit 3, so I hope to see many of them revising at home as division is important, and as the unit is short, I aim to have the test during the week of November 14th-18th.

Writing and Reading
In our Writer’s Workshop, we’ve had a bit of a break this week as we’ve gotten stuck into our Social Issues Book Clubs in a big way. However, we are still on track to finish our Second Narrative in time for a Writer’s Celebration next Friday November 11th. For Reader’s Workshop, the students are learning the importance of group dynamics and good communication skills as they negotiate with each other, discussing the books they are reading.

Book Clubs for Social Issues

Social Studies

Our Migration Unit is well under way, check out your child’s blog, I know they would love you to comment on their migration trail, and there may just be something else there for you to read as well…

In closing, I hope some of you can make it to the idance presentation as you will recognize many faces of students throughout the school.

October… Looking Back…Looking Forward

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Lana

We started the month sharing stories about our October Break to get us primed for our second personal narrative.
Then we discovered who our new classmates were going to be…Pumas? Falcons? Bears? Dolphins?
We wondered why Mr. Neill was wearing that silly hat…
We were United on United Nations Day
and Spooky for Halloween!

Thanks to all the effort put in by parents and families last month. Thank You for coming out and supporting us during many of our events, most recently to Lisa (Mia’s Mom) and Edna (Josh’s Mum) for their help running stations yesterday and for Regina for the organization involved in our Halloween Party.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=109615

Looking forward, we have a great opportunity to talk about your child’s start to the year this Thursday and Friday. Your child is welcome to attend if that is what you wish, it is not essential, it’s your choice. THERE WILL BE NO PRESENTATION that morning, I was feeling overly ambitious! We’ll do something later in the year together but for now, no Writer’s Celebration this week.

Below are the times I have parents down for so far.

Please e mail me back to confirm if I have not heard from you, most times are the same as you were given, but ten minutes later. Please also let me know immediately if you cannot actually attend; I have two conferences scheduled for alternate days and am happy to oblige if necessary. I’m sorry about some of the changes, but I didn’t hear back from many of you and so felt free to move you a little.

Thursday November 3, 2011

11.40-12.00-Bevan
12.00-12.20-Alex Zhang-confirmed
12:20 – 12:40- Max Siu confirmed
12:40 – 1:00-Eric Shen
1:00 – 1:20-Michelle Bai confirmed
1:20 – 1:40-Sheung Yee confirmed
1:40 – 2:00- Aavia confirmed
2:00 – 2:20-Erika Chan confirmed
2:20 – 2:40-Taeyun Lee confirmed
2.40-3.00
3:00 – 3:20-Mimi Power confirmed

Friday November 4, 2011

11.40-12.00 Alex Liu confirmed
12.00-12.20-Yoon Jin confirmed
12:20 – 12:40-
12:40 – 1:00-Mia confirmed
1:00 – 1:20-Pepo confirmed
1:20 – 1:40-Joon Soo
1:40 – 2:00-
2:00 – 2:20-
2:20 – 2:40-Claire Yu confirmed
2:40 – 3:00-
3:00 – 3:20

Shanghai Book Traders will be selling books on Thursday and Friday so feel free to do some shopping in between conferences.

As we are working on our Migration Unit in Social Studies, I thought you might enjoy this National Geographic Clip.

News of the Moment

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Lana

Dates for your Diary:

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday this week are our final ASA’s for the first session

MAP Testing – Tuesday, October 25 to Thursday, October 27 (No Studying Required)

Our Unit Three Map test is Tuesday October 25th

United Nations Day – Thursday, October 27th

Halloween Parade, Assembly and Party – Monday, October 31^st

Parent-Teacher Conferences – Thursday, November 3 and Friday, November 4 (Half day of school for students)

Writer’s Workshop Celebration November 7th

OUR TURN TO BAKE FOR 5TH GRADE TREAT DAY

Reader’s Workshop Celebration November 11th

5th Grade Band and Strings Concert – Friday, November 18th (last period I believe, so be there before 2pm)

End of first trimester – Friday, November 18^th

Thanksgiving break – No school on Wednesday, November 23^rd, Thursday, November 24^th and Friday, November 25^th

Santa’s Workshop – Monday, December 5^th

Elementary School Sing-along – Friday, December 16^th

Last day of school – Friday, December 16^th (school closes at 11:30 a.m.)

Message from the Nurse

Occasionally, parents are confronted by their child complaining of feeling ill on a school day. The following information is designed to offer guidance of when to send your child to school and when to keep them home due to illness. They are meant to benefit your child and the SAS community’s health and well being. These are also conditions for which your child may be sent home from school. Illness is an excused absence and your child will not be penalized for missing class. If you are unsure of which action you should take, please contact your doctor or school nurse.

FEVER

A fever is a warning that all is not right with the body. The best way to check for fever is with a thermometer, which every home should have. No child with a temperature equal to or above 100 F (37.8 C) should be sent to school. A child needs to be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school.
Normal body temperature is 98.6 F (37 C).

COLD, SORE THROAT, COUGH

A child with a “mild” cold, but otherwise feeling well, may go to school.
A child with a “heavy” cold and a hacking or productive cough belongs at home even if there is no fever.
A child complaining of a mild sore throat with no other symptoms may go to school. If white spots can be seen in the back of the throat, or if fever is present, keep the child at home.

STOMACH ACHE, VOMITING, DIARRHEA

Consult your doctor if your child has a stomach ache or abdominal pains which are persistent or severe enough to limit his/her activity.
If vomiting occurs, keep your child home until he or she can keep food down.
A child with diarrhea should be kept home.
Toothache – contact your dentist
Earache – consult you doctor
Headache – a child whose only complaint is a minor headache usually need not be kept home. Encourage your child to drink plenty of fluids and ensure they are getting a proper amount of sleep each night. Frequent or persistent headaches may indicate a serious health problem.

CONJUNCTIVITIS

Also known as “pink eye”. Student will be sent home/must stay home until they have received 24 hours of antibiotic eye drop treatment.
Symptoms include eye redness, itching, and increased drainage or pus. It is very contagious!

RASH

Rash or spots may cover the entire body or appear in only one area. Call you physician or school nurse if you are uncertain about whether to send your child to school with a rash.

The information provided is not intended as a substitute for appropriate medical intervention. If your child is kept home from school, please call your school secretary to notify them of the absence. For further questions please contact your school nurse:

Chiho Stenger Pudong ES Nurse Chiho.Stenger@saschina.org 6221-1445 x3309

I’d also like to encourage parents to read the article in The Eagle by Sacha McVean our elementary principal regarding our children getting enough sleep. Last week, one of our students fell asleep during class, later telling me that midnight was the time they’d gone to sleep the night before. I really believe that many of our SAS students are very tired, and could use more sleep so please read the article and let me know if there is anything I can do to help; I also have a 5th grader, so I understand what it is like.

While you are checking out The Eagle, have a look and see if it was your child photographed for the online version!!! There is a coffee pass for the first person who can comment on my blog telling me the names of the students as a reward for reading this far!!!

Friday Message to 5KP

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Lana

Hi guys

As you know by now, I am not coming in today… a day of mourning in honor of Mickey Junior… or actually, just a really bad cold!

If you read this, please pass it on to the rest of the class…

On Monday, first thing, after you come to our classroom, we will ALL be heading over to the LLH (Library Lecture Hall) to watch a movie… Watching that movie will be a big clue as to what many of us will be dressing up as for Halloween. I ALWAYS get cold in the LLH and we will be there for nearly two hours, so my advice is:

Wear or bring with you, warm clothes on Monday… Got it? Pass it on… OH, and maybe you might want to bring extra yummy snacks that day to munch towards the end of the film.

Be good today, have a great weekend and I will see some of you at the Centennial Fair tomorrow.

Over and Out!

PS Remind your parents to read the last couple of blog posts below this as I don’t think they got the message that they have been posted. Xie Xie

PPS If you want to see something amazing next week… don’t miss our Middle and High School Seussical the Musical (wow, some of YOU could be in shows like THIS next year 5KP)

News of the Moment…

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Lana

Friday is our Spirit Walk
The Spirit Walk and SAS Reads is THIS Friday!! Parents are welcome to join in the festivities, as we mark the official beginning of the House Sports season, and celebrate the joy of reading. Starting at 8:10am, Elementary and Middle School students, faculty and parents will show their house spirit, as they march around the track.
Following the walk, all students and faculty will convene in the MS Gym for the awarding of the Spirit Eagle. At around 9am, all ES students and faculty will celebrate the joy of reading by participating in SAS Reads. So parents, bring a book, a loud voice, and wear your house colors.

Attention Young Writers

LittleStar-Harrow Short Story Competition 2011
September, 2011Leave a comment189 views
Theme: Reflections…

Entry Requirements: Short stories: 2000 words maximum (no minimum); the title is not included in the word count.
Entries must be entirely the work of the entrant and must never have been published, self-published, published on any website or public online forum, broadcast nor winning or placed in any other competition.

Entry Format:
Entries must be in English, with pages numbered, and a word count noted at the top of the first page as well as the entrant’s name. The filename of online entries must be: the title of the entry + byline of the author name + age level + school name (E.g. REFLECTIONS_by Angela_16_Harrow). And the submitted file must be a Word 97-2003 document, single-lined, with text aligned left. Preferred font of the text is Times New Roman, size 12. No corrections can be made after receipt. Failure to comply with the entry requirements will result in disqualification.
All entries must be submitted online: http://www.internationalschool.info/littlestar/competition/shortstory; receipt of entries will be confirmed by LittleStar via email.
Eligibility:The competition is open to all international school students in China, competing in four age groups: Group I: Under 9 years old; Group II: 10- 12 years old; Group III: 12-15 years old; Group IV: 16-18 years old.

Deadline for submission: Closing date for receipt of online entries: January 15th, 2012

Prizes: There will be ONE 1st prize winner; TWO 2nd prize winners; THREE 3rd prize winners in each age group. Beside this, LittleStar Magazine offers the grand prize – One Apple iPad2 for the student writer of LittleStar’s choice, and the winner will also get an internship opportunity at LittleStar Magazine.

Judging: Judging is fair and unbiased. The leading judge for this year’s short story competition will be a published author from the US or UK (name to be confirmed in December 2011). Other judges will include LittleStar editors and invited English teacher and librarians from participating international schools.
The judges’ decision is final and no individual correspondence will be entered into.

Results: Final results and winners list of the competition will be released on LittleStar website before March 1st, 2012. Winners of the competition will also be notified through emails from LittleStar Magazine.

Prize Winners/ Award Ceremony: All winners are invited to the grand Award Ceremony in Beijing in March 2012, where prizes will be awarded.
The list of prizewinners will be posted on the LittleStar website (www.internationalschool.info) after the award ceremony.

Anthology: A special anthology of winning short stories will be printed before the Award Ceremony in March 2012. Each entrant for the competition as well as participating schools will receive a number of copies.

Copyright: Worldwide copyright of each entry remains with the author, but LittleStar Magazine will have the right to publish the winning poems and stories, (including runners up), in the annual anthology and any relevant promotional material.

Migration Unit
5th Grade, find a way other than using dictionary.com, to tell me what these words mean. I want you to copy and paste these words onto your blog under the heading ‘Migration Key Terms’ then give me a definition for each word AND put each word into a sentence to show you understand what the word means.

Key Terms:
Push factor
Pull factor
Asylum seeker
Immigrant
Emigration
Immigration
Refugee
Migration
External Migration
Internal Migration

Students, now answer each of these questions in paragraph form, copy them onto your blog first.

Where have you been to over your breaks (Summer Break, Winter Break, Spring Break, October Holiday)?
If you are new to SAS, what is YOUR migration experience?
Where have you come from, how did you get here, how did you feel about the move/vacation?
Has there been a change in culture for you, are you new to China? Asia?

With a friend, or the person next to you, come up with your own definition of Migration by looking on line, using discussion and personal stories.

Sensational Soccer Success

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Lana

I don’t know how many goals were scored… I don’t know whether we won or lost… I just know there must have been some tired and sore bodies heading off to be early last night; your kids ran hard! Thank you to the few parents who were able to make it here on the day, and thank you to those who brought in fruit and drinks for us to share, we really appreciated them.

As a classroom teacher, it is such a pleasure to see the kids in a different environment on Soccer Day. Witnessing them at swim meets, art shows, PE class, debates, music eisteddfod’s or dance concerts is equally exciting; you get to see your students in a completely different light. For some students, the whole idea of soccer day is daunting; they just don’t like it. For others, it is an amazing opportunity to show skills off that are normally unseen in an academic environment. I have respect for both of these groups of students however it is the ‘other group’ that I am especially proud of. These are the students that are a bit scared of the ball, but want to get out and have a good time anyway. I am impressed by their courage, their team spirit and the way they go after the ball even though it may result in a kick in the shins. Yesterday we had many of those ‘other kids’ on the team; they supported the stronger soccer players, they encouraged the more careful players to take risks and they embodied what the day is about. Thank You 5KP.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=107931

Have a great weekend 5KP and don’t forget to put the finishing touches on your Healthy Balanced Meal Project as it is due on Monday.

If…

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Lana

Parents… look at your wonderful children here reciting the amazing poem IF by Rudyard Kipling. They did such a good job with their recitation and after breaking down the language of the poem, we all agree that it was an amazing piece of writing that meant many things to many people.

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

On Founder’s Day students enjoyed sharing some of our National Anthems, country songs, etc and had Ms. Ahles, Ms. Toa and myself share ours too. It was wonderful discussing some of the meanings and history behind the songs and I was impressed with the courage of those who sang for us and for the maturity of the audience response. Here are your children reciting the American Pledge of Allegiance just as SAS was doing 100 years ago.

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

Celebrations All Around

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Lana

Hi Everyone

What a huge week it was last week, personally and professionally! Thank you for all your kind words regarding the passing of my grand-gather. Thank you for your attendance at Founder’s Day and for dressing your children up so beautifully; they were a sight to behold. You may have heard we have a new addition to our family, his name is Jeremiah and we will be providing a home for him to heal and thrive in until he is adopted. He is a delightful young four month old with Spina Bifida and our daughters are already besotted by him… wish us luck on this journey!

This week we have A.S.A.’s on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday after school and your children will be taking the ASA bus, ES ASA Bus Schedule and Date 1st Qtr, leaving school at 4 pm each day.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=107931

This Thursday we will have our first of two Soccer Days. The kids have been working on their skills during PE and recess times and it looks like we have a skilled set of players this year. The main aim of our Elementary Soccer days is for the kids to have fun, support each other and enjoy themselves on the field. Thanks to the PTSA for supporting our kids by sending in fruit and drinks; you are also welcome to join us out on the field between 10 and 1 to cheer on the team, we are highlighted below as Team 5 so that you can find us more easily.

Friday is the day we will celebrate our Writer’s Workshop Launch with the publishing of our first personal narrative. We won’t be inviting parents in for this one, however in future, we’d love you to join us as we celebrate your child’s achievements.

Three Things …Plus One… I mean Two…OK Three more and that is IT!

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Lana

Hello

1. Today your child is bringing home a scholastic book club form. The more books the child orders, the more points I
earn that can be spent on our classroom library. However, I realize that with scholastic and photos in the same week,
things can be quite expensive; I understand. Please don’t feel too pressured, and if there is something your child wants, and you
or they cannot afford it, let me know and I will make sure I do order it with my points next time. The completed
form must be returned with exact rmb by Tuesday September 20th.

2. Tomorrow your child will be having their individual photo taken at 11.25 am. If you want to purchase photos, and have
not returned the form and cash, please do so tomorrow. Clean your teeth 5KP and look sharp!

3. Friday is Founder’s Day. We have hats for the students in the classroom and hope that they also come dressed in
something befitting life one hundred years ago. We hope to see you here if you can make it, our celebrations begin at 1 pm.

Plus One… Treat Day is tomorrow so your child might want to bring in 5 rmb to buy a fun snack at lunch time.

Plus Two… Mr Power has introduced the 4th and 5th grade students to the wonderful Edublog Challenge. I really love this challenge because it matches beautifully with the 3rd purpose of our SAS Homework Plan: Develop Independent Learning Habits. I would like to encourage the students to spend some time every night or two on this site building up their technology skills at the same time as gaining access to other 5th grade friendly blogs and websites. Parents, please take the time to check out this site, preferably with your child. If you do not have a VPN the site will not load for you at home, but Mr. Power will continually be adding things to his blog to help make the students accessibility easier.

Plus Three… Soccer Day is on Thursday 22nd of September. Please join us on the field between 10 am and 1 pm as we play about 6 games of soccer with other 5th graders around Shanghai. Fingers crossed for good weather and lots of fair play.

Over and Out

the barefoot librarian

Kimbra Power

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