April 24, 2008
Manoa Mountains News for April 24, 2008
The Manoa Mountains did a great job on their book report presentations on Monday and Tuesday. Most of the presenters earned five stars for their creativity and thoroughness. We had a wide variety of visual aids: posters, games, mobiles, models, dioramas, dressed-up characters, and a SmartBoard presentation. Everyone did a thorough job of preparing for this project, and they shared their best work for this final book report. Congratulations!We would like to thank Dr. Lynn Yanagihara and Mrs. Kathie Yamashiro for serving as our chaperones on the two days of excursions. Dr. Yanagihara came on Thirsday, and Mrs. Yamashiro came on Thursday and Friday. We all took lots of photos, which are posted on our website. Dr. Ogino from Ms. Holzman's class also shared his photos with us. Please view them to see what a fun learning experience everyone had! The Manoa Mountains are currently working on their slide shows of the two field trips. Many thanks to the parents who had their child's photos developed because they missed the deadline for having me take them to be developed.
Our students wrote thank-you letters to Mr. John Clark, who was our guide for our day in Manoa. He was very happy to receive them.
Everyone is busy with the SAT tests this week, and the fourth graders seem to be doing a very good job. The third graders are continuing to do practice tests and work in their D'Nealian Handwriting books.
Next week I will be out on Tuesday for a probate hearing at Circuit Court for my mother's estate. I will also be out on Thursday and Friday because I need to go to Maui for my son Wade's wedding. Mr. Dave Porter will be my substitute. He is an old friend from our days at Epiphany School.
On Thursday, May 1, we will celebrate Kite Day at Mid-Pacific Institute. The entire school will be out on the football field flying kites throughout the day. The students will all make their own kites on April 29th, practice flying them for a day, and join everyone else for Kite Day. Thanks to Mr. Bruce Black and his committee for preparing the kite kits for our students. The sled kites are easy to make, fly, and enjoy. Everyone should have lots of fun!
Today Mr. Peter Kaneshige came to do a demonstration about solar energy.The Manoa Mountains were very interested and learned a lot about how to conserve energy. We invited Ms. Holzman's class to join us for this informative and interesting presentation. Mahalo, Mr. Kaneshige, for sharing your expertise with us.
"Kahalaopuna" is the featured subject of our music, writing, and research this week. We are preparing the mini-biographies of all the featured singers and interviewed the high school students who sing the various solos in the opera. Our work on the Program Committee has kept us busy!
The Pennies for Patients fundraiser for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society ends this Friday. It's not too late to make a contribution to this worthy cause, which helps children with cancer. We have two boxes filled with coins so far and we hope to collect even more!
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April 17, 2008
Manoa Mountains News for April 17, 2008
The Manoa Mountains would like to thank Mr. John Clark for taking them on an exciting and interesting tour of the Manoa ahupua'a, with stops at the Manoa Chinese Cemetery, Koganji Temple, the lo'i at the UH Hawaiian Studies site, Waikiki Beach, and the catamaran ride. We had a fun-filled day and learned a lot! Mr. Clark's expertise is appreciated by the Manoa Mountains because he taught them so many facts about Manoa Valley. They will be working on their slide shows about what they learned.
The Polynesian Cultural Center was a fascinating place to visit. The Manoa Mountains learned a lot about Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji, and Aotearoa. They played games and musical instruments, got tattoos, and watched the Pageant of Canoes. It was a culturally enriching experience.
The class would like to thank Mr. Peter Kaneshige for donating 15 pounds of ahi poke for our luau last Friday evening. It made the dinner complete! Mahalo, Mr, Kaneshige, for your thoughtfulness and generosity!
Our next project is due on Monday. It is a book report with a two-minute speech and a visual aid about the book. We are looking forward to some very creative presentations! Parents are invited to join us, and grandparents may also come for the project presentations! Everyone may park in Wilcox Circle for the 10:00 AM presentations.
We will be doing SAT testing all next week, so it is extremely important for the Manoa Mountains to be adequately prepared every day. The fourth graders will be taking the abbreviated-battery multiple-choice tests in reading comprehension, spelling, language usage, vocabulary, and mathematics problem-solving and procedures. They will also be taking the open-ended tests in reading, writing, and mathematics. The open-ended tests focus on the processes for reading, writing, and problem-solving. Students will be evaluated on a standard set of performance criteria. For example, students will have 50 minutes to write on a given topic. In mathematics,students will have 50 minutes to work on ten word problems which incorporate the national mathematics standards. For reading, students read a text and respond in writing to several questions of increasing complexity, from stating the main idea to making inferences. The tests are norm-referenced standardized tests, which means that your child's score is compared with the scores of thousands of other students in the same grade who took the SAT at the same time of the year across the nation. We usually receive the results in the summer. We will send home the test results, along with information on how to interpret the scores.
You can help your child be ready for test-taking in the following ways:
* Make sure your child gets to bed at a reasonable time.
* Provide a good healthy breakfast and snack.
* Get your child to school by 7:30 AM so he/she has time to settle in.
* AVOID asking every day, "So, how'd you do? " "Was it hard?" "Did you finish everything?" Your child will not really know. When you ask these questions, you want some reassurances. Instead, your questioning will cause unnecessary stress on you AND your child.
* Your child has already been working on test-prep materials in school and is well prepared to take this test. Making your child do more test-prep booklets and worksheets at this point will only stress them out,
* Remember that this is supposed to be fun.
* Assure your child that you love them and are proud of them regardless of the results.
The Manoa Mountains third graders will work on test-prep materials with me while the fourth graders take the test with Mrs. Holzman.
Yesterday we celebrated SC's birthday with a lunch of pizza, fruits, and drinks. Many thanks to Mrs. Chung and SC for this special treat!
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April 10, 2008
Manoa Mountains News for April 10, 2008
The Manoa Mountains are very excited about their excursion to the Polynesian Cultural Center this morning. First we will sew leis for the luau on Friday. Then we will leave school around 10:30 AM and drive to Kualoa Beach Park where we will eat our lunches. Then we're off to tour the different villages at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We hope to learn about the Pacific cultures who migrated to Hawaii over the last two centuries. We will be treated to displays and demonstrations at each village, and we should have lots of fun. Many thanks to Mrs. Yamashiro who will be our chaperone on both days.Tomorrow we will do our Day in Manoa Tour led by Mr. John Clark. We will begin at the Chinese Cemetery, visit the Koganji Temple, the Hawaiian Studies lo'i at UH, have lunch there, and then spend the rest of the day in Waikiki. We will also ride a catamaran and learn about the great Hawaiian surfers before we return to school to set up for the luau dinner. We have many families who are joining us for the dinner. The Hawaiian food will be a treat for all of us!
Our portfolios are taking shape as we select and place work samples in them to show how we have improved as learners in the second semester. The writing pieces are being published, and they will also go into the portfolios. Our work on the program for "Kahalaopuna" is taking shape and we will interview the soloists next week. The designs which won the art contest will also be featured in the body of the program.
Our classroom has been redecorated with all the latest posters for Math Adventure #4 posted around
the room. We are enjoying everyone's creative work.
Our work in all areas of the curriculum continues to challenge us,and we are so proud of all that has been accomplished.
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April 3, 2008
Manoa Mountains News for April 3, 2008
The Manoa Mountains would like to thank JC, SC, and CK for the cookie treats which they brought to share with the class to celebrate the end of spring break. Everyone loved them.The Math Adventure projects which were shared on Monday were very well done, with everyone receiving four or five stars. The speeches were well done, and the posters were especially creative. We even had two dioramas! The Manoa Mountains deserve to be proud of their work. The parents and grandparents who came for the presentations enjoyed them as much as the class.
Everyone was supposed to turn in a t-shirt order on Tuesday. The orders were picked up by the vendor yesterday afternoon. We need to make sure that every child's family has placed their orders for the luau dinner next Friday for our Day in Manoa celebration. Those orders need to go in today.
Next Thursday, April 10, the class will combine with Mrs. Holzman's class to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center for a special field trip. We will leave school at 10:30 AM and return around 4:00 PM. Please make special arrangements to pick your child up when we return. Students can be picked up from our classroom.
Next Friday, we will go on our special Day in Manoa field trip. We will leave school at 8:00 AM, visit the Chinese Cemetery and Koganji Temple in Manoa, the lo'i at University of Hawaii, and Waikiki Beach. We will take a catamaran ride before returning to school. We will prepare for the luau dinner at Scudder Dining Room and set up some table decorations. The dinner will be served at 6:00 PM. There will be a short program. We should be done by 7:00 PM. If you are able to help set up or clean up, the teachers will be very grateful.
Next Thursday and Friday, your children need to bring sack lunches from home. A water bottle will also be required. More specifics about the excursions will be sent home in a notice with all the details.
We are busy with our regular work and gearing up to have the fourth graders take the SAT test during the week of the 21st to the 25th. They have completed their first test prep book and have begun working on their second book. The third graders have also completed their first book and are continuing to work on their D'Nealian handwriting books.
We are making preparations for the opera. Our class will be working on the program. We wrote our synopsis of the opera for the program. The winners of the art contest will have their work featured in the program.
On Monday, April 14, SC will be celebrating her birthday by providing a pizza lunch for the class. Many thanks to SC and her mom for this special treat.
The special t-shirts for our Day in Manoa celebration will be sent home on next week Wednesday so that everyone can wear them on Friday. Many thanks to Mr. John Clark, who will be our special tour guide for the day. You will need to sign some special forms for this excursion. They will be sent home in the weekly packet.
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