Category Archives: News

News of the Moment

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Thank You to the eight families who attended our Open House last night and to the five families who helped out with the Moon-Cake making in the Elementary Cafeteria yesterday. As some parents pointed out, it is not long before your pre-teen might discourage you from being involved in their school-life so often, so it is great to be a part of their day before that ‘mood’ really kicks in! It was appreciated and I was thrilled to meet so many of you and talk about your child, their day, and what activities we get up to in 5KP.

A reminder that the first unit math test will be held at 10.40 am tomorrow and so it is important to review over the study links and or skills links tonight. This is where your child can reinforce their study habits and move forward as an independent learner. They have had a revision class today and there will be no surprises. Get a good night’s rest students and don’t forget to wear your house shirts. I’m also looking forward to hearing the class recite Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem ‘If’ tomorrow

Here is a link to a page of great photos of a school who celebrated a ‘1910’ day which is similar to what our school is doing next Friday September 16th as we celebrate Founders Day here at SAS. If you would like some ideas for costumes, or just a feel for the day, please check it out.

Several of you have already responded that you would like to take our PTSA up on the opportunity of providing your son or daughter with an appropriate cap or hat for Founders Day. If you would like me to order one of these on your behalf, free of charge, please e mail me, or send in a note with your child, by 9 am tomorrow so Regina, our grade level Mum can order these for us asap. No need to e mail again if you have done so already. Here is the information as e mailed to parents earlier today:
IF you would like a boys black cap
or a girls white hat for your 5th grader to wear
next Friday for Founder’s Day Celebrations and Parade
then you MUST:
1. reply to this e mail with 1 black cap or 1 white hat
or
2. write a note in your child’s agenda/on a piece of paper and send it in
stating your request
Our 5th grade room parent Regina will be ordering these tomorrow
with PTSA funds so it will not cost you anything but she does have to place
the order asap.
We need to know your response by 9 am Friday please.

As for the clothing that day, for your daughters, think dresses, bonnets, frills and bow… for your sons think caps and ties, shirts with collars and black shoes with long socks. As I have said previously, there is a tailor I know that has been working with our staff, if you want to go ‘all out’ and have something made, let me know and I will give you her details. The more we put into this celebration, the more we will get out of it!

IF you would like a boys black cap
or a girls white hat for your 5th grader to wear
next Friday for Founder’s Day Celebrations and Parade
then you MUST:
1. reply to this e mail with 1 black cap or 1 white hat
or
2. write a note in your child’s agenda/on a piece of paper and send it in
stating your request
Our 5th grade room parent Regina will be ordering these tomorrow
with PTSA funds so it will not cost you anything but she does have to place
the order asap.
We need to know your response by 9 am Friday please.

I hope you enjoy the photos of your child with their Pre K Reading Buddy, our new students receiving their house allocations and house shirts, 5KP playing outside and also our wonderful Mid-Autumn Festival Moon Cake Making. Enjoy your long weekend 5KP Families.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=104087

News of the Moment

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House Shirt: Do you need a new one?

Returning students can purchase new House Shirts tomorrow,Tuesday, September 6th through Thursday, September 8th, 2010. Returning students who have out grown, lost, or worn out their old shirts can buy a new shirt for 50 RMB. Students who are new to SAS this year will receive their House assignment and shirt – Bears, Falcons, Dolphins or Pumas – this week.

Mid-Autumn Festival

For those of you new to Shanghai, or to Chinese culture, you can find out more about the Mid-Autumn (Moon Festival) here. The festival is the reason that school will be closed for us all next Monday, enjoy your break. In the meantime, thank you to the parents who will be joining us in Project Area 5 this Wednesday at around 9.15 (our session starts at 9.30 am) We look forward to seeing you help us celebrate the Festival with our Chinese teachers leading the way.

Founders Day Celebrations

I am sure by now you have heard that this is SAS’s 100th year! What an amazing year to be able to say you were a student at our great school. We are hoping that every 5th grader, and indeed every Elementary and Middle school student and staff member will dress up in appropriate clothing for that day. We will be participating in a whole school assembly as well as a large parade and we would love to see you there (you are also welcome to dress up). Costume ideas could include wearing long socks and black shoes with short pants, braces over a white button-down shirt or a dress from the period around the early 1900’s. Some suggestions are below modeled by an up and coming young starlet!

Additional A3 Poster

Dear Parents,
Please reserve Friday, September 23rd, for Date with Dad event.  We are planning an exciting events for Dads and Kids to play together. Moms, plan on having tired husbands and children coming home and talking about the games, art activities, and dress-up photo opps!  Students are bringing home the information/sign up sheet today.  Please return no later than next Tuesday.  Plan on fun!
Sincerely,
Barbara Boyer
Jeanine Merrill
Rachel Baydo
Scott Hossack

If you would like me to help you out with ideas, let me know as I have been using a tailor from the Science and Technology market and she is very good. She has made many of the costumes you will see the teachers wearing on that day and her name is Shanna, stall number K3-25 close to the car-park underneath the Science and Tech museum.

Date with Dad

Dear Parents,

Please reserve Friday, September 23rd, for Date with Dad event.  We are planning an exciting events for Dads and Kids to play together. Mums, plan on having tired husbands and children coming home and talking about the games, art activities, and dress-up photo opps!  Students are bringing home the information/sign up sheet today.  Please return no later than next Tuesday.  Plan on fun!

Screen shot 2011-09-05 at 11.54.06 AM

Sincerely, Barbara Boyer. Jeanine Merrill, Rachel Baydo, and Scott Hossack

Dates to Remember:

  • Math Test for Unit One – Friday September 9th
  • Moon Cake Making in Project Area 5- Wednesday September 7th at 9.30 am
  • Open House – Wednesday, September 7th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm
  • After School Activities Forms Due Back – Thursday, September 8th
  • Mid-Autumn Festival – No School on Monday, September 12th
  • Founder’s Day Parade – Friday, September 16th
  • Date with Dad Night – Friday, September 23rd

Homework… What is it good for? Absolutely Something!

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Here at SAS we have researched, thought and talked hard to come up with our new homework policy. We do not want your child to be overburdened with unnecessary ‘busy work’ (like the image below) when they could be doing more productive things with their time like enjoying their families, reading something they enjoy or playing outside with their friends. There IS a place for homework but it is not to stress out your child or keep them occupied, it is to challenge, enrich, re-enforce, and teach independent learning habits (my personal favorite).

blog

WE BELIEVE THE PURPOSE OF HOMEWORK IS TO…
1. Reinforce Skills And Concepts
2. Extend Educational Opportunities Beyond The Walls Of The Classroom
3. Develop Independent Learning Habits

HOMEWORK PHILOSOPHY
We Believe That Homework Is Effective When It Serves As A Critical Component To The Continued Learning Of A Child

1. Based On Researched Best Practices Students Will Be Assigned A Maximum Of Ten Minutes Of Homework Per Grade Level Per Night, Monday Through Thursday. (For example 10 X 4 = 40 Min. Max of Homework for Gr. 4) Independent Reading And Instrument Practice Is Not Included In This Formula.

2. Total Minutes Of Homework Time For Any Grade Level Should Be Proportioned So That 50% Of The Time Is Dedicated To Regular Classroom Homework And 50% Of The Time Is Dedicated To Language Learning Block Homework.

I have talked about our Policy and the reasoning behind it at length with the students. I look forward to sharing our policy with you all at our open house next Wednesday night.

September 7, 2011

Pre-K and K & 1st Grade Presentations 5:00-6:00

Second & Third Grade Presentations 6:00-7:00

Fourth and Fifth Grade Presentations 7:00-8:00

Open House

Presentations: All grade level presentations will begin in the Elementary School library for specialist teacher introductions; introductions will be followed by grade level curriculum presentations and then end with time for families to explore their child’s classroom and talk with teachers.

Dinner & Transportation: The Food Court will be open from 5:00-7:00 for parents to purchase a light dinner or snack.  Your attendance is supported through optional transportation from Starbucks in Jingqiao.  Buses will depart at 4:15 and return to Starbucks at 8:15.  Secretaries will be available to call taxis for families as well.

What to Expect: Elementary teachers are looking forward to sharing with you the details of how your children spend their day at SAS, the curriculum that is delivered as well as an opportunity to explore the classroom and instructional materials.  Your attendance is very important.  Presentations are intended for an adult audience, due to time and space restraints, we kindly request that your children enjoy an evening at home.

We all look forward to personally welcoming you to our wonderful school.

I’m watching you!

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Good Morning 5KP. Please help a classmate if they have not found this page yet or aren’t sure what to do.

By now, Mr Power has set you up with your own blog right? Hooray for you, I am excited about the journey you are about to begin.

This morning I would like you to work on creating a great name for your blog, and then changing the heading of your own blog. I’d love you to add a link in a post on your blog, to my blog. Do you know how to do that? Yoon Jin and Josh may be your best help there as they already had a blog last year, find out who else can help you. Your link should look highlighted like the two in the previous sentence.

I’d like you to write a post about any of the ideas below and remember, each good post should have:

*a minimum of 100 words/one big paragraph/ten sentences

*a catchy title that gives readers and idea of what the post is about

*a link and an image (remember to ask others for help, you are only just beginning so don’t get frustrated, in time you will be blogging like a champion)

Posts today could be on:

*Your Personality Box

*School so far

*What you did over Summer

*Your hopes and dreams for 5th grade

Good Luck 5KP, remember, be super wonderful for Mr. Hall and you can finish this post for homework tonight if you have time.

PS There is fruit and vegetables in the fridge, please hand out at recess. Over and Out!

What’s in the box?

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Personality Boxes

As the students know, I love to reuse materials, so when I stumbled across over 100 empty mac laptop boxes last week, all in mint condition, with seven different elements that could be reused, my mind started imagining what I could do with them.

Today I gave out an empty box to each student to use for an in-class project called ‘My Personality Box’. The students will have four periods during next week to complete the assignment that we will then set up on display next Friday in a ‘Personality Museum’.

The only limit to the project is your child’s imagination. They can use any school resources they can think of that I can obtain, as well as many things from home with your permission. I do not want this to be a project where children come home saying “I need to go the fabric market so I can buy material to cover my box in purple velvet and sequins” or “Mrs. Power said you HAVE to help me with my box, I need every photo ever taken with me on a horse ” This is supposed to be a fun-filled exploratory project that brings the box alive with the personality of your child. As a parent myself of a 5th grader, and now Pre-K student, I understand that family time is quality time, and I don’t want it to be stressful for you or your child. You can help them with ideas, suggestions, encouragement and collecting things from home over the next three or four days IF they need it, but at 5th grade, we are trying to teach independence so see how much help from you they NEED before you volunteer it.

Some of the themes and ideas we discussed in class included turning their box into a garden, a restaurant, a sports stadium, filling it with poetry, turning it into a beach scape, cutting out magazine pictures or words to cover it, shaping the box into some sort of icon-eg. Pearl Tower, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Statue of Liberty.

The main thing is for the box to reflect your child’s personality. Are they loud, bossy, sporty, arty, techy, musical quiet, poetic? What do they enjoy in their spare time? Will their box be filled with recipes, medals, photos, poetry, animals, candy, treasures or lego? I want the box to ooze personality, every single part of the box needs to represent who your child is, where they’ve come from and maybe even where they are going.

Enjoy the journey

class

Today we also had our first Poetry Friday and the children each have four lines to memorize from Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” one of my favourite all time poems. Ask them what the poem means to them; I’d love to hear if it also means something to you. Comments and e mails always welcome; especially about poetry.

Enjoy your weekend.

classy

New Beginnings

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It was great to meet you today Michelle, Annette, Erika, Josh, Sheung Yee, Bevan, Mia, Taeyun, Yoon Jin, Alex, Jose, Joon Soo, Eric, Aavia, Max and Alex Z and we are looking forward to Claire joining us on Monday when she returns from the UK. The class gelled nicely together with eight returning students and eight new members who will be right at home very shortly thanks to the warm welcome they received from their new classmates.

Parents, tonight you will receive a paper copy of the class schedule with a list of students names on the back, I have also listed this blog address as well as my e mail address so keep that information someplace handy.

Your child’s homework for tonight is minimal, but important. They need to remember to:

*bring their swimsuit, swim cap (optional) and googles (no towel required) see this post for details

*write down the best parent e mail to be contacted on in their agenda, so that they have it here for themselves and for me to make a mailing list to use throughout the year

*leave a comment on this blog telling me how their first day was, including any questions they might have or worries/joys to share about their feelings regarding fifth grade

It was a big day for us here establishing many new routines and your child will no doubt be tired tonight, indeed for the next couple of weeks, but as they develop a routine things will become easier. For now, sleep is the focus so try and get some early nights students, you need your rest!

It has also been a big day for me with my youngest daughter Mimi starting Pre K 4 and my oldest daughter Hannah joining 5th grade. Hannah started here in Pre K 4 (I even wore the same skirt that day as I did today) so it is a little like history repeating itself.

Mike and Hannah

Soon Ok and Mimi

5th Grade!

Hello there 5KP

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Hi 5KP students and parents

I am excited to welcome you to the 2011-2012 school year and hope that you come to class well rested after a relaxing and happy Summer Vacation. It is important to get lots of rest in these first few weeks as you will be taking in lots of new information, meeting many people and getting your brain into gear for a year of learning.

I spent mine in Australia, which was NOT really a Summer holiday as it was winter down there! For the first two weeks, my daughters Hannah, Mimi and I went to the north/west of Australia to Ningaloo Reef which is a world heritage area and very beautiful. Hannah and I had a wonderful time swimming with whale sharks, seeing turtles, humpback whales on their migration path, and many different types of fish and coral.

We then flew to Melbourne to be reunited with Mr Power, your future tech teacher, and my husband. It was very very very cold in that part of the country and we spent a lot of time complaining about our ‘summer’ holiday but it is where most of our family live so it was great to catch up with them and also to visit our friends there. Our ‘home-town’ is Ballarat, Victoria and we spent most of the school holidays (two weeks) there looking at kangaroos, koalas, kookaburras and wild birds, enjoying all the good things an Aussie Winter has to offer.

Our final two weeks were spent in warmer weather on the Great Barrier Reef in Port Douglas, Queensland with another family that we love very much. We swam in the pool and at the beach and again Hannah had the opportunity to swim on the Reef, this time with her Dad. After a week there, we flew south to the Gold Coast of Australia and enjoyed a fast paced day at Seaworld which was a great way to end out time ‘Down Under’.

Now we are back home in Shanghai, starting our 7th year as teachers here. Mimi is starting Pre-K and Hannah will be just down the hall somewhere in 5th grade so it should be a very exciting year for the Power Family!

5KP will be starting their swimming unit on Thursday 18th of August during their P.E. lessons. The program will end on Monday, Aug. 29th. This is a great opportunity for students to improve their swimming and water safety skills, while having a safe and enjoyable experience. Please read the following guidelines below so as to make sure you are ready to begin the swimming program:

BATHING SUITS:

Girls should wear a one-piece bathing suit. Boys may wear Speedos, trunks or knee length Lycra suits; however, they should not wear bathing suits that are below their knees. Please make sure the condition of your suit is suitable. T-Shirts are not allowed. To ensure that the children do not forget their bathing suits, all students can leave their suits hanging in a designated place at the pool. When they arrive for their next lesson, the suits will be there, dry and waiting for them. Please clearly write your name on your bathing suit.

GOGGLES & CAPS:
Some students prefer to swim with goggles and some not. You can make do with basic, inexpensive goggles that are comfortable. Swimming Caps should be worn by all students with long hair as it makes swimming comfortable and is much more practical. At the very least, long hair should be tied back. Again, the students will leave their goggles here at the pool until the swimming unit is complete. Please clearly write your name on the cap and goggles.

TOWELS:
We are very fortunate on having clean towels for all our students. Students do not need to bring their towels. Towels are provided!

SICKNESS:
It is our policy in the PE department that if a child is attending school, then they must participate in physical activity. If you are well enough to be at school, then you are expected to participate in swimming.

This is a great opportunity for your child to receive professional and high quality instruction from a qualified and experienced aquatic staff, who will endeavor to provide a safe and friendly learning environment. Swimming is a life skill!!

For inquiries regarding this unit, feel free to contact the Aquatic Director, George Carpouzis, or your PE Teacher, Scott Hossack.

George Carpouzis
Tel: x3572
Email: george.carpouzis@saschina.org

My e mail address is kimbra.power@saschina.org if you have any questions parents. I look forward to meeting many of you at our Orientation Day next Tuesday and our Open House early next month.

Welcome to 5KP

Successful Celebration

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I’m sure that the parents who witnessed their child’s performance on Friday were as pleased as I was with how our Writer’s Celebration turned out, congratulations 5KP, you made me very proud. Thank You parents for your many contributions.

With under three weeks to go now, we teachers are working hard on keeping the students remaining focused during the journey to the ‘finish line’. We have our Invention Unit to finish up as well as math work from a combination of Unit 11 and 12. We’ll also be doing some final D.R.A. testing to see if reading levels have improved over the course of the year. The main focus however will be on several extra-curricular events and activities such as our Step Up day this Wednesday between 8 and 10 am where the students will spend that time in the Middle School looking at next year’s subjects and meeting teachers.

Our Summer Sizzler and Moving Up Ceremony will be the main focus of the short week after our Dragon Boat Festival. We look forward to seeing you on Friday the 10th at 10 am as your students celebrate their transition from Elementary to Middle School.

Don’t forget… If you want to order a yearbook…

Screen shot 2011-05-29 at 1.33.51 PM

Charity starts at…school?

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Wow Parents, you should be so proud of your children. I had the whole class complete a socratic seminar today on the topic of “Who should we donate our money to?” We’ve been told by the P.T.S.A. that we have 2000 rmb per class left over from our fund this year and boy did your child have some ideas on how to spend it. I really wish you could have been a fly on the wall. Some of the many statements that stood out to me included:

“We have to help people first before we can help animals and the environment” which was answered with “without the environment there will be NO people”

“Humanity won’t be extinct if we just lose a few lives” which was answered with ” but how would you feel if you were one of those lives”

“The environment helps everyone”

“Saving the world is what we are looking for”

They are just so beautiful and positive and full of hope, it is inspiring to see.

So here are some of the suggestions they made, some ideas for them to pursue further and just some good charities that they might like to read about.

Children International

American Red Cross

Jaiya’s Animal Rescue

World Wildlife Fund

Baobei Foundation

Oxfam Australia

Oxfam America

and as we all know… there are plenty more.

Have a think 5kp and discuss today with your parents, I was very proud of all of you. We CAN make a difference.

The Starfish Story

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf.

Then, smiling at the man, he said…” I made a difference for that one.”

May has been flat out, here are some photos of Map Tests (check some of those facial expressions), great times with our reading buddies, learning with Lego, and China Alive… and there is still more good times to come!

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