You will not find traditional homework within our classroom. Homework will be completed in the form of interest base home projects. Home projects will be guided by school-wide themes, which are listed below. These home projects are meant to explore questions, find answers, share information with peers, increase academics, and ultimately instill a love of learning.
Home projects are a great transition into helping your child share information from what they read. Please help your child to read and gather information from books, articles, internet, etc. Students will be required to create a final written document (based on ability), provide a visual aid, and present information to their peers. Make certain they are using words they know how to read and understand in their written work and are not just copying information. If your child is not yet fully reading, please read with them and have them dictate to you what they want to write and then have them trace over your writing for good practice or recopy (again based on ability level) then, they may orally practice and present without notes. We would really like to encourage all students to practice their presentation. When students know their material and tell the class, rather than read, it really engages everyone and prepares the child for public speaking. Level 3’s will be encouraged to start typing their reports. They will be expected to type on the SAGE test this year and this is good practice. If you have questions on your child’s ability level, please contact their teacher.
Sometimes, students will come to class ready to present and simply have a page filled with words they are not able to read or understand. This project is a process and should take several days to complete. Copying an article and printing a picture is not what we are looking for in a home project. This defeats the purpose of home projects. Help your child understand what they are learning, so they are able to teach their peers.
Below are the topics, they are to guide the home project subject matter. If your child has a unique idea that you feel would work within the theme, please reach out to your child’s teacher. Really, the sky is the limit. Have fun! If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your classroom teacher.
Please see your child’s classroom blog for due dates.
Change August 21st-October 5th
Within the Lower Elementary classrooms, students are learning about changes, both large and small. We start with the Great Lessons which include the development of the universe, life throughout history, the study of early humans to present day, and the development of language and math. Students are also learning about changes through the study of time, lifecycles, and within themselves.
This project is an opportunity for children to study an area that is of interest to them. These areas may include:
- Plant or animal life cycles
- Geologic or historic periods
- The Great Lessons
- the development of spoken or written language
- the development of mathematical concepts
- the development of humans including how humans have met their needs throughout history or in differing geographical locations
- the formation of our universe, solar system, or planet
- prehistoric or modern plant or animal
- Personal timelines.
Independence October 9th-November 16th
Cultural Festival November 15th
The second theme is Independence. The students will be learning about geography, science, 13 colonies, declaration of independence, etcetera. These are some ideas for your student’s home project for independence. Your child can choose one or many of these ideas to present for their home project, but whatever they choose should be related to the United States. This project will be presented in the classroom, as well as, during our Cultural Festival. During the Cultural Festival, parents are invited to come visit classrooms to see the presentation and display of the student’s home projects.
Structure November 26th-January 11th
Stem Fair January 14th
The theme STRUCTURE is what your child will be studying during our third thematic unit. To relate the theme STRUCTURE to our STEM Festival the week of January 14th, STRUCTURE can mean certain processes scientists use or explore such as the scientific method, the physical structure of matter or the structure of the universe, the structure of the classification of living things and so much more. There’s a lot to explore!
For the STEM Fair home project, we will ask that your child create a science presentation based on Utah state science standards they’ve been studying in class. We want to treat our STEM Fair not as a general “Science Fair,” but rather a celebration of science.
A science celebration presentation is not limited to just a tri-board. Listed below are ideas your child can choose from (but are not limited to) for the STEM Fair.
Some ideas include, but are not limited to:
- Poster or tri-fold board
- Brochure
- Hands-on experiment with write-up
- Experiment demonstration by student (must be able to show over and over)
- Create a board game
- Video (Example: Make their own Bill Nye)
- Performance or skit
- Diorama
- Create a book
- Create a lesson or work
Below is a list of state standards that your student should be familiar with by the second half of the year when we hold our STEM fair:
1st grade- Scientific Method on Earth/Space sciences, Life sciences, or Force and Motion
2nd grade- Scientific Method on Earth/Space sciences, Life sciences, or Force and Motion
3rd grade- Sun, Earth, Moon relationship, Living and Non-living within an Environment, Forces and Motion, Gravity, Heat and Light
Connections January 15th– February 22nd
Spelling Bee February 26th
The theme CONNECTIONS is what your child will be studying during our fourth thematic unit. During this time, we will be focusing on growth, division, reunion, and industrialization in the Americas mainly during the 1800s but not limited to this time period.
During this theme our school will celebrate a Spelling Bee week which will include class spelling bees, lower and upper el spelling bees, and a school wide spelling bee. All students are encouraged to participate in the spelling bee that will be held in their classroom. We want all students to work with the words used in the spelling bee to help build their vocabulary and spelling knowledge.
However, if your child is not comfortable participating in this event, they can also participate in other ways. If your child decides not to take part in their classroom bee, they will need to use the spelling bee words in another way to share with their classmates. Some of these ways include but are not limited to writing a story using as many of the spelling bee words as possible, creating multiple funny sentences using the words, create a board game using the words, create a game involving good, physical activity with the words, create a classroom scavenger hunt with the words.
When words are involved, the possibilities are endless!
Interdependence February 25th-April 12th
Literacy Week March 25th
Students will study cultural diversity and acceptance which stems from our Montessori peace curriculum. They will explore maps, cultures, and research of countries. We will link the theme to our literacy studies.
Students will need to do a creative writing project. This assignment can be based on something that happened to them or someone they know, or from their imagination. They can choose to write a poem, a song, a play, or story. This project can be simple or complex depending on your child’s ability, and interest. We would like this to be a fun, creative experience for your child and family. This project must also include an illustration(s) to accompany their writing. This can be a variety of things–painting, clay, puppet, mobile, booklet, shadow box, etc.
Liberty and Justice for All April 15th-May 17th
No Home Project for this Theme