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

Big Week Ahead…(aka) BWA!

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Hello Thrill Seekers

Are you ready for another big week? Get ready as we prepare to move on up to middle school with lots of learning, fun and adventure. Here is a note about our first big event on Thursday.

Please read the important information below from our PE teachers.

On June 9th the Summer Sizzler will take place on the upper elementary playground.  It will be a great time with many fun events for our students to participate in.  Parents please feel free to come and watch your students celebrate the end of year.

Pre K, K, Grades 1 and 2 will have their Summer Sizzler in the morning from 8:30 to 10:45

Grades 3 to 5 will have their Summer Sizzler from 12:30 to 2:45

We will have a Tug of war house competition from 10:45 to 12:15 (All grade levels will have a chance before or after their lunch)

Students will need to bring their house shirt, a change of clothes (they will get wet doing some of the games), sunscreen, hat, proper shoes, an extra snack (they will be exerting a lot of energy) and a positive attitude.

It should be a great day and we look forward to seeing you.

The Elementary P.E. Department

In other news…

Thank You to the P.T.S.A. for allowing us to donate 1,900 rmb to both the Red Cross and World Wildlife Fund

Students will have their end of unit 11 math test next Wednesday, they all know what to study and should do very well.

On Thursday morning, we will continue our discussions about Puberty, I am looking forward to hearing what the girls are wondering, and hoping we can have a great conversation together.

I look forward to seeing you on Friday as we celebrate the culmination of your child’s Elementary School Journey. Enjoy your long weekend.

Evaluating Websites

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5KP, you do not need to worry about this post.
Here is my Jing Presentation.

How to Select and Evaluate Websites

Here are some sites to help you as you evaluate websites in the future; as this is something you will be doing for the rest of your lives, I suggest you copy and paste this into your blogroll or to delicious or your Google Reader.

Lesley University Evaluates Websites

Houghton Mifflin Website Evaluation

University of Maryland Evaluates Websites

Cornell University Library Website Evaluation Site

P.S. If I were you, I’d want to evaluate the websites above to see how they add up too! Why have I chosen them? Do I have my own personal agenda, am I trying to sell you something or persuade you one way or another?

In all of the above questions, the answer is no, but you never know… so be smart online!

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

30 more sleeps…

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…until your children are no longer considered Elementary School Students. WOW. Whether your 5KP student is your first, middle, last or only child, this is always a big deal. There is excitement in the air and a big buzz around the classroom; especially when our students’ days are filled with dodge-ball tournaments, field trips, soccer days, Chinese painting sessions, lego and so many other things that are making life pretty cool for them right now. Today’s math test went really well by the way, and we are also finishing up Lego and Memoir this week so believe me, there has still been plenty of learning taking place.

Friday the 27th of May

I would like to invite you to have lunch with your child in the cafeteria on Friday the 27th of May at 12.10 pm and then join us for dessert in room 209 at 12.40 pm where we will share our literary essays and memoirs with you. We will then move to the auditorium by 2 pm for our band and strings concert. Please e mail and let me know if you can make it to the 12.40 publishing party so I can plan accordingly and don’t feel guilty if you can’t; I know your child would LOVE to have you there, I also know life is busy, but hopefully you will be able to make it to some or all of our events that afternoon.

Students, your homework task to be completed by Friday depending on your after school obligations today and tomorrow is to do a blog post or written piece on the following…

“30 days to go”

This will be a reflective piece of writing of about 300-400 words (don’t moan, that is nothing!) telling the world how you feel about the end of your elementary years being just around the corner. Think about some of the wonderful memoir writing we’ve been looking at with Small Steps, Boy, Childtimes and our classroom mentor texts and try and dig deep to tell us how you really feel.

Are you nervous, excited, bored, scared, joyful to be saying good bye to what is essentially the main part of your childhood?

Have you got favorite highlights and memories you can recall that you’d like to tell us about? Good bits? Bad bits?

Good Luck and I look forward to hearing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

Parents, I feel completely overwhelmed with gratitude (and sugar) so thank you from the heart for thanking me today for looking after your children this year, it has been a pleasure. On that note, read your e mail if you haven’t yet as I am asking for an even bigger favor than chocolate!!!

Appreciation

Note below re Friday if you haven’t read it on e mail yet (apologies for repetition)

As you are aware, our China Alive experience is now fully underway.  The exploration of our host culture began Monday with an introduction to a variety of board and table games for the students to play.  Other activities during the week include folk performers, Chinese painting, Chinese cooking and a movie.  The week culminates with a field trip on Friday, May 20th, to the historic water town of Qi Bao.  Your child is encouraged to bring the following items for the day-long field trip:  cell phone(optional), toilet paper for bathroom, home lunch, water bottle, camera (one for each group at least), small pocket money (100 Yuan), pen, paper, umbrella (if it rains) or sunscreen (if it is sunny).  All fifth graders need to wear their house T-shirts for Friday’s trip.

Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions prior to the trip.  Don’t forget to ask what your child is learning about China throughout this week.

Have a fantastic week!

The China Alive Team

(along with the Grade Five Team)

Oh, and last but not least, the dance performances Thursday and Friday have 5 of our girls involved and are wonderful, please come along to the auditorium if you can at 3.30 for an hour long sensational dance show.

Over and Out!

Big Weeks Ahead

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36 more sleeps until the first day of Summer Vacation… so little time, so much still to do. Keep an eye on the calendar to the left of this notice so that you don’t miss out on any of our future events.

Next week will see our students taking part in a wonderful series of activities for our China Alive celebrations. During the week there will be many, but hang on, why should I take time to explain when Claire does a much better job of it here…

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

Thanks Claire.

Well done to all of our students for completing the challenging Map Tests last week. I can testify that the tests saw some of our students pushed to their limits; but also that our students exceeded their expectations. It will take some time before I am able to fully share results with you however in nearly every test for every student a high level of proficiency was achieved. On that note, with recent Eisteddfod’s, Map Tests, Track and Field Days and upcoming soccer days, dance performances, DRA tests, writing competitions, string and band concerts, and dodgeball tournaments, I want to reinforce that EVERY CHILD HAS STRENGTHS IN DIFFERENT AREAS. I wish I knew at ten, what I know now at nearly forty; I have strong skills in some areas, and lesser skills in others, and THAT IS NORMAL AND O.K. instead of worrying when I was not the fastest, smartest, most popular etc. It is sometimes difficult in a competitive environment to realize that you are not going to be strong at everything but it is a lesson that is best learned young; it can surely save a lot of pain in the future.

winners

On May 27th, I’d like to invite you all to our one and only Writer’s Party to celebrate our recent Literary Essays and our nearly completed Memoirs Unit. I realize what a busy time of the year we have coming up, so I am trying to cut down on your trips to the school by having our celebration on the same day as our Band and Strings Concert. The students and I only decided on this today, so details are still to come, but plan to be out at school around 12.40 that day, or earlier for lunch if you like, and we will celebrate before the musical festivities begin at 2.15 that day.

Websites for Current Events…

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Many students are talking about the news right now, with all of the things that have happened in the world over the last few days. Below are a few sites that students could use to find out some up to date facts as these sites are more geared towards students and their learning; therefore their vocabulary is more accessible and the content generally is too.

* Behind the News http://www.abc.net.au/news/btn/
* Channel One News http://www.channelone.com/
* Headline Spot http://www.headlinespot.com/for/kids/
* Kids News Bites – National Geographic http://kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/kidsnews/
* National Geographic http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Stories/
* News for Children from Across the World http://pitara.com/news/
* NY Times Education http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/category/journalism/
* Scholastic News http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/scholasticNews.jsp
* Science News http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/
* Time For Kids http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news