Elementary and Middle School Pudong Express

We've Moved!!

I have moved the blog to a new location.

Please go to http://pudongesprincipal.saschinaonline.org/ for the elementary school blog!

Please go to http://pudongmsprincipal.saschinaonline.org/ for the middle school blog!

Thank you!!

Andy

ERB testing coming up!

Parents:

ERB testing is coming up in April and we are sending out information in advance as we feel it is important for parents to be informed about our student assessment methods and our program assessment methods.  ERB tests do both for us in that we use the results to inform our instruction with individual students and we use the results to evaluate our writing programs at SAS.

What is the ERB Test?

 

- It is a tool that evaluates your child’s writing skills.

 

-Evaluates skills in six different areas:

1. Overall Development:  how well the writer communicates with the reader, shows awareness of the audience and purpose for writing, and writes in the appropriate mode of discourse.

2. Organization:  the writer’s ability to choose a focus, develop a logical plan of organization, and maintain coherence throughout the paper.

3. Support:  the use of appropriate reasons, details, and examples to enhance the effect and/or support the generalizations and conclusion of the piece.

4. Sentence Fluency: Completeness, correctness, and variety or sophistication of sentences.

5. Word Choice:  correct usage, specific vocabulary, freshness and vividness of language.

6. Mechanics:  the correct and effective use of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing.

Schedule

-   Students take the assessment over two consecutive days for about an hour each day.

-       Students: Think about the prompt, Write, Revise, And produce a final response to the prompt

-       Final drafts are sent to North Carolina for scoring.

-      We hope to have the results back by mid-May.

Mode of Discourse

-     Descriptive Writing: Descriptive writing portrays people, places, things, moments and theories with enough vivid detail to help the reader create a mental picture of what is being written about.

 

 

 

 

Writing Prompts  (these are samples from previous years)

 

• Describe a person who is or has been important to you. How has this person been important?
• Write a story about what it would be like to be your favorite animal. It could be an animal you have had as a pet, or it could be an animal you have only seen in a zoo or read about.
• Think about something you own that is important to you and that was not bought in a store. In your composition, describe what the item is and why it is important to you.
• Your school is starting some new after-school clubs and has asked you and your classmates for suggestions. Write a composition about one club you would like the school to offer and why you think it would be good for the school.
• Scientists discover potential new cures for disease every day. When they are developing medicines, they need to have some way to test whether or not the medicine will work for humans. For years, scientists have tested drugs by using them in various ways on animals. Unfortunately, as a result of making sure a substance is safe and effective for humans, many animals are injured or die. How do you think these situations should be handled? On the one hand, it is bad to make animals suffer, but on the other hand, scientists need to conduct these experiments to show that the medicines people use are safe and effective. Take a position on this topic and write an essay explaining why you feel the way you do about it.

 

How are the papers scored?

 

The papers will be scored on: Ideas/Content, Organization, Support, Voice, Sentence Structure, Word Choice, Conventions/Mechanics.

 

Ideas/Content

As you begin your paper you generate ideas.  Your ideas and content are the reasons for writing a paper.  Every paper should convey a message and be easy to follow. Some thoughts to get you going:

What is my message and is it focused and clear?
Did I include important details relevant to my topic?
Did the reader learn something new?
Is my paper interesting and easy to understand?

Organization

Organizing your ideas helps a reader move through your paper in a meaningful way. Here are some things to keep in mind as you write your paper:

Does my beginning hook my reader?
Is my paper easy to follow? Did I choose the best way to organize my story?
Do my ideas link to a main message?
Do I have a strong conclusion that wraps up the story?

Voice

Your voice is what gives your writing personality, flavor and style.

Questions to think about as you write your paper:

Can you tell I am enthusiastic about my topic?
Does this writing sound like me?
How do I want my readers to feel?
Will my story hold readers' attention? Will they want to hear more?

Sentence Fluency

Fluent writing has rhythm.  Sentences vary in length and structure.  It is easy and pleasurable to read aloud. It is important to think about:

Is my story easy to read?
Do my sentences begin in different ways?
Did I use some long and some short sentences?
Does my paper sound smooth as I read it aloud?

Word Choice

The specific words that you choose create images, capture a reader's attention and make your story memorable.

Look at your paper and decide:

Have I used some strong verbs or colorful phrases that grab my reader?
Have I chosen the most precise word?
Have I used any unique words?
Did I repeat common words too many times?

Conventions/Mechanics

You've finished your first draft.  Now it is time to start editing for conventions.  These include spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitalization and paragraphing.  Proper use of conventions make your story easy for others to read.

To begin editing ask yourself:

Did I leave spaces between words and sentences?
Did I use a title?
Did I use correct punctuation?
Did I use capital letters in the right places?
Have I proofread for correct spelling and grammar?
Have I indented any new paragraphs?

Getting Started

The Writing Process

Writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. It is known as a recursive process. While you are revising, you might have to return to the prewriting step to develop and expand your ideas.
 Prewriting

1. Prewriting is anything you do before you write a draft of your document. It includes thinking, taking notes, talking to others, brainstorming, outlining, and gathering information (e.g., interviewing people, researching in the library, assessing data). Students taking the ERB should first do some prewriting before starting their story.
    
2. Although prewriting is the first activity you engage in, generating ideas is an activity that occurs throughout the writing process.

Drafting 

1. Drafting occurs when you put your ideas into sentences and paragraphs. Here you concentrate upon explaining and supporting your ideas fully. Here you also begin to connect your ideas. Regardless of how much thinking and planning you do, the process of putting your ideas in words changes them; often the very words you select evoke additional ideas or implications.
    
2. Don't pay attention to such things as spelling at this stage.
    
3. This draft tends to be writer-centered: it is you telling yourself what you know and think about the topic.

Revising 

1. Revision is the key to effective documents. Here you think more deeply about your readers' needs and expectations. The document becomes reader-centered. How much support will each idea need to convince your readers? Which terms should be defined for these particular readers? Is your organization effective? Do readers need to know X before they can understand Y?
    
2. At this stage you also refine your prose, making each sentence as concise and accurate as possible. Make connections between ideas explicit and clear.

Editing 

1. Check for such things as grammar, mechanics, and spelling. The last thing you should do before printing your document is to spell check it.
    
2. Don't edit your writing until the other steps in the writing process are complete.

Technorati Tags: ERB Testing, Writing assessment, SAS, Shanghai American School Pudong, Puudong Elementary

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William Lindesay, Great Wall Historian to Visit!

Dear All,

The fourth grade would like to invite you to a special presentation by William Lindesay of WildWall Fame. William is a Great Wall historian and explorer. He leads hiking trips to remote locations of the Great Wall and is heading an effort to encourage the Chinese government to restore the Great Wall.

William will present a slide show and host a discussion to interested parents and staff on March 12 from 3:05-4:30. William has written many articles and published books that will be on sale following this presentation.

I would like to personally encourage your attendance. His photographs are incredible and he is an animated and entertaining speaker. You may visit his websites at: www.wildwall.com or www.2walls.org


Thank You
Sacha McVean
Elementary Vice Principal
SAS Pudong

------------------------------------
Photo taken From http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/greatwallofchina/

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Weekly News for March 5th!

Middle School Principal Appointment Announced!

(taken from ParentTalk)

Currently the high school assistant principal at Taipei American School, Cathy Jo (C. J.) Maloney has been appointed middle school principal for the Pudong campus when school year 2007-2008 begins in August. Superintendent Dr. Dennis Larkin is enthusiastic about the appointment. “C.J. will bring a breadth of secondary school experience to SAS”, Larkin wrote in an e-mail to staff. “Her experience in high school and her leadership qualities will provide a sound basis for continuity in our middle and high school programs as they develop in the next few years”, Larkin wrote.

“Through the interview and reference process, Maloney emerged as well prepared for her leadership positions and well-versed in transformational leadership qualities. “She is clearly committed to collaborative planning, to the essential components of interdisciplinary teaming in middle level education, and to a well-rounded extra- curricular program. She is fully committed to the components of exemplary middle school programming”. Before moving to Taipei, C.J. was assistant principal at the Groton Dunstable Regional High School, Director of Student Services and a special Education teacher at Nashua Senior High School, both schools in the greater-Boston area. She’s worked a total of 13 years in education, the last six as an administrator.

Maloney holds a Masters degree in educational administration from Cambridge College and a Bachelor of Science degree in special education from Keene State College. Larkin “looks forward to C.J.’s collaborative leadership in our middle school next year and to working with her as a member of our administrative team. We are fortunate to have C. J. Maloney join our leadership team; please join me in welcoming her to our SAS community”.

5^th Grade Blog!
You might want to head over to our 5th grade blogs. Check out Mrs. Power’s blog and read some of the 5th grade blogs she has listed under her Blogroll. Tomorrow another class of 5th graders will upload their first podcasts to their blogs: Some poems they’ve remixed..so be looking for those as well.

Guest Author Week Ahead!

This next week at Pudong the classrooms and our auditorium are going to be well used! In the elementary Kathryn Lasky, Minfong Ho and Eric Kimmel will both be visiting our students, with opportunities for our kids to learn and interact with established, professional and successful children’s authors. My experience with programs like this are always positive as the students are motivated to write and to read more as they personalize the reading/writing process.

I want to offer special thanks to Peggy Knudson and Colleen Williams, our intrepid and amazing library/media specialists. Both ladies in collaboration with their colleagues on the Puxi campus have made these classroom visits possible. Not only is this an example of the opportunities that our one school, two campuses program brings (2 authors at each divisional level), but also the creativity and curricular diversity that each of our library media specialists at SAS brings to the table.  Congratulations in advance to all of the educational specialists involved! 

As always you can contact the librarian, Peggy.Knudson@saschina.org, tel: 6221-1445 ext 3650 for further information.

Three Authors to Visit SAS Pudong March 8 & 9

 Preparations are under way for visits from American authors Eric Kimmel, Kathryn Lasky, and Minfong Ho.

Eric Kimmel trained to be an elementary school teacher, but became a storyteller instead. He credits his Ukrainian grandmother for instilling in him a love for story telling. His more than 50 books in print are primarily based on folk tales from around the world.

Including Japan, Africa, Russia and the Aztec Indians of South American. His stories include two from China: Ten Suns and The Rooster's Antlers: A Story of the Chinese Zodiac. Mr. Kimmel will be visiting grades PreK – 5. 

Kathryn Lasky  is the author of the current best selling series, Guardians of Ga’Hoole. She has also written several books for the Dear America and Royal Diaries series. In 1984 Ms. Lasky received the Newbery Honor award for Sugaring Time. Christopher Knight, Ms. Lasky’s husband, is a photographer for several of her nonficiton books. Christopher will join her presentations at SAS. You can learn more about Kathryn Lasky at http://www.kathrynlasky.com. Ms. Lasky will give a presentation to grade 6 and will visit grades PreK – 5.

Minfong Ho is an award-winning Chinese American writer. Her works frequently deal with the lives of people living in poverty in Southeast Asian countries. The 6^th grade Language Arts classes read The Clay Marble, which is about a 12 year-old girl in a refugee camp in war-torn Cambodia. Minfong Ho will present to the entire middle school and will then work with all MS students in smaller groups.

Don’t forget our Podcasts!

I did something a little different for the elementary podcast and we are getting some great press on the web! Wow!! Check it out here!

As usual, the middle school kids put together a great podcast! Check it out here!

 

On the Pudong Campus ...

March 5, Korean Liaison Coffee Morning will start at

12 noon on Monday at Puxiang, 1600 Century Ave.

March 8, PTSA Meeting is scheduled from

8:30 to 10

 am in the Lecture Hall L101.

March 8-9, Visiting Authors will be on the Pudong Campus.

March 9, Korean Parents’ Workshop will be held in the

Mandarin
City clubhouse 2F from

1 to

4 pm.

March 9, European Coffee Talk is set for

10 am at

 Cordula Krusemann’s house, Tomson Villas S35 (near the big

 playground). RSVP needed: Tel. 5833-2922, mobile: 1381-

7811-822 for email: kruesmann_gilch@hotmail.com

 March 17, Shamrockin’ Vegas Style, a PTSA fundraising event, is set from

6:30 pm to

12:30 am in the

 Vizcaya Club.

April 6-7, Annie Junior, this

Pudong Middle School

Musical will be performed at

5 pm on Friday afternoon

 and Saturday 6 pm. Tickets will be on sale soon. Watch

for information in the upcoming issues of ParentTalk.

 

 

 

Some Things Just Seem Crazy at the Time

“We”- that’s the royal “We”- do weekly podcasts at my school.  I started doing them this year from our podcast central sound room (my office) moved to a larger space, as the crowd around the microphone was uncomfortable in my small office, we invited a couple of kids to participate, and poof…. All of a sudden all the adults were relegated to the back of the stage as the kids started creating our weekly podcasts with quality content.

This last Thursday, my creative and focused technology coordinator, Jeff Utecht,  came to me and said that he did not have time to get to classrooms to assist the 5th grade kids in the organizational aspects of the podcasts this week.  He then handed me his iPod and a voice recorder and to me to just record the podcast and just pass it off to him in the afternoon when we met for a meeting at a location in downtown Shanghai. 

COMMON SENSE would tell you that I would organize my thoughts, write a few notes, and get my calendar out to “talk to my audience” about my views on the school operations, our calendar of events and a few tips or tricks about working with the school. All good, but just a retread of ideas we have done before.  Instead, I got this crazy idea that I would just stroll around and talk to teachers and students as I did my usual “lap” around the school.  The podcast turned out to be a very lengthy 13+ minutes and Jeff cut out a fair amount of stuff (sorry to the teachers and students who ended up on the cutting room floor), but the result was a light hearted, fun and I think repeatable audio trip around the school.  Thanks to Jeff, who took the time to paste together the sound files with some fun background music, and thanks to the teachers and students who participated in – impromptu- this podcast!  It was a crazy idea that just seemed to work. 

Our podcast page is a pretty popular place these days.  According to our clustr map we have had over 4100 hits on this page this year!  Ok, probably 20 or more are just me, as I check it frequently, make sure all things are working ok, and the kids are using the page appropriately (with Mr. U’s guidance), but even if we subtract 3000 hits we are doing pretty darn well!    A few things a that Jeff has done to make the page a fun place to visit beyond our podcasts are a free download of the week from music artists sharing their work on the web.  Frequently we get note back from them thank us for sharing their songs.  Our recent principal coffee has been podcast and we will do it again later this next month.  Hopefully I can get our PTSA to start using this medium to share their information out to our community as well.  All in all, it is easy, it is fun and I think it has help change the shape of what we are doing in our classrooms as well.

It seems that more than just our school community is listening in as well. David Warlick wrote about us on his blog "2 cents worth" yesterday! Some of you from Pudong may remember David from his recent evening presentation!

He wrote:

I think that we need to find new ways of assessing the success of our education endeavors, methods that are more relevant to a changing market place, changing customers, and a rapidly changing information landscape.  I found a perfect example this morning when I ran across a podcast program from the Pudong Campus of the Shanghai American School.  One of their tech people, Mr. Torris simply walked into grade 5 classrooms and started interviewing teachers and kids about what they were learning.

What’s different here is that rather than relying on numbers that describe learners as products, the community is almost literally invited into the classrooms to learn what and how their children are learning and what they are doing with it.  This is what I would like to have known about my children’s schools.  I’d like to have been part of it — not just an outside inspector.

Thanks David for the nod and the compliment of calling me a "tech person".  What a compliment!!

13 posts, 1125 page views and NOW 16 posts!

13 posts, 1125 page views...


A note from my friend and blog helper in Minnesota giving me some information about my page hits for my school blog.  I have been participating in the 100 Principals/ 100 Blog project, and Scott had me all set up and running like the wind in a short few days.  I have since added this blog to give me someplace to personally run with some space to do my own reflections, and less about what is going on in the classrooms and playgrounds.

So... why am I so interested in my school blog stats?  Frankly it was common sense for me to think that given the opportunity to EASILY post information that is EASILY found and read by a community members would be a popular mode of communication.  Skeptics were common, and frankly just a bit annoying but.... 13 posts and 1125 views means that a lot parents are getting their information from this blog!  Thank you to all of you for checking this blog out and reading about our school!

What's Ahead?
I just looked at the calendar and exclaimed to my wife that there is only 4 WEEKS till spring vacation!?!  That also means 4 weeks till the end of the quarter and then we head into the last quarter of the school year.

We do have a lot of work ahead of us though, with 5th graders transitioning to Middle School, our spring enrollment drive, and the usual course of planning for the next school year.  This is the time of year where we live in one academic year while planning for the next.  Some of the events you can look for in the next 6 weeks are:

• Middle School China Alive Parent Information Sessions
• Middle School Curriculum and Program Information Sessions
• Middle School  Principal's Coffees
• Elementary School  Principal's Coffees
• Elementary and Middle School Visiting Authors (see below)
• Our Middle School Musical (see below)
• Elementary Soccer Days
• ERB Testing
• Spring Conferences for all students
• The continuation of CISSA Badminton, Volleyball, Track...

-------------------------------------

Upcoming events on Pudong Campus

• March 8, PTSA Meeting, will be at the Lecture Hall
  L101 from 8:30 to 10 am. 
•  March 9, European Coffee Talk, time and place TBD.
• March 15, PTSA General Coffee Talk, time and place TBD.
• March 17, Shamrockin’ Vegas Style,
  a PTSA fundraising event, is scheduled from 6:30 pm - 12:30 am in the Vizcaya Club. It’s sponsored by the Pudong PTSA.
• April 6-7, Annie Junior, this Pudong Middle School
  Musical will be performed at 5 pm on Friday afternoon and Saturday 6 pm.

More news is always available at the last issue of ParentTalk!

Also... check out the 2007-2008 Academic Year Calendar!

Thank You David Warlick!
David did a great job with our faculty and from what I hear his parent event was terrific as well. I am sorry I missed it, but was enjoying the immigration lines and baggage claim at our own Pudong airport and looking at my watch. I planned on attending, but alas no luck!

You may have found some interest in what David was saying. You can find his blog 2 cents worth on the web and his website DavidWarlick.com is also a great place to learn about digital literacy.

GREAT INTERACTIVE MAP OF SHANGHAI!
I found this on the web while reading my blogs during the holiday! 

Check it out here:
http://www.smartshanghai.com/maps/smsh_map.php

Technorati Tags: Shanghai American School, Elementary and Middle School Pudong Express, Interactive Map of Shanghai, Upcoming Events for Pudong, redefining literacy

Let's celebrate the Lantern Festival with a ladies' lunch- PTSA Announcement

Xi Nian Kuai Le!   Happy New Year, Everyone!

Let's celebrate the Lantern
Festival with a ladies' lunch.

Friday, March 2, 2007
12:00
Noon

at the
The Radisson Hotel Pudong
1199 Ying Chun Lu   (near
Century Park)
Phone: 5130-0000
www.radisson.com/shanghaicn_pudong

Cost: 128rmb  for
buffet lunch, including 2 drinks

If you plan to attend, please email
Shelly:   aschkenase@hotmail.com

Hope you can join us!!


Your Pudong PTSA Board & Chinese Liaisons
Mery, Pinky, Shelly,
Christin, Kimberly, InYoung, Debbie, Helen & Evelyn
Li Bing and Chan Hong
Jin

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Shamrockin'...Vegas Style, SAS Pudong's auction and casino night, is coming u

Dear Parents,

Shamrockin'...Vegas Style, SAS Pudong's auction and casino night, is coming up on Saturday, March 17th.   Invitations went home with the youngest child on Friday, February 9th.  If you did not receive an invitation, please contact Kimberly Dinh immediately.  She can be reached at 5030-6432 or Kimberly_dinh@hotmail.com.

You don't want to miss this exciting evening which will include a silent auction, live auction, raffles, casino games, free-flow cocktails, cuisine with an Irish flair and dancing.  All proceeds will benefit:  Habitat for Humanity, Roots and Shoots, Project Integration, Li Ming Migrant School and SAS Pudong PTSA events.

Capacity is limited so please book early.  Reservation forms can be found in the ES/MS/HS offices.  Deadline for reservations is Friday, March 9th.  The pot of gold awaits...This could be everyone's lucky night!

Warmly,

Jackie Muir & Sherri Jemley

Shamrockin' Co-Chairs 2007

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Visting Author Eric Kimmel

Eric Kimmel Websites

Eric Kimmel’s Homepage – includes teaching guides to Anansi the Spider Party, Anansi Goes Fishing, Anansi and the Talking Melon, Anansi & the Moss-Covered Rock, Anansi & the Magic Stick, The Frog Princess, A Horn for Louis, The Castle of the Cats, Don Quixote and the Windmills, Cactus Soup Three Samurai Cats, Robin Hook: Pirate Hunter, The Runaway Tortilla, The Erie Canal Pirates.
http://www.ericakimmel.com/

Meet the Authors and Illustrators – Eric Kimmel
http://www.childrenslit.com/f_kimmel.html

 

 

Visit Author Kathryn Lasky Books

Kathryn Lasky Websites

"I was born on the prairie," begins Kathryn Lasky's autobiography, "but not in a little house. It was a big house where I grew up, with a three car garage, a sprinkling system and a driveway great for roller skating." Visitors to the Newbery Honor author's site will also find short descriptions of her fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults, picture books for younger readers, and fiction for adults and an FAQ ("What do you like most about being a writer?" "First of all, I get to live in the world of my own imagination all the time.")

Topic: Authors; Children's literature, American; Lasky, Kathryn

URL: http://www.kathrynlasky.com/

When did you know you wanted to be a writer and what inspired you? How do you get ideas for stories? How long does it take you to complete a book? Did you have any role models as a child and who were they? Do you have any advice for kids who want to write or illustrate? Do you have any pets or a favorite animal? What are your hobbies? Author Kathryn Lasky, who has penned more than seventy works of fiction and non-fiction for both adults and children, answers these questions in this KidsBookshelf Spotlight.

Topic: Authors; Children's literature, American; Lasky, Kathryn

URL: http://www.kidsbookshelf.com/spotlightkl.asp

Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site features author Kathryn Lasky in this entry--an abbreviated tour through Lasky's body of work, which comprises more than seventy fiction and non-fiction titles for young readers, young adults, and adults. The books discussed include Marven of the Great North Woods, Night Journey, Pond Year, Beyond the Divide, Lunch Bunnies, She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head, Beyond the Burning Time, and others. This site features a photograph of Lasky and images of several of her books.

Topic: Authors; Children's literature, American; Lasky, Kathryn

URL: http://www.carolhurst.com/authors/klasky.html

Kathryn Lasky's Biography

Kathryn Lasky first considered becoming a writer when she was only ten years old, according to this Scholastic biography. Following her observations about the "sheepback sky," Lasky's mother "turned around and said, 'Kathryn, you should be a writer.' When my mom said that, I thought, 'Wow, maybe I will be.'" Lasky's first book was I Have Four Names for My Grandfather; it featured photographs by her husband, Christopher Knight. Since then she has written more than seventy non-fiction and fiction books for children and adults, including the Newbery Honor Book, Sugaring Time.

Topic: Authors; Children's literature, American; Lasky, Kathryn

URL: http://books.scholastic.com/teachers/authorsandbooks/common/quickfindsearch.jsp?quickfind=lasky &findmode=author &SelectKC=Choose+a+series &samessage=IC %3DScholastic-Teachers-Online_Activities-Authors_And_Books

In 2005, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Subaru announced the SB&F Prizes for Excellence in Science Books. Kathryn Lasky, the Newbery Honor author of more than seventy works of non-fiction and fiction for both children and adults, was among the nominees. Lasky writes across the genres, including mysteries, historical fiction, science, and biography. SB&F featured two titles in its nomination, The Man Who Made Time Travel and The Most Beautiful Roof in the World, as well as a short biography and selected bibliography.

Topic: Authors; Children's literature; Lasky, Kathryn

URL: http://www.sbfonline.com/SubaruAward/lasky.htm

Walker Books features short articles about children's authors and illustrators. The entry for Kathryn Lasky includes an image of the author and information arranged under three headings: "As a child," "As an adult," and "As an artist." Born in

Indianapolis

,

Indiana

, in 1944, Lasky has penned more than seventy works of fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, including a number of collaborations with her husband, photographer Christopher Knight. Lasky maintains, "I think I have a great life as a writer I get to wear anything I want to work. I can go in my pyjamas if I want."

Topic: Authors; Children's literature; Lasky, Kathryn

URL: http://www.walkerbooks.co.uk/Kathryn-Lasky

Meet the Author: Kathryn Lasky

The author of more than seventy books of fiction and non-fiction for children, young adults, and adults, Kathryn Lasky was actually labeled a "reluctant reader" when she was a student. In the short biography at this site, Lasky explains, "The truth was that I didn't really like the kind of books they had you reading at school." In her own writing, she seeks to "reinvent the world," and in doing so, creates such works as Sugaring Time (a Newbery Honor Book), Puppeteer, Pageant, The Bone Wars, and Dinosaur Dig. This entry features a photograph of Lasky.

Topic: Authors; Children's literature, American; Lasky, Kathryn

URL: http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr/mtai/lasky.html

Between the Lines: Interview with Kathryn Lasky

This site features an interview with author Kathryn Lasky about her children's book Before I Was Your Mother. Born in 1944, in

Indianapolis

,

Indiana

, Lasky has penned more than seventy works of fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, including a number of collaborations with her husband, photographer Christopher Knight. In response to a question about the intent of Before I Was Your Mother, Lasky replied, in part, "I guess I just think it's important that kids know that you were something else before you were their mother. You were not just born this full blown adult designed for motherhood."

Topic: Authors; Children's literature; Lasky, Kathryn

URL: http://www.harcourtbooks.com/authorinterviews/bookinterview_lasky.asp

SAS Mathletes Take Top Honors in Shanghai Math Competition

SAS Mathletes Take Top Honors in

Shanghai

Math Competition 
By SAS Puxi and Pudong students, Hank Claassen, Amanda DeCardy and Melanie Ryan – SAS middle school math teachers 

On the 10^th of February, both SAS Puxi and Pudong students embarked on a mysterious mathematical journey to

Concordia

 

International

 

School

in the wee hours of the morning to participate in

Shanghai

’s Annual MATHCOUNTS® competition. MATHCOUNTS® is a

U.S.

national math enrichment, coaching and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement for all students. Nearly 50 students from six international schools in

Shanghai

congregated, vying for the top spot which was eventually attained by Pudong’s Nelson Zhang.  

Students participated in a Sprint Round, a Target Round, a Team Round, and the finale consited of a Countdown Round for the top ten scorers in the competition. According to Pudong student Patrick Lee, “Watching the final 10 countdown showed me how fast and how accurately people could work by reading the questions and calculating at the same time.”  

SAS Puxi and Pudong earned six of the ten top spots for individual scores. Nelson Zhang (PD) earned 1^st, Jacob Jeong (PD) earned 2^nd, Min Seo Choi (PX) earned 4^th, Winston Chen (PD) earned 5^th, Kevin Xu (PX) earned 6^th, K.T. Lim (PX) earned 7^th, and Jimmy Park (PX) earned 8^th. SAS – Pudong Team A won 1^st place for the Overall Team Challenge and SAS – Puxi Team B won 2^nd place for the Overall Team Challenge. Had their not been a prescribed rule for only allowing one team per school to be represented in the top three, the Puxi Team A would’ve taken home 3^rd place.  

Puxi’s Min Seo Choi summed up the competition by saying, “I can’t believe that I finished this competition. Every round I competed in were all challenging and totally different. I was nervous for the whole time, but it eventually made me happy when we earned our top spots!” The competion was a success for all students who participated and the coaches would like to thank all of our mathletes for representing Shanghai American School’s reputation for an enthusiasm of learning.

Note: For more information about MATHCOUNTS®, visit www.mathcounts.org.

 

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