We had a rich week of learning across all subject areas. The children worked with purposeful concentration on writing, biology, geometry, and grammar lessons.

Writing

Our writing lesson focused on using the “because” clause to make writing more interesting and sophisticated. We practiced adding reasoning to our statements, which helps us explain our thinking more clearly. This technique naturally strengthens writing skills and the ability to articulate ideas.

Biology

In biology, we learned about how animals get their nutrition and the various bodily processes involved in this nutrition. The children explored ingestion, digestion, absorption, excretion, egestion, and how different animals have adapted unique systems for obtaining the nutrients they need. This sparked incredible conversations about the interconnectedness of body systems.

Geometry

The fourth-year students learned about congruence, similarity, and equivalence. They manipulated materials to discover how shapes can be the same, similar, or equal in different ways. The fifth-year students worked on finding the area of a trapezoid by cutting the height in half and multiplying by the sum of the major and minor bases. Watching them work through this process showed the beauty of the mathematical mind at work.

Grammar

Fourth graders learned about three types of adjectives: descriptive, article, and numeral adjectives. They practiced identifying these different types and understanding how each serves a unique purpose in our language. Fifth graders learned about the past perfect tense and when to use this verb form to show that one action was completed before another past action began.

Literature Circle

On Tuesday, we started our second session of literature circle. The children exchanged books with each other, and the excitement in the room was palpable as they discussed their reading assignments and prepared for their new roles. You will find the assignment, along with copies of each role sheet, posted on your child’s dashboard.

UPCOMING EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

This Week
Friday, October 24: No School – Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences

Next Week
Thursday, October 30: Halloween Celebration – Children may come dressed in costume and bring a pumpkin to school for pumpkin carving. We will carve pumpkins, have a costume parade, and share some yummy treats. Keep an eye out for an email to sign up and bring a snack to share at our party.

Friday, October 31: No School – MSC Conference

Have a wonderful weekend!

Karen

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” -Jane Goodall

We had a fantastic time at The Adventure Park earlier this week! It was the perfect first field trip of the year, providing real opportunities for the children to bond, encourage, and support one another outside the classroom. While helping each other on the high ropes course, I observed the children engaging in teamwork naturally. They challenged themselves to tackle courses with intimidating elements, cheering for one another and offering encouragement during difficult moments.

Overall, field trips are incredibly beneficial for children. They allow them to practice grace and courtesy, both with each other and the people they encounter outside of Fraser Woods. These outings help develop resilience, courage, and independence, while teaching children about our interconnectedness with nature and the world around us. Additionally, field trips offer opportunities for children to apply their knowledge in real-world settings and help them cultivate responsibility, manners, and cooperation.

Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences

At the upper elementary level, students are involved in their own parent-teacher conferences. They prepare ahead of time by reflecting on the weeks leading up to the conference, identifying both their strengths and areas for improvement. At the conference, they will share their work and their reflections with you. If you have not already signed up for a conference, please use this link to select your time. If you don’t see a time that works for your family, please reach out to me directly. I am happy to set up a time that works for you. Conference sign-ups close on Friday, September 17. 

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Tuesday, October 7: Field Trip to The Adventure Park at the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport. We would love to have parent volunteers on this trip. If you would like to join us, please reach out.
  • Please sign your child’s waiver here.
  • Bring a bagged lunch that day.
  • Dress in layers and wear sneakers (no open toed shoes or Crocs).
• Thursday, October 2: No School – Yom Kippur
• Thursday, October 9 @ 8:30: October Birthday Breakfast – Read about birthday breakfasts and view the year’s schedule here.

We had a great week in Upper El! We began the week with a writing lesson focused on sentence variety. We learned to identify four different types of sentences: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory. In geometry lessons, the fourth graders explored six different types of quadrilaterals, while the fifth graders learned how to find the area of an acute triangle. In grammar, the fourths studied common, proper, and collective nouns, and the fifths focused on the agreement between pronouns and verbs in the present, past, and future tenses. The whole class examined an evolutionary strip and reviewed the common and taxonomic names of familiar animals in biology. In history, we began our lessons on humans’ closest relatives by discussing where we, as humans, fit in. We took a logical approach to determine the relationships between humans and other living animals.

This week, we launched this year’s Book Buddies program with our Kindergarten students. Each Friday morning, the Kindergarteners join Upper Elementary students for thirty minutes to read and be read to. This year, we have nineteen Kindergarten students, and each Upper El student is paired with a Kindergarten student to mentor throughout the year as our little friends learn to read and develop a love for books. Our Upper El students did an excellent job selecting books that were just right for their buddies. They showed patience and kindness, and each student felt a sense of pride when the half-hour session concluded.

We look forward to seeing you at Curriculum Night on Thursday at 5:30. Please take some time to review the slideshow that Jill will be sending. The evening will follow an Open House-style format, allowing you to explore some Montessori materials while learning about our school day and what to expect this year.

Welcome to a new school year, Upper Elementary families! We had a fantastic first two weeks filled with getting to know each other, sharing experiences, and learning together.

This week, we began our small and large group lessons. In history, we are exploring humans’ closest living relatives and how humans fit into the classification of life. In biology, we will study the vital functions of animals throughout the year. We kicked off our biology lessons by examining the classification system and the five kingdoms of life.

In geometry, fourth-year students learned about the seven types of triangles, while fifth-year students focused on calculating the area of parallelograms. In grammar, fourth graders explored common and proper nouns, and fifth graders began their study of verbs, starting with pronouns and simple tenses. Our writing lessons began with an exploration of the difference between a sentence and a fragment. All students are already working hard and collaborating with friends on independent work and other assignments.

We’ve also enjoyed setting our routines, selecting classroom jobs, and playing on the field, playground, and in the outdoor classroom woods.

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, September 25, at 5:30 PM for Curriculum Night!

This week at Nature’s Classroom, Upper Elementary really showed what they are made of: kindness, strength, curiosity, resilience, and leadership skills! They took on tremendous challenges in teamwork, and they learned about ecology and the importance of good stewardship in protecting the Earth. They pushed themselves physically on rigorous hikes all over the beautiful 70-acre campus! They sang, they laughed, they roasted marshmallows on a fire that they built together, they formed deep bonds and core memories that will last a lifetime! We are so proud of them!

The Week Ahead:

Monday, 6/2  Field Day! Wear sneakers and consider bringing a change of clothes as students may get wet!

Tuesday, 6/3 Sports Day- Wear your favorite sports team gear.

Wednesday, 6/4 Beach Day-  Dress like you are on an island getaway, but please no bathing suits without cover-ups.

Thursday, 6/5 Pajama Day!- Bring a stuffy, and come to school in your jammies!

Friday, 6/6 Red Carpet Day- Say, “See you later,” in style! Dress up in more formal attire for our annual Moving Up Ceremony at 10 am. (Early Dismissal for all students is at 11:30 am)