Here is an overview of our school year.  Be aware that this is subject to change, especially as we add more field trips.

Year at a Glance

2016-2017

Ms. Kirsten and Ms. Petra’s Class

September

16^th   Studio Friday begins

17^th   MMA 5K and Pancake Breakfast

20^th   Boxtops Store

21^st   International Peace Day

22^nd   Positive Discipline Workshop 6-8PM

23^rd   Book Reports Due (Fiction)

23^rd   Early Release 1:00PM

October

1^st   Normalization Ends

12^th   4^th Grade Field Trip to America West Heritage Center

14^th   MMA Fall Festival

17^th-19^th   Parent Teacher Conferences/Early Release Days/Book Fair

18^th   Boxtops Store

19^th   Tundra Animal or Plant Research Project Due

20^th-21^st   Fall Break

24^th   Nature Center Field Trip

November

11^th   Early Release 1:00PM

11^th   Veteran’s Day Report Due

15^th   Boxtops Store

17^th   MMA Gratitude Feast

18^th   Mustache Sales

21^st-25^th   No School

December

5^th   Nutcracker Ballet Field Trip

9^th   Early Release 1:00PM

9^th   Holiday Feast

19^th   International Festival

19^th   Continent/Country Reports Due

20^th   Boxtops Store

21^st   Winter Break Begins

January

4^th   Back to School

6^th   Studio Begins

13^th   No School

16^th   No School

17^th   Boxtops Store

25^th   5^th Grade Field Trip to JA Biztown

February

6^th-10^th   Carnation Sales

8^th   Science Fair (6^th and 8^th Grade)

15^th-17^th   Parent Teacher Conference/Early Release/Book Fair

20^th  No School

21^st   Boxtops Store

24^th   Studio Begins

27^th-March 3^rd   Literacy Week

March

6^th   Biography Book Report Due (May choose a person for Black History Month or Women’s History Month)

17^th   Early Release 1:00PM

20^th   No School

21^st   Boxtops Store

25^th   MMA Gala Fundraiser

29^th   6^th Grade Field Trip to the Planetarium

4^th Grade Utah History Project Due (date to come)

5^th Grade STEM Project Due (date to come)

April

3^rd-7^th   Spring Break

18^th   Boxtops Store

21^st   Early Release 1:00Pm

30^th-May 5^th   6^th Grade Field Trip to the Redwoods

History Fair and STEM Fair date to be announced

May

16^th   Boxtops Store

19^th   Continent/Country/State Study Due

22^nd-24^th   Parent Teacher Conference/Early Release/Book Fair

25^th-26^th   Early Release 1:00PM

26^th   Last Day of School

Just a few quick reminders…

Tomorrow is the Boxtops store!  Please send your precut Boxtops to school and your child can exchange them for some fun trinkets.

Tomorrow is also our school’s skate night at Classic Fun Center!   It is from 5-9PM.  Dinner is available for $3 per person.  This is such a fun night!

Book reports are due on Friday!  I can’t wait to see all of the students’ presentations!

In conjunction with Hunger Awareness Month and the International Day of Peace on September 21st, our class is doing a food drive!  We are very excited for this opportunity to serve our community!  Flyers will be coming home with your student next week.  If you are able to support our efforts, please send food items to school with your child.  We appreciate any support you can give!  Some of the most needed items are:

Peanut Butter

Canned Fruits and Vegetables

Canned Meat, Soup, and Beans

Grains (Cereal, Pasta, Rice, etc.)

Shelf Stable Milk and Drinks

Our class is preparing to celebrate Constitution Day on Thursday, September 15th.  One thing that we are working on is memorizing the Preamble to the Constitution.  We are using the Schoolhouse Rock song to help us learn the words.  Some of the students wanted to work on it at home.  Here’s a link to the video on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHp7sMqPL0g

Here are the book presentation choices we have been talking about in class.  The students can choose any of the 30 projects to do for their presentation.  The book should be fiction and on their reading level, not necessarily their grade level.  Their presentations/projects are due on September 23rd.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Book Presentation Choices

This school year is moving right along!  It is hard to believe that we are already entering our 4th week of school.  Last week we slowly started introducing some regular work into our routine.  We began doing math fluency activities every morning.  We also received our first spelling/vocabulary list of the school year.  We did different works with our words every day to help us learn their meaning, as well as their correct spelling.  These lists will continue into this week.  We will generally assess mastery of the words on Thursdays.  August 31st was Maria Montessori’s birthday.  We celebrated with our lower elementary mentor class by creating timelines of her life.  We also continued our study of the Coming of Life last week and learned about the Coming of Humans.  This week we will continue by introducing the Fundamental Needs of Man and emphasizing the Coming of Language.  This week we will also begin going to our special classes on Thursdays.  We have computer lab, music, and PE every Thursday morning.  Please be sure your child is dressed appropriately for PE on these days.  We will continue to add more work expectations into our schedule as we prepare to begin our regular three hour work cycle.  We have completed assessments in math, writing, spelling, and reading to ensure that each student will receive the instruction that is appropriate for them.  I am excited to move forward!

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!  kgonzales@mariamontessoriacademy.org

Kirsten

We are gearing up to start our Studio Friday classes.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with Studio Friday, it is a wonderful program that allows our students to sign up for different classes with different teachers on Friday afternoons.  They will have three different rotations throughout the school year.  A paper explaining the options for this rotation went home with your students on Friday.  As you can see from the paper, the choices are in a variety of topics.  Studio Friday  offers the students an opportunity to explore different interests while they experience learning from different upper elementary teachers and get to know students from other classes.  Please take some time to look over the options with your child and help them fill out the page where they make their class selections.  This paper should come back to school tomorrow.  Please be aware that not all students will get their first choice.

On Thursday, September 8th at 6:00 PM, there will be a mandatory meeting for parents regarding the 6th grade field trip to the Redwoods.  This meeting will explain expectations for 6th graders and their families, as well as logistical information and details about the trip.  Your 6th grade student may attend with you, but please make other arrangements for younger siblings.  The meeting will be held in the school’s library.