Jan. 29, 2018
Greetings Little Elk families,
- A quick reminder that homework is turned in every Tuesday. Students are responsible for taking it out of their backpacks and turning it in. Math homework will be self-corrected every Tuesday morning with the answer key that I provide. If your child no longer has the homework folder that was supplied in September, please purchase a pocket folder for them so that they can safely transport their homework between home and school. Thank you!
- We are in need of paper towels and tissues, if you would like to make a donation. Thank you! (And a bouquet of flowers is always a nice addition to the winter classroom)
Here's a small taste of what's happening over the next couple weeks:
In English we are beginning to do more in-depth work on sentences. What do words require to be a sentence? What is it that makes up a good sentence? We do this through two the use of two Montessori language materials: the grammar box symbols and the Sentence Analysis material. We use the former to symbolize parts of speech in a sentence. We use the latter to break apart a sentence into its grammatical components. We can use our own sentences, or sentences that we find in books. The ultimate goal is that children begin to appreciate how sentences are built so that they can write better ones—and better understand the ones they read.
Speaking of reading, please ask your child what he or she is reading in Silent Reading, which we do four days a week. If they are not sure, please take them to the public library this week. I would like to see more students dialed in on a book that they really enjoy. Reading for pleasure is not only a privilege, it's supposed to be fun!
In Life Science we are exploring the Timeline of Life in greater detail than was presented in the Story of the Coming of Life, beginning with the Cambrian period 540 million years ago. We are learning about the arrival of bacteria, fungus, lichen, land plants, ice ages, mass extinctions and much more. We are reading out of a great book that I found by chance in the library called 10 Million Aliens: A Journey Through the Entire Animal Kingdom by Simon Barnes. I hope the children are enjoying it as much as I am.
As for the Timeline of Life, students will be choosing one of those periods and exploring it in-depth with some of their own research skills. Then they will be asked to design and make a diorama. If you have a good, solid shoe box that does not need to live in your closet anymore, just let go. You've given it wings, now let it fly and it will provide a wonderful medium for a Little Elk diorama! Send no more than one, please. We only need about 8 more, and we do not have anywhere to store extras. I hope to get diorama work started in a couple weeks, around Feb. 12. Thank you!
If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.
Sincerely,
John
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