Sorry about that!
We've actually been very busy this month in the Upper Montessori classroom! President projects, lessons and research into the executive branch of our government, learning more about the states of matter in science, workplan, writing workshop, spelling bees...
Congratulations go out to Will and Juliette--our classroom representatives at the Waukazoo 5th grade spelling bee. Both students represented our class admirably! All of our 5th graders this year are dynamic spellers; I'd like to take a moment to honor all our 5th grade spellers. **Congratulations to you all!**
PRESIDENTS
Join us Thursday afternoon for our "Presidential Presentations." We will begin our presentations at 2:15 p.m. Students have been spontaneously sharing key president points in the classroom these past few weeks; I've learned so many new things from their efforts! Students also researched and presented on several of the departments that make up the executive branch of the federal government. We learned about the Departments of the Interior, Homeland Security, and Transportation, just to name a few! We also learned that the president's order of succession includes all of the department secretaries (also known as the Cabinet) in order of that department's creation. Therefore, the Secretary of State would become president before the Secretary of Defense, as the State Department is one of the oldest in the executive branch!
WRITING WORKSHOP
I continue to be very impressed with our student writers. Students are more and more often getting excited about our writing workshop time! They will occasionally bring home their writing notebooks to do a bit of writing. We have been reviewing ALL the writing strategies we learned in the fall and also this winter. It's wonderful to hear the students mention when a strategy has been put to use, such as the character strategy of external features/internal thought. Ask your child about a strategy he or she has successfully put to use! Please also respect their hard work and efforts, make sure to let them know you would love to see a story in their notebook or hear their favorite read aloud!
As we continue to refine our writing efforts, students will soon be facing their first "publishing" deadline. Publishing means that something will be shared with the class--read out loud and displayed on our Writing Wall! All students will have published at least one story/personal narrative prior to parent/teacher conferences.
VALENTINE'S DAY
With February fast approaching, we will soon have to begin thinking about our valentine's day party. To prepare, begin saving shoe boxes. We'll be jazzing these up as card holders! I would also appreciate it if everyone would also begin saving large canning jars or spaghetti sauce jars for a spring project (something in May...but we need 26 of jars!). Please send in boxes and jars whenever you have them, thanks!
WAUKAZOO WALK-A-BOUT
Today all students in the school participated in the Waukazoo Walk-a-bout, an activity to positively reinforce the zoo rules at key points in the school: lunchroom, bathrooms, playground, classroom, hallway, and office. (Perhaps you've seen the zoo rules posters all over the school featuring teacher caricatures?)
***Something I discovered today: if a student comes to school late--after 9:30 a.m.--he or she should plan to bring a lunch from home. Lunch count has already been called in by the Waukazoo office and we are no longer able to add to the building totals. (Let me know if you have any questions about this.)
Another point to make: Students are not allowed to switch their lunch order after 9:30 a.m., so even if those chicken Z fries no longer sound tempting...you take what you first ordered! :)
GEOMETRY LESSONS
4th graders will soon be moving to angle studies, but most recently have been learning about perimeter and measuring in both inches and centimeters.
5th graders have been studying the circle. We have been reading several books from the Sir Cumference series. The first, Sir Cumference and the First Round Table, tells the fictional story of how the first round table was created, thereby introducing students to the vocabulary of the circle as well as how to find certain measurements. I personally love using children's literature to teach and reinforce skills in other content areas!
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I would like to close by saying thank you to all the Montessori families (ALL Waukazoo families!) for their generous support of the Waukazoo coin challenge! We raised approximately $3200 this year...amazing! Some of the money will be used to help a WZ family rebuild their home after a devastating fire in December. However, we will also be sending money to support the Haiti Relief/Rebuilding Efforts. Thank you for helping to make this possible!
Mrs. Perrien
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