Happy Birthday Carson!

Carson, Happy Birthday to you!

Many many happy returns of the day!

Love,
Miss Chan

Cyber Wellness

Dear Children,

Today during assembly you all heard a very informative and important talk about behaving appropriately online. This extends to interactions on platforms such as whatsapp or SMS. Always be mindful about how you interact with others. Be gracious and kind.

==
Be a smart digital citizen, S.O.R.T. before you click!

STOP and think about whether what you are posting is factual, accurate or would have any implications on yourself or others.

OBSERVE what's happening around you. Do you really need to follow what everyone else is doing?

RESPOND responsibly. What goes online stays online.

TELL and report any abuse or inappropriate content to the relevant parties. You could inform your parents or myself if you experience or witness such a matter.
==

If you want to find out more about Cyber Wellness, you may go to this site www.MediaLiteracyCouncil.sg

Regards,
Miss Chan

Spirit of Caring

Dear all,

Now that we have moved back to our permanent classroom, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the girls who have been helping Ashley when she was on crutches.

A big thank you to Yan Bing, Jane, Levelle, Audryn, Lin Min, Sarah and Wan Cheng.


They really exhibit the spirit of caring and sincerity, never once complaining and always helping out of their own initiative. I am very heartened and proud to see that coming from all of you.

I think all of us can also learn from Ashley's resilience, how she managed school well and stayed cheerful despite her injury. =)

As for the rest of you, I would also like to commend you on how you helped out in one way or another, be it in the moving of the classroom yesterday or being understanding of the situation.

Keep up the good class spirit 5 Self-Discipline 6! 

Next up: Let us all work together to decorate and ready our classroom for Chinese New Year! Bring along your decorations, red packets and blu-tack before Friday.

Yours Sincerely,
Miss Chan

Word problems

Dear children,

Now that we are starting to do more word problems, please remember to bring your model drawing ruler with you daily. All model drawings should be done in pencil.

When doing word problems, here are a few things to look out for
- Have you highlighted or underlined the keywords in the question?
- Are your units consistent in your number statements?
- Did you remember to write your final statement?

Please remember to bring along your stapler (and staples) tomorrow for class.

Yours truly,
Miss Chan

School Health Visit

Dear Children,

Please be reminded to come in your PE attire tomorrow for your check up.

I know some of you are nervous about the immunisation injection, but please be assured that it is fine and not very painful (I've watched my P5 class go through it last year). The teachers will also be there with you.

This is the first week this year that you have to stay in school much later almost daily, have a good rest this weekend! 

Yours truly,
Miss Chan

Order of Operations Online Resource

Dear children,

I hope you were able to complete the tasks assigned to you in class the past two days. I will go through the word problems on Monday by getting some of you to present your work.

==

Now that we are learning about order of operations, I shall share this Math game with you.

Unlike the usual questions which asks you to solve, the answer is given and you have to fill in the question. There are many different possible answers! It requires you to think backwards and also revise your order of operations. The questions get tougher as you complete them. Challenge yourself!

http://mathplayground.com/order_of_operations.html



Learning can be fun too!

Yours Sincerely,
Miss Chan

Order of Operations

Dear all,

Do remember the rule for order of operations is:
1) Do the equation in the brackets first
2) Do multiplication / division next
3) Do addition / subtraction finally


From marking your work, I am happy to say that all of you have mastered the concept well and most did your checking carefully. I will bring in some unique and more challenging equations for you to test your understanding again next week. :)

My expectation for future work will not change, I require you to underline the step that you are solving first. This practice will help you to stay focused when faced with a long equation. 

==

Here are some photos taken during your group activity in class. Remember to always challenge yourselves!

 Congratulations to our fastest group!

Yours Sincerely,
Miss Chan

Happy Birthday Shihui!

Shihui, Happy Birthday to you!

Hoping that your day will be as special as you are!

Love,
Miss Chan

Sincerity & Charity Drive

Dear all,

Just as in the past years, nearing the Chinese New Year, our school would like to contribute to the local community by organizing a donation drive for the poor and needy of the society. This is a good time where we could share our joy, kindness and festive spirit with the underprivileged through making a meaningful donation for a good cause.

For the next 3 days, donations will be collected from the classes. Please put your donations into a red packet and seal it. A teacher will be coming by our classroom with a box for you to place your donations.

Remember, no gift too small. You do not have to contribute a lot, but just within your own means.

You may still be young, but you can play your part to make a difference in someone's life.

Regards,
Miss Chan

CNY Decorations

Dear all,

You may have noticed other classes starting to decorate their classrooms for Chinese New Year. For our class, we will only start to decorate when we move back to our permanent classroom. Meanwhile, please do keep any old decorations that you may have and can contribute to the class. Red packets will be very useful as well.

Do start to brainstorm for ideas for how to decorate the class! I will leave it up to all of you to do it.

Many thanks to Qi Feng for drawing these wonderful class labels for our board, I never get bored looking at it!

(Click to enlarge)

==

Here is the tidied wall with your reflections for the SS lesson yesterday. Good job following the instructions and completing your task on time. I observed that everyone was involved and posted a reply. However due to technical problems, I think some of your replies did not register.

http://wallwisher.com/wall/Japanese_Invasion_SS


You may read through your friend's replies now and we will discuss during our next SS lesson.


Yours truly,
Miss Chan

Friends Next Door

Dear children,

This is an announcement on behalf of Mdm Chen.

Please use this weekend to think about what you want to draw for the art competition with the theme "Friends next door".

You may bring along crayons or oil pastels on Monday to start on your artwork.

Regards,
Miss Chan

Enrichment

Dear Parents,

Enrichment commences next Mon.Please note 1 hour is allocated for Science and the other for English.
We will be having a Science test to select pupils who will be selected for E2K under Mrs Ho Chan Hui Lin.
During English lessons, we will be doing Drama, Philosophy , Creative Writing and Public Speaking to stretch them and give them a variation to the lessons in the classroom.

Wishing all a pleasant weekend ahead!

Social Studies Lesson

Dear children,

Follow the instructions below for your lesson. You have 15 minutes to complete your task.
==
1) Recap of our lessons so far
Go to the following site and read through the information on the events that led to the Fall of Singapore during World War 2.

Building of a Naval Base

2) Japan invades Singapore

Keep these few questions in mind while reading the next link:
·         Why did the British surrender to the Japanese?
·         What were the British’s mistakes?
·         What were the Japanese’s strengths?

Japanese Invasion

3) Exit Slip

Go to http://wallwisher.com/wall/Japanese_Invasion_SS

You may pick any one of the following points to write about:
- How do you feel after reading about the Japanese Invasion of Singapore? Why?
- What do you think are the reasons that the British chose to surrender Singapore to the Japanese?
- Would you surrender Singapore to the Japanese if you were Lieutenant-General Percival back in 1942? Why?

Double-click to post a note. Remember to include your name. Please only post once.

==

When you are done, you may read other links in the website to find out more. You are not allowed to go to other sites.

Regards,

Miss Chan

School Health Visit

Dear all,

Please note the following date for the school health visit. All pupils are required to come in their PE attire for their health check.

28 Jan 2013, Monday

Note: Pupils who are left-handed, please alert the nurse so that they will give you the injection in your right arm.

Regards,
Miss Chan

IMPORTANT: Mathematics Enrichment Lesson

Dear parents,

Today you would receive a letter stating the Enrichment schedule for your child starting next week.

I am sorry but due to unforeseen circumstances, the Mathematics Enrichment lesson will be re-scheduled to Tuesdays, and will commence on 22 Jan 2013.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused and I hope this notice reaches you fast enough before you make any arrangements. I will alert the class again tomorrow for those who are not able to access the blog.

Yours Sincerely,
Miss Chan

Save the Earth

Dear class,

Do remember to start collecting can tabs for recycling. The container can be found in the class cupboard.

We will also fix every Tuesday for newspaper collection. The science monitors will bundle them up during recess so please put it neatly at the back of the classroom. It would be good if you wish to bundle them at home before you bring it to school.

Together, we can do our part to save the environment!

Yours Sincerely,
Miss Chan

Leadership training programme

Dear parents,

Please note that there is a leadership training session this Thursday, 17 Jan, from 1.30pm to 2.45pm.

The pupils involved are:
- Class monitors
- English monitors
- Mathematics monitors
- Chinese monitors
- Science monitors
- PE captains
- ICT monitors
- Health Ambassadors
- NESS Champions

Please sign the consent form and return them by tomorrow. Thank you for your attention.

Regards,
Miss Chan

Broadbase starts tomorrow

Dear parents,

Please be informed that the Broadbase programme will start tomorrow. It will end at 2.30pm.

==

Enrichment lessons will start next week, currently this is the tentative schedule. I will issue a letter as soon as possible once it is finalised.

Monday - English and Science (Mrs Baldwin)
Tuesday - Mathematics (Ms Chan)
Friday - Higher Chinese (Mdm Koh / Mdm Chen)

Regards,
Miss Chan

Place and Value Mistakes

Note:
I've received feedback regarding problems with the roundedness riddle; Thank you for pointing it out, there is a typo. My apologies, this is the correct riddle:

The digits of B have a sum of 27.

Rounded to the nearest ten, B is 9 960.

Rounded to the nearest hundred, B becomes 10 000.

What is B?                

==

Dear class,

As mentioned in class today, here are the misconceptions from Practice 3.

1) If the question asks for what the digit "stands for" or what is the "value" of the digit, it is asking for the same thing. Give the answer in numerals.

2) When giving answer for place value, it must be accompanied with a 's'. For e.g. tens place; millions place; hundred thousands place.

I did go through them prior to assigning the homework as these are the common mistakes made by pupils. This is why it is important to pay attention in class. Please do your corrections carefully.

Yours truly,
Miss Chan

Common mistakes in daily work

Dear class,

These are some common mistakes I observed while marking your work, please do not commit them again.

1) Spelling errors
90 should be Ninety
40 should be Forty
14 should be Fourteen
50 should be Fifty

2) Missing the hyphen "-"
E.g. twenty-one, eighty-eight

3) forgetting the word "thousand" when spelling numerals in words.
E.g. 123 456 - One hundred and twenty-three THOUSAND, four hundred and fifty-six

Be careful in your work and write neatly. Do your best even if it is just homework.

It will benefit you in a long run when you take your work seriously.

Regards,
Miss Chan

Finalised timetable

Dear all,

I have received your final timetable for Term 1.

For those who read the blog in time, you may use this as a guide to pack your bags. I will provide everyone with the timetable on Monday.

Regards,
Miss Chan

Roundedness Riddle

Dear children,

Next Monday, we will be doing the sub-topic "Rounding off". So to start you off, recap your rounding off to tens and hundreds and work your brain a little with this riddle below!

==
The digits of B have a sum of 27.
Rounded to the nearest ten, B is 9 660.
Rounded to the nearest hundred, B becomes 10 000
What is B?
==

Regards,
Miss Chan

Comparing numbers

Dear all,

Hope you had fun during the class activity! Though it was messy when you first started, you all learnt quickly and managed to compare numbers within the whole class in 4 minutes (could have been a lot better!). This is also a test of your teamwork!

Congratulations to our winning group!

Yours truly,
Miss Chan

Lessons today

Dear class,

Mathematics

Today we learn about place values, and everyone had a chance to create and solve a Math riddle. Due to time constraints, we were not able to try solving Kangyan's riddle. With his consent, I shall post the riddle here.

You may ask him for the answer after solving! 

Social Studies

We start learning about the World War 2 today, starting with the events leading to the fall of Singapore. I am glad that most of you were engaged and had many questions. I will tell you more about what happened after the British discussed about building a naval base in Singapore.


A naval base (military port) is a military base, where warships and naval ships are deployed when they have no mission at sea or want to restock. Usually ships may also perform some minor repairs.

Did they build a naval base in the end? How useful was it in defending Singapore?

To keep you in suspense, I will only post the additional reading links after the lesson tomorrow.

Yours truly,
Miss Chan

Class Rules

Dear all,

Here are the class rules you came up with. We will be sticking with them till the end of the year, so make sure you know them well! I will refer to them very often. 

 

 

 

Yours Sincerely,
Miss Chan

HIPS in the news!

Our Chingay activity during the first week of school as mentioned in the post last Friday. If I am not wrong, this was published in the Saturday evening papers. Be proud!

Regards,
Miss Chan

Hello!

Dear Parents of SD6,

A Blessed New Year to you.
I have had the pleasure of teaching many of your children last year.
To those who are new, I am Mrs Helena Baldwin, the English & Science teacher this year.
I am also the Co-form teacher of this class.
I have given your children all the necessary details on how I am contactable.
The diary is another means of our communication. This year, the level and syllabuses are slighty
different from that of last year. We are still doing STELLAR which is now new in P5 but not new to the pupils as they have done it in P4.

The English lessons will comprise of Newspaper Articles which is a daily check in.
Philosophy for Children to develop critical thinking skills which I am trained in.
Drama in the English Classroom
STELLAR
Teacher Prepared worksheets and I will give them some project work as and when its appropriate.
The pupils have to use their vocabulary book daily when they come across new words.
I will be sending titles of good books for them to read as well. The children need to be exposed to a variety of genre.

I hope that we can work hand in hand to help them progress and bridge this gap between P4 & 5.

Regards,
Mrs B.

Grades

Dear all,

Just to add on, as this question was brought up in class today, the grading system in P5 is also different from P4. It will no longer be by bands.

This is your new grading system:

A* - 91 to 100
A - 75 to 90
B - 60 to 74
C - 50 to 59
D - 35 to 49
E - 20 to 34
U - 0 to 19

==

Remember, our class target for Term 1 Mathematics is have 100% at Grade B and above!

Regards,
Miss Chan

New Mathematics Exam Format

Parents, please note the change in Mathematics Examination format.

Dear all,

As I explained in class today, there is a big transition from P4 to P5 paper format. The P5 examination format will follow your PSLE format to prepare you for next year.

==

Paper 1 - 50 minutes
Booklet A - 15 MCQs (Shade in OAS)
Booklet B - 15 Short answer questions
Note for Paper 1: No calculators allowed

Paper 2 - 1 h 40 minutes
18 questions (Word problems)
Note for Paper 2: Calculators allowed

==

The key to Paper 1 is to be fast, yet accurate. I will be helping you train your speed through speed sums practices in class, and a mock test before your actual Term test. Meanwhile, do hone up your calculation skills especially multiplication.

For paper 2, I will be doing Process Thinking skills practices to help you prepare for the word problems. We will also focus on problem solving skills during our enrichment classes.

Yours Sincerely,
Miss Chan

Target Setting

Dear class,

Target Setting:
Please think carefully and seriously when setting your targets today. We must always aim high, at the same time we also set realistic goals for ourselves. Work towards your targets!

==
Sorry that I am unable to post a copy of the class timetable as promised as I am experiencing some technical difficulties with the photo uploading. Meanwhile please refer to your Math Journal exercise book and follow accordingly for this week before I print the finalised timetable for you next Monday.

As we start lessons in Term 1, I may not be able to update this blog daily due to time constraints and also depending on whether I have any news for you. As some of you noticed, you may choose to 'Follow the blog' using your e-mail or be a 'Follower' of the blog on the right hand side. This way, you do not have to keep checking the blog for updates.

==

Hurray~ I am pleased to announce that Mrs Helena Baldwin, your co-form teacher, is now a co-author of this blog. She will also be posting on this blog matters related to your English & Science.

Yours truly,
Miss Chan

Math Gym

Dear all,

The school has a Math Gym Programme targeted at helping P3 & 4 children who struggle with Mathematics gain interest through playing Math Games. The teacher-in-charge is asking the P5 for volunteers to guide and play the Math Games with the children during the USSR period in the mornings.

Day: Every Tuesday and Thursday

Time: 7 am to 7.25 am 

This will mean that you have to come to school earlier, so make sure to get your parents' consent. 

Please try to commit to the Programme if you do volunteer, and you will be awarded 1 hour of CIP every week for your efforts.

The best way to learn is to teach. This will surely benefit yourself as well, and in the process you will also help your juniors. Remember, no gift too small!

==

Meanwhile, prepare yourself as we start our lessons proper tomorrow. I will tell you more about the changes in P5 Mathematics and what to expect. 

Remember what Mrs Baldwin and myself have reminded you to bring to school. I will not post them here as I believe you should had written them down into your exercise book/notebook as per my instructions. You must be responsible for your own learning!

Yours Truly, 

Miss Chan

No Gift Too Small

Dear children,

Our school theme for the year is No Gift Too Small.

Video on The Giving Tree:

The concept of giving is revealed as the tree gives to the boy throughout their journey of life. In spite of receiving nothing in return, the simple act of giving to the one that she loves makes the tree happy.

Giving should be from the heart; unconditional. And what you get in return, is joy.

 

Your homework for this weekend is to write a simple reflection. Think about what we discussed in class. What does the school theme mean to you?

 Yours Sincerely,
Miss Chan

Chingay 2013

Dear all,

Today was an exciting day for the children as the school participates in this year's Chingay parade, together with the PA. The theme for this year's Chingay is Fire in Snow.

The children were given a talk on calligraphy, followed by a hands on session in the classroom where they wrote the words 正气. After that the entire school gathered in the parade square to have a mass photo taken with their own masterpiece.

All of you were serious and did a great job with your writing. Despite the hot weather, all of you followed instructions well and waited patiently during the photo-taking. Well done!

The pieces by the children will be used during the parade, so if you are watching the parade this year, look out for our school's opera performers and your calligraphy pieces!

 

Hope you all had fun!

Yours truly,

Miss Chan

Updating of details & School health visit

Dear parents,

Please get ready your child's health booklet with the immunization certificate for the school health visit. The first page of the information booklet is a medical information form for parents to fill up in blue/black ink. Please tick the relevant box on the consent form.

Contact details are also given for you to update if there are any changes in your contact details (phone number, address etc). Please make the change in red/blue ink. This is to enable the school to easily contact you in times of emergency.

==

Dear children,

I am pleased with our progress in coming up with our class rules and ideas for the notice board. A big thank you to the volunteers who offered to help design the board. I am looking forward to the final product of our combined efforts. Do think of a good class motto to share tomorrow.

Regards,
Miss Chan

First day of school

Dear children,

 
It was nice meeting all of you today. Some of you may have known me previously, for the rest of you, it is the first time you met me. I will be relaying my expectations and routines over the next few days.

In Term 1 Week 0, we will be having HIPS Hurray. As mentioned in class today, there will be no lessons this week as we get to know each other and prepare our classroom for the year ahead.

Tomorrow, please come in your PE attire for your team building games.

For now, remember to bring your thermometer for temperature taking, a file to contain slips received, newspapers for the Chingay activity, a new exercise book and an English story book for USSR.

A gentle reminder to return both your own and your parent's survey slips. Take time to fill in your survey slips with questions and concerns, or even just tell me about yourself! =)

==

Dear Parents,

Please note that a parent's letter is given out today to introduce myself and to provide my personal contact number. Do sign and kindly takes some time to fill in the survey form to help me better understand your needs and concerns. Thank you for your support.

==

Yours sincerely,
Miss Chan

Welcome 2013

Dear parents and children,

A very warm welcome to each and everyone to the class blog of 5 Self Discipline 6 for 2013. I am delighted to be appointed as the form teacher of your class. To me, every child is special and full of potential; and character is just as important as academics. I hope each and every child will leave my class this year with positive results and values. =)

I will be posting important notices and reminders on this class blog for children with internet assess to have an additional platform to learn and communicate with me. Do note that it is not compulsory for students to assess the blog.

I believe in working closely with the parents as all of you have the most impact on your child. Hence another purpose of having this blog is to keep parents in the loop about class matters and happenings in the school. You may also post feedback or queries in the comments link found at the bottom of each post, and I will reply as soon as possible.

Alternatively, you can contact me at chan_xiao_yan@moe.edu.sg or at my personal contact number which will be provided via a letter soon. I seek your kind understanding that my personal contact number is purely for parents to keep in touch and not for the children.

Finally, please note that this class blog is not a platform for arguments or any profanities. I hope to create a supportive tone of environment; hence if any comments are deemed unsuitable, it will be filtered.

Thank you for your time in reading my first post; Happy New Year and may your 2013 be a fulfilling and wonderful year!

Yours truly,
Miss Chan