Parents Are Sexuality Educators

Dearest Lower Elementary West,

What an interesting first week back! Thanks for your flexibility around Wednesday's cancellation. It definitely threw me off my rhythm --- hope it didn't throw you all off too much.

Down below is some news about what we've been up to, a picture of all of the books you helped donate and some fantastic events coming up this week at GRS. 

What we're doing

Our next continent of study is going to be..... ASIA! A place where the first animal was sent to outer space, a place where Great Walls were built to protect themselves from fierce leaders like Genghis Khan, and where two thirds of the world's population now lives. We're all very excited about this upcoming study. Please contact me if you'd like to share any knowledge you have about this continent. 

First years are creating their own Asia maps using the Montessori puzzle maps. They are also doing some beginning money practice and learning about the external characteristics of Amphibians. For spelling practice, students have been putting words in alphabetical order, writing the words in sentences or rewriting the words 2 times.  Playing games with the spelling words at home is also great practice.  Spelling list: Duck, luck, tuck, buck, yuck, truck, stuck, cluck, snuck, pluck

Second years are beginning their Asia study by answering questions about the geography of the continent as well as learning how to count in Japanese, write haikus and use Kanji characters to write words and numbers in Japanese.  They are also continuing their word study of singular and plural nouns (when to add /ies').   Second years are also beginning their study of the Clock of Eras and the Timeline of Life. These are both very impressionistic and classic Montessori materials that present the history of life on Earth in an engaging and approachable way. I'm very excited for the work we have coming up.  For spelling practice, students have been putting words in alphabetical order, writing the words in sentences or rewriting the words 2 times.  Playing games with the spelling words at home is also great practice.  Spelling list: Ball, call, fall, hall, bell, wall, bill, hill, spell, small - second graders had to discover what the rule for when words end in /ll/.

Third years are also beginning their Asia study by answering questions about the geography of the continent and they are going to learn how to draw an Asia map three times bigger through using grid drawing.  It will hang up in our room during our study of Asia.  We also practiced the Japanese art of origami and created paper cranes on Friday.  Third years are also practicing multiplication through the commutative property and discovered that even if you swap the multiplicand and the multiplier, you still always end up with the same product. They're creating fun flap books so they can practice their multiplication facts and play a fun game with a friend.  Along with their academic work, third years are doing lessons called "How to get justice" and we're discussing and role playing different ways to solve problems. For instance, we will practice how to get someone's attention, what to do if you lost something, what to do if someone steps or ruins your rug work, etc. The third years have a goal of working together as a whole group so that they can discuss topics such as a possible pet for the class. The more they demonstrate how they can work together as a team the more prepared they are to problem solve together.  They're hoping to have the conversation about a class pet soon, so if any of you have any leads or ideas for potential class pets, pass that information onto your child so that they can share with the class.  For spelling practice, students have been putting words in alphabetical order, writing the words in sentences or rewriting the words 2 times.  Playing games with the spelling words at home is also great practice.  Spelling list: /s/ spelling using "s" and "ci" sand, also, person, scrap, string, city, cinnamon, pencil, circle, circus

Check out all of the books we donated to the MN Literacy Council. Big thanks to all!

Upcoming Events

Monday, January 12th @ 6:30

Parents Are Sexuality Educators 

FREE Workshop for Parents!

PASE Workshop (Parents Are Sexuality Educators)

Provided By: Family Tree Clinic

When: Monday, January 12^th from 6:30-7:30 pm

Where: Great River School @ West Campus Multi-Purpose Space

What:

We have arranged for an education night for you! Come to a presentation and discussion with a Family Tree Clinic educator about talking to your kids about sex and sexuality. We will discuss typical stages of sexual development for children and adolescents of all ages (including the oh-so-wonderful puberty!) We will also learn effective communication skills to aid in talking with your children about various sexuality topics.

At the end of January, Family Tree will be coming to speak with Great River School upper elementary students about age-appropriate sexual education topics. We want to invite all parents, and especially elementary parents, to this evening in connection with our curriculum in late January. 

Audience:

This presentation is an Adult Only event and geared towards parents of students in grades 1-6.  FREE childcare for children ages 3-12 will be available through Big Canoe Kid's Club beginning at 6:15 pm that evening. 

RSVP for childcare here! 

Thursday, January 14th @ 6:00

Parent Education night: The Great Lessons

Come meet other families and hear the Montessori Great Lessons. The Great Lessons are impressionistic stories about the beginning of the universe, when life came to earth, when humans came to earth and the beginnings of numbers and writing.  Should be a great opportunity to discuss the rationale behind the Great Lessons and get to know other GRS families.  Hope to see you there!

That's all for now. Have a great weekend!

All the best,

Jessy

Happy New Year Lower Elementary West!

Hope all of your holidays were healthy and fun.

We'll be starting off this week with the study of a new continent. Can you guess what it will be? The students will discover for themselves of Monday... Stay tuned!

Just a few quick reminders before we get the ball rolling...

1. Indoor Shoes
We get weighed down with all of our winter gear and I know I don't like clonking around in my snow boots, so if you are able, please send indoor shoes with your child labeled with their name.  We want to prevent toes from getting stubbed or pricked which tends to happen when they don't have any shoes on.  Indoor shoes also keep the clonky, boot noise down in the room and we all know what happens to those boots when our feet get too sweaty. Not the best aroma for our hallways.  Thanks in advance!

2. Winter Gear
It's getting cold outside, so please make sure your children are all bundled up with snow pants, boots, jackets, mittens all labeled with your child's name.  

3. No more peanut allergy
Sadly, one of our student's and her family had to move to Colorado recently and she will be sorely missed. She generously gifted our classroom with an adorable terrarium that we will have the chance to maintain.  Also, this was the student with the peanut allergy, so it is now safe to send peanut/tree nut foods with your child again. Thanks for your willingness to keep our classroom safe.  

4. Thursday Folders
As always, thanks for making sure Thursday Folders get to school by the Tuesday of each week. It really helps us organize and send home all of the work and information that needs to get to you.  

Let's end this newsletter with some pictures of our Winter Wonderfest. Pictures to come of all of the books you graciously donated. Thank you all so much.

Creating paper heart baskets

 Rainbow loomin'

Quite the crafter!

Sewing ornaments and hanging borax snowflakes

Dreidel time!

That's all for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

All the best,

Jessy

Hello LEW Families!

Barnes & Noble Book Fair
Thursday, December 11.  
6:30-8:00 @ Har Mar Mall. 

Come join us for a book fair at Barnes & Noble and support GRS! Selected titles and wish lists will be displayed for different classrooms and it will give us all a nice chance to meet together.

Lower elementary students are going to do a little singalong/performance @ 6:30, so please try and make it if you can! 


What we're doing 

Along with daily math practice and spelling .... 

First years are working on their geometry skills and sorting triangles by their sides.  See if they can tell you the difference between equilateral, scalene and isosceles triangles.  They are also putting the finishing touches on their South American biome work. They're creating biome boxes about the amazon rainforest and they're turning out great!  We're also practicing telling time as well as how to mark important dates on a calendar (birthdays are very important of course).  

Second graders are creating a mural of the tropical rainforest and creating a informational key about all of the interesting plants and animals you can find in the rainforest.  They're also writing creative stories about three different types of lines you find in geometry - parallel, convergent, and divergent. See if they can tell you a story about one of these types of lines.  We are also very proud of the second graders because they came up with some goals to have no late work on the board, and many of them accomplished that goal! Now they have more time to do different interest works - some students are writing about sharks, some are researching rocks of South America, and some are interested in doing some Greek Mythology research.  It's wonderful when the reward is more work! Yay lifelong learning!

Third graders are wrapping up their South American biome research. They've made beautiful posters and booklets about the different biomes, the plants and animals you'll find there, as well as some interesting cultures you'll find in this continent.  Last week, we learned about 3 different kinds of samba dancing from Brazil: Samba no pe, Samba Maracatu, and Samba na Roda. See if they can tell you the differences between the three.  Third years are also learning about mathematical hierarchies using a very concrete and attractive math material.  We were able to see what one unit looks like and what it would look like if we were to put a million of those units together.  They're writing riddles about different place values in different hierarchies such as: "I am in the thousands hierarchy. You need 10 hundreds to make me. Who am I?" 

We're gearing up for our South American celebration this Friday, so we can share all of our work with one another and share a nice South American treat from Brazil called "Pao de Queijo" which means, "cheese bread." It's made from tapioca flour, so it's gluten free :)

Big Thanks!

Thank you Heather Thomas, Nicole Paulsen, Susan Sochacki, Paul Brohaugh, and Jennifer Taylor for your continued support in the classroom with sewing, sorting, and reading with the students. I know they look forward to their time with you and Jennifer and I truly appreciate your dedication and hard work.

Thank you for remembering to send your Thursday Folders each week. It's nice to send home all of their work! 

Hope to see you all on Friday at Barnes and Noble @ 6:30!

Only two weeks until the winter break. Can you believe it??

Have a wonderful evening.

Jessy