daw.com - November 4

Here are next week's current events;
Tuesday - Elvin
Wednesday - Eric
Thursday - Inseong
Friday - Jungbin
We return to regular homework next week with a math problem and reading passage per night.  One question I was asked during parent conferences was about students pre-learning the homework.  I do know I made one mistake last quarter but for the most part, everything they are doing in the homework is an extension of things we do in class.  In some cases we might just have done it once before the homework goes home, in other cases we have repeatedly gone over the concepts and ideas.  I also want to remind parents that the homework is only an extension of what we do in class.  There are special times where students are completing work from school, such as the past week with the Exploration Projects, but for the most part, if students have something else scheduled on the night of the homework, they can just complete it the next day.  At all times, the homework should not take more than an hour to complete as that is the Elementary School guideline.

We have been busy with our Science Unit - Prove It!  For this unit students are learning about the states of matter (solid, liquid and gas), the changes in matter and also about the scientific process.  This past week we did 4 investigations that involved M&Ms where students began to look at things critically and identify further questions that have not been answered.  It has been a very interesting week.
We are also in process of out first fiction story.  We have spent a lot of time planning the story with a brainstorm, ending, events leading to the end, character description and setting.  As we complete this the next thing students will do is record their rough ideas to their story.  From here we will then start to write it and finally publish it.

In math we have started division of whole numbers.  We started division with unit numbers (10, 100, 1000) and then started to look at single digit division (276 / 5) with and without remainders.  At this time we do not include decimal remainders - just whole numbers - ie 276 / 5 = 55 R1 or 276 / 5 = 55...1.  Both are acceptable representations as long as the student sticks with the one they like.  We also started to look at estimating division problems but this is a little more tricky since the entire expression needs to be looked at rather than just one number.
I will be away at a conference from Thursday Nov 10 to Tuesday Nov 15.  The sub will have all the plans for each day and my expectations remain the same with the learning.  Everyone should be well versed in this by now --- Do Your Best.  It will mean that for the week of Nov 14-17 there will be no Monday Folder and on Nov 11 there will be no blog.  I will return to both of these the week I return.
The student council (STUCO) is selling apples as a fund raiser for an orphanage here in China.  This is an annual event and something is very worth supporting.  The apples are RMB6 each and I think it would be a great community builder if students also support this.  They can bring in their RMB6 next week to me.

On Monday the ISB Book orders will go out to students.  If there are books you wish to purchase the order and money will need to be in by Nov. 15th.  On that day the PTA will pick up the orders and send the money off for the order.  It will not be possible to order after that time.
A reminder that the week of Nov 14-17 is a 4 day week with Friday a PD day for teachers here at ISB.  There is no school on the Friday.
I would like to ask at this time that if you know you will be leaving early or coming back late from Winter Break, could you please let me know so I can plan accordingly.  We have a couple of special events for the students and I want to make sure I know who all will be here.

One of these events is our Science Fair.  It is on December 14th starting at about 1:30 in the afternoon.  This is immediately after lunch so if you want to come early and have lunch with your student, please feel free to do so.  I know they would really enjoy a respite from the regular cafeteria for a chance to be with a parent and eat in the MS Cafeteria.
A little longer than normal today but as always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know and I will gladly meet with you.
Harold Daw

daw.com - October 21

I want to thank all of you for attending the parent-teacher conferences.  I hope that the discussion we had was beneficial and that it gave you some insight into your child's learning so far this year.  We have moved forward in a steady direction all quarter and will continue to do so for the rest of the year.

One common theme throughout most of the conferences was in regard to the improvement of writing.  This is an area that takes years of learning and practice to become really good at and the expectation each of year of school is that students will get better and better.  In grade 5 we do a lot of writing in the forms of reports, non-fiction writing, fiction stories, biographies and presentations. We study words, look at spelling conventions, grammar and learn more about writing in paragraphs - including transitions between paragraphs.  This is the first year that students are going to learn about researching and obtaining information about topics they are working on.

This week there are several important things happening.  Here are the students who are in charge of current events;

Tuesday - Leo
Wednesday - Cici
Thursday - Ada
Friday - Angel

Friday is also the annual Jedi Jugglers event.  It starts at 7:00 in the evening in Gym 2 and I hope that many of can take the time to come and watch/support these wonderful students. They have been practicing for the last two months and really put on a great show.

We will complete our biographical sketches this week.  This is the culmination of research on a specific person and has included how to write up a bibliography.  We have used books, videos, databases and websites to gather the information on four questions that were determined by the class.

This week will also continue our exploration presentations. I am hoping to have the class complete their presentations by the end of the week.  The students have four choices in the presentation they complete - book launch, news report, drama/puppet show, infographic or exploration brochure.  It will be interesting to see what they choose and how the present their research.

IN math we are continuing with our look at multiple operations in expressions.  These include a continued review of the exponents we used in the last module.  Problem solving continues to be at the forefront of our math learning.  Having covered eight of the ten strategies, we will learn the last two in the coming weeks.

As always, if there are any concerns or questions you have, please let me know and I will gladly find a time that we can meet.

daw.com - October 14

What a great event the International Day was here at ISB.  It was truly a sight to behold as the students reflected the best their country has to offer.  We had a great day.

Current events next week are as follows;

Tuesday - Poppy
Wednesday - Leo

I have had one report of Newsela.com not working at home but it appears to be a login problem.  When students sign in they need to use what ever account they set up here at school, including the password they selected.  Then everything should work just fine.  If it is down, there are three other sites they can use in our class email group on Office365.

Students took a nose dive into research this week looking up information about for their biographical sketch and also for their exploration project.  It was amazing to see how the students can dive into books to look for answers to question about their particular topic.  Next week students will look at databases and video on the same subjects and learn how to take notes from both sources.  We have also been keeping track of our books in a bibliography which will be part of the final product.

Next week is a short week with only three days.  Thursday and Friday are parent teacher conferences and I hope that you have all signed up for one.  I look forward to this as it is a great way for me to bring you up to speed on the learning of your student.  If you are a non-English speaker please arrange for a translator to attend with you.  Report cards are issued electronically on October 19th.

Students have been asked to get a form signed for the use of the POLAR wrist bands.  The data we collect from these is an important part of our Human Body unit after Christmas break so please sign the form so students can return it ASAP.  I thank you in advance for this.

That it is for the week.  If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me and I will arrange a time that we can meet.

Harold Daw