Migration

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Let’s Go 5KP… Let’s learn about migration…

Thanks to Mr.Power for his amazing assistance in this unit. It is a wonderful journey we are about to go on together. Parents, over the weekend, your child will be asking one parent in the family some questions…

1.What year were you born? Have you ever made a major move in your life? Where from… where to?

Thank You for your help parents, hopefully the unit will open up some interesting discussions at home about where your family’s migration journey has taken you…

Our Read-a-Loud during this unit is the wonderful Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate. I highly recommend this book and know it will prompt thought and great discussion amongst the students as they explore the life of a Sudanese refugee named Kek.

http://www.wallwisher.com/embed/5kPmigration

If I could turn back time…

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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…

Events Coming up, Dates for your Calendar

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1. Treat Day is Tomorrow and it is 5th grade’s turn to bake; please do so if you are able, thank you!

2. Our Class Photo is tomorrow, Thursday the 20th of January

3.Walking With the Dinosaurs

When:  Friday, January 21,2011

(Chaperones, please meet us at the grade level project area, by 8:45.)

Where: Expo Culture Center (Mercedes-Benz Arena)/ 1200 Expo Avenue, Shanghai

How:   All parents must come to school, ride the bus and then they may leave the play with their children as long as they have informed their child’s teacher prior to departure.

Lunch:   Students must bring a packed lunch.  We will have a picnic lunch on the bus.

Why: To learn about theatrical events and enhance our migration unit.

Description:

“After years of planning, the award-winning BBC TV series, Walking with Dinosaurs, comes to life in a stunning theatrical event. Internationally renowned designers have worked with scientists to create 15 life-size dinosaurs, including the terror of the ancient terrain, Tyrannosaurus-Rex! Be amazed and thrilled as the greatest creatures ever to walk the earth return before your eyes.”

4. Coffee Connection hosted by the Shanghai Community Center

Come hear special guest Laura Cowan, SAS MS Counselor, share about “The Special Challenges Faced by Third Culture Kids”

When: January 21, 10am-12pm

Where: Community Center Shanghai Pudong Center

Greenhills Clubhouse, 2/F

418 JinXiu East Rd (near intersection of Bai Hua Rd)

Jinqiao, Pudong, Shanghai 200135

The closest subway station is Yunshan Lu Station, Line 6.

上海 浦东 金桥 锦绣东路418弄 云间绿大地会所2楼 (靠近白桦路)

最近的地铁站是6号线云山路站

Phone: (021) 3382-1770

Contact: Ron Mona

To Register for this FREE event, please visit: http://www.communitycenter.cn/events_coffeeconnection.asp

5. Chinese New Year Celebration

This year, SAS Pudong will host a school-wide Chinese New Year Celebration on Thursday, January 27. You are invited to join us for a Traditional Chinese Lunch with your child followed by a fantastic show of Authentic Chinese performances. You will also have a great opportunity to enjoy various exhibitions of your children’s artwork and progress on their Chinese learning. Please come and enjoy a great celebration, a perfect way to start your Chinese New Year Holiday.

When and where is the Chinese New Year Celebration?

Date: Thursday, January 27

11:30 AM- 12:30 PM: Traditional Chinese Luncheon served in both school cafeterias* Please see note below

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM: Traditional Chinese Performances In High School Gym

Complimentary Bus Transportation: Depart 10:00 A.M. from Jinqiao Starbucks; Return at 3:00 P.M. to Jinqiao Starbucks

Traditional Chinese Dress is encouraged!

What is Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year also called the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival is the most important holiday among the Chinese. This year, year of rabbit, the festival begins on February 3rd, which is the first day (Pinyin: chu xi) of the first month (Pinyin: zheng yue) in the Chinese calendar and ends on February 17th with the Lantern Festival that is on the 15th day. Chinese New Year’s Eve is the day for all family members to gather for a reunion dinner. Food for the dinner will include items such as pork, duck, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family ends the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, the children greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year and receive money in red envelopes(Hong Bao). Lion and dragon dances are some of the traditional performances throughout the country. This year, in addition to these performances, SAS Pudong has invited many other distinguished performers such as sand dances and Peking opera face change, etc.

How do I buy tickets?

This is FREE, no tickets necessary. This celebration is an opportunity for SAS Pudong to treat all parents, students and teachers with a great show.
Also, for the latest information, click here for the PTSA General Blog.

Thank you,

The Chinese New Year Celebration Committee

*Please note: due to space constraints for this special event, parents are requested to enjoy the Luncheon with your children in their regularly assigned cafeteria. Parents will view the Traditional Chinese Performances following the Luncheon; all students will view a morning performance prior to the luncheon.

Finally…

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…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.

Parents (AND STUDENTS) please bake for our 5th grade treat day this Thursday Jan 20th!

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!

Food Glorious Food

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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?

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=us/2010/12/13/bts.obama.healthy.hunger.act.pool

Winter Wonderland…

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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…

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

Something close to my heart…

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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!

Screen shot 2010-12-09 at 2.44.25 PM

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.

Superb Skills Showcased

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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.

Don’t Panic 5KP

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OK Class, well it looks like Mrs C’s blog is blocked from our homes… what a pain! Unless your parents have a vpn/tunnel set up, you won’t be able to access the blogs unless you are at school.

But we will get onto her kids first thing Monday so that we have all left comments for the kids by the time they start school Monday, sorry to disappoint you all, I hadn’t realized this was the case.

Have a great weekend without homework except for you Marvelous Monday Manuscript Masters (Monday Readers!)