November 17, 2008
Dear parents,
I hope you and your children have been enjoying the spectacular weather together. Upper Primary had a wonderful Sports Day last Tuesday on our new field at Tai Tam. Our Physical Education teachers organized a very active day for us all. Our thanks to the PFO and the Clifford Chiu family for their significant contributions to the building of our Tai Tam field. Our students will benefit for years to come from this great facility.
Our third grade PE Family Night on Wednesday had around 70 parents and students attended, the highest number of participants this fall. Parents and their children got to experience Project Adventure activities together. Let's see if 5th grade families can top that this Wednesday evening at their PE night.
This week offers a quieter activity: reading! Finally the PFO Book Fair is here! All week long our students and those of Lower Primary will be able to purchase a wide range of books. Parent volunteers and our library staff have been preparing for this special week. Teachers will be letting you know your children's class schedule for buying books. Before sending money to school with your children, please help them find a way to keep it in a safe place so it doesn't get lost. We thank PFO volunteers for making this Book Fair possible.
Christmas decorations are already going up around town! The holiday season is upon us. At school, we will be having Thanksgiving, holiday feasts, and special musical performances. Please refer to the schedule in the "Announcement" section.
In January we will be having student visitors from Hangzhou at our school. Fifth grade families are invited to be hosts and house our guests and be part of this exchange program. More information is in this newsletter and letters to fifth grade families were sent home last Friday.
As you look ahead on the calendar, please remember that Friday, November 28, teachers will have a professional development day (no classes for students). Many of our families will take advantage of this and celebrate American Thanksgiving.
Our Parent Advisory Group meets this Wednesday. If you have any questions or concerns that can appropriately be addressed through this group, please contact our parent representatives.
Wishing you a good week,
Dr. Bruce Kelsh
Upper Primary Principal
ANNOUNCEMENTS
UP Library will host PFO Book Fair from 17th to 21st Nov.2008. We'll have limited seats for students who stay in the library after school for reading, doing homework and practice typing during this period of time. We're sorry for the inconvenience and we hope that you'll enjoy the book fair!
Invitation to Gr. 5 Parents as host families to visiting students from Hangzhou, China
On January 19 through 23, 2009, we will have approximately 25 Mandarin-speaking students coming from Hangzhou Da Guan Primary School of Hangzhou, China. As part of this student exchange, we need homes for these students, aged 11-12 (Grade 5-6). We have been running this Hangzhou program with great success for a number of years and would like to build upon this student exchange program by offering this experience to you and your child.
If you have any further questions, please contact Sharon Zhou by email: szhou@hkis.edu.hk or by phone: 2812-5353.
Please return the reply slip by November 28th to the Upper Primary 4/F office, if you are interested in hosting a child.
Please click here for reply slip and visiting schedule.
Thanksgiving and Holiday Feasts in Upper Primary
Gr. 3 Thanksgiving Feast - Tuesday Nov 25 at 11:00am
Gr. 4 Thanksgiving Feast - Thursday Nov 27 at 12:00 noon
Gr. 3/4 Holiday Feast - Friday, Dec. 12 11:45-12:45 pm
Gr. 5A Holiday Feast - Wednesday, Dec 3 at 12:15 pm
Gr. 5B Holiday Feast - Friday Dec., 5 at 11.20 am
Gr. 5C Holiday Feast - Thursday, Dec 4 at 12:00 noon
Parent Advisory Group (PAG)
The PAG acts as a focus group and provides a communication link for UP parents to raise questions or issues with the Administration. The PAG is not a decision making group but serves to help the school focus on topics that are important to parents. The group meets once a month and is representative of our larger UP parent community. The next PAG meeting is scheduled on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008, please contact parents who represent your grade level with questions or concerns you would like raised.
| PAG Member (click to email) |
Phone |
Grade |
|
|
2858-6113
2873-2732
2592-7909
2812-1545
2592-9444
2849-2690 |
3
3
3 of 3/4
3 of 3/4
4
4 |
| Sarah Merrill Mowat |
2812-2302 |
4 |
|
|
2849-5072 |
4 |
| Abbi Delessio |
2813-8773 |
5 |
| Lily Lew |
2549-4696 |
5 |
|
|
2801-6561
2833-3562 |
5 |
| Anna Tan |
2530-1909 |
5 |
Curriculum/Counseling Updates
Read, Read, Read!
At Upper Primary we continue to provide a Balanced Literacy approach to our reading instruction. This means that a typical reading workshop of about seventy minutes can have the following components: a mini lesson and/or shared reading (focused instruction), interactive read aloud with ongoing turning and talking to a partner (helps deepen students thinking), independent reading and group or individual instruction. We see increased engagement and enjoyment when students read independently. This is the result of teachers guiding students to choose appropriate books for greater success and benefit. All classroom libraries received additional titles of good literature for greater variety and choice.
What does research show?
There is convincing evidence (Richard Allington, 2002) that lots of easy or appropriate level books are critical to reading development and creating a positive attitude towards reading. Enormous quantities of successful reading help students become independent and proficient readers.
If we read texts that are within our control, we can apply learned strategies to meet challenges with our comprehension and fluency. If the text is too hard, this process breaks down, comprehension is lost and learning is compromised. Difficult tasks can produce off-task behaviors and negative attitudes.
When choosing books, what to look for when determining text difficulty?
· Print and text feature (size, clarity, layout, illustrations, graphic features etc.)
· Vocabulary (are there more than 3-5 words per page that are not understood?)
· Sentence complexity ( longer sentences with embedded clauses are more difficult to read than shorter sentences)
· Text structures (how information is organized and presented in a text. Levels will range from chronologically organized to complex plots that may involve stories within stories)
· Predictability of story
· Content and context (What knowledge level is needed to process the content?)
· Language and literary features ( complexity/sophistication of language e.g. figurative language, long dialogues)
· Themes and Ideas (student can decode the words and understand general ideas – but may still not be suitable if the themes or content are too mature)
Undoubtedly, reading is a significant contributor to academic success. A report involving fourth graders (Pinnell, Pikulski and Wixen, 1995) revealed that students who read fluently and reported reading at home also scored higher on standardized reading achievement tests.
Also, the single most important thing you can do to enhance your children's knowledge of words is to lure your child into lots and lots of reading. If children read a diverse range of books, they will encounter more vocabulary relevant to different genre.
Please help your child find time to read each day.
Sungeeta Singh, Upper Primary Reading Chairperson
Grade Level Parent PE Nights
7:00 - 8:00 pm UP Gym
Gr. 5 - Nov. 19th, Wed (rescheduled)
Upper Primary 5th Grade Band - Debut Performance
Date : Wednesday, December 3rd 2008 from 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Venue : Upper Primary Gym
You are invited to join us for the Upper Primary 5th Grade Band Debut Performance to be held on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008. Students will be demonstrating the music learned in class plus some Christmas melodies. Guest artists will be the MS Jazz Band 1. Venue - the Upper Primary Gymnasium, at 7:00pm. This is a delightful evening not to be missed! Everyone welcome!
HKIS Christmas Choir Concert - "Let Heaven and Nature Sing"
Date : Tuesday, December 9, 2008, 7:00 - 8:00pm
Venue : Church of All Nations
You are invited to join us for the HKIS Christmas Choir Concert, "Let Heaven and Nature Sing" on Tuesday, December 9th at the Church of All Nations. The concert starts at 7:00 pm and concludes at 8:00 pm.
During the evening, our Upper Primary Choir students will perform some well known Christmas selections. The program will also feature selections performed by a mass choir including students from the UP, MS and HS. For those of you who love to sing, we have also included some audience and choir, Christmas Carol sing-a-longs in the program.
Parent Faculty Meeting
The next Parent Faculty Association Meeting will take place on
Tuesday, November 18th at 8:15am in the High School Faculty Lounge.
All are welcome to attend.
Thank you,
Adriana Dunn, PFO Recording Secretary
PFO Primary Book Fair
November 17-21 (UP Library)
Attention, book lovers!
Thousands of Scholastic and Klutz books will be on sale, as well as books from outside vendors Hong Kong Book Centre, Dymocks, P3 Publishing and Usborne. This year we are also proud to feature a limited selection of Chinese and bilingual books from King Horn. Each class will have a scheduled visit to the Book Fair and parents are welcome anytime - shop with your child or on your own and start your Christmas shopping here!
If you are interested in volunteering during the Book Fair, please contact Charleen Meisenheimer at Mizefamily@netvigator.com.
Click here for details.
PFO Chinese New Year Shirts
To celebrate the "Year of the Ox" in the Chinese New Year, the HKIS-PFO is proud to offer our commemorative shirts & sweatshirts once again. The shirts & sweatshirts feature a specially designed logo by High School Student Larissa Ho. Sample sweatshirt sizes are available to try at the offices of Lower Primary & Upper Primary Schools. For further information & order forms, please see the PFO link in Dragonnet or directly at http://dnet.hkis.edu.hk/pfo/ . Please note the deadline for order submission is November 24.
Please click here for more information.
Upper Primary Calendar Upper Primary events are available to parents via our online calendar. Click here to view the calendar or go to the Upper Primary Home Page and select "Online Calendar".
Upper Primary Dragon's Gazette - November Edition
Click here to read the November edition of the Dragon's Gazette, the Upper Primary magazine published by students for students!
Upper Primary Art Newsletter
Please click here to read the Upper Primary October Art Newsletter.
Upper Primary Counseling Services Update
Please read Upper Primary Counselor's monthly updates and more on
|
Nov. 17-21
LP/UP PFO Book Fair
(UP Library)
Nov. 19
Day 6
PAG Meeting
Gr. 5 PE Night
(7:00 pm UP Gym)
Nov. 25
Day 4
Gr. 3 Thanksgiving Feast
Nov. 27
Day 6
Thanksgiving Chapel
Gr. 4 Thanksgiving Feast
Nov. 28
Professional Development Day
(no school)
Dec. 3
5th Grade Band - Debut Performance
(7:00pm UP Gym)
Dec. 9
HKIS Christmas Choir Concert
(7:00pm CAN)
Dec. 12
All Strings Concert
(7:00pm MS Gym)
GENERAL
Until 4:00 PM
2812-5000
BUS SITUATIONS
School Hours:
Kenny Chu 2812-5419
After school until 6pm:
Kenny Chu 6086-1143 |