Ms. Kaley's Classroom Room 24

Hello Everyone!

Great Lessons- We began our Great Lessons this week.  We got through Lessons 1-3, which are: The Birth of the Universe, Coming of Life, and Coming of Humans.  I also explained to them what a theory is and that our school, The Great Lessons are 1 scientific theory out there and that there are many more theories out there, but it will be up to you, as the child, what theory you want to believe, but just know that there are others out there too.  The kids loved learning about what scientists have known so far and then getting to different activity choices based on the Great Lesson of the day.  Students could learn more about the lesson through a few activity choices or they got to tell about one of the theories they believed through the other activity choices.  This coming week, we will talk about The History of Language/Writing and The History of Math in the afternoons.

Work Cycle- Work cycle will begin this coming week!  You child will have daily lessons whether through small groups, by class level, or working on their own.  On the days you child does not meet up with me for a lesson or check in they will be responsible for completing works on the shelves and assignments until their next meet up with me.

Documents for the Year!

Below are the documents I handed out at Back to School Night.  I have all our field trips and home assignments ready to go for the year.  Please SAVE THEM or print them out where you and your child can see what is coming up.  I am sorry I didn’t get a chance to post these earlier on in the week, but here they are!  The attachment for media on the blog won’t attach (grrr…), so here they are copied.

Project Schedule for Ms. Kaley’s Classroom

September- Book Report on favorite book

DUE- Friday the 23rd

October- Project to present to PTC on any cultural subject from the classroom

DUE- When parent signs up on either 17^th, 18^th, or 19th

November- Book Report on Non-fiction (Animal or Person/Historical)

DUE- Friday the 18th

December- International Festival

DUE- Tuesday the 20th

January- Book Report on any Fiction choice

DUE- Friday the 27th

February- Project and will be a free choice

DUE- Friday the 24th

March- Book Report on Fractured Fairy Tales or Poetry

April- Project on science – DUE Friday the 24th

*3^rd Grade Science Fair- DUE Thursday the 23rd

May- Book Report on Science Fiction or Fantasy

DUE- Thursday the 18^th

 

When we have book reports, here are the presentation options:

Book Report Presentation Choices

*You may only do 1 choice once

 

___Book cover

___Oral report to the teacher and/or class

___1 page written report

___A wanted poster for a character in your book

___Poster advertising your book

___Design a bookmark

___Make a poem about your book

___Create a picture book about your favorite parts from the beginning, middle, and end

___Create a video about the book

___Dress up as favorite character and tell about the book

___Create a mobile with 5 events

___Write and draw an alternative ending

___Create a timeline with at least 10 events

___Draw a map describing places

___Create a travel brochure

___Make a puppet show explaining your book

___Create a board game

___Diorama of a scene

___Do a 1 page report about the author

___Create a week long journal as if you were the character

 

Field Trips for Ms. Kaley’s Class 2016-2017

September– Gary Hogge author visit (in school)

October– Black Island Farms on the 26^th @ 9:00am (meet there)

January – Nature Center Date TBA

February– Reptile Scales and Tails Show (in school) on the 8^th

March– Birds Scales and Tails Show (in school) on the 29^th

April– Discovery Gateway on the 26^th, taking UTA, meet at Wall Ave. UTA station at 8:10am

May– Ogden Botanical Gardens and Dinosaur Park

*Another field trip MAY be added.  It is being worked out.

Looking for in class speakers for:

• Meteorologist
• Nurse
• Doctor or specialist
• Dentist or hygienist
• Bee Keeper

Please email me if you know someone in these fields!  I would love to have more professional presenters comes in and help extend our cultural programs!

Pizza Friday is Coming! On Friday, a Pizza Friday form was sent out with your child.  Have them check their backpacks.  I only had a few that stayed behind in our classroom, so let me know if you would like another one.  The form is for the whole year (if you would like).  Pizza starts in September and is $1.75 PER SLICE.  You are welcome to buy as many slices as you would like 🙂

5K- Please sign up for the 5K MMA Color Run that is happening on September 17th!  There’s a pancake breakfast after!

 

Past Week- I got to begin cultural lessons this past week.  We started with History.

Level 1s: Calendar parts (days of the week, months of the year, writing the date)

Level 2s: Matter (solids, liquids, gases)

Level 3s: Story of Life, Eras intro with the Clock of Eras

Science Fridays- Cohesion

Reading Groups also began this week.  Emilee and I split our time between 5 groups.  They are groups A, B, C, D, E, and F.  You child is not permanent to one group.  They can go from one group to another as progress has been built.  Groups A and B are seen Mon-Thurs.  Groups C, D, E , and F are seen 2x a week.  Groups E and F are reading their own leveled book, but are following the same responses.  Groups C-F went to the Library to get their reading group books.  If you signed up at Back to School Night to help with reading, that help will begin after October 1st.  I want to try and get those interested to come in after school one day so I and maybe someone from the reading team can get trained on some tools we use for beginning reading

Reading Homework will also begin in a few weeks.  The reading team has a week long reading homework page that will be for readers on the 1st grade reading level.  So, if you have a 3rd grader reading on a 1st grade level, this homework will come home with your child.  In order to help our school improve on their Literacy Plan, it will be up to your family to have your child work on that weekly homework and turn it in on Fridays.  The reading passage will go out on Mondays and will need to be returned on Friday.  I will be contacting the families who’s children will be going home with this extra practice as soon as reading levels are established.

First Book Report is DUE SEPTEMBER 23rd.  Your child is to present their favorite book through one of the book report presentation choices.  I highly recommend they reread their favorite book again in order to remember what they might need for one of the presentation choices.

Take care and have a great rest your weekend and upcoming week

Cheers!

Ms. K

 

 

Hello Everyone!

 

We made it through the 1st week of school!  We had such a great week too.  We played group games, read books, went over procedures and rules, and got to know one another.

Lunch observations- Some things that I noticed is that a lot of kiddos are not bringing their own forks, spoons, and knives in order to eat their lunches.  We only have back up cutlery.  Please do pack your child some utensils.  The microwave went pretty well this week too.  For those of you who are precooking Ramen noodles, thank you thank you!!

Back to School Night Thank You and Forms!- For those of you who came to Back to School Night, it was so nice to see you!  Thank you for stopping by and picking up your forms.  I will be posting the forms that I handed out later tonight or earlier this week.  I am currently at the school getting all the kid’s warm ups ready for half the year.

This Coming Week- This week are full days.  Dismissal is at 3:00pm.  We will begin our Great Lessons and start slowly working into our work cycle schedule.  I am going to feel out reading groups and do them at the times they will be during our normal schedule.  Cultural lessons will also begin.  History will be first and will last an entire week.  Zoology/Physiology will be the next week, Geography the next, and then Botany.

Snack- I do need someone to sign up for snack!  Ari’s family was nice enough to provide us with this past week’s snack.  We are now going into Week 2, so if you would like to provide snack, please sign up to the right of our blog where it says SNACK.

Have a great rest of your weekend and new week!

Cheers!

Ms. K

Hello Everyone!

This past Friday, 10 of the new 1st graders came for orientation!  That’s a great turn out!  Thank you for giving your child that opportunity to see their new classroom, meet me, and prepare for tomorrow.

 

Back to School Night!

This coming week we have Back to School Night on Thursday the 18th.  If you are brand new to Montessori, I highly recommend you come at 6:30 to our Montessori 101 half hour presentation in the Library.  From 7-8 will be open house style in our classroom.  I usually give out important handouts that will be relevant for the whole year.  It also gives you an opportunity to see our room and ask Emilee and I questions.  I look forward to seeing new and veteran parents on Thursday!

Can I Help my Child to Your Room?

Now that school is about to begin tomorrow, if your child is unable to carry his/her own supplies, we will have your child drop them off at the front of the school since we are beginning normalization and parents will not be permitted to go back to our classroom.  Please make sure your child’s supplies are bagged with their NAMES ON THE BAG.  Emilee and I will be sorting the rest of the supplies tomorrow after school and it is very helpful if a name is on those things that need to be labeled.

Early Out Week

Please remember that this whole week will be 1pm dismissals.  Please pack your child a lunch!

Snack & Lunches

Our school requires health food options for both snack time and in lunches.  No drinks with colored dyes,   sodas, sweets/treats, or food that needs heating up more than 2:00 mins.  Cup of Noodles and Ramen take FOREVER to get soft.  Your child doesn’t get enough time to eat them.  I understand that they are easy to pack, but they need to be PRECOOKED and ready to go if you choose that food for your child.  Easy Mac isn’t as bad, but it still is a food that needs a little bit of cooking time.  If we have half our class waiting for the microwave, then eating time is very limited.  If you can, I recommend a non-heatable lunch.

Snack time is 2 people at a time.  This coming week we will do group snack for a couple of days, but then begin to practice our 2 person snack pull.

• IMPORTANT: We have a child with a nut allergy.  Please no peanut butter or nut products this year.  I will give more info as I get more info from the parents.  Thanks!
• Can anyone bring in snack for the week starting tomorrow? (Email me and let me know.  First come first serve!) I will reset the snack sign up tomorrow after school.

5K Race for the Redwoods Fundraiser

On September 17th, we are holding our annual 5K fundraiser.  This fundraiser helps support the 6th grade field trip to the Redwoods.  This year will be a color run!! Please sign up to race through this link:

 https://www.raceentry.com/races/mma-annual-5k-family-color-fun-run/2016/register 

 

Take care and have a great rest of your weekend and last day of summer!

Cheers!

Ms. K

Hello Everyone!

 

This Friday, August 12th, is a small student orientation for all 1st graders and brand new students coming to the school.  As of right now, the only new students for our class are the 1st graders, but that could change over the year.  I hope to see all 11 first graders come from 1:00pm until 1:45pm.  They don’t have to be in school dress code for the 45 minute orientation.  I highly highly recommend they bring their supplies.  I’ll be seeing everyone shortly!

If anyone else would like to drop off their supplies early, I am here this week 🙂

Please remember that next Monday is the first day and that every day next week is a 1pm dismissal.