Monthly Archives: April 2018

I hope you all are enjoying the blog writing; I sure am. We have many activities and learning occurring even as we near the close and minds are already gearing up for summer mayhem.

I will be out this next week at the Redwoods with the 6th years. Mr. Carl will be with our 4th and 5th years guiding them through their practice work and several writing lessons. Our reading and math have greatly improved for all over the year and we are quite pleased with the progress. I am most impressed thus far about our students growing knowledge of the world and its parts.

Please stay aware of upcoming dates:

May 8th            SAGE Math 12-3pm

May 11th          Crystal Hot Springs Field Trip; NEED CHAPERONES & DRIVERS

6th Years Redwoods Essays Due

May 14th          UE SWAP MEET 9-11am (Students may “rent” a booth and sell their wares (pre-approved the week prior))

May 15th           End of Year Essays Due

May 16th          Culinary Project Due

May 17th          Portfolios Due

May 18th          Field Day (more announcements to come)

May 23rd          6th Year Graduation

May 22 & 24th           Parent-Student Conferences

May 25th            Last Day of School

April 26th, 2018

Evan R.

On Tuesday, April 24th, all of the 6th graders went to the Planetarium. My friend and I enjoyed all the games the Planetarium provided for us. Our favorite was the asteroid game. The objective of the game was to destroy all the asteroids before they hit the Earth. We also got to go to an IMAX theater and a dome theater. One of the movies was about how astronauts live and cooperate up in space. However an obstacle for an astronaut is not being able to be their with family and friends. I don’t think I could be an astronaut, because I couldn’t go that long without my family. The last thing I enjoyed was the giant 3D sphere. It showed us the air quality around the world, and how quickly the polar ice caps were melting. I would recommend the planetarium for other people. It really is a fun place.

April 25th 2018

Indra

We have had a good week so far. Today some 4th graders were reading the UURC with Miss Steph. We have also been reviewing the water cycle and were able to watch a silly weather forecast video by Studio C. We are all working on maps. A few students are working on the map of Europe and others are working on the United States.  We had music in our classroom today; Miss Clarissa showed the Upper Elementary performance to us and then we had a small talent show that will continue next week. In PE, we are learning about Baseball. Although summer is only 22 school days away, we are still learning new things and are excited to finish out 4th grade year strong I.can’t wait for next week.

This is our first distribution of student blog writing: Enjoy! There’s more to come.

By Jace Otto (6th)

April 17, 2018

Last week was a busy week. On Monday, we had a math test where there were problems on paper all around the circle and we would get in groups of 2 or 3 and sit by a rug with 2 problems and rotated around the circle every 5 minutes. On Tuesday, our class had class pictures! We also had lessons and reviews for stuff we didn’t get on Monday. On Wednesday, we had Music/P.E. In music we got to practice with the pianist who will play with us in the concert. In P.E. we played baseball and someone hit the ball on the roof. On Thursday, we had a regular work cycle and worked on Earth Day posters. Finally, on Friday we had an English SAGE test. Last week was fun and busy!

By Kaidyn Carnes (LaPorte) (5th)

April 17, 2018

On Monday, most of all three grades had large number math like ten digit addition, subtraction, 182 digit long division, decimals, multiplication, and fractions. On Tuesday, most of the class did their maps. On Wednesday, we did Steck Vaughn & m&m’s (math & memory). On Thursday, we didn’t do anything special. On Friday we had SAGE testing. Testing went from about 12:00 – 2:49. Well that wraps things up for this week.

By Marley Speicher (4th)

April 18, 2018

This is about the new works and assemblies in our class this past week. Our class has gotten so many amazing works. Some works are Interpretive Reading, History Question Charts, Fundamental Needs, Science Experiment Cards, and so much more. Our class still has so much to offer and in our class you learn all types of things like grammar, language, science, history, math, geography, geometry, and more to learn. The fourth graders assembly happened too. The assembly was about fossils. First, the nice lady that was leading the assembly talked about fossils and identifying them. The lady talked about paleontologists discovering fossils. Then we went to table stations. At the table stations, we had to identify certain fossils if they were or were not. We also had to organize the fossils by carnivore and herbivore at the table stations; then the assembly was over. We lined up and left for the rest of the day. That was about some o f the things we did this past week.

Click here for a full print out. No edits possible. DUE MAY 16th.

Students received the packet and reviewed it WITH instruction today the 19th of April. Check in with them.

Be Aware: 6th and 5th years have additional “heavy” assignments in addition to this one due by the end of the year. 

Just a reminder!

17-18 Concert Flyer

Announcements:

4th Years  – This week- 2 Assemblies: Utah’s Water Van and Local Government Workshops

6th years – WED. APRIL 18TH, 5:30 pm – FINAL REDWOODS MEETING  – ALL STUDENTS GOING TO REDWOODS & THEIR GUARDIANS NEED TO ATTEND THIS MEETING.

6th – Clark Planetarium – April 24th, 7 am

SAGE – WRITING – 9am Thursday, April 19th

Greetings!

We have certainly had a busy week this week. We’ve learned about symmetry in geometry figures, lines, angles, and a wide variety of geometric shapes. Ellipse, oval and egg sure can be tricky. Some students have been working closely with abstract decimals operations, while others been concentrating on their math facts and square root manipulatives. The map making is moving more slowly; yet it is amazing what five and ten minute checks can do to stimulate and reinforce world geography knowledge.

In addition, students are still developing their physical handwriting abilities (penmanship) as well as developing writing their ideas. This week we performed another practice in free thought writing. Many students still resist the blank page. Therefore, I am pushing them to recognize how many great ideas are already there and that conversation is a wonderful way to hear writing before it’s written. Help your child this weekend to work on their writing with a handout I will be sending home. It will give you a perspective of how their writing is progressing as well as insight into their gratitude.

I am also implementing a student blog writing team each week, starting this week. The writing team will consist of at least one student per grade level. Those assigned for the past week’s blog post writing will write up one paragraph either in email to me or on paper about the grade level’s “experience” for the week. They can choose anything which occurred in our activities: a lesson, an assembly, a visitor, a group’s ability to work through a problem, etc. I’m hopeful this will also spark and drive the writing bug, when they can see their writing distributed. Again, nudge them towards success when it is their turn and support them until then by having them write more sentences for you. Look for punctuation, capitals, and suggest they use a thesaurus to find new vocabulary for words they already know! These are many of the things we’ve been working on.

Another thing we’ve been heavily working on is evidence. We’ve been talking about finding it in text, being able to support our verbal arguments with it, and being able to show it to support our work in class. Have a discussion with your child about it. You and your child could even make a game of it; the student can provide evidence of almost anything you point out! Does Chick-Fil-A sell chicken? How do you know? Prove it to me.

I need to also address two other topics. I am attending the Redwoods trip with the 6th years. Our two assistants (one part-time, the other full-time) will be leading the class. Anyone who is willing and ready to help that week for a couple hours at a time would be highly welcome. Please email me to coordinate.

Also, I mentioned at one point in the year that I was attending school. Between my assignments there and obligations here, home projects and some communication were put on hold or missed. I deeply apologize for this oversight. Thankfully, I am done with the hardest part of it, and it will not continue into next year at this pace. That being said, we will have one home project left for all students and two for 5th and 6th years. Students will have through to May 16th to get them ready. The rubrics will all be sent home and uploaded by Monday, April 15th. Thank you for understanding.

See you Monday!

Last week to order a year book! Order today for $20. Thank you for supporting your child’s memories.

Announcements/Dates:

SAGE (Potential to Change):    English/Reading  –  Week of April 9th; Writing – Week of April 16th; Science – Week of April 23rd; Math – Week of April 7th

April 4th Year Assemblies/ Fairs:   April 12th – Museum on the Move; April 18th – Local Government Assembly; April 19th – Utah Water Van; UTAH HISTORY FAIR Week of April 13th (Students received information the week of March 20th; Papers are readily available in the red basket in our classroom)

6th Years:   April 24th     Clark Planetarium (Need Chaperones/Drivers)

Redwoods Important Dates:        April 18th  5:30pm MANDATORY; Redwoods Trip  – April 29 to May 4th

Parents!

The last month or so has been quite busy. Our students have been involved in so many learning adventures. We started the month with ASTROCAMP and the Science Fair,  then Fifth years participated in JA Biztown, learned more about financial literacy, then created their inventions, and then we all enjoyed an assembly with the traveling Opera.

Within the classroom, progress in being made most especially in writing. Students now have a more firm grip (pun intended) on the physical aspect of writing and how to make it most legible and beautiful. Thus, students have been being guided through more of the mechanics of writing paragraphs, essays, and all that this entails. If your student becomes  more opinionated (is that possible?) over the next couple months, help them learn how to discuss their views with patience and firmness. The more students learn to communicate verbally, the better their writing can be.

Also, while on spring break, please review with them again our charter’s focus in Montessori. We have been talking about how Montessori’s vision is of a classroom where students drive the interest and do the most work. They teach themselves. The “teacher” is a guide, a material. She or he begins the process, the child progresses through the process on her or his own with the guide available, then an assessment occurs where the student shares the knowledge with another. Then, the process repeats. It is is beautiful and wonderful when the children have that love and drive to learn. I have been working with the children for them to understand THEIR responsibility in the learning process. Will you also? Thank you.

SAGE testing is coming up. We will start next week and have a subject area test each week until Mother’s Day, except the week we are in the Redwoods. We had been practicing some benchmarks in math in previous weeks. And we have been focusing on our reading and writing strategies. I wish to remind all parents that students are at times challenged to perform on these types of tests due to the ability to navigate the system more so than their ability to perform the work itself. I have reassured all of our students that the main thing they need to remember consistently is that they are talented, gifted, and academically on the right path; they simply need to do the work being asked and they will thrive. They do not need to focus on the measure of a number of a test at a single moment in their lives. I ask them to do their best and then keep practicing and learn more. I hope we can all agree on that.

In final news, our classroom has now implemented a team leader system. Each day a team of four to six students guides the events and lessons of the day. Each group has been random and not driven by friendships (though I pride our classroom on its friendships). The students write the schedule, provide the initial lesson of the day, check the note and quote work, and direct the children when they get out of line or are not working. The first few days, I even acted as they do at times, and we had some good laughs while also recognizing behaviors. It’s been fun and is bringing us some interesting community moments.

If anyone is available for volunteering on Mondays, Thursdays or Fridays in the mornings, it would be much appreciated. We could use some one-on-one and small group assistance with some students. Thank you!

Can’t wait to see you all again Monday!