Spelling Bee and Our New School Wide Unit of Study

Connections January 15th– February 22nd

Spelling Bee February 26th   

The theme CONNECTIONS is what your child will be studying during our fourth thematic unit.  During this time, we will be focusing on growth, division, reunion, and industrialization in the Americas mainly during the 1800s but not limited to this time period.

During this theme our school will celebrate a Spelling Bee week which will include class spelling bees, lower and upper el spelling bees, and a school wide spelling bee. All students are encouraged to participate in the spelling bee that will be held in their classroom. We want all students to work with the words used in the spelling bee to help build their vocabulary and spelling knowledge.

However, if your child is not comfortable participating in this event, they can also participate in other ways. If your child decides not to take part in their classroom bee, they will need to use the spelling bee words in another way to share with their classmates. Some of these ways include but are not limited to writing a story using as many of the spelling bee words as possible, creating multiple funny sentences using the words, create a board game using the words, create a game involving good, physical activity with the words, create a classroom scavenger hunt with the words.

When words are involved, the possibilities are endless!

Scripps National Spelling Bee lists were sent home today.  Please check with your student, you will need these words in hard copy form, since we are not authorized to post these words digitally.

Reading Homework

Please check with your student to see if they were given a new reading homework passage.  These are the same passages you were given during our Parent Teacher Conferences.  Reading at home makes a huge difference.  All student are expected to read for 20 minutes each day outside of the classroom.  This reading can be done in a variety of ways.  One way that we read within our classroom is by completing “buddy reading” our classroom term for Dyad reading.  One partner is the “higher reader” and the other is the “developing reader.”  The developing reader tracks the words and the buddies read aloud together.  The developed reader hears their buddy and sees the word and tries to keep up with them.  The University of Utah has developed positive research behind the reading method and data shows this kind of buddy reading can help significantly help raise reading scores.  The developed reader also reads above their reading level according the research. Here is a wonderful resource from the State Office of Education on how you can utilize this type of reading within your home.

 

Welcome Back!

It was fantastic to see everyone back in the classroom this morning!  I enjoyed hearing about all the fun and adventures that took place over the break.

We have completed our mid-year reading assessments and I would like to recognize that all your hard work with reading after school makes a noticeable difference.  I know life gets hectic over the holidays.  If you need a replacement folder for the Roaring Readers, please let me know.   Thank you for continuing to support your child’s learning both inside and outside the classroom.

In celebration of the New Year, January’s home project will be personal interest based. This is a chance for your child to guide the topic of their choice.  Our goal is to teach students the love of learning.  The sky is the limit on this project.  The kids were really excited and sharing their ideas.  Please remember, home projects should be a process and take place over a period of time, not to be rushed in one night.  Remember, this skill alone is a valuable part of learning and building skills to help your child in their future.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Please note, students will not be in class on Friday, January 12th for teacher professional development and Monday, January 15th, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Last Few Days of 2017

It is hard to believe we only have a few days left before we enter 2018.

I first want to thank everyone for another amazing field trip.  It was so much fun and I really enjoyed being outside with the students.  As you may have seen and heard, our playground is gone and we are adjusting to some changes while the new building is being constructed.  Our outdoor space and time is more limited, so I teased with the students that they have homework, which requires them to go outside and play.  As many of you are aware, I enjoy taking the students outside in the morning for fresh air and physical movement, this is something that has become more challenging with the recent construction.  I feel strongly that time outside engaging with nature is something many children are lacking in their development.  I would like to encourage you to find more opportunities for your children to be outside, working on their gross motor skills and observing the world around them.  This is a big reason why I love our visits to the Ogden Nature Center.

The students did complete their weekly reflections, I forgot to hand them back this afternoon.  I will send them on Monday.

Home projects for the International Festival are due Thursday morning.  If you have questions or concerns, please let me know.

 

Playing Cards

Tomorrow I will be giving each student a deck of cards.  My hope is that these cards will be used, as a fun way, to practice their math fluency.  The students have practiced a few different games within the classroom and I will continue to teach them more as we continue throughout the year.  Building math fluency is an important skill and this is a fun, easy way to help support their learning.  Here are 3 different links that you can use for additional game ideas.  It is great to get friends and siblings involved in the game.  Sometimes, if another player is a little stronger, we have that player count to a certain number before they answer.  Practice different operations, addition, subtraction, multiplication, you can even do some games with simple division.  A simple game to start with is for 2 players to divide the deck and each place a card face up and see who can answer the sum first.  If you have questions or concerns, please let me know.

Reminder to everyone to read over the break.  Middle of the year assessments start the day we return from break.  Thank you to those of you who have returned your Roaring Reader folders.  I included extra passages for over the break.  If you forgot your folders bring them tomorrow or let me know if you need passages sent.  I can place them in a zip lock bag.

 

Busy Month

I have a few important key reminders regarding the next couple of weeks.  In the past, I have invited parents during the month of December for a holiday class program.  As many of you may have remembered, we did the fun readers theaters last year.  Since we have the school Winter Choir Concert on Thursday, December 8th, Treehouse Museum field trip on December 13th (permission slips are coming home Monday), and the International Festival on December 19th and 20th (our class presents the 20th, starting at 12:30 p.m.), we have decided to have a class program at a later date.

Please remember that International Festival home projects are due the 15th.  We have already had several students present and their hard work is amazing!  Thank you for supporting your children with this important event.

During the next several weeks our cultural focus will be on the area of history.  Level 1 students are learning to tell time.  Level 2 students are studying our Solar System and creating a booklet. Level 3 students are creating a booklet of research based on the time line of life.  They are really enjoying seeing the evidence of living things that no longer exist on our planet.

Your continued support with reading at home is greatly encouraged.  Don’t forgot to use Myon at home, especially for home project research.  Also, although students do not have formal assignments on IXL for homework, I strongly encourage the use, especially over our long breaks.

As always, if you have questions, concerns, or celebrations, please send me an email at my school email bherrera@mariamontessoriacademy.org

 

Thank You

I wanted you to know how much I enjoyed visiting with each of you during conferences.  Your children are a delight and I feel fortunate I get to spend my day with each of them.  I look forward to working on the goals we have set in place and at anytime you have a question, concern, or a celebration, please feel free to email me.

Reminder that we are nearing the end of the month and home projects are due.  Next month we will be working on our Europe projects for the International Festival held in December.  Start thinking which country your child would like to research.  I will begin a sign up sheet inside the classroom.  You can send me an email or they can come and tell me.  It will be on a first serve bases.  This is our most in depth project of the year.  For those of you new to the International Festival, it is like a science fair for country studies and a big school wide event.  Your child will need a 3-part display board for this project.  We will not be having a formal project due in December, but I would encourage these to be completed by the end of November.  Please see our page on home projects for additional information.

Thank you for your continued support with the roaring readers club.  Please send back folders tomorrow morning.

Field Trip Permission Forms

Students brought home permission slips today.  Please read them over and send them back right away.  I do have a certified driver who can drive 5 students and I can help arrange rides for those children, so please send me an email.  If you are a certified driver for the school and would be available, please let me know asap.  If your child needs a ride beyond our certified driver, our classroom room mother may be able to help arrange those, otherwise you will need to make your own arrangements.  If you want to know other upcoming field trip dates, please see our blog page.  They are listed under the year at a glance.

Thank you for your continued support with our new Roaring Readers club.  I did send a few home in ziplock bags, if your child did not return their folder.  These are due back on Friday.

October is here!

Families, official normalization is now over and I would like to encourage volunteers to come read with students. If you are available and interested, please send me an email.  We would love the help!

Several families received information regarding our new Roaring Readers club.  Thank you for your support with this new and important program.  I was concerned when I evaluated the number of students who completed the first night of reading.  Please remember to return these folders back to school on Friday.

Picture day information was sent home today.  Pictures will be taken on the 10th.

Home projects were amazing this past month.  I want to congratulate the students on a job well done.  Rather than sending home their rubrics for this first project, I have decided to share them at our upcoming conferences.  (Conference will start Monday, October 17th and finish Wednesday, October 19th.  Fall break will follow on Thursday, October 20th and we will resume on Monday the 24th).  Information regarding MYON was sent home.  This is a great resource for students working on their home projects.  For October, level 1’s will complete a time line of their own life.  Level 2’s will research and present anything on space, solar system, etc.  Level 3’s anything relating to the time line of life.  Please see the classroom blog page for any additional information.

Last week we initiated a new class mentor program. So far it has proven to establish wonderful relationships and help our newer students feel confident in knowing they have a go to person to ask for additional help and support.

We are continuing to establish strong work ethic and have explored the importance of stretching our elastic brain.  I would encourage you to ask your children about the work they are accomplishing and setting goals in order to achieve their potential.

I will be setting up sign-ups for conferences before the end of the week.  I look forward to visiting with each of you.  As always, if you have question, concerns or celebrations, please feel free to email me.

Peaceful Place

We had a busy week last week.  We enjoyed the peace celebration and focusing on what peace means in many different aspects.  We experienced what peace sounds like, looks like, and feels like, when we are working in the classroom.  We had conversations about perspective and created watercolor artwork which represents how everyone can look at the same thing and see something different.  We talked about how this relates to our interactions with others and to be respectful of others thoughts and opinions, because we all “see” things differently.  We celebrated our differences and created a unified peace symbol that related to our geography studies. The students have been holding classroom meetings where they take time to compliment one another and problem solve class issues as a team.  They individually offer solutions and then we review them to see if they are related, realistic, and respectful.  Students then vote for which solution they feel will work best to solve the problem we are experiencing inside the classroom.  The students solved their first issue, visiting with friends at circle, they voted to create a seating arrangement.  I love that the students know that the classroom is their work environment and they take ownership of that environment.  They write their own class rules, learn to problems solve, recognize the wonderful things that are happening, hold each other accountable, and take care of the classroom in which they work.

Reminder that this week is the last week of September.  Home projects need to be completed and presented by Friday.  Please do not wait until Friday.

We will start our studio classes on Friday.  Students will visit 3 different classrooms during our studio rotation.  They will be grouped according to grade level with other lower elementary classes.  They will enjoy classes focusing on art, science, and social studies.  This is a great opportunity for the students to create friendships with students outside of our classroom.