Category Archives: Home projects

Homework and more

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Parents, I enjoyed speaking with you at back to school night.  We have such amazing support from you as parents, so much so, I know I wasn’t able to visit with a few of you.  I know you had the chance to chat with Ms. Lily, she is fantastic.  If you need to contact me, please email me.

I wanted to make you aware that we may have hand-foot-mouth spreading in our classroom.  This spread last year as well.  It generally starts with a sore throat and then the rash appears later.  I have not said anything to the students, but if they are complaining of an unusual sore throat, it may be best to keep them home in order to keep it from spreading further.  I know as parents it is sometimes hard to know if they are really feeling ill and wanted to make you aware that this is a possibility.

Reading in the classroom has really taken off and the students are enjoying their personal libraries.   Thank you for your donations, they really are going to a great cause.  I hate to even ask, but we could really use an increase in beginner early emergent books. If you have any to share, please do so. I would even be willing to take character books at this level.  If you are interested in getting in some volunteer hours by creating some early emergent books for the classroom, please let me know.

I spoke with the students Thursday about work that needs to be completed outside of the classroom.  It is expected that all students read 20 minutes daily.  This could include being read to, as well as, reading to others.   We have completed most of our back to school reading assessments and we see a huge difference in students who are consistently reading.  Please help your child be successful by helping to establish a reading routine in the home.  I will not require a sign off sheet, unless I come to find it necessary.  Please don’t fall into the misconception that MMA does not require homework.  We do, it is just not traditional in nature.

I also talked to the students about their first home project for this month.  They are to present a personal talent, hobby or interest.  This is a great warm up for getting to know each other more and becoming comfortable presenting in front of the class.  I will not be creating a due date, but it needs to be completed by the end of the month.  They are required to have a visual aid and a completed written work according to their ability level.  Level 3’s will be talking the SAGE written test on the computer in the spring and home projects would be a great opportunity to practice typing.  Some students ability level is just learning to write their own name, this would be a great opportunity for your child to dictate what they want to say and you could write it out using a highlighter.  Your child could then practice tracing over your highlighter writing.  I really want this to be their own work.  I had to smile when a little girl last year came up to me and said, ” My mom isn’t finished with my home project yet.”  You know what your child’s ability level is and encourage them to spread just a little further.  This should be fun and create excitement and love for learning.  I dislike stories of students who are forced to stay up past 10:00 p.m. rewriting their home projects, because they were not perfect.  Some examples ideas for this project:  A student who takes karate could demonstrate or teach some karate moves to the class, this would qualify as a visual aide.  Then they could write about how karate is good for the body and mind.  You may have a child who is a great skier and they could present a project on one of their favorite skiers.  I had a student last year create a poster board with pictures of him in front of significant places in his life., such as the hospital he was born.  He then wrote a little bit about each picture.  A student who just learned a new skill, like tying shoes, could teach the class and write out the steps needed to complete the process.  The sky is the limit on this project.  Please have your child bring their work once it is completed and we will work to present it that day.  This works well to have a few each day rather than a large number all at once.

I forgot to mention to the students that we have P.E. on Monday.  Please make certain your child is dress for this activity and has proper shoes.  Thanks.

Our Last Week of School

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I cannot express how impressed I have been with the sense of compassion and teamwork this class has developed.  The unforeseen obstacles we have faced this year have strengthened and helped these children grow in ways that they would not have otherwise.  They have grown and expanded into an amazing community and have learned life skills that will take them far in life.  They have learned to recognize differences, needs and strengths in one another.  I know some of you had the opportunity in sit in on our compliment circles and see how they are able to lift each other, recognize service, and celebrate who they are.  I have seen the beauty of them becoming leaders and helping their fellow classmates.  Teacher have come to me and expressed how impressed they are in the friendships and teamwork they witness with this group.  These opportunities shape these young people for the better and I feel so fortunate to see this first hand.  I have shed many tears of joy in seeing them develop further into amazing people this past year.  It took a little longer than hoped because of our unique challenges, but we normalized into peaceful focused work cycles.  The academic progress these students have made is so exciting.  Upper el teachers are thrilled to hear how well prepared in large math these students from our class are for next year.  Our reading has soared!  One of the reading specialists was nearly in tears of joy as we were going over reading scores.  These kids have made great strides and it takes all of us as a team to make this happen.  Please, please, please, continue to have your children read regularly over the summer.  It is so important to keep this momentum going.

As this year comes to an end, I am already planning for next year and wanting to make you aware of some of the changes you will see happening.  This was a transition year for many of students and we thought it best not to change too many things at once.  One thing that will be different will be home projects.  Projects will have assigned due dates and guided topics.  They will continue to be due monthly.  We will also be having book shares monthly.  Our first home project for next fall will be a little different in nature, it will be a show and teach.  I will be sending further details, but you may want to be thinking with your student over the summer about something they enjoy doing and how they can teach that to the class.

I am trying to replace the sadness I feel in not seeing them over the summer with excitement for all the new things next year will bring.  I have grown alongside them this year and love that this journey will continue as we meet together again next fall.  The Montessori philosophy is beautiful in so many ways, but one particular strength I appreciate is that I as a teacher get to know and grow with your child for more than a year.  I love knowing that with our soon to be level 2’s and 3’s, that I have already developed a knowledge of who they are and can continue to grow in that knowledge in order to help them reach their potentials.  Often times, like in traditional school, by the time you really start to have a great feel for the child and their needs, the school year is already winding down and they move forward into the next class, only to start the process all over again.  I love that we have the ability to develop a deeper understanding of each unique child we teach.   I love them all and I celebrate how amazing each child is and thank you for allowing me to be apart of this great work.

We will be honoring the moving forward of our level 3’s into upper el on Tuesday.  The bridging ceremony was changed from 11:30 to 11:00 a.m.  Level 3 parents are invited to attend.  It will be a short ceremony, followed by a picnic lunch for level 3’s joining upper el.  Level 3’s please do not bring something to warm for lunch this day.  Level 1 and 2’s will be having lunch in the classroom.

Wednesday is crazy hair day.

Thursday is crazy sock day.

Friday is pajama day and yearbook signing.

Don’t forget that all week is dismissal at 1:00 p.m. in order to provide time for conferences.

Week of February 10th

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It was nice meeting with you over Parent Teacher Conference.  I enjoy your children so much and it is nice to sit with you and celebrate the individuals they are and the growth they are making.

I know I mentioned the importance of reading at home at least 20 minutes daily.  We will be starting our heart chain this week, for every 10 minutes they read at home they can add a heart to our classroom chain.  We will measure how long it takes us to complete it one time around the classroom.  Remember the sight word link is available on the blog.  This is a great way to build fluency which many of us spoke about during conferences.

The International Festival was great fun.  I am certain the students shared their excitement about many of the things they saw and experienced.  We need to start working on our next home project.  This is especially important for our level 3’s.  Upper El is just around the corner and it is now we need to start preparing.  Level 3’s will be required to bring in a completed typed page to accompany all presentations.  The SAGE test requires that all essays are to be typed.  This is the time to prepare.  If your level 3 is having a hard time finding a subject of interest, we are currently focusing our cultural studies on Asia, dinosaurs, flowers, weather and invertebrates.  These are all wonderful areas to explore further outside of the classroom.

Level 1’s and 2’s are required to continue bringing in home projects.  I still want this to be your child’s work.  Please gage this according to your child and their reading level.  Remember that our goal is to make learning enjoyable and interesting to your student.  I would like to see our advance level 1 and our level 2’s bringing in a hand written paper to accompany their presentations.  For our more beginning readers, please read information with your child and have them dictate to you what they would like to say.  Then have them copy their dictations into their own handwriting on a separate paper.  All projects are presented to their classmates.  The next project is due the end of this month.

We will be exchanging valentines this Friday.  We have 23  students in our classroom.  Please remember if you choose to bring candy with your cards they need to be in sealed envelopes.

 

 

A New Year!

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Parents, it is hard to believe we are already in year 2014!   It was fun to hear about everyone’s break.  I missed our class and was excited to get back into our routine. We had a great week getting back into the groove of things.  We have some great work set up for this new year and are moving ahead full force.  February will be an opportunity to come to school with your student day.  I will be setting up a wejoin for this soon, as well as, Parent Teacher Conferences.  Conference will be February 5th, 6th, and 7th.  Students will be encouraged to attend with their parents for this conference.

We have our international festival on February 6th.  I ask that your student brings their completed project to school by the 3rd.  For those of you who have not attended before, I might equate it to like a science fair of country projects.  Our classroom is doing their projects on Europe.  Your child can pick any country they like, or an over all theme, such as animals native to Europe, flowers, foods, etc.  It just needs to tie to Europe.  They will be required to have a poster or trifold board to set on the desks and they may bring visual aids etc.  Our class will present their projects to each other and then they will be displayed during the festival for others to come by, look, ask questions.  It is so much fun and the parents are all invited to come.

This week Ms. Julie, the P.E. teacher, sent some bright pink papers for students who did not have their P.E. shoes.  We have P.E. on Wednesdays and because of the snow we are in the gym.  Snow boots are not proper gym shoes.  I may suggest that if your child has an old pair of shoes they could leave in their locker for P.E. this would help prevent wet snow boot issues.

I know some students took home their slippers and water bottles over the break to be washed.  Please make certain they are returned back.  It really helps the management of the classroom.

As always if you have any questions, concerns, or celebrations please share them with myself and Ms. Brec.

 

 

November

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It is hard to believe we are now entering November.  I wanted to remind you that we are still wanting to see a home project every month from your children.  We do not have assigned due dates, please bring them in once they are completed and we will work them into our schedule.  It is so fun to see what excites the children and the fun ideas they present.  Please make this a fun opportunity for them and make it their own work.

We also have students who are very eager to bring show and teach.  This month I will be having them bring books to share.  They can briefly tell us about the book and why they liked it.  This can be a book they have read or someone else has read to them.  Show and teach is on Friday afternoons.

We also do not have anyone signed up to provide snack this week.  If you are able to provide something for the class this week, that would be fantastic.  The children really count on this and we find it really helps their focus during their morning work.  We have several weeks throughout the year that still are unassigned.  Please check out our snack sign up link.  If everyone signs up for two different weeks we will have the year covered.  Thanks so much for your help with this.

With the change of weather it is very important your students are dressed for the changing season.  We go outside most mornings and would like to remind you to make certain your child is ready for our cooler mornings.  We also are having a problem with several students not having their inside shoes.  This is very important, especially now that their shoes are coming in from the damp ground.  Please check with your child if they have their inside shoes at school.  Many say they have taken them home and not returned them.  Remember we can no longer have stocking feet.  Thanks so much.

Home Projects

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I would like you to encourage your children to begin their home projects.  They need to begin researching and gathering information on anything they are interested in.  Depending on your child’s level, depends on how much information they should provide.  They will be presenting the information to their classmates.  They are required at minimum, to have three facts to share along with some sort of visual aid.  For example, a level three may be interested in bears.  They could write an entire page about bears and draw a picture.  Whereas a level one who is struggling with reading, may verbally tell the class three facts about a bear and bring a picture they found.  You as parents know your child and their abilities.  Please encourage them to stretch a little.  Even for some of our younger students they can dictate to you what they want to write and you can use a highlighter for them to trace.  Please don’t make this a parent project.  This is for them and should create excitement about learning new things.  When your child is ready to present, please have them bring their project in the classroom to share.  I will not be scheduling due dates, but they need to be doing at least one a month.  As we get further into the year, I will give general topics to guide some home projects.  For example, when we are drawing closer to the international festival, we will be doing home projects on our continent study.