Montessori Monitor Spring Issue March 2010

INSIDE

Montessori Monitor

THIS ISSUE Montessori Matters: Cover Reading: Cover PTO News: 3 Beginners: 4 Preschool: 5 - 7 Preschool/Kindergarten: 8 - 11 1st & 2nd Grade: 12 - 13 2nd through 5th: 14 - 15 Middle School: 16 - 17 Video Production: 18 Physical Education: 19 Spanish: 20 - 21 Drama: 22 - 23 Technology: 24 FETC: 25

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Montessori Matters As published in the February, 2010 Gainesville Today Magazine By: Christina Miller From birth to age six, children undergo five unique sensitive periods for learning. During these periods, they have absorbent minds where knowledge effortlessly enters like water into a sponge. During these sensitive periods, information enters the child‘s subconscious mind and later spontaneously emerges in his/her conscious mind by the discovery process. After age six, learning becomes different and requires not only a different strategy but also a different level of conscious effort.

movement. Some of these periods begin as one is ending and several overlap. The sensitive period for social relationships begins at age two

The five sensitive periods are: 1. social relationships and skills; 2. sensitive period for order; 3. senses refining; 4. language; and 5.

and a half and ends around four and a half. The sensitive period for order begins at birth and also ends around four and a half years. The

Two preschool students learning about organs in the body during a science lesson.

developmental period for language, such as for order, also has its beginning at birth but extends to age six. During the sensitive period for language, for example, children can absorb a language easily and with perfect pronunciation.

After age six it is much more difficult and is seldom accomplished without an accent.

Therefore, a developmentally appropriate learning environment for children under the age of six requires careful attention and preparation to ensure maximum opportunities that honor these sensitive periods.

Preschool aged children are not required to be in school and, for the most part, the opportunity of providing (cont. on page 2)

Year End Show: 26-27 Rhombus, Reniform and Rembrandt: 28 MMS News: 29-31 Calendar: 32

Reading By: Elaine Manion I would like to take this opportunity to share some thoughts and concerns on the subject of beginning reading.

My views and comments are the result of my training, my experience, and my observations.

In order for a child to learn to read, the child must: Be aware that the text must be scanned from left to right Be aware that each sound is represented by a letter

or combination of letters, and be able to match the sound (not the letter name) to the correct symbol Be able to blend these sounds into words, as well as (cont. on page 3)

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Often preschool curriculum standards are formed from the top down instead of developmentally from the ground up..

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Montessori Matters (cont. from page 1) a developmentally appropriate learning environment for all four year olds has been missed. In recent years however, preparing children for kindergarten has been garnering more support from the standpoint of ―readiness‖ The Florida Department of Education (DOE) is responsible for creating performance standards, recommending curricula, providing professional development, and educational accountability requirements. Through the Voluntary Pre Kindergarten program, VPK, private providers are permitted to design their own curriculum as long as it meets the Pre-K performance standards for the purpose of preparing students for the statewide kindergarten screening. Most of these programs approach curriculum from a readiness perspective or from the top down.

Often preschool curriculum standards are formed from the top down instead of developmentally from the ground up. In other words, an example of the top down approach would ask what students need to learn in kindergarten to be prepared for first grade. If children enter kindergarten and are not prepared for the selected curriculum, what baseline standard can we initiate in preschool to ensure they are ―ready‖ for kindergarten?

This is far different from a developmental approach that understands and acknowledges the sensitive periods from birth to six, and nurtures them as they arise naturally. Therefore, from the ground up, or developmental approach, a kindergarten and/or first grade curriculum would be a natural exten-

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sion of what children are ready to learn when they enter that level.

Of course all would agree an amount of readiness needs to be in place for a child to acclimate to their learning environment. For kindergarten, this means children, the teacher, his/her expectations, and the instructional curriculum must be taken into account. Kindergarten teachers provide opportunities for children to work independently and in groups both small and large.

They expect them to be able to delay gratification by waiting their turn, finish an activity which they start, pay attention, share, and follow simple directions when they are given. They are also expected to follow rules and respect space and property of others as well as not disrupting the learning environment for the other children.

Children come to kindergarten with a range of motor skills. Many children today have not had the same amount of gross motor opportunities as children of past generations. Today‘s children have been very protected during the sensitive period for movement. It is not uncommon for today‘s kindergartener to not be able to skip or gallop. Teachers expect children entering kindergarten to have mastered many gross and fine motor skills.

By the age of five, children should be able to communicate their thoughts and understand stories. Their vocabulary should include an amount of shapes, numbers, colors, etc. A child should be able to, for example, use his/ her communication skills to ask another child to give him/

her back his/her pencil instead of physically snatching it back.

Readiness also depends on the qualities and expectations of the kindergarten or first grade program in which they will enter.

Program differences such as: whole language reading versus a phonetic approach, the matching of learning styles, whether the program is geared for group instruction dictated by the teacher, independent choice, or a combination, can make a difference on whether a child will be successful.

In conclusion, the preschool years are the most formative and learning is specialized through the sensitive periods. A developmentally appropriate program would honor and appreciate how children at this age learn. Children are busy with the task of creating their conscious minds. Through the sensitive periods, they absorb information like a sponge. Only when an individual is ready can the point of consciousness occur. It can‘t be forced, predicted, or hurried.

While expectations of readiness would have to take into account behavioral criteria to maintain a non disruptive learning environment, a developmentally appropriate program would have curriculum with a scope and sequence that allows for the children to work at their own level and at their own pace. Expectations of teachers and curriculum restraints should neither over nor underestimate the ability of children during these sensitive periods.

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Reading (cont. from page 1)

Be able to segment, or break words into individual sounds, and finally Be able to manipulate (add, omit, replace) these sounds in words. This process of of manipulating the sounds combines skills of segmenting and blending and is

known as auditory processing.

All of these skills need to become automatic in order for reading to become automatic or a reflex action. What is the best way to accomplish this?

Just like any other skill i.e. piano playing, sports, with lots and lots of practice of the elementary skills, first with three letter words, later four letter words, etc. This include decoding and blending the sounds (reading) as well as the reverse process of encoding (writing).

Both are equally important.

If a child is pushed into reading before the basic skills are established, he/she will most likely learn to simply memorize whole words and will develop poor reading strategies. In this case, children with high verbal intelligence and good visual memory are put at a high risk

for later reading problems.

(Likewise, children with speech problems will likely have difficulty hearing the alphabetic code, and thus often experience reading difficulties and need extra help.)

How can you help as a parent? Encourage and praise your child‘s accomplishments in correct reading and letter formation. Create an atmosphere of ―love and desire for learning.‖ Encourage reading and rereading of stories, as opposed to ―been there, done that‖ attitude.

Large amounts of practice are necessary to perfect any new skill. Reading is no exception.

Please do not pressure your child into reading (it‘s a sure way to kill the desire and fun of reading). Instead, capitalize on praising his/her efforts. Model and promote a joy of reading.

Read, read, read to them!

Create an atmosphere of “love and desire for learning.”

Encourage reading and re -reading of stories, as opposed to “been there, done that” attitude.

PTO News The PTO continues working to support our children and the school. The Drama Club Dinner Theater was a great success! We appreciate your support in making this happen, especially Piesano‘s, the Hale family and AvMed. Thanks for making this fun event possible!

We are gearing up for the End of the Year Show. Plans are in the works for a Wine and Cheese Gathering with a Silent Auction in mid-May. If you have an idea for the Silent Auction, please contact me or Patricia Kemp.

At our last PTO meeting, Christina de la Puerta presented her science project. She has designed a beautiful native garden for the school. If your thumb is green or if

you don‘t mind getting your hands dirty, we will need your help to make this happen. Look for more information to come.

April 12th is a student holiday, the Monday after Spring Break. The Preschool and Elementary classrooms will be hosting an Open House. If you are interested in participating, your help is appreciated. Look for more information about this event from Laura Lentz.

Relay for Life will be held on April 15-16th. Come out to run or support our booth at the Sante Fe track.

Look for more information soon.

We could use your testimonial. Write your story about how Millhopper Montessori School has positively affected your child

(ren) and family. Thanks!!!

Other projects in the works include Cleats for Feets, Recycling in the classrooms and Puberty Education. Look for more information on the web and in your child‘s take home folder.

If you have questions please don‘t hesitate to contact me.

Soon we‘ll be asking for nominations for next year‘s PTO Officers. Please consider how you can help serving.

Looking forward to the spring!!

Jennine Brandt PTO President

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Ms. Crystal Sorrow

Beginners Mariasole meets Peeper,

Ms. Elizabeth Sheehan &

an Indian ring-necked

Ms. Jeanne-Marie Clune-Hrivnak

anatomy lessons

parakeet, that spent several days with our class.

Peeper provided a concrete example for the

we learned about birds.

Soph lines up birds, listening to their realistic bird calls, as she proceeds during our February unit study.

Henry poses in the yel-

Eryn practices pouring from a teapot dur-

low submarine. The class

ing our January study of England. The unit

enjoyed music from the

study included lessons in culture, food, geography, and landmarks of England.

Beatles all month as an extension of the England unit study in January.

Jack places British coin

The month concluded

currency in the bank

Ketki pours

modeled after the famous

seed during our

red phone booths of Eng-

February bird

with a parade starring the paper mache yellow submarine.

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land. A student's family shared some lovely Eng-

study, refining

lish items with the class,

her fine motor

enriching the materials

skills and con-

for January's unit study.

centration.

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Preschool Ms. Renee Brohamer & Ms. Lily Tajalli -

opportunity to show you what they are doing.

In our exploration of states of matter we enjoyed changing liquids to solid by making our own ice cream and then of course eating it (yum!). We also have been studying North America and American Folk Art, and we made our own patch work quilt with Ms. Lily.

Making Ice Cream...

We have been very busy these past few weeks with so many holidays and celebrations. Last week we also had a wonderful time showing off our lessons for parents at ―Parent Night‖. Thank you all who were here for coming. The children are very proud of their work and love to have the

and eating it...yum!

Parent Night “Making 10’s Game”

Parents, we love to impress you with our wisdom. “Object Box”

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Preschool

Ms. Christina Eckstein & Ms. Beth Lawton

Sea Urchin Creations

Push Pinned Fish

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The beginning of 2010 has certainly been busy in our classroom! We began our study of the ocean in January by studying the characteristics and inhabitants of tide pools, coral reefs and the open ocean. One of our experiments, the Tide Pool Hold-On, illustrated how various creatures attach to rocks in order to protect themselves from predators or from being washed out to the open ocean. Suction cups were used to simulate the tube feet of octopi and sea stars, tweezers for crab claws, tape for sea snails and sea anemones, and shells and glue for barnacles. The children also witnessed different ways the animals eat through an experiment called Ocean Mouths. The students took a piece of lettuce and rubbed it against sandpaper to imitate nudibranchs and turban snails eating plants. Tentacles that jellyfish and sea anemones use to catch food were simulated by using a piece of string

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and double-side tape to catch goldfish crackers. We sprinkled black pepper in a bowl of water to represent plankton

Ocean Mouth Experiment

and krill. Then, a fine-toothed comb was dragged across the water to catch the food like a blue whale’s baleen.

However, the class favorite was our Blubber Gloves experiment, which taught us about the thick layer of fat that whales have in order to keep warm.

The children also learned about the anatomy of a fish and depicted its parts in a push pinning project. They also thoroughly enjoyed the art activities in this unit, which included making sea urchins from play dough and toothpicks, “sponge” paintings, and paper plate octopi.

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Each month we study a different composer and artist.

In honor of Black History Month, our composer of the month was Duke Ellington.

We listened to various selections of Ellington’s music as the children came to circle

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and used it during music and movement activities. Our artist of the month was Jacob Lawrence. Lawrence was an African-American artist who combined the visual arts with storytelling. He used bold colors and graph-

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ics to depict AfricanAmerican heroes and heroines, historical events and everyday life. After examining several of his paintings, the children created their very own story in the form of a picture.

Below: Students jamming to Duke Ellington’s

The children

“Take the A Train”

create Jacob Lawrence inspired artwork Students jamming to Duke Ellington’s in honor of Black History Month

Parent Night On Thursday, February 12th, we held our second Parent Night of the year. Parents were amazed to see the progress that their children have made since the beginning of the year.

To conclude the evening, the parents participated in one of our

circle time activities which engaged gross motor and listening skills simultaneously.

We had a wonderful evening!

Mary showing her dad a moveable alphabet work.

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Preschool/Kindergarten

Ms. Jackie Johnson & Ms. Kathleen Bastien

Over the next few weeks, we made our own haiku poems, origami, and practiced Japanese letter writing, Kanji.

Our classroom has been studying Asia since we returned from winter break.

We began with the country of Japan, and enjoyed learning about Japanese culture from the families of Koharu Matsuki and Misa Matsumura, two students of ours from Japan. Kei and Keisuke Matsuki gave a presentation on Japan, and a demonstration of Japanese writing. Mayumi and Taiki Matsumura shared with us traditional Japanese festivals, traditions, games and toys.

Both families shared music and Japanese foods. We enjoyed eating beautiful and delicious sushi and sweet bean cakes. Over the next few weeks, we made our own haiku poems, origami, and practiced Japanese let-

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ter writing, Kanji. We also made our own books on Japan.

Later, we studied Korea with the help of Eric Min‘s and Jin Park‘s families. Jin‘s father, JP, gave a fun and informative presentation on South Korea and Korean writing. All the children received the Korean game Gongi. JP made it look easier than it actually is, but it is still fun to try!

We also enjoyed traditional Korean foods made and served by Eric‘s and Jin‘s mothers: rice cakes (lightly sweetened chewy bars) and Asian pears. Both were a big hit with the children.

More recently we began a new unit on China.

We kicked this off by celebrating Chinese New Year with a lunch of white rice, vegetable lo mein, sweet-nsour chicken and special décor.

In addition to our Asian studies we celebrated the 100th day of school with crowns, home-made Chex mix and lots of counting activities. We also had a fun Valentine‘s Day party and a great parent night.

The children enjoy turning the tables and teaching their

parents the use of the Montessori materials.

For literature, we recently completed the original Wizard of Oz and are now reading Alice in Wonderland. The language of these original works provides an excellent and engaging way to learn new vocabulary.

The timing of our reading of Alice in Wonderland is not accidental. It was intended to be juxtaposed not only with the new movie coming out with Johnny Depp but also with our elementary and middle school‘s end of the year play Alice in Wonderland.

It is an ideal time to explore the richness, beauty and quirkiness of this fine tale!

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Haiku Camels

Spring

camels walk slowly desert dust storm, sand crying camels hide from view

watering the plants sunlight for the new flowers green leaves, trees growing

by Atharva

by Bekah

Grasshoppers

Puppy

light green sticks with legs squeaking, chirping grasshoppers jumping like goalies

black and white puppy licking hands, faces, nipping cuddly happiness

by Eduardo

by Jena

Wolves

Ocean

scary sharp teeth eat gray and white running in packs howling, awesome wolves

ocean water sprays shells, starfish, happiness, surf waves, wet sand, beach balls

by Siddharth

by Koharu

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Preschool/Kindergarten

Ms. Elizabeth Falls & Ms. Widline Senecharles

To enhance this learning and to allow the children to better understand an environment different than their own, the children have enjoyed activities integrated into their everyday curriculum..

We want to wish all of you a very nice 2010! The second half of the school year is underway and in full swing! We would like to welcome Miss Jordan Hall and her family to our class!

The first two weeks after Winter Break found us reviewing lessons the children learned during the first half of the year.

Since the children have ―normalized‖ so nicely in the classroom and their ability to attend has increased, we are now working more closely on mastering lessons and adding more challenging work!

We celebrated the 100th day of school by having a traditional breakfast! Some of you might have seen our picture in the Gainesville Sun! After our breakfast, the children shared their ―100th Day‖ collections during a special ―100th Day Show and Tell‖.

In January, we continued our unit study on Dinosaurs. The children have really loved learning all about the ―terrible lizards‖! The children have learned many dinosaur names and their meaning as well as from what time period they existed, how they protected themselves, what they ate, and some of the many theories of what happened to them! One theory we talked about was the possibility of massive volcanic activity. The children were excited to learn about how volcanoes are formed and were able to see a model of a volcano erupt! We also read many Dinosaur books including a Dinosaur Cove book entitles, ―Saving the Stegosaurus‖. This is a great series for young children interested in Dinosaurs (and what child isn‘t!).

During February our classroom ‗traveled‖ to the great continent of Africa! Mr. Todd Leedy officially began our Unit Study on Africa. He came into our classroom and gave a slide presentation as well as told the children many fascinating facts about Africa. Mr. Leedy is a University of Florida Professor of African Studies. He travels several

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times a year to Africa. The children listened to Mr. Leedy as he described the geography, people, animals, lifestyles, food and many handicrafts the African people make.

He gave a wonderful presentation and I am sure that many of the students; including myself are anxious to someday visit this great continent. He also brought some objects for the children to look at: some very detailed jewelry, wood carvings, and baskets (both large (used to carry items on their heads from the market!) and small) and some beautiful handmade dolls and slippers. He even spoke some Swahili and showed the children some African currency.

The children have been studying the many geographic features (grasslands, rain forest and desert) and the animals that live in these biomes of Africa. To enhance this learning and to allow the children to better understand an environment different than their own, the children have enjoyed activities integrated into their everyday curriculum.

Such activities have included push pinning Africa and some of the animals from there, making African animal booklets and learning about the many different flags representing the different countries of Africa, listening to African rhythm music, making sandpaper art and jewelry with handmade clay beads. They have especially enjoyed learning about the interesting country of Egypt! The chil-

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dren are enjoying working with three-part animal cards and putting together and writing some African stories about the Cheetah and the Goliath Frog.

Each year the students work on and present to the class a mini research project. This is the beginning of learning basic research skills and helps the children to become more comfortable with ―public speaking‖. This year‘s research focused on animals from Africa. We discussed in class where and how we can find information. I instructed the children not to use only the Internet but to visit the library, museum, bookstores, etc. It was up to the child as to how he/she was to ―present‖ their finds to the class. Mr. Leedy‘s introduction to Africa led up perfectly to the children‘s presentation of their African Animal Research Projects that they have been working very hard on; and I can tell you very proud of! They should be; they did a wonderful job and we were all impressed with how much they learned during this process. I even had one mother say, ―I cannot believe how much I know about Ostriches now!‖ The Research Projects were on display during our Final Parent Night of this year which was on Tuesday, February 9th. I hope you had the opportunity to look at them and be as impressed as Ms. Widline and I! Our next big unit study will take us deep into the Ocean!

During our final Parent Night, as well as students demonstrating new work since our last Parent Night, I enjoyed being able to present small group lessons on math and language in the manner in which I present them during a typical school day.

I hope that this format gave you a better idea of how lessons are presented and what our typical morning work cycle is like. Thank you all for making our last Parent Night so special!

In the area of academics, some of the children have increased the number of digits they are working with in the place value concept. This includes not only the static but dynamic (concept of exchanging) Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication. The Stamp Game will soon be introduced. In the area of language, the children have been learning the difference between a sentence and a phrase.

Work with alphabetizing, compound words, antonyms, synonyms and homonyms are also being presented. We have been working on reading comprehension skills and will continue to learn about sentence analysis; nouns, verbs, and prepositions.

For Valentine‘s Day we decided to combine the 100th Day of School Celebration with a Community Project involving The Village. Many years ago I took my class to sing for the residents of

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The Village. At that time, we were very warmly received and they loved watching and listening to the children sing. I decided to do it again this year.

This time the children made 100 Valentines; each

We have been working on reading comprehension skills and will continue to one was designed and made by the children; no two were alike! The children loved working on this project. They were even more excited when I told them that we would actually go to The Village and sing for them and deliver the Valentines in person! Again we were very warmly received and the children seemed to enjoy this activity. We have been invited to return in the spring (date to be announced). I want to thank all of the parents for helping to chaperone and drive the children to The Village. THANK YOU!

Upcoming Special Events: Kindergarten MidYear Iowa Testing; Annual Class Quilt and Annual End-of-the-Year Parent Appreciation Play Thank you for your wonderful support!

Love, Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Widline

learn about sentence analysis; nouns, verbs, and prepositions.

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1st & 2nd Grades

Ms. Anita Bender & Ms. Susie Long Look how many Valentine’s cards I received!

Valentine’s Day

The first and second grade class enjoyed Valentine's Day by making shoebox carriers and exchanging words of admiration. Later that day we took a field trip to the Thomas Center to watch the middle school students perform Shakespeare, Percy Jackson style. A few of our first and second graders were invited up onto the stage to learn how to dance Shakespeare (1500's) style.

In Social Studies, we are building a three dimensional tabletop community. First, we compared urban communities to rural communities. Next, we elected a mayor, community leaders and a planning commission. The children built roads, signs, tunnels, waterfalls and bridges. They named their city Blue Falls.

Now, they are creating people, trees, houses and skyscrapers from clay and other media during Art class. We are discussing the various roles people must fulfill for a community to be a successful. Now that the children understand the roles of a community better they are acting out a play about community leaders and their roles in society.

In Science, we are wrapping up our study of Rocks and Minerals but we continue to test our rock collection for hardness, color, streak, shape, texture, luster and cleavage along with other experiments. Also, since we did not get snow in

with Friends!

Blue Falls Entrance to 3-D City

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Blue Falls Suburbs Gainesville, we did an experiment using instant snow polymer to demonstrate the law of conservation of mass. First, we weighed our polymer. Then, by adding water our polymer (powder) turned into a snow-like substance.

After the water evaporated the original substance weighed the same amount. We poured water in a baby diaper which is made out of the same polymer and discussed absorbency.

The children also learned the word polymer, means long chain of molecules (―poly‖ means many and ―mer‖ is a unit or molecule).

During Technology, we called a classmate friend via Skype. This is a student that is dual-enrolled at MMS and an Elementary school in Paris. While she was getting ready for bed, we had just returned from recess. She is enjoying her school and busy learning the language so that she can communicate in a class where everyone speaks French! She misses Millhopper and can't wait to join us again in the fall.

In the garden, before the winter holiday, the children harvested giant sized cabbage, collards, and broccoli. This was devoured during our morning snack time. It is almost time to restock the garden but we have been waiting for the freezing weather to wane before we trek out to dig in the dirt.

We will start work on the classroom quilt soon. This year‘s theme will be ―Egypt‖. The children will be using their embroidery, crochet, knitting and sewing machine skills.

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Looking Ahead...

March 14 Daylight Savings Time Begins

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March 17 A Visit from the Leprechaun March 19 Father‘s Field Day

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April 1 Student Showcase April 5-9 Spring Break

May 6 Mother's Day Tea

Mardi Gras FUN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Alex Christina Brant

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2nd, 3rd & 4th Grades

Mr. Richard Aslanian & Ms. Suzi Rumsey We really enjoyed going to the Thomas Center to see the Middle School’s performance of Shakespeare. It gave us great inspiration in performing our own skits for Drama class.

We have quite a class full of

Since returning from Winter Break we have been busy diving into new topics. In Science, we have opened up a unit on Chemistry. We are learning about the Chemical elements, the Periodic Table, molecules, atoms and matter. Our future studies will include some fun experiments and icky creations.

Our Geography studies continue to focus on South America. We spent some time in the

talented thespians.

Amazon Rain Forest and were fortunate to enjoy a field trip to the Florida Museum of Natural History. The Amazon exhibit there was a perfect fit for our studies. We have also learned about some popular sites and a bit of the culture from the wonderful country of Brazil.

For our History lessons we have focused some of our studies on learning about a few famous African-American inventors, scientists, and leaders that have helped to shape our lives. Each student researched a particular person and wrote a short report on their lives and contributions. We

look forward to creating a timeline of these important people when our research is finished. In connection with this, our Social Studies lessons are focusing on the many aspects of being a citizen of the United States, our city, state and country‘s leaders, and the responsibility of government.

We really enjoyed going to the Thomas Center to see the Middle School‘s performance of Shakespeare. It gave us great inspiration in performing our own skits for Drama class. We have quite a class full of talented thespians.

Birthdays February

March

April

5-Kyleigh (9) 25-Ari (9) 27-Sophie (10)

3-Hunter (10)

5-Bella (9) 14-Lexi (10) 16-Becca (9) 10-Vishnu (10)

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4th & 5th Grades

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Ms. Christina Miller, Ms. Susan Salvatore & Ms. Erin Sorel sioned life as it was in the late 1700s in LexingBee finalist, ton, Massachusetts, keeping a Chase and diary describing Jasun what they learned along the way.

In Composition class with Ms. Martha, fifth grade authors were busy creating stories set in the Medieval time period. After an extensive research project to explore all aspects of Medieval life, the students used their knowledge to create a narrative writing set in the time period. The stories were amazing and included action, adventure, battles, tragedy, triumph and time machines.

Many of the stories were over 16 pages in length and employed many advanced writing strategies. The stories were entered into the Hoggetowne Medieval Fair writing contest with huge success. Congratulations to winners Arman, Benjamin, Chelsea, Natasha, Thomas, and Alex. Special recognition goes to Timothy, who won Grand Prize over all in the essay contest.

Students in Ms. Christina‘s 4th grade have been working on their Florida History Geography Project. Each student has been studying and reproducing maps of Florida, and researching a native Florida animal. Students are excited to show off their projects in April at our student showcase. Students are also learning about the Civil War period and how it impacted Florida. They are learning about slavery as well as important African Americans such as Harriet Tubman, the Underground Railroad, and Josiah Walls of Gainesville who, after serving in Florida's 5th grade Spelling

Ms. Tina‘s class enjoyed many happy occasions during the 3rd quarter. We would like to congratulate Jasun, winner of the 5th Grade Spelling Bee, who represented MMS at the Alachua County Spelling Bee in January. In February several 5th grade students participated in the Sweetwater Branch Academy‘s Math Stars contest. We would like to recognize Timothy, who was awarded 2nd place and won an iPod Nano! We were proud of all members of our class who participated in the Jump Rope for Fun contest, especially the 1st place winning team ―Bacon & Pork Chops‖ including Tiffany, Austin, Dallas, Chase, and Zach.

History came alive for 5th grade students in Ms. Susan Hansen‘s American History class as they recently participated in a creative simulation of the American Revolution. Students assumed the roles of colonists, patriots, and loyalists, taking part in events that let up to and ended the American Revolution. Students chose professions and envi-

General Assembly, was elected to represent Florida in Congress.

The Black Heritage Trail identifies sites that mark African American achievements. This "trail" is also being covered. A few of these sites are: The Kingsley Plantation in Jacksonville, Fort Mose in St. Augustine, and the Jackie Robinson Memorial Ball Park in

History came alive for 5th grade students in Ms. Susan Hansen’s American History class as they Daytona Beach. In the study of the Reconstruction period that follows, the students will learn about how the southern states were brought back into the Union. Organizations were formed such as the Freedmen's Bureau to provide an education for African Americans of all ages who had once been enslaved.

Fourth graders have also been hard at work in the garden. We have been using the cold weather as an opportunity to observe seasonal changes in our garden and schoolyard.

Students have also experienced practical life activities such as seed identification, extracting plant information from a seed packet, reading a spring planting table, and making selections from seed catalogues.

recently participated in a creative simulation of the American Revolution.

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Middle School (M3S)

Ms. Sherilyn Farris & Ms. Susan Hansen

We have studied family life in China in Pre & Post Revolutionary China. Learned

Middle Schoolers have been working very hard over the past few months. If you‘ve had the chance to spot them, they were probably working on a project or busily preparing for their next class.

Math is FUN! That‘s the motto in Middle School. The Math 2 group is learning geometry and measurement. The PreAlgebra group is working on lines, planes and other geometric functions. The Algebra I group is finishing up a unit on exponential properties and the Geometry group is learning about Sine, Cosine & Tangent.

We have hearkened back to days of yore during Literature.

Both the 6th graders and the 7th/8th graders studied William Shakespeare in a variety of different ways. Sixth graders read a historical fiction novel, The Shakespeare Stealer, and read an abbreviated version of Hamlet. Seventh and eighth graders were introduced to tragedies of MacBeth and Romeo & Juliette and explored Shakespeare‘s lighter side while reading the farce, Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing.

Culminating the Shakespeare Unit was the 3rd Annual Shakespeare Festival at the Thomas Center. The 6th, 7th & 8th grade

about the political career of Mao Zedong and examined the impact the world’s largest population is having on its environment.

students presented their performance to a packed house of MMS students, faculty and parents. A wonderful article about the event was published in the Gainesville Voice.

Check out all our great photos!

In composition, we are currently working on the Literary Magazine produced

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by the middle school and containing poetry and art work by students in grades 1st – 8th grade. Be on the lookout for your copy in April. The 6th grade group is working on a newspaper unit with a focus on journalism, layout and newspaper design. The 7th/8th graders just finished the Florida Writes exam.

Congratulate them if you see them!

The 6th grade World History group has been studying ancient India and the Mohenjodaro civilization. The 7th & 8th grade students are finishing up their unit on China with an in-depth focus on the cultural, political and environmental aspects of that nation.

We have studied family life in China in Pre & Post Revolutionary China, learned about the political career of Mao Zedong and examined the impact the world‘s largest population is having on its environment. The students have created beautiful scrapbooks that chronicle their ―journey‖ through historical and regional China. We had special guest speakers Greg and Angel Pachkowski of Photography 35, give a special photojournalism presentation about their recent trip to Southern Asia (Vietnam and Cambodia).

They were there are photojournalist covering the International Habitat for Humanity build.

They shared their wonderful photos of the

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M3S Cont... culture and landscape of southern Asia.

In Art the class has been working on Optical Art or Op Art! Check out the cool designed they‘ve made on used

queline, the middle school representative at the Alachua County Spelling Bee. Congratulations to Ashley F., Jacqueline Kessler and Ashlyn & Ashley P. middle school representatives at the Alachua Country Regional Science Fair.

All four have received accommodations for their science projects and will move on the next round of judging.

CD discs with black & white adhesive vinyl. Super Cool!

Congratulations to Jac-

Upcoming Events...

March 8 - 12 7th & 8th Grade Internships March 19-23 ITBS Testing May 3 Middle School Mother‘s Day Tea May 27 - 28 Middle School End of Year Trip June 7 8th Grade Graduation

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Ms. Sylvia Aslanian (right) Derek and Evan are the commentators of ―What‘s in Your Backpack?‖

(above) The set of ―What‘s in your Backpack?‖ (right) Ilie holds up the teleprompter.

Edoport Productions creates ―What‘s in Your Backpack?‖ Ilie, Dominick, Derek , Evan, and CJ are: Edoport Productions. They came up with a unique way to report upcoming events. Stayed Tuned!!!!

You can look forward to more “What’s in Your Backpack?” - Interviews from “Grease” Middle School students are currently working actors, “Most Impressive Moments!” and much on creating news segments to keep us all up to more. date on what’s coming up or what’s happened Students also worked on editing footat MMS. age from “Jump Rope for Fun.” and footage These news spots will be able to be from the Middle School basketball game. viewed at their website: M3S Roxx.com.

Available now are various segments.

It’ all about the news…..

(left) Ms. Sylvia speaks to Laura about drama and the production, ―Grease– school version.‖

(left) Ryan checks out the weather for his news segment.

(left) Diego interviews Ms. Widline about her collection for Haiti.

She is grateful for all the support from the MMS staff and families

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Physical Education Coach Cam Parker

Rainy Day PE with Coach Cam!

What a busy time we have had so far the spring! MMS students came back from the winter break refreshed and we jumped right in to our jump rope and movement unit in PE. This culminated in our annual jump rope routine competition. All middle school students were required to create a routine this year. Seven other groups Ms. Tina and Mr. Richard‘s classes participated as well. We even had a dozen kids in Mr. Richard and Ms. Anita‘s classes perform tricks between routines! The complexity and performance of the routines continues to improve. Our podium places contestants were:

the Community Sports League. Basketball season is wrapping up and flag football is just a couple of weeks away. In hoops, our very young K-1 team progressed steadily over the course of the season with two very energetic coaches at the helm. The 2nd-3rd grade team was steady and a force to be reckoned with. Both of our 4th-5th grade teams were dominant at times and were challenged the hardest when facing each other.

A very special and HUGE thank you goes out to all of our volunteer coaches and the parents that helped out. We would not be able to participate in these leagues if it weren‘t for them. Deva Mirel, Jennine Brandt, Bobby Adkins, Wayne Meyerson, Greg Trunnell, Mark Petty and Jeff Jaszczak all donated great time and effort to pull off a wonderful experience for our students that chose to participate.

THANK YOU! If you‘ve never spent at Saturday

3rd place – ―No Sugar Added‖: Nicholas, Chandrika & Lily 2nd place – ―The Static Four‖: Diego, Ashlyn, Vishaka & Jacquelin

Jump Rope Champions ―Bacon & The Pork Chops‖ Tiffany, Dallas, Chase, Austin & Zach morning watching our youth compete, please stay tuned for the football schedule and bring the family out to root for the MMS Knights. Go Knights!

On a brisk February morning, ten MMS students ran in the Lifesouth Five Points of Life Kids Marathon. These young runners braved the cold and earned a shiny new medal for their efforts. Bryan and Robyn, Esteban, Ty, Noah, Brant, Ava, Lexi, Trent and Austin all trotted the 1.3 mile course at UF. The distance ran in this event will count towards the Lap Day Marathon all students try to achieve over the course of the school year. Great job runners.

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Beginner, Preschool & Kindergarten Spanish Ms. Jeanne-Marie Clune-Hrivnak

Hola otra vez. What wonderful and exciting months January and February have been in Spanish class! The children continue to learn new vocabulary and to converse in Spanish through the use of songs, dances, stories, games, and finger play activities.

Our themes for the month of January were the following: winter weather and activities, clothing, professions and Spain. Learning different articles of clothing was fun as we played musical charades or acted out putting on articles of clothing using songs or pictures. It also gave us the opportunity to review the vocabulary for parts of the body. Musical finger play activities, models, and beautiful photo-

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graphs made learning the words for special class themes (African animals, ocean creatures, and the cultures of England, China, Japan, and Korea) loads of fun.:) In the area of culture we discussed ―El Dia de los Reyes‖ (King‘s Day) and learned a special poem about Martin Luther King in Spanish.

We have discussed the geography, history, and diverse and fascinating culture of Spain and had a very basic, but enjoyable, lesson on flamenco dancing.

February has been filled with songs and activities relating to Valentine‘s Day, President‘s Day, zoo animals, farm animals, birds, and pets.

As we learn more adjectives we are able to de-

scribe the physical traits of people and things and to discuss personality traits and feelings in more detail. A Valentine‘s Day song by Jose Luis Orozco, ―Un Corazon‖, as well as the ―I Love You, You Love Me‖ song in Spanish (―Te amo, me amas..‖) have been crowd pleasers. For President‘s Day the children enjoyed marching and singing to a special song

that teaches the Spanish vocabulary relating to this holiday. We also did a fun unit on artists from Spanish-speaking countries.

We are excited to continue our studies in March starting with spring weather and activities and celebrating the earth. Feliz primavera.

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1st - 8th Grade Spanish Ms. Erin Sorel 1st and 2nd Grade Ms. Anita‘s class completed a unit on food and restaurant vocabulary. Students enjoyed creating a menu for our own restaurant, creating a ―picnic‖ to discuss in Spanish, and ordering food in our pretend restaurant. Then we started a unit to go along with Ms. Anita‘s unit on cities and communities. We used vocabulary for places in a city and practiced driving pretend cars to various locations around our city.

Students also enjoyed looking at the Create-a-City projects that were created by 4th and 5th graders.

2nd and 3rd Grade Mr. Richard‘s 2nd and 3rd graders worked on talking about cities. Each student invented an original city which they drew and presented to the class entirely in Spanish. Lately we have begun a unit on verbs and have started using verbs to describe the actions of others. The children are working on creating original fotonovelas , photo stories or comics, which tell the actions of a character they have made up.

4th and 5th graders made "Create-a-City" projects.

4th Grade Fourth graders learned various grammar and vocabulary related to cities and people in a city. We engaged in activities such as map-making using our new words. Now fourth graders are beginning to work with verbs in Spanish. Using games such as charades and tic-tac-toe, we have studied vocabulary which we will be using to create comics about a character that each student will create.

5th Grade Fifth grade has completed a study of cities and places in a city. Students created maps of a real or made-up city which they presented to their classmates in Spanish. The audience participated by listening for places each city had, places the city did not have, and telling whether or not they would like to live there and why, entirely in Spanish! Later, 5th graders started a review of clothing and accessories, including ways of describing clothing and the material it is made of.

Students are currently working on creating a clothing ad in which they list and describe clothing for sale.

6th and 7th Grade Students learned all about telling time, including telling at what time classes and events will take place.

After this unit, we moved on to descriptions of people and things. Students used this type of language to create friendly Valentine‘s Day messages for each other – telling each other how smart, nice, fun and interesting they are! Soon we will begin a new chapter, where we will practice talking about what we like to do and discussing what we do during free time.

8th Grade Spanish 8th graders worked on a chapter about winter and winter sports. Students learned vocabulary related to skiing and skating, and we incorporated some holiday vocabulary as well. For a culminating project with this chapter, the five eighth graders created a skit with not five, but ten characters! With the help of some puppets, the project was a very entertaining success. Now we are working on a Chapter about cultural activities and places such as movies, the theater and museums.

Students will be writing reports in Spanish about various famous Hispanic artists 8th graders prepare for their winter skit. from the past.

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Drama

Ms. Sylvia Aslanian

Mr. Richard’s Class is highlighted above performing their scenes from Shakespeare. (left) “Twelfth Night,” “A Midsummer Nights Dream,” “Macbeth” and “The Tempest.” .

“Something Wicked this Way Comes,” a performance of Double Trouble as presented in the Harry

The immortal bard was abound in first - eighth grades. All classes immersed themselves in all that is Shakespeare. They read summaries of several plays and sonnets. They coined phrases such as ― To Be or Not to Be,‖ ―All the World‘s a Stage,‖ ―All‘s well that ends well,‖ to name a few. ―Thou vain swagbellied lout!‖ or ―Sweet well-wishing toast might have been heard in the hall-

ways… as the students learned all about Shakespearian insults and compliments.

Using the books from the series Shakespeare Can Be Fun by Lois Burdett, the first - fourth grade students in Ms. Anita‘s and Mr. Richard‘s Class were able to grasp the intricate tales woven by the prolific poet.

The fourth and fifth graders in Ms. Tina‘s class read from Scholas-

tic‘s ―Shakespeare‘s Minibooks,‖ by Jeannette Sanderson.

The Middle School created a theatrical portfolio that consisted of cultural overview, a rewritten script, character descriptions, prop and costume log. Their studies culminated in a community performance at the Thomas Center on February 11, 2010.

Potter , taken from “Macbeth.”

―Hamlet” is performed by the sixth graders, in the style of the Percy Jackson “Lighting Thief,” series.

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“Romeo and Juliet’s” brawl in the streets between the Montagues and the Capulets is modernized into a food fight at a summer camp between Cabin M and Cabin C. Camp Counseler, Ms. Sherilyn is not happy at the mess that has been made. “Capture the Flag!” is cancelled she bellows.

“The Taming of the Shrew’s taming of Katherine the shrew, is retold and set at Padua Academy High. In this version Robert tries to convince Samantha that they should go to the Valentine’s Day dance . A cameo appearance is made by Sandy and Danny (as a perfect couple) from December’s show:“Grease - school version.”

“In Much Ado About Nothing,” friends Don Pedro, the captain of the army, Claudio, Hero and Ursula plot to bring Benedick and Beatrice together. All Benedick and Beatrice do is argue. Benedick loses the battle of wit often as Don Pedro emotes: “Battle of the merry war, goes to Beatrice!”

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K - 8 Technology

Ms. Sylvia Aslanian Kindergarten

Students learned basics of research to enhance their studies of Japan (Ms. Jackie‘s class) and African animals (Ms. Elizabeth‘s class). Their research took them to various websites located on millhoppertech.com under Kindergarten/research. We discussed research strategies and they shared their findings with the class. Visit: http:// www.kyvl.org/kids/ homebase.html for research skills.

Keyboarding on BBC Typing has been challenging the students, but with practice they are getting better. We start of each class with an individual lesson and they practice for 15 minutes. Our lessons in February have been related to African-American History.

Ms. Anita’s First/Second Grade To enhance their lessons on Communities the students have been visiting various websites to learn about urban and rural communities. They have written about their differences. They also created their own city and farm. All Communities‘ websites are located at millhoppertech.com.

We have kept up with our keyboarding practice and have been studying researching African American history.

Mr. Richard’s Second/Third Grade Second and third graders have enjoyed writing stories in Story Book Weaver. The students spent several weeks working on their stories, which help them with spelling, punctuation, reading and creativity. They presented their stories to the class via the promethean board. Second and third graders have also researched African-American history.

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Fourth Grade Fourth grade students have been researching Florida animals in detail as part of their research project for Florida History. We discussed several ways to research, pulled books from the media center and have been using the search engines located at millhoppertech.com. They will be typing their reports in Microsoft Word.

Fifth Grade GLOGS and BLOGS Glogster is an online poster maker. The fifth grade students have been busily working on an American Revolution project in Glogster. The project contains diaries of a loyalist, a patriot or a woman of that time period. To help them familiarize themselves with Glogster they created an all about me project that can be viewed at millhoppertech.com under fifth grade. For literature they set up individual blogs using Blogger. The blogs are all set up under Ms. Martha‘s Blog: mmslitlines.blogspot.com, and they are monitored by Ms. Martha and Ms. Sylvia. They will be using the blog for literature assignments.

Middle School The Literary Magazine created by the middle school students every year will now be created digitally.

It will still be interactive as past magazines, but the base will now be graphically designed in MS Publisher.

What’s New in the Media Center This month the kindergarten thru third graders have been exploring African-American History using Brain Pop's animated series. Millhopper's Technology Lab latest edition. We have purchased a license to utilize the lessons on the interactive whiteboard. We have purchased the license for K 3, 4 - 8, and Spanish. We are very excited.

Parents are encouraged to check out the curriculum at Brain Pop by visiting:http://www.brainpopjr.com/ ( k - 3 ) or http://www.brainpop.com/ ( 4 - 8) . There are some lessons there free and open for all to use. Let us know what you think!

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Florida Educational Technology Conference

On January 14th - January 15th, Elementary/Middle School teachers: Susan Hansen, Martha Horter and Sylvia Aslanian attended the 2010 FETC in Orlando, Florida.

This conference held more than 200 concurrent sessions and 80 workshops, plus 500 exhibit hall displays highlighting the latest tools and solutions in education.

The teachers came back energized and excited to use all the ideas they learned.

Some of the sessions that were attended: How to Take Student TV Production to the next level - David Cook Computer Safety and Security Threats Teachers and Students Face - Brent Williams Seventeen Free Software Tools for the Global Classroom Connection - Howie DiBiasi Been Thee Done That and Still Not Ready For Algebra - Janet Bryson K-12 Online: It’s Virtually Everywhere - Paula Galland Joys, Challenges and Management of Classroom Blogging - Jill Tillis School TV Newscast and Video Projects with Adobe Communicator 3 - Rob Zdrojewski PBS KIDS in the Classroom: - Gina Montefusco Computer Animation: Art for the Digital Age -Jack Tovey Google Earth Goes to the Movies - Sarah Rolle 21 Century Skills - Field Trips 2.0 - Tom Turner Brain Pop Curriculum - (exhibit hall) Check out Ms. Martha‘s Literature Blog via Millhoppertech.com under Fifth Grade Check out Ms. Susan‘s Middle School Wiki via Millhoppertech.com under M3S UPCOMING….

We are looking into updating our Video Production equipment and software to take our Middle School News Show to the next level.

(left) Kindergarten students learn about African-American History utilizing Brain Pop. Jr. (recently purchased).

Visit www.brainpopjr.com (grades K—3) or www.brainpop.com (grades 4—8) for more information on the curriculum.

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Millhopper Montessori Elementary/Middle School is happy to announce the 2010 End of the Year Show: Disney's Alice in Wonderland! Jr. Join Alice's madcap adventures in Wonderland as she chases the White Rabbit, races the Dodo Bird, gets tied up with the Tweedles,

raps with a bubble-blowing Caterpillar, and beats the Queen of Hearts at her own game! Roles are plentiful, including three Cheshire Cats and dozens of other wonderfully wacky characters. This fast-paced stage adaptation of Alice in Wonderland features updated dialogue and new arrangements of such classic Disney songs as "I'm Late," "The Unbirthday Song" and "Zip-ADee-Doo-Dah."

You‘re all invited! ―Don‘t be Late . . . For this very important date!‖

Ms. Anita's Class opens the show as the children playing in the park. You'll enjoy a boy/ girl in a white vest showing off his/her watch, some children playing cards, while others are playing many fun games.

Mr. Richard's Class enters the stage as they become the first set of Wonderland characters and the first three chesire cats.

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Alice's adventures continue with Ms. Tina's class where you'll meet Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, the Dodo Bird, Rock Lobsters and other zany characters.

Ms. Sherilyn's Class takes you further into Wonderland and you're greeted by the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, the March Hare, and the Catepillar.. just to name a few.

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Friday, June 4th, 2010 - 5:30pm at the PK Yonge Performing Arts Center “Don’t Be Late… for this very Important date!”

Name on Banner Name on Playbill Cover Full Page Ad in Playbill Name on all Press Releases Name Listed on Sponsor Page Four Reserved Seats Two T-shirts Poster

Name on Playbill Cover Full Page Ad in Playbill

Two Reserved Seats Two T-shirts Poster

Name on all Press Releases

Name on Playbill Cover Full Page Ad in Playbill Name on all Press Releases

Two Reserved Seats One T-shirt Poster

Name Listed on Sponsor Page

Full Page Ad in Playbill

Name Listed on Sponsor Page

Name Listed on Sponsor Page

Name on all Press One T-shirt Releases Poster

Full Page Ad in Playbill Name on all Press Releases

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Enjoy the voyage of discovery as your child, with bright new eyes, sees the world for the first time.

Rhombus, Reniform and Rembrandt By: Edward Fidellow Your child‘s education in Montessori is different – so different that it makes you shake your head in wonder and say, ―Is this something my child is really learning?‖ As parents we want our children to excel at reading, writing and math. Yet their Montessori education leads them through strange and esoteric materials. (At least they are foreign to most adults.)

Why would a three year old need to be versed in geometry?

Fine, a nice circle, a square and maybe a triangle but what purpose for an isosceles triangle, parallelogram or a rhombus?

Then if that is not enough esoteric learning, your child moves on to the botany cabinet. How many three year olds need botany? They are introduced to leaf forms like spatulate, orbiculate, sagitate and reniform.

Most of us adults can‘t even pronounce them let alone know what they are.

If that is not enough diversity in the curriculum, Montessori education then introduces them to the whole world of art. They meet Picasso, Monet and Rembrandt. What in the world was Dr. Montessori

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thinking? And where is the math and reading?

There is a unique method (no it is not madness) in this approach.

Your child is absorbing a tremendous amount of learning and stimuli and beginning to gain the skills of observation and visual discrimination which is the ability to see differences. The Montessori child is effortlessly gaining a lifetime skill – the ability to see. Yes, we are born with sight but sight is passive where all the images come to us.

When we observe, we actively focus our sight.

But even focusing our sight does not always let us see what is there. For example, we have all seen pictures that if you look at them long enough the image changes into something else – like the two faces and the goblet or the old woman and the young girl. Skills and even talents need to be trained and refined. A Montessori classroom provides an unending panorama of activities that train and refine the ability ―to see‖.

Though education is primarily reading and math based, life is about having a clear vision of what is present (and what could be). And though the introduction

to geometry (rhombus), botany (reniform) and art (Rembrandt) is rudimentary, it is absolutely foundational to clear-eyed success. For your child everything is new and exciting. To be able to put a name with a form or a shape not only gives great intellectual satisfaction but is the beginning of power to organize, define and categorize the world that is seen.

Enjoy the voyage of discovery as your child, with bright new eyes, sees the world for the first time. It is this power of visual discrimination that gives strength and focus to the power to read. It is also this power that breaks the world of math into distinguishable pieces with the ability to see patterns and processes.

Montessori truly gives your child the gift of sight!

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Spelling Bee Champs!

Each spring Ms. Tina’s and Ms. Sherilyn’s classes hosts a spelling bee. The winner from each class is entered into the Alachua County Spelling Bee. Our two representatives this year were Jacqueline (7th grade) and Jasun (5th grade).

Both girls performed very well and we couldn’t be more proud!

You may have even caught a little piece of the MMS spelling bee on TV20 news as the station came and did a small segment on the 6pm news that evening!

Math Rockstar!

Congrats to Timothy for placing 2nd at the Sweetwater Branch Academy Math Competition in February. MMS

had five 4th & 5th graders compete. this year and all did an amazing job!

Hoggetown Medieval Faire Essay Contest With nearly 300 entries, ranging from kindergarten through high school, MMS had 7 students win awards in the essay portion of the 24th Annual Hoggetowne Medieval Faire Student Art and Essay Contest!!

A HUGE congratulations to the following students: Timothy (Grand Prize), Thomas & Alex (1st Place), Natasha (2nd Place), Chelsea (2nd Place), Ben-

jamin (3rd Place), & Arman (3rd Place).

These works were all on display at the Alachua County Library Headquarters through the end of January. The awards ceremony took place at the Hoggetown Medieval Faire on Saturday, January 30th, in which all were given their awards.

Congratulations again to Timothy, Thomas, Alex, Natasha, Chelsea, Benjamin and Arman! You have made us all so very proud!

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Thursday, March 25 Saturday, March 27 Barnes and Noble will be hosting a MMS book fair at the Gainesville Barnes and Noble on Archer Road Thursday, March 25th – Saturday, March 27th. A percentage of all sales, designated as ours, will be donated to the school.

Keep up with all things MMS on a daily basis!

cashier one of our school vouchers. Extra vouchers are available for family and friends.

Orders placed online with Barnes and Noble can also count towards our totals. During the check-out process you must enter the school‘s full name.

You must inform the cashier Internet sales count towards our when you check out that you are total from March 25, 2010 until with Millhopper Montessori April 1, 2010.

School or better yet hand the

Summer Camp We will once again offer an enriching and exciting day camp for Preschool/Kindergarten, Elementary and Middle School students June 14-July 23. The program activities will include specialty classes, crafts, games, sports, and special events that revolve around a variety of themes. The Preschool & Kindergarten students will experience a Montessori hands on curriculum, weekly educational fun themes, arts & crafts, music and playground fun! The First

through Eighth grade campers can choose from the following options: Enrichment, Theater, Young Filmmakers, Wide World of Sports, Technology and Fit Club camps.

DATES & PROGRAMS: June 14 – 18 Photography June 21 – 25 Woodworking June 28 – July 2 Mad Scientist July 6 – July 9 Geography July 12 – 16 Drama July 19 – 23 Drama

A BIG Congrats!!!

Congratulations to Eileen Pesantes on becoming a PhD Candidate at UF!

Every Friday will be splash day and an optional pizza lunch is available for all students.

Sta yt for uned info more rma tion !

More information will be available in the upcoming weeks. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the front office.

We look forward to spending the summer with your child(ren)!!!

Keep Collecting...

Thank you to everyone for clipping Box Tops off of select General Mills products. The Class that collects the most box tops will win an Ice Cream Party at the end of the school year! www.boxtops4education.com

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Alachua County Science Fair MMS racked up awards at the Alachua County Regional Science Fair! A huge congratulations to Jacqueline for 1st place in the Behavioral/Psychology category! She was chosen for the state competition and also was awarded “Best in Show: Jr. Bio�!

Ashley F. won 1st in the Physics category and was chosen for the state competition! ... Ashley and Ashlyn P. placed 3rd in the team competition!

MMS SCIENCE ROCKS!

Jr. Thespians The last weekend in February, our Junior Thespians traveled to Disney and competed in a National Competition. They took part in two days worth of work shops and presented some scenes from Shakespeare.

They were awarded

the Judge's Choice trophy for the most historical performance and another trophy

for an excellent rating! Dom and Courtney received individual medals for their outstanding performances. Great job MMS!! We are so proud of all of you!!

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MMS Calendar March 2010 Friday, March 19

Elementary/Middle School Father’s Field Day

Monday March 22

MMS Presidential Physical Fitness at SFC

Thursday, March 25 – Saturday, March 27

School Book Fair at Barnes & Noble

Tuesday, March 30

Ice Cream Sundae Fest Yearbook Fundraiser

April 2010 Thursday, April 1

Relay for Life at MMS

Thursday, April 1

Elementary/Middle School Showcase – 6:00 PM

Monday, April 5-9

Spring Holiday

Monday, April 12

Community Open House 10:00 AM-2:00 PM

Monday, April 12

Student Holiday/Teacher Work Day

Thursday, April 15

Ms. Crystal Sorrow’s Parent Appreciation Picnic 11:30 AM-12:30 PM

Friday, April 16

Spring Pictures

Friday, April 16

Elementary/Middle School Report Cards are sent Home

Friday, April 16

Relay for Life at Santa Fe College

Monday, April 19

Safety Patrol field trip at Skate Station

Tuesday, April 20

Hamburger/Hot Dog Lunch Yearbook Fundraiser

Thursday, April 22

PTO Meeting – 6:00 PM

Monday, April 26 Thursday, April 29

Elementary/Middle School ITBS Testing

May 2010 Monday, May 3

Middle School Mother’s Day Tea

Monday, May 3

Preschool/Kindergarten Report Card Conferences begin

Tuesday, May 4

Senior Elementary 4th & 5th Grade Mother’s Day Tea

Thursday, May 6

Anita Bender’s 1st & 2nd Grade Mother’s Day Tea

Friday, May 7

Richard Aslanian’s 2nd, 3rd & 4th Grade Mother’s Day Tea

Tuesday, May 11

Ms. Christina Eckstein’s Parent Appreciation Event 6:15 PM-7:30 PM

Thursday, May 13

Ms. Jackie Johnson’s Parent Appreciation Event 6:30 PM-7:30 PM

Friday, May 14

Elementary/Middle School Fourth Quarter Interim Reports

Tuesday, May 18

Ms. Elizabeth Falls’ Parent Appreciation Event 6:15 PM-7:30 PM

Thursday, May 20

Ms. Renee Brohamer’s Parent Appreciation Event 6:15 PM-7:30 PM

Thursday, May 27 Friday, May 28

M3S End of Year Trip

Monday, May 31

Holiday - Memorial Day

June 2010 Thursday June 3

Kindergarten Graduation – 1:30 PM

Friday, June 4

End of Year Show at PK Yonge 5:30 PM

Friday, June 4

Last Day of School – Preschool through Kindergarten

Monday, June 7

Eighth Grade Graduation – 6:00 PM

Wednesday, June 9

Last Day of School – First through Eighth Grade

Monday, June 14

First Day of Summer Camp