Ms. Laura's Class

This year has absolutely flown.  I am truly in shock that this is the last month of my first year! Thank you for your continued support as we wrap up the year!

While the 6th grade is away on their “camp OUT” we are going to be hosting a camp “IN” tomorrow afternoon.  Students are able to bring blankets and pillows (please no pjs – students should still be in dress code).  We will have baked s’mores and will tell stories and play games around a “campfire”

Our schedule for the month:

May 9 – Science SAGE

May 11 – Molly’s Birthday

May 13 – Mother’s Day

May 14-18 – School Spirit Week

• Monday – Crazy Socks
• Tuesday – Crazy Hair or Hat
• Wednesday – PJs
• Thursday – Occupation Day
• Friday – Dress Down

May 16 – Redwoods 5th grade meeting @ 5:30

May 18 – Field Day, 9th Grade Graduation

May 21 – EC Bridging

May 22 – Lower EL Bridging, Parent Teacher Conferences, EARLY OUT

May 23 – Upper EL Bridging, Parent Teacher Conferences, EARLY OUT

May 24 – Parent Teacher Conferences, EARLY OUT

May 25 – Last day of School, EARLY OUT

May 30 – George’s Birthday

We had a GREAT time at the field trip today!  I know I came back sunburned and tired, so I hope your children weren’t too fried when they got home.

Please be aware that the 6th graders itinerary for the field trip tomorrow has changed.  An email has been sent out but I will copy it here for your convenience:

Travel:

• Arrive at the Ogden frontrunner station at:  7:10 a.m.
• Leave Ogden Frontrunner Station at 7:37 a.m.
• Arrive at Salt Lake Central 8:36
• Go East to the Trax
• Take the blue line Trax at 8:43
• Arrive at Clark Planetarium at 8:50

• Leave Clark Planetarium at 1:00
• Get on the blue line Trax at 1:13
• Arrive at Salt Lake Central at 1:17
• Get on the Frontrunner at 1:25
• Arrive in Ogden at 2:24

PARENTS NEED TO PICK THEIR CHILDREN UP BY 2:30 P.M.  PLEASE PICK UP YOUR CHILDREN FROM THE FRONTRUNNER BEFORE GOING TO MMA.

Wednesday we have our Math SAGE.  Please help your child be prepared by making sure they get a good nights rest and a good breakfast that morning.

Thursday and Friday I will be out of town for my final class of this year.  Ms. Jessica and Ms. Mindy will be taking over the classroom in my stead.  I will be hard to reach during this time, but please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns you might have these two days and I will answer them when I can.

Then next week we say goodbye to our sixth graders as they head to the Redwoods!  How exciting!

As always, any questions or concerns, email me!

April 20: Half day/Field Trip: Ogden Botanical Gardens. (Orange paper)  All parents are welcome to attend this field trip with their child.  We will be exploring lessons related to the current botany curriculum and the importance of caring for the Earth.  We will be participating in a service project which will involved cleaning the Ogden River Parkway Trail. We plan to arrive at the botanical garden by 9 and as this is a half day for students, your child can be picked up at 12:30.  Please remember to bring weather appropriate clothing, to pack a lunch, and to bring a backpack to carry that lunch in. We will be doing a reusable t-shirt bag craft, so please bring old t-shirts that you no longer want.  Also, if you have any fabric scissors you would be willing to bring we would appreciate it. Please put your name on them so they get returned to you.

April 23: Field Trip: North Fork Park in Liberty. (Blue Paper) All parents are welcome to attend this field trip wit their child.  We are going on this field trip to conclude our year long nature journal project.  We will be conducting nature observations and learn about native plants and animals of Utah.  We will be meeting at the trail head at 9 – if you would like to organize a ride for your child, or you are willing to drive others to the trail head, please contact my room mom Mandy at mlshale@comcast.net.  Your child can be picked up from the trail head at 2:30.  Please be aware that it is regularly 10-15 degrees cooler in Liberty and it will likely be muddy.  Bring weather appropriate clothing, a jacket with a hood, good walking shoes, extra socks, binoculars if they have them, a pencil, and a lunch.  You will want to bring a backpack to carry all your extra gear with you.  

April 24: Field Trip (6th grade only): Planetarium (yellow)  This is a field trip to supplement the 6th grade science curriculum.  Students will be riding on the Ogden Frontrunner at 7:10 AM and will arrive back at the station by 2:50 PM.  Please note that times are subject to change due to Frontrunner scheduling as we get closer to the trip.

5 weeks and counting!

Here’s the need to know for this week:

NO SAGE THIS WEEK!

We do have a field trip coming up THIS FRIDAY.  All are welcome to attend with their child if they would like, we have a lot of great activities planned to celebrate Earth Day.  PLEASE: send your child to school with an old T-Shirt that you don’t mind having cut up.  we plan to make reusable bags out of them.

If you need to organize a ride for any of the field trips that are upcoming please contact Mandy at mlshale@comcast.net

Short and sweet so far for this week!  Thanks for staying updated with my blog.  As always, any questions, feel free to email me!

Hello!  Long awaited, the April Schedule!!

Lets just start with today:

April 12: Museum on the Move (assembly for 4th graders)

April 13: SAGE test (Writing)

April 19: Utah Waters Van (Assembly for 4th graders)

April 20: Half day/Field Trip: Ogden Botanical Gardens.  ORANGE permission form (due back on Monday, April 16).  All parents are welcome to attend this field trip with their child.  We will be exploring lessons related to the current botany curriculum and the importance of caring for the Earth.  We will be participating in a service project which will involved cleaning the Ogden River Parkway Trail. We plan to arrive at the botanical garden by 9 and as this is a half day for students, your child can be picked up at 12:30.

April 23: Field Trip: North Fork Park in Liberty. BLUE permission form (due back Monday, April 16).  We are going on this field trip to conclude our year long nature journal project.  We will be conducting nature observations and learn about native plants and animals of Utah.  We will be meeting at the trail head at 9 – if you would like to organize a ride for your child, or you are willing to drive others to the trail head, please contact my room mom Mandy at mlshale@comcast.net.  Your child can be picked up from the trail head at 2:30

April 24: Field Trip (6th grade only): Planetarium YELLOW Permission form (due back Monday, April 16).  This is a field trip to supplement the 6th grade science curriculum.  Students will be riding on the Ogden Frontrunner at 7:10 AM and will arrive back at the station by 2:50 PM.  Please note that times are subject to change due to Frontrunner scheduling as we get closer to the trip.

April 25: SAGE test (math)

April 26-27: I am scheduled to be in Salt Lake City attending my final course for this school year and will be out of the classroom.  A substitute has been scheduled for these days.

April 30: Field Trip (6th grade only): Redwoods

I have a few more field trips scheduled for May and will update as the schedules for those are finalized and we get closer to the dates.

Any questions or concerns please email me at lhughes@mariamontessoriacademy.org and please contact Mandy at mlshale@comcast.net with any carpool questions or requests.

Hello all!

I promise I will post the dates for all of April soon!  But I wanted to make sure you had this!

Today, I introduced our final project for the school year.  This is an in class/home project that will replace all home projects (if I had any scheduled…) for the rest of the year.  It was required for 6th and 5th, 4th could participate if they so chose (if they chose not to participate, alternate assignments will be created for them.)

Please talk to your child about the project, as it is rather complicated to explain, but here is the synopsis: Your child will be researching, planning, designing, and teaching 3 lessons on 3 of 4 topics: Botany, History, Geography, Zoology.  They will be focusing on a continent (4 & 5) or state (6) of their choosing.  They will then teach their prepared lessons to their lower elementary mentor.

My class is really excited about this project, but as it is a home/school project, I have attached the rubric for your perusal.  As always, if you have any questions, please email me at lhughes@mariamontessoriacademy.org !

Continent and State timeline 2018

While I’m at it, we have quite a few field trips coming up, I aim to get permission forms coming home tomorrow.  Please look for those.

How wonderful to see everyone again after break!  It sounds as though everyone’s breaks were restful and restorative.  I am excited to use that to launch us into the home stretch of the year!  I will send out a month overview post soon, I didn’t want this information to get buried.

We are kicking off this last part of the year with SAGE testing!  These tests are required by the Utah School Board of Education and while we realize that these tests are just one measure of your child’s educational progress, these tests provide a useful data source for myself and the school to assess student progress and make a plan for future instruction. If you would like more information about SAGE testing, visit:  https://sageportal.org/resources/sage-general-information-fa/

Please take some time to communicate with your child about the test and encourage them to just do their best.  Making sure your child gets to bed early the night before the test and a good breakfast the morning of goes miles for helping your child be successful.  If your child suffers from test anxiety, Ms. Megan has shared some great resources on her blog: http://blogs.mariamontessoriacademy.org/digitalliteracycitizenship/

Our schedule for SAGE:

English: Tuesday, Apr 10 (I know this is today, I’m sorry I didn’t get this post out earlier)

Writing: Friday, Apr 13

Math: Wednesday, Apr 25

Science: Wednesday, May 9

It was great to see everyone back again after the long weekend!

Going into this week, some due dates that are coming rapidly for you to know about:

The 4th Graders got their assignment for the Utah history fair on Friday, they should have brought home a paper.  Today we discussed their topics for research, which I will post here so you have them.  This project will culminate in both a written research paper and a final product that will be on display in April.

The due dates:

• Bibliography – 3/26 (this must include AT LEAST 2 print resources)
• Rough  Draft – 3/30
• Final Draft (with display) – 4/9
• In class presentation and hallway display 4/12-13

The topics chosen:

• Jayce: Native Americans, Navajo
• Zeagon: Native Americans;Goshute
• Harmony – History of Ogden
• George – Mormon Rebellion
• Annabelle – Mormon Pioneer (she will narrow this down to a particular pioneer)
• Brynlee – History of Salt Lake City
• Erik – State Motto and what it means
• Kam – History of the Railroad
• Meila – Plants Unique to Utah
• Lilly – Animals Unique to Utah
• Donovan – Utah Money Before Mints

The 6th Graders should be continuing their Biography book report.  As a reminder, they can present the information from the book report in any way they choose (newspaper, book cover, mobile, traditional report, etc.)  See previous post for more detail.  These will be due on the 30th

The 5th Graders should be continuing work on their Invention Convention.  They have packets and should have been working on this project for quite a while now.  Those are coming due NO LATER THAN THE 27th (which is one week from today).

ALL GRADES:

Your child will be in a concert to show case what they have been working on in music class.  Your child should have brought home a flyer with more information.

When: April 20.  Students must arrive no later than 6:30 PM, the concert will begin at 7

Where: Weber High School Auditorium

What to wear: students must wear black bottoms (pants or skirts covering the knee), a solid color top with no logos or designs, and black shoes and socks.

Other info:

• Two parent volunteers per classroom are needed to help organize students backstage before the concert. Please sign up here
• Two parent volunteers are needed to play piano for the concert.  Please contact Clarissa Lunt at clunt@mariamontessoriacademy.org if you are interested.

My apologies for this coming out on Thursday.  Things have been as crazy as the weather.  We had a great time at JA BizTown yesterday with the 5th graders!  I think students learned a lot about time and money management, as well as getting to play at being an adult.  Being at Biz Town with another school was beneficial as well I believe, as it taught my class how to work with others as they will have to in the real world.  They managed to donate enough BizTown money to United Way that they ended the day by silly stringing all of the teachers.  A wonderful ending to a wonderful day.

The 6th grade take home for this month has been assigned, I’m sorry I am so late getting the assignment to you via the blog.  My 6th graders are to read any biography and then can create their own creative project (for example a diorama, poster, movie preview, book cover, magazine article, etc. they can even do just a plain old book report) to present to the class.  This will be due the end of the month (March 30) and I will be looking for all of the same information to be gotten across – so, I need to know WHO the book report is about (man character), the setting, what the conflict or plot is (is it about a specific moment, or about the entire life of the person), the turning point (was there something that changed this persons life? etc.)  and a recommendation.  I will be looking at mechanics within the project if writing is involved, and they will need to be prepared to orally present their project, or come prepared if their report is in video format (eg. if they choose to create a movie preview).  I will be loosely basing grading off the familiar rubric we have been working with all year as I will be looking for all of the same information, but will obviously adjust the rubric as needed for the project completed.

From MAPA:

Did you know the Gala’s in the past have made the school money so they could purchase computers, bike rack, P.E. equipment, crosswalk flashing lights, etc…? This year the school is in need of a new playground and we are hoping to get enough money to make a big difference in the playground bill. In comes the GALA:) Our ticket sales for the Gala so far are looking a little sad. We are asking MMA parents to step up and come support MMA. If you can’t come to the Gala but would still like to contribute to the school. The following link has some donation choices:) https://squareup.com/store/mapa-9

OR we will be at the Northeast Corner of North Shore parking lot taking donations and selling Gala tickets this Wednesday and Thursday from 3-4 (drive thru style)!! Hope to see you there:)

Thanks

Heidi Bradley

Lets get right to it.

Biz Town is coming up on the 14th of this month.  I still need spots for 6 students.  If you would like to drive on that field trip please shoot me an email.  One chaperone will be needed to help with our “job” at BizTown, the rest of the drivers will just be needed for transport there and back.

We are having a class party on Friday to celebrate how far we have come as a class this year.  We will be cooking tacos! But ingredients are needed.  Please follow this link to sign up.

5th graders came home with another permission form today, we will be walking to America First on Wednesday to do some prep for Biz Town.  Please sign and have those back by Wednesday at the absolute latest.

I sent a packet home on Friday, Invention Convention (5th) is upon us.  I have the due date down as the 23rd of March, but because I am a little later than I would like to be getting those out, if the project is not done by then, that’s ok.  The project can be in NO LATER than the 27th.

It says on my class information that the final continent report is due on Wednesday for 4th graders.  Please don’t worry about this, they have not been working on it and probably have no idea what it is about.

The 6th grade field trip to the planetarium was rescheduled,  I will be coming with more information when that date has been ironed out.

TAKE HOME PROJECTS THIS MONTH:

4th: sometime in the next week or so, I am going to introduce the History Fair, you will be updated when that happens

5th: should be working on the invention convention

6th: will be doing a project on a biography, it will not be a typical book report.  I will introduce that this week, and will post on the blog once it has been introduced.

MARCH’S CALENDAR:

3/7 – America West field trip (5)

3/9 – class party, 6th grade dance 3-5pm, Clark Planetarium visiting MMA

3/14 – JA Biz Town

3/16 – EARLY RELEASE (Professional Development)

3/17 – Gala

3/19 – NO SCHOOL (Professional Development)

3/27- Inventions due

3/28-30 – Invention convention.