Hello!
Thank Yous:
First off, thank you parents for getting my last minute email about the field trip and getting your child to MMA or Black Island Farms on time! A big thank you is in order for those who came with us and helped drive some students. The students had a great time!
Also, thank you Kristy for helping on Friday afternoon with science.
Halloween:
This approaching Friday is Halloween. It sounds like Jaida is putting together some great activities for the students. Students will be doing studio in the morning from 8:40-11:30. We eat lunch from 11:30-12:15. Our holiday party will take place at 1pm. I will round up the troops at 12:45 from outside. When they come in, I’ll have them at circle and then allow the parents who are coming to explain what the activities are. It works best if a child chooses what they want to do and how long they want to stay. This has worked out better than a rotation.
Volunteer Opportunities for Reading (Committed Volunteers):
I am great need of some parents who can come in and read and do word sorts with our students. We have 5 reading groups. This approaching week I am going to transition the students into doing the Daily 5 reading/writing activities in the afternoon. Monday is the hardest day since we have PE from 12:30-1:10 and then Spanish from 1:10-2pm. Spanish is split into 2 groups.
Who I Need:
*We have our Middle School helper until 10:30am Mondays and Wednesdays. Brannock will be taught how to do word sorts this week. He will be trained this Wednesday from 8:30am-9:55am. If you would like to volunteer to do word sorts please let me know right away and you can most likely attend the training with Brannock on Wednesday morning.
* Fluency strip volunteer (Morning) (let me know what time you can do)
* Bob book/Reading for All Learners (RFAL) volunteer (Morning) (let me know what time you can do)
* Word sorts volunteer (Morning and/or afternoon) (let me know what time you can do)
* Afternoon Read to Someone volunteer (1pm? let me know what time you can do)
So, here is what I would like to try (thinking out loud:
Monday: Brannock in classroom to do sorts, Bob books volunteer
Tuesday: Fluency strips volunteer, RFAL volunteer, Word Sorts volunteer
Wednesday: Brannock in classroom to do sorts, Bob books volunteer
Thursday: Fluency strips volunteer, RFAL volunteer, Word Sorts volunteer, Afternoon Read to Someone volunteer
Starting our Daily 5 reading/writing afternoon work cycle, Ms. LaVonna and I will work with our 5 reading groups. Groups not with a teacher will be choosing one of the other 4 choice rotations. We will be doing the Daily 5 from 12:30-1:30. At 1:30 I will start cultural. Students who finish cultural or are waiting to do cultural will continue to do their Daily 5 choices.
Homework:
– Have students read 20 minutes (especially Level 1s). Have them read to you and make sure to stop and ask comprehension questions along the way. You can create your own home “word wall” too. If your child doesn’t know a word, write that word down on a notecard/piece of paper and stick it to a wall to practice reading and saying until they learn the word. Always revisit past words.
-Practice spelling words with your child for their test on Thursdays. Can they read, say, and spell the word? Have them alphabetize their spelling flash cards. Those who want to work on cursive (especially Level 3s) can practice writing their words in cursive. Have your student make another set of spelling cards and they can then play memory with the two sets- a sibling can help and/or play
–3rd grade parents: A program called IXL is a program our classroom is using to help 3rd graders practice Common Core Math and Language Arts questions. If your 3rd grader practices their IXL every week, you will be helping them prepare for their Utah State Tests in the Spring.
Logins for IXL will go out soon once they are activated.
Typing is also great practice. Your 3rd grader will be doing a new typing program in the classroom called Typing Web. This can also be worked on at home. I give your child their login info this week. You can also have them do the BBC free typing program online. Google: BBC typing and it should pop up.
– I will be posting the first book report in the next blog post. Book reports will be DUE: November 17th
Materials Night at MMA!
Get Down And Dirty
With the
Montessori Materials
Maria Montessori Academy
Wednesday November 12, 2014
6:30-8:30
Have you ever wondered why your child is playing with beads all day, what snake game is, or how a checkerboard teaches multiplication? Join us for an evening of getting “down and dirty” with the Montessori materials. Bring your adult friends and neighbors for an opportunity to experience math, language and science, as you never have before! All of our teachers will be here to give lessons and answer questions related to the MMA curriculum.
Try your hand at balancing algebra and using test tube to do long division in a way that will blow your mind. See the transition of the math materials from preschool through the junior high level and learn about how our beads actually help us understand the square root of numbers!
Watch the progression of the grammar materials; from common and proper nouns to prepositional phrases. Discover the meaning of etymology and see how it can actually be fun! See why our children LOVE to learn! Participate in hands-on science and social studies lessons that will solidify your understanding of microorganisms, invertebrates, the rock-cycle, electricity and more!
This evening will be an open house event from 6:30-8:30 but we suggest coming early because we know, that just like the children, you won’t want to leave when it’s over. Remember this is an adult-only night for MMA parents and other community members.
We look forward to sharing our passion for education with you and we know that you’ll learn something new!
I will be teaching the Word Study Tower 🙂
Phew! I hope that is everything I needed to update you on. Please email me if you’d like to help volunteer!
We will be doing History this coming week. We finished Botany this past week for cultural. Here are some things you can ask your child about this past week:
Level 1s: had a Geometry lesson about 3 kinds of triangles (equilateral: all equal sides, isosceles: 2 equal sides, and scalene: no equal sides). See if they can explain the 3 kinds to you. You can draw out the 3 kinds and have them try and remember. They also learned about things made from plants in Botany this week. Have a convo about things made from plants.
Level 2s: had a Geometry lesson about 4 kinds of angles (right angle= 90 degrees, straight= 180 degrees, acute=less than 90, obtuse=more than 90). Have your 2nd grader draw out the 4 kinds to you and name them. They also learned about simple margins and compound margins of a leaf. Have them explain the difference to you. Here is what that looks like:
Level 3s: had a lesson about regular and irregular polygons. Have them work on naming and identifying triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, octagons, nonagons, and decagons. Can they tell you the difference between and regular polygon and an irregular? Here is what that looks like:
Have a great upcoming week!
Cheers!
Ms. K
