Student Portfolios

Creating the future, without fear.

// Curriculum Update, Mid-May //

May 23, 2019  /  Michele Spiezia

Week of May 20

Students worked on compiling a field journal of leaves by collecting specimens from the park and writing about them. They also had a lesson about the parts of flowers and their functions. Students learned about adverbial phrases (4th levels) and types of clauses (5th levels) in Language. They also wrote “mask” poems, in which they imagined life from the point of view of an inanimate object, in Writers’ Workshop. Week of

May 13

Students continued their studies of plants and plant adaptations this week. They had a chance to work with a partner in labeling parts of plants and taking notes about their functions. In History, students began thinking about how they will design a culminating project about early Americans. They also spent some time working on our spring standardized assessment. 



Parent Association Meeting Notes

May 13, 2019  /  Michele Spiezia

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 //

May 13, 2019  /  Michele Spiezia

This week, we enjoyed our field trip to the NY Botanical Gardens. Students participated in a workshop about wetland ecology: they discovered organisms living in a sample of pond water, and had a chance to dissect a cat tail. We learned about the differences between dry land and aquatic plants, and how organisms depend on each other for survival. In History, students have begun reading about two new groups, including the Ansanzi and the Mound Builders, as well as the first American Farmers. In Science, students learned about how the roots and stems work together to nourish plants. In Language, the 4th levels worked on identifying direct objects and indirect objects in sentences, while the 5th levels learned about appositives and how to punctuate them. 

// curriculum update: week of May 3 //

May 03, 2019  /  Michele Spiezia

Students continue to grow their knowledge of plant classification and have learned about flowering and non-flowering plants., as well as the roots of plants and their function. In History, they have been reading and taking notes about groups of hunters and gathers in pre-historic America. Students have continued reading and writing poetry. They learned about the literary device of voice, and about the distinctions between lyrical, narrative, and dramatic voice. Students were also introduced to odes, notably from Pablo Neruda’s “Odes to Common Things,” and are working on writing their own odes to ordinary objects. In Language, students had a lesson about active and passive voice, and when it is useful to use each one.

// It's April //

April 05, 2019  /  Michele Spiezia

The Upper Elementary students returned with many stories of their adventures at the overnight field trip. Students had a chance to spend most of their time outdoors, engaged with nature and with each other. We hiked, worked on team-building, and learned about colonial cooking and wilderness survival. Back in the classroom, we have enjoyed getting ready for the upcoming Exploration Fair. Students are fine-tuning their research writing in order to present to our community, as well as illustrations and visual displays to represent their ancient civilizations.  Students have an opportunity to practice working in groups and making sure that everyone has a chance to participate and contribute to the work ahead. These same skills were a focus in Collaborative Math this week, where we explored fractions as parts of a whole.  The idea of “getting the answer correct” is deemphasized; positive partnerships and clear communication of ideas becomes the heart of the work. 

// This week ... //

March 14, 2019  /  Michele Spiezia

Students have begun a new unit on Science on plants. They spent this week observing plants and identifying the differences between plants and fungi. They also had a chance to make “spore prints,” which involves placing cut mushrooms face down on paper and covering them with a bowl overnight. The spores become visible by casting a print that resembles a shadow of the mushroom. In History, students worked on creating a map or illustration to go along with their research report that highlights the information they wrote about. In Readers’ Workshop, students read and responded to poems about plant life. 

// Week of March 11 //

March 14, 2019  /  Michele Spiezia

// What we have been up to these days... //

March 07, 2019  /  Michele Spiezia

Week of February 25

Students have been continuing to find new information about their chosen ancient civilizations. They are working on explaining information  and facts to their readers in Writers’ Workshop. In Readers’ Workshop,  students are reading myths from their civilization and thinking about how the story follows the trajectory of the hero’s journey. They also studied how the story of Gilgamesh follows these same patterns. In History, students began working as a group in preparation for our Exploration Fair. In Science, students read deeper about mushrooms and how they contribute to their ecosystem.

Week of March 4

This week, students have had the opportunity to observe how fungi, yeast, and mold grow by viewing samples on our Science shelf. In History, students began writing introductions to their research reports by thinking like a reporter and answering the 5 W’s about their civilization. The fourth level students learned divisiblity rules and presented one of the rules to explain to our class, while the fifth level students are wrapping up a unit on decimals by designing a food truck. In Language, students continued their study of word roots as well as subject complements.