Hello!
Well, I must say, I think we started off on the right foot for this new year! I feel like we had a productive week! Lots of children got new lessons and we are making good progress. One morning this week, the children came in and got their morning work as usual. Most of the time, they are very chatty first thing in the morning and have a lot to say to each other. I usually have to remind them several times that they have work to do. On this particular morning, though, it was completely silent. Every one of the students was sitting and working quietly. It was so beautiful and peaceful. I loved it! That peace carried into our morning circle time. I feel like we have a new spirit of productivity and peacefulness in our room. I will do my best to nurture that spirit and help it to grow.
We have a lot of things going in the near future. See the school’s January Newsletter for information regarding the upcoming Ski Night at Wolf Mountain. http://mariamontessoriacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/January-2014-Newsletter.pdf
The 5th graders have a field trip scheduled on January 27th to JA Biztown. This is a really fun opportunity! Thank you to the two parents who have volunteered to go with us. There is still a need for more chaperones, so if anyone else would like to go, please let me know. We would love to have you!
Because of the Biztown field trip, I am postponing the due date for the book reports until January 28th. Your children each received a paper this week detailing what I expect from their book reports. I am guessing that many of you did not see it. I will e-mail it to you since I am not sure how to attach it to the blog.
Your children each received a paper today about the See’s Candy fundraiser that the school is doing. These are due back on January 23rd. Please support the fundraiser and help the 6th graders pay for their trip to the Redwoods.
I have heard a rumor that pizza Fridays will be starting back up on January 24th. Be looking for more information about that in the near future.
The school’s International Festival is coming up at the beginning of February! Each of your children has chosen a continent to study. They need to pick a country within that continent and come up with a creative way to share that country with the rest of the school. Most children do a 3 sided display board. You can also bring any artifacts you have from that country. The children love having food to sample, too. They can also dress up in clothing from their country. Most of you are familiar with the International Festival. For those of you who aren’t, I will be going over the expectations with the students next week.
The other big thing that we have coming up is the science fair. This is scheduled for February 19th. The 4th and 5th graders got an extensive lesson this week about the science fair and some of the expectations. (I hope to do the same thing with the 6th graders very soon) I also gave each of them a lab journal to record all of their science fair information. Please, please save yourselves a lot of stress and start working on the science fair now. I sent home a science fair packet at the last parent/teacher conferences. I hope some of you still have it. I will try to get new copies made next week for those who need one.
I know this is a ton of information and a lot of work. I will do my best to help the children accomplish all that they need to, but the will need your support at home. They will need to be working on all of their assignments outside of school.
Speaking of working at home… The spelling test scores have been pretty abysmal lately for many of the students. I asked them all to write down their spelling words for next week today so that they could bring them home to show you and start practicing. I have been getting their words from a spelling program called Wordly Wise 3000. You can download a free app for this program and that might make practicing their spelling words at home a little more fun. Here are their words for next week, in case they didn’t follow directions. (That never happens)
Red Group: aloft, attain, buffet, elude, flammable, hover, inflate, jeopardy, moor, plummet, pollute, propel, stationary, superb, swivel
Blue Group: active, astound, attend, cherish, contract, eager, expose, grace, impose, modest, parallel, paralyze, pessimist, recite, respond
Green Group: average, border, cocoon, flutter, moisture, nectar, process, span, suitable, timber
Purple Group: oil, boil, coin, point, join, voice, choice, noise, toil, foil
I have Gracie signed up for snack next week. The following week is open, so please sign up if you think you can help. http://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/qgsbx
Thanks so much for all that you do! We have a lot coming up in the next couple of months and I need your continued help and support! Have a wonderful weekend!
Kirsten