Fractions:
Students continue to explore the concept of fractions. Our materials are so fun for kids to engage with and gain a concrete understanding of what fractions are. They have been manipulating the materials and discovering the concept of equivalent fractions!

Embroidery:

It has been so fun to watch the students experiment and express their creativity through embroidery in Art class.

Nature Connection:
The class has begun our study of trees which will continue throughout the Spring. They are looking forward to the beautiful Montessori works that will be arriving on our shelves and the fun exploration we will be doing in our woods!

Upcoming dates:
Mar. 26 Staff In-Service Day- Half day: Dismissal at 11:45am

Apr. 12 Campus Clean Up (9am-1pm)

Apr. 25 Student Led Conferences- No School

Apr. 28 – May 2 Spring Recess – No School

🍀Family Committee can always use some new members! If you are interested in learning more about the role that Family Committee plays in our community, please reach out to Katlin- ksully53@yahoo.com

🍀Check in with your kiddo about food. Many students are seeking more food from the office during snack and lunch times. We build up quite and appetite throughout our days!

🍀Please be sure to send your child to school with a full water bottle.

Our class has been SO busy these past few weeks!

Exhibition finally came to fruition last week and the students should be so incredibly proud of the work they have put into this project and how well it has turned out! For months we had been gathering and recording data on our treks through the woods in search of evidence that animals had been there! We had been working diligently on our needle felted work, planning and designing what our presentation would look like and exploring informational text in search of facts about animals in winter. It was beautiful to see all of their hard work on display!

We have begun our work with fractions through some fun activities and crafts. They put their imaginations to use when they made fraction creatures and their own fractions reference booklets.

We have had a pesky little visitor to our classroom this week who has been leaving his messes behind him for us to clean up! He let us know in one of our morning messages that his name is George and he is a leprechaun. As the days went on, it became more and more clear that we were going to need to do something about this little guy coming in and playing his tricks on us! So, we dove into a unit on the engineering process! We identified the problem in the situation and brainstormed different potential solutions. As a class, we decided that we needed to try to trap this little guy! The students got to work on gathering their materials and building and testing a prototype before finally, they began to build their final product. They are anxiously waiting to see if their traps worked on Monday morning! We shall see!

This week the Eaglets had lessons on place value using the Gold Beads work, skip counting using Bead Chains and the third years were introduced to The Pythagoras Board for multiplying numbers.

We have been exploring our outdoor area in search of animal tracks as well as entrances to the Subnivean Zone in preparation for Exhibition next month!

Students have been continuing to work through their Waseca packets both independently and in small groups. We have a new poem up this week in honor of Martin Luter King Jr. which the students have been coping for their poetry book.

In Reader's Workshop we have been learning about Martin Luter King Jr. as well as the Subnivean Zone. We have been focusing on identifying facts within informational text. Students have also had the opportunity to read with their reading buddies this week, which is always something they enjoy.

On Friday mornings, we have been engaged in project work to include needle felting. The children are really enjoying the opportunity to create objects found in nature with wool roving.

The Eaglets have been continuing to learn about pumpkins this week! They were able to get their hands on their very own pumpkins that they could dissect. The kids had a BLAST doing this! They continue to get into a good cadence with working on their Waseca. Many of our older kiddos have the process down and are helping their younger friends to set a good pace throughout their week. Students worked hard on their math worksheet corrections this week- just another way they are working toward mastering our materials in the classroom.

October 18 - Family Friday (bake sale and gear swap)

October 31 - Halloween party

The chilly temperatures of autumn are now here in full swing, especially in the morning. Please make sure your kiddo is coming to school with warm gear- to include mittens and hats.

Looking for a chance to volunteer in the classroom?! Wanting to get more involved?
-I could use an extra set of hands-on Tuesday afternoons during our science block. Oftentimes, our science block is very hands on and includes experiments. Another adult to provide an extra set of hands would be so helpful! If you are interested in volunteering for an hour or so (1:30-2:30 pm) please let me know.

This week the Eaglet's met a new teacher, which we are so fortunate to have added to our class! Jared is our new, full-time assistant teacher in the Eaglet's classroom!

The Eaglet's have been working hard on learning new works that have been put on their shelves this week! Some of these works are the Addition Strip Board and Bead Chains. We've had a lot of fun playing and exploring together in the great outdoors as well as celebrating our first birthday of the year together!

October 3: Picture Day

October 11: Goal Setting Conferences

October 14: No school-Indigenous People's Day

October 18: Family Friday

Hello Eaglet Families!

Our week has been filled with wonderful experiences both in and out of doors this week! During Nature Connection we enjoyed some nature journaling, fort building and incorporated some art into our nature exploration. We continued to introduce our Montessori materials to our new students, and many returning students had the opportunity to share their understanding of our materials with new friends. Finally, our class completed our First Great Lesson alongside the Sapling's class!

• With all the movement that the Eaglets are engaged in, our little bodies get SO hungry! Please be sure to pack a little extra in your kiddos lunch box. Many kids are looking for more to eat after finishing their lunches.
• The mornings are growing cold! It is the season of many layers. Please send your child to school with some gear for the colder temperatures in the am
• I have created a document for parents who are interested in volunteering to lead a group during Free Choice Fridays:
  Free Choice volunteer form - Google Docs
  
  

The Eaglet's have been continuing to get to know one another, explore our outdoor areas, familiarize themselves with classroom works and get a good feel for our daily rhythm this week. I began to introduce a few of our Montessori materials this week. Many students were invited to lessons in our nature and practical life areas of the classroom. Outdoors, we spent some time nature journaling, exploring Fort Creek, and collecting organic materials to create leaf creatures for a craft project.

That's a wrap!

The first week has come to an end! The Eaglet's week was filled with forming connections with their peers and teachers, establishing routines and procedures within the classroom and engaging the great outdoors with their whole body! They did lots of jumping, climbing and imaginative play with one another. We worked hard on labeling and organizing our school supplies, setting up our cubbies and working together as a community to establish our classroom expectations. Our mornings have been spent observing, exploring and creating in nature. We chose our yearlong sit spots which will be where we observe the changes in nature that will happen throughout the school year. We took the trek out to our fort building spots where the children were able to engage their imagination and creativity.

The Eaglet's are looking for a parent that would be willing to wash our dusting rags over the weekend. If you are interested in helping us with this, please reach out via e-mail at krystal@mountainvillagecharterschool.org

We would also love to have parent involvement during Free Choice Friday. This would include leading an activity of your choice! Send me an e-mail if you have interest in this! I'll send along some more specific info!