This week in Morado, we began a study of Asia which will culminate with a particular focus on India in March. Many of the children learned where Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan are, since we are sending money there through the Pennies for Peace program. A couple students presented what they learned about the Mongol Empire, while others presented a Chinese folktale, "The Dragon King's Gift."
In the week ahead, third graders will be joining the Upper Elementary students in preparing for the annual "Colonial Feast." The children will be purchasing supplies on Monday. We will have a time of sharing this Friday, February 26. If you wish to share something, please bring an item that does not require batteries or electricity and that fits in the backpack.
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It was great getting to see everyone on Friday and spending time talking about each child and how they are doing at school. It is a wonderful feeling when we hear how much both parents and students are loving our school and our classroom. We don't nearly get enough time to meet with everyone during the school year, so we are very thankful everyone could make it.
This will be just a quick update about the week. School will be closed from Thursday, February 11th to Monday, February 15th. We will be having a normal schedule on the days we are open with the usual lessons. There will be no spelling next week and we will start sending home new spelling lists on Tuesday the 16th. If you have any questions, please let us know. Lastly, we would like to invite anyone, especially the 3rd grade families, to the Upper Elementary Colonial Feast on February 25th from 6-8 pm. The Upper Elementary will be cooking and serving food that was eaten during Colonial times. 3rd graders will also be helping them cook during that week as a way to start to bridging them into the Upper Elementary, that they will be joining next year. We hope you are all had an enjoyable weekend. We have had a busy week last week with students challenging themselves with new math lessons and a lot of writing of short stories and students writing about some of their favorite things. Third graders were also invited to the Upper Elementary for some informal writing lessons with Ms. Nicole. Other highlights were a lesson with Ms. Mary about erosion using the information students learned previously about rivers and its parts and learning about bacteria and other microscopic living things with Mr. Ben.
This week was our first library trip. Students teamed up and did a scavenger hunt to find books in both the children’s section and the non-fiction section of the Sammamish Library. It went really well and students got to talk to the librarians to help them find books and using the card catalog on the computer. Also, this week students have been getting letter from their Kindergarten buddies and have been inviting them to have lunch with them or read some of their favorite books together. This is a quick reminder that Progress Reports will be emailed to you on this Thursday afternoon, February 4th. If you would like a hard copy sent home on Thursday, please let us know and we can get one ready for you in your child’s folder. School will be closed on Friday, February 5th for conferences. These conferences will be just between parents and teachers, the students do not need to come. We enjoyed seeing the children share their continent projects with all of you who visited our Early Bird Event on Friday. A couple of them didn’t even let the day end before picking out the next focus for research!
This week, the children also had an opportunity to try out several tools that might help them get to the Green Zone: noise-cancelling headphones, soothing aromas, carrying a bucket of rocks, and using a large exercise ball. They wrote down which zone each tool might help them with, if any. See http://zonesofregulation.com/ for a reminder of what Zones is. Remember these:
Students continued to work in groups on their continent research projects. Everyone’s project is looking great and coming along really nicely. Next week some of the students will even be preparing food at school from their continent and serving it at the Early Bird Elementary Event. We are excited for next Friday morning when both upper and lower elementary students will be presenting their projects from 9-10am.
The Early Bird Elementary Event is the community event formerly known as Continental Breakfast. We've simply added a formal curriculum component this year. It's a great opportunity to bring the parent community together, so please make sure you can make it, it is going to be blast! If you have any questions, please let me know. While students were doing their research, the staff was also busy completing assessments for their progress reports. Some of the other highlights from last week were Ms. Mary teaching about different parts of a river and Mr. Ben having students practice telling time. Students also got to draw self-portraits using mirrors with Ms. Michelle. Lastly, a quick reminder that we have a Library Trip on Wednesday, January 27th. So please check and make sure your student brings their library card on that day and that all dues are paid on the account. The children exploded into activity after selecting a continent to study: Morado has that classic lower elementary look, with piles of books everywhere. The continent study is part of a larger exploration we are beginning of how people satisfy their needs.
The children reminded themselves of what they are working on in math. One child commented, "It feels as though we are starting over!" They've got their groove back though. This week for our literature circles, everyone read fairytales and then we discussed the common features. Next week we'll begin a new three-week stretch reading self-chosen books. · Please attend our celebration of the continents at 9 am Friday, January 22. · Please sign up on Bloomz for observing in the classroom this month and for attending a conference February 5. · Our Art specialist will help the children create self-portraits Wednesday, January 13. Ben, Mary, and Khavitha Thanks to everyone who was able to make it last night to the Kindergarten/Elementary Family Night. There was a lot of great food and it is great to see how many socks were donated to Mary's Place. It looked like a lot of excited children and happy parents. It was amazing seeing the students show off their talents in the talent show. Thanks again to all of you for making it a great night.
Another thanks to families that brought in used socks to make snowmen centerpieces. Students enjoyed practicing their sewing skills with Ms. Khavitha to make them. Also this week, the classroom focused on talking more about their feelings and how our feelings can affect how others feel around us. We talked about things that happen can be "expected" and "unexpected" and how people feel when these happen. We also talked about how things that make us feel pride or part of a group make us feel and how we can make others feel these ways too. Next week is our school's Book Fair after school. 3rd graders and upper elementary students will be helping with the book fair. Also, elementary students got a chance on Friday to get a sneak peek of the Book Fair room, please look for a wishlist in their go-home folder. We will also be having sharing on Friday, November 20. If students want to bring in something to share, please make sure they can fit in their MCH backpack and is not electronic. Thank You to the parents who accompanied us to the Seattle Art Museum. The trip capped a week full of explorations in many directions: stories of constellations, a model of solstices and equinoxes, the magic of multiplying by multiples of 10, learning the countries of Europe, and printmaking. My favorite moment was when the literature circle books were unveiled and the children had animated discussions about them. The adults could have left the room and they would have carried on just the same.
The children are also beginning to think about performing in the variety show at Kindergarten-Elementary Family night. Some are preparing songs and some writing poetry. We thought it would be fun to make sock puppets, since socks are the night’s theme. Please send in clean socks of all sizes that you no longer need. Also, remember that we will be collecting new pairs of socks for Mary’s Place that night. This will kick off our holiday drive to collect all sorts of necessities for the people Mary’s Place serves. http://www.marysplaceseattle.org/ Turn Friday the 13th into a lucky day by coming to Family Night! I hope everyone can get some rest this weekend after the eventful week we just had. On Tuesday, author Margret Read MacDonald read some of her stories to the elementary and even got to talk to the students about her experiences editing and publishing her works. On Thursday, we had school pictures and it was really nice seeing some of the students dressed up and looking nice. Highlights from lessons this week were Ms. Mary teaching about solar heat and energy that comes from the sun and Mr. Ben introducing students to some of the different parts of cells that make up all living things.
A very special thanks to Ms. Linda (Claire’s Grandmother) for making Pumpkin Muffins and some fun Spooky Treats made out of different fruits on Friday. Also of Friday, the students were feeling very festive and made pumpkin and bat decorations for Morado. This helped make our tradition of Spooky Lunch look really great. During Spooky Lunch students get to sit all together in a circle and eat lunch with the lights off. Then they get to hear some slightly spooky and fun stories sitting around a campfire playing on a tablet. The final part of our Friday, the students got to watch and participate in the Vocabulary Parade. Students really enjoyed designing, building, and showing off their costumes on a runway. There are photos of the event on this weeks’ Bloomz post. Sorry for the low quality, there were higher-quality photos taken, also. Believe it or not October is over tomorrow and we are preparing for another eventful and fun month. Here are some important dates to remember in November:
It was great to see so many Elementary families yesterday at the Harvest Fest which turn out to be a grand one on a beautiful day.
This Week in Morado, children were getting math lessons and finishing up on the follow-ups from weekly lessons. Every student is practicing math at least 20 mins a day. They are also exploring other areas of curriculum by reading literature books and having discussions with their groups. We will be moving away from Great Lessons and learn more in-depth with science experiments, observations, language lessons and geometry. On Thursday, children did an Earthquake Drill at 10:15 am. This was both school-wide and state-wide in order to prepare the children for natural disasters. Finally, the teachers got together and prepared the school for Harvest Fest, and Elementary students were seen during recess playing on the hay bales and building a maze. A few things to note: 1st graders will be joining the K 's for nature club on Thursdays and Fridays. Our first sharing for the year is on this Friday; please remind your child to bring something that's meaningful for them and fits in the backpack. Picture Day for Morado is on October 29th; both individual and classroom pictures will be taken. No costumes. Our first field trip to Seattle Art museum is on November 6th. We need volunteers to drive children; so please sign-up on Bloomz. It will be a lot of fun. Have a good day, Ben, Mary, & Khavitha |
Mr. Ben, Ms. Mary and Mr. RobinEl Salon Morado Lead Teachers Archives
April 2018
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Montessori Children's House
5003 218th Ave. NE Redmond, WA 98053 Phone: 425-868-7805 Fax: 425-502-6608 office@mchkids.com |
Founded in 1987
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