Daily Dose Feb 2nd 2015

Hi Grade Four Friends,

We have several items that we need to discuss today.

1.      CLUBS 2015 have a new ONLINE sign-up system that goes live this Wednesday, Feb. 04. Your child will have a slip of paper in their backpacks tonight (Feb, 02) with more details regarding the new, ONLINE sign-up procedures.

2.      CAMPING TRIP MEETING tomorrow Tuesday, Feb, 3^rd at 03:00 at the picnic tables next to the elementary playground.

 3.      The INTERNATIONAL DAY food-supply receipts were collected. We received 4,800 THB in money from the class and 2,000 THB from NIS. The totally for all the supplies was 6,920 THB, so we over spent by a whopping 120 THB. We have to say a special thank you to Khun Op (Cindy and Sara’s mom) who was nice to contribute the remaining 120 THB that we needed to cover all of our costs in Grade Four. I have all of the receipts, and our moms wanted me to have these on hand for transparency.

 4.      MANGA HIGH – Grade 4 at NIS deserve a pat on the back this week. Mr. Derick and I are still in a state of shock after what we experienced this morning. Grade Four at NIS went from last place (500^th place) all the way to 9^th place in time to win an award for Manga High’s Asia competition. The students all worked together, and they fought their way to the very top. They have their sights set on first place. We have discussed doing something special if they can win all of Asia one month.

 We are currently enjoying a 30 day free-trial. We are hoping to buy an account for everyone in the class. This account will last one year. The cost will be 12 US dollars/student (450 THB) for grade four. Mr. Derick or Mr. Mark can use a credit card, or if a parent wants to offer a card, we can buy the account for Manga High. The price is based on 30 students total, so we need 100% participation to get the good price. Mr. Derick negotiated hard for weeks with the Manga High people to get the free-trial and a good price.

We have synchronized grade 4’s Manga High with the common Core standards that we are required to teach for WASC and the MAPS testing. Mr. Derick & I both feel like this is the best option for engaging our students in the abstract and stand-alone lessons that we teach for math. We can also use Manga High to further the students’ understanding of their inquiry units as well as differentiate lessons individually based on what each child has learned and what they still need to practice.