Invention Convention Homework for the Weekend

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I usually don’t set weekend homework and so if you have other plans that make this weekend very busy, I understand your child not being able to complete the work. However it is in their best interests if they at least think about the following over the next few days. It would be a great idea for the students to complete the information below and post to the Invention Convention page of their blog. Here is a great site to explain more about the SCAMPER process.

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SCAMPER ASSESSMENT SHEET

Use the SCAMPER technique to REFINE your INVENTION and answer the following criteria on your blog.

MY PROPOSED INVENTION IS:

Substitute: What else can it do? How can I change it to do more? What other tools can I use to make my invention more efficient?

Combine: How can I combine other inventions of a different type together in new and interesting ways (for example combining a puzzle game with an adventure game?)

Adapt: What else is ‘out there’ that is already like this? What could I copy and add to it? How can I change it?

Minify/Magnify: How can I create a longer or smaller version of my invention? How can I simplify it or make the invention more challenging/diverse/user friendly?

Put to other uses: How can I re-purpose my invention to make it more marketable?

Eliminate: Is there anything I need to take away from my invention? Are some aspects of it too complicated or unnecessary?

Rearrange: Are there any other components (parts) of my invention that I need to interchange (swap) with existing components? Is there a way of rearranging my invention so that it is a better product?

Now look over your answers and develop a plan of action; there is no point in knowing how to improve your invention if you don’t get to it and do something about it.

Have a great weekend 5KP and stay focused and positive for the next 13.5 school days of your Elementary Career

News of the Moment

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Thanks to the parents who provided treats for the 5th grade’s last treat day of the year today.

MS Eagle Ambassadors
Several of you are interested in becoming MS Eagle Ambassadors. In order for you to be considered, you must complete an application. The deadline to return applications has been moved to Thursday, May 19.

Yushu Earthquake Donation

I have finally gotten around to telling the students about the donation being made on their behalf this Friday in the Library Lecture Hall at 9 am. If you are not sure what I am talking about, please read this letter from our room mum Diane:

Hello 5th Grade Parents,

I am pleased to inform you of a wonderful gesture the 5th Grade class will
be doing this week. The students will be using excess funds from their 5th
Grade PTSA budget to make a generous donation of 5500rmb to the Yushu
Earthquake account. Many students had heard about the earthquake, expressed
concern and were wondering how they can help. After discussing with the
teachers, we decided we could use this donation to not only help a good
cause but also provide the children with a learning experience.

Sacha has made arrangements for Wendy Da, from SAS Puxi, to make a
presentation to the 5th grade students. Wendy will discuss her experience
in Sichuan following the earthquake there. She will share many photos and
describe how this donation will aid the people suffering from the recent
Yushu earthquake. The students will present their donation at the
presentation.

I am happy to invite you to attend. The presentation will take place on
Friday, May 21st, at 9:00am in the Library Lecture Hall. There will be a
reception for parents prior to the presentation starting at 8:30am. I hope
you are able to come and join the students for this wonderful event.

Thank You,

Diane

Math Test

Today we had our Unit 11 test and I am pleased with most of the results of our students. It was a more difficult test than our Unit 10 test and although no one scored 100% (well done Miranda for coming closest) our average was still 87%. When you see the test tomorrow night after we have gone over any errors in class; please pay the most attention to Part A. The information tested in Part B was not as thoroughly covered in class and contains more new material that the students have only recently been introduced to. This has been the case with all of the Math Tests this year with the Everyday Math program.

Invention Convention

We are determined and excited to create something special for our Invention Convention Unit. Most of the class feel like they have some idea where they are heading now, and realize that they aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel; rather they should be aiming to take something in existence already and make it better!

Writer’s Workshop

We are determined not to let our memoirs get the better of us, WE CAN DO IT 5KP! WE are having an intensive double period in the morning where we will continue drafting and adding ideas, sharing writing strategies and encouraging each other to be the best writers we can be. Our Memoir will be published come what may, by the end of next week.

Boston Buddies
Most of the class are now writing back and forward with our Boston Buddies and commenting on blogs getting to know each other. Here are a couple of photos of the class for you 5KP, in the second one you will find Elizabeth on the left with the great pink shirt on. In the first one the names are as follows:

Front Row L–>R Lauren, Zoe, Libby, Sabrina, Alissa, Emily

Behind Lauren –> Adam and Olivia

Standing L –> R Seth, James, Michael, Dylan, Luke, Jake, Aidan, Charlie,
Callan (behind Charlie), Dana

group pic May

IMG_2339 - Copy

Introducing our Boston Buddies!

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Hello Parents

It was very exciting last week to approve this comment on my blog:

Hi Kimbra,

My name is Cathy Chiavarini and I am a Grade 5 teacher in Dover, Massachusetts, which is located just west of Boston. I am enjoying exploring your blog!

My students and I are trying blogging for the very first time. We are all very excited about it. I see you’ve already got a lot of connections, but I was wondering if the students in your class might enjoy joining my students in reading and commenting on each other’s blogs? We have a class blog, and each student is just developing their own pages–these are linked to the class blog.

I think we may have some common interests–readers’ and writer’s workshop, we LOVE to read, looks like a similar math curriculum (we use Everyday Math)…and others, I’m sure.

We’d love to have you visit. Here is the link to the class blog http://gr5blogs.edublogs.org/

Look forward to hearing from you.
-Cathy

We certainly do have many shared interests

Our reading and writing units of study

Our Everyday Math program

We both agree that we have had wonderfully talented writers and readers in our class this past school year.

A surprise bonus is that a student in Mrs C’s class, Jake, has parents who are friends with Mrs Cole in 4th grade here. We only found that out after Mrs C sent out an e mail to the parents and Jake’s mom contacted Mrs Cole wondering…’isn’t that the same school you work in?’ What a small world the internet has created!

Today we matched up the students in each class which also went wonderfully as our student numbers and genders matched beautifully without any ‘boy or girl germs’ being transmitted across the globe.

Here is the list of student names from both sides of the world. If you go to Mrs Chiavarini’s blog you will her students listed by initials in the blogroll on the right. Your children have been asked to write to their buddy through their blog by Friday and that is their homework for tonight. Thursday Readers also need to complete their Readers Notebook entry and all students need to return library books for tomorrow as well as bring their goggles etc for swimming in P.E.

Shanghai-Dover Blogging Buddies

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If only we had found each other sooner… however there is nothing to stop long-lasting relationships being formed and some of 5KP and Mrs C’s class have already swapped e mails and begun corresponding; there is no stopping them now.

Cathy Chiavarini is a 5th grade teacher at Chickering School in Dover and we welcome her and her students to our SAS online community.

The Chickering School in Dover Massachussets

Today 5KP impressed me yet again with their amazing soccer skills but even more so their sense of fair play, team spirit and determination. I will certainly miss my 20 wonderful 5KP students when the time comes in 4 weeks from now to wish them the best on their middle school journey.

Thank You 5KP

What’s Happening in 5KP?

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Grade 5 – Upcoming Dates and Curriculum

Weds. May 12 – Soccer Day – Please bring a packed lunch, a hat, a water bottle, sunscreen and remember, no cleats. Our team is Pudong Team One and we are playing 5 out of 6 games between 10.00 am and 1.30 pm on the soccer fields by the high school; you are welcome to join us.

Here is the schedule for the day’s play.

5th Grade Elementary Soccer Days May12th

Here is the list of positions the students will be taking on for the day.

5KP SOCCER DAY Day 2A GAME SHEETS

Monday, May 17 – Band Bonanza – Band student go to Puxi campus and String students stay on the Pudong campus. If you have questions, please direct them to Ms. Dentor at joy.denton@saschina.org or Ms. Hu. at linda.hu@saschina.org
Please help me remind all the band and string students that for the Bonanza concert, they need to wear:

Nice white top
Black pants/skirt, black socks and black shoes.

Weds. May 19 – MS transition day – 8:10-9:30

Science Unit – ‘Inventions are all around us’ for our Invention Convention Phase Two:  Students will engage in several activities in class and at home as they build up their knowledge of the invention process to participate in creating their own invention or modification of something already in existence.

Homework Tonight or tomorrow night you need to do a blog entry on your Invention Convention Page where you write a 300 word summary of your favorite ‘New Inventor’ invention so far. Include some of the things we have discussed in class or written about on our response sheets such as usefulness and price if you remember them. Try and include a picture of it and/or a link to the New Inventor site. Check out the New Inventor site while you are there, it has some great ideas and is on ABC television in Australia.

Math – Having recently completed Unit 10, we have 2 units of study remaining. Unit 11 = Volume, Unit 12 = Probability, Ratios, and Rates. Unit 11 is a short but important unit and so far the students are making steady progress but I continue to encourage them that revision should be done every night; not just the evening before a unit test.

Writer’s Workshop – Memoir: The Art of Writing Well

Reader’s Workshop – Inventor Book Clubs and Reader’s Theater

From the PTSA

The Eagle Shop-A Great Opportunity for You: Do you like to meet new people? Do you enjoy seeing your kids at school? If so then volunteeing at the Eagle Shop is the perfect place for you! Shop discounts given to those who vonunteer. Please come to the shop or contact Hina Haris at eagleshopPD@saschina.org    The Eagle Shop-A Great place to buy your last minute end of the year gifts! Still looking for that perfect gift before leaving for the summer? The Eagle Shop has great gift items for everyone! School Pennants, Key Chains, Sweatshirts, T-shirts, Sweatpants and more. New sale item-Stadium Blanket just reduced to 200rmb while stocks last.

Finally…. something for all of you who go “Oooooooooh, how cute” when you see something like this…

Happy Friday Everyone

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What a wonderful sunny day it is, a terrific day to start the weekend. We have had a short but very productive week back.

Most of the students were extremely successful in the recent Unit 10 Math Test with 8 students earning 100% and 7 students scoring 96% with only one error… OUCH! The class median score was 96%, our highest thus this year and the class average was 94%, also our highest average for 2009 – 2010.

This week also saw 5KP begin phase two of the Invention Convention Unit. During this project, the students will be looking closely at the process involved when you invent something. The focus is more on the process rather than the product. In past years we have found that this project has sometimes taken on a life of its own and many students have ended up with their parents doing a large part of the work for them rather than the student actually understanding all of the trial and error actually involved when you are trying to invent something.

Here are the essential questions that we will be aiming to answer and understand during the course of the 4 week project.

Essential Questions

Where are inventions located?

What steps are involved in the invention process?

What implications do these inventions have for people?

Are new inventions always better than those they replace?

How do inventions change and adapt to suit their environment?

The deadline for handing in yearbook money has been extended to May 12th.

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In Writer’s Workshop the class are starting to make some breakthroughs with the Memoir Unit of Study. It is a difficult concept for a 5th grader to get their head around but their main aim is to write a piece of writing of their own choice of genre that sums up something that has happened in their past that has meaning for them.

Thank You parents for a wonderfully appreciative lunch just now… I need a nap!

How many of these have YOU seen 5KP?

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Hi 5KP, I missed you today as I worked hard to build an elementary schedule for next year that you won’t be around to enjoy… sob sob! I heard from Mr. B that you had a productive day and enjoyed working together on Lego, Reader’s Theater and Math.

Some dates to note for the next week are:

5 day holiday coming up!

and did I mention

5 day holiday coming up!

I will set some tasks to complete on the blog and you can spend some time reading checking those out and also studying for your math test…

What was that? Did I just say math test? Yes my dears, it will be held on Wednesday and you will do well if you concentrate on the remaining lessons this week and spend some time revising your journal and study links over the May Holiday.

The following concepts and skills will be assessed:

*solve two-step pan-balance problems
*write algebraic expressions to represent situations
*represent rate problems as formulas, tables and graphs
*use formulas to find circumference and area of a circle
*distinguish between circumference and area of a circle
*solve one-step pan-balance problems
*interpret mystery line plots and graphs

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Community Yard Sale Coming Up

This is a greeting from the HS Roots & Shoots and Children’s Home Club. As you might have heard, the 3rd annual yard sale will take place soon, and we are so excited! On Friday May 7 from 9:00-3:00, a variety of items will be sold on the second floor of the HS cafeteria.  This event is open to all members of the SAS community: guards, cleaners, cafeteria staff, bus monitors, parents, students and teachers. Come to find some bargains!

As in the past, gently used items will be collected for the yard sale: clothes, shoes, electronics, small appliances, books, toys. For furniture or other items too large to bring to school, we can post a photo. This year, we hope that everybody once again will search through their homes and bring donations to school.  It is a perfect time for spring cleaning! Donations will be collected in the hallway outside the elementary, middle and high school offices.  Look for the “Yard Sale Donation” sign.  Donations will be collected until Thursday, May 6.

For the past two years, the proceeds from the Yard Sale have paid for the salary of a teacher at the Lao Wang Orphanage in Anhui who offers lessons to disabled children who are unable to attend the local school.  The children in this orphanage count on the support of the SAS community.

For questions, please contact grade 11 student Andrea Ivarsson <andrea_ivarsson@hotmail.com>

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/55iWri/www.hillmanwonders.com/ is a link to a fun site I stumbled upon this week and I think you would have fun checking out a few of the links of places you have been to and also making some plans about what you would like to see that you have not seen already. A task for you to blog about over the following weekend could be:

Task One: Add the link above to your own blog and tell the world about the places you have been. Choose three more (at least) of the places listed and post them to your blog; write (minimum of a paragraph) about why you want to go to each one and if you think you will get there one day.

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Task Two: We are about to begin Phase Two of the Invention Convention where you will be taking a closer look at the Invention Process and challenging yourself to take on your own small invention experience. Over the May Holiday I would like you to start a new page on your blog titled Invention Convention and begin finding suitable websites that might aid you and your classmates in the invention process. Link to them on your new blog page; aim for at least 5 sites and boys and girls, we are going for quality NOT quantity!

Here is an example of the sort of site you might link to however I am sure you will agree, you are smarter than this, aim for something more appropriate for your age group. If you want something to really sink your teeth into; start exploring this little treasure!

Earth Day

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Thanks Students for a fantastic Earth Day today. It was wonderful to finally watch one of my favorite movies with you, Not one Less, and for us to all witness what a hard-working and determined girl the main character was. I chose this movie because I thought it was an appropriate way to model the difference in how Gao Laoshi taught Wei Laoshi to use resources.

Below are some photos of activities we did this week for Earth Day and also some time spent with our Reading Buddies where we worked on our Lego together.

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Trying something new

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Hi there thrill-seekers!

Ms Canar sent me a link about a site called wallwisher so I am having a bit of a play with it instead of doing the 10 other things on my ‘to do’ list I should be doing now.

Let’s see what we can do with this wall and if it would be a fun thing to add to our tech repertoire. You will need to read the post before this one to understand what I mean by the ‘top 100 list’. Don’t forget to complete the assignment on that post before next Monday for homework. Click here if you can’t see the site below or have trouble posting your sticky note. BEING ANONYMOUS IS NOT AN OPTION.

http://www.wallwisher.com/embed/kpower