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Christmas brunch, 6th grade field trip to The Planetarium, Aerospace museum and JA Biztown

Dear parents,

Firstly, just a reminder that there is an early out this Monday December 10th. Please arrange to collect your children at 1 pm.

On Tuesday 11th we are having our Christmas brunch from 10-11. I believe that Ms. Alisha has emailed everyone asking for help and donations. Here is the link on ‘trackitforward:” https://www.trackitforward.com/site/389525/event/446054 to sign up for donations. If you could bring your food at least 30 minutes before the event, or if possible, and even better, the day before, that would be great!

On Wednesday, the 6th graders are going to The Planetarium. Here is the information about times (I apologize, I put the time out for the return from the previous years. This is the correct schedule:)

Arrive at Ogden Frontrunner at 7:20 a.m.  Leave Ogden Frontrunner Station at 7:37 a.m.  Arrive at Salt Lake Central at 8:36 a.m. Take the blue line Trax at 8:43 a.m. Arrive at Clark Planetarium at 8:47 a.m.

Leave Clark Planetarium at 2:00 p.m. Take the blue line Trax at 2:12 p.m. Arrive at Salt Lake Central at 2:17 p.m.  Get on the frontrunner at 2:25 p.m. Arrive at Ogden Frontrunner Station at 3:24 p.m.

Please make arrangements to have your child picked up at the Frontrunner Station no later than 3:25 p.m.  

Ms. Alisha has also put a link for the field trip to the Aerospace Museum on Tuesday December 18th: https://www.trackitforward.com/site/389525/event/448689. Please sign up if you can volunteer to chaperone for that day. We are leaving from North Shore parking lot at 8:45, spending the morning there, and then returning around midday to MMA.

5th grade parents! If you are interested in chaperoning for the JA Biztown trip on January 18th, then please email me. Ideally, we are looking for two parents, but if more choose to volunteer, then that is fantastic for helping with the whole trip. If you haven’t sent back your permission slips for this field trip, please do so ASAP.

Thank you everybody for all your support! I realize there is a lot of things going on at the moment, so please email me if you have any questions! There will be a separate post for 6th grade parents regarding STARBASE after this one.

Thanks again – John

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Information and dates for all parents. Then 6th grade parents only.

Dear parents,

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving Break and now we are looking ahead to the Christmas Holiday Break. We are presently doing some art work for the Hallway display called “agamographs.” Here is a quick 20 second YouTube clip, which shows what an agamograph is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNmVsB0W01w. Our theme is Christmas in countries around the world.

We are also planning a Christmas feast on Tuesday December 11th in the morning from 10-11 am. This will be in the form of a brunch and Ms. Alisha is organizing the food. Here is a list of ideas for the food. Please contact Alisha at to help: eventhair@yahoo.com.

  • Quiche
  • Fruit
    Bagels and cream cheese
    Donuts or cinnamon rolls
    Bacon or sausage
  • Hashbrowns or potatoes
  • Waffles or pancakes
  • Milk
    Choc milk
    Orange juice
  • Salt and pepper
    Ketchup
    Hot sauce
    Butter
    Cups
    Utensils
    Plates
    Bowls
    Napkins
On Thursday December 6th there is a parent education evening from 5:30-6:30. Here is the information about the evening:
Mark your calendars for an exciting, educational evening. Our teachers have heard you and understand that you would like more knowledge about what Montessori looks, sounds, and feels like, how it can benefit you and your child, and a better connection to some of its vocabulary. We will host a night with two prime topics being featured: Grace and Courtesy (Communication, Independence, Movement, and Self-Discipline) and The Benefits of Montessori (how it differs from traditional schooling). After a short introduction together in the small gym, we will break out into groups to discuss the two topics. We look forward to seeing you all there! Any questions can be directed to sellis@mariamontessoriacademy.org or jhall@mariamontessoriacademy.org. 
On Monday December 10th there is a professional development afternoon for teachers, meaning this day is an early out. Please ensure that your child is picked up at 1 pm.
On Tuesday December 18th we have our last field trip for the year. It will be to the Aerospace Museum at Hill Airforce Base. I sent the permission slips home with the children this week, please return these as soon as you can. We meet at North Shore Parking Lot at 8:45, have a workshop at 9:30 and will leave the museum at 12:10. Please email Ms. Alisha (eventhair@yahoo.com) to volunteer for car pooling/chaperoning.
Finally, dates for the holiday break: the last day of school is Friday December 21st. We return to school on Thursday January 3rd.
This is all the information for all parents. The following is for 6th grade only. 4th and 5th grade parents, there is no more information for you, but any questions, please email me.
Important dates for 6th grade parents:
Monday December 10th: we are showing a science fair movie at 10 am. Please sign the permission slip giving permission for your child to see the movie.
Wednesday December 12th: field trip to the Clark Planetarium. Meet at Ogden Frontrunner station at 7:20 am. Train returns at 2:50 pm. All permission slips have been returned for this field trip.
Monday January 7th, Tuesday January 15th, Wednesday January 23rd, Wednesday January 30th, and Wednesday February 6th: these are dates for the STARBASE Camp at Hill Air Force Base that we are running to supplement the 6th grade science curriculum. There are two permission slips to complete, one for the school and one for STARBASE Camp. Information about the camp can be found at: http://www.starbasehill.com. This was run for two 6th grade classes last year and was so popular that we decided to roll it out for all 6th graders. More information about transportation options will follow.
Again, any questions, please email me.
Thank you – John
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Ogden Electric Lights Parade on November 24th

Dear parents,

Here is some information about the Ogden Electric Lights Parade that our marketing committee has asked teachers to post on their blogs:

November 24th is the annual Ogden Electric Lights Parade. Our school will be represented and the marketing committee has come up with a float that will represent MMA. 

We are looking for students from MMA who would like to be part of our parade! The meeting place will be in front of the Ogden Temple. The parade starts promptly at 5:30pm. The floats will be lined up at 5pm.

Students under 12 years and you get must ride in the trailer or truck. If you are over the age of 12 then you may walk next to the float. Students who ride or walk will be carrying white peace signs or holding tea lights.

If your child would like to be a part of the parade then we will have waivers to sign in front of the temple. 

The parade starts on 22nd and Washington and then ends at 27th. My advice would be for our MMA parents whose child(ren) are in the parade park towards the end of the parade so when we are done you can find your child. 

We have some, but if your child would like to wear glow necklaces and bracelets during the parade we highly suggest the more the better! (It is a light parade!) the glow wear is also our symbol to honor Troy and Molly Cox. 

If you have any questions you can ask Autumn in the office or me- Ms. Kaley. I will do my best to answer anything I know 🙂

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Science Fair, Invention Convention, STEM week January 14-18

Dear parents,

Today I gave the 6th graders a small packet with information about the science fair. The science fair takes place on Wednesday January 16th  and as we progress closer to the date, I will be giving out more information. Just to start though, I have included the background research plan and suggested to the students that they begin to give some thought to what they will be doing their project on. There are of course a lot of sites that can offer free information, or science fair kits to purchase, and again I will be giving out more information in the near future, but this is just an initial post to give you the heads up.

Background-Research-Plan_1

I also gave the 5th graders the packet to plan for the ‘Invention Convention.” This will take place in the week beginning January 14th. Again, I suggested that they start to think about a possible project to do. Of course, it is hard to come up with something truly original, but there are plenty of websites to look at online that have lots of ideas. At the back of the packet I gave them, there is a list of possible websites (but not on the digital copy here).

Engineeringfairlogbook.docx_

The 4th graders will be doing a collaborative STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) project in school for that week beginning  January 14th and more information will be coming out in the near future.

Tomorrow, Friday, there is the Cultural Fair from 1-2:45. If your child has not brought their poster in, please make sure that they do.

Again, next week there is no school. School restarts on Monday, November 26th.

Thanks everybody, and if I don’t get a chance to post before next Thursday – Happy Thanksgiving!

John

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The week before Thanksgiving

Dear parents,

In the next week we will be celebrating Veteran’s Day tomorrow and then investigating subjects related to Thanksgiving such as the Mayflower Compact and first Thanksgiving. On Wednesday, we will begin our project presentations, before having the school-wide cultural festival on Friday from 1-2:45 – all parents are welcome to attend. Please remember, presentations should be on a tri-fold poster board.

In math, the 6th graders are looking at coordinate graphing, the 5th graders, division and decimal operations and the 4th graders, multiplication strategies. We will be using the theme of Thanksgiving to produce a narrative writing and reviewing our figurative language.

The following week from Monday November 19th through Friday 23rd, there will be no school.

Again, if you have any questions, please email me.

With thanks – John

 

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What’s going on in the classroom; early out Monday; projects

Dear parents,

We are now over the first quarter and the classroom tends to take on more of a fixed routine, with usually some assembly, or activity going on each week as well. Firstly, we are very fortunate to have one of our parents, Jane McAdams, teach our students the art of writing. Jane has a over 15 years experience teaching writing in college classes, High School, Junior High and elementary. This takes place every Wednesday morning for about an hour and at the moment focuses on parts of speech as well.

In the classroom, we have been looking at narrative and opinion writing and we use Scholastic News magazines to focus on reading comprehension. We have independent and small group reading going on, as well as looking at figurative language (for example: similes, metaphor, hyperbole and personification).

We alternate weeks of vocabulary practice with spelling and you should see your students’ spelling words recorded in their planner, so that they can practice at home. Please make sure that you sign your child’s planner each day and if time allows, help them with their spelling.

Regarding math, the 6th graders have been focusing on and reviewing fractions, multiplication, division, factors and multiples, and decimal operations, before moving on to rational numbers (the positive and negative number system). The 5th graders have been building on their multiplication and division skills, before moving onto decimal operations. The 4th graders are also developing their multiplication and division skills, before going on to fractions.

In social (or cultural) studies, we are continuing with our examination of the causes of the Revolutionary War. On Friday, the students were exposed to a simple taxation system in the classroom, but without any (political) representation of how their studies or routine could be structured.

Next week is Red Ribbon Week and we will be having an assembly on Tuesday morning, door decorating on Wednesday and judging on Thursday. There will also be lessons catered to the theme of Red Ribbon Week.

A reminder that our projects are due the following week. I originally said November 13th, but as the school-wide cultural festival has now been moved to November 16th, that due date is now November 14th. The theme of the project is, “what do we celebrate about America?” Presentations have to be on a tri-fold poster board.

Lastly, this Monday November 5th is an early out. Please make arrangements to pick up your child at 1 pm.

Thank you and enjoy the extra hour!

John

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New project, no school Thursday and Friday

Dear parents,

There is no school this Thursday and Friday. Normal service resumes on Monday.

Today I gave the students their next Home Project. This will be in the theme of “what do we celebrate about America?” Students can choose from a variety of subjects and this morning we brainstormed 30 or 40 topics. For example:

  • Freedom
  • The constitution
  • Systems of government
  • The armed forces
  • Independence and revolution
  • National celebrations
  • American presidents
  • Great Americans
  • Civil Rights
  • Natural resources
  • Industry
  • Exports
  • National Parks and Monuments
  • Nature and wildlife
  • Food
  • Sport
  • NASA
  • Emancipation

The students can be as specific, or detailed as they want with their poster/presentation. For example, if they choose to do the armed forces, they might want to concentrate on perhaps the Marines, or the Coastguard, or the Navy. Maybe they want to get very specific and talk about the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. Likewise, with great Americans, they may want to hone in on Martin Luther King for example, or for National Parks they could look at perhaps the National Parks of Utah, or maybe focus on one, such as, Zion. It is a wide-ranging topic and how they choose to do this is essentially up to them. However, there is the expectation that it is neat, well-researched, with photos and explanations.

The students have been given a packet that serves as a guide to researching and preparing their poster. The expectation is that they complete this packet as well, so as to demonstrate the amount of research that has been done.

The presentation has to be in the form of a tri-fold poster. This is because the students will be presenting in class and then part of a school-wide cultural festival. The due date is November 13th and the cultural festival will take place on November 15th.

As usual, if you have any questions regarding the project please email me.

Thank you and I hope that you enjoy your break!

John