September / October Newsletter

Dear Parents,
We have been hard at work over the past couple of weeks, learning many new things and sharing new experiences. Please allow us to illustrate a quick summary of what we have been doing in each of the core subject areas.
Prior to the upcoming break, we will be finishing some interesting, and very involved units. Please take the time to look over some of the creative work that your child has been busily working on, along with any awards they might have received.

Math
We are coming to the end of our 1st large Math unit (Whole Numbers & Decimals) and on our return to school after the Idul Fitri break, we will be starting to work on our second Math unit, Algebra, Data and Graphing. At the conclusion of this unit, Math awards will be presented.

Social Studies
We are currently involved in a fascinating Geography simulation which will continue on for a few weeks after the holiday. Each class member has been assigned to a traveling Caravan in order to seek out treasures as quickly as possible from designated locations around the globe and return them to Big Buck Billionolla in exchange for gold pieces. To traverse the globe, they have to earn valuable travel dots by completing numerous country research projects, oral presentations, and geography related tasks.

Along the way, their caravans might become beset with problems and obstacles from their daily Fate Cards which might leave them stranded in the Sahara Desert with few supplies, attacked by cannibalistic pirates or sailing headfirst into the Bermuda Triangle!

This fun and exciting simulation has infused excitement, interest and a growing understanding in world geography amongst the Grade 5 students. The project will enable the students to give you the location of a country using longitude and latitude, locate countries, capitals, major features and some very obscure sites in every continent, and divulge to you some interesting country facts.

Science
After our Social Studies unit, we will be starting our first Science unit, Biomes, which naturally progresses from our ‘Caravans’ Geography unit. In this unit, students will learn how living things interact and how to protect fragile ecosystems. Our culminating activities will include chapter tests, nature story, and a mobile.

Novel Study
In novel study class, we have started with Bridge to Terabithia, a story set in the fifth grade.

Students have been: designing and writing about their imaginary secret hiding places; creating fantasy animals; discussing, reporting and writing about bullying, acts of revenge and what the essential ingredients of friendship and family values are; and they have acted out role-plays linked to a variety of themes within the novel. Students are also completing vocabulary exercises, questions for discussion and quizzes to gain a deeper understanding the novel.

Writing
So far, students have studied and practised how to write a research report, integrating the knowledge they have learned in IT lessons, to produce power point presentations. We have refined our research and note-taking skills, reviewed effective paragraph writing and learned how to logically organize a research essay.
Our ongoing task will be writing personal narratives and infusing our writing with juicy vocabulary and a stronger, more personal voice.
After break we will also begin to focus on sentence fluency and word choice to create more interesting and creative pieces of writing.

There will not be any homework assignments to complete over the upcoming break, however, students are expected to continue reading and completing their reading logs and if they haven’t already, to finish their country research PowerPoint presentations. (Remember: a minimum of 25 minutes of reading a day keeps your child’s grades improving and Mrs. Beck smiling!)

Birthdays in October
Over the space of 10 days, we have 6 students in 5B who will be celebrating their birthdays. (David, Jin Hee, Joel, Lennart, Hee Won and Jaya).
I suggest rather than having separate parties in school time each day for each student, that we have just one large celebration for all 6 of the students on Friday 24th October from 11.10 – 12.00pm. I will send out more information to the parents of the students whose birthdays we will be celebrating, but this is just a ‘heads up’ about the date and to make sure that this is OK with you all.
I will make sure that on the actual birthday days we make the day special for them, but we will have just one party for all of them together in school time. Of course, this is separate from any celebrations or parties you choose to have for your child outside of school time!

On another personal note, we are really in need of a class parent to help us out. Please read the letter from Mr. Cook and if you can spare the time, please volunteer to be 5B’s support parent. We are one of the few classes in lower school without one!

Have a wonderful holiday!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Kathryn Beck
Grade 5B
kbeck@njis.or.id

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Introducing...

'The Mighty Shark Fins'


'The U.S. Marine Adventurers'


and 'The World Conquerors'

These three teams are our budding explorers racing around the globe on a hunt for artifacts to hand over to 'Big Bucks Billionolla' (A very rich anthropologist and museum curator).

The race has started and the three teams are currently learning about various different countries, including our most recent tasks, Cambodia, Iraq, Estonia, Iceland, Pakistan and Mozambique. They have learned how to say phrases in numerous languages, are reading and watching about current events, learning about different governments and political scenes from around the world as well as competing in challenges and other exciting adventures.

This week we were introduced to children's games and songs from Islamabad and some very special home-made oat biscuits from Estonia!

Sometimes school is just too much fun!

Keep watching for new updates!





“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Time with Mr. Cook

At the end of Day 3 each week, 5B are lucky enough to have a regular friendly visitor to the classroom -Mr Cook, our Headmaster. We all sit in the reading corner, and Mr Cook reads aloud to us from Madeleine L'Engle's famous novel, 'A Wrinkle In Time'.

'A Wrinkle in Time' is the story of Meg Murry, a high-school-aged girl who is transported on an adventure through time and space with her younger brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin O'Keefe to rescue her father, a gifted scientist, from the evil forces that hold him prisoner on another planet.

What a great way to end the day!

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Knowledge Bowl!

This coming Friday 26th, Grade 5 (along with all the other grades) will be competing against each other in a house Trivia competition!
So guys, don't forget to wear your house shirts, bone up on the lessons you've learned these past 6 weeks, get your thinking caps on and get ready to have some fun!

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Caravans Are A' Coming!

Today, 5B started their Social Studies simulation project 'Caravans'.
Everyone was soooooo excited - you should have heard the squeals of excitement coming from the classroom! Mrs. Beck wishes she could join a team too - it's going to be a grrrrrrreat adventure.
We now have three very eager groups of adventurers ready to begin their race around the world, collecting artifacts in return for gold coins.
Who will win? Who will lose? Will everyone make it out alive?
'The Mighty Shark-Fins', 'The U.S. Marine Adventurers' and 'The World Conquerors' set sail tomorrow, with the supplies they chose to purchase today.
We'll keep you updated on their adventures!

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

A Big Welcome!

A huge and friendly welcome to 5R's new teacher, Mr Rodriguez.

We're so glad you are here!

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Trivia Contest # 4

This is a chance for you to win a weekly prize! Yay! Every Monday, a new set of Trivia Questions will be posted. See if you can answer all the Trivia questions correctly and then post your answers into the classroom ‘Trivia Of The Week’ mailbox by Thursday Afternoon. The winning entry will be picked out of the mailbox on Friday morning. Good Luck! '

1. What is the only EVEN Prime Number?
2. How many sides does a Dodecahedron have?
3. What sort of berry was crossed with a Loganberry to produce a Boysenberry?
4. What does the acronym NASA stand for?
5. In English soccer, 'Anfield' is the home ground of which Premier League Team?
6. Which continent is divided into the most countries?
7. What is the main ingredient in the Curry accompaniment ‘Raita’?
8. What man has the most monuments erected to him?
9. What is the largest province in Canada?
10. What alloy is formed when you combine tin with lead?

Answers due Thursday 18th September

Last Week's Winner: Fidelia! Well done, Fidelia!
Answers to last week's trivia:

1. What is the name for the colored part of the eye? Iris 2. What organ of the body produces insulin? Pancreas 3. Approximately what percentage of the Earth is covered with water? 75% 4. The platypus is native to what country? Australia 5. Eddie Vedder is the lead singer of what band? Pearl Jam 6. What was Princess Diana`s maiden name? Spencer 7. Who shot Mr. Burns on `The Simpsons`? Maggie Simpson 8. What actress plays Monica on `Friends`? Courtney Cox-Arquette 9. The ‘mastodon’ is the prehistoric ancestor of what animal? Elephant 10. What is the capital city of Iceland called? Reykjavik

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Our Class!

5B, you are a wonderful group of kids - it's so nice to see all of you get on so well and work together as a team. I'm very proud of you guys!

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Trivia Contest #3

This is a chance for you to win a weekly prize! Yay!
Every Monday, a new set of Trivia Questions will be posted. See if you can answer all the Trivia questions correctly and then post your answers into the classroom ‘Trivia Of The Week’ mailbox by Thursday Afternoon.
The winning entry will be picked out of the mailbox on Friday morning.
Good Luck!

Answers due Thursday 11th September

1. What is the name for the colored part of the eye?
2. What organ of the body produces insulin?
3. Approximately what percentage of the Earth is covered with water?
4. The platypus is native to what country?
5. Eddie Vedder is the lead singer of what band?
6. What was Princess Diana`s maiden name?
7. Who shot Mr. Burns on `The Simpsons`?
8. What actress plays Monica on `Friends`?
9. The ‘mastodon’ is the prehistoric ancestor of what animal?
10. What is the capital city of Iceland called?

Last Week's Winner: Joel! Well done, Joel!

Answers to last week's trivia: 1. Manchester; 2) Canada, Vancouver; 3) 15; 4)Helen Of Troy; 5)Hamburger; 6)TaeKwoDo; 7)Mockingbird; 8) Cheetah; 9)Alexander Graham-Bell; 10)Albert Einstein

Globe Extravaganza!

As part of our Social Studies 'World Geography' Unit, students have been hard at work creating their very own globes of the world! Some great team was taking place today - even with the sticky-tape struggles! (You had to have been there!)

Well done, 5B!

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”

Les Brown

How Hardworking Are We?!

A snapshot of 5B concentrating really hard today during their first Math test of the year!






“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Trivia of the Week # 2

This is a chance for you to win a weekly prize! Yay!
Every Monday, a new set of Trivia Questions will be posted on this board.
See if you can answer all the Trivia questions correctly and then post your answers into the ‘Trivia Of The Week’ mailbox by Thursday Afternoon.
The winning entry will be picked out of the mailbox on Friday morning.
Good Luck!

1. Which British residents refer to themselves as 'Mancunians'?
2. The Next Olympics will be held in two years, winter style, hosted by which city?
3. How many pieces does each player have when starting a game of backgammon?
4. Considered the most beautiful woman in history, she had a face that launched a thousand ships. Who was she?
5. Which popular fast food item is named for a major port of Northern Germany?
6. This Martial art has existed for 2000 years, but was never an Olympic medal event until the Sydney Olympics in the year 2000. Generally speaking, Korean Athletes excel at this sport. What is it?
7. This kind of grayish-white songbird is noted for its ability to mimic the sound of other birds, hence its name. What bird is it?
8. What cat cannot retract its claws?
9. Who invented the telephone?
10. What man in history is famous for his theory of relativity?

Last Week's Winner: Ire! Well done, Ire!

Answers to last week's trivia:

1. Who Created ‘The Simpsons’?Matt Groening 2. How many weeks are there in a year?523. What is the world’s smallest bird?Hummingbird 4. There are volcanoes on Mars – true or false?True 5. How many legs does a spider have?8 6. In ‘The Lord Of The Rings’, what are ‘Ents’?Tree People 7. The capital of New Zealand is?Wellington 8. Who wrote ‘A series Of Unfortunate EventsLemony Snicket

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Trivia of The Week # 1

This is a chance for you to win a weekly prize! Yay!

Every Monday, a new set of Trivia Questions will be posted on this board.See if you can answer all the Trivia questions correctly and then post your answers into the ‘Trivia Of The Week’ mailbox by Thursday Afternoon.The winning entry will be picked out of the mailbox on Friday morning. Good Luck!

1. Who Created ‘The Simpsons’?
2. How many weeks are there in a year?
3. What is the world’s smallest bird?
4. There are volcanoes on Mars – true or false?
5. How many legs does a spider have?
6. In ‘The Lord Of The Rings’, what are ‘Ents’?
7. The capital of New Zealand is?
8. Who wrote ‘A series Of Unfortunate Events’?

Answers due in the mail box by Thursday 28th August


“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

September Newsletter

Dear Parents,

We have been hard at work over the past couple of weeks, learning many new things and sharing new experiences. Please allow us to illustrate a quick summary of what we have been doing in each of the core subject areas.

What’s Coming Up:
September 05 Lower School Etiquette Assembly
September 12 Vacation Slideshow

Math
We have just completed our first test in math on place value of whole numbers. We will continue exploring Number Sense and Numeration (whole and decimal numbers) to complete our first unit in Math. Students will be tested at the end of each chapter as well as a final assessment after each unit. Our second unit will investigate Algebra, Data, and Graphing, which we will begin toward the end of the month. Starting from this new unit, students will be completing a “Problem of the Day” in order to practice and improve their problem-solving skills. Students who complete the problem correctly will receive a star on their reward chart. Students may also receive a star for completing daily Math homework consistently as well as for achieving improving test marks. At the end of each unit, a Math award will be given to the student(s) who received the most stars.

Social Studies
We have kicked off the year with a unit in Geography. We are currently exploring the world – its hemispheres, continents, major bodies of water, various geographical features as well as studying important geographical terms and vocabulary. Once students have gained a deeper knowledge of world geography, they will complete a final assessment which will include a map of an imaginary world, and a PowerPresentation on a student-chosen country. Students will also have great fun taking part and learning through a simulation unit entilted Caravans. This is an exciting unit which encourages students to learn more about the world around them as well as work positively in a group.


Science
Our first Science unit, Biomes, will begin after world geography. In this unit, students will learn how living things interact and how to protect fragile ecosystems. Our culminating activities will be a fun and challenging simulation called Rainbow Bay. Students will work in groups to build a network of roads in the fictitious community of Rainbow Bay. As mayor, I will evaluate each construction team’s plan based on cost and environmental responsibility. This unit is always very popular with students as they have the opportunity to show what they have learned in Science in a meaningful, hands-on way.


Novel Study
In novel study class, we will read several novels a trimester. To begin, we will be starting next week with Bridge to Terabithia, a story set in the fifth grade. When a new girl moves into Jess Aarons’ neighbourhood and his class, his life takes an interesting turn. Although, Leslie is a faster runner and comes from a more priviledged background than Jess, the two find strong common bonds and become very good friends. Together, they invent the fantasy kingdom of Terabithia. This novel is a heart-warming story of Jess’ maturation through friendship, tragedy and loss. For every novel study, students will be expected to complete vocabulary exercises, questions for discussion, and a novel test as well as various activities centred around the novel. To gain a deeper understanding of each novel, students should re-read chapters or important passages at home.

Reading
We have begun the year by working on various different reading strategies which include reading aloud, independent silent reading, partner reading, group reading and reading fluency tests. This week we are also spending our morning reading times visiting different Reading Centres (areas of the classroom) which aim to allow students to: read for enjoyment; read for research; read for discussion; play games to learn new vocabulary and definitions and read for fluency.
Students are also expected to do a minumum of 30 minutes of independent reading every school night. An at-home reading log will be sent home at the beginning of each month and should be returned at the end of each month signed by a parent.


Writing
Our writing program centers around 6 + 1 Traits of Writing which include: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions and presentation. Our writing program also includes in-depth grammar instruction which will help students improve on the mechanics of English.


Sincerely,
Mrs. Kathryn Beck, Grade 5B
kbeck@njis.or.id

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Welcome to Grade 5!

Welcome to Grade 5!

Fifth Graders Are Great!

Some important reminders for the first few days of school:

My name is Mrs. Beck and I will be your 5th Grade teacher! Our classroom is in room N18. This is my first year teaching at NJIS and my 10th year of teaching in international schools. I come from the U.K/Australia and I am very excited to be here!

School begins at 7:30 am and ends at 2:30 pm.

At the end of the school day, all students will be dismissed to the appropriate Pick Up/Drop Off areas for vans or private vehicles. Any changes in departure arrangements require prior notification with a note from parents!

PE is on Day 2 & Day 5. Wear the appropriate clothing on these days.

Students may bring in a snack for recess each day. Please make sure that they are healthy snacks!

Books and supplies will be issued to all students during the first few days of school. Students, you are free to bring in some of your own supplies, such as pencils, pens, erasers, etc., as well.

Last, but not least, your teachers are here to help you. If you have any questions or comments, let me know! My school email is: kbeck@njis.or.id

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown