Smiletrek.org

Today we had the fantastic opportunity to hear Winston Fiore of Smile Trek speak to us about his 5000 mile journey across SE Asia to educate and raise money for children with clefts. Check out his website smiletrek.org to find out more about his journey.

SAS Aboriginal Art Project at the REDOT Fine Art Gallery

Join us for The Amazing IS/PS Aboriginal Painting  Exhibition 

All are welcome to come view this exhibition. 

A trailer about the exhibition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuxC6fsDRg

Grade 4 and 5 have completed collaborative paintings based on Aboriginal Dreamtime stories. These will be exhibited at the Redot Gallery alongside the inspiring works of Paddy Japaljarri Stewart, one of the artists who began the aboriginal art movement in his desert community of Yuendumu.

All Kindergarten children have also ‘dot-painted’ their own pictures to illustrate stories from the Dreamtime.

The date and artists that will be on display:

Sat. 1 Dec. and Sun. 2 Dec. 1-5pm (ONLY): 

All Grade 5 classes, and K Hinton, K Clow, K Sudesh, K Schwarz, K Howitt 

Sat. 8 Dec. and Sun. 9 Dec. 1-5pm (ONLY): 

All Grade 4 classes, and K Scott, K Wan, K van Oosten, K Riley, K Hevey 

With over 240 pieces to be displayed, we have chosen this as the best arrangement to enable the majority of families to visit the gallery once. However, we are aware that not everyone is able to do this and apologize for the inconvenience.

Please refer to the gallery ‘flyer’ attached for directions to the exhibition; it can be a difficult place to find. Or visit http://www.redotgallery.com/  

A Note from the Music Teacher

November 26, 2012

Greetings from SAS Music,

Selamat Pagi!! Starting next week and continuing throughout the months of December and January we will be learning to play the Gamelan, a traditional instrument from Indonesia.  Grade 4 students will share their learning with you during their Informance at the beginning of February. Please check the date and time below and join us in the Gamelan Room (c202).

            This week, we have a recorder playing test on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  While we are in the Gamelan Room, however, Grade 4 students WILL NOT need to bring their recorders and music folders to music lessons. Instead, they should continue to practice at home twice a week for ten minutes each time. Their next recorder testing day will be for the Yellow Belt on February 18, 19 and 20.
            Now is also a good time for students to wash their recorders. The bags can go through the washing machine, and the recorders can be washed with dish soap.

February 6 – Day A
                        Mr. Peterson   1:30-2:10
                        Ms. Early        2:20-3:00
February 7 – Day B
                        Mr. Davidson 1:30-2:10
                        Mr. Woodfield            2:20-3:00
February 8 – Day C
                        Ms. Gaskell    1:30-2:10
                        Ms. Hopkins  2:20-3:00

Terima Kasih,

Danielle Treacy
Singapore American School
Elementary Music Specialist
Singapore American School
Room: c207 Ext: 6288
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/sas.edu.sg/mstreacy/ 

Important Items for the Week of Nov. 26

• Next week the teachers in the IS will have a unique opportunity to learn from a reading specialist from New York. Teachers will be observing in classrooms to become experts themselves! While I am away for a short time, Mr. Bach and Mr. L 'Heureux will be teaching some lessons. Show them what a great group of learners you are!
• Friday is our field trip to Fantastic Mr. Fox. Please remember to bring a snack and a lunch. We will be returning to school after our regular lunch time and will eat our lunches brought from home in our classroom. Remember to wear your regular uniform!
• Wednesday is FREE DRESS!
• Thursday is Library day.
• Remember to bring your materials for MUSIC on Monday.

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your 4 day weekend!

From Stories to Essays

Before we can begin crafting our essays, students use a variety of strategies to "grow" ideas. Today they reviewed stories written at the beginning of the year, read them to partners, then asked each other questions like:

• What does this tell you about yourself?
• What does this make you realize?
• What did you want your audience to know about this?

These types of questions help us to get to the deeper meaning of our writing. Hopefully one of these ideas will progress into a thesis for an essay!

Alexa-Our Singer

Wow, Alexa!! Nice work! You are an amazing singer.

Character Development

In class, we have been learning about how to grow ideas about our characters based on evidence in the book and then determine how characters grow and change over time. We talk about the events that make our characters change. Here is an example:

In the beginning of Fourth Grade Rats, Suds was a caring, sweet boy who loved his mom. He always did what his mom said and was always kind to other kids. When he became a 4th grader, his best friend, Joey, tried to turn him into a 'rat'. Joey tried to make him push kids off of swings and take their snacks. One time Suds was about to push a 1st grader off of a swing, but the 1st grader got too scared and ran off. He was relieved.  He just couldn't bring himself to be a rat because he had integrity. Throughout the book, Suds notices that Joey gets the attention for all of the 'rat-like' things he does like letting a bee sting him. When Suds sees that Judy Billings, the girl of his dreams, likes Joey because he is a 'rat' Suds begins to question himself. Soon after, he practices becoming a 'rat' by messing up his room, letting spiders crawl on him, and telling his mom 'NO'. At first he feels good about it and is so excited to get Judy to like him, but after Judy turns his back on him, he realizes that he doesn't want to be a rat at all. At the end, he is relieved that he gets a second chance to go back to being his normal, kind self.

Music Test-November 29/Reminder for MOnday, Nov. 26

Don't forget to practice for your music test!! Also, bring your recorder and music book on Monday, Nov. 26!

Visiting Author

Rukhsana Khan will be visiting from November 26-December 7. Check out the library website for more information.

Book Leveling

We are getting quite good at finding 'just-right' books. However, it helps to check out books that are around your level to get a sense of what these types of books are like. Here are a few things that can help:

The library search engine can now search by levels. Click on 'Guided Reading Lists', then 'Fountas and Pinnell'. There are other great ways to search here so check them all out!

Check out the Scholastic Book Wizard for more help on book levels. Many books are listed, but not all.

Also keep in mind that these are not always 100% accurate. It's always best to rely on what you know to decide if a book is 'just-right' for YOU! Also know that you should be looking within a range of books. If you are a level 'P' you may also find books in 'O' and 'Q' that may be good for you. Again, use your judgment!

Hazel Ann-The Gaskell Crew's Cellist

This Week's Quote by Oliver Zemans

"If you think your teacher's tough, wait until you get a boss..."

~Bill Gates