Dear parents,

Today I gave the students their final home project which is due the week beginning Monday May 14th. It is almost identical to the continent and country report before Christmas, except that as there is no school-wide fair, the presentations do not have to have a poster board. Of course, if your child wants to present with a poster board then that would be absolutely fine as well.

The students were sent home with a rubric, a package with some basic ideas about their continent and a letter of explanation for parents. Here is a list of students, their continents and countries:

4th grade

Anna – Europe and France

Beatriz – Europe and Italy

Boen – Australasia and Tuvalu

Brylie – South America and Peru

Grayson – Africa and Uganda

Kaylee – Africa and Congo

Mia – South America and Colombia

Nate – Australasia and Vanuatu

Taylor – Europe and Germany

5th grade

Alexis – Asia and China

Amelia – South America and Brazil

Bennett – Africa and Egypt

Grace – Asia and Vietnam

Jonah – South America and Chile

Jordan – Australasia and New Zealand

Kennedy – Africa and Mozambique

Skyler – Australasia and Fiji

6th grade

Charlie – South America and Argentina

Conner – Australasia and Australia

Jasmine – Asia and Japan

Joseph – Asia and Philippines

Maelee – Africa and Morocco

Matthew – Asia and Israel

Trey – Asia and Russia

Ximena – North America and Mexico

As usual, if you have any questions then please email me.

Thanks – John

Dear parents,

It looks as though we will have enough drivers to take us tomorrow on our field trip. Thank you! Students should be in Friday dress code and bring a sack lunch. The weather is going to be warm, just make sure that they have decent shoes to walk around. Please be at North Shore Parking lot at 8.30, we aim to leave by 8.45. Students will be back at school for 3 pm pick up.

Students who order pizza for Friday, I’ve asked them to leave the pizza in our classroom and the students can get their pizza when they return.

With thanks – John

Dear parents,

The field trip to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is next Friday March 30th. We’re still looking for drivers/chaperones, so if you can please contact either me or Ms. Alisha (eventhair@yahoo.com) ASAP. If you drive down, you don’t have to chaperone the children in the museum, as long as you can return us to MMA before 3 pm. I went to the museum before the makeover last year, so I don’t how it is now, but I was really impressed the times I had been down before. This is a great opportunity for the students to learn about and appreciate art from around the world and Utah – both ancient and modern.

We’re leaving the North Shore Parking Lot at 8.45 am and the tour begins at 10 am. The first installment is docent led, then we have an activity, followed by self-guiding around the museum. Lunch is a sack lunch between 11.30 and 12 pm. Children should come in Friday dress code and wear comfortable shoes/sneakers for walking. We aim to leave at about 1.45 pm, so we can be back at school for 3 pm pick up.

Thanks everyone!

John

Dear parents,

The Gala is coming up this weekend. If you still haven’t got any fixed plans on Saturday, why not go along! The proceeds from the Gala help the school with buying things like the crosswalk flashing lights, new PE equipment, and computers. This year we want to donate the money towards new playground equipment once the Junior High build is completed. Members of MAPA will be at the Northeast Corner of North Shore parking lot taking donations and selling Gala tickets this Wednesday and Thursday from 3-4 (drive thru style)!

This Friday is an early out, school finishes at 1 pm. Also, there is no school next Monday March 19th. Friday afternoon and Monday are being devoted to professional development for the teachers.

Spring Break is for the week of Monday April 2nd through Friday April 6th and our last field trip before this will be to the Utah Museum of Fine Art. This is a no cost field trip, but we would be reliant again on parent volunteer drivers. Please contact Alisha Coakley at eventhair@yahoo.com if you are interested in volunteering. The date has been moved to Friday March 30th.

Today we had an assembly with the Utah Opera, which was super fun and really engaged the students! Tomorrow we have the Biztown field trip for 5th graders and on Friday morning we will be making some Celtic Knots – an art project to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week and have a great weekend!

With thanks – John

Dear parents,

We are running short of snack volunteers for the rest of the school year. If you could sign up for a week, that would be super helpful. Here’s the link: https://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/atpix

Thank you!

Dear parents,

Last week was Literacy Week, with several events going on in the school: the spelling bee on Tuesday and our Literacy night on Thursday, ending up with a “readathon” on Friday afternoon, along with other literacy themes in the classroom. We’ve been reading the book “Wonder” in class and decorated our door with individual pictures and precepts from the book.

In math, the 6th graders have started working on algebraic equations and inequalities. The  5th graders are focusing more on fractions at the moment, specifically adding, subtracting and multiplying, and the 4th graders are recognizing mathematical patterns before moving on to fractions as well. A reminder of the IXL works that can be done now and in the near future:

6th grade: The following blocks should be continued to work on: I1 – I10 (fraction review); J1 – J9 (add and subtract fraction); K1 – K13 (fraction multiplication); L1 – L8 (fraction division);  M1 – M6 (integers); N1 – N11 (operations with integers); 01 011 (mixed operations); R1 – R9 (ratios & rates); S1 – S8 (percent); U1 – U7 (money problems); X1 – X6 (coordinate plane); Y1 – Y6, Y9 – Y14 (algebraic expression).

5th grade: The following blocks should be continued to work on: E1 – E3 (exponents); F1 – F7 (factors & multiples); G1 – G17 (decimals); H1 – H8 (add & subtract decimals); I1 – 19 (multiply decimals); J1 – J5 (divide decimals); K1 – K12 (fractions); L1 – L23 (add/subtract fractions); M1 – M10 (multiplying fractions); O1 – O4 (mixed operations); T1 – T5 (number sequences); V1 – V11 (variable expressions).

4th grade: The following blocks should be continued to work on: D17 – D27 (multiplication); E1 – E19 (division); F1 – F11 (mixed operations); H1 – H4 (function tables); L1 – L9 (patterns and sequences); M1 – M9 (money).

In cultural studies, the 6th graders have finished off working on the European Reformation with Henry VIII and will be moving back the geopolitical history of the USA, from Lewis and Clark’s exploration, through to the Civil War. The 5th graders have completed their studies of Greece, before moving onto their final ancient civilization: Rome. The 4th graders have been studying early man and neanderthals, before moving back to their historical studies of Utah by looking at the post-statehood era with reference to the economy and culture. All grades have been working on the tropical and temperate Forest biome, with reference to its fauna and flora, its position and influence on the planet and problems that it faces.

The 5th graders were given their Engineering project last week. They have been given a log book and asked to think about constructing something that can be of some practical use. This project was started by the school last year and we have provided a log book to help guide the students. Also, when looking on the web, there is plenty of help there. Here are some of the more promising websites:

Websites that offer engineering ideas and projects

http://www.education.com/science-fair/engineering/

http://www.projects.juliantrubin.com/science_fair_project/elementaryschool/5th_grade/5th_grade_engineering.html

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/Intro-Mechanical-Engineering.shtml

https://thehomeschoolscientist.com/100-engineering-projects-kids/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Project-Based-Engineering-for-Kids/

Or simply Google:

• Engineering projects for kids; or

• Engineering project ideas for 5^th grade

I hope this helps and please email me if you have any questions. The projects will be displayed in the school Kivas from March 28th – 30th. The students will also present to the class.

The 4th graders were also given their Utah History Detective Project this week. This can be sourced from seven potential areas: Utah culture, economics, geography, history, political science, sociology and local history. There are a variety of ways to present their project (71 listed!) and the standard way that students used last year was with a poster board. The project packet contains a list of websites for them to access, along with research possibilities at the local libraries. Presentation is for the days of April 12th – 13th and again will be displayed in the Kivas with an in-class presentation.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Many thanks – John