South Asian Club Fair

Dear Elementary Parents,

The South Asian Club is holding a fair for the entire AISD Community. There will be lots of yummy food sold like dosa, fuchka, cotton candy, and tehari (a Bangladeshi rice dish). 

There will also be live dance performances, arts and crafts sold and a bouncy castle for the kids to enjoy! 

Please come and join us with your entire family in all the fun festivities!

Date: Wednesday, November 27th

Time: 6-8pm

Place: AISD Tennis Courts (rooftop)

Entrance Ticket: 50tk, (food at additional cost, 50-100 tk)

We hope to see you there! Thanks for your support!

UN Day Reminders

Reminder:  Tomorrow (Wednesday) AISD will celebrate UN Day. The Parade of Nations will begin at 8:30, followed by performances. Please keep in mind the following:

• National dress is encouraged but not required.
• Parents are welcome to attend the parade and program, and they should go to the big field, not walk with the country during the parade. 
• Parents should use the field gate to enter and exit. Please do not come to the classroom before or after the parade as the school and classrooms are very busy. Note that you are welcome to take photos on the field.
• Parents and families can watch the assembly through live streaming. They can go to the website and click on the top right corner where it says "Live". 

Nurturing Your Child's Imagination

Please click on this link to see some suggestions from Scholastic on how you can encourage and strengthen your child's creativity and imagination.

Learning About the Brain

We spent time in class studying the brain and how it works to get a better understanding of what we do when we think. After taking apart and reassembling two model brains we shared our wonderings and spent time exploring the different parts of the brain and what they do. 

We learned that just like an egg yolk, our brain has some special fluid around it that protects it from hitting our skull when we move. We know that our brain is very important and that we need to protect it by being safe and wearing helmets while riding bikes and doing other sports.

Throughout our study on the brain we conferred many sources, including a website called "Wondermind". This site has many games that encourage brain strengthening, as well as kid-friendly videos that discuss the parts of the brain. To find the videos, you have to first click on a game as if you are going to play, and then you will see a video button in the lower left corner. We only watched part of one in class, so I encourage you to watch more with your child at home! Click here to go to the website.

We have now entered into our next Unit of Inquiry, which focuses on imagination. We will really strengthen our brains during this Unit by challenging ourselves to thing outside the box. Last week your child brought home a puppet theater of The Little Red Hen. Before taking it home each child practiced retelling the story and then used the iPad to record himself. We will use these recordings to critique our expression and encourage us to develop in the area of performing arts.

In math we have looked more closely at numbers in general, and spent time carefully examining numbers 11 through 19. Through a series of games and activities in which we built the numbers, we have develop a basic understanding of place value. We will continue this exploration of numbers as we also add in a study of geometric shapes.

Playing "Flying Saucers"

Numbers

We interact and play with numbers daily in our classroom, but recently we started focusing on 'teen' numbers. Before beginning this focus we shared our thoughts/knowledge about numbers in general. The children were asked to share what they already know about numbers. This is the conversation that evolved with no teacher input. By recording the conversation we can then begin looking at our understanding more deeply and resolve misunderstandings.

Nora: Numbers don't go from right to left, they go from left to right.

Iris: Numbers don't go from 10 to 1, they go from 1 to 10.

Imram: You can count beans to figure out how many there are.

Sahan: You start at the top when writing numbers.

Aly: There is an order to numbers.

Mikail: You can't start counting at 19, you have to start at 1.

Nora: You can count like 2,4,6,8 and even higher than that by skipping some numbers.

Iris: You can count backward but you normally count forwards.

Shanza: You can count from 13 down to 1.

Aiden: You can count from 100 to 0.

Aylin: You can count from 1 to 9.

Cadyn: You can count backwards but not every time because if you just know the number you can just call it out.

Aly: You can count so much up to when the numbers stop. I don't when when numbers stop.

Aiden: Numbers never stop. Somebody told me that but I don't know why.

Sahan: You can even start counting at 100 and go to 1000.

Iris: You can start counting at any number and keep on going and going as many numbers as you know.

Nora: I know numbers never stop because there's always a higher number.

Imran: You can count beginning at 1 instead of 0. Numbers can be a bit hard at some times.

Sandeep: You can count up to 20.

Shanza: We would take one whole day to count all the numbers.

Iris: You can put numbers together to make a new number.

Reminders/Updates

Reminders/Updates:

• Please spray your child with mosquito repellant in the morning before he/she comes to school as many mosquitoes are visiting our classroom daily.
• The Performing Arts room has continued to have AC problems. Please send a jacket/sweatshirt that your child can keep in the classroom and wear on the appropriate days.
• Individual Photos: Thursday, November 21
• PTA Book Fair: November 25 - 27. Our class will attend on Tuesday, Nov. 26 @ 8:00. You are welcome to come accompany your child in 'shopping'.
• UN Day is approaching. Please see the note below for more information:
  
  There are two events that the whole school gets together to celebrate at AISD. One is UN Day(October 24 but will be celebrated Nov. 27 instead), the second is Earth Day (April 22). The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the UN Charter had been ratified by a majority of the original 51 Member States. The day is now celebrated each year around the world as United Nations Day.
  "The purpose of the United Nations is to bring all nations of the world together to work for peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the well-being of all people. It affords the opportunity for countries to balance global interdependence and national interests when addressing international problems" (UN website). We celebrate this day in honour of our vision statement and the principles behind the foundation which the UN is built upon.
  On UN Day (Nov 27), we will have an all school assembly with a parade of nations from 8:30 to 9:35 in the field. As this is a school wide event we try to include as many dance, drama, pictorial presentations and keep the speeches to a bare minimum to engage all students. 
  On UN Day (Nov 27), we will have an all school assembly with a parade of nations from 8:30 to 9:35 in the field. As this is a school wide event we try to include as many dance, drama, pictorial presentations and keep the speeches to a bare minimum to engage all students. 
  A gentle reminder to all parents to get an appropriate costume (national dress or clothing representing your country's flag) ready for the event as the your student will take part in the this whole school event.

• Please also see this note from Sara Eldon, a high school student, about Dharmarajika:
  
  Dharmarajika orphanage is providing education for hundredths of  young children ages 4-17. I, a senior at AISD, am trying to assist Dharmarajika in their pursuit and am currently helping them collect school supplies for the children. I am sure you are already making an effort to donate any old or extra school supplies but If your classroom or perhaps your students have any old or extra school supplies (such as rulers, erasers, pencils, sharpeners, notebooks or even school bags) I was wondering if you would help us by being so kind as to drop it off at a box outside the high school office or let me know and I will come and collect it. It would be very much appreciated at Dharmarajika. Thank you!

Field Trip Reflections

Sorry for not posting this earlier. Here are some reflections made right after our field trip to the AEEA:

Nora – I learned that plants need medicine so bugs don’t eat the plants.

Cadyn – I learned that the money tree grows on top of the other tree.

Imran – I was a risk-taker and tried new pizza and I learned I like it!

Aly – When the gardener showed us the seed we learned that it came from somewhere else.

Aiden – I found  a seed and the gardener told me it came from the pool side, which was kind of far. It got there on someone’s swimsuit and then it dropped out there.

Cadyn – The gardener said that maybe some kids playing near the swimming pool dropped seeds on the other side of the club.

Sahan – The gardeners used strings to tie the plant and make it into a doorway.

Iris – I learned new names of flowers.

Ashman - I learned that when the plants can’t stand on their own, the gardeners can help by tying them to a stick.

Aylin – I saw interesting flowers.

Sandeep – I found a root from a tree.

Aiden – I found a root from a piece of grass.

Mikail – I found leaves on a stem.

Cadyn – I saw vines.

Sahan – I saw a bird sitting on a plant and watching it to eat it.

Aylin – I saw birds eating the plant.

Cadyn – I saw the men planting plants and tying strings to the plants to help them grow straight up.

Aylin – I saw people eating leaves when they were eating.

Aiden – I saw the ladder. It was made from wood!

Iris – I saw a broom made from a plant.

Shanza – I didn’t know that the mango trees grew best in the summer. I thought they grew in the winter.

Sandeep – The flowers were straight.

Visible Thinking Information

UPDATE: Our Performing Arts teacher, Ms. Betty Chang, has informed me that her classroom is very cold due to problems with the AC controllers. Therefore, please send your child with a sweater or jacket he can wear on days we have P.A. 

______________________________________________

A little over a week ago we had the wonderful opportunity of welcoming Laura Manni and Aquil-li Ruiz Comellas to our school to provide training on visible thinking. Please see the PDF screen shot below that they shared to highlight what was discussed in the parent session.

I recommend watching this video from the World Forum in 2011. It is quite long so you may want to watch it in bits. This is also shared in the PDF above.

Upcoming Events:

• November 13, 7:55 - 8:30:  Parent information session on technology and digital citizenship
• November 18 @ 4:00 pm:  PTA meeting
• Thursday, November 21:  Individual student photos
• November 25 - 27:  PTA book fair
• November 27:  UN Day celebration

*See more information on the above in last week's Shamachar.

What Incredible Progress!

Thank you for attending student-involved conferences and for your ongoing support and partnership in your child's development. It was very enjoyable meeting with you all and discussing the great progress your children are making. I very much appreciate your sharing and the encouragement you showed your children when they shared their work.

Last week was full of interesting and exciting learning experiences. One of the memorable ones for the students was our field trip to the AEEA. Mr. Jondon, a gardener, spoke with us about the plants at the club and his work in nurturing them. He then took us on a tour around the grounds and showed us some interesting plants that many of us had never noticed before.

  

In the classroom we used pumpkins to study not only our Unit of Inquiry but our math unit on measurement as well. We examined our pumpkins like scientists and looked closely to draw realistic pictures of them. We realized that not all pumpkins are orange, big and round. We measured the pumpkins in various ways (looking at height, circumference and weight), and then opened them up and scooped out all the seeds. Many of us were hesitant to touch the gooey inside, but we were risk-takers and got our hands messy! 

   

 

After separating the seeds from the goo and then roasting them, we used the seeds for a counting lesson. We counted our individual pile of seeds and found the corresponding number from the hundreds chart to match our piles. Next we had to use our thinking and communication skills to organize ourselves in order from the person with the least amount of seeds to the person with the most without any teacher assistance. This is what we came up with:  

We then viewed the picture of ourselves and noticed that Imran and Sandeep needed to trade places. We also needed to add in Ashman and Cadyn. Through discussion we came up with this:

After reviewing another photo of ourselves we determined two of us still needed to move. We moved around and on the third try we got it correct!:

Since our exploration with pumpkins was near Halloween, of course we were excited to turn our pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns. Thanks to Ms. Hagar for her help!

Bloomball Mall

Please see this note from the 5th graders. We will attend the 'Bloomball Mall' tomorrow morning (Monday) before our field trip. If you would like your child to be able to purchase anything please send money in a labeled envelope.

Bloomball mall is an open- market concept for grade 5's small businesses. The Bloomball mall is Monday November 4th 8:30-10:30.

Students will be selling baked goods, books, original handmade items and more at reasonable prices between 20-150tk. If you could please encourage your students to bring small notes this would be very helpful to our students in making change! Students do not need to bring more than 500 taka. 

Thanks for your help in making this Bloomball mall a success! All proceeds go to the bearers fund :)

Thanks again,

Grade 5 team