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27 September 2012

Parent "rap"

Sometimes it's just fun to be a mom and dad.  Check out the "parenting rap."  Too funny!

Scholastic Parent

Are you looking for an exciting new volunteer opportunity at the ZOO?  Mrs. Perrien is looking for an enthusiastic mom or dad interesting in functioning as the Scholastic "go-to" parent.

Duties include coordinating monthly Scholastic catalogs (includes the possibility of coordinating book recommendations) placing Scholastic orders, and helping children chose books to donate at the end of the school year.

Enthusiastic parents may apply...although the work is hard and grueling, it's definitely rewarding!  :)

**Email Mrs. Perrien if interested!

23 September 2012

Three weeks and counting...

These past three weeks we've covered A LOT of routines and procedures. We've set up the learning environment. We did preliminary assessments in reading and writing and took math tests to determine where we should begin this year. These can all seem tedious because we review and practice, review and discuss. However, the payoff is a well-run classroom with a group of students ready to hit the ground running for the rest of the school year.  As always, my goal is to have a classroom that takes care of itself in such a way that I could leave and the students would not miss me.

Speaking of hitting the ground running...this last week we worked within our first workplan of the school year.  This first one will seem to have a lot of unfinished assignments on it, but they're really not unfinished.  There were two lessons we didn't get to this past week, as well as some work with poetry.  These both carried over to this next week.  The back of the workplan has the student's weekly reflection.  This is where students reflect on their week in school and I sign off.  Next it comes home on Monday night (tomorrow) for a parent signature.

I have enjoyed getting to know the new students these past three weeks! We have some wonderful personalities joining us this year and I love the diversity in our class.

Thank you again to the new parents for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend the recent Upper Montessori parent night. I should also thank you for completing your Friday homework assignment!  Please contact me if you have any other questions.

This coming Friday (Sept. 28) is the school's Fun Run!  I will be there, although I do have to leave early as I'm driving my girls to Frankenmuth for a much needed mother-daughter getaway.  We've had this trip planned for a few weeks; we'll be visiting Bronners and shopping till we drop!  Good times!  Regardless of my busy plans, I hope you'll be able to drop in for a bit on Friday night.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week; it's the LAST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER!  (Wow!)

-Mrs. Perrien


21 September 2012

Spirit Week

Spirit Week Daily Schedule

Monday
  • Hat Day
  • Super Shorts Race

Tuesday
  • Sports Day
  • Tug-o-War

Wednesday
  • Crazy Day
  • Pudding Plunge

Thursday
  • Picture Day/Elegant Day
  • Big Wheel Race

Friday
  • Fun Run Day
  • 3 p.m. Assembly
An email was sent out to parents with activity participants' names.  Please email me if you still need a copy.  Thanks!

Classroom Volunteer Schedules

Please click each link to see schedules!

Classroom Store Volunteers

Correcting Weekly Five Minute Tests

Spelling (Mondays and Fridays)

Thanks to everyone for all your help!  Please let me know right away if you see something you believe to be an error and I'll double-check my notes.

Have a wonderful weekend!  Make sure to check out ArtPrize..

Mrs. Perrien

17 September 2012

Changes to Writing

Writing News

You may have heard your son or daughter tell you about the changes we made today to the way homework writing is going to be checked and assessed.

I would first like to share with you that writing homework is typically a choice assignment, meaning that students may choose what to write about each assignment.  What is not a choice is whether or not to writing as homework.  They do need to write!

 Students may write in a lot of ways-fiction, essays, reports, poetry, etc.  To support your young writer, please provide a quiet, comfortable place in the house for your child to write.  My own daughter writes in my bedroom, it seems to provide her with a fresh perspective.  Second, remember NOT to use your pen all over the journal.  Writing can be messy and sloppy, but if your son or daughter is feeling like a story is unfolding please let that messy, sloppy thing happen!

Third, I had been playing with the idea of requiring a page total versus a nightly total for writing.  Students are required to write 2.5 pages per week for the week.  They may write all in one night, spaced over several nights, or on whatever nights work for them.  Therefore, if Tuesday night is a busy sports night then writers would be able to skip that night.  Once students have completed their page limit for the week they will simply need to share it with me in class during writing workshop.

How students record their writing:

  • Record the date in the margin and either the initial H (home) or S (school).
  • Without the recorded date with the letter H students will not receive credit for the homework writing.

We are writing at school AND at home to build stamina as writers, to see that writing never really ends,  to practice the craft, and personalize the experience to the writer.  Your kids were so excited about the changes we made today!  I am, too!

16 September 2012

Help While You Learn!

The following links should take you to two websites where students are able to learn and help others at the same time!

First, visit Free Rice.  Here students are able to play vocabulary games, practice [other] language skills, even practice their math facts!  There are many other subjects as well, including science, chemistry, and geography.

Second, visit Free Kibble.  Students answer a daily trivia question (Usually dog or cat related) and in return pet food is donated to animal shelters across the country.

Have fun learning!

--Mrs. Perrien

13 September 2012

Daily Fact Assessments

This week, students are bringing home their first "speedway" assessment page.  They will also bring home their second test of a weekly five minute timed test--subtraction.  You might wonder, how do we do and use these assessments in our classroom?

The upper Montessori students do daily, quick math fact assessments. We do a one minute "speedway" assessment four days per week and a weekly five-minute timed test. This plan was originally developed based on a plea from WO middle and high school math teachers to make sure that students knew their facts.  However, I've continued this work because the carryover to greater overall math confidence is huge!

Our math speedway is a three or four day per week one-minute test with 10 problems. It covers basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  This year I'm planning to add fraction reducing as a 5th section of the speedway.  Ideally, students move forward each time they take their speedway test.

The five minute timed test requires students to move through 100 basic math facts with 100% accuracy. Students do addition and subtraction in the beginning of the year each year as a baseline assessment but the main focus is multiplication and division. For those students that pass out of division we have other five-minute challenges! Students compete against their own score each week.

The overall goal is steady progress in memorizing all facts. These assessments can be fun and the students look forward to them (That is also why everyone starts at zero for the addition speedway.) Most importantly, they take very little time each week out of the school day but the results are seen in our daily math lessons as well as simple fact recall.

What do these assessments tell you at home?  They are a snapshot of what math facts students have mastered and where they struggle.  If your son or daughter did well on this week's subtraction five-minute test, that is great!  Next week we'll be doing a multiplication five-minute assessment.  Watch for these to come home to see how students are doing on their facts.  Also, look for speedways that are 100% correct.  When a speedway test comes home with errors, this is a fact family to study and practice at home.

Praying Mantis

Last night I found a beautiful Praying Mantis on my front porch.  It was the second day in a row I'd noticed this creature living among my porch plants.  It's now in a large terrarium in the classroom and we're enjoying observing the Praying Mantis!  His/Her name is Sam.


Homework Assignment:  Read about the Praying Mantis using the Internet, a book, or a journal/magazine.  Post a comment to this blog about Sam.

Try using the following for your research:
Have fun!

--Mrs. Perrien

11 September 2012

Parents-

The following link (http://americanhistory.si.edu/ourstory/pdf/starspangled/Design_Flag.pdf) takes you to a fabulous step-by-step set of directions to creating your own family flag!  This link is from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

--Mrs. Perrien

"One" Video

The following video link takes you to the video, "One" by the Zoo Crew.  Enjoy!  (No students...only teachers.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6QHtoCtdmo&feature=youtu.be

THANK YOU!!

Parents-

Thank you once again for your generous donations to our classroom!  I can't tell how much I appreciate all the notebooks, boxes of Kleenex, pet food items, and TIME you've been willing to contribute this year.

Thank you again for all YOU do!

-Mrs. Perrien

04 September 2012

Hot, sweaty, and tired...that's us!

Parents-

Today was a crazy busy day!  We talked about procedures, practicing many of them.  We worked on establishing classroom guidelines (rules) and talked about more procedures...

It was a long day for the kids.  I talked a lot (more than I ever do normally) as I shared procedures and expectations.  Students also had the opportunity to dive into my bookshelves and read for a bit in the afternoon.  

Expect slightly tired and possibly cranky kids.  The heat and humidity, combined with the lack of air conditioning, was a challenge for everyone!

FYI...we did not get to writing workshop this afternoon.  Please do not hold your son or daughter to the  1/2 page of writing homework.  We'll do our best to get to it tomorrow!

Have a wonderful evening!

-Mrs. Perrien

03 September 2012

Reading Blog

Parents-

I'd like to share the following link with you:  http://perriensworkshop.blogspot.com.  I write about my experiences with reader's workshop and invite you to read my blog if you're interested.

This blog is more about what I do as a teacher to teach the subject of reading, as it is intended for other teachers.  However, it does give you additional insight into our classroom.  Enjoy!

Mrs. Perrien

Toys...to bring or not to bring?

The general rule of thumb about toys is pretty simple.  Leave them home.  

I'm not trying to deliberately ruin everyone's fun, I'm trying to keep the toys safe and allow for everyone to have fun on the playground!  I've counseled many students who've had toys turn up lost or stolen.  Toys brought to school are left in lockers, unattended, and things happen.

Having said all that, marbles or other recess games toys are welcome, provided they are brought to school at the owner's own risk.  If the recess toys become a recess problem, we will evaluate them individually.

Please be sure to let me know if you have any questions!

***One final thought, electronic devices are to be left at home--no phones, iPods, etc., at school.

--Mrs. Perrien

Where are we everyday?

Parents-

I'm attaching the Upper Montessori Daily Schedule.  This primarily covers our start and end times, lunch and recess, as well as specials.  I'm cautiously optimistic this document won't need a revision!  If a revision is necessary I'll update the Google document and then email everyone that changes have occurred.

One important notice...We DO have special on this first day of school, Tuesday!  Please be sure to have gym shoes tomorrow if at all possible.

And so 2012 begins!

--Mrs. Perrien

**To access the Google Document, click on the words, "Upper Montessori Daily Schedule" in the above first paragraph.