Archives

Week 5 – Field Trip Update

Sep16

Good evening.

I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weekend.  I was able to hike Skull Crack Trail at Causey Reservoir to watch the Kokanee Salmon run.  What a beautiful experience!   They will still be running for the next several days, so if you have the opportunity to take your family for an evening hike this week, I highly recommend this.

The first field trip of the year is this Friday, September 21.  We are still in need of rides for 10 students.  If we do not have the carpool arrangements worked out by Tuesday evening, our class will not be able to attend this trip.  I understand several parents have volunteered as drivers and chaperones, but we are still in need of more.  Please contact Natalie, our room mom, as soon as possible if you are able to volunteer your time this week.

Tomorrow we begin our Botany lessons with Ms. Rachael.  Rachael is a dear friend of mine, and an amazing Botanist. We are extremely lucky to have her as an instructor in our school.  Her knowledge of, and excitement for, Botany is unmatched!  Please be sure you ask your child what they learned from Ms. Rachael. The more often they share their learning, the more “sticky” it becomes.

Wednesday, our 4th grade students will attend an assembly with Dan “The Weatherman” Guthrie.  During this presentation, they will learn about meteorology.

Finally, we will be utilizing Imagine Learning as the platform to practice math outside the classroom.  This program is new to Upper Elementary this year and will replace IXL.  We will login to Imagine Learning for the first time Thursday during class.  After this, your child will be able to access this program from home.   More details about utilizing this resource to complete homework assignments will be provided within the next couple of weeks.

Have a wonderful week!

 

 

Week 5

Sep13

Good Evening!

Your kids have been working so hard the last couple of weeks.  I am impressed with their motivation and excitement toward learning.  Please be sure you take a couple of minutes each night to check their planners and ask them about the work they have been doing each day in class.  Those conversations will help them connect what they are doing in school to home and will give you a good idea of how they spend their time.

4th level students have learned a new mnemonic to use as a strategy for opinion essay writing and they used it to outline their first formal essay/paragraph.  Writing is a skill that takes a lot of practice and patience.

5th and 6th level students are learning how to use a “Stoplight” graphic organizer for their essay writing.  Although they have not outlined a formal essay yet, they have worked in partners to practice using the strategy.  I’m excited to see where they go with it!

Ms. Rachael presented our first Botany lesson of the year today.  Your kids were so engaged and polite and I’m so proud of them.  We have the privilege of her lessons once a month this school year.  She is an amazingly knowledgeable Botanist!

6th Grade Expert Project

Please be sure your 6th grader brings their library books to class on Thursday.  We will be using them for our next lesson.  You can find all of the lessons to date at the link at the top of the blog.  I’m excited they are taking this seriously, as it is a lot of work, but it will be an amazing reward when they present their projects in April.

 

Water Cycle Terrariums

Nov3

Red Butte Garden has several amazing “tool kits” available for teachers.   Our class has been lucky enough to obtain one of the tool kits.  This kit focuses on water use in the desert, which we happen to live in, and study in all grade levels in upper elementary.

In addition to the materials and lessons provided in the kit, external resources are needed to fully utilize each lesson.  I took an informal survey of your kids this afternoon (after a great experience with plant specimens of both native and non-native plants) to see how many of them might have some supplies around the house that would enable us to build water cycle terrariums.  I was excited to hear that most of them thought they might be able to donate items you already have around your homes.

The items needed to make these terrariums are listed below:

Sand

Gravel (pea gravel or extra aquarium gravel)

Soil

Charcoal (for terrariums)

Wide mouth Jars (3-5″) or large salad clam shells (the type you get at Costco with your salad greens)

If you have any of these items available at home (please don’t go out and purchase anything) please let me know via email (or a note in your child’s planner).  If we are able to collect enough of these items, we will be building these terrariums Friday morning.

As always, thanks for all of your support!

October 26 Update – International Festival, Original Works and Cooking Studio

Oct26

Good Evening!

Tomorrow our class will begin discussing country reports in order to get ready for the International Festival in December.  This home based project has been a favorite of the students and faculty since MMA opened in August 2010.  During this time, we have learned a lot and continually make changes in the hopes that this festival will continue to improve year after year.

In order to avoid 50 Germany or 15 Australia reports we have divided the country options up equally among each upper elementary class.  I will do my best to allow students the continent of their choosing, however the country they desire may not be available.  In this case, we will simply draw straws in order to avoid hurt feelings.  The reason for this method is to highlight the many countries that are overlooked each year for the more “popular” countries.   Rubrics and expectations for these reports will be going home on Friday, October 30.

If you have a student Cooking Studio, Ms. Kirsten has made a sign up sheet for the supplies needed in order to make your student’s cooking experience the best it can be.

We’re using VolunteerSpot (the leading online Sign-up and reminder tool) to organize our upcoming Sign-ups for the Cooking Studio Friday class.

Here’s how it works in 3 easy steps:

1) Click this link to see our Sign-Up on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/nVH2Ed
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up! It’s Easy – you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on VolunteerSpot.

Lastly, if your child has a piece of artwork they would like to submit to Original Works, the deadline has been extended until 9:00am tomorrow, Tuesday, October 27.

What is Original Works? For 26 years, this company has been coordinating with schools to turn children’s art into keepsakes. You can choose from one or more of the following: key chains, magnets, mirrors, coasters, notebooks, tiles, mugs, tote bags, water bottles, cell phone covers, night lights, T-shirts, quilt block, mouse pads, note cards, pillowcases, journals, pot holders, matted prints, and decorative flags.

Who benefits from this fundraiser? When you order, the profit goes directly to your child’s classroom!

What should I do if my child completed more than one piece of art? Each piece of art needs its own order form. If you want to order multiple pieces of art, please get additional order forms from Rachael Bush.

What should my child do with their completed packets? Return the art, order form, and check payable to MMA to the school. There will be a table at the entrance ready for your orders.  PLEASE do NOT give money and order forms to teachers.

We ONLY accept checks! Please make them out to MMA and include them with your completed order form.

When are order forms due? By October 27th. Look for the Original Works table in the school’s entrance!

When will orders arrive? Original Works art keepsake(s) will be sent home on December 2nd.

What if my child didn’t finish their art at school? Your child can complete, add to, or even replace their art at home. Use 8½ x 11″ plain paper and color or paint. Please no glitter, pipe cleaners, googley eyes, or anything else that makes the art 3-D.

What if parents don’t want to order? You keep your child’s art!

If you have additional questions, please contact rachael.bush@gmail.com

Cultural Update March 16-27

Mar16

We are finishing up History units for all grade levels and moving into a new unit of Botany study.  I am trying out a new method for the students to know what is coming and what their expectations are regarding this next unit.

If you have other students in our school their teachers may already be using “study guides” for their work expectations and project tracking.  This is new territory for me, but I’m excited to try it and think the students will like it too.  The study guides can be found at the Study Guide page at the top of the blog.  I will update these each time we move to a new unit of study.  We will be in Botany until Spring Break and will then move into another Geography Unit.

I welcome any feedback to the study guides that you may have.  This tool will evolve as the year moves on in order to maximize its usefulness.