Remember these photos 5KP thrill-seekers!
Finally my iphoto is ‘talking’ to my flickr on my computer so therefore I am starting to get my act together and load some photos. Have a great weekend 5KP and congratulations for raising nearly 400 rmb for Heart to Heart today, you all looked fabulous in your red. Try and drop a hello to Mike over the weekend if you get the chance, read some books and take some time to relax with your family and friends.
Smile… is what I did every time I saw one of your posts come up on my screen while I was away 5KP. I am so impressed and proud with your excellent blogging, linking, editing, posting skills. I won’t lie and say I actually missed you… I was pretty busy cheering Hannah on at her swim meet and catching up with our Manila friends, BUT I did smile whenever I thought of you working away back here in Shanghai.
Thank You
You will be rewarded by many exciting treats tomorrow…
Parents, in news for you…
If you have the time to see Race to Nowhere this Wednesday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel, Thumb Plaza, Pudong I highly, strongly, enthusiastically, encourage/suggest/plead for you to do so. I saw it two weeks ago and found it incredibly informative, moving, and scary! Please e mail me if you want more details or go to the school website http://www.saschina.org to rsvp. Since watching the movie I have been encouraged to re-think the way I give homework and have had many discussions with the students about how they spend their after school time. I do not believe that keeping the child busy at home between school and bed time is necessary unless it is to practice skills learned in class that day, study for a test, or read/learn about something that is of interest to the child. I do not believe in homework for the sake of it, in homework to prepare them for more homework later or in homework as a way to help the child become more organized. I do believe that organization, good study habits and time management are essential skills for many students to have to improve their success at school, but I don’t think that giving them more busy homework is going to necessarily help them in that area. I would love it if you saw the film and wanted to talk to me about it. I really enjoy your children, and realize that they are just that, children, and want them to enjoy their time with me, and with YOU, after school in their often too busy lives.
Here are a couple of other events to add to your already full diaries… (Jane Goodall…what an opportunity!)
Would you like to come to a party?
and now, as Porky Pig would say….
“That’s All Folks”
Hi Parents and Students
Some of this news is repetitive for you if you are up to date with your blog reading and school news, so you may want to skim and scan. Notes have been coming to me from all directions this week and I have saved them up until my desktop was full, so here goes…
Are you ready?
Several members of the class are spending some of their home time working on a piece of writing to enter a competition in Little Star Magazine. I commend their efforts and look forward to hearing of their success. Although many of the students are motivated by the possible prize money and ipad at the end of the rainbow; I am sure they will also have some of their own great moments actually writing their story, titled “The Decision”, and discovering their great writing skills along the way. Good Luck and see below for more details.
In other writing news, our Essays have been published and we look forward to sharing them with Ms. Lau’s class tomorrow morning as her class just finished theirs too. Hooray for S.A.S. writers everywhere!
The K-12 Visual Art Department is having an art magnet sale called “Points to Pakistan”. All art classes K-12 created these magnets with the intent to sell and donate the profits to the country of Pakistan to help them recover from the devastating flooding that occurred in August and that is still destroying lives today. Students can purchase magnets during the week of Mon. Feb. 14th – Friday Feb. 18th.
Each magnet is 25 RMB.
In Math… we are working steadily through Unit 7: Exponents and Negative Numbers. Besides learning about exponential notation and negative numbers, we will also learn the order of operations (PEMDAS).
In Writer’s Workshop… we will start working on our Literary Essays next week; these are essays about reading, and as we have a class of wonderful readers, I believe they will enjoy this unit. They did a terrific job with their first 5th grade essays and I also loved their recent book reports to the class. This unit will be like a combination of both.
In Reader’s Workshop… the kids were excited to choose their book club groups yesterday to study four different social issues books together in groups of four. The novels chosen were A Jar of Dreams, which you can read about in more detail on Kyra’s blog, Red Scarf Girl, Blubber (which I loved reading as a child), Juneboy and Go Fish.
In Social Studies… we are working through migration with Mr. Power. I love the conversations we are having in this unit and I hope your child has told you something about our read-a-loud accompanying this unit, Home of the Brave, if not, please ask them what it is about.
Please also read this note below from Ms. Schroeder, from the S.A.S. Pudong Student Council
My name is Jessica Schroeder, and I am writing to you regarding a school-wide service project that Student Council is hoping to initiate this year. In brief, we would like to get involved with the Lions Club International Eyeglasses Collection Project, which donates used eyeglasses to children who cannot afford them on their own. From February 21 to March 4, we would like to set out a few boxes across the school that will collect eyeglasses for the Lions Club. The Student Council will regulate, empty out, and be responsible for these boxes, but would like to request permission to place them around the elementary building during those two weeks.
Here are the details about the Little Star Writing Competition, it is not compulsory do join up but I encourage you if you wish to.
Theme: The decision
Entry Requirements:
SHORT STORIES: 2500 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.
Eligibility:
The competition is open to all international school students in China, competing in three age groups:
Group I: Under 12 years old;
Group II: 12-15 years old;
Group III: 16-18 years old.
Prizes:
1st = 3000 RMB (prizes), 1 winner in each group.
2nd = 1000 RMB (prizes), 2 winners in each group.
3rd = 500 RMB (prizes), 3 winners in each group.
5 supplementary prizes of 100 RMB (prizes) in each group.
LittleStar Award:
One Apple IPAD for its most favored student writer and internship at LittleStar Magazine.
Entry Format:
All entries must be submitted online: http://www.internationalschool.info/littlestar/competition/shortstory
Entries must be in English, single sided, with pages numbered and a word count noted at the top of the first page. The filename of online entries must be the title of the entry and it must be either a .doc or .docx file.No corrections can be made after receipt. Failure to comply with the entry requirements will result in disqualification.
Deadline for submission:
Closing date for receipt of online entries: February 28, 2011 Receipt of entries will be confirmed by LittleStar via email.
Judging:
This year’s lead judge will be a published author in the US or UK (to be confirmed later), who will also do a workshop on “how to get published?” with the kids on the Award Ceremony. Other judges may include LittleStar editors and international school librarians. Judging is fair and unbiased. Experienced readers assist the named judges in selecting the shortlists for the final. The judges’ decision is final.
Results:
Final results and winners list of the competition will be released on LittleStar website before March 15, 2011. Winners of the competition will also be notified through emails from LittleStar Magazine.
Anthology:
A special anthology of winning short stories will be printed out before the Award Ceremony in March 2011. Each entrant for the competition and participating schools will receive free copies.
Prize Winners/ Award Ceremony:
All winners are invited to and prizes awarded at a grand Award Ceremony in Beijing in March 2011.
The list of prizewinners will be displayed on the Little Star website www.internationalschool.info after the award ceremony.
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.
This post could also be called “Regrets, I’ve had a few”… as Frank Sinatra says in the classic “My Way”
Sorry students, I just have to come out and say it, Ash is dead.
I am so sorry to tell you this way, but I just keep thinking all these words in my head so I thought the best thing to do was to write them down.
Ash has been a family and class pet, for 6 months. He survived ferocious and scary attacks from wild animals, extensive surgery, nights in the jungle of 5KP, being eaten by a super-sized yellow sticky note pad, and being trapped behind a giant green fortress, (not to mention being the husband of bossy Shadow!) …but unfortunately, his time was up this morning and he has died.
That stupid stupid green cage, that door, I should have fixed it, I should not have kept him in that cage, I should have taken him out of the bathroom, I should have let out Mimi’s bath water earlier… Ash was found, unfortunately by Hannah, at 7 am this morning, cold in the bath. We are all so sad, Hannah is a mess, Mimi doesn’t really care too much, and even Simon knows how special Ash was. I just feel so full of regret, so full of ‘If Only…’
Ash was special, other students and teachers stopped by to see him, to give him a pat or say hello. His fur had looked so beautiful since we came back from the Winter Break, so white, so soft. Oh, and did I mention he’d lost a little weight? Only a little mind you, he was still the fattest hamster we had seen, but that made him so cuddly and easy to handle. He was so friendly.
Oh students, I know life goes on, I know it is not the end of the world, I know he was “just a hamster” but he had become something more to the students of 5KP and to our family. He was a bit of an icon, a tough little guy, a survivor, and he will be missed very much, our room won’t be the same without him. I am so sorry that he is not with us anymore. I will really miss him.
RIP Ash…
…I’m back!
It was less than a week ago that our family flew back into Shanghai after an action packed three week trip to Australia. After a whirl-wind week of getting back into the swing of things; I feel a little more ready for a blog post! I do hope you all had a restful/exciting/rejuvenating holiday with your loved ones and that 2011 is a healthy and happy year for your family.
A very warm welcome goes out to Vanessa, our wonderful new student who has settled in beautifully to complete our class this week and take it to the very even number of 20; 10 girls and 10 boys!
Now students, what you’ve been waiting for… News on our Book in a ? Project.
Title: Book in a (you decide depending on the theme of your book and what it is best suited for as well as where your skills lie; you could present in the form of a podcast, keynote, poster, A4 packet or present your work on a cereal box, shoe or flower…)
Due: The first 5 presentations will be on Monday January 24th, which another 5 for each day ’til Thursday and any make-ups needed on the Friday before Chinese New Year vacation. (Due dates are according to your reader’s notebook dates.)
Goal: To share with the class information about a book you have started and finished in 2011 and have some fun as you prepare to share.
Requirements: Your presentation must include approximately 200 words on each of the following areas:
*Characters
*Plot
*Recommendations
We will clarify the above aspects of a book report again during class time but we will not have time to work on the project during class.
Students are expected to present their work to the class during their allotted time and orally tell us a few things about the book; I don’t expect them to read their report out loud, rather just to tell us why they liked the book (or didn’t) and answer any questions people might have about the book as well as go through the slides/poster/report with us.
Students, be creative, have fun and manage your time well this week. You have at least 7 days from now to work on this and I know some of you started work as early as Wednesday. PLAN how you will get your task completed and don’t leave it until the last minute!
In other news…
Before the Chinese New Year Holiday we will complete our Nutrition Unit in Health, our Unit 6 Math test (and consequently our first math journal) and our Essay Unit which I am loving working on with the kids. We have a busy and brief time to do this and I am flexible in that if some things seem beyond us; we will use the three school days after school resumes on February 9th, but the point is, even though there is a short amount of time between Winter Vacation and Chinese New Year; we will be making the most of it.
Speaking of treats, we will be discussing this article in class during our nutrition lessons this week students. It would be very mature of you, very scholarly and very intelligent of you to read it first, see if you understand it, and have an opinion on it or questions about it before coming to class. I will give you until Thursday (which just happens to also be treat day), let’s see how ready for middle school you really are with your independent learning. In accordance with the complexity of the article, I will be rewarding some of the best questions/understandings about the article with a chocolate!
Your homework tonight 5KP is to write a blog post about the video we watched today showing President Obama signing a new bill that brings in a law in America to encourage better nutrition in schools.
You can/should read the whole article here, thank you to Mr Martin for sharing this site with me.
WITHIN YOUR POST comment/reflect on the following:
1. Is the amount being raised per child enough to improve the quality of a meal?
2. Is your lunch the most nutritious meal of the day?
3. What would you want on the menu to make sure that lunch was a healthy meal for children who don’t have enough good food in their life?
I’ve always wanted to say that… It really has nothing to do with this post!!!
THANK YOU for encouraging/helping/buying/making your children buy/make/remember Secret Santa gifts today. The whole class remembered their presents and we also have plenty of great food to eat… possibly enough for a party everyday! Xie Xie.
School Snapshot!
We have our Unit 5 Math test today, the test will come home tomorrow night for your perusal.
We began our Essay Writing Unit this morning and the children are looking forward to Observing the world with ‘extra care and alertness’ over the next week and the holiday period… Ask them what that means.
Our Nutrition unit got off to a great start last week and the children have been noticing what they are eating and recording that data. After the break we will be looking further at the nutritional value of the food they are eating.
IF YOU COULD SAVE ANY NUTRITIONAL LABELS OVER THE NEXT MONTH IF YOU THINK OF IT, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
There will be no reader’s notebook homework this week unless the students would like to show me their writing, then I am always delighted to read it! Instead, the class should focus on observations for their essay unit.
Here are some photos from Mrs. Denton just for the band students…
Today I was given the opportunity to give you an opportunity to offset your carbon footprint this holiday season by donating to the S.A.S. Roots and Shoots Million Tree Project. I am sure many of you have read about our success with planting trees in Inner Mongolia in either the Eagle or other Shanghai publications. The article here gives praise to S.A.S. from the amazing Jane Goodall herself thanking students and staff at our school for the time and effort they have given to the Million Tree Project.
Tomorrow I will be sending home an envelope that you are able to fill with money if you so desire. The money will then be returned to me and I will submit all cash to our Roots and Shoots Fund and you will know exactly how many trees will be planted by our SAS students in Inner Mongolia next April. More information is provided on the envelope coming home, including the link to this website, where you can find out exactly how much carbon your winter flights may be generating.
To check how easy or difficult the task would be for you all, first I went to this site to find out how many kilometres/miles it was from Shanghai to Melbourne return… It was 8003 kms/4973 miles each way. Then I put the information into the original site that is listed on the envelope you will receive, and then I sat back going “ouch!” I had to multiply my 8,000 km by two for the return trip, then I had to multiply that by 4 as there are 4 of us flying.
Here are the results… Oooh La La…. I travel so much, this is just the tip of the iceberg!
I may as well round up to 50 trees… so that is 1250 rmb or $187 US Dollars to offset our families travel… It was starting to sound a little better when I put it like that but money is tight this time of year so I was still panicking a little. However, I know that however much money I put in, I will feel a little better about the damage I am doing to the Earth with all the flying our family does. If you feel the same way, it would be great if you could also try and offset your trip this Winter and send some money back with your child. In our classroom, we often discuss being globally minded, this would be a great way to set a positive example for our children.
Here is a video for you to see exactly where your money is being spent.
http://portal.saschina.org/video/flv_player/Main.swf
P.S. The math test has been delayed until Monday as we have had several absences this week. The kids are all feeling pretty tired and need to get some rest over the weekend, the room is starting to sound like an orchestra with the various coughs and sneezes going on. It is that time of year I’m afraid and I know we don’t want our germs going on vacation with us, so take it easy folks and look after each other.
Thank You to the parents who made the effort to attend yesterday’s 5th grade band and strings concert; we realize it is a long journey for many of you but I hope you rewarded by listening to the fine sounds made by your children. Please pass on a big thank you to Mrs Denton and Mrs Hu when you see them as I know a lot of work outside of class time goes on to make sure these productions run smoothly. I did take some pictures of the event, however they cannot compare to the ones taken by our resident photographer, Mrs Dixon, so I have taken her advice and stolen them from her! Enjoy.
http://portal.saschina.org/video/flv_player/Main.swf
In other news, we complete our 5th unit of math this week with a unit test that covers the content learned these last three weeks. The test should be on Friday (as long as I feel students are ready) and children should revise over skills and study links these next two nights in preparation. This test will include decimals, converting fractions and percents and some graph work.
the barefoot librarian 