Kahalaopuna Flyer

Kahalaopuna Flyer
Parents - Here's a copy of the flyer advertising our opera.  Please print out and pass on this flyer to friends and family; you can also download and e-mail it.

kahalaopuna_FLYER_ONE.pdf

Posted at 9:13 AM| Permalink

"Go Fly A Kite!" - April 24, 2008

Kite Day
As part of our "100 years in Manoa" celebration, MPI is resurrecting the kite-day tradition this year for a special kite-flying event.  On Thursday, May 1, from 9:45 to 11:20 am, students from preschool through high school will gather on the football field to display and fly their kites.  This week, our class began designing what will go on their kites.  Mrs. Jenkins and Mr. Black (5th grade) have been busy designing and testing kites to engineer the best kite possible for our elementary students.  Thanks to their hard work and the Manoa breezes, our students have a model to work with.  On Kite Day, we will head down to the football field to fly our kites with the rest of the MPI students. 

We would love to have some parents help out with this event.  With each student flying a kite, there will certainly be some strings to untie and some last-minute repairs.  If you are available from 9:45 to 11:20 am on Thursday, May 1, and are interested in joining our class "kite pit-crew," please contact room mothers Tracy McConnell or Laura Adams. 

Family Science Night
We're very excited with all the "yes" RSVPs for the Family Science Night on Thursday, May 1.  Once again, we're calling on some volunteers. (Room mothers Tracy McConnell and Laura Adams are organizing the food and volunteer effort.)  If you are available to do the following, please contact Tracy or Laura.

Needed:
- 1 strong person to help unload supplies and set up at 4:30 and help break down at 8:00 (until 8:30).
- 3 adults to man the stations during the science fair.  Volunteers should arrive at 5:15 for an explanation from the Bishop Museum staff and then plan to man the stations from 6:00 to 8:00.  We will make sure that the volunteers have time to eat dinner.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Family Science Night and upcoming Opera events!  As always, thank you for your enthusiasm and support.  Your children are wonderful!  You can tell from the photos below that they love our weekly Star Dance Parties.  The move of last week was the "macarena."

Posted at 8:58 AM| Permalink

Looking Ahead...Important Upcoming Dates - April 17, 2008

Get out your iPhone, Blackberry, datebook, calendar, paper and pencil, or whatever else you use to organize dates and times...Mark your calendar for these upcoming events:

Thursday, May 1 - Family Science Night at MPI

• Potluck dinner in classroom, 5:30-6:00 pm
  
• Science Festival in elementary dining room, 6:00-8:00 pm
• See detailed Note below
  

Friday, May 9 - Opera Performances at 9:00 am and 6:00 pm

• Opera Performances at MPI gym
• School day as usual
• For 6:00 pm performance, students arrive at 5:00 pm to get ready.
  

Saturday, May 10 - Opera Performance at 6:00 pm

• Students arrive at 5:00 pm to get ready

Friday, May 16 - No School for Students, Conference Preparations for Teachers

Thursday, May 22 and Friday, May 23 - Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences

Monday, May 26 - No School in observation of Memorial Day

Thursday, May 29 - Last day of school, Field Day

***Further details regarding Opera and other events will be coming as information becomes available.***

Family Science Night

Dear First- and Second-Grade Parents,

To celebrate our super scientists in first and second grade, we are hosting a Family Science Night on Thursday, May 1, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.  The Bishop Museum offers a special program called a Festival of Science, and our elementary dining room will be transformed into a “festival” of hands-on science activities.  During this “open house”- style festival, students and their parent(s) inquire and experiment together, making fascinating discoveries in Hawaii ecology, biology, health, and anthropology.       

Some logistics for the event:

• Each 1/2 class will have a potluck from 5:30 to 6:00 ip.m. in their respective classroom.  Stay tuned for details from your room parent.
• The event is JUST for first- and second-grade MPI students and their parent(s).  We love siblings, but there is not enough room to accommodate all the parents, students, and siblings.
• If your child is going to attend, he/she must be accompanied by at least one adult.
• Parking will be down by the gym or possibly on the football field.
• This is not a mandatory school event.  

Warm Aloha,   
The First and Second Grade Team
 
Thank You
Thank you to the Wong family for bringing in delicious cake for the students to enjoy after the premiere of their iMovie.  Thank you to the Jung family for treating the class to McDonald’s Happy Meals and yummy cupcakes in celebration of KJ’s birthday.  Thank you to all the children who have been supplying Jack and Sumo with crickets and meal worms.  The donations from LW, KL, MH, and ER the last two weeks have made our Jackson chameleons happy and satiated.  TC has also initiated a “coins for chameleons” collection jar.  The students are invited to drop in a few coins now and then to help fund the food. 

Posted at 12:55 PM| Permalink

Feature Presentation - April 9, 2008

The Adventures of Wailele's Water
Click on the file below to watch the movie that our class made using iMovie!  At the beginning of our inquiry on Wailele spring, the students asked, "Where does the water come from and go to?"  Since the students were curious about how water gets in and out of Wailele, we focused our inquiry on this essential question.  The students used various resources such as Google Earth, books, interactive websites, and presentations from experts knowledgeable about Wailele to investigate Wailele's water system.  During our inquiry, the students decided to write a play about water drops who take an adventure through the water cycle.  The students discussed the elements of the story and dictated the lines while I typed the words on the SmartBoard.  After practicing their parts, the students recorded their lines and illustrated pictures.  We combined the audio and visual elements using iMovie to bring you this exciting adventure that combines a creative story with facts about the water cycle and Wailele.

Water Play.mov

Posted at 2:01 PM| Permalink

Physical Science Inquiry - April 9, 2008

Physical Science Inquiry
Our final inquiry unit of the year involves physical science.  The scientists in Room 11 are enthusiastically making hypotheses, writing detailed observations, sketching, and coming up with insightful conclusions for our experiments.  Last week we started exploring matter and conducting experiments to answer the following questions: What are the properties of solids, liquids, and gases?  What happens when matter is heated?  Does temperature change matter?  What happens when matter is cooled?  After discussing the experiments, the students concluded that:

• Matter is anything that takes up space and has weight.
• Solids have a shape of their own.
• Liquids take the shape of the container they are in and go every direction except upwards.
• Gases have no shape, take up the maximum space possible, and expand in all directions.
• When matter is heated, it changes from a solid to a liquid and then to gas.  
• Temperature changes matter.  Heating something will cause it to get big (expand) and cooling it will cause it to get small (contract).
• When matter is cooled, it changes from the gaseous (or vaporous) state to the liquid state and from the liquid to the solid state.  
  

The students also turned into molecules and acted like gas, liquid, and solid molecules.  Match the pictures below to the correct state of matter.  (Hint: Gas molecules bounce all over and spread out, liquid molecules spread out a little but stay inside their container, and solid molecules huddle close together and hardly move.)

First Grade Math - Finishing up Unit 7
In Unit 7, we have been focusing on color, shape, and number patterns.  The numerous investigations provide the students with opportunities to create, describe, and extend repeating patters with two of three alternating elements.  Throughout the unit, the students have been describing and analyzing various patterns and finding the unit of the repeating pattern, such as AB, ABC, AAB, and ABB.  In addition to color and shape patterns, the students investigated number sequences using three situations (collecting pennies in a jar, making Staircase Towers with connecting cubes, and making repeating shape patterns).  Here is an example of a penny-jar problem: There are three pennies in the jar.  What would happen if we added two pennies each day for 10 days?  The students discovered that the constant rate of change for this problem is two. 

Looking ahead to the last two units...Our first-grade math-class goal is to finish all the units by the end of the school year.  The students are very motivated to get to the end of their workbook, so each day during math we use every moment possible to explore the concepts and reinforce understanding.  Next week will take us into Unit 8: Twos, Fives, and Tens, where the students will develop strategies for efficient counting and focus on the number sequence from 1 to 100.  Finally, the investigations in Unit 9 introduce the students to 3-D geometry.  There will be lots of exciting learning in the weeks ahead!

Thank You
Thank you to TC for bringing in delicious mochi to celebrate her birthday!  Thank you to ER for the yummy Jamba Juice, doughnuts, and bag of treats to celebrate his birthday! Thank you also to ER for the crickets and silk worms for our Jackson chameleons.  Thank you to AW for the special shortbread Girl Scout cookies!

Posted at 11:26 AM| Permalink

iMovie Premiere...Parents, Save the Date

Dear Room 11 Parents,

Your children would love to invite you the screening of the iMovie "The Adventures of Wailele's Water" that they wrote, narrated, and illustrated.  Our class will be showing the movie and talking about the process of writing the scrip, recording the lines, and illustrating the pictures.  We combined the audio and visual elements using iMovie to create a cartoon-style movie.  Please join us on Wednesday, April 9, from 12:45-1:15 p.m. in our classroom.

Aloha,
Ms. Field's Class

Posted at 11:41 AM| Permalink