// Weeks of May 27 (Field Day!) and Jun 3 //
// Curriculum Update, Mid-May //
Week of May 13th
We learned a new type of poem this week, a Cinquain, which we wrote about animals. Please stop by and read them hanging outside of our classroom. Lessons continue on, the 3rd levels are finishing up the invertebrates while the 2nd and 1st levels finished up with seeds. We have all been closely watching out caterpillars, they have now entered the chrysalis stage of their lifecycle. We look forward to studying them further before releasing them into the park.
We started rehearsing our skits for the end of the year ceremony. Our show is June 4th, make sure you are there!
// week of May 20 //
// week of May 13 //
Parent Association Meeting Notes
May 10, 2019
Ø HUGE, HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU FOR THE THOUGHTFUL AND CREATIVE TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK CELEBRATION~ STARTING THE DAY WITH CURBSIDE HELP AND THE ENDLESS TREATS HAVE BEEN APPRECIATED!!!!
Ø HUGE THANK YOU TO HOLLY (JETT’S MOM) AND JENNIFER (LUCAS AND ARI’S MOM) FOR ORGANIZING THE WEEK AND BEING INCREDIBLE PA COORDINATORS FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS. HUGE THANK YOU TO JULIA (HARRISON’S MOM) AND YASSMIN (AIDAN AND NOAH’S MOM) FOR AGREEING TO THE BE THE PA COORDINATORS FOR THE 2019-2020 SCHOOL YEAR
Ø THANK YOU for supporting the Book Fair ($6,500 was raised) and donating boots!
Ø CONGRATULATIONS to the HPMS Basketball Team for playing an incredible game verses Village Montessori~ we finally won (46 to 18). The UE team won against Stevens (18-16).
Ø Please enjoy the video on the HPMS balloon launch (yes, that’s really the curve on the Earth from the balloon launched by HPMS students). This project has been happening for four years:
· Year 1 ~ focus was on altitude
· Year 2~ focus was on creating an environment for an insect to go into space (balloon had a hole and ended up in a lake)
· Year 3~ focus was on creating an environment for a small mammal to go into space~ students had ethical concerns if it didn’t work so they changed it to using the air supply to launch a rocket (but no trash was to left in space)
· Year 4~ focus is on communication~ there will be a live stream on the 6th floor for K students and up to watch on May 21
Ø Upcoming Events (it’s that time of year!!!) ~ EOY Celebrations begin at 9:15 on the 6th floor unless otherwise noted:
· May 21~ Blue/Red Room EOY Celebration
· May 22~ Indigo/Yellow Room EOY Celebration
· May 23~ Orange/Silver Room EOY Celebration
· May 24-27~ School Closed for Memorial Day Weekend
· May 28~ Homework Discussion ~ 6 pm
· May 31~ Field Day (PLEASE KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE SUG!!!!)
· June 4 ~ Earth Room EOY Celebration at 9:30
· June 5~ Sky Room EOY Celebration at 9:30
· June 6 ~ Ocean Room EOY Celebration at 9:30
· June 11 ~ UE/MS EOY Celebration & 8th Grade Graduation at 6 pm on the 6th Floor
· June 12 ~ Last day of School
o PA Meeting ~ 9 am
o WEE & Bridge EOY Celebration at 11:15 am for Wee and Square, 11:00 for Circle and Triangle
o End of the Year Picnic~ “BYOB”~ Bring Your Own Basket & Blanket at 5 pm in Hamilton Park
o HPMS will provide plates, utensils, water and treats.
o Please bring food for your family (or buy dinner at the Farmer’s Market!)
· June 19 ~ Silverman Golf Tournament supporting HPMS
Ø Year Book is now available for purchase~ please keep an eye out for the SUG
Ø Discussion for next year…thoughts about fruit as the go to birthday snack (child shares their favorite fruit with the class) and changing the snack sign up (parents bring in one item once a week instead of enough snack for the class for an entire week).
// Week of May 6: Curriculum Update //
We would like to thank all our families for taking the time to meet to celebrate your children last week, these are great conversations to keep happening. We would also like to thank everyone for the great books that were purchased for our classroom, our library is fuller than ever.
More spring news to celebrate! Our caterpillars have arrived, they have already grown so much. We will be observing them for the next few weeks then will be released into the park to help pollinate the park. We also started a study of seeds this week, ask your children to tell you all about them!
// Teacher Appreciation Week //
// curriculum update: May 3 //
The excitement of the end of the year has been building! Our play groups are set and the writing has begun, we hope to see everyone June 4th for our End Of Year ceremony and play presentation.
Thank you to all our families for taking the time to meet with us for Spring Conferences, it’s always a great time.
Although our field trip was rained out last week we still had a great day. We were able to watch Disney’s Hercules after reading several myths about him over the past few weeks. This was able to quell any disappointment we felt.
We ask once again that everyone please bring in a water bottle for after recess. Although we have water in the classroom it helps our transition back to work cycle to have a drink before entering the room.
// week of April 29 //
// we are back from spring break! //
// It's April! //
We ended last week with really fun visit from local Jersey City author and illustrator Jessie Sima. She drew a picture from ideas the children threw out at her, signed it and gave it to our room. She also read one of her books Harriet Gets Carried Away dressed like a penguin.
We started our study of Oceania this week. Formally called Australia this area actually covers 14 different countries, spread across many small islands.
We have been reading various kinds of poetry throughout the school year and have created our own poems entitled “I AM” please come take a look at them hanging outside of Earth Room.
Please remember to bring a water bottle since it is getting warmer out, being about to drink out in the hall way makes a much smoother transition after recess.
// Week of April 1 //
// Week of March 25: Curriculum Update //
We started this week off by planting our bulbs for our bulb study. The students made their initial observations and noted out the bulb looked before placing them in the jars of water. They will spend the next two weeks taking daily observations and will be able to take their flower home for Spring Break.
Second levels studied the internal parts of Reptiles while Third levels continued studying invertebrates by looking at Mollusca.
First levels had an introductory lesson on symmetry, they created shapes which had a single line of symmetry and did follow ups that continued with that theme. Third levels went deeper into symmetry and tried to find it in shapes that might not be so obvious.
// Week of March 25 //
HPMS is celebrating World Down Syndrome Day on March 20! Wear your jeans and/or silly socks, too.
// This week.... //
The end of last week the third graders were given the opportunity to present The Fundamental Needs Of People. They presented the Material Needs and Spiritual Needs by bringing in objects from their homes along with materials from the classroom to explain the conditions that humans need to thrive. Along with this presentation we’ve been discussing how the material needs; shelter, clothing, transportation and food vary widely from culture to culture. We the book, This Is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe during morning meeting. This book allowed our class to compare their daily lives with children from Peru, Italy, Russia, Uganda, India, Iran and Japan but in the end realize we all live in the same world and sleep under the same night sky.
We were so glad to get back outside this week after having a few weeks of indoor recess because of cold, wet weather. The kids relished the time they had and we were even able to sneak in a few extra minutes outside everyday.
// Week of March 11 //
Thank you to all who joined us for the HPMS Winter Gala! It was a BLAST!
// What we have been up to these days... //
After a snowy start to the week we jumped right into our new Writers Workshop unit. The children are now studying non fiction books! They will spend the next few weeks learning what makes non fiction books different from the books they have been reading and writing. For example, non fiction books usually contain photographs with captions compared to illustrations in fiction books.
We also wrapped up country and presidential research this week, we will use the country research for information for our non fiction writing.
In Math this week the first levels have been doing fraction extensions and furthering their work with operations. Second levels learned about family facts and continued their triangle study while Third levels did a study of angles.
This week we also started a new book for our lunch time reading, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. It is the story of a small rabbit made of china who gets separated from his little girl.