Week 39

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Hello Everyone!

Thank you for another successful year!  The last week of school went by quick!

Monday we had our Store Day with Ms. Paula and Ms. Amy’s class.  The students also had their last PE class and attended Ms. Rachel’s student’s dinosaur projects right after.  We also welcomed our new 1st graders during their bridging ceremony!

Tuesday we cleaned out desks and supplies and then saw off our 3rd graders on their bridging ceremony to Upper El.

Wednesday we did our egg drop challenge in conjunction with an introduction to Newton’s Laws of Motion.

Thursday was yearbook and kickball game day!

 

Thank you for attending conferences! I love seeing all of you!

 

This coming week the teachers will be at the school to pack up the classroom and start planning out next year.  Tuesday is our planning day, so if your child forgot anything or you need to get into the school, I will be in the library most of the day.  The rest of the week I will be organizing/cleaning or running theater props back to Weber and Fremont High.  During a time this week, I will be putting together an email for you all (2nd and 3rd grade for now) that will have your child’s new Khan Academy username and password and also a reminder for your child’s MyOn login.

Have your student read 20 minutes everyday and keep up the skills they worked hard on this year.  Most children at this age need the involvement when it comes to reading.  Ask them questions about their book as it will help with comprehension.  I would even have your child practice writing.  Having them draw out a picture and then write sentences about it would be great.  Look for letter formation (capitals when needed vs not needed and punctuation).  New 3rd graders will need to keep up the handwriting and use MyOn for typing practice.  For any MyOn assignments I give, have them write it out first and then type (no matter what grade your child is in).

Have a great summer and keep an eye out for blog posts!  Think about if any of you want to be our room mom or dad!

Thanks for another fantastic year and being with me and Ms. Emilee!  We love our families and we’ll see you in about 2.5 months!

 

Cheers!

Ms. K

 

Week 38

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Hello Everyone!

The last week of school is about to begin.  I can’t believe it is here already!  It always seems that once Christmas rolls around it goes: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Spring Break, end of school.

Let’s talk about what is coming up for this last week of school before we dive into what we did this past week.

Upcoming Week:

From MAPA: Heidi Bradley emailed the teachers to pass onto you that tomorrow, May 23rd, they want to do a thank you for the Office staff members, Ms. Magdelena (school cleaner), crossing guards/MAPA.  Anyone who wants to give our lovely staff members a little thanks you are asked to bring a thank you card, treat, or whatever you want to say “Thank You!”

May 23rd is a full day of school.  It is the last full day of school for the students!  The rest of the week are early outs (1pm dismissal).

Call for next year’s Room Mom!: Heidi Bradly also said to think about room moms for next year!  If you are interested in being our room mom, please please email me and let me know.  Being our classroom Room Mom will take on the responsibility of class parties, emailing parents about events, field trips, helping MAPA’s Gala, classroom help, and any other as needed help.

Monday May 23rd- Class Bazaar Day! (Store day)  Our classroom, Ms. Amy, and Ms. Paula’s classrooms do a special end of the year shopping event.  Have your child gather up any toys, games, books to price and sell.  Students may make treats (the healthier the better please! and have them wrapped), make crafts, sell flowers, take a turn on a game, hair braiding etc.  No nail polish or anything with a strong smell as we have s few kids with asthma.  Please have your child bring a bag to put their things in and shop with!

11:00am is Early Childhood’s Bridging Ceremony.  This will last until, 12:30 (picnic time included).  If you have a Kinder graduating, please bring your own chairs and picnic supplies (blanket, sunblock, sunglasses etc).  Our classroom, along with the other Lower El classes will have a sign for our class to sit for lunch and to have our tentative new 1st graders and 1st grade parents join us too.

We are (tentatively) welcoming:

Butterfield, Kaulin

Carlson, Jackson (Charles)

Cleverly, Evan

French, Ariana

Graves, Jaxston

Hadley, Lexi

Hodgson, Brett

Hunter, Ivie

Spruill, Kanon

Swenson-Peterson Janessa

In the afternoon, Ms. Julia is still willing to do PE with our students.  We will still plan on our time of 12:30 (after bridging) to 1:10.  We will hopefully have some time after that to do our egg drop science engineering challenge

Tuesday May 24th- Cleaning the classroom furniture. Please have your child bring a large bag for cleaning out their things.

10:30am is the 3rd Grade Bridging Ceremony!  Rain is called for on this day, but we hope to have it outside.  Parents, we will not have chair set up outside.  Please bring a blanket to sit on or outside lawn chair.  The students of our classrooms will sit by class facing the stage and then it will be the blanket area and then any chairs will need to be behind the blankets (so everyone is comfortable seeing).  When we call our 3rd graders, they will be welcomed by our Upper El mentor class- Ms. Stephaney’s.

Our Administration has put together a tentative list of where your 3rd grader will be going next year.  Like the Kinders, when new students are accepted to our school, some change may happen, so nothing is permanent yet.  Upper El teachers were chosen by who would work best for your child and what kind of class they have already to make sure it would be a good fit for your soon-to-be 4th grader.  Here is the list:

Tiffany- Amity

Bridger- Amy

Nicholas- Amy

Kennedy- John

Peyton- Kirsten

Aiden B- Nicoletta

Romeo- Paula

JayCee- Paula

Sophia- Stephaney

  • If you choose to check your 3rd grader out after bridging, please find me or Ms. Emilee and let one of us know.  Thanks!

Wednesday May 25th-  If our egg drop engineering challenge cannot happen on Monday afternoon, it will be today.  I have been talking to an old friend that went to elementary/middle school with me and she currently works for the National History Museum in California.  She used to do some work for NASA and has travelled all over the world and has met with famous physicists and scientists.  I am seeing if the museum will FaceTime with our class to show them some of their fossils and answer questions.  My friend said that if they can’t, she will!  We will also continue to bring items home from cleaning.

Thursday May 26th- Last day of School!  The morning will kick off with yearbook signing and then an outside kickball game starting at 10:30am.  If it is sunny, please have them bring sunglasses, a hat, maybe sunblock since we will be outside for a bit.

All early out days will include lunch! Please have a lunch for your child on those days 🙂

We need snack for this last week!  We don’t have anyone signed up and we haven’t had any new snack brought in for 2 weeks.

I think that is everything for this coming week!  PTC begins on Tuesday and goes until the last day of school (Thursday).  Please remember to bring your child as they are the presenter!  I will go over various testing scores with you, but the kids have worked very hard on their presentation packets this week.

 

Past Week:

Students filled out their conference packets this week for their work during the mornings.  Cultural ended and we did some group science engineering projects such as: the spaghetti building challenge, Save Fred (gummy worm challenge), and toothpick bridge challenge.

Music ended for the students too this week.

Field day was fun.  We were glad that the wind held off.  It was great to see our class cheer everyone on during the games that they did.

 

I know your child is excited for it to be the last week of school, but please do remind them that they are still in school and that our classroom rules and kindness towards one another still apply.  Even though we aren’t doing work cycle, we still have things to take care of and a schedule to follow.  I want to have the energy for you guys for your PTC, so please check in with your child every day this week to make sure they are hanging in there and that they get that reminder 🙂

Thanks everyone! Have a great upcoming week and I will see the majority of you soon!

Cheers!

Ms. K

3rd grade MyOn Assignment!

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Hello 3rd grade parents!

The goodbye letter that our 3rd graders are to write to our class are due by tomorrow evening.  2 have no started, and 6 are incomplete.  Aiden’s is the only one that complete according to directions.  Please have your child check their work.

Kennedy, JayCee, and Tiffany are almost there, just some detail cleaning up.

I put a writing check list for them on there to follow along with what kinds of details they need to include.

They are all excited to be done, but they aren’t done quite yet! 😉

Week 37

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Hello Everyone!

This past week we had lots of shadowing going on!  6 out of 9 of our 3rd graders shadowed in our Upper El partner classroom, Ms. Stef.  The remaining 3 will finish up this coming Wednesday.  This past Tuesday we had the Kindergarteners that will more than likely be in our class next year visit for on hour and get to see me and our class.

This coming week we will still be working on lessons, but some more group projects will happen this week.

Starting tomorrow, it is Spirit Week!  Here is the schedule:

School Spirit Days
May 16th – Dress as favorite BOOK character
May 17th – Crazy Sock
May 18th – Crazy Hat/Hair
May 19th – PJ Day
May 20th – Field Day – Dress Down Day/Sports team day.  PLEASE send sunblock, water bottle, tennis shoes, etc for outdoor play!
We will also start cleaning up the works on the shelves, checking the pieces to our works, and getting things cleaned up for the year.
Thursday is Ms. Connie’s Spring Concert.  Here is her reminder!
May 19th:
Spring Choir Concert
Those with last names that start with the letters A-K will come to the 6 o’clock performance.
Those with last names that start with the letters L-Z will come to the 7 o’clock performance.
The concert will only be about 30-35 minutes long.  All the children are encouraged to come, but not required.  The children should wear their nicest clothes…
Proper concert dress:  Sunday (wedding, funeral) best…Ties and collared, button up shirt, perhaps suspenders, or Dresses (not showing shoulders or back) with leggings or tights (no bare legs).  They do not need to have a collar on the dresses.  Of course they are encouraged to find these items but, they are not required.  They do not necessarily need to be school dress code, but appropriate and not distracting for the event.
This past week I spent time on individual lessons, but we did have 3 great group lessons this week.
Level 1s: M&M fractions for those who accomplished their work on time.
Level 2s: pizza fractions
Level 3s: pizza fractions
In cultural: Zoology/Physiology
Level 1s: Endangered Animals of the world and Utah
Level 2s: The Digestive System and Skeletal System
Level 3s:  Spiders and spider webs
Have a great upcoming week and please sign up for conferences!
Cheers!
Ms. K

 

Week 36

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Hello Everyone!

Thank you everyone for the wonderful generosities during Teacher Appreciation Week!  Ms. Emilee and I felt the love 🙂

Upcoming Week!:

3rd Grade Party:

3rd graders are now done testing! YAY! They get their chance to celebrate this coming Thursday afternoon from 1-2:30 for their 3rd grade party.

Here is the 3rd grade party sign up sheet if you would like to help out in some fashion: 3rd Grade Party!

Spring Concert:

Here is a note from Ms. Connie,

May 19th:
Spring Choir Concert
Those with last names that start with the letters A-K will come to the 6 o’clock performance.
Those with last names that start with the letters L-Z will come to the 7 o’clock performance.  
 
The concert will only be about 30-35 minutes long.  All the children are encouraged to come, but not required.  The children should wear their nicest clothes…
Boys:  Sunday best…Ties and collared, button up shirt 
Girls:  Dresses (not showing shoulders) with leggings or tights (no bare legs) for girls….
Of course they are encouraged to find these items but, they are not required.  They do not necessarily need to be school dress code.
 
The idea is to keep families together to watch their upper and lower Elementary children together.  If they have multiple last names of multiple children that are assigned to come at different times…they can choose which one they attend…this should only effect a couple of families.  I would encourage them to go to the 7:00 pm performance.  It seems there is more room at that time.
 
May 20th
9th grade graduation 
Harrisville park at 4:30-5:30
Honor choirs  (3rd grade honor choir and 6th grade honor choir) will be singing two songs, one at the beginning and one at the end.
I will have practice for the honor choir during lunch on specified dates.  The honor choir is by my invitation and their desire to accept only.  They will come in for 15 minutes during their lunches for about 2 weeks in May.  They will need to bring an easy lunch to eat quickly and clean up.  At 12:15 come into the library to practice until 12:30.  They will need to be there EVERY time and on time.  If this poses a problem for your class schedule or procedure please contact me asap.  Those that are chosen should use grace and courtesy and not rub their honor into the other children’s faces.   I will send a more detailed email of the Honor choir schedule out soon
 
May 23rd
Kindergarten bridging ceremony 
11-12:30 am
Kindergartners will be singing
 
May 24th
3rd grade bridging ceremony
10:00 am
3rd grader honor choir will be singing
 
May 25th
6th grade bridging ceremony
10:00 am
6th grade honor choir will be singing
 
May Calendar Adjustment:
Just for clarification, the last day of school is May 26th (a Thursday).  Parent Teacher Conferences begin that Tuesday at 1pm and go until the last day of school.
Parent Teacher Conferences!
Spring conferences are approaching!  Here is the sign up link!
3rd Grade Theater Plays!
My 3rd graders who are in the 2nd and 3rd studio are performing this coming Friday, May 13th.
Peyton, Bridger, and Tiffany perform at 10:00am and Romeo, Sophia, and Aiden will perform at 1:00pm.  If any of you would like to volunteer to do an activity with our class, I can make some room for that.  Emilee will watch the class for a little while and we are going to split up the class to go with other teachers for some time on Friday since the plays will be an all day affair for me.  The 2nd studio group are going to perform The Nightmare Before Christmas and then Little Red Riding Hood.  They will start setting up at 8:30am that morning and the 2nd group can come in costume and then change after their plays.  The 3rd studio group will perform Peter Pan and then Aladdin at 1pm.  Those students will start setting up and getting into costume at 11:30am.
Shadowing!
Shadowing for 3rd graders begins this week!  We are shadowing with our Upper El mentor class, Ms. Stef’s class.  Here is the schedule that Stef and I worked out.
Monday May 9th: JayCee, Aiden, Tiffany
Wednesday May 11th: Sophia, Romeo, Peyton
Wednesday May 18th: Kennedy, Bridger, Nicholas
Kindergarteners will do their shadowing in our classroom this coming Tuesday May 10th 9am-10am and then 1pm-2pm.

Past Week:

Our students began earning classroom dollars for our end of the year bazaar!  Like the store day we had back in December, this end of the year store day will be bigger.  We team up with 2 Upper Elementary classrooms and our students can enjoy an end of the year selling/shopping experience.  We made the money more challenging this time around with the students working with coins and then learning to exchange those coins for bills.  As we get closer to the last week of school, I will expand the details on Bazaar day, but the date will be May 23rd (a Monday).  Money will continue until May 20th.
MyOn Assignment for 3rd Graders:
3rd Graders began working on their last MyOn assignment this week.  They have until May 22nd to complete it.  They are writing a goodbye letter to our 1st and 2nd graders and are telling about their 3rd grade experience.  They chose this assignment and I am looking forward to reading all the letters.
In group lessons this week:
Level 3s: Math review
In cultural: History
Level 1s: Time to the 5 minute mark
Level 2s: The moon and its phases
Level 3s: Fossils
Hope everyone has a great Mother’s Day weekend and upcoming week!
Cheers!
Ms.  K

Week 34

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Hello Everyone!

Thank you for those who came on our last field trip!  The students had a great time.  It was my first time going to Discovery Gateway and we will try and sign up for it again next year!

 

3rd Grade Theater Plays! April 29th 1:00pm

This coming week is pretty uneventful, however, our 1st 3rd grade studio group is going to present their Readers Theaters plays this Friday!

3rd graders, in my class, that present Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz are: Nicholas, Kennedy, and JayCee.  Ask your child to start getting their things ready early this week.  We have been collecting for weeks, but remind them to review their script.  JayCee’s costume is pretty much set, but she will need a plain blue shirt, white tights, a black headband, and black shoes.  The rest of her costume is at the school.  Nicholas will need to be in all green.  I have a green cape for him.  Kennedy will need to be in Sunday best, and face paint (white, black, and pink), and if she has bunny ears for the March Hare.  You are welcome to come and watch the back to back performances this Friday!  They will be hilarious, but the students have had a fun time learning about theater and learning how to be a character.  They are not required to memorize their lines, but it would be preferable.  Come enjoy the fun!

Ms. Emilee will help me out on Friday with the 1st and 2nd graders as the morning will be geared towards getting the theater plays set up and underway.

3rd Grade Party has been scheduled!

The 3rd grade party will be May 12th from 1:00pm-2:30pm.  If you are a 3rd grade parent, please email me and let me know if you are willing to volunteer at the party, or if you can only send in a supply for the party, or both!  This week we are going to work on sending out a sign up sheet for the activities and supplies.

MMA Yard Sale!

April 30th will MMA’s yard sale fundraiser for JR High!  They are looking for donations of games, toys, book etc, BUT NO CLOTHES!  If you want to rent a table space to sell baked goods, crafts you make, jewelry you make, DoTerra, Jamberry etc. you are able to do that too!  Their hope is to make it like a Farmer’s Market vibe!  Tell your neighbors, friends, and social media!

Upcoming dates:

April 29th- 3rd grade 1st studio group plays

April 30th- MMA yard sale!

May 5th-  3rd grade SAGE Math test and brunch.

May 6th- No School

May 12th- 3rd Grade Party! 1pm-2:30pm

May 13th- 2nd and 3rd studio groups perform their plays

May 16th- SPIRIT WEEK!- Dress up as a favorite book character day!

May 17th- SPIRIT WEEK!- Inside Out Day!

May 18th- SPIRIT WEEK!- Crazy hat or hair day!

May 19th- SPIRIT WEEK!- PJ Day/Movie Day!

May 20th- SPIRIT WEEK!- FIELD DAY!- Dress up as favorite sports team/sport day!

May 23rd- JR High Evening Graduation 8pm

May 24th- 3rd Grade Bridging Ceremony to Upper El 10:30am

May 25th- 6th Grade Graduation 9am- EARLY OUT/PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE

May 26th- 6th grade vs. teachers kickball game- EARLY OUT/PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE

May 27th- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL. Yearbook signing- EARLY OUT/PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE

 

Past Week:

In group lessons:

Level 1s: fractions, Scholastic story

Level 2s: Scholastic story

Level 3s: Scholastic story

Friday- Spelling Bee, Scholastic stories, and Earth Day activity

In cultural this week: Geography

Level 1s: Learning about Earth Day and activities

Level 2s: Minerals intro and Gems and Crystals intro

Level 3s: Hurricanes, Thunder and Lightning

 

Upcoming Week(s):

I can’t believe next week is May already!  May is busy, but it is also our winding down time since a lot of school activities will be going on.  3rd graders will finish their SAGE testing next week, theater plays will wrapped up the week after that and then it is end of the year school wide activities.  Lessons will start slowly being wrapped up for Math and Language in May.  Cultural lessons will last until the end of May and more group activities will bring our students to the end of the year.  All students will be invited for the last round of Parent Teacher Conferences.  It is their time to share with you what they learned this year and share a writing project they have been already preparing the past two weeks.

Scholastic Class Book

Your child may have mentioned they are making a story to get published by Scholastic!  This is true!  We are sending off our stories tomorrow (Monday) to arrive to Scholastic by Friday.  It will take a few business days for them to comprise our stories into a nice hardback book!  There will be order forms sent out soon if you would like to get a copy!  I haven’t dug into the order forms yet and if their is a cost to a book.  I have been trying to get a few students to finish up so we can send them off on time!  Their stories are their end of the year project for part of their parent teacher conference.

Pizza Fractions Volunteers!

Next week, I want to do some cooking with Level 2s and 3s that relate to fractions.  I want to make personal pizzas!  If you would like to help out, please email me and let me know.  1st graders will do an M&M fraction activity that helps emphasize their numerators and denominators and probability of their M&M package.

I think that is everything for now!  Mark up your April and May calendars as May is about to fly by!

 

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Cheers!

Ms. K

 

 

 

Week 33

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Hello Everyone!

Field Trip! April 21st 

This Thursday is our field trip  to Discovery Gateway in SLC.  We will be taking the Frontrunner and Trax again.  The train we are taking to SLC will LEAVE at 8:37am. Please have your child at the Frontrunner station on 2350 S. Wall Ave by 8:15am.  I will be there around 8am.  We will take the same train back to Wall Ave. when we are finished.  We will gather everyone at 1:15pm to take Trax to the Frontrunner station.  We will be back to Ogden at 2:52pm.  Please have someone there to pick your child up on time.

We have a 2 hour workshop that the students will participate in on the importance of bees and pollination.  After the workshop is over by noon, we will go over to The Gateway’s food court and have lunch.  After lunch, the students have some time to explore the museum until it is time to meet up and go home.

Please pack a picnic lunch for your child to take with them.  If you choose to send them with money for the food court then I will leave that up to you.  I don’t know if there is a gift shop at the museum, so that will be each family’s choice to send money with their child.

Have your student bring a sweater or light jacket for the morning.  It is supposed to be very nice on Thursday, but could be chilly while waiting for the morning train.  A backpack is strongly encouraged to carry their lunch, water bottle, and any train entertainment.  I will leave it to each family to decide if they want their child to bring an electronic.  MMA is not responsible for any lost or damaged  items.

Just like with the Planetarium field trip, I have wristbands that allow the students to ride for free.  If you want to come as a chaperone, please email me and let me know so I can make groups for when students go to lunch and explore the museum.

Unlike the Planetarium, chaperones can pay for themselves and any younger siblings when we arrive.

Upcoming Week:

Monday will begin the testing for those who are wanting to participate in MMA’s Spelling Bee.  The top 3 spellers will be found out from each class and then go on to the school wide bee on Friday

Tuesday is the 3rd graders 2nd SAGE test!  They will be taking their writing test.  Like we did with the first test, 3rd graders will stop around 10:45am to get cleaned up and to have brunch and recess so they can start testing at 12:00pm.  We still need a few more sign ups completed for our 2nd brunch!  Here is the sign up!

2nd Brunch Sign Up!

Thursday is our field trip!

Friday is an Early Out!  Those students who are participating in the school wide Spelling Bee will begin with Lower El.  Parents are more than welcome to come.  We will go and watch as a class.

 

Past Week:

In group lessons this week:

Level 1s: Lines review (geometry) and numerator and denominator meaning in fractions (some 1st graders joined ins graders, wanting to know how to add fractions)

Level 2s: Adding fractions review

Level 3s: SAGE writing review, area and perimeter project, fractions on a number line game and equivalent fraction game

Weekly writing: Debate game. I ordered a writing kit from Scholastic that allows our class to make a classroom book.  Our students decided our book title will be Fictional and Non-fictional Animal Stories.  Each child is writing a story to be a part of this book.  We will finish our drafts and final drafts this week, so we can have it shipped back to Scholastic to be published by April 29th.

In cultural this week: Zoology

Level 1s: All about mammals

Level 2s: Mammal study-Moles, shrews, hedgehogs, anteaters, sloths, armadillos, porcupines, and beavers

Level 3s: What is an arthropod and what is an insect?

 

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Cheers!

Ms. K

 

 

 

Week 28

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Hello Everyone!

This week our school went through the accreditation process on Wednesday and Thursday.  In a nutshell, our school received above average scores than the national average!  Way to go Maria Montessori Academy!  We are all very excited about it.

The Gala is TONIGHT!  5pm-9pm.  Please come support our school!  Tickets are still available at the door.  The Gala is at HUB801 at 3525 Riverdale Road.  Catering is by J and J catering.  Come enjoy a nice night out!

Literacy Week information!  Please review this link!  LITERACY WEEK

YEARBOOK Info from Ms. Lisa in JR High:

Order Your
Maria Montessori Academy
Yearbook Online!
 
Step 2: Enter your pay code 78444 and click next
Step 3: Select you child’s teacher

Past Week:

We had a very productive short week.  Thursday we took a break from regular work cycle and did a few classroom games and then did some cultural activities to keep up with Geography.

In group lessons:

Level 1s: Types of lines continued in geometry

Level 2s: Angles in Piet Mondrian’s art work (right angles) and making our own art work version for geometry, MyOn assignment explanation.  DUE SUNDAY NIGHT!

Level 3s: MyOn assignment explanation DUE SUNDAY NIGHT!, Area and perimeter with quadrilateral review

Weekly writing (Tuesdays): Limerick poems

 

In cultural this week: Geography

Level 1s: Landforms finished, landform booklet and cookie activity

Level 2s: Rock cycle continued with igneous rock review, metamorphic rocks, sedimentary rock, how the rock cycle is a cycle, and Starburst candy rock cycle activity

Level 3s:  Weather continued with weather instrument review, water cycle review with Readers Theater play, and weather symbols in meteorology

 

Upcoming Week:

MyOn Assignments!-Please remember that MyOn assignments for all levels are due by Sunday night.  We have the cart of mobile computers Monday at 10:05am.  3rd graders will do some SAGE language test prep and first graders will work on reading some MyOn assigned books and do some in class writing.  2nd graders will follow regular work cycle.

 

Science Fair!– Science fair projects are due Thursday!  You are welcome to come see our student’s projects.  I’ve scheduled a sign up for classes in our school to come and review the student’s projects from 1:00-2:40pm.  I’m excited to see what all the experiments turn out to be!  Please see last week’s post to review the judging sheet that I and Ms. Emilee are going to use!

Parent Volunteers!3rd Grade Breakfast for Lunch for Language Test Day!  A tradition I have established for all my 3rd graders is a breakfast on each test day.  Since this year’s test begins at 12:00pm, we could BRUNCH!  My tradition is scrambled eggs for the first test.  If any of you would like to come in on March 31st at 10:30am, our kids will eat their brunch at 11:00am and then go outside until 11:55am to be ready for testing at 12:00pm.  Email me if interested!

Studio ends on the 25th of March.  This is because testing is beginning.  After the 25th of March, all Lower El students will stay in their classrooms on Fridays. My 3rd grade theater plays will be scheduled in April.  I’m trying to work around testing schedules and PE classes.

 

Have a great weekend and hope to see some of you tonight at the Gala!

Cheers!

Ms. K

 

Week 27

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Hello!

Science Fair!

I’ll start with Science Fair!  Friday the kids and I sat down and we talked about Science Fair boards and they told me their hypothesis.  The kids are now on their own to do their experiments, record data, make conclusions, and make their board.  Here is the judging sheet!

Science Fair Rubric  (click on this PDF)

Science projects are due March 24th (a Thursday).  We will start at 1:00pm and go until 2:30pm.  Parents are welcome to come and see projects.  It will be in our room.

Past Week:

In group lessons:

Level 1s: Different kinds of lines in geometry, Mr. Will’s Thursday lesson

Level 2s: Finding angles in polygons in geometry, Mr. Will’s Thursday lesson

Level 3s: MyOn check in, Area and perimeter with difficult shapes in geometry, Mr. Will’s Thursday lesson

Weekly Writing: Facts vs. Opinion

In cultural this week: Zoology/Physiology

Level 1s: birds

Level 2s: the nose, the tongue, and the circulatory system. (Circulatory system packet to be completed by this coming Thursday)

Level 3s: Echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins, sea lilies, sea cucumbers)

Friday: Science fair

Spelling stars went pretty well this past Thursday!  We had students rotate between 3 computers.  I’m going to try and figure out to get JUST their list to show up on their end.  All the lists showed up and I had to show them which one was theirs.  Please have your child do their spelling online now at home!  There are a few games that they can play, practice tests, and then there is their real test section.

To find their new list- have them login and then go to TESTS 1st.  They will see which list I assigned to them.  Your child can then find that list in their games and practice to do.

 

Upcoming Week!

Early out this Thursday!  Please have someone pick up your child at 1pm.  Friday is no school for students.

Wednesday and Thursday, we have important people coming to our school!  Our school is going through the accreditation process this year and they are spending 20 minutes in each class.  I have a lot of meetings this week regarding the preparation of it, so if you need me this week, please know I may end up a day or two behind on emails (just in case).

The Gala is this Friday!  Tickets are still on sale after school or through the MAPA blog (if you buy online).  I hope to see you there!  It is a little fancier than years prior, so dress up and come enjoy a nice night out!

MyOn assignments!  New MyOn assignments will be open this Sunday afternoon!  Level 3s wanted to do a famous person assignment.  It was perfect since we are learning about opinions and just learned facts vs. opinion in this week’s weekly writing. 3rd graders will write about their famous person using facts about them, but also give their opinion.  A new assignment will be up for 2nd and 1st graders too!

I was able to get a computer cart date for March 21st later in the morning.  We will use that date to work with 3rd graders on SAGE practice tests as a group and go over MyOn famous person assignment.  Level 1s will have the computers this time during that morning.  They will be doing MyOn assigned reading that morning and will have to do some in class writing.

Literacy Week!  Our school is having Literacy week the last week of March!  Fun activities and even a Literacy Night at the school (Thursday the 30th) will take place.  My 3rd grade theater groups will have their plays pushed back until April.  Every 3rd grader is staring testing that week!  More on that week coming soon!

 

Have a great rest of your weekend!  Happy Daylight Savings Time (not!)

Cheers!

Ms. K

 

Week 26

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Hello!

Past Week:

We had a great week of Dr. Seuss reading and activities.  I was able to do a few group lessons, but we really focused on our fun activities!

Group Lessons:

Level 1s: 2D vs 3D through Whoville town building, health with Ms. Julia

Level 2s: drawing angles continued, health with Ms. Julia

Level 3s: area and perimeter continued, health with Ms. Julia

Monday- Cat in the Hat book, Who was Dr. Seuss, and writing activities

Tuesday- The Foot book.  We drew out and measured our right and left feet.  We then combine the class’ feet and measured them as a group.

Wednesday- Oh! The Places You’ll Go book.  We wrote about places we’d like to go and how we would like to see ourselves in the future.  We also read Wacky Wednesday in the afternoon.

Thursday- The Lorax book.  We focused on recycling and how we resources on our earth are so important.

Friday- Bartholemew and the Oobleck.  They built their Whovilles and I made Oobleck for those who wanted to learn how to make it and touch it.  If you want to make it at home it is a 2:1 ratio of cornstarch to water.  2 cups cornstarch and 1 cup water.  Use whatever food dye color you want.  We used 20 drops of green for the oobleck in the book.

In cultural: History

Level 1s: time to hour and half hour review. Quarter hour lesson this upcoming week

Level 2s: Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn

Level 3s: Cretaceous dinosaurs, dinosaur extinction theories

 

Upcoming Week:

Spelling Stars to Begin!

We had a small handful of kids try out Spelling Stars.  They said it was pretty fun.  To make spelling work, students can login at home and practice their lists and do the few games.  On Thursday, we will have students rotate to take their scored test in class.  The program automatically gives them their score.

Logins: student’s first name letter and entire last name (example: kparsons) (Jayce’s is the only exception because there was a user with jlopez.  His is jlopezrm19)

Password: mskaley 

Happy spelling practice!

Monday we will visit Junior High to see their Invention Convention right after Music is over.

Mr. Will is coming in Thursday to do his monthly art lesson and project with our class.  He will come in around 9am.

Due Dates for this upcoming week!

Tuesday: Persuasive recess writing (done in class)

Wednesday: 3rd graders to have worked on area and perimeter game or task cards, 2nd graders to have their writing from last week reviewed.

Friday: Science hypothesis due

 

Science Fair!

March 24th is our Science Fair!  Projects will be due on 3/24.  This past Friday, our students had their topics due (what they are going to do for their project)  Only a few students didn’t have their idea.  Those kids will have to have their topic AND their hypothesis for me by this Friday 3/11.  This is so I can make sure their project relates to the Scientific Method.  After this Friday students are on their own to conduct their experiments 3 or more times, record their data, and come to a conclusion.

Objective of project: Students are to choose a topic that can follow the steps of the Scientific Method

– Have a topic (what is your project called)

– What is your hypothesis?  (how do you think your experiment is going to turn out?)

– Experiment (students will conduct their experiment 3 or more times to see if they get the same result or different ones.  Either way, they should record what happens and be able to explain why it stayed the same or why it was different

– Data (students should be take pictures, write notes, have recorded explanations through graphs, pictures, measurements etc. to explain what happened in their experiment)

– Make a conclusion (what were the final results?  Was the hypothesis right or wrong and why?

Board: Students will make a project board that explains their project and experiment.  Help them make the Scientific Method steps into categories on their board

Judging: In Upper Elementary, students are judged on their boards, data, and presentation.  I do judge this project for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place ribbons.  Previous students in my class, who are now in Upper El, have won ribbons doing the Upper El science fair.  It is great practice for them since the Upper El science fair project is a heavily tasked home project.

Visuals: Students can bring in parts of their project if it helps them explain and show their experiment results.

Can I come?: Parents and other classes at our school are welcome to come visit!  We will start at 1pm and most likely go until 2:30.

 

 

Upcoming field trip: 4/21 to Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum

 

Have a great rest of your weekend and upcoming week!

Cheers!

Ms. K