mis2/3patricia

Queridos Padres de Familia,

Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.  ~Author Unknown-

In this picture, Jobe, the guest speaker, is doing an exercise with the students to show them how to best use the  light and energy from the sun in the buildings.   Thanks to Jobe Bernier for coming and sharing with us this time. The students had fun and asked thoughtful questions. Jobe taught us how to make blueprints and talked about some of the green materials we can use to build our green school.

Nex week, we continue learning about green buildings and we will start making the blueprint of the school. On Tuesday, we will tour the Missoula Federal Credit Union building on Russell.  Remember that we have bus transportation and will leave @ 8:45 am

For the next two weeks, in math  we will be piloting Bridges.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Throughout the week,  you will receive the assessment done for everyday Mathematics. Please look at it with your child and send it back to school.

Thank you to Marian Maxwell, Emily and Chris Richardson, Amber Sherrill for helping with our field trip to the Willma. We had a fantastic time! We enjoyed the films specially the one called “The shark riddle as well as our picnic at Kiwanis.

A special hug to all the wonderful mom in our class, have a very special day on Sunday!

Con amor,

Patricia

Queridos Padres de Familia,

We had a fantastic week. John Beighle came to our classroom and shared his expertise on solar panels. The student loved it! They were fascinated with all the interesting information and the little solar panel bugs. Thank you , John!

In preparation for the Wildlife Film Festival week, we  had the opportunity to see  two wonderful films about humpback whales and sharks  by the Colombian filmmaker,  Andrés Pineda. Please remember that our field trip to see the films will be on Friday, May 11. I will meet the students between 8:45 and 9:00 am @ the bronze fish. After the films, we’ll have a picnic at Kiwanis park. You are welcome to join us!

For next week, in our PYP unit, we will have different guest speakers to learn more about sustainable buildings. On Monday, our dear teacher, Penelope Baquero will talk about sustainable living, her green house and her experience in her eco-village. At the end of the week, Jobe Bernier, a remarkable architect from A&E Architects, will come to talk about green building designs, blueprints,  sustainability and preservation.

Have a wonderful week,

Con amor,

Patricia

Queridos Padres deFamilia,

It has been very nice to see all of you during student-led conferences. I have been so impressed at how much all the students have grown. They are more confident, better communicators and better at reflecting on their progress. Thank you for coming and sharing this time with us!

Some of the exciting activities we did this week: we sent letters to different governors and senators in USA  to voice our concerns about what is happening with the environment. A copy of those letters are posted in front of the classroom. Please take a look and read them with your child.

Another exciting news: We filled our bucket last week and won a classroom party. This week, we will discuss what we want to do to celebrate this accomplishment. Buen trabajo chicos y chicas!  I’ll keep you posted!

This week,  your kids’ math homework is going to look a little different.  We will be piloting Everyday Mathematics for the next two weeks.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

In PYP, we will continue learning about ecological schools and what they look like.  Next week, we’ll start planing our blueprint for the school.  Remember to collect items such as cardboard, pieces of wood, marbles and other things you may think of to make the model.

Con cariño,

Patricia

Queridos Padres de Familia,

Next week, we will start our last unit of the year called: Let’s build a school.

Central Idea: Schools can be designed and organized to reduce the impact on the environment.

Lines of inquiry:

• Designing and organizing a responsible ecological school
• Meeting the needs of a diverse community
• Using recycled building materials and utilizing renewable resources for energy

For the final  assessment of the unit,  students are asked to build a model of their dream ecological  school.   So, please,  recycle knickknacks from around the house to be used for this project (things such as marbles., aluminum, small and medium cardboard boxes,  pieces of wood, disposable fruit containers, etc ).  You can start sending them to school with your child.

Just a reminder that there will be no school on Friday, April 27^th and Monday, April 30^th.

Enjoy your week,

Patricia

Queridos Padres de Familia,

Another exciting week at MIS! I want to make sure that you know the changes that will be happening next week.  On Wednesday, April 18^th I will be back as a full time teacher. That means that I will be teaching all the subjects to your child and addressing all your questions, suggestions or concerns.  Please take a minute to thank Sherry for all her hard work and dedication during my absence. We will miss her so much but wish her all the best!

Please check the student-led conferences schedule and please confirm your time.  This will be a 30- minute conference where your child will show you  examples of his/her progress and present to you the goals for the rest of the year. If you have any specific questions about your child progress, please let me know ahead and I will  meet with you at a different time.

This year for EARTH DAY (April 21^st), the 2/3 class will do a clean-up in the lower Rattlesnake area and share their research/assessment done for the pollution unit.   For that, we have developed a plan:

• 10:00 am Meet @ MIS playground to receive plastic bags for the  clean-up
• 10:00- 11:00 am Clean-up

Zone:

Begins at the corner of Van Buren and Vine Street

Ends at the corner of  Harrison Street &  Briar Street (MIS)

• 11:00 Parents drop students in classroom # 4 to meet with 2/3 teachers
• 11:30-12:15  Students present their brochures to the MIS community
• 12:15  Students meet their parents and give brochures to teachers.

For this event, the 2/3 teachers need some help:

• Plastic grocery bags that are at home to be used for the clean-up. We will collect them throughout the week.
• Parent-volunteers to help bring out 7 tables on the playground for the presentation
• Parent-volunteers to help put the tables back in the gym after the event
• If any parent would like to donate plastic gloves for the clean-up, that would be greatly appreciated!

Have a lovely weekend,

Patricia

Queridos Padres de Familia,

It feels very nice to be back to my kiddos at MIS. It has been a very busy but exciting week for us.  For now, I am working part time until April 17^th which is when I will be back full time. In the meantime, Sherry and I are sharing the day. I am working with the students in the morning and she is doing the afternoon.  I want to express my gratitude to Sherry for all the outstanding work she has done with the students during my absence. Thank you Sherry!

Congratulazione to the Musco family on their new addition, Nicolas! We can’t wait to meet him and welcome him to the MIS family!

This week, we started working on our final assessment for the Pollution unit. Students paired up and researched on a pollution issue.   We learned how to summarize information from non-fiction resources as well as how to display that information in a brochure.  The students will present their research on Earth Day.

As a whole group, during math we are working on identifying area and perimeter.  We will draw our dream house and find the area and the perimeter of the building starting in April.

Beginning on April 9^th, students will bring home a book to read as part of their Spanish homework. They will keep track of the time they are reading in Spanish and at the end of the week, they will have a reading comprehension sheet. This is the same format that we used at the beginning of the year.

Our student-led conferences are almost here.  We will start the week of April 23^rd. I am sending you a schedule. I have already talked to the teachers to set consecutive times for those students who have siblings in other classes.  Please take a look at it and let me know if that works for you. If it does not, we can find a time that works for you.

Have a very relaxing spring break,

Con mucho cariño,
Patricia and Sherry

Hello 2nd/3rd grade parents,

This week we explored air pollution by reading more about it and becoming more knowledgeable. We took a field trip on Thursday for a presentation by Tony Ward and his research team about air pollution. The students learned more about how air pollution affects people with asthma, felt and saw a healthy and an unhealthy pig lung, saw pollen under the microscope and even saw the pollen counter up on the roof! They were inquirers by asking many good questions and they incorporated what they learned in class as well!

Next week we will focus on how the use of plastic bags affects the environment by watching presentations and reading about what we can do to minimize the use of plastic bags. We will also start working on our final assessment for the unit, which is a brochure about one type of pollution (land, water, air) including its causes, effects, solutions and interesting facts.

In Spanish, we worked on persuasive letter writing. Students chose a topic and wrote a solid letter with all of the essential elements. We have read several books with examples of letter form and continue to read more books about pollution and what we can do to decrease our impact on the world. Next week we will go through the writing process and start writing a persuasive letter on pollution.

Students continue to make progress with math and they are challenging themselves by trying new centers. 3rd graders are working on division (especially with remainders) and 2nd graders continue to reinforce addition, subtraction, place value and fractions.

We encourage you to go to the International Fair on Sunday, March 25th from 12-5 p.m. at the University of Montana and have the kids bring back their passports on Monday.

The MIS Variety Show will be held on Friday, March 30th from 12:15 to 1:15 in the gym! We are excited to see all of our talented students participate in the show!

Finally, Patricia will be back on Monday, March 26th! We are excited to see her again and I will be working closely with her to ensure a smooth transition between teachers. I will still be in the classroom for the next week, team teaching and planning with her. After that, I may still be in the classroom helping out and/or will be substituting in other areas of the school. It has been a pleasure to work with each of you and I appreciate your support during the last few months!

Sherry

Hello 2nd/3rd grade parents!

This week we dove right into the pollution unit with field trips and presentations about land and water pollution! We went to the landfill on Tuesday and learned some interesting facts from our guide. Did you know that they receive 900 tons/day on average at the landfill in Missoula? These kinds of facts really impacted the kids and they are starting to think about how they can reduce their waste and recycle more at home.

On Wednesday, the Watershed Education Network did a presentation about aquifers and water pollution. Students interacted with models of towns and learned about how oil spills, pesticides, etc. can get into our ground water and how our drinking water can become polluted if a contaminant gets into the aquifer. Students wrote very detailed descriptions about both experiences this week and demonstrated reflection and critical thinking about land and water pollution.

Next week, we’ll move into air pollution and will explore this topic by going to the university on Thursday, March 22nd and listening to a presentation given by Tony Ward about air pollution. We’ll walk over at 9:00 a.m. and be back at school by 11:30. If you would like to chaperone this field trip,  feel free to let me know!

Students continue to work hard in Spanish literacy. We have read several books about how to take care of the planet and have done several small group reading activities. Students have written detailed descriptions about their experiences and next week we’ll focus on letter writing as a way to persuade and express our opinions.

Students are doing well in math and we are exploring more centers each week. We plan to graph the amount of students who recycle different materials in the school starting next week as well!

We are excited to welcome Patty back into the classroom on Monday, March 26th!  I will continue to be in the classroom as we team teach and plan for a couple of weeks in order to ensure a smooth transition. It has been a pleasure to work with each and every one of you and I look forward to staying in touch!

We had a great week starting our new unit on pollution! We brainstormed examples of land, water and air pollution and took a class survey to see how many students recycle different types of materials. We will have the rest of the school take the survey next week so we can graph how many students recycle in their homes. We also took action by picking up garbage around the neighborhood on Thursday, and students were enthusiastic and surprised at what they found! Next week, we continue with pollution and will take a field trip to the land fill on Tuesday, March 13th from 9:00 to 11:30. If you would like to chaperone for this trip, please let me know!

On Wednesday, we will shift our focus over to water pollution and a presenter from the Watershed Education Network will come speak to the class. Here is an excerpt about what they will present: “We also have a surface display called the Enviroscape that really shows students how surface pollution makes its way into the groundwater. We have found students really like the interactive land uses on the Enviroscape: farm, factory, subdivision, forested hill and golf course as they identify possible sources of pollution and brainstorm ways to prevent the pollution from making its way into the lake nearby. “

In Spanish literacy, students have finally finished their transportation books and we will be posting them out in the hallway for all to see. Students worked very hard on this project and have a lot to share! We have been working in small reading groups and are fortunate to have Cassandra and Alyssa, our student teachers from the UM, be in the classroom and help us with reading groups and math! Next week we will continue to incorporate literacy into our PYP unit by reading about different types of pollution and start looking at letter writing in order to prepare for a persuasive letter that students write in the future.

Thank you to the students and especially Leigh Gillett for bringing Gillian and Lynn a delicious cake to celebrate their birthdays today! The students had a great time decorating the classroom and the teachers were very surprised to see a cake waiting for them!

Also, thanks to our parent volunteers, and parents in general, who are all so helpful and supportive in and outside the classroom! It is a pleasure to work with all of you in order to ensure the success of your children!

Finally, we hope to see you at Salsa Ball, tomorrow, Saturday, March 10th! Come enjoy the fun and support our school! Have a great week!

Hello 2nd/3rd grade parents!

We had a great week full of a lot of activities. Students finished their PowerPoint presentations on a mode of transportation of their choice and presented them to their peers in Lynn’s class today. They learned how to look for and insert pictures, change the font and background and incorporate useful information into their presentations. We will send the presentations home in the near future so that you can also see the amazing work your child has done!

Students will finish up their transportation reports during Spanish literacy next week and will continue to strengthen their reading skills with varied reading activities and groups.

On Friday we wrapped up the Transportation unit with a field trip to Missoula in Motion and students learned a lot about alternative modes of transportation. They demonstrated that they were inquirers by asking a lot of questions and that they were knowledgeable since they shared so many amazing stories and experiences! The students also explored the Mountain Line bus maps and identified how to get to several places in Missoula on the bus. We rode the Mountain Line back to school to demonstrate our choice of using alternative transportation. Thank you to all of the volunteers who accompanied us on this journey!

Our next unit of inquiry starts on Monday, and we will focus on pollution. Our lines of inquiry are:

1. Three main kinds of pollution (water, air, land)

2. The causes of pollution

3. Our responsibility in keeping our environment free from pollution.

We have several exciting field trips and activities planned for this unit! Please see below for important dates, and if you’d like to volunteer to chaperon these activities, please let me know!

Tuesday, March 13th – Field Trip to the landfill, 9:00 – 11:30

Thursday, March 22nd – Field trip to the university for presentation on air pollution by Tony Ward – 9:00 – 11:30.

We will send out more details about these field trips shortly!

As we finish “I Love to Read Month” and move into March, we will go back to a similar format for Spanish reading homework that we did in the fall. Instead of students bringing books home to read, they will bring a copied article with some activities to complete throughout the week. Students are still expected to read the article every night and complete a short activity based on the reading. They will then turn in the completed packet on Friday and do a final reading comprehension activity. Some of the activities require vocabulary development, so if your child cannot glean the meaning of the word from context, feel free to use an online dictionary such as www.wordreference.com.

An art project gone wild!