Our return to school after spring break was delayed a bit by mother nature. We welcomed a new fourth student, Julian to our classroom on Tuesday.  He was welcomed by everyone and he is eager to become familiar with our routine and school. The students had a lot to share about their time off and we are re-energized to finish the year with some great happenings including our annual science fair, elementary play, and overnight trip!

Speaking of the overnight trip we are going to Nature’s Classroom in Charlton, MA which is about 1 1/2 hours from Newtown. The trip is planned for May 22 – 24.  Olivia, aka “Rocky” the director from the Charlton site stopped in Wednesday afternoon to give an overview of the program to our class. We are all very excited to go on the trip! Information will come home soon regarding cost, medical forms, and a suggested packing list.

Lastly, the students learned about their roles in our upcoming play, James and the Giant Peach.  We will use some school time to prepare for the play but students with principal roles should begin practicing their lines at home. We are looking forward to their performance on May 11.

This week the play director, Miss Linda came in to work individually with students for the upcoming play, James and The Giant Peach. As we practice songs and lines daily the students become more comfortable with the flow of the play. Mrs. Sankey recently sent out an email requesting parent help for the play. Please lend a hand if possible. We appreciate your help and participation in making the play come together for the students.

On Monday, we celebrated the April birthdays of Julian, Kayla, John Patrick and Morgan with a birthday breakfast.  It’s always a nice treat to share a healthy breakfast and spend time with family and friends as we recognize birthdays to kick off the week! If your child has a birthday in May, be on the lookout for an invitation to join us in the classroom for the May Birthday Breakfast.

Last week we sent home blue packets containing information about our overnight trip to Nature’s Classroom. Please review the information and fill out the forms to be returned to us. If your child does not plan to attend the overnight trip please email me so I can plan accordingly for the cost of transportation.

We had a productive week with improved weather and a full week of school. The students have done a great job preparing for the science fair and completing their goals in a timely manner. The next step is to finish their results which could take the form of a chart, graph or diagram.

We allow for some unstructured time at least once per week for students to work together and play group games such as cards, chess, or a variety of other classic board games.  They do a great job deciding on activities and being inclusive of others.

We joined the Lower Elementary to practice songs and some characters practiced their lines in preparation for James and The Giant Peach. This will be a daily practice shortly after arrival each day to get acclimated to the songs and working together as a team.  All students should bring their scripts to school every day moving forward.

Lately we have done our best to maintain consistency in the classroom with all of the weather related closings.  Maintaining a consistent classroom routine gives students reassurance and predictability while in our school setting. Practicing consistent routines at home and school also makes them feel safe. But there are times when we have to go with the flow which we have done recently and the students are rising to the occasion.

We have had several reading responses shared over the past couple weeks. We introduced some new and fresh reading response activities that are available to the students and they are eager to try them.  Once again the goal for each student is to complete six total responses.

Many students from outside Fraser Woods have visited our classroom since the new year started. During a visit we partner the student with a peer of the same grade level. They help answer questions, give a tour and make the visitor feel welcome. This is natural for these Montessori students and they are excellent hosts. We anticipate welcoming these positive additions to our school in the fall of 2018.

Linda, our play director for James and The Giant Peach visited the students on Monday to introduce herself. On Wednesday, she invited students to audition for the roles in the play. They had a lot of fun and are excited to find out their roles in the play. The enthusiasm was evident as many students spent dismissal time reading lines together.

 

 

Lately, we have taken some much needed breaks from our routine to play group games. Some of the favorites include four corners, seven-up and Native American chief. These breaks help the students come together as a community and reset their brains for focused learning.

We are nearing the end of the basketball season and we had the largest turnout ever with the entire class participating.  As a result we divided the group into two teams of nine and both teams won their first game vs The Mead School. Thank you Jayne for the tasty oranges! Our final two games are vs Unquowa; one home and one away.

On Wednesday we resumed our outreach to the St. Vincent DePaul Mission in Waterbury through our monthly sandwich making project.  The students worked in teams of six to make, wrap and label sandwiches. This project would not be possible without the support of the families that donate supplies and come in the classroom to assist with the preparation. Thanks again to Mrs. Nieminen for all you do to coordinate the activity!

 

Our class got to experience the annual presentation of the Periodic Table of Cupcakes by the 7th Year students.  This is always a fun presentation that excites and engages the younger students. As teachers, we also love to see the growth and maturity of the 7th Years when they share what they learned.  The short, catchy videos they provide help to make the concepts of the periodic table and names of the elements resonate with all of us. At the end of the presentation, each student chose an element cupcake to enjoy with their lunch.

In our classroom, the students spent much of their time sharpening their oral presentations. They used their initial reports and chose the information that most interested them to incorporate into their presentation for research night. Through this experience, they learned some interesting and insightful facts about their ancestry that we hope they will remember for a long time.