I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas vacation. Some of the students are struggling a little to get back into the Shanghai time zone so the first day was a little slower than usual. Students are more upbeat and enthusiastic today.

We are taking off where we left off in math. We are starting unit 6 focused on Organizing Data. We will have completed unit 6 before the Chinese New Year break and should be on unit 7 by the time we break for CNY. Your child should have a study link for homework every night or skills practice of previous concepts learned throughout the year. Ask your child questions about their homework and don't forget to remind them to pack it in their bag to be returned to school.

In LA we are writing seed idea post cards about our vacation. Students will be completing these for homework and should be done with publishing this Friday. We will start a Readers' Theater unit next week where students will rotate through 3 activities, spending 2 weeks at each activity. The 3 activities are Independent Novel Biographies (Students to complete Biography Literature Circle Job descriptions, Readers Theater (4 short plays about the lives of 4 inventors and their inventions) and Mini Biographies comprehension and activities. All activities are focused on Inventors and Inventions as our Social Studies and Science focus next quarter is the Invention Convention.

Our Social Studies and Science focus in quarter 3 is the Invention Convention. We are currently working through phase 1 where students will research various inventors and their inventions. Students are required to choose an inventor and write a first person speech that they will present to the class. Rubrics and project requirement sheets have been given to each student.

Thanks to those of you who have written a post about your Christmas vacation.

Mr. T

I hope you have all had a restful and relaxing vacation. It is good to see everybody back refreshed and ready to go again. Chinese New Year vacation is only around the corner so if you did not get that relaxing break you were after hang in there for the CNY vacation in three weeks time.

Mr. T

Congratulations on a great Global Native Open House. The feedback from parents was amazing and you should all be proud. Take some time to answer the following questions about the project on a post on YOUR blog.

1.    Explain what you liked most about the project and why?

2.    Summarize what you found most difficult or challenging about this project and why?

3.    Analyze one aspect of the project that you would change and give details as to why?

4.    Assess what new knowledge you gained from this project?

5.    Define what skills you have gained from working with your group during this project.

6.    Justify how you were a positive influence on your group.

7.    Describe the problems that you and your group encountered throughout this project.

Check out the photos from the Open House.

Mr. T

Whether you're staying in Shanghai or trekking to another part of the world...Happy Holidays! Have a safe and relaxing holiday and we'll see you all back safely in 2009! You all deserve a holiday!

I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching your child and have really appreciated your help and support this year.

Mr. T

Today we invited classes from the elementary and middle schools to visit our Open House to get us ready for the big day tomorrow when all the parents visit. Students from grade 1 to grade 8 were amazed at the quality of the fifth grade projects and the information and knowledge they shared.

There is still room for improvement and I'm sure they will be practicing and going over there presentations tonight to get ready for the big day tomorrow.

We hope to see you all tomorrow.

Mr. T

Here are some photos of the Grade 3-5 Winter Concert last week.

Mr. T

Congratulations to everyone who gave the correct answer to last week's problem, it was 72 strawberries. Many of you recognized the pattern and didn't forget the 8 eight strawberries that were eaten before the party started.

The Question

Jenny bought 7 t-shirts, one for each of her seven brothers, for $9.95 each. The cashier charged her an additional $13.07 in sales tax. She left the store with a measely $7.28. How much money did Jenny start with?

Mr. T

Wow! Congratulations to everybody who performed at the Elementary Winter Concert yesterday...you performed brilliantly! The band and the orchestra played some fantastic holiday tunes and made their parents proud.We are all looking forward to your next performance.

Congratulations to Ms. Denton and Ms. Hu for a great show.

Check out the Elementary School blog for some video of the show.

Mr.T

Have you kept your Smart Goals Journal up to date? Remember that you should be continuously assessing your progress with your smart goals that were posted on your blogs last month. You need to make sure that you tell me how your journey in achieving your goals is going and what improvements, if any, you are making. There is a minimum of two update entries per month...don't forget.

Mr. T

Our friends in New Zealand have been nominated for the Edublogs Awards for the Best use of Video/Visual section. They have done fantastic work and are always uploading video of events and celebrations they have at their school. Check them out if you haven't already.

Click here to vote for Tamaki Intermediate School.

Good luck Mr. Webb and Room Six

Mr. T

Students are currently working on getting their artifacts and posters completed and have used their class time very well. The majority of them will be starting to work on their speeches by the middle of the week. They are really looking forward to the Open House next week.

Mr. T

It is hard to believe that we only have 2 weeks before the Christmas vacation but still so much work to do. This week is a busy week with Santa's workshop, extra music classes and the holiday concert coming up.

Homework is beginning to be an issue again for a few students forgetting to take materials home to complete homework or failing to return completed homework back to school. Remember that homework is a habit and routine that we want to instill into our students. Content is not as important as the routine and we certainly want to see children taking responsibility for their own learning. Please encourage your child to get into a routine when completing homework and remind them to bring completed homework back to school each day. Together we can help them improve.

I have been impressed with the way students have worked on their Global Native projects. Groups and partnerships have worked well together by sharing responsibilities and making sure that everybody does their part for the team. Students are currently working on getting their artifacts and posters completed and have used their class time very well. The majority of them will be starting to work on their speeches by the middle of the week.

We have the unit 5 math test this Friday. Students have been given their study links to study for the test. Skills covered in the unit 5 test include:

*add fractions with like denominators

*order and compare fractions

*convert between fractions and percents

*draw a circle graph for a set of data

*measure pieces of a circle graph; interpret a circle graph

*convert between fractions and mixed numbers

*find equivalent fractions

In Language Arts the majority of students have completed their current personal narratives and are continuing with literature circles. Students have really improved their efforts in completing their assigned job descriptions. We should complete our current novels by the end of the week.

Mr. T

The Holiday Concert is scheduled for Thursday 11 December. Students will have rehearsals for the concert on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to prepare for the big day. Please remind your child to bring their instrument for the next 3 days. Your child and the music teachers would appreciate your attendance and support.

The Kindergarten to Grade 2 concert starts at 10:30 am and the Grade 3 to Grade 5 concert starts at 1:15 pm.

We hope to see you there.

Mr. T

It was a tougher problem last week but many of you gave the correct answer. However, not one of you explained your answer and gave us the steps that you went through to get it. I will give those of you who gave an answer an opportunity to explain your answer. I'm glad that a hint or two helped some of you out too. The correct answer to the problem was 23 cents for the peel and $1.57 for the banana. A bit expensive don't you think?

The Question

Ammie passed around a basket of strawberries to the girls at her party. Before the party she ate 5 strawberries and gave a friend 3. Eight girls arrived at the party. The first girl took a strawberry, the second girl took 3 strawberries, the third girl took 5 strawberries and so on. After the last girl took her strawberries, the basket was empty. How many strawberries were in the basket at the beginning?

Mr. T

We will be celebrating our Global Native Open House on Thursday 18 December from 8-10am. We hope you can be here to visit all the amazing displays that students throughout the fifth grade have been working on over the past few weeks.

invitation-to-open-house.pdf

Mr. T

Clothing Drive

There will be a used clothing drive the week of December 8-12 (The week of Santa's workshop). Boxes will be at main entrances. Clothing will go to Li Min School. The principal said that they would be happy to receive winter clothing for their students. He also mentioned that many of their students are from areas affected by the earthquake and adult clothing would be useful also.

Giving Tree 

Thank you to everybody who has contributed to this very worthy cause. The new date for all bags to be returned to school is December 11.

Elementary Christmas Concert

The Elementary Christmas Concert is coming up on Thursday 11 December.

Santa's Workshop

Santa's workshop is coming up next week.

Mr. T

The correct answer to last weeks problem was 45. As many of you said you needed to work backwards and use the opposite operations to solve the problem. Good job those of you who solved it correctly.

The Question

The peel of a banana weighs about 1/8 of the total weight of the banana. If you buy 3 kg of bananas at 1kg for $0.60, about how much are you paying for the banana peel? For the banana itself? Round to the nearest cent.

Mr. T

We have been advised that the new date to get the Giving Tree bags into school is now Thursday 11 December. This will give us an extra week to buy those gifts for this very worthy cause.

Mr. T

We have been offered help from real experts in Maori culture all the way from Aotearoa (New Zealand)! Students from Room 6 at Tamaki Intermediate in Auckland NZ, have offered to help us with our research. Here is the message they left on our class blog.

"Kia Ora (hello) we are Maori students from Tamaki Intermediate in New Zealand and we are willing to answer any questions about our Maori culture. Just leave a question on our blog page and we will be more than happy to answer your questions.

p.s Dont forget to check out our maori video’s that we put online.

from Mikaela, Sideana, Mereana, and Dakota. Room Six, Tamaki Intermediate, Auckland, New Zealand."

Check out their blog and look at some of the awesome work they are doing. If you are studying the Maori people make sure you get in touch with them and send them any questions you have.

Mr. T

Here is a good site to practice the skills you have learned in our fraction, decimals and percents unit. Check it out and get some more practice if you need it.

Mr. T