Blogging and sharing in Grade 5A@CDNIS

We’re rapidly coming to a conclusion to our school year. Next week, although our last, will be a busy one (as usual at CDNIS). Please note the following:

Macbooks go home on Tuesday. Please ensure that computer cases are taken to school on Monday. The same cases were used during the Spring Break holiday are fine.

Transition Day activities will be held on Tuesday. All students throughout the Lower School will be engaged in special activities to introduce them to the teachers and routines for the next school year.

Beach Day is on Wednesday. We’d love to see as many of you around as possible. It’s a great (and delicious!) way to say goodbye for the year. If you haven’t already, please link to our Google Doc (previous post) to contribute to our party.

Our final grade level assembly is on Thursday. Thursday is a full day. No school for students on Friday.

Please Note: I was asked whether it would be OK for parents to take photos from our Photographs Tab. By all means, this is OK. Simply click on a photo to get to the Picassa album and download the photos you would like for yourself.

Regards

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Dear Grade 5 Parents,

As we prepare for the end of the year, there are many reasons to celebrate your child’s’ successes in Grade 5.

The last week of school will be full of exciting activities, including:

Tuesday, June 14th - transition day where the students spend some time in the Grade 6 classrooms

Wednesday, June 15th - Grade 5 BEACH DAY – all day!

Thursday, June 16th - final Gr. 5/6 assembly, yearbooks + portfolios, followed by a traditional Grade Level Party on the 8th floor

For the BEACH DAY, June 15th, we ask that you please participate by joining us at the beach if possible and or sending some party supplies/food/drink to school with your child. For planning this party we will be using a google spreadsheet which can be accessed through this link:

In the picture I have added some ‘example’ entries to help get you started. Please state what you can send/bring and the quantity. Also please RSVP if you or any family members are going to meet us at the beach. On the day, the students will walk from school to Deep Water Bay Beach. At the beach we will meet families and friends and set up a BBQ/food/drink area. The students will be swimming and playing games on the beach for the main portion of the day. Please advise your child’s homeroom teacher directly if you have any concerns about your child swimming. Deep Water Bay Beach is a lifegaurd beach. Also, some teachers will also swim with the students and are very strong/experienced swimmers. Permission forms for this activity are being sent home today, June 1st.

For the final day of school, June 16th, please send a small snack/drink to school with your child to contribute to the Grade Level Party. This party will wrap up the day and you can expect your child to come home with a CDNIS yearbook and their progress report + portfolio. This is not an early dismissal day, buses will leave at 2:45 as usual.

Please don’t hesitate to email me with questions about the Google Spreadsheet or any other matter related to the last days of school.

Thanks and kind regards,

The Grade 5 Team

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Curious about our recent camp to Cheung Chau? Let Awesome 25 explain to you using the Commoncraft-style

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This week students continued their explorations into the systems of the human body, how they function and how they can change. We’ve deconstructed report texts and have continued gathering and sorting data for our writing task next week. In addition to that, students had a chance to discuss puberty and all the physical, emotional and social changes that come with it. The discussions were amazing and your children are certainly curious about this stage of their lives. I encourage you to talk to them about it openly and honestly. In Math, we’ve continued exploring measurement, and revised our understandings of area, perimeter and volume.

Please note: All library books and other school books should be returned to school.

New Uniform for 2011-12

A new uniform will be introduced to students in Grades 3-6 next school year. It is recommended that students entering Grades 5 and 6 purchase the new skirt and new golf shirt in August.

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Please remember that this Friday is a Dress Down Day. The theme is sports and students are encouraged to wear sports-related clothing (and not necessarily CDNIS team sports uniforms).

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Our first full 5-day week in quite a long time – seemed like we were getting used to those short weeks! As we enter the final stretch towards June 16, we’re still busy and working at full speed. The students are actively engaged in investigations into the human body and working to develop their understandings of our central idea, “The human body is comprised of systems that are continually changing.” As part of this unit we are exploring a variety of learning strategies and study skills; it’s amazing to hear the students reflect on how they learn best and the strategies they prefer. Give your child a chance to talk about their learning and to discuss what they know about the human body and its systems.

We’ve continued our explorations into measurement with students looking at time, currency, length, etc. We’ve revised our understandings of area and perimeter and we had a chance to look at just what can be measured.

All of this learning will continue next week as we look at the immune, respiratory and circulatory systems.

Today a letter was sent to some of the Grade 5A students from the Student Health Services.

If you have the chance, take some time to help out a Grade 6 group of girls doing their Exhibition on Gender Inequality: http://womensrights-genderinequality.blogspot.com/

Enjoy the following talk/RSA video by Daniel Pink … interesting connections to how our children learn and what motivates them.

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I’m beginning to get used to these short weeks, but I know I shouldn’t! Another short one next week with Tuesday being Buddha’s birthday. School will run as normal on Monday. On Wednesday morning we’ll be departing for Cheung Chau for our camp, being run by Dragonfly. Please refer to the previous blog for important information/documents. In addition, an email was sent yesterday indicating that students should take a white shirt (preferably completely white, and can be a T-shirt or long sleeve – it should also be cotton rather than polyester) for the tie-dying activity. Swimwear will be needed for the raft-making activity, in addition to footwear for the beach (It’s been advised that Crocs are not suitable). Please note it is crucial that you pick up your child at the time and place that you indicated on the permission form. With approximately 125 students to manage, we will need your cooperation in this matter for the sake of efficiency and safety.

Throughout this past week students wrapped up their digital stories. We began to explore what measurement means, what we can measure and the different systems used to measure. We started our explorations into our new unit of inquiry, Who We Are, with our central idea being: “The human body is comprised of systems that are continually changing.”

As part of our new unit, we will be exploring the changes that are happening to your child now. Fostering healthy relationships is also a part of this. Team-building and relationships will form the basis of our camp and we anticipate this being and excellent tuning-in activity for your child. You can learn more about this new unit by reading the unit update below.

The Human Body Unit Update

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I love the Student Led Conferences. After a year of exploring concepts, hard work, challenging and/or deepening current understandings, refining skills and maturing your children had an excellent opportunity today to demonstrate their learning journey in Grade 5. It’s been a complex journey, one that hasn’t always been easy and smooth. Today your child was provided a forum to communicate this with you. In this regard, your child used his/her voice and proved to us all that they deserve to be listened to as stakeholders in their learning. I hope you had an opportunity today to see the ownership they had over their learning and I hope you had an opportunity to listen.

Please keep the portfolios until Monday, May 9. Please sit with your child and help him/her complete the final reflection on the learning goals that were set earlier in the year. A letter of explanation is found at the front of the portfolio.

The Cheung Chau camp is approaching. School permission forms need to be submitted by Wednesday, May 4. All Dragonfly forms needed to have been completed and submitted by now.

Below is some additional information for camp, attached for your reference.

Camp Packing List ’11

Camp Permission CDNIS

Parent Letter

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Dear Parents,

It feels great to be back! A school trip to Guizhou, a week in Saigon for professional development and then the long Spring Break has me feeling rejuvenated and ready to finish this awesome school year on a high note! The final stretch towards summer break is upon us.

Please watch the following video very carefully to learn more about your role in the Student Led Learning Review on Friday. This is one of the highlights of the assessment and reporting schedule during the school year. It provides your child with a voice in his/her learning and we need to respect and listen to that voice.

A few reminders:

• Students are to wear their school uniforms
• Please turn off your mobile devices during the SLLR. Each time slot has a maximum of 3 families in the room.
• Please remember to take your child’s portfolio with you when you leave
• Be positive! This is a celebration of your child’s learning journey this school year. Let’s focus on the successes.

Please note that Thursday is a DDD with the theme being DENIM

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