Manoa Mountains News for March 13, 2008

The Manoa Mountains would like to thank SC and CK for bringing Valentine's Day treats for the class. It was nice to share such delicious strawberry mochi and cookies.

The Manoa Mountains are all trying to get their Math Adventures prepared before they go on Spring Break.  All of the planning sheets have been approved, so I'm looking forward to some interesting and creative projects on March 31. We will begin our sharing at 10:00 AM that morning. All parents and grandparents are invited to attend.  Parking is available in Wilcox Circle.

Everyone is excited about Ho'olaule'a, and we are thankful to our parents who have volunteered to be chaperones. We have six parents who will help our students around the Ho'olaule'a.  It is highly recommended that the students bring a plastic bag to hold their prizes in as they walk around.  Sometimes the prizes are heavy and the children have difficulty carrying everything without a bag.  We will leave the classroom for the Ho'olaule'a at 11:30 AM, right after Art class, so all chaperones can meet us in the classroom at that time. We will try to be back at the classroom around 1:15 PM.  If you would like to take your child home at that time, please check out with me first.

The Manoa Mountains have been working very hard and have accomplished a lot. Their writing pieces are being published daily, and their Literature Circle and Vocabulary work have been well done.  The Language arts activities have given them a lot of practice with homonyms, synonyms, and antonyms as well as with parts of speech. They have done several word find puzzles and have enjoyed them.

Math continues to challenge everyone, and the third graders are reading and interpreting data from graphs to do their work now. Our test prep sessions have been very productive, and the fourth graders have finished their first workbook already.

Entries for the Art Contest for Kahalaopuna were due yesterday, and about half of the class turned in their entries. T-shirt designs were also due yesterday, and most took them home to finish for homework on Tuesday. All the ones that were turned in have been submitted for judging.  Winners will be announced after Spring Break.

I hope that everyone has a restful and enjoyable vacation for Spring Break!

Posted at 6:24 AM| Permalink

Manoa Mountains News for March 6, 2008

The Manoa Mountains have done a great job on their reflections about their book reports for their portfolios. The reports that they wrote describe the process for creating their visual aid and speech and explain why the book was important to share. Most of the projects received 4 or 5 stars, so they were very highly respected and enjoyed.

The Ho'olaule'a will  be held on Friday, March 14, from 11:00 AM - 1:30 PM for the elementary school students. Everyone will buy their lunches at the Ho'olaule'a and then play games or buy things. We still need more parent volunteers to help chaperone our students as they walk around the high school campus.  Please send me a note if you can help us out.  All orders for scrip and t-shirts should be sent to the office by tomorrow.

Our regular work continues, and we are having fun with the test prep and D'Nealian handwriting work. Our third graders are doing a good job of keeping up with their corrections and have been making good progress. Although they will not take the SAT with the fourth graders in April, they are enjoying the practice.

The Math Adventure planning sheets have been approved for all but one student. Everyone should try to get the posters done before the Spring Break begins. On Monday, March 31, the Manoa Miuntains will present their projects beginning at 10:00 AM in our classroom. Of course, all parents and grandparents are invited to come and share in the presentations.

The Spring Break will be a nice vacation  for all of us.  My husband and I are going to Las Vegas for some R&R. We will meet my sister and her husband and visit our granddaughter Kristi, who now lives there.  My husband's sister and her husband also live there. His oldest sister just died in December, so we will see her husband for the first time since she passed on. We're having a family dinner for this purpose at her favorite Chinese restaurant.

Many of the children have been talking about going on trips during the break, so I am encouraging them to get their projects done before they leave.

I have been very pleased with their Literature Circle work this past week because everyone did a good job of reading and discussing the story, answering the comprehension questions, and drawing a plot picture chart. Their reports are detailed and accurate.

Many stories have been published this week, and we should soon have at least one published story from every member of the class. They have been taking turns on the computers. I applaud their patience and respect for others.

Our math work continues to challenge us. The third graders are really getting to know their multiplication facts quite well. By playing the arrays game, they have been practicing their basic multiplication facts every day.

Our inquiry work into the history of Manoa during the last 100 years has raised many questions, and their discussions have been good collaborative efforts to familiarize themselves with the natural resources which were available and how the residents shared them. On April 10 and 11, we will go on two excursions to help us with our study of Manoa.

Posted at 6:42 AM| Permalink