At time I cannot believe how fast time travels. We have completed another week and much has been completed, planned and prepared as we head to the end of the school year. First off is the planned year end buffet lunch for June 7th. Here is the planned menu;
Mr. Daw, Akari, Tiana
Chicken Burrito Casserole
Layered Bread and Cheese Casserole
White Rice
Henry & Eric
Jian Bing,
Maxim, Andrew, Harry
Chicken Nuggets, Cucumber Salad
HaeWon, Stephanie
Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake, Fajitas
Arianna, Sveva
Pasta Carbonara, Mars Cake
James
Clam Soup
Nicole, May, Claire, Sophia
Fried Mozza, Lemonade, Sago
Jungle, Dylan, Jovan
Fruit Crepes
Kevin, Elgin
Buffalo Chicken Wings, Fruit Salad
Drinks
Ice Tea, Slushy (Mango, Lemon, Orange)
All the basics for cooking we already have, flour, sugar, salt, pepper, baking powder, baking soda, cooking oil and some spices. The rest of the ingredients have been split up among the students to bring with them on June 7th. Please help your student make this happen as it is a really nice way to end the year. We will start to cook at 10:00am and complete all this by 12:15 when it is lunch and the food will be part of the students lunch. Do let me know if there are problems.
Students are at the point of completing many projects at the moment. Next Friday is the Impact Fair when students will present their Impact Projects. This is from 11:00-12:15 in the Dome Dance Studios. Students are busy preparing to present these to a multitude of people who have been invited to attend.
We also will finish our Persuasive Writing and Poetry units this week with publications for both due in by Friday June 3rd. So far everyone seems to be right on track. We will also finish our math unit on the coordinate plane with a test mid week. Look for all this in the Monday Folder on June 6th.
This past week the class had the opportunity to present their homemade music instruments in a rhythmic performance. Here is a video of these performances. It was a very interesting display of ingenuity.
If you have any questions please let me know and I will set a time up to meet with you.
What a great week we had this past week. We completed our Impact stories, had a visit by the Shanghai Quartet, watched our own ISB High School Orchestra perform movie music and watched the ES version of Rockin' Snow White. Truly a great week. Added to this was a First Aid presentation by one of our Impact groups that was vey well done.
This week we started a math problem that involves the construction of a quilt. Since there are so many measurements in a quilt, it is going to be an interesting solution. The final objective is to determine how much fabric is needed to make a quilt that is 1 yard square. So far I have been teaching them about what a quilt looks like and how to determine the sizes of squares, borders and strips. We just started to look at seams needed to sew the pieces together.
Next week we start our final approach in the poetry unit and the Persuasive Essay/Letters. The students have some very good examples in either first draft or brainstorming so now it is time to finalize the books they will produce. Final products will go home prior to the end of the year.
The class has decided to have a cooking morning in preparation for their class party. I did this last year and it was a great way to end the school year. We will do this on June 7th from 10:00am to lunch at 12:30. I would like a couple of moms to help with this please. Just let me know. Over the next week students will develop a menu that they will prepare on this day. This will serve as the class party for the end of the year.
Next week is our last library period for the year and I request that all books signed out are returned. The library will issue a charge for all lost books that will need to be paid prior to yearbooks and final end of year activities are completed. In advance of this, students can log into the library (lmc.isb.bj.edu.cn and see what all is signed out to them.
I want to take this time to remind parents that grade 5 students start eating in the HS/MS cafeteria on Monday. I took them on a tour that explained everything, offered lanyards for their cards and also showed them how to get money on the cards. Please talk to your student about what is allowed for lunch. Each family needs to determine this on their own.
Lastly I want to remind you all that the Impact Fair (the final presentation of the Impact Project) is on June 3rd from 11-12:20. If you can attend I know that students would love to see you.
If you have any need to contact me or have questions, send me an email and I will arrange a meeting with you.
Tomorrow is Spring Fair and as usual, it looks like a great event. I hope all of you get the chance to attend this very neat and fun event. It is to raise funds for all the PTA things that happen throughout the year. We do receive funds in grade 5 for some of the special speakers and events that happen throughout the year. It starts at 10am and runs until 4pm throughout the main floor of the school and out the back as well.
A couple of events of note for next week include our meeting with the MS Counselor on Tuesday where the students will learn about electives and schedules for next year. Student will bring home the registration for these electives on Tuesday and it must be completed and returned by May 20th.
We also have our last meeting with Mr. Kooeinga as a goodbye from the ES to the grade 5 students preparing to move on to the MS. While he will still be here next year, the students in MS have two new counselors to work with them while they are in MS.
The first of the Impact Projects are being presented next week and I must say that many of the students are well along in their planning. Some of the ideas include First Aid, Water Safety, Clothing Drive, Planting and Maintaining Trees, Online Safety, Computer Gaming Dangers etc. There are quite a varied set of projects. Remember that our Impact Fair will be on June 3rd - time to be announced.
Writing is a big part of our day as it include persuasive writing, poetry and an impact story. I am pleased with what I am seeing but want everyone to know that writing is something that constantly needs practice.
Starting on May 16 and lasting for two weeks, grade 5 students will be eating their lunches in the MS/HS cafeteria. I will take them down next week for a tour of the place and also a talk about the procedures in the cafeteria. While the food in the cafeteria is the same as the ES, every day is a choice by the students - something that is not in the ES Cafe. For those students who select to eat the school food, there are about 7 choices every day.
Kind of a short one this week but a lot of what we are doing at the moment is continuation of what has been happening in the past as we prepare for final projects. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please contact me and I will arrange a time to meet with you.
What a great week with so many activities and fun things to do it was really amazing. We started off on Tuesday with Celebrate and Share the Arts. This is a day when the students look back at their year in Performing and Visual Arts. The class demonstrated how they work in their performing arts class with a look at Indian music and dance. Here is a video of their act.
If you get a chance, come on by the school in the next few weeks to see all the art work that is displayed in the hallways of the school.
On Wednesday we completed our Fractions unit with our second trip to the cooking lab where we made a delicious banana bread. Each of the 5 groups used the same recipe and the success was amazing. There was almost nothing left over after the groups cut the bread and started eating. We shared it out and finished off cleaning up.
Thursday was the school's annual Sports Day and with perfect weather the day was a great success. Yellow house was the winner with an overall score over 2700.
Here are the current events students for next week;
This is a reminder to all students that if you are not able to get Newsela at home, I have 3 others sites you can use. They are in an email I sent to our class group. Logon to portal and look for the email there.
Last week all the students selected their Impact Project groups and started the planning process. First off is to develop an impact statement for the project, start to plan the project and get ready for implementation. This will continue through this coming week when all the planning stage needs to be completed. Then students will have two weeks to actually implement the project. All though this process students are required to keep track of their work either in a journal or through photographic evidence.
While I do not have the time yet, please keep June 3 open as it will be the Impact Fair for this project. As soon as I have a time I will let you know. I am also in the process of completing the calendar for the end of the year. We have a Poetry Cafe and class party to all plan before we present all the dates.
In our poetry unit we are looking at about 20 different types of poetry as well as the reading of poetry. Each time we study a type of poetry, students write 2-3 poems of this type. They will then create a Poetry collage and also have some for reading at the Poetry Cafe.
Our math unit continues to look at problems involving the coordinate plane, parallel lines, perpendicular lines and intersecting lines. It is amazing to watch students when they put it all together and really come up with their own unique solutions. Commonly there is more than one answer with these problems which means they have a chance to really try out their own thinking. They are moving along quite well.
Our next session of book clubs starts this week and will last for about three weeks. One thing I remind all students is that they are to be part of the club so that they can both show off their ideas about the book and also to make it known that they have read the book. So far they are doing fairly well but I still want more
involvement in the discussions about the books. Asking questions while reading is a great way to make sure you try out all sorts of ideas and understand the book at a deeper level that just the basics.
We are writing in all sorts of areas. As mentioned above we are into poetry. Also we are writing an impact story. I have told students that they can make it either a fictional story or base it on a real event they know about or have been a part of. First drafts will be completed this week with edits done by two other students first before final drafts. We have also started to learn about persuasive writing. This will be in the form of letters and essays. As students find a topic they are passionate about they can then dig in a really make the proper arguments. Look for these in the coming weeks.
All this makes for both a very interesting and fast paced week. Students will be working hard to complete all of these in the next five weeks and may need extra support at home. Remember that I will never add to their homework they have but rather replace it with things that need to be completed from school. I really want to continue with the learning patterns we have established throughout the year as there is so much to still learn.
As always, if you have questions or concerns please let me know. I will arrange a time to meet with you.
