We will be doing the Reach for the Stars program again this year. Information to come.

The NDMA annual meeting will be continued on May 17^th at 6:30 PM due to the fact that we need 20% of our voting members (families and staff) to be in attendance. Please mark your calendars for this as there are several school board terms that are expiring this year along with bi-law changes that need to be made and your presence and vote really do make a difference.

It’s really time to start thinking about writing the word May on our calendar already? I can’t believe this. This year has flown past so quickly and I know the last 20 (I’m not really counting) or so days will be no different. It’s absolutely crazy.

But I suppose you want to know what the kids have been up to this month right? Well, let’s just say a lot of testing.  We started off the month with round two of the ITBS testing, which math, language and reading were the primary focuses . Then we had a lot of frustration with the MCA II test at the end of the month. The students had math and reading components to complete in all the grades. The 5^th graders have one component to go, which is science which will be next week on Tuesday-Thursday (technology dependent).The kids worked very hard on this and remained relatively focused, but even I could tell how much stress they were carrying these weeks. In fact by now they are ready for testing to terminate for the year.

During these weeks, the lessons that were taught were art lessons and stories that allowed the children’s brain to relax a bit. Some of the art lessons that focused on inking and watercolor, discussion about shape and using simple shapes to create a picture, contour drawings without looking at the paper,  perspective drawing showing a scene getting smaller and more blurry as it goes away from the viewer, and creating pop out shape using one focal point.

We were able to break up the testing weeks with a few field trips. Mr. Stolp and I went up to the Audubon Center of the North Woods with the 5^th and 6^th graders from our rooms and several of the students from the 5^th/6^th grade classroom. While there, we studied mammals that are native to MN and got to see an old beaver dam and an old beaver lodge. We also became ornithologists for a time as we had a class about birds, of which we got to use binoculars to help us spot a wide variety of birds at the Audubon Center and guide books to help us identify them. We also had a class on survival, which considering the pouring rain we were dealing with we were able to build a shelter, start a fire, and make ourselves some hot cocoa over the fire. Our final class at the Audubon Center involved some heights. Every student in our group attempted to rock climb, which was a new experience for many, but also brought some new challenge to those that had done it before. Just after we returned the Audubon Center came to our school to do an owl presentation.

While we were at the Audubon Center Mrs. Erickson and Mrs. Scharpe took the 4^th graders and those that stayed back on several walking fieldtrips in town. The students learned that they wouldn’t melt in the rain because it rained all the way to the movie theater, but they had the ponchos that saved them. They then got to spend the afternoon watching The Tooth Fairy. Later that week they enjoyed DEAR time at the public library and were complimented on how well behaved they were. This was followed by a tour of historic Hutchinson. From what I know of the kids at the Audubon Center and those that were back here, they all went home tired.

In addition to this we got some lessons in as well. The 4th graders had lessons on birds in biology, volcanoes and several lessons on erosion in culture, and opposite and adjacent angles in geometry. They have continued their study of the adjective and are amazed at how many different types of adjectives there are in our language. They are also working on perfecting their writing by making better paragraphs and being able to write several paragraphs about the same topic. We also have talked about some editing marks, to help the child understand how they can edit a peer’s work and they can understand what is meant from me on the writing they turn in.

The 5^th graders had lessons on the 5 kingdoms in biology and their characteristics, as well as some information with invertebrates.  The connection between the Timeline of Life and the Timeline of Humans using our materials has been a focus for them in culture. In geometry they have studied the families of triangles and quadrilaterals and have now moved into the polygon work. In grammar, this group has been furthering their knowledge of the verb and a genre study of myths has been in the works.

The 6^th graders finished a unit on birds and have started focusing more on mammals in biology. In culture they have been looking at the abstract properties of our earth including how the earth is positioned in relation to the sun in different seasons, and lines of latitude and longitude and being able to use coordinates on the globe. In geometry and arithmetic, these students have focused on a variety of work using the fraction pieces and getting beyond the box. I’ve heard many aha’s from this group regarding this. In grammar, the students have been connecting their logical analysis work to the work with the grammar symbols and they are seeing many correlations. They’ve also been writing descriptive paragraphs using their sense of smell, taste, and touch. They have also been working on a legacy gift and doing some practicing for the 6^th grade celebration that will be their final tribute to NDMA, but of course both these take time, so we started the efforts early on.

For the other groups in math the most exciting news is that every 4^th grade child has shown me they can do large multiplication problems and know most of their basic multiplication facts and have moved onto their division research. This was exciting for them. Once they have shown me their division research, they go into dividing larger numbers using the stamp game and then the test tube division materials. I have students at a variety of points along that spectrum and I also have a group that has just about been able to make the jump to complete abstraction on long division, which took some time. This particular group was excited because they got to start their work with multiples last week. They know there is a cool material they will be getting to before the school year ends.

 I can’t believe it is nearing the end of March already. I feel like we were just coming back from our winter vacation. I enjoyed having conferences with those of you who attended. During spring break, I took time for myself and enjoyed a trip to Sweden and Denmark to visit a good friend from college. Unfortunately, it was warmer here that week than it was there, so it was nice coming back, other than the 8 hour time difference.

 Now spring break has come and gone and we are back in action. The kids have worked to stay caught up and have also doing some additional projects on topics that interest them. They are also learning about many new things in lessons, reviewing concepts and getting ready for our battery of tests with the upcoming ITBS and MCAII testing.

 As of recent, the 4^th and 6^th graders have done some work with reptiles in biology. When we finished that study they have started to become ornithologists (people who study birds). Of course this keeps me on my toes because I want to ensure that each grade gets different follow-up work to make their experience different. The 5^th graders have completed their animal kingdom work, ending in mammals. They have now moved on learning about the fact that there are 5 Kingdoms that biologists have classified species into. They were amazed to hear that there are living things that are so tiny that you cannot even see them. This led to some great discussion about what makes something living, and how sometimes the smallest living things (bacteria) can be good for you. They didn’t realize that much of the food they eat actually contains bacteria in some way shape or form. So if your child is suddenly not eating, that’s the reason.

 In arithmetic, the students are progressing well. I took a look at what the kids were getting stuck on just after spring break and have moved people into different math groups in order to meet them where they need the additional work. One group is working with fractions right now. They reviewed adding and subtracting fractions and have now been working with multiplication of fractions. This group was challenged when they were multiplying the whole number by a fraction, as they had already mastered the reverse.  Another group is working with test tube division, which helps the child with long division. Several of them have begun to master dividing a large number by a one-digit divisor and have begun their work on dividing by a two-digit divisor, which has been a bit more difficult. Another group began their work with division, where the first step is researching their division facts using a material called the division board. This is a big work, but by the time they finish it they are ready to move on.  The final group is working with subtraction, in particularly how to subtract using borrowing from higher place values.  They have shown me recently that they are able to do this, with out the materials.

 Wednesdays, our culture days, have also brought some interesting lessons. The 4^th graders were looking at some of our earliest life, through the use of the timeline of life. They completed that unit and have now gone back to geography work. Last week we discussed how volcanoes work, and many of them went out to learn more about the structure of the volcano.   The 5^th graders became archaeologists for a while. They performed a simulated dig, to prepare them for our work with early humans. Last week, they had a lesson entitled The Long Black line, which represented all of the time of the earth and how humans only have been around for a tiny part of that history. Ask them about how long the line was! The 6^th graders went back to study how our earth work and we have focused on night and day, how time zones work and how daylight savings time works. They have been working on a project with that about if they could travel the world, where would they want to go, what would they want to do there and what time it is in that place compared to here. 

 In geometry, the 6^th graders have started to discover the formula for finding the area of the circle. They started off with learning how to find the circumference and have also looked at the relationship between the diameter and the circumference, which leads to the abstract formula. The 5^th graders have had several lessons on quadrilaterals and their properties and have now moved on to the study of polygons with more than 5 sides. The 4^th graders have been learning about angles and how we have adjacent and opposite angles. They were excited that they are able to use a new material for this work, which of course they will get to use for a huge portion of their geometry work that is coming up in the future.

 In grammar, the 5^th graders have had a review of all of our grammar symbols and learned several new symbols this year. They have now moved into a large verb study which will allow them to make them more aware of our English language.  The 4^th graders are still working on a large adjective study, learning that adjectives do more than just describe. You may want to ask them about some of the different uses of adjectives.  The 6^th graders have moved toward abstraction in terms of logical analysis. In fact, last week they were really excited because we got to add an additional material to what we’ve already been covering. Of course this was an old friend that they haven’t worked with this year.

 In literature and writing, the 5^th graders are finishing up their literature circle books. The group also had a taste of their next genre about myths, which the students will be doing some more writing about in the upcoming weeks. The 4^th graders are working on paragraphing skills, this is a slow process for them, but they are getting the hang of it.   The 6^th graders have been writing using their senses. They started off doing descriptive writing about things they could smell and have moved into writing about how things taste.

 We have also had several conversations as a class regarding bullying. Deputy Geiken came and spoke with us as a follow-up from his presentation in December. As a class, we also have talked about respect and showing respect to teachers, fellow classmates and our classroom materials. We are trying to make the children more aware of when they are displaying bullying behaviors, in order to reduce the frequency in the classroom.

 In the midst of all that, the kids have been getting ready for testing, whether they realize it or not. At this point I feel that they are fairly ready for this round of testing, but of course we will still be working on skills to help them improve even more.  Some of the students already did the practice booklets, which help the children become familiar with the test format. Remember that next week, the week of March 29, is the ITBS tests.  We will be doing the math portion on Monday, The reading portion on Tuesday and the Language portion on Thursday. Please make sure that your child is here if at all possible and make sure they get a good breakfast every day.  MCA testing will be at the end of April.

 Just a reminder that Audubon Center paperwork needs to be turned in for 5^th and 6^th graders who are planning to attend. 4^th grade parents and those not going watch for upcoming details regarding the students will be doing on April 14-16, when the 5^th and 6^th graders are not here.

 In biology, the 6^th graders have been learning about amphibians and reptiles. They have been looking at the comparisons of them both externally and internally. The 5^th graders finished up their work on birds and have moved into the study of mammals. They are excited that in the upcoming weeks they get to move into a study of invertebrates.  The 4^th graders have been learning about the phylum of fish, of which some students did a virtual dissection. In fact, one of them even brought in his own fish to do a live dissection.

Arithmetic has students all over the board.A group is working with the checkerboard to solve multiplication problems that have a 3-4 digit multiplier. Others have moved on to abstract multiplication, subtraction facts and being able to do subtraction abstractly, division with a 1 digit divisor using the stamp game.; and division facts.  If your child is working on any one of these areas it is important to continue to practice basic facts at home. It is important that your child memorize these as they become crucial to their later work.  The 6^th graders have been working with Least Common Multiples, Greatest Common Factors and Prime factorization. Ask them about Culture has brought some interesting dialogue in the room. The 4^th graders began their work using the timeline of lifethe differences between them.

They were working with the mute chart in order to better familiarize themselves with the timeline itself.  The 5^th graders have moved into a study about archaeology, by first investigating foreign coins to see what they could find out about culture based on its currency. They are looking forward to their upcoming archaeology dig.  The 6^th graders have been learning about a variety of early humans, of which they have been comparing features to the modern man.

             The Geometry days have been abuzz with activity as well. The 5^th graders have completed their work with triangles and have moved into the study of quadrilaterals. The 4^th graders have spent the last few weeks looking at the various types of lines and their parts. Have them draw you an oblique line.  The 6^th graders have continued their study of the area of a variety of shapes. Within the last month they focused on the area of the rhombus, kite, trapezoid and even how to multiply fractions.

 In grammar, the  4^th graders have moved from the study of the noun to a further study of the adjective. Ask them about the 4 types of adjectives they have learned so far. (Do you know what they are? There are 6 different types of adjectives we will be studying.)  The 5^th graders learned about the different classifications of the verb along with their new symbols.  Then we moved into work with the adverb.  Ask the students in either grade to show you what symbols would be used to diagram a particular sentence.  The 6^th graders have done some review with the logical analysis material as well as learned about appositives, and predicate nominative/predicate adjective parts of the sentence using the materials we have.

             Finally in literature the students either finished or are just about finished with their literature circle books. Each grade got the choice between two books this time and then had a discussion each week regarding the book. This helped the child build comprehension piece because there is always some questions that caused the children to reflect upon the book.  The books that were read include: Ella Enchanted, The Prince of the Pond, Wringer, The Whipping Boy, City of Ember and A Wrinkle in Time.  Ask your child about which book he/she read or is reading.  Then have them give you a synopsis of the book.

             Just a note, there are a few resources available on my website (www.newdiscoveries.org/gehrke). This includes spelling lists, donation lists, newsletters, and recommended websites. If you ever have another resource that you think should be available please let me know.

             Let me know if questions arise from discussions at home or things that you are wondering about.

• warm (winter) coat
•  snowpants
• boots
• hat
• gloves or mittens (that can withstand cold and moisture for more than 20 min)

This month we also added another 4^th grader to our classroom. Our class size is now at 23. Of course new students bring new challenges, but together the class is helping him acclimate in the Montessori environment.

 The Thanksgiving Feast went very well, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. They all gained a lot of practical life skills from the preparations for the feast.  In fact, a group of students even helped to make each table beautiful by adding table decorations, in order to make the feast even more festive.

 A lot has happened academically as well during the past month.  The 4^th graders have continued their culture work of understanding the world around them and the forces of it. They are now learning about the solar system, which doesn’t just look at the Earth any more, but places the earth in something much greater.  In biology, they continued learning more about the parts of plants and have now began moving into learning about the characteristics that all living things have in common compared to non-living things. They have also been working on final drafts of their Snow White story, which has shown their handwriting coming along beautifully. They also have been involved in a literature circle, where they are either reading Ella Enchanted or The Prince of the Pond. Each week they meet for a discussion on the chapters they were assigned and seem to be enjoying the books. Ask them to give you a summary of the book. In grammar, the students have been working on spelling rules and finding patterns in the plurals of nouns. They have then been using these rules as part of their spelling lists the last couple of weeks.

             The 5^th graders also have been very busy. They began a study of birds with a field trip to the other E2 classroom in order to find the exterior parts of the finches. They then had a watercolor lesson in order to help them with their follow up work. Many of the children’s work were very detailed with this new method of painting. They also have been working with understanding how the Earth works, in terms of its properties of light and radiation. They have continued their work on poetry and will be done with that unit this week. Many creative poems have been created over the last couple of months. Ask them about their favorites. They also received a book of poems that was used in lessons each week that they have been very excited about. In grammar the 5^th graders are nearing the end of their study of the pronoun.

             The 6^th graders are nearing the end of a unit on fish in biology. They have done research to find information about freshwater and saltwater fish.  They have been learning about different types of essays in order to help their writing skills. They have also been challenged to understand some of the editing marks in order to make their writing even better. They have been working on an archaeology unit in history and are getting ready for their dig this week. In grammar, they have continued their work with sentence analysis and have also started learning about how some sentences have copulas (linking verbs) rather than an easily identifiable verb in the sentence.

              Geometry has brought continued work with area and discovering the formulas to find the area of a variety of shapes, finding the hidden parts of triangles and moving from the constructive triangles to the introduction of points, lines, and surfaces.

 In math the kids have been researching division by discovering which numbers can be divided equally and which have not. Others have been working with the checkerboard to continue their work with multiplication and larger numbers. The final math group has been studying multiples and have learned about Eratosthenes, who was one of the earliest people to began looking at patterns in numbers.

       It is amazing how the kids step up to the plate to be hospitable and on their best behavior when a guest is present in our room. The kids learned how to politely ask if our visitors would like something to drink, such as water, tea, or hot cocoa. They then would prepare that beverage for our guest. Of course this took a bit of encouraging for some of the hosts and hostesses, but nonetheless, they played an important role in welcoming our guests and observers courteously.

            The kids have been hard at work this past month in all areas of our curriculum. In biology, the 4^th graders are still working with botany, where they are looking at all the different parts of plants. So far, they have looked at the parts of the stem, types of roots, parts of the leaf and parts of the flower. They love being able to have a reason to go outside in order to get a sample of whichever part we are studying that particular week.  The 5^th graders have spent the last few weeks looking at living and non-living things. They then started to classify the living things into plant and animal groupings. However, a twist was put on their items and we’ve also looked at classifying things as a mineral.  I’m pretty sure they went through the cupboards thoroughly in order to look at some of the minerals that are found in the food they eat!  The 6^th graders moved from the botany work to work with differences between plants and animals. Many of them created games that got everyone in the class involved in what they were working on. They jumped into a study of fish, where the first week they did a virtual dissection of a fish. Of course I heard a lot of “eeeeews” and “disgustings”, but in the end they thought it was cool and were able to identify the various parts of the fish. They even learned about what the various parts are used for. 

           In arithmetic, we’ve been working on several games and activities in order to continue to work on our multiplication facts with one of the math groups. The students have come a long way since the beginning of the school year, but are still struggling with their 4, 6, 7 and 8 facts. Each time they practice them, they realize that they have more and more of the facts down. Most recently the children started trying to match the product to the actual problems and thinking about the problem in the opposite way than they have been. Any continual work or review at home never hurts.   A second group is ready to move on to division, after being able to explain multiplication of large numbers in an abstract way. These children were excited last week when they learned that they didn’t need to use any materials because they had reached abstraction in multiplication.  What is to come with this group is some review work with subtraction before division as you need this skill in place in order to get to higher division work. There was also a wishful thought put out by the group that said “We might catch up to the 6^th graders.” However, the 6^th graders wouldn’t let that happen. They’ve been working with group division, which came after a lot of practice of long division using the test tube division. Many of them are right on the verge of abstraction with that method! We then pulled out our fraction material and started finding equivalent fractions. Some children are still using the materials in the box to help them see equivalent fractions and others were able to translate the ideas to fractions that were outside of our materials.

            In culture, we have continued our Great Lessons, of which we have one more to go. The 4^th graders also started work with the various forces of our Earth.  They have gotten to do several experiments each week to demonstrate the concept, and then find out about the science behind it the following week. The 5^th and 6^th graders did several combined lessons on the Earth and some of the properties it has, such as its rotation and its revolution. They also were engaged in discussions about what would happen if the Earth stopped spinning on its axis. Finally they started looking at the sun’s rays and how much of them hit the Earth from different angles.

           Geometry has brought a study of triangles for all grades. The 4^th graders have been looking at how triangles make up different quadrilaterals using the constructive triangles. The 5^th graders are in the process of learning about what parts make up a triangle both that are visible and those that are not. They are in the process of creating a book to share with you about all the parts that a triangle has.  The 6^th graders have been working with the area of triangles and the three formulas that you can use in order to find the area of a variety of triangles. There have been several moments of discovery, as they have been engaged with the materials and their follow-up work.

        The 4^th graders have continued to work with nouns during the past month in Language. They have worked with adjectives and have realized why articles are important. They also started looking more closely at the common nouns and have classified them as masculine and feminine nouns.  We will continue our study of nouns during the upcoming weeks.  The 5^th graders have continued learning more about the pronoun in its different forms. They know several different cases now and are just about to the end of their study of pronouns.  The 6^th graders have been working with the logical analysis material and have seen many different types of adverbial modifiers in the sentence. In fact, this week they are trying to create sentences that have as many adverbial modifiers in them as possible!

          In literature and writing the 4^th graders have dove in heads first into the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They worked to create outlines and a story diagram in order to help them rewrite the story that was told several weeks ago. They will continue their folktale study with a novel, which they are welcome to bring home with them and read with you.  The 5^th graders have been studying a variety of poems and how they are created. They have made a collection of their own poems that have been wonderful to read. The 6^th graders have worked with paragraph writing and correcting their mistakes using the editing marks. Their writing is getting better each and every day.

               I’ve noticed more people studying their spelling words in the last month. In fact recently all the 6^th graders managed to get 100% the same week. There have been several others who have gotten 100 per cents as well.  Your child should get his/her list of words to study on Monday. Please make sure to practice with them throughout the week in addition to the practice they do at school.

This past week, the children took part in an annual tradition of running for class president and vice-president. They campaigned, gave brief speeches, and the final three candidates answered questions in order to help the others vote. This year, our classroom leaders will be given a 2 ½ month term, thus giving each of the final three sets of candidates an opportunity to lead in the classroom. The other children are voting on which of the candidates will be getting the first, second and third choice of which order they will be in.

Flu season has hit our classroom. Just a reminder that if your child is sick, please call the office to inform school, I will hear from the office. They need to know about the symptoms in order to report to the state as needed. If your child is sick, please keep them home; it is better if they miss more than one day consectutively than if they are home a day, back a day, and then home again In our classroom We are trying to disinfect the classroom on a regular basis to cut down on germs being spread, but it is inevitable, being that the materials are used frequently. I know that this year’s flu strain has a fever component that will be high one day and low the next, but by the evening the high fever is back.

The other part of flu season comes with the change in weather. Without the snow, the kids have gotten away a bit from making sure they have proper attire for outside. The paras who are at recess will not allow the child to be outside if they are inappropriately dressed. Not knowing when our next snowfall will occur, please remember that all children need the following five items in order to go outside for recess during the winter months: Winter coat, Hat, Mittens/Gloves, Snowpants and Boots. Also note that they need to have a pair of shoes for inside the classroom and the gym. Each child has his/her cubby at school which they can keep all of these things until they need them, so feel free to just leave them at school.

                I think that sums up what has been happening in the classroom during the month of October. Remember if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at anytime.

Sincerely,

Jaclyn Gehrke  and Tara Erickson

Additional notes:

• I always post the newsletter on our website www.newdiscoveries.org/jgehrke. Let me know if you don’t want to receive the paper copy.
• For those of you wondering what to get for the classroom see the website
• Book orders are available online at www.scholastic.com
• School Computer Use Policy is available on the NDMA website

October 5, 2009

Dear families,

I can’t believe that one month of school is already behind us. The students are stepping up to the E2 standards, even the 4^th graders! They are quickly learning that I am looking for quality work rather than quantity. Therefore, if I get something turned in that isn’t quality, I will return it to the child asking them to redo parts of it. Of course, the children don’t always appreciate it, but in the future they will appreciate it more and more.

A couple of weeks ago we had our first Great Lesson, The Story of the Universe, from a scientific approach. We will continue these Great Lessons in the near future. These do not discount any religious beliefs, but are meant to strike the imagination of the child. The second Great Lesson looks at how different organisms dominated the earth at different times. The students will hear this story on Wednesday as their culture lesson. Then we’ll move to the third Great Lesson, which focuses on the work of the hand and how the hand is so important to everyday life. The final two stories focus on the origins of language and mathematics.

In the other subjects such as arithmetic, the children are busy learning their multiplication facts or working with more advanced multiplication using a material known as the checkerboard.  Multiplication becomes a key operation in mathematics throughout the year, and there for it is important for the children to become familiar with their multiplication facts. It would be greatly appreciated if you also help your child find ways to remember the basic facts (through 10s ), whether it be in the car or at the grocery store.  Other children are working on long division, and the process of writing their work on paper.

In geometry, many of the 4^th graders have become very familiar with the geometry cabinet and the shapes that are in it. Some of these shapes have been new to the child, especially when giving the children the names of the triangles according to sides. Some are still struggling with this, but are getting better.  The 5^th graders started off with a geometry review from the work they did last year by discussing a piece of art by Kandinsky and identifying everything they remembered about angles that we studied. They then began the process of creating their own Kandinsky inspired piece, which they get to use pastels on in order to finish.We have since moved into the study of triangles and their parts.   The 6^th graders have been the various formulas of how to find the area of various shapes. So far they have learned about the rectangle, the parallelogram and the triangle. They have been busy measuring the various shapes around school to help them master each of the formulas.

During the past month all grades have been studying the botany portion of biology. This started off with our first environmental  education day of classifying leaves according to different qualities. The fourth graders will revisit the leaf in a couple of upcoming lessons, both biology and art related. The 5^th graders are building their knowledge of different plants through the use of riddles and a little bit of research about their own plant. The 6^th graders have been working on some plant classification, which has definitely challenged them.

In language, the kids are working on a study of the noun, pronoun and some logical analysis material. They are also learning about writing good paragraphs, poetry, and we have even had an introduction to our major study on fairy tales from the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was told as an oral tale.

The healthy snack program has been a great success. The kids enjoy helping to create the snacks as well as shopping for the ingredients. They even get a chance to sit down with me on Mondays to look at the Cash Wise add and see what types of things would be economical choices for the week. We try to use the ads as much as possible, but we also look at the items themselves. Often times the kids are realizing that the Food Club brands are cheaper and they also take into consideration that the Food Club UPCs  help benefit the school, so they remember to  cut them off when they make snack.

I think that wraps up our classroom for the last month! If you have any questions or concerns about your child, or what they are working on, please contact me via email or phone.

August 19, 2009

Dear E2 Families,

                Yes, it’s that time of year again to start thinking about back to school and all of the excitement that comes with the first day. With the new group of fourth graders, I would expect many new friendships beginning to form, even amongst the fifth and sixth graders. I think I am just as nervous as the kids, but in definitely a good way.

However, unlike the children, I didn’t get much of a summer vacation. This summer, I took several courses at St. Catherine University to continue my quest of obtaining my Montessori credentials. I feel even better about the year, knowing that I will be able to challenge the students at their potential, even better than I was last year. I also hope that the kids enjoy the work that we will be getting to this year, though I know initially they’re likely to complain a bit.

I will continue with class one night a week during the school year. In addition, I will be completing my practicum this year as well, which shouldn’t impact the students. This will mean that I will be getting observed a minimum of 6 times throughout the year, so there will be guests in our classroom fairly frequently. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise for your child to say that there was a guest in our classroom.

At the beginning of the year I will be presenting the Great Lessons to all of the children. These start with the big bang theory and then proceed to the early life forms, early humans. These are taught using the scientific approach as ideas and theories in order to jump start our year in Geography, History, and Biology. I do not present these saying that religious beliefs are wrong, but that the ideas are there, along with the scientific evidence. Typically, the child will be able to begin his own understanding of where we came from and how we got to where we are today as a society. The children will also have a chance to hear the stories of math and language, which the children thoroughly enjoy. It also shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that your child is working on a project about something they were inspired by during these stories.

We will again be doing the healthy snack program in our classroom this year. This snack is created by the students, where they begin to learn some of the practical life skills that will carry with them throughout life. The healthy snack program costs $25/trimester not including the cost of the milk/juice option that is also available.  The idea behind this program is to give the children the means to prepare themselves a healthy snack during school, which transfers to the after school snack as well. We encourage the children to eat healthier snacks rather than choosing things that might not be so good for them.

                On that note, there are a couple of things that would make healthy snack even better. If you are a gardener and have produce coming out of your ears, consider donating to either of the E2 classrooms.  The kids especially enjoy vegetables, such as carrots, cucumbers, celery, etc. However, they also are usually willing to try new veggies at school (even if they won’t at home). They also enjoy apples and making apple sauce, so if you have apple trees and apples that you need a home for, feel free to send them to school.

                Also for those of you that might have any of the following items that you no longer use at home, extras or happen to be out at garage sales, we would appreciate the donation. The list will be posted on the classroom blog, so if you would just note if you have something, that would be great. The website is http://newdiscoveries.org/gehrke .

• Griddle
• Crockpots
• Hard plastic, glass or ceramic
• o Plates
• o Bowls
• Hotplate
• Pots and pans
• Silverware
• Dish soap
• Potting soil
• Kleenex
• Disinfecting Wipes

In addition, in trying to keep the kids healthy, please donate Kleenex and antibacterial wipes so that we can keep our supply stocked.

Things to note before the first day of school:

• If you haven’t had a chance to fill out forms at the office, please do so ASAP. While doing that, stop in and say hi, if you would like.
• Come help install the new playground on Friday, August 28. We need as many volunteers as possible. This all day event will take place from 8am-8pm. Come for as much as you are able.
• Our annual open house and ice cream social will be held on Thursday, September 3^rd from 6:30pm-8:00pm. Come check out the classroom and the new playground.
• Stop in and say hi to NDMA staff at the McLeod County Fair.
• The first day of school is Tuesday, September 8. School starts at 9:00 AM.

If you have any questions, concerns, or just that you’d like to get future newsletters electronically, please contact me.

Jaclyn Gehrke

                Email: jaclyn.gehrke@newdiscoveries.org

Phone: (320) 234-6362 ext. 345