Archive for the Holidays Category

Week 16 Recap

Posted in Classroom, Holidays | No Comments »

Hi Everyone!

We have an eventful upcoming week!

Monday– Monday evening is the Winter Concert.  Students who come should be dressed in solid colored black pants and a solid colored shirt.  Students should arrive at the school at 6:15pm.  It will take place in the large gym that is in the Junior High.

Wednesday– Wednesday is our winter feast day!  Please remember to go to Track It Forward and look at December 19th for our sign up.  If you are bringing food or supplies, please please please have your signed up items in the south kiva no later than 11:45am.  This way we can have everything set up and when students come in from recess we can get started.  If you are planning on attending our luncheon, please be at the school by 11:50am.  This way you can get seated and when the students come back inside they can join you.  After our feast is all done, you may check your child out, if you wish.

Friday–  Friday afternoon is our Holiday party.  This party will take place at 12:45pm.  If you are planning on coming to help out and set up, please come at 11:30am and you can get set up while the kids are outside playing.  We will eat outside in the kiva while set up is going on.  Our room mother has a sign up on Track It Forward for December 21st.  Please visit Track It Forward to sign up on our event!

This coming week will bring a lot of excitement for our students and some out of schedule events (as stated above).  Some students are very sensitive to these kinds of changes and may not be able to express these feelings in words on how they are feeling.  Please remember to check in with your child and help reiterate that while we will be doing some fun activities, it is still school and school rules still apply.  December is an eager month for students and their emotions run high.  If you are able to make it to our feast and help out at our party to help, Ms. Misha and I would greatly appreciate it!  Thanks!

 

Past Week:

This past week we got to Zoology lessons in cultural.  Our 3rd graders were very happy to finally have it be their turn to make the Annelid earthworm model.  Students reviewed the parts of an earthworm and they should be able to tell you the basics of an earthworm.

Level 1s: Kinds of amphibians

Level 2s: Internal parts of a reptile

Level 3s: Earthworm models and review

The Lower El teachers had a representative from the computer reading program Imagine Learning on Wednesday after school.  To have your child get the correct amount of time on the program, we bumped the time up to 45 minutes when our class has the COW on Wednesday afternoon.  Students can also log on at home too to ensure their minutes and effectiveness of the program.

We’ve been talking about informational reading and writing and this week our students started on their Holiday from another country learning.  Students will work more on their reading and writing this coming week.

On Tuesday we had fun reviewing what a fact vs opinion is with each writing group.  For two of the groups we read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.  It is a book about the Big Bad Wolf’s perspective on what he believes what happened to The Three Little Pigs.  The groups then picked apart what the facts were from the story and what the opinions were.

Colds and Illnesses:  Classrooms have been experiencing many students with colds, including ours.  Even with an eventful week ahead of us, if your child isn’t feeling well, please let them stay home and rest.

 

Our blog will be on Christmas vacation beginning at the end of the week!  I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday break and safe travels to anyone going anywhere!  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!   Looking forward to seeing you all this week for our events!

Don’t forget about STEM Fair coming up in January!  Please review the previous posts and/or the project tab up top!

Ms. Kaley and Ms. Misha

Week 15 Recap

Posted in Classroom, Holidays | No Comments »

Hello!

Holiday Feast December 19th

Our sign up for our Holiday feast is up on Track It Forward.  I have the food sign up available.  We will be doing soup options for our luncheon.  Please check out our sign up sheet.  We will be having immediate families joining us and some siblings, please plan for a crowd.

Snack Needed

We are in need of snack for the next two weeks.  We went through what was left for everyone to have something for snack this past week, but ran out by Friday.  The sign up on Track it Forward.

Our Holiday Party will be December 21st from 12:45pm-2:30pm

This past week in cultural lessons we did Botany, History, and Geography

Level 1s: How plants grow, Land and water landforms

Level 2s: Leaf venation symmetry, time to 5 minutes review, Earthquake parts and how they happen

Level 3s: Silurian period, Momentum in physics

Science- STEM activities

Our students were introduced to what Information writing and reading was this past Monday.  This week we will go over what a fact vs opinion is and do some practice activities.

Reminder- Monday is an early out!  Please have your student picked up at 1pm.

Week 14 Recap

Posted in Classroom, Holidays, Home Projects, Math, Reading, Shared School, Word Study | No Comments »

Hello All!

Thank you to everyone for a smooth field trip this past Friday.  The kids had a great time and they said they really enjoyed the workshop on simple machines.

STEM Fair Projects:  LE display the week of Jan 22nd.  Projects Due January 18th.

In January the school will host a STEM Fair display.  I talked to the kids this week on what their focuses will be:

1st grader’s projects:  Research a famous scientist and create a project about their life and what they did for science (what made them famous?)

2nd grade’s projects:  A simple science experiment that the student can do the scientific method on.  2nd graders should be able to: 1. Pick a focus (a topic), 2. Create a hypothesis for their topic, 3.  Conduct the experiment (take pictures/video for presentation display!) *include materials/supply list for experiment! *can the experiment be conducted multiple times? What kind of results happen each time, 4.  Write down observations, 5. Make a conclusion and was their hypothesis correct or incorrect?

3rd grader’s projects:  Choose between a project on a simple machine OR a demonstration that explains one of Newton’s Laws of Motion or a demonstration on how momentum or acceleration works.  3rd graders’ projects should be a display that can explain the meaning of the simple machine or laws of motion, explain why/how it works, and how it relates to real life.

 

Past Week:

3rd graders were excited to learn about round worms (such as earthworms).  We went over the parts of an earthworm and what they do.  We also looked at other kinds of Annelids such as leeches and how they are parasites.  2nd graders reviewed amphibians and the life cycle of a frog.  Since we have the COW on Wednesday afternoons, some 2nd graders got started on reading and researching on an amphibian of their choice.  1st graders learned what an amphibian is and learned they go through a change called “metamorphosis.”

3rd graders have now had a lesson on division with remainders (such as 67 divided by 8).  We will continue practicing this skill and then will work with a triple digit dividend and then move into division with a double digit divisor.  The 3rd graders have seen division in multiple ways with the use of our Test Tube material and also on a white board.  I’ve tied in their division into their multiplication, so they can see how the two are similar to each other.  A skill that is challenging for almost all our 3rd graders is a missing multiplier or missing multiplicand.  This is also true when it comes to division (ex. A x 6= 24 or 28 divided A= 4.

2nd graders are working towards seeing how addition and multiplication are similar.  This week they saw how when numbers go over 10 in a given place value the steps to solve in either addition or multiplication are similar on our materials.

1st graders have begun what we call dynamic addition.  Dynamic is when a given place value goes over 10 and there is exchanging that is needed.  We are starting basic right now, going up to just the 10s place.  As the skill develops they will work with addition that goes up to the thousands place.  This week we will look at subtraction and begin practicing.  1st graders will then have addition and subtraction skills to practice during the week.  After Winter break they will look at multiplication and see how multiplication and addition are similar.  Subtraction skills will also continue.

We begun an important prompt this past week.  It is the 1st summative writing assessment given this year.  After every 2 themes there is an assigned writing prompt that is used to see if they are applying the needed skills they have learned in their writing lessons.  1st graders should be able to write 3-4 complete sentences, 2nd graders should have a fluid beginning/middle/end to their story, and 3rd should apply what 2nd graders do, but be able to add dialogue to their writing.  This coming week the students are working on finishing up their drafts, edits, and revisions, and move into their final drafts.

 

Upcoming Week:

There is a Parent Night on December 6th at 5:30pm on how a Montessori Class runs and what expectations your child should be applying.  It will go over what makes a Montessori school different from other public schools and what student life at a Montessori school is like.  Please check out the Montessori Monday Moments that was just sent out.  The flyer is located on there.

Ms. Clarissa, our music teacher, is hosting a Winter Concert on December 17th at 5:30pm.  The flyer for the concert is also on the MMM that was just sent out.  Our child has been practicing for weeks in music class! Mark your calendars!

Please note that on December 10th, next Monday, is an early out.

This week I am going to create a sign up on Track It Forward for our annual Holiday Feast!  Our classroom feast will be December 19th at 12:00pm.  Immediate family members are invited to join your child.  The sign up will be for food.  Part of the sign up will be for each level to make something for the feast.  I should have that sign up out by the end of the week so that gives about 2 weeks of preparation.  Our feast will go until about 1pm.  Some years it has gone over 1pm by just a little bit.  The students also present Winter holidays in December from around the world.  We’ll see if we continue that or we change it up some.  Students are welcome to be checked out after the feast.

December Challenge!  Now that we are in December I have a challenge for the students!  If everyone completes their Spiral Maths, Word Works, Text Times, and writings before recess on Fridays in December then we can watch a Christmas movie in the afternoon.  Help encourage your child!  Spiral Math is only 1 column a day.  I tell the students to complete it right after circle time in the morning.  Word Work is also a few language exercises each day.  Text time is the shortest.  It is a short passage and then there are 3-4 questions about the reading.  If everyone followed the exercises then everyone would be done by the end of Thursday (All the exercises in Spiral Math and Word Work are Mondays-Thursdays).

Have a great upcoming week and rest of your weekend.  Happy December and for anyone who celebrates or that you know celebrates Hanukkah!

Ms. Kaley and Ms. Misha

Week 11 Recap

Posted in Classroom, Holidays, Home Projects, Reading | No Comments »

Hello Everyone!

Independence Project!

The Independence Project is coming up!  It is due November 16th!  The project overview, as well as all the project overviews, are in your Back to School Night folder and at the top of this blog under “Projects.”  Your child should pick a project that is about the United States.  We have been learning about the American Revolution time era, so our students should be picking a state from the 13 colonies, or an interest that is from the American Revolutionary time.

This week and next we will be going over life as colonist and provide the students more ideas for what they want to choose or help give more information to help support their project choice.  The Independence project will be our project for the school’s Cultural Festival!  You and any family and friends are invited to MMA between 1pm and 3pm to view projects throughout the school and learn what students have researched and presented during our Independence theme.  After the festival is over the students may leave their projects to share and will take them home once we get back from Thanksgiving Break.

November 16th Cooking Volunteers!  I have a recipe in a colonial american book for kids that has a Johnny Cakes recipe.  The morning of November 16th, I am looking for any you who wouldn’t mind taking a few kids at a time to learn how to make them and then eat them.  If anyone is interested, please email me and let me know.  The recipe is pretty simple and would need a few ingredients and some griddles to cook them on.

I’m considering some little Thanksgiving activities the kids can do too that morning.

Past Week

This past week’s highlights involved the 2nd graders reviewing time to the quarter hour.  This would be a great skills to help enforce and practice at home.  Everyone began Text Time, a small reading passage that has your child answering a few questions and finding supporting details as they read to help them answer the questions.  1st graders who were at school Friday really enjoyed Snake Game Seach for 10 in their lesson.  They set up a line of Montessori’s colored beads and learned how to tackle an equation such as 6+4+5+5+9+1+3+7+2+8=?  The group did well and will move onto a harder snake game this coming week.  3rd graders met with me as the first group to learn about final drafts and what editing and revising means in their writing.

In cultural this past week: History, Zoology, Geography

Level 1s: Kinds of fish, the year 2018 as our place in time

Level 2s: Time review to the quarter hour mark, tectonic plates intro

Level 3s: Cambrian and Ordovician life, Cnidarians (sea anemones and jellyfish)

*Level 3s will be taking a break from Botany until March since their curriculum revolves around flowers. They will continue other extensions and learning in their other cultural subjects, including science specifically for 3rd graders.

Friday- Scientific Method steps.  We did a class experiment with corn kernels.  Students learned to read a question, propose a hypothesis, list materials and read the procedures, record observations, and then draw a conclusion.  The corn kernels were put into a mixture of baking soda and water.  Then, vinegar was added.  The kernels then floated and sank as if they were “hopping.”

Upcoming Week:

This week will be Red Ribbon Week.  We will have a speaker on Tuesday that will help enforce students to make healthy choices for their lives.  On Friday we have an author coming to present to all of Lower Elementary, Gary Hogg.  We will have an assembly from 9-10am on Friday and then in the afternoon from 2-3, the 3rd graders will do a writing workshop with him.

Pizza money is due Tuesday if you so choose to participate

Reading Volunteers- If anyone is interested in being a reading volunteer, please let me know what day you can come in and if you prefer morning or afternoon.  Most volunteers stay between an hour to an hour and a half.

Have a great upcoming week and rest of your weekend

Ms. Kaley and Ms. Misha

Week 10 Recap

Posted in Classroom, Holidays, Shared School | No Comments »

Hello Everyone!

This week we experienced something I never thought I as a teacher would have to experience.  We lost two  amazing students this past week in the horrific car crash on Washington this past Tuesday.  Our school provided support for both students and staff members as the week went on this past week.  Thank you to any of you who provided support and comforted our students and participated in the ribbon tying outside on our fence.  If your daughter happens to be in Girl Scouts, she may wear her Girl Scout’s sash or t-shirt on Monday in honor of Molly Cox who was one of the students who passed.

I taught Molly when she was a 3rd grader during our Studio Friday time.  Back then, I taught theater and Molly was a bright light that enjoyed every minute of my class. She was such a joy to have.  She would always tell me how much she loved theater and always had a smile to show.  She and her brother, Troy, will be deeply missed.  I’m waiting to hear about their services and will decide if I am able to make it.

Past Week:

This past week I did an introduction to what was the cause of the Revolutionary War.  Students learned that America wasn’t free and was ruled by England at the time by a King.  Our students then learned that the King put taxes on products,  who Paul Revere was and his role, and that America wanted to be free with their own form of government.  I went over the meaning of the colors on the American flag and what the Pledge of Allegiance means with 1st graders in Geography this week.  Our whole class then learned what the colors of the USA flag means and then they got to create their own redesign of the American Flag and decided what their door choices meant.  The ideas were beautiful and the students really embraced the feeling of love, peace, protection, and freedom for our country.

My favorite lesson this week went to working with the 3rd graders this week on learning improper fractions.  I showed them how to solve a fraction that has a larger numerator than its denominator with our fraction materials and also using abstract division skills.  The group really enjoyed this lesson and all interested in how to solve fractions like that.  We will continue to continue learning about improper fractions through practice and reviews this week and into next.

2nd graders had a review in time to the hour and half hour this past week and will move onto time to the quarter hour and quarter past.  We talked about the word “quarter” and how that relates to the 4th’s family also this week in their fraction lesson.  If you can point out time to the hour, half hour, 15 minute mark, and 45 minute mark with your 2nd grader, that will help them practice at home.

Everyone worked on a practice narrative this pat week with brainstorming skills and using a graphic organizer that helped all students come up with a topic sentence, have a beginning/middle/end, and a closing sentence.  This week we will talk about transition words like: first, next, last etc. in their writing. Students will then move into how to revise and edit (which some students already got to last week) and learn to write a final draft in their purple notebooks.

In cultural this past week we had Geography, a little Zoology and History, and Botany to catch up on.  With the passing of our two students, emotions were also felt pretty high in our class, so I had students do some reading on books I assigned them that matched their cultural for that day with our COW Wednesday afternoon.

Level 1s: American flag and color meaning, kinds of trees

Level 2s: Layers of the Earth, time to the hour/half hour review, and leaves

Level 3s: Sound waves and vibrations, Electricity and static electricity

 

Upcoming Week:

Tuesday– Evacuation Drill practice.  Pizza money is due.

Wednesday– Our Halloween Party is upon us!  Wednesday afternoon from 12:45-2:30 will be our time to enjoy the holiday.  Please NO COSTUMES to school on Halloween.  Any treats and things the students make at the party will be taken home.  Having a class party is also a privilege to have and attend.  Some students are currently testing boundaries and classroom rules.  We sat down as a class community and the students said we should have 3 goals that everyone should follow in order to participate in the class party.  The students voted on 3 rules:

  1. Do silent clean ups silently (This is done before recess and at the end of the day).
  2. Focus (if you are off task and are disrupting others or yourself then you are not focusing in class on your work or lesson).
  3. Body rule (no part of your body should be disrupting or invading someone else’s.  No pushing, kicking, pulling etc.).

I’m hoping everyone can follow the goals they set as a class and everyone can participate.  Any student who doesn’t follow the goals will do Halloween themed work with me and Misha (we will rotate) and any work needed from their planner.

If you want to help out with our party with volunteering or bringing supplies, here is the link again!

SIGN UP for HALLOWEEN PARTY!

If you are volunteering please come at 11:30-11:45.  We will have our class eat out in the kiva space so stations can be set up.

PLEASE NO HALLOWEEN CANDY IN LUNCHES AFTER HALLOWEEN.  Thanks.

 

Have a great rest of your weekend, upcoming week, and Halloween.

Ms. Kaley and Ms. Misha

Week 9 Recap

Posted in Classroom, Holidays, Home Projects, Shared School | No Comments »

Hi Everyone!

Thank you to those who attended Parent Teacher Conferences this past week.  The 3 early outs allowed us to do some cultural lessons we needed to do and for 2nd and 3rd graders it allowed them to begin some new animal research.  2nd graders are beginning research on a fish and 3rd graders have begun research on different kinds of sea sponges (Porifera).  1st graders learned about the external parts of a fish this past week.  We also did some Botany this past week as well.  1st graders did lifecycle of a plant from how they begin as a seed and then transition to a small seedling and then to a full plant.  2nd graders learned about simple leaves vs compound leaves.  3rd graders read a review on seed germination and we will look at seed germination this week when we talk about the cotton plant!

Picture Day is Monday!  Please don’t forget to send in your picture forms with your child!  If you happen to forget, so worries!  Once your child gets their picture taken and pictures are printed, your child’s picture will be printed as a proof.  You can then decide to order pictures once you see your child’s picture.

Box Top Day! Box tops are this week!  According to the Monday Montessori Moments the store will be open on Wednesday from 11am-1:00

Pizza money due Tuesdays!  If you want your child to receive pizza on Fridays, please see the  Monday Montessori Moments Rene sends out.  The forms are on there.  Pizza money is taken down to the office on Tuesdays by 10:30am.

Classroom Halloween Party!  This year our classroom Halloween Party will be held on October 31st and it will be in the afternoon fro 12:45-2:30.  Our room mom has created a link for item donations and volunteers!

Click here to help out our party! 

You can then log in your hours on Track it Forward if you help donate any items or your time!  If you pan on helping out during our party please come between 11:45-12:00 noon on October 31st.  I will have the kids eat in the kiva space while volunteers set up in our class.

Independence Project due November 16th.  Our next project will be due on the 16th of November.  Your child may pick a 13th colony or something they are interested in from the Revolutionary War era (ie: life as an early American colonist, the American flag, important people, clothing, food, battles, war supplies etc.).  We welcome our parents and families to come to MMA to visit our Cultural Fair on the Revolutionary time era from 1pm-3pm.  This is also our last day before Thanksgiving Break.  Your child doesn’t have to present a board, but must have a visual and written aspect to their project.  Students are going to be set up in our classroom or in the kiva spaces so that the tour of all the projects spread throughout the school.

Hope your child had a lovely Fall Break!  This week I will be prepping our Text Time reading comprehension work.  Students will be required to work on it.  I will be also prepping reading take home homework and in class extra reading practice.

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Ms. Kaley and Ms. Misha

Week 16 Recap

Posted in Classroom, Holidays | No Comments »

Hello Everyone!

Past Week:

This past week our class took their mid year DIBELS reading assessment with the reading specialists.  The 3rd graders will do the second part of their assessment after we get back from Winter Break.

In cultural we did Geography this week.  Thursday Ms. Misha wasn’t there and the kids worked on unfinished work in the afternoon while waiting for our fire drill, so we missed out on some cultural time that afternoon.  We will circle back to what we didn’t get back to Geography in January.

Level 1s: The compass and learning directions on a simple map

Level 2s: Earthquakes

Level 3s: 7 weather elements, weather fronts, and kinds of precipitation

Friday we had studio and then in the afternoon we visited the library and then did our class meeting check in with going over what Random Acts of Kindness are and what does that mean.

Upcoming Week:

This coming week will be a lot of fun, but also very busy!

Monday– will be our classroom feast.  If you wish to come help set up the tables and chairs, please come at 11am.  The kids go outside to recess at 11:30 and I’d like all the food and set up to be ready to go by the time they come in and are ready to eat.  Since we will be having a Holiday luncheon, you do not have to send a lunch with your child on Monday.  Please make sure you visit our sign up sheet to bring something for our feast and if you plan on attending.  If you are providing food, please make sure it feeds a crowd.  I will be making chili and will bring some bowls.

Tuesday– we will still have early morning recess and then will do morning cultural before the students go off to specials until lunch time.  In the afternoon the Junior High will be in the gym to share their International Festival projects.  We will visit at some point in the afternoon during their 1-2:30 time frame.

Wednesday– Upper El’s International Festival will begin at 9:00am.  We will spend the morning visiting their projects.  In the afternoon will be our class Christmas party.  The set up can begin at 11:30am.  The festivities will begin after the kids eat lunch.  It is also Box Tops Day on the 20th.

Thursday– in the morning we will get our room ready for Lower El’s International Festival and get all the projects set up.  Ms. Stef’s class will join up with our class to make Christmas cards and paper ornaments.

Friday– No School- Winter Break Begins.

Week 15 Recap

Posted in Classroom, Holidays | No Comments »

Hello Everyone!

Holiday Feast Approaching- Sign Up 

Our Classroom Feast has been reserved for December 18th beginning at 12:00 noon and going to around 1:30.  If you would like to come help set up, please come at 11:00am.  Here is the sign up to bring food/supplies for our luncheon:

Holiday Feast Luncheon Sign Up

After we are done eating the students will present their research on how other countries from around the world celebrate their December holidays.

Box Tops:  I have been told that The Box Top Store will be Dec. 20th

Construction for New Junior High Building:

As you can see, the construction for the new junior high building is underway!  Since the playground is being torn down, we have figured out how to accommodate recess.  Recess will be held out back where the tether ball and basketball hoops are.  Since it is a smaller space, we arranged to have only 4 classes outside at a time during certain times.  Our classroom will still go outside at 11:30am, except on Tuesdays which is still first thing in the morning.

International Festival:

Remember that International Festival is approaching!  Projects on South America are due by Dec. 21st.  Please visit the Projects tab up at the top for additional project how to details 🙂

EPIC! Online Library

The online library program Epic, can only be used while at school 🙁  Home access can be obtained for a monthly fee of $5.99 right now.  We will add Epic to our repertoire of programs for when students need to do at school research, or would like to read.

Past Week:

Ms. Nikki began her in class co-teaching with us this past week and gave lessons on handwriting, adding/subtracting, and addition/subtraction math games.  Ms. Misha is beginning to take on more lessons as well, so we have a nice schedule going on where many students are being seen for lessons, reviews, check ins, and extra support from the teachers.

We had the COW Wednesday afternoon and we worked on Zoology/Physiology in cultural lessons this past week.

Friday we had our classroom meeting time to discuss kindness.  We did an activity with toothpaste.  I had students break into 4 groups and they all were give some toothpicks.  I squeezed out some toothpaste onto to some paper for them.  The toothpaste represented unkind words that we some times say and how it can be a challenge to take back those words.  For most people, unkind words hurt and some can leave a mark on us.  The students had the task of putting the toothpaste back into the tube of toothpaste using only toothpicks.

Friday we also read a book A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree and the students made a bird seed treat to bring birds to one of your trees at home.

In cultural this past week:

Level 1s: Amphibians learning and lifecycle of a frog

Level 2s: The ear and how we hear

Level 3s: Flat and roundworms (Platyhelminthes and Nematodes)

 

Upcoming Week:

Nothing too much is going on this week.  Thursday will be a Fire Drill.  Level 2s and 3s will do Geometry in leveled group lessons and Level 1s will do money. Geography will be up for cultural lessons.

 

Have a great rest of your weekend and upcoming week!

Ms. Kaley

 

Week 14 Recap

Posted in Classroom, Holidays, Home Projects, Shared School | No Comments »

Hello Everyone!

DATE REDOS!

I have some dates to edit!  School will go until December 21st.  I marked until the 20th.  The International Festival will begin on December 19th with the Junior High, December 20th will be Upper El, and December 21st will be Lower El’s presentation day.  The RED paper that went home this past week has all the information regarding the International Festival.  If your child misplaced it, please visit the project tab up top and then click on the link to review the information.  Remember that the project is due by Dec. 21st!  Thanks!

Our Holiday Classroom Party will then be December 20th in the afternoon still.  Our room mom, Katie, will email you with any details she might need for the party 🙂

I am also rescheduling our Class Feast date.  I am moving it to Monday December 18th.  It will begin at noon.  We will have a sign up sheet to bring food to share for this event. After our lunch we will have the students share their research on December holiday/Christmas traditions from around the world.  They all chose their topic this past week in class as part of their December writing prompt assignment.  this week they will begin reading the research and learn to write responses based on what they read to share with you on feast day!

A Note from MAPA (MMA’s parent committee):

Maria Montessori Academy Parents Association (MAPA) is very excited to announce that effective December 1, 2017 we will be using Track it Forward to schedule and record volunteer hours.
We feel that using track it forward will help us provide the most positive experience possible when signing up for and recording volunteer hours. This program will allow families to track their hours on their own electronic devices, send out reminders for sign ups and help us become a more centralized Montessori family.
Families are asked to donate 40 volunteer hours a year per family to the school. As a member of MAPA (all parents are automatic members) the MAPA presidency is trying to provide as many opportunities to complete this act of service yearly and Track it Forward will allow families to sign up to volunteer.
In sending your children to a Montessori school you are taking the initiative towards bettering your children and families. MMA’s mission statement is “Education for a better world” and by volunteering you are providing opportunities to help make this a better world.
The reason I volunteer is to provide my children with opportunities they may not get at other schools. “Only a life lived for others is worth living.” — Albert Einstein. By volunteering you are giving of yourself to your children and the children of others. Volunteering does not have to be a big sacrifice of time away from the family or money spent, many teacher at the school offer opportunities to volunteer at home and MAPA has opportunities to volunteer where you can bring your children.
Ways you may be volunteering and not even know.
· Attending a MAPA meeting
· Room mom calls and asks you to cut something out or bring something to the class
· Coming into the school and reading with children
· Bringing in food for an activity
MAPA in cooperation with the MMA is trying to say “thank you” to those that have sacrificed time and volunteered this year by giving those families with 10 service hours completed an “act of service.” The details are still in the works but we want everyone to know that we appreciate and value all of those that have volunteered.
How Track it forward works:
You can sign up in one of two different ways. On the website https://www.trackitforward.com/site/mapa or email mapa@mariamontessoriacademy.orgwith your family’s last name and the names of your children and we will send you an invite. Once in you can track your family’s hours and sign up for volunteer hours.
Again we appreciate all that our wonderful MMA families do!!!

Past Week:

We welcomed a new student this past week, her name is Stevee and she is a first grader.
Fraction lessons were reviewed this past week and next week will be Geometry for Level 2s and 3s while a fractions follow up lesson will continue with first graders.  Level 1s will begin to learn identifying fractions using pictures.  Level 2s and 3s will do their own independent follow up work on greater than and less than with fractional parts this week as well.
Ms. Rachel came in on Wednesday afternoon and presented her monthly Botany lesson
All students met with me throughout the week in their language groups and chose a December holiday or how they do Christmas in that country.  They will be learning informational writing by reading about their topic and then learning to take that information and write about it in order to present it.
In cultural this past week: History
Level 1s: Past, present, future review, what is a century and decade?, What is a timeline
Level 2s: Universe overview/review and The Sun in the solar system
Level 3s: Working on our timeline booklet.  We got up to the Carboniferous Period
Upcoming Week:
The beginning of our week is going to bring a chill!  Please make sure your child has warm attire to wear outside.  This will be especially true for Tuesday morning’s early recess to accommodate PE and Music in the morning during their regular recess time.
Ms. Misha will not be at school Thursday
Friday will be an early release day!  Please remember to have your child picked up at 1:00pm.
Have a great rest of your weekend and upcoming week!
Ms. Kaley

Week 13 Recap

Posted in Holidays, Home Projects | No Comments »

Hello Everyone!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and some time off!

Past Week:

Students made decorations for the North Ogden Community Gratitude Feast at our school on Tuesday afternoon.  Our students also did a school survey in the school’s computer lab Thursday morning.

The projects for the fractions family November home projects were FANTASTIC!  The presentations and how they are made made for an excellent focus on your home community and learning about others families.  A lot of the kids liked seeing the similarities and I got to learn some new interests about the kids!

December’s home project is a pretty big one.  Our school does an annual International Festival that focuses on our continent studies throughout the school.  The Junior High will do theirs December 18th, Upper El December 19th and ours will be December 20th.  Lower El usually does theirs in the afternoons, but I will get a confirmation on that soon.  If the plan is still to do Lower El’s International Festival December 20th in the afternoon, the our class Holiday Party will be December 19th in the afternoon since Upper El does their International Festival in the morning.  Our continent is South America.  I will be talking with the students this week about it and will be sending home a project take home sheet this week.  Students are asked to choose an interest about South America.  It can be a city, country, animal, tradition, clothing, landmark…literally anything from South America can be chosen.  Students usually choose to use a project trip-fold board to present their project, but posters and presentations such as PowerPoint or Prezi can also be used.  Some students have done dioramas with a poster, so if your child likes to get crafty, visuals are great for this project.

In cultural this week we did Botany and in group math we did fractions

Level 1s: Food chains both land and water

Level 2s: Pinnate and palmate margins of a leaf’s margin

Level 3s: Kinds of calyx and petals (Gamopetalous/1 single petal and Polypetalous/multiple petals)

 

Upcoming Week:

This week we will talk about International Festival and begin our December writing prompt: Informational Writing about Holidays around the World.

Ms. Rachel will also be coming Wednesday afternoon for December’s Botany lesson

December Dates to Remember:

December 8th- Early Release 1pm

December 14th- Class Holiday Feast 12pm-1:30 in South Kiva *More info to come 🙂

December 18-20th- International Festival.  Lower El’s projects are due by Dec. 20th.  They may bring them in early, but the presentations are the 20th.

December 19th- Class Holiday Party in the afternoon- 12:45-2:30

*I believe there is a Box Tops those last 3 days before Xmas break.  If I hear other wise I will let you know.

The week is mostly in the 40s, so please make sure students have the attire they need for playing outside.  Tuesday is our day that recess is first thing in the morning and it is colder.  Students might start needing hats and gloves.

Have a great rest of your weekend and upcoming week!

Ms. Kaley