Welcome to Upper Elementary Orientation

2015-2016 School Year

Classroom TeamClassroom Team

Teacher Guide – Ms. Christine HelmEmail: chelm@desertgardenmontessori.org

Teacher Guide – Ms. Elizabeth BrunerEmail: ebruner@desertgardenmontessori.org

Teacher Guide – Ms. Adrienne AlexanderEmail: aalexander@desertgardenmontessori.org

Spanish Immersion and Assistant Guide – Ms. Diona SolisEmail: dsolis@desertgardenmontessori.org

Late Day Staff – Ms. Diona, Ms. Adrienne, Ms. Elizabeth

Homeroom Parent– Ms. Lori CrouchEmail: slcrouch2@aol.com

Arrival & DepartureArrival & Departure Arrival time for Upper Elementary students is 8:00.

Between 8:00 and 8:30 is a “slow start” period during

which students will be working independently. Students will

be marked tardy after 8:30.

Tardiness and absence – 4 per quarter

Departure time for Upper Elementary students is 3:30pm.

Students will be working all the up until the 3:30 end time.

Please do not pick up your children before 3:30pm.

What to Bring/Leave HomeWhat to Bring/Leave Home

Please see the website for the link to the supply list or

see the Welcome Letter for a link to the list on

Amazon.com.

Please leave the following at home

Excessive Jewelry

Electronics

Toys

Cell Phones

Daily Schedule 2015-2016

Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

8:00- 8:30 Start of Week Circle

8:30- 9:00

Goal- Setting Conference Writer’s Workshop 5

Literature Circle 4

Writer’s Workshop 6

Literature Circle 5

Writer’s Workshop 4

Literature Circle 6

Big Trip Planning

9:00- 11:00

Math/ Geometry/ Word Study/ Grammar Lessons

Work Time/

End of Week

Conferences

11:00- 11:20 Daily Oral Language &

Math Exercises

Daily Oral Language &

Math Exercises

Peace Education

Daily Oral Language &

Math Exercises

Birthday Celebrations/

Student Presentations

11:20-11:50

Recess

Recess

Shelf & Bin Clean Up

Class Meeting Daily Oral Language &

Math Exercises

11:50- 12:20 L U N C H

12:30- 1:30 P.E

Music

P.E.

Music

P.E.

Music

P.E.

Music

Choir/ Recess

Friday Electives:

Community Service/

Video Club/

Theater

1:40-2:10 History

2:10- 2:40 Geography

2:40- 3:10 Botany

3:10- 3:25 Clean Up

3:25- 3:45 Dismissal/ Curb/ Start of Late Day

 SpanishSpanish to be taught immersion styleSpanish will be done in the classrooms  MusicCadet or Concert BandCadet or Symphonic Strings

ArtMixed groupings Connected to cultural theme of the yearFollow up work from curricular areas given by lead teacher P.E.4 days a week

Specials in Our EnvironmentSpecials in Our Environment

Trips & ActivitiesTrips & Activities

Field Trips

Going Outs

Big Trip

◦ Calendar is also located on our Classroom Page

Parent Volunteer Opportunities: Parent Volunteer Opportunities: Holiday Pet Care Needed for the Holiday Pet Care Needed for the Following DatesFollowing Dates

Fall Break & Columbus Day- October 5-12Thanksgiving Break- November 25-29Winter Break- December 19- January 3MLK Jr. Day- January 18President’s Day- February 15Spring Break- March 5- 13Good Friday- March 25Summer Break- May 26 - August 14

Community GuidelinesCommunity Guidelines Due dates are strictly adhered to.

◦ Reports - throughout the year◦ Art History Fair – Thursday, February 25th

  Assessments happen yearlong. (Written, project or performance-

based) Most written assessments will be sent home by Friday in your child’s lobby folder.

◦ Weekly or biweekly- Word Study◦ End of unit- Grammar, Math Unit, History/Geography, Science

Phone calls- outgoing phone calls are not permitted except for emergency (life or death) situations. If a call is permitted, an adult should pre-empt the conversation before your child comes in the line so it is understood that the call was authorized.

*see UE Expectations and Guidelines on our Classroom page for more information

Dress for SuccessDress for SuccessThe purpose of this dress code is to enhance school safety, improve the learning environment, and promote good behavior. Children’s attitudes toward schoolwork and behavior are related to the clothing that they wear. Therefore, we recommend clothing and footwear suitable for a working atmosphere and appropriate weather. Here are the following guidelines for Upper Elementary:

ShoesTennis shoes or sturdy, form-fitting shoes are recommended for the school day. Flip flops are not permittedSandals with back straps can be worn

ClothesPants and shorts need to fit snuggly at the waist.Extremely brief shorts and short skirts are not appropriate for school. Mid-thigh length or longer is appropriate.Any article of clothing or accessory that promotes inappropriate behavior is prohibitedThin- strapped or tube tops are not permitted

Please make sure your child comes to school on time.

Please attempt to make your child’s medical and dental appointments in the afternoon.

Please refrain from calling or visiting the classroom during our Great Work Period – between 7:30 – 11:00 a.m. Please schedule teacher appointments with the front desk.

Take your child to the library to support the research projects he/she may be working on.

Ensure your child has chores and responsibilities at home.

Please take family vacations during school vacations. We cannot make up the time they may miss.

Experience nature with your child; nature hikes / nature sound mapping / nature journaling.

Allow time for unstructured, imaginative play.

Have your child experience natural logical consequences.

Dr. Dave will continue his Mindful Parenting series. Please check it out!

Parent PartnershipsParent Partnerships

Home LearningHome LearningTime Management & Missing Work

Your child’s weekly work plan will be placed in their backpacks every Friday. The work plan serves as a record-keeping tool for the student, teacher and you as a parent. In your child’s work plan, instructions for unfinished works are written. Be sure to check backpacks at the end of each week.

Unfinished works go home every Friday in your child’s backpack. They need to be turned in the following Monday morning.

Weekly Work Plan SampleWeekly Work Plan Sample

Non- Negotiabl

es

Follow Up Done

History   

Geography    

Math    

Geometry    

Word Study    

Grammar    

Botany    

 

Writer’s Workshop

Peer Edited by:

Literature Circle

Title: Pages: Role Sheet:

Goals Follow Up DoneNew Practice Readers

Code: Score:

Math Mixed Practice

Code: Score:

Math Facts

       

Journal  Spanish  Community

Service/ Project

 

Dear Parents,

These are the works that I have to turn in by Monday morning:

1._________________________________2._________________________________3._________________________________

Student’s Signature Teacher’s Signature Parent’s SignatureComments/Questions:

This is a Sample of Your child’sWeekly work Plan!

Check your child’s backpackat the end of the week!

Home LearningHome Learning

Reading Expectations, Math Facts & Other Opportunities

One of the expectations from the students this year is to read at least 30 minutes each night of the week, including the weekend. It is important to pick books that are at your child’s level of ability as well as a topic/genre that he or she is interested in. Libraries and online sources are quite helpful in aiding you find the right books for your child. Once they find the genre or author that your child is into, they’ll be hooked! Reading not only expands your child’s vocabulary and knowledge; it also makes them interesting conversationalists!

Although your children will be working with our beautiful Montessori math memorization materials during class time, we have found it really helps many children to reinforce these skills at home. There are many ways you can practice math facts with your children. Money, oral practice in the car, songs, mnemonic devices, counting objects, even writing them with foam or shaving cream in the bathtub may help! The idea is to make it fun and use what works for your child.

Take your child to do grocery shopping with you so they learn to work with money, weights and even nutrition!

There are also many sites and games online which may pique your child’s interest. Here’s one that we highly recommend for your child to do daily: Math Facts Master. This app keeps track of your child’s progress well as has the ability to send the progress via email!

Home Learning- Art History FairHome Learning- Art History Fair

Upper Elementary has chosen art as the theme for the spring fair. The Art History Fair will be held on Thursday, February 25, but classroom presentations will begin on Monday, February 22.

The work for this project will be completed at home with parent supervision. There will be lessons given in the classroom to explain the requirements and provide assistance in the process.

The packet will be sent home on the first week of December. More details will be given to your child before then!

Curriculum ExpectationsCurriculum Expectations

The elementary level is set up to be a spiral curriculum, which eventually spirals into our secondary program.  Math:

◦ All new concepts are introduced using materials, and the child is consistently referred back to the materials. Before any pencil and paper is used, the child must be proficient with the materials and have a complete understanding of the concept.

◦ Math facts are taught using different materials◦ Math is not a grade specific subject. All students, if they have been deemed proficient in a

concept, can move to the next level of difficulty, or to a parallel strand in the math curriculum.◦ Paper and pencil is very rarely used in the math curriculum in the 6 – 9 classrooms. It is

obviously more prevalent in the 9 – 12 classrooms as the student becomes more abstract in his/her math thinking and rationalizing.

History:◦ 1st year history rotation: The Timeline of Early Humans◦ 2nd year history rotation: Ancient Civilizations & Middle Ages◦ 3rd year history rotation: Colonial America, American History up to the War of 1812, AZ

State

Science: 3 year cycle that will spiral from 6 – 9 up through the secondary program◦ Year One of Cycle: Botany Studies / Earth Science◦ Year Two of Cycle: Physical Science/ Evolutionary Chemistry◦ Year Three of Cycle: Human Biology / Animal Body Functions

Geography: ◦ Year One of Cycle: Advanced Land & Water Forms◦ Year Two of Cycle: Ancient Civilizations◦ Year Three of Cycle: US & Arizona Geography

Language: Please note that because the language curriculum is so vast, it will not be put into complete detail in this document. Basic expectations are included here.

9 – 12 year old expectations: Well constructed sentences Run-on sentences and sentence fragments Three paragraph essay – 4th and some 5th year students Five paragraph essay – 6th and some 5th year students Students should be well versed in friendly letters, thank you notes, invitations and addressing

envelopes – continuing working on these Business letter format

Types of writing: Expository to include: informative writing, persuasive writing, and report writing Narrative to include: fiction writing, journal writing, nonfiction narrative, personal narrative Note: descriptive writing would be included in both expository and narrative writing Poetry Play writing Mechanics to include: all forms of capitalization, abbreviations, all forms of comma usage, ending

marks, possessives, hyphens, parentheses, ellipsis, semicolon, colon, dash, apostrophe, italics Grammar to include: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, interjections,

conjunctions Novel studies in both the fall and spring of the school year Editing: give key lessons then students can edit journals and personal writing. Perfect product

expectations would be for letters, research papers, and the like Word study: homonyms, synonyms, antonyms, root words, Latin-derived

Curriculum ExpectationsCurriculum Expectations

Time * Make sure you have analog clocks around the house. * Buy your child a watch with clear numerals on an analog face. * Ask your child to tell time to the half hour (younger students) and to the minute (older students.) * Help your child estimate elapsed time. How long will it take to cook dinner? Use a timer to find out

the answer.

Money * Let your child run a family restaurant with menus and prices. Use real money. * Have your child make change. * Take your child shopping and let your child figure out the cost of certain items. How much would

three pounds of apples cost if apples are $2.29 per pound?

Fractions * Cooking is a great way to practice fractions. Your child can follow a recipe using 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 etc.  Nature hikes / nature sound mapping / nature journaling – Many of our children are experiencing a

“nature deficit." Anything that gets them out of the house thinking about the beauty and complexity of nature is a worthwhile home learning activity.

Unstructured imaginative play is a missing part in the lives of many of our children. Allowing your child ample time for this activity will help him or her develop critical and creative thinking skills.

Home learning should be meaningful to the child. Cooking, gardening, pet care, chores, family games, anything you and your child do together as a family that is active is valuable Home Learning .

Curriculum ExpectationsCurriculum Expectations

ConferencesConferences

Conference 1 Goal Setting (Fall)

Reflecting on the first few weeks

Setting goals for the year

Conference 2 (Winter)

Progress Report

Mid-term discussion

Conference 3 (Spring)

Progress Report

Re-cap and look ahead

CommunicationCommunication Montessori Compass

Website

Emails◦ Ms. Christine- chelm@desertgardenmontessori.org◦ Ms. Elizabeth- ebruner@desertgardenmontessori.org◦ Ms. Adrienne- aalexander@desertgardenmontessori.org

Phone Calls

Person-to-Person (limited during class time)

Office Hours every other Thursday 3:30 – 4:30 (please check Montessori

Compass for dates)

CommunicationCommunicationWe have separated the Upper Elementary

students into three groups of varying ages among our lead teachers.

We will respond to non-urgent e-mails within one week.

Office Hours two Thursdays/month 3:30 -4:30 pm (please check Montessori Compass for dates)

Please schedule all conferences with your child's Teacher Advisor.

Ms. Christine Ms. Elizabeth Ms. Adrienne

SamKaiKatie AhmadSavannaTaylor S.Taylor MohrAidanAlenaGrantRebeccaRemyNatalieJudeReese

AlmazElla P.Olivia M.FinnZariaOlivia H.GracieSiennaKatelynToriBen K.DennisElla W.SammyPhoenix

LilyAndrewEmeryNevaehMasonBen M.ReaganPiperTaylor Mc K.Alek

Upper Elementary Advisory Groups 2015-2016

Website ResourcesWebsite ResourcesOn our Classroom Page

◦ Daily Schedule

◦ Supply List

◦ Orientation Slide Show UE 2015-16

◦ UE Curriculum Expectations

◦ UE Scope & Sequence

◦ UE Trips and Activities Calendar

◦ UE Expectations and Guidelines

Under Parent Resources

•Parent Handbook 2015-16