5TM Class Blog

Invention Convention: In the past, I have been quite impressed by the Invention Convention Phase I speeches, and this year is no exception. What I saw was students who were well rehearsed, well spoken, confident, composed, and in character! There was a nervous tension in the air before we got started, but Tom Woo set the stage with a well delivered speech about Ben Franklin. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into choosing an inventor, researching and writing notes, writing a 5-paragraph essay, turning the essay into a speech, making models, and of course putting in extra effort for pizazz. Phew! And now we’re on to Phase II.

Students were given their Phase II booklets this week and are now in the process of creating their own inventions. This process starts with students writing a list of 10 problems and possible inventions to solve these problems. Next, students will take four of these ideas and begin diagramming/pre-planning before they eventually choose one of these ideas for their actual invention. Fifth grade teachers are trying to focus on the process of inventing rather than just a finished product. The Invention Convention date is set for March 11th, so it will be crunch time after the Chinese New Year holiday.

Teacher Surveys: Last week in the Friday Folder, you received information about giving feedback to teachers about their performance along with log-in information for Powerschool where you will find the survey. The survey is available for you to fill out during the month of February. The results are directly sent to me, and I will share this information with my administrators. Your feedback is very valuable as it gives me an idea of what I am doing well and what I can work on to do better in the future. Please complete this survey in the coming weeks. Students will also have a chance to provide feedback about their teachers in the coming months. These surveys are part of SAS’s Performance Evaluation Program that involves teachers creating a portfolio based on Standards of Professional Practice. Portfolios are shared with an administrator and guide a conversation about what we are doing well, areas for growth, and goals for better teaching.

Reminders:

Wednesday, February 10 – The elementary school will celebrate Chinese New Year with an assembly. Students are encouraged to dress up in traditional Chinese attire.

Thursday, February 11 is a half day for students. Dismissal is at 11:30.

Piles of junk, the sound of balloons popping, laughter, and chaos! Welcome to the 5th Grade!! January’s Beyonda Box challenge is to create a Rube Goldberg machine out of junk that has as many steps as possible to pop a balloon. It’s not as easy as it sounds. We are only part way through the challenge and only a handful of groups are getting close.

Other updates:

1). Our class photo will be taken on Tuesday, Feb. 2. Please have your child wear our class t-shirt. Photo retakes will be on Thurs. Feb. 4.

2). Remember POGS? The game consisting of little cardboard disks? You try to flip over your opponent’s pog? Well…the game is now called the Maple Story. It is our goal at SAS to have students be active at recess time and to get some exercise. The Maple Story game is not active, and it has been causing some problems on the playground. It has also interfered with learning in the classroom. It has not been an issue at the fifth grade (more the lower grades), but we want to pass on the message to parents that the game is no longer allowed to be played at school.

3). STEP UP FOR HAITI – On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a catastrophic earthquake registering 7.0 on the Richter scale hit the small country of Haiti. The earthquake struck the most populated area causing unthinkable devastation flattening homes, schools, and hospitals. It has been reported that as many as 3 million people have been affected and are in need of clean water, food, shelter, and adequate medical supplies. The country is in need and our global-minded Eagle Leaders have come up with a plan to raise funds for the people of Haiti.

All students in Puxi Elementary will participate in “Step Up for Haiti” during one of their PE classes from January 29th to February 8th.  Students will be given a pedometer that will measure the number of steps they take as they walk around the track in a half hour period. Students will receive a pledge sheet on Friday, January 29th to ask their family and friends to sponsor them for a certain number of steps.  For example, the sponsor could donate 50 RMB for every 1,000 steps.  If the student takes 2,000 steps, then the student will receive a 100 RMB donation from that sponsor.  Students and parents can also just give a general donation if they do not want to donate per a certain number of steps.

• Eagle Leaders will have a table set up outside the elementary office to collect donations from 7:50-8:15 from February 2nd-February 10th.

• When a student brings in their pledge sheet and donation they will receive a paper foot to write their name on and the number of steps they took during PE.  The Eagle Leaders will keep these feet and will hang them up later in the day in the elementary lobby.

• Each class will have a different color of foot: The fifth grade will be purple.

• We will have a poster of China hanging up on one side of the hallway near the office and Haiti on the other end of the hallway.  Our goal is for all of our steps (the donations) to reach Haiti by the end of the week.

• All students will participate in the step-a-thon as it will be the PE activity for that day, but donations are of course voluntary.

• All proceeds will be deposited into the SAS account for Haiti and donated to UNICEF.

• If you have questions please contact Ms. Anderson at Kristina.anderson@saschina.org or 6221-1445 ext. 2407

I normally send out the weekly update on Fridays, but I will be at an all day meeting at SAS Pudong tomorrow so I thought I had better send it today before I forget.

Here is the latest…

1). Invention Convention

The 5-Paragraph Essays are finally done! I can’t tell you how happy I am about this! I have more gray hair than I did a few weeks ago, but the essays are done!

The fun now begins with the students turning their essays into speeches and preparing for their presentations. Here is what students will be working on both at school and at home:

Models – Does it look like the real invention? Does it show how the real invention works? Is it attractive?

Speeches – Eye contact, body language, enthusiasm and expression, speaking in a clear voice, content of their speech, use of cue cards/outline

Posters – overall appearance, color scheme, use of fonts, accuracy of appropriate information, use of images

Pizazz – Dressing up, adding props, making their presentation special in some way

2). All 5th graders were treated this week with a presentation by teachers Mrs. McGuinness and Ms. Rene’ who talked about different language options for Middle School. Students were impressed by projects and activities they could be doing next year if they take French or Spanish.

If you have any questions about the Spanish program in Middle School, please email samantha.mcguinness@saschina.org
For information about the French program, please email judith.rene@saschina.org

Here are the updates for this week:

1). Rotations will begin again on Wednesday, January 20th. Students from 5TM will be doing the Mixtures and Solutions unit with Mrs. Hughson. In the coming weeks, ask your child how much salt it takes to saturate 50 ml of water.

2). Students should be in the beginning stages of gathering materials, designing, and building their models for Phase I of Invention Convention. These models do not have to work (it’s great if the do!), but should look somewhat similar to the original invention they are studying. Students will be completing their 5-Paragraph Essays next week then turning their writing into a speech. Presentations will be the week of January 25th. Models will also be due this week. For the presentation, students are encouraged to dress up like the inventor they have been studying, get into character, and wow the class with some extra pizazz.

3). Passport Check is on Thursday, January 21.

4). All 5th graders are currently participating in biography literature circles. Ask your child about the book he/she is reading. Here are just a few questions to help start this conversation:

- How has the main character changed since the beginning of the book? What has caused this change?
- How does the setting (place, time, special events) affect the character in your book?
- Why do you think this book was written? What are the important messages the author wants the reader to learn?
- If you could have lunch with the main character, what would you want to talk about?

The entire 5th grade wearing their class t-shirts. What a colorful group!

Welcome back and Happy New Year!

Why is it that the holidays seem to go by so fast? I spent my vacation visiting family in Canada where I ate way too much chocolate and Christmas baking. I guess I needed the extra food to keep me warm as it was -58 degrees celcius. I actually missed the -58 weather by a few days and was lucky enough to be there when it was only -30!!!!!

Here are the updates for this week:

1). Please welcome Michelle and her family (parents are Larry and Christine) to 5TM. Michelle joined us this week from SAS Pudong and is already settling into the 5TM routines. She makes a great addition to our class.

2). Literature Circles – We are starting our third round of literature circles today. This time we are reading biographies (my favorite genre) which ties in nicely to Invention Convention as we are studying different inventors. Please remind your child to work neatly, proofread, and add as much detail to their work as possible.

3). Invention Convention – Students will be taking their inventor notes and begin writing their 5 Paragraph essays next week. We will work on writing catchy leads, thesis statements, transition words, topic sentences, supporting details, and conclusions. These essays will become their speeches that they will give to the class the week of January 25th. Students should also begin collecting materials to make a model of the invention that their inventor is known for.

4). Reading Olympics – Starting on Tuesday, January 12th, fifth graders will begin the Reading Olympics. Thisis a fun competition between all fifth grade classes that requires students to read books at their levels and complete a variety of activities to earn bronze, silver, and gold medals. Students can choose from a variety of books for each genre. Gold medals are earned for projects that are completed with excellence. For report card purposes, gold medals earn students a 4, silver medals = 3, and bronze = 2.

4). The next few months will be very BUSY for 5th graders. It is important that students work on projects each night and do not leave the majority of their work for the night before it is due. I will help students organize themselves to avoid stress and becoming overwhelmed.

5). An updated Emergency Phone Tree will be sent home today in the Friday Folder.

Happy Holidays! All the best to you and your families in 2010. School starts on Wednesday, January 6th (day 5).

Farewell to Danny! Best of luck at your new school…and best of luck to your new teacher

Students in 5TM have just finished their rough drafts of their personal essays. I will finish conferencing with each of the students 1 on 1 early next week so they can publish their work. A good strategy for students to use to edit their own writing is to read it aloud, but this can make for a noisy classroom if everyone is doing it at the same time. We have solved this problem with a simple piece of plastic pipe. Students can whisper into the pipe and hear themselves loud and clear. When they do this, it looks like they are talking on the phone. It’s quite a sight!

A couple of reminders for next week:

1). Our Secret Santa starts on Tuesday with a holiday card/poem/riddle. On Wednesday, Secret Santas are to give a snack or a treat. Finally on Thursday at our class party (10:15 to 11:15), a gift will be given and Secret Santas will be revealed.

2). Optional stocking stuffers can be brought in on Tuesday. Please make sure you send in enough for 19 students.

3). Invention Convention Research – students have selected their inventors and should be finishing their research over the weekend.

4). Early dismissal on Friday, December 18 (11:30).

1). Secret Santa – Information regarding the class Holiday Party and details about our 5TM Secret Santa have gone home in the Friday Folder.

2). Mathletics – This week, the students in 5TM started a using a fantastic on-line program called Mathletics. The challenges and games are set for their levels in math and students love challenging other students from around the world! What a great way to boost their skills in all the areas we have been working on this year.

3). For Passport Check on Wednesday, December 16th, donations of pencils, pens, and notebooks can be made for our Community Service Project.

4). A message from our fantastic SAS counselors:

Dear Puxi Elementary Parents,

The Elementary Counselors are busy talking about Kindness in the classrooms in December.  We would like to invite you to participate in our annual GIFT DRIVE for our local Children’s Home!

We will start collecting gifts on Monday, December 7th.  Here is how you can help:

•    Wrap up your toy or clothing item with wrapping paper, and label your present.  Indicate whom you would like to receive your present:  boy/girl and the age.  Make sure the gifts are new, or “almost new.”

•    You or your child may drop off the presents in the Elementary School.  Place them near one of the Christmas Trees in the main lobby of the ES.  The Eagle Leaders will collect and deliver the presents to the Children’s Home in mid-December.

Thanks & be sure to get your gifts in before December 16th!

Happy Holidays from the Puxi Elementary Counselors!
5). Holiday Shopping at the SAS EAGLE SHOP  Give a gift of SAS School Spirit to your family and friends this holiday season!

The Eagle Shop has so many great holiday gift-giving items. New items that just arrived are Stadium Blankets, Flannel Pants, Scarves, Sweatshirts, Sweatpants, Key Chains, SAS Pennants, Foldable Tote Bags along with many other SAS logo items. Come in early for the best selections! There is something for everyone on your list.

6). The traffic gods were on our side on Thursday when we took all the 5th graders to the Science and Technology Museum. Thank you to Angela, Alice, Susu, and Heather for chaperoning. Check out the slideshow on the “Photos and Slideshows”page.

Thank you to everyone who helped make our 5th grade Lunch Share a success. Everyone who was able to attend shared what they are grateful for, then everyone shared the delicious food that was sent in. There is so much to be grateful for. I am thankful to be part of such a caring and supportive community and that I get to teach 19 terrific kids everyday!

Hello everyone!

Here are the 5TM updates for this week:

1). Lunch Share – Just a reminder that our Lunch Share will take place on Wednesday, November 25 from 11:45 to 12:15. All parents are welcome to attend. Students will be bringing in a favorite family dish to share, and the feast is very tasty! Students are to hand in their recipes no later than the 25th. Please remind your child to be exact with the amount of ingredients in their recipes (example: rather than write ’sugar, they should write ‘1 cup of sugar’).

2). We are currently working on writing personal essays in Writing Workshop. Some students are still struggling with moving from narrative writing into personal essay writing, but we are making progress. This week students generated essay ideas by making observations (What I notice/What I think about it), rereading their narrative writing, and thinking of big emotions. Next week students will choose one of their entries and develop it into a 5 Paragraph Essay.

3). The students were fortunate this week to meet visiting author Sarah Brennan. Sarah is based in Hong Kong and writes fantastic children’s books, many of them about the animals associated with the Chinese calendar. You may have seen some of these books in your child’s backback in the last few weeks. Our library has many of Sarah Brennan’s books.

4). Have a great weekend! Let’s hope it warms up a bit!!