May 25th  10:30 AM 6th grade graduation on the field.  6th grade parents are invited to come to the school at 9:00 AM and join us for a special breakfast before the graduation.

Our field trip to the Dinosaur Park last Friday was so much fun!  I loved it!  I think we all had a great time.  The weather cooperated and walking outside was refreshing and invigorating.  We had an interesting lesson from a paleontologist.  I was so proud of how well the students listened and participated.  They were able to answer many questions and asked some really great questions as well.  One of my favorite parts of the day was when the paleontologist was talking about the Tyrannosaurus Rex being the biggest dinosaur.  Some of the students raised their hands and told him that they had read in their Scholastic News magazine that the Titanosaur was the biggest dinosaur.  The paleontologist disagreed and they had a great discussion about it.  When we got back to school on Monday, we found the article in the Scholastic News and sent it to him with a note asking what he thought.  I hope he replies!  I thought it was so awesome that the students remembered something that they had read and studied about in the Scholastic News magazine and were able to discuss it with the paleontologist.  I love Scholastic News, but the students haven’t always been excited about it.

Here’s a great picture of us at the end of our field trip after we walked back to the Botanical Gardens.  I love how you can see the personalities coming out on the children’s faces.

The 6th graders were given a State report assignment months ago.  It was due on April 1st.  As of now, I have only received 2 reports.  Please remind your 6th graders about this assignment and encourage them to complete it and turn it in.

The 6th graders who attended the Redwoods field trip were given an essay assignment from Ms. Stephanie.  The essay is due on Monday, May 9th.  It should be 5-6 paragraphs.  The essay should include 2 things they learned as far as science and curriculum goes.  It should also include 2 things they learned about themselves (in their teams and individually) and how they have grown as a person.  The essay must also have introduction and conclusion paragraphs.

The 4th and 5th graders were given an assignment to study a continent and a country within that continent.  This is similar to the projects they did for the International Festival in December.  They were given research packets a couple of weeks ago and have been given class time to work on them.  I have encouraged them to be creative with their presentations.  They can make a poster, a power point presentation, a travel brochure, a diorama, a model, etc.  They can dress up like someone from their country, bring food to try, or bring in a special guest.  They can choose one thing about their country that they find interesting and focus their presentation on that thing.  It is really up to them, but they must do the research packet and give a presentation of some sort to the class.  This project needs to be completed and presented by May 20th.  I will likely have the students sign up for a day to present so that we don’t have an overwhelming number of presentation in the same day.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  kgonzales@mariamontessoriacademy.org