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23 February 2009

Conferences this Week & Scholastic Book Fair

I am looking forward to meeting with you and your child at conferences this week. Please help me by being on time for your conference; I do my best to start and end conferences on time. It is important that I do this so that I don't impact other teachers' times! If you will be more than 10 minutes late for your conference please call me to reschedule, unless you feel that we can cover everything in the 10 minutes.

Please don't feel that this conference is the only time we are able to talk about school. If you ever need to talk or have questions please email me or call. We can talk over the phone or set up a time to get together!



SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
The Scholastic book fair is going on all week at Waukazoo. Students will have the opportunity to preview the sale today and we will return for purchasing on Friday. Students are not obligated to purchase anything; I always remind them that the preview day is a time to preview new books in general. It's a great way to make a library list!

16 February 2009

Classroom Updates

First, let me apologize for the long time in between posts. It's been very busy at school and at home! Top that off with being sick all of last week and there was simply no time (or energy) to sit down at the computer. I also need to get caught up on phone calls this week; thanks to everyone for your patience and understanding.

The latest from the classroom:

We are hard at work on our Native American projects. Students were assessed last week on their research and note cards--the first part of the project. They are now working on the rough draft of the report; we will spend time in class this week on the revising process and toward the end of the week we will begin writing the final draft of the report. Next week will we also begin building our dioramas. This project has been fascinating!

Thank you to Theda Luna for coming in last week to help us make our Valentine card holders. They were amazing creations! Thanks also to Lori Hotary for donating party supplies and to Cheri Weisner and Jamie Budek for the yummy holiday treats. I would also like to thank Kim Bader, Lori Hotary, and Alice Ort for joining us last Friday.

Speaking of the Orts...

Congratulations to the Ort family on the birth of their daughter, Evelyn Skye! Welcome Evelyn and congratulations to Roy, Alice, Max, and Sophia.
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VOLUNTEERS

Throughout the year many parents have helped out in the classroom, donated items for the cupboards or pets, or volunteered at home by correcting papers or doing research. Thank you to everyone! I know that I have not expressed my appreciation enough, yet each gesture has been noticed and appreciated.
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LANGUAGE ARTS

LITERATURE GROUPS--Our literature groups are going smoothly. I can honestly say this cycle of book studies has been one of the best I've ever had the pleasure of participating in with students. I have witnessed students reading together, helping each other prepare for meetings, sharing funny anecdotes from the books or working to clarify key plot points in a story. Great to see!

DOL--this is our last week of homework DOL. We will begin doing more prompt or theme writing for homework to replace Daily Oral Language. (Students will continue to work on their editing skills in the classroom.)

WRITING--Many of the students have signed up at the publishing center to publish their fiction stories. Ask your son or daughter if he or she will soon be publishing at Waukazoo!

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More information should be coming this week, plus Cara and Jamesohn need to do another student council update. Stay tuned!

06 February 2009

Field Trip Review by Anna (5th Grade)

It was January 29, 2009. Mrs. Perrien's class was going to a museum. They were about to learn about the tribes of the Indians (or Native Americans), that lived in Michigan. First, they learned which tribes lived in Michigan, and which didn't. They learned the three tribes, Potawatomie, Ottawa, and Chippewa, were called the "Three Fires," or "Anashanbe." They also learned that the medicines that the Indians used were made out of roots, tree bark, and leaves. After that, they looked at pictures a famous painter named William Kubiak, had painted of Indians sitting by the beach, hunting, and waving to each other. Lastly, they made a craft/game, where you dropped sticks, and, then you had to color the sticks, otherwise it would not make much sense. All in all, it was a very informative visit.

05 February 2009

Holland Museum Field Trip Review by: Sierra 4th grade

It was Thursday the 29th of January and Mrs. Perrien's class was on their way to the Holland museum. After the ruckus on the bus, we were inside discovering all kinds of wonders from the past! First we were introduced to what we were going to do and the 3 tribes: Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Chippewa. Later we looked at some paintings by William Kubiak. They were beautiful paintings all about the Native Americans.

Next we went downstairs to do a little game that the Native Americans played. It was fun and simple and we all enjoyed it. Then we said goodbye and left back on the bus, back to school. The field trip was a great way to learn about the Native Americans from the past.

01 February 2009

Valentines Day and Winter Fest Pictures

Waukazoo Upper Montessori at the Holland MuseumMore pictures from our field trip and from Winter Fest are posted on the photobucket page. You might see your child chugging root beer outside in the freezing cold, trying to thaw a pair of frozen mittens, or making the sled and riding in the sled at the sled race! I also took pictures in Thursday's gym class. These will be posted soon (and watch for pictures from THIS week's class, when students will be SQUARE DANCING!)

We will be collecting shoeboxes and metal coffee cans for our valentines party and for a class project. Please send in a shoebox for your son or daughter (and if you have extras we would appreciate those) as soon as possible.


I am also collecting metal coffee cans or large cans (like those Gordon Food Service large cans of fruit) for a Valentines project. If we are able to collect 16 cans we can make these really neat decoupage card collectors for our Valentines Day party!


Speaking of parties...


Valentines Day! I will be contacting those parents that signed up back at the ice cream social to help with this party. If you didn't sign up but still want to help, please let me know. Our party is tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of Friday the 13th, from 2:20 - 3:30 p.m.



Napkins--we are in need of paper napkins for class. We have used up the supply given to us at Christmas. If you are willing and able to donate please send in a package. Thanks for everything!

Report Cards

Report cards will be coming home this week--either Monday or Tuesday afternoon. This post is only to point out important information: Report cards are in the same format as they were last marking period, except that the subject area comments are no longer present. The new report card format (It looks the same to you but on our end it is different.) limits the comments to the end of the report card, in the “overall comment” section. We also have a limited amount of space in which to comment. Montessori teachers aren’t yet printing using the new format because we are grading using a multi-grade format; we also have differences in our curriculum. The objectives that are graded now are quite specific.

A–Masters Standards
B-Meets Standards
C–Working Toward Standards
D–Below Standards

West Ottawa Schools has been gracious in allowing the Montessori staff to work with the report card format to find a way that Montessori staff can grade for their curriculum. Your child's elementary report card will only look different if you have a child in a traditional West Ottawa elementary classroom and a child in Montessori. These report cards ARE similar in grading but they are printed in a different format.

I would encourage you to review the report card with your child. If you have any questions about a specific grade please let me know. You don't need to save ALL the questions for conferences, send an email or call me if you are wondering about a certain subject area.

Best of luck to the Groundhog tomorrow...maybe he won't see his shadow! :)