Caring for Our Envionment

From the moment of birth onwards, humans strive towards independence. Children feel this need very strongly; they want to do things for themselves, and to participate in the world around them. Following Dr. Montessori's philosophy, in our classroom, this natural drive towards independence is fostered through practical, social and intellectual experiences. The child becomes an active agent in her own education, saying, “Help me to do it myself”. We honor this by helping children move to increasingly higher levels of independence and self-reliance academically as well socially within the environment .

In Dr. Montessori's words, "To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.”

Upper Elementary students taking great pride in caring for their environment.

Newsletter: August 29, 2014

Please note that JBMA will remain closed on Monday, September 1st in observance of Labor Day!

Weekly Vocabulary...ONLINE

Why is vocabulary s-o-o important?

Vocabulary is critical to reading success for three reasons:

1. Comprehension improves when you know what the words mean. Since comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading, you cannot overestimate the importance of vocabulary development.
2. Words are the currency of communication. A robust vocabulary improves all areas of communication — listening, speaking, reading and writing.
3. When children and adolescents improve their vocabulary, their academic and social confidence and competence improve, too.

To help improve students' vocabulary, we use the Oxford-Sadlier Vocabulary curriculum.  We work through each unit every week in the classroom and study the words using the online audio program as well as practice exercises in the vocab book.
Please encourage your child to study the words during the week to prepare for weekly assessment every Friday. 

Here is the information to access to the online vocabulary site.

1) Go to:
http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/vocabulary/

2) Under Vocabulary Workshop, choose the appropriate grade level for your child (Grade 4,5 or 6)
3) Under Elementary School - Color Levels (on the left) make the following selection:
     Version: 2011-2013
     Color Level: Orange (Grade 4)
                           Blue (Grade 5)
                           Level A (Grade 6)


     User: student
and then press Go To at the bottom.

 

4) In the Log-in window enter the following username and password for your child's grade level:

   Orange Book- (Level 4):
   Username: Kim@jsbacademy.org
   Password: bruno1


  Blue Book- (Level 5):
  Username: Rebecca@jsbacademy.org
  Password: fish


 Book A- (Level 6):
 Username: Kim@jbma.org
 Password: L6bruno

  

 

Your Safety, Our Priority!!

 

Traffic procedures have been established for drop- off and pick- up in order to ensure the safety of our students, families, staff and community neighbors.  Thank you in advance for adhering to the following expectations regarding drop-off and pick-up. 

·         The driver of the vehicle must remain in the vehicle at all times while in the drop- off/pick-up lane.  Please do not leave your vehicle for any reason, at any time, in the drop-off/pick-up lane.

·         Students must exit and enter from the passenger side of the vehicle and along the sidewalk only.

·         ALL drop-off and pick-up lines are single lanes- No Passing.

·         The roads in front of the school are used for ingress and egress of neighborhood traffic and emergency vehicles, if needed.  They must never be blocked during drop-off and pickup. Please form the line to enter the gates only on the right side of the road.  Please do not park along the left side of the road while waiting. This will allow neighborhood traffic to move freely during drop-off and pick-up.  

Newsletter: August 22, 2014

Feeling SPECIAL this week...

We smoothly sailed into another week of the new school year.  In addition to our uninterrupted work cycle every morning, we have also continued to enjoy and make progress during our SPECIAL lessons this week; Art, Music, Library, Spanish, Physical Ed and exploring the SmartBoard are some to name.
In Maria Montessori's words; “The essential thing is to arouse such an interest that it engages the child’s whole personality.” and these special sessions give us an opportunity to grow and learn using all our senses. 

MUSIC



 

 

 

 

 

 

ART

In alignment with our AIM theme (Amazing, Incredible ME), students discussed attributives, and experiences that make them unique.  Based on their responses, Ms. Bev is guiding each student to create a self-portrait of the "Unique ME".  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 SPANISH

 

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

LIBRARY

SMARTBOARD LESSON

 

Weekly Homework Assignments

It is extremely important to instill good work habits from the beginning of school year.  Finishing classwork and homework assignments on time is essential for productive work cycle. 

Listed below are the assignments that will be due every week.  We appreciate if parents can assist students by checking on them and reminding them of these due dates-

1) Weekly Homework Packet goes home- Every Friday
Completed Homework Packet is due- Next Friday

All homework is done in the packet except writing prompt.  Writing prompt is to be done in their HW notebook.

2) JGB 3 Interpretive Questions Due- Every Wednesday (in JGB Notebook)

3) Vocabulary Assessment- Every Friday



For further detail on the above assignments, please read below:

1) UE Weekly Homework

The first homework packet goes home August 15^th and comes back August 22^nd.  A new packet will go home each Friday and be due the following Friday, unless we are going to be out of school for a major holiday.  If your child is having a problem with any part of the packet, please have him/her bring the packet to one of the teachers early in the week for additional help.  Please encourage your child to show all the math work in their homework notebook.   

2) JGB Questions

4/L5 - We read the Junior Great Books story on Monday and Tuesday each week.  Students take home the book on Tuesday night, along with their JGB journal, to reread the story with an adult, and to write at least 3 open ended questions about the story.  We discuss the questions during our JGB time the following day.  We will begin reading our JGB next week.

L6 – This year sixth graders will do literature studies from various genres, and will occasionally have at-home assignments as part of their book studies.  

3) Vocabulary Assessment

Vocabulary Test Format L4/5

Students work the vocabulary unit each week in class before Wednesday.  The unit is checked and the book is sent home on Tuesday or Wednesday for students to study for the Friday assessment.  As part of the weekly vocabulary assessment, students will be asked to spell the vocabulary words correctly.  Additionally, they will be asked to write an original sentence using each of the vocabulary words in context, demonstrating that they know the meaning of the word.  We reviewed this format with the students in class this week. 

Example:  Vocabulary word- clean

Acceptable sentence:  The dog is very clean because we gave him a bath to remove the mud and dirt.

Not acceptable:  The dog is clean.  (does not demonstrate that the student understands the meaning of the vocabulary word)

L6 Vocabulary – Sixth graders have 20 words per unit in Book A.  We will begin the year by testing 10 of the words each week.  They will have spelling, fill in the blank, and multiple choice assessments each Friday for the Book A units.

At completion of Week I

The first week in Upper Elementary was filled with mixed feelings; excitement, anxiety, enthusiasm, energy and so much more.  It has been an extremely productive week.  Students explored several new materials, participated in cultural lessons and activities, and worked on this week's workplan jobs. 

Few more pictures from this week:

Language & Math Lessons:



4th Grade- Intro to Parts of Speech

4th Grade- Intro to Parts of Speech

 

6th Grade- Parts of Speech Review

6th Grade- Parts of Speech Review
 

4th Grade- Telling Time Review

 

 

Fruits and veggies from our very own garden

Geography "Around the World" Scavenger Hunt

 

 

 

 Science Swingers: Students learning about variables through scientific experiments

 

 

 

UE Newsletter - August 15, 2014

Our Summer Activities!!

Check out our summer fun activities, trips and travels!!

Gavin Hopper

 

 

Benjamin West

Ben caught his very first fish all by himself.  Its a 5 and a half pound large mouth bass.  A real keeper!!

 

Harper Miller

Spent lots of time at the beach in South Carolina, visited Puerto Rico and Little River Canyon in North Alabama



 

 

Ethan Lee

Went to London this June with his dad and visited London Bridge, Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, Madam Tussaud's, The Beatles Experience in Liverpool, and the famous crosswalk at Abbey Road Studios.

 

 

 

Ismael Choucha

Visited a zoo in Atlanta, Georgia and went bowling.

 

 

 Kimberly Hodson

Took a trip to Costa Rica with her family, visited Spring Valley beach, enjoyed some horseback riding and also attended a Katy Perry concert.

 

 

To share your summer activities, please send your pics to Ms. Salima at Salima@jbma.org with descriptions.  We would love to share them with our UE community :)