Dear parents,

The schedule for next week is as follows:

Monday: In the morning we will have a fairly normal work cycle, with computing from 9:45-10:30 and then at the end of the morning finish off with some continent and country report presentations. In the afternoon we will be doing science.

Tuesday: A similar morning to Monday without the computing, finishing off again with hopefully the last of the presentations. On Tuesday afternoon we will be visiting the Junior High International Festival in the gym.

Wednesday: Wednesday is the Upper El International Festival and you are very welcome to attend. The festival begins at 9.00 and finishes at 11.00 We have broken down the festival into these break times for the three grades:

• 9:00-9:30 – no breaks for students, all students to remain in their room with their project
• 9:30-10:00 – 4^th grade break – color green
• 10:00-10:30 – 6^th grade break – color red
• 10:30-11:00 – 5^th grade break – color blue

Unfortunately, in the past there have been accidents regarding the spilling of food resulting in damage to carpets. Therefore, if your student is planning to bring any food we ask that you follow this advice:

•          No liquids – Nothing that stains – Nothing that needs to be heated
•          Finger Food Only – the student bringing the food supplies with their own utensils or cups
•          All food for the festival needs to be pre-approved
•          No toothpicks

After the festival and into the afternoon, we will be doing Christmas-themed art work and playing Dreidel, a simple Jewish game played at Hanukkah.

Thursday: This is the last day of the calendar year. In the morning I had planned to watch Matilda by Roald Dahl first thing thing, as we read the book together earlier in the year. Then from 11-12 we have PE. After lunch and recess we will be going around the Lower El International Festival. School finishes at 3 pm as normal.

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday break! School returns on Wednesday January 3rd.

Best wishes – John

Dear parents,

I’m just re-posting the original email from Ms Alisha about the Christmas feast tomorrow, as a couple of you said that they missed the email. We have the South Kiva and will be eating at 11. Please don’t bring candy, soda or excessively sugary foods for the feast. There is also information about “Track it forward” at the bottom.

Thank you!

Hi parents!

I’m Alisha Coakley, the room parent for your child’s class this year! This is our first year at MMA so please be patient with me as I try to figure out how to do this well lol.

Our classroom holiday feast is going to be Wed, Dec 13th at 11 in the South Kiva. I’ve decided to have the theme be “Favorite Things” so please bring your child’s favorite dish and/or drink to share with others. Yes, this is going to be a schmorgusboard of randomness but I thought it’d be fun for the kids. Some ideas would be pizza, cereal, cheetos, celery with pb…anything your child loves to consume! 

We are going to have a fun activity and I’m hoping a small service activity as well (I’m thinking of making holiday cards for the veteran’s home, placemats for Meals on Wheels or maybe pics for the local children’s home) I’m still waiting to hear back from a few places before deciding, but as soon as I know, I’ll let you know. I’d like to stay away from anything that involves donations. If you have any ideas that could be done for cheap during our feast, please feel free to text me at 239-810-7654.

As a side note, I’m also the VP on the MAPA board this year and would like to encourage everyone to take a minute to sign up for Track It Forward. This is the new program we’ll be using to not only track volunteer hours (40 per year per family) but to also take the place of wejoinin (or whatever that thing is called). If you do this, every student in your family will receive a free ticket for the Box Top Store Dec 20th. Just go to www.trackitforward.com/site/Mapa 

Dear parents,

Time seems to be flying by and before we know it, it will be the Christmas vacation! The class is planning to hold a Christmas lunch on Wednesday December 13th in the South Kiva. Ms. Alisha (our room mom) is making the arrangements and she will be contacting you all soon via email with the needs and requirements. It will be held in the morning, at roughly 11 am. All parents are welcome!

We also begin our country and continent report presentations on Tuesday next week. Each child will present a report, usually either by poster and/or PowerPoint, and if they wish, bring artifacts and/or food for the presentation. This is a prelude to the whole-school International Festival, which takes place on Wednesday December 20th from 9-11 am. More specific details about timings and food requirements for the International Festival will follow in the next post.

The school is keen for parents to complete the 2017 Parent Survey about the school. So, if you have a few spare minutes could you follow this link. Thank you!: http://www.advanc-ed.org/survey/public/section/response/begin?surveyConfigId=738200

We keep up with our IXL practice in the classroom. However, it is always good for students to practice at home. Here is the list of areas that can be tackled:

6th grade: A1 – A5 (whole numbers); B1 – B7 (multiplication); C1 – C6 (division); E1 – E9 (factors and multiples); F1 – F9 (decimals); G1 – G4 (decimal addition and subtraction); H1 – H4 (decimal multiplication and division); I1 – I10 (fraction review); J1 – J9 (add and subtract fraction); K1 – K13 (fraction multiplication); L1 – L8 (fraction division);  R1 – R9 (ratios & rates); S1 – S8 (percent).

5th grade: A1 – A7 (place values and number sense); B1 – B7 (addition and subtraction); C1 – C23 (multiplication); D1 – D16 (division); E1 – E3 (exponents); G1 – G17 (decimals); O1 – O4 (mixed operations).

4th grade: A1 – A9 (number sense); B1 – B7 (addition); C1 – C5 (subtraction); D1 – D8, D17 – D27 (multiplication).

Lastly, next Friday December 8th is an early out. School finishes at 1 pm.

Thank you and have a great week!

John