Hello Parents and Students
Make sure you take some time tonight to discuss with each other your ERB topic and strategy for essay writing tomorrow.

ERB Writing Tips

Fifth grade usually gets a descriptive prompt and the students have 50 minutes on each day to write, which would be different from a 3^rd or 4^th grade sibling who
gets a narrative (story) prompt and has 60 minutes. The focus this year as
compared to last year will be on clear details and how well they are
supported/explained!
As tradition goes, there will be no homework on those nights to encourage the children to rest and think of ideas for the big test. I strongly urge you to talk to your child about what
they are writing – it’s expected and not cheating from the ERB group.

Questions you can ask your
child on Wednesday night:

What is the topic?

What have you written about so far? (they should be 75% done)

What are you planning for your ending? (listen to how they’ll shape an interesting,
sometimes open or unexpected conclusion; if not – help them, I’m not allowed
to)

What is your opening sentence? (Big points are scored in a good opening – something unusual;
interesting action or dialogue)

How can I help you shape your ideas? (The question might be about a topic that you remember – a trip to Thailand or a strange Uncle – and can help give details that
will enrich their work)

But, more than anything, your young one needs to relax and get some good rest.

Dear Parents and Students

Here
is a picture of the class enjoying an abundance of food at Gregory
Campo’s farewell party before the Spring Break. Thank-you to all of you
who baked and helped your child in the kitchen. My diet was out the
door, there was so much yummy food. We will miss Gregory just like we
miss Carol and Justin who have also left 5KP this year.

Well we certainly had some fantastic weather for our soccer day last week
and thanks to the parents who came out and supported the event. The
kids had such a good time and I was proud of their team spirit and
excellent behavior.

This Wednesday and Thursday the students will
have their ERB test which is a writing assessment program you can read
more about in this weeks newsletter below.

Please remember to have a look at your child’s blog page if you get a chance and encourage them with their web-logging (blogging) by writing a comment on their
blog. It is a great way to keep informed about what your child is learning at school and to hear some of their responses to issues in the wider world. All the links to their blogs are on the side of this page and many have been writing some great responses to their Space Webquests which is part of their science and social studies assessment.

I leave you with a picture of my daughter Hannah who recently turned 6…

Mrs Power

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/8KxK4hwQzeY" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Hey kids, have a look at this video produced by an 8 year old student. Are you ready to make your own video???

Well, our days are numbered, not long ’til a wonderful week of school vacations…aren’t we lucky!

I hope you all enjoy your time away from SAS and that you get some rest and return on April 2nd feeling energised

and ready for full steam ahead class work for the 4th quarter…

Keep blogging and commenting

Mrs P

 Are you interested in Art???
See this blog by a fellow teacher at SAS
http://blogs.saschina.org/artsas

Today 5KP were lucky enough to hear a lecture from William Lindesay who has for a long time been a great advocate for the Great Wall of China. William caught a train down from Beijing last night and will return this evening after an action packed day of speaking with grades 4-8 and also parents and staff after school.
I would like each of the 5KP students to post a blog about his presentation on their site by this Friday. Don’t forget you also should have completed your Space Journal 1 and 2 by now as well as a response to the visiting author days last week.
Check out these sites for more information on William and his work on the Wild Wall.
http://www.2walls.org
http://www.wildwall.com
Bye for now

Here are 5 or our 5KP students getting ready for our recent Chinese New Year concert where they performed the Chinese Minority Hat Dance.
Kate, Christina, Paige, Letitia and Elley

 

Students, this is the link you need to go to to discover more about your Space Webquest.
http://search.saschina.org/spacetest/index.htm

This is the project you will be working on in Science and Social Studies over the next 4-6 weeks so it is important you understand what is going on and keep up to date with tasks in class. Read the information down the left side of the page by clicking on the links in red. Under process, pay particular attention to the journal entries which you will be completing for assessment.
Remember to go to:
http://search.saschina.org/spacetest/index.htm

Good Luck! We are counting on you for a better future!

Well done to Elley and Kate who added to their blogs over the Chinese New Year. Please go to their great blogs to read about what they were up to over the New Year and make a comment congratulating them on their efforts. They will both be receiving vouchers for the fun store for their hard work.
Here is a photo of Elley…
and here is her blog address:
http://blogs.saschina.org/echoung2014

and here is our other star student Kate…
and you can see her work at:
http://blogs.saschina.org/kma2014

Congratulations Girls, keep up the good work.