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February Book Reports and Science Fair Volunteers

Jan30

Happy Friday!

Because of the busyness that February brings (PTC, Science Fair, Writing Assessments), I am going to eliminate the book report requirement for February.  I’m sure that I will receive many groans from your children about one less assignment (can you sense the sarcasm in that statement?).

Ms. Paula, our science fair extraordinaire, is in need of parent volunteers for science fair.  There are many ways to help out from setting up and providing snacks for the judges, to judging the fair.  If you are interested in helping out in any way, please contact her letting her know how you can help.  pdugan@mariamontessoriacademy.org

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

This entry was posted on January 30, 2015, in Book Reports.

Update Week of January 26

Jan26

January and February are very busy months at MMA, as such, I wanted to give some reminders as to upcoming deadlines and due dates.

January 28th: Level 6 – David Holladay Lecture (During class)

January 29th: JA Biztown (Level 5 and some Level 6)

January 30th: Biography Book Report (Timeline) – All Grade Levels

February 2: SAGE Writing Assessment – All Grade Levels

February 18th: Elementary Science Fair (Level 4 and 5)

February 19th: Middle School Science Fair (Level 6-8)

In order to prepare for the SAGE writing test, we have been working on our essays for several weeks.  Your students have another essay rough draft due tomorrow evening.  In order to be prepared for the in class peer edit and to take advantage of the time we have left, please ensure your child completes this assignment on time.  If you are experiencing any trouble with Utah Compose, have your student first write their essay using Word or Pages, saving a copy to your computer.  At that point, your student can copy and paste their essay into Utah Compose and then submit it.  If by chance the website errors, your child will still have a digital copy and can resubmit on Utah Compose without losing all their work.  Most children did not experience any trouble, but a handful had repeated problems and this is the only work around I could think of so that they could still have the benefit of the score report.

In addition to Utah Compose, level 4 and 6 students have had math homework recently. This will continue on a relatively regular basis throughout the remainder of the school year.  Please check in with your students each night regarding homework assignments they may have.  I know that everyone is busy with after school activities, but it is imperative that your children are completing the required practice in order to continue progressing.

 

Happy New Year!

Jan2

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays.  I know they can be hectic and stressful at times, but I trust you worked in some time for relaxation as well.

Firstly, I want to thank all of the generosity you and your children showed Ms. Kari and me.   The gifts, though not necessary, were much appreciated.  Thank you.

Secondly, the start of a new year always brings with it many resolutions or goals to improve.  As such, we will be reviewing the goals your children set prior to our first parent teacher conferences and re-evaluating where we are in terms of reaching those goals.  In addition to goal setting, your children will be cleaning and organizing their three-ring binders.   It is my expectation that your children will bring these binders home with them nightly, in order that you can see what they are working on each day.  The use of the binders as an organizational tool for the children’s daily work is nice, but I have found that they are becoming a dumping ground for incomplete work.

In bringing home the binders each day, my hope is that you can work with your children to help them organize their work.  It will also give you a better idea of what your child is doing on a daily basis and also see if there is unfinished work that needs to be completed. We will be discussing this new expectation on Monday and you can look for your child’s binder Monday evening.

J.A. Biztown, an annual 5th grade field trip (and new 6th grade students), is taking place January 29th.  Biztown is a wonderful experience that your children will not want to miss.  More information will be coming home the first week of January.  As a heads-up, Biztown is located at Discovery Gateway in SLC and transportation to and from this field trip will be the responsibility of the parent.  We will need 2 parent volunteers to help during the day at the location.  The parent volunteers will be responsible for helping the students run the business they have been assigned to.  This is a wonderful way to fulfill some of your volunteer hour requirements, as well as being a part of a great business experience with the students at our school.

The link below will give you an opportunity to read more about the Biztown experience.  http://ja-utah.org/programs/jacity/

A view of Town Square at JA Biztown

Looking ahead:

Cultural: We will star out the new year with a botany unit followed by geography.

Math/Language: Our mornings will consist of continued work in math and language with dedicated work on our writing skills.  Although we have worked on our writing skills in the classroom using paper and pencil, and Utah Compose was introduced to the students in November, it very quickly fizzled out.  We will be spending renewed attention on writing in order to be prepared for the SAGE writing assessment taking place in February.   This means that your children will be required to complete an essay (outline, rough draft, peer review) each week.  This will require your children to spend time on the computer each night at home.  Writing assignments will be given Wednesdays and all steps are expected to be completed Tuesday night in order to facilitate group discussions Wednesday mornings.  After the peer review and discussion during class, they will be given until the following Tuesday to complete a final draft.

As a reminder, the book report for the month of January is a Biography.  The expectations can be found under the Book Report page at the top of the blog.  The due date for this is January 30th.    For those students who have not begun the experimental process for science fair, we will be discussing this on Friday, January 9 in order for your children to be adequately prepared for science fair the 3rd week of February.

Enjoy the last few days of the holiday break!  I look forward to seeing all your children on Monday.

~Cheers

 

Weekend Update

Nov14

Happy Friday!

We had a fantastic author assembly today.  Author Gary Hogg did a writing workshop with your children.  They were all very engaged, and they all learned a lot.    If your children are interested in ordering a book (or several books) written by this author, I will have an order form on the blog tomorrow afternoon which you can print off and send with your child on Monday with payment.  Gary Hogg will autograph the books and they will be delivered back to our school.  His simple approach really hooked the children and in the end, I believe they, or should I say we, will all be better writers because of it.

0001-homeslide-CharlieBaconBooks

A reminder for the sixth grade students – Native American Research Projects are due on Monday, November 17th.   If you have any questions about your child’s project, please email me.  As stated before, these projects were mainly done in class with finishing touches needed at home.

Book reports are due this coming Friday, November 21.  As discussed in class, these reports were intentionally due before fall break so that your children did not have to think about them during the holiday family time.  This also will give your children time to begin working on their country reports for the International Festival.

Picture retakes are Tuesday, November 18.  If your child missed school photos the first time around, this is your opportunity for retakes.

Have a wonderful weekend!

~Cheers!

 

 

Utah Compose and Business for the Coming Week

Nov2

Beginning tomorrow, all students will have access to the Utah Compose writing tool.  This is an internet based writing program designed to help students improve their writing skills.  This website replaces Utah Write, a site that level 5 students have used in the past to help prepare them for the DWA (direct writing assessment).

Each week your student will receive a writing lesson during class and a writing assignment that will need to be completed at home.  They will have some time to utilize the computers in class, but because of the limited resources in the classroom and time during the day, students will need to do a portion of the work at home.

All students will be logging in and resetting passwords tomorrow in order to be able to utilize this great resource at home.  At that time, we will be learning how to navigate the site and begin the first writing assignment.  The more time they are able to spend with this resource, the better they will do on the assessment and the better their writing will become.

Feel free to email me with any questions you may have.  As always, if you do not have access to the internet, we will make arrangements for your student to have time during class.

In other news, our school has decided to participate in the interim testing for SAGE.   Our class will test Tuesday, November 11 and Tuesday November 18.  This will enable the children to experience a form of the test, before they have to take the test in the spring.   In addition to the testing, students will be doing practice assignments in class utilizing the SAGE portal.  This practice will help them become familiar with the site and the types of questions they will encounter on the SAGE Summative.

This week we will also be discussing the expectations for the next book report (due November 21).  This month the students will be doing a scrapbook page book report.  All information for this report and the expectations (with a rubric) will come home this week and will be available on the blog.  I was so excited with the creativity and thoughtfulness the students put into October’s report!   We had sandwiches and wardrobes, posters and puppet shows.  Your children are so clever!

With the weather cooling off, please be sure your children are dressed appropriately. Unless there is lightening or extreme freezing temperatures, all students go outside for recess everyday.  Students who do not have appropriate clothing, will not be allowed to stay inside.  Make it routine for your children to check the weather.  4th level students are studying weather in science so this would be a great practical extension on their weekly science lessons.

~Cheers