daw.com - Newsletters: March 2010

daw.com - March 28

Just a brief reminder that this week is only 3.5 days. Dismissal on Thursday is at 11:20 with buses leaving at 11:30. If anyone is planning on leaving for the holiday early or coming back late please let me know so I can plan properly. Thanks in advance for this.

I will need all three sheets for Middle School registration in before holiday break this week. Please note that one of the forms is two-sided. Students and parents need to sign these forms. Please review all of them with your student prior to signing them. Thank-you for your assistance with this. It really makes transition in the fall much smoother.
A reminder that the parent night for Middle School transition is this Tuesday in the Black Box Theater in the middle school. The start time is 7:00pm. This is a forum for prospective parents to ask questions of the middle school administration and teaching staff.

The end of the Civil war is close at hand. Our unit finale will be held this Wednesday from 2:00-2:50 and all parents are invited - bring a camera. We will start on the 5th floor playground so wait for us there. We will do some military drilling there and then come back to the classroom for some readings from our Civil War journals, the Gettysburg Address and some time for parents to look over the journal before it is time to pack up and go home. Students will take their Civil War uniforms home at this time as well. They may keep them.
We will complete our math unit this week with the final assessment later in the week. We also have an open response to complete that is related to the learning from the unit. Our next unit will start right after the Easter break.

For homework this week students have three vocabulary lists to look over and learn. One each night with a vocabulary test the next day. These will be in the same fashion as previously with the definitions given and the students correctly spelling the word. There is no homework over the Easter break but I do want to request that all students continue to read everyday.

This is also the week students have to have their trash kids materials ready. Any plastic bottles, plastic containers, lids, trays etc. that you might throw away make perfect materials for the construction of their Trash Kids. We have boxes in the room for the collection of this material. It would be a great help if all the materials are pre-washed.

Our school Easter Chapel will happen on Tuesday morning from 8:15-9:00.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please contact me.

Regards,

Harold Daw

daw.com - March 21

Dear Parents,

Each week there are students in charge of a current event. I have sent home a reminder with these students but I will also list them here.
Monday - Halle
Tuesday - Max
Wednesday - Faven
Thursday - Stephen
Friday - Claire

Here are some student friendly sites for Current Events.
Go od News Daily
Science News for Kids
Time for Kids

Thank-you to all of you for participating in your students Student-Led conference. There was a l of great conversation that was started during this time. Since there is so much of the students work on-line, these conversations should be easily continued at home. Sometimes the generic, "So, what did you learn today?" does not elicit the response wanted, but a conversation about learning can have long lasting positive effects.

This week will see us continue with our Civil War journal. Students will work on a Biography, two maps and a spreadsheet all that will end up in the journal. Lots of interesting work in these journals/portfolios and something that students will be proud of for many years to come. I still have students, who are now in grade 10 & 11, writing me and telling me about how they have kept their Civil War journals and occasionally look through them. Kind of nostalgic.

We are well underway with our Book Talks. Each student has chosen a book and the groups have met once. This week they will meet again and talk about the 5C's of reading - clarification, connections, comments, context and continuation. Since this is the second time this year, these book talks are really taking on an interesting tone and discussion.

In math class we will continue with coordinate geometry and also begin to look at area, volume and capacity. Some of this is done with experiments that prove certain points. Very interesting learning here. Students will also complete a second exemplar involving area.
We have a special guest speaker for our Chapel this week. He is a member of the Friends of God and he will be in to talk about his religion and his relationship with God. We use to have a teacher here in the UP that was a member and when she gave this talk the students always learned a lot about the worship of other people. Should be an interesting talk.

Students have been busy collecting used cans,

bottles, cartons, plastic trays, etc. as they are getting ready to construct their Trash Kids. Please help by giving students all the left items after a meal or that are no longer needed in the home. Make sure that they are properly cleaned out and washed. Thanks for your help with this. In the past these sculptures have been a highlight of the students art year.
I am a little behind with the movies from our last Pollution Unit but hope to complete these and get them up on our websites by the end of the week. Students have been anxiously awaiting these for quite some time now.

Please make sure that students are reading at home for 20-30 minutes each night for at least 5 nights a week. There is little time in class to do this so it really helps if they have time at home to complete this important part of their learning.

Students are going to need about 20-30 minutes on a computer each night this week as they are now commenting on other students blogs. We have practiced this in class for the last couple of weeks and now it is time to put it into action. Please help with the computer time if necessary. Next year this will not be a problem since each student will have their own lap-top.

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Regards,

Harold Daw

daw.com - March 14

Dear Parents,

Each week there are students in charge of a current event. I have sent home a reminder with these students but I will also list them here.

Monday - Alex
Tuesday - Christoffer
Wednesday - day2, no current events
Thursday - no school
Friday - no school

Here are some student friendly sites for Current Events.

Go od News Daily
Science News for Kids
Time for Kids

Our first trip to the Middle School to start the transition period will be this Tuesday. It is to listen to the choices that students have for music and languages. Middle school is the first time that students have choices for their education so it is important that they have a chance to listen to the choices they have. Students can then talk it over with their parents before a final decision is made. The choices for music are Band, Strings, Chorus & Bach to Rock while the choices for languages are Chinese, French and Spanish. One important change is that all music classes are part of the regular day and not after school as they are here in the UP. Students need to take a music and language class each year in Middle School. Let me know if you have any questions about this.

Students will also have their first chance to have lunch at the Middle School with the grade 6 classes. All students on the school lunch program will continue while students who pay or use their Octopus card can do so. Students who bring their lunch will do so for this day and eat as usual. One thing that is quite different in Middle School is lunch organization. It is about the same length of time but students are not organized for an eating or playing time. The entire lunch time is up to the students.

On Thursday and Friday you will have a marvelous opportunity to participate in a conference led by your child. These student-led conferences reflect the HKIS Student Learning Result of “Self-Motivated Learning.” Your child will have an opportunity to be an active participant in reviewing and reflecting his/her own learning. Accountability and responsibility are built into the reflecting process. Self-respect and self-esteem are enhanced, as students are asked to focus on strengths and give their own perspective on areas they are trying to improve. I have structured the conference, making it possible for your child to assume leadership during the one-hour conference. This conference is not meant to be a progress report, but an opportunity for your child to share with you the successes and challenges of his/her learning.

Here is what you can expect at your child’s student-led conference:

Your child will be in charge of the conference. He/She will have planned specific areas to share, and will have rehearsed them. Please allow your child the opportunity to share their plan.
You will see a demonstration of skills, and learn a little more about the class and your child’s part in it.
Several children will be conducting conferences in the classroom at the same time.
Your child may be unsure of your reactions to his/her presentation. Please provide encouragement and feedback as your child proceeds with the conference. Ask questions to clarify, but please try not to control or direct the conference.
Above all, expect your child to share his/her strengths, successes, best work, and most comfortable areas.
Plan to have fun---this is a day for celebration!

We also start our next unit in math on Coordinates, Area, volume and Capacity. The family letter is attached to the email that was sent announcing this letter. The final assessment and all exit slips from our last unit will be in the Monday Folders.

I will require a quick turn around for Monday folders this week as it is only a three day week. Please return them on either Tuesday or Wednesday so I can have them ready for the following week.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Regards,

Harold Daw

daw.com - March 7

Dear Parents,

Each week there are students in charge of a current event. I have sent home a reminder with these students but I will also list them here.

Monday - Sabrina
Tuesday - day2, no current events
Wednesday - Christos
Thursday - Nikhita
Friday - Brock

Here are some student friendly sites for Current Events.

Go od News Daily
Science News for Kids
Time for Kids

Things are really hopping here in 5C1 with a multitude of projects currently underway. Some are continuations of what we have been doing in various units and others are preparing for events coming our way.

Our big event this week is the Author visit on Friday. Derek Landry is here in Hong Kong for the annual literary festival and he has consented to come and talk to all the grade 5 classes. He is the author of Skuldugery Pleasant. The library has copies of this book but for the next while it might be a little hard to get them. These talks are good for students as they see what professional writers do and how it is close to what we do in the class. Sometimes it inspires students even further in their writing.

In our Civil War unit we have now completed 1863 with a look at the Battle of Gettysburg. This week we will concentrate on the Emancipation Proclomation and Gettysburg Address - both very important events from the Civil War. Students hve been very busy adding to their journals/portfolios and this week we will get this caught up as well as adding in some other neat things.

We will also continue to prepare for Student Led

conferences which are next week. It is my understanding that sign up for this starts this Tuesday. If you have any questions you can call the office and they can help you out.

We will complete our current unit in math this week with the final assessment later in the week. There is also an open response to complete for this unit and some other problem solving exercises. The final Math Olympiad test is this Tuesday. Awards for this will be given out at the end of the year ceremony.

Students will start their second round of Literature Circles/Book Talks. This time they get to select the book they will read rather than having it assigned. Which book they choose will also determine the group they are in for their talks and discussions.

I am a little concerned about reading at home. There has been a general decline in this over the last few weeks and I would like to encourage a strengthening of this imporant element in the reading program here at HKIS. Students should be reading for a minimum of 20 minutes per night, 6 nights per week. This needs to be recorded on the weekly reading log attached to the homework packet I send home. Please help me boost this back to previous levels. There is no free reading time in school at the moment and this is the only time students get to be totally in control of their own reading.

The pictures this week are from our class in their Civil War uniforms. Students will get their pics in sepia tone and an additional army photo to place in their journals. If you want your students pics please let me know by email and I will forward them to you. There are 3-5 of each student and are fairly large - please make sure your email client can hold large attachments.

As always, if you have any questoins please feel free to contact me.

Regards,

Harold Daw

daw.com - March 1

Dear Parents,

Each week there are students in charge of a current event. I have sent home a reminder with these students but I will also list them here.

Monday - day2, no current events
Tuesday - Pablo
Wednesday - Kaori
Thursday - Maxwell
Friday - Nikhita

Here are some student friendly sites for Current Events.

Go od News Daily
Science News for Kids
Time for Kids

I had a great experience at the USB-Unplugged conference in Mumbai last week. American School Bombay (ASB) has been a 1:1 laptop school now for the past 6 years and it was amazing to see what the students have accomplished in that time. It was also gratifying to know that what I am doing with your students on the computers and internet this year, will have far reaching benefits later on - and we have not finished yet.

We continue this week with 1863 in the years of the Civil War. This was especially important as the sway of the war happened in the summer of this year with the Battle of Gettysburg. Students will be doing several things with this as well as some more work on their journals/portfolios.

We will begin preparations for the Student Led conferences this week and this will mainly involve students telling the story of their learning. We will be doing these conferences with the computers and connections to their blogs and website. Should be a very informative time for you.

Wednesday is Field day and since it has warmed up it is important that students come with hats, sun-block and water. There is not a lot of shade at the Aberdeen pitch.

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Harold Daw