The Best Part Of Me

As part of a Language Arts unit, students have been busy practising using 'The Writing Process' by recreating a book of poems entitled 'The Best Part Of Me'. (Based on a book by the same name by Wendy Ewald).

In the prewriting process, students chose a part of their body that they felt was beautiful/fascinating/interesting or simply the 'best' part of them and have been drafting, redrafting, editing, proofreading and publishing poems to go alongside a photograph of their 'favourite' part of them.

I will post a slide show of the final published work when we complete it next week. The photo above is a collage of all the 'best parts' of 5B!


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

Mei Lin's Birthday Cake

Today, Mei Lin's mum prepared a birthday cake for us to share in honour of Mei Lin's 10th Birthday! It was very yummy!
We shared it during our 'morning meeting': a time we have every day where we get a chance to greet each other; take part in a group activity; share something with each other and deliver messages.
Today's focus of the meeting was, of course, 'Birthdays': Our best, our worst and our most memorable.

The 'sharing' part of the morning meeting is a great way to learn how to listen to each other, gain the confidence to speak out in front of everyone and just get together for a great bonding session!

We hope you enjoyed your special day, Mei Lin!

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

Birthday Celebrations!

Happy Birthday Clarissa (for the 26th) and Mei Lin (for the 28th)!
May this year bring you both much laughter, excitement and newly gained knowledge.
Keep dreaming big girls, and the world is your oyster!

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

Weekly Preview Week Beginning Monday 31st August

5B Week At A Peek

Week Beginning Monday 31st August

Math
Unit 1: Whole Numbers & Decimals
Chap. 2: Place Value Of Decimals
· Tenths and Hundredths
· Thousandths & Ten-Thousandths
· Equivalent Decimals
· Compare & Order Decimals

Reading
· GATES Reading Testing
· DRA Reading Testing begins
· Independent Reading
· Class Novel – Manic Magee – Pre-reading Activities

Grammar
Unit 1:
· The Sentence - Subjects in Imperatives; Conjunctions; Revising Strategies: Sentence Fluency & Writing Good Sentences; Run-on Sentences

Writing
· Publishing ‘The Best Part Of Me’ Poetry
· Publishing “I Am” Poetry
· “Dear Me’ Letters on Vests
· Activities linked to ‘Manic Magee’ Prewriting Lessons

Social Studies
· Map Skills Continued: Straight lines in Europe; Straight Lines in South America; American Waterfalls; Guatemalan Search
· ‘Caravans’ Simulation Country Research & Oral Reports – South America (Costa Rica; Ecuador; Brazil)

Fun/Social
· Morning Meeting – Each day 7.45am – 8.15am
· Etiquette Assembly: September 4th 10:30am
· Open House – September 3rd 7.00pm

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

Our Classroom

Apologies for some blurry photos, but at least this collage will give you a little insight into what our wonderful class actually looks like. (Mess and all! I took these mid day when the students were at PE!)
Our classroom is lovely and bright, full of light and full of colour. I am especially proud of our wonderful classroom library that now includes over 40 brand new books and have all been levelled into grade level/interest level and genre. It was a big project that last year's 5B class started working on and now my 2009/2010 students have the chance to use it. Fantastic!


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

Weekly Preview Week Beginning Monday 24th August

5B Week At A Peek
Week Beginning Monday 24th August

Math
Unit 1: Whole Numbers & Decimals
Chap. 1 Introduction to Place Value of Whole Numbers
· Understanding Place Value
· Millions and Billions
· Comparing Numbers
· Ordering Numbers

Reading
· ‘Big Al’ by Andrew Clements Yoshi
· Class Library – Independent Reading & Primarily Reading Reflections
· DRA Reading Testing begins

Grammar
· Sentences - The Four Types; Subjects & Predicates; Simple Subjects; Simple Predicates;

Writing
· Setting up Writing Process bulletin board – ‘Race track’
· Discussion of Writer’s Workshop lessons
· ‘The Best Part Of Me’ poetry continued
· Fish Philosophy writing
· “I Am” poetry
· “Dear Me’ Letters
· “Me Cube”

Social Studies
· Map Skills
· Discuss different uses for maps (political, physical, population, etc).
· Brainstorm parts of maps
· City maps; Border lines; Straight lines.
· Set up ‘Caravans’ simulation


Fun/Social
· Electing Student Council Representatives – August 31st 1.50pm
· Open House – September 3rd 7.00pm
· House Competition– Friday 28th 7.35am

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

Trivia Of The Week 17/08/2009

1)To which countries do the following capital cities belong?
a) Rome
b)Reykjavik
c) Nairobi

2)What famous musical movie consists of a nun who goes to live with a Captain and his seven children?

3) Name the authors of the following books:
a) The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
b) The Harry Potter stories
c) The 'Dear Dumb Diary' stories

4) Name the following current world leaders:
a) The President of Indonesia;
b) The Prime Minister of the U.K
c)The President of the U.S.A

Answers next week!

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

Weekly Preview Week Beginning Tuesday 18th August

5B Week At A Peek

Week Beginning Tuesday 18th August

Math
· Assessment tests
· Math games
· Practice orally expressing numbers to the billions
· Routines, expectations, notebook set-up
Unit 1: Whole Numbers & Decimals
Chap. 1 Introduction to Place Value of Whole Numbers
· Understanding Place Value
· Millions and Billions

Reading
· ‘The Best Part Of Me’ by Wendy Ewald
· Class Library – Genre Discussion – Choosing appropriate books
· Reading For Fun
· Introduction to reading response journals/focus logs
· Reading /Literature logs set-up + expectations

Grammar
· Grammar & conventions test – assess students knowledge of basic writing conventions

Writing
· Elements of Writing Process
· Discussion of Writer’s Workshop lessons
· Writer’s Notebook Set Up + Expectations
· ‘The Best Part Of Me’ poetry
· “I Am” poetry
· “Dear Me’ Letters
· “Me Cube”

Social Studies
· World Geography Quiz
· Identify what we know about maps
· Map the room
· Discuss different uses for maps (political, physical, population, etc).
· Brainstorm parts of maps


Fun/Social
· Welcome Assembly – Tuesday 18th
· Getting To Know You Games
· House Meetings - Elect House Captains & Ideas for Competitions
· Student Council Representatives
· Etiquette Assembly – Friday 21st

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

Welcome to 5B 2009/2010!

Welcome Back!!
Hello and ‘Welcome’ to 5th Grade! I trust you had a refreshing summer break.
My name is Mrs. Beck and I am I am happy to report I will be teaching your child this year. This year promises to be challenging, yet fun and exciting. . As this is the first of many letters you will receive from me, it is filled with a lot of helpful information about the Grade Five program and how you can get in touch with me. I hope you enjoy reading this installment. Please keep in touch with me throughout the year. If you have questions or concerns, the best way to reach me is through my email address: kbeck@njis.or.id

In 5th Grade, students will continue learning and becoming responsible members of the larger school and outside community. I have many aspirations for my students in their academic and social learning, and for myself as their teacher. I am confident that we will reach our goals. I believe it is essential that we all work together to build a healthy, caring, classroom community so that students have room to grow, and feel safe taking risks in the process. Together, we are all responsible for helping our students learn and succeed. Thank you for your support.

ABOUT ME
Although I am British/Australian, I have spent the majority of my life, living overseas in a variety of countries, including, The U.K, Australia, Dubai, Oman, and Taiwan. This is my second year both at NJIS and in Indonesia and I hope to stay much longer. I live here with my husband, Andrew, who teaches High School Science here at NJIS and my two daughters, Annalise (4 years old) and Juliette (2 years old).
I gained all of my university qualifications in the U.K, completing my Bachelor of Arts at Manchester University and my Post Graduate Certificate of Education at Birmingham University. I also hold a certificate in General Counseling and a Diploma in Crisis Counseling.
I love my job and I am especially looking forward to fostering excellence in scholarship, leadership, compassion, and creative and critical thinking in your child this year.

CLASS PROGRAMME
To begin the academic year we will be focusing on Number Computation in Mathematics, and a World Geography Simulation unit in Social Studies. Our first Science unit will be based on Ecosystems, Pollution and the Environment. We will be heavily focusing on reading skills this year and most of our writing units will be linked to the themes your child is reading about.

SURVEY
I have attached a survey to this letter, which I would ask you to complete and return to me. Your knowledge of your child is invaluable to me and supports me to create the best program for your child. Often, parents have differing views about their child’s personality, strengths, attitudes and work habits, so feel free to write individual comments in each section.

HOMEWORK
Your child should be spending between 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours a night working on homework in Grade Five. Homework will be written daily in the homework diary. As well, I may occasionally write notes in the homework diary for you to read and you can also communicate with me by writing in the notes column of their diary too.

PENCIL CASES
I would appreciate it if your child could buy a simple calculator, protractor and pencil case for use at school. A pencil case is particularly helpful in ensuring that all equipment is easily accessible and organized. Please label all your child’s possessions. Now that your child is in Grade 5, I gently encourage all students to write in pen wherever possible, in preparation for High School, therefore, please supply some ball point or biro blue or black pens for your child’s pencil case also.

CLASS SCHEDULE
School runs from Monday to Friday, starting at 7:30AM and finishing at 2:30PM. You may need to remind your child to check their six-day schedule every day, for the first few weeks of school, to ensure they are fully equipped for the day’s program until it becomes a habit they maintain.

I hope I will see you all at our school Open House on the 3rd September. I am looking forward to meeting with you.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Kathryn Beck
Grade 5 Teacher


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

Good Bye To 5B 2008 2009!

The very best of luck to all of you as you enter Grade 6, wherever that might be in the world. I will miss you and think of you often and hope that you all keep in touch.

If you are at NJIS, there is NO excuse for not popping in every now and then to say 'hello!'!

I hope you glance at the 'Desiderata' sometimes and become uplifted by it.

Keep dreaming, keep reaching and most of all, ENJOY every minute!
Mrs. Beck
xxx




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