Welcome to the Elementary Art Blog!

Stay tuned here for all the happenings in Upper Elementary Art this year!

JT

The final math assessment is coming this Friday on Probability, Ratios and Rates. Make sure you take home all your materials to study this week. Remember, if you need to practice any of the skills below, take a look at your Skills Link practice booklet. The following skills will be assessed in Unit 12:

*understand and use tree diagrams to solve problems

*compute the probability of outcomes when choices are equally likely

*use the multiplication counting principle to find the total number of possible outcomes for a sequence of choices

*find the greatest common factor of two numbers

*find the least common multiple of two numbers

*solve ration and rate number stories

*find the factors of numbers

*find the prime factorizations of numbers

Mr. T

Dear Parents,

The Grade 5 students will soon begin their adolescence unit.  We have invited Dr. Bristol to speak with all Grade 5 students on June 2^nd.   Dr. Bristol is an Attending Pediatrician as well as the Chief Medical Officer from Shanghai United Family Hospital.  The title of the presentation is “My Mind and Body are Changing: What Gives?”  Some of the topics Dr. Bristol will talk about include:

-       Normal adolescent growth and development, including physical changes

-       Normal weight and height ranges for teens

-       Acne and other rashes

-       Internet safety

-       How to avoid risky behaviors

-       Ways to deal with peer pressure

-       Career planning for the adolescent

This is a great opportunity for our students.  If you have further questions or concerns, please contact me.

Regards,

Sharon Pantoja

School Nurse

Email: Sharon.pantoja@saschina.org

Tel no: 6221 – 1445 ext 3309

Thanks to Kenny and Ritu for their answers to the Brain Teaser.

Here are the answers.

(a) Surface Area = 2 * Area A + 2 * Area B + Area (top) + Area (bottom)
= 2(8*5) + 2(8*12.8) + 2(5*12.8)
= 412.8

(b) Volume = l x w x h
= (12.8)(5)(8)
= 512

The answer to the word teaser is – Repeat After Me.

Mr. T

We will be doing the Unit 11 test next Tuesday (18th May). Make sure you take all your materials that you need to study with over the weekend. The following skills will be assessed:

*understand the relationship between the volume of pyramids and prisms and the volume of cones and cylinders
*find the surface area of prisms
*understand how to find the surface area of cylinders
*understand the concept of and calculate capacity
*use formulas to find the volume of prisms and cylinders
*use formulas to find the area of polygons and circles
*know the properties of geometric solids

Mr. T

Ms. Canar’s class have completed this activity and now it is your turn. If you do not finish it during class please complete it for homework over the weekend.

Inventors are experts at problem solving and overcoming obstacles. A need is often the spark that drives the invention process.   I would like you to read about 3 kid inventors at this website (Click on the face of the inventor to read about them). Think about why they invented and what problem (or frustration) led them to their invention.

THEN – think about yourself.

You are about to embark on a solution-seeking mission! What frustrating, annoying problem do you face? How would you like to solve this problem? Would a new product or tool help you? Are there tools or products that don’t work as well as you would like them to? If you could invent something to make your life easier, what would you invent?

Blog your thinking and title the post, “How Inventions Happen”.  Write about your need/frustration/problem.  Push your thinking to create a solution.  What is your solution? How would this solve your need/frustration/problem?

Mr. T

The 5th graders had a great soccer yesterday! Schools from around the city came to our school to enjoy the warm weather, friendly atmosphere and a fantastic day of soccer!

Check out the photos!

Mr. T

Weds. May 12 – Soccer Day – Please bring a packed lunch, a hat, a water bottle, sunscreen and remember, no cleats. Games start at 10 a.m. and should finish just after 1 p.m. Feel free to come along and support our team, the weather should be fantastic!

Monday, May 17 – Band Bonanza – Band students go to Puxi campus and String students stay on the Pudong campus. If you have questions, please direct them to Ms. Denton 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

Unit Study – ‘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.

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

Swimming – Students have really enjoyed the swim classes, they are have a great time in the pool for PE.

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.

Brain Teaser – The Question

Given a rectangular prism…

if the sides of the rectangle A have the same ratio to each other as the sides of rectangle B, then what is

• (a) The surface area of the prism?
• (b) The volume of the prism?

Mr. T

I hope you have been enjoying the long weekend, the weather has been fantastic! After you have completed these activities, make sure you get out of the house and enjoy the last day of the long weekend.

I know that you all would have completed the tasks that were given to you last Thursday so here are a few more to complete.

Task 1 -  Unit Study. We are about to start phase 2 of the Invention Convention where you will go through the invention process to either create your own invention or adapt or modify an invention that already exists. Your job is to start thinking about an everyday problem that you could solve and come up with an ideal invention that could solve that problem.

Your task is to write a blog post of at least 5 everyday problems that you or family or friends have and explain what the problem is. Then, write at least 2 solutions for that problem. If you need some ideas check out the Skymall site, you’ll be sure to find some interesting modifications and adaptions of inventions there.

Task 2 – Your Opinion. Check out the invention below. What are some pro’s and con’s about this wacky invention?  Write a list of reasons why you would and wouldn’t put this Defendius Door Chain in your house.

.

Task 3 – Math. I know that everyone would have been studying for the test most of the weekend but if you haven’t make sure you check out the math links on the right of our class blog and get in some more practice. If you need practice finding the circumference of circles click here. If you want practice with pan balance problems click here. Here are the skills that will be assessed again:

*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

Task 4 – Writer’s Workshop. Using all your knowledge of essay writing, write a draft essay about what your ideal summer would like. Mum’s and Dad’s always make plans for your summer holidays but if you could plan your own summer vacation, where would you go? Who would you go with? Who would you visit? What would you do? Wow, I am getting excited about summer just thinking about it! Remember, just a written draft.

Remember to get out and enjoy the last day of the long weekend when you complete the above tasks.

Mr. T

We are back online!

Math – We have a math test for unit 10 coming up next week so students will be given homework over the long weekend to prepare. 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

L.A. – Students are coming to the end of our Reader’s Theater activity rotation. Students have worked really well independently completing the mini-biography booklets and also the independent novel biographies. Completing the readers theater plays were the highlight of the rotation and students really improved on their stage presence as well performing in front of an audience.

Science – The students have really enjoyed our Simple Machines unit with Lego. It has been a really good introduction to the Invention Convention unit. We are coming to the end of this unit and will be moving on with our Invention Convention unit in the coming week.

Also, don’t forget that Soccer Day is coming up on Wednesday 12 May and Band Bonanza is on Monday 17 May.

I hope you are all looking forward to the 5 day weekend!

Mr. Toa