Just wanted to share a few photos from our rafting and OEC Fire Ecology hike. Thanks to all of you for making the trip possible and a huge success. A special thanks to the parent chaperones; Mrs. Fann, Mr. Mickelson, Mrs. Kirsch, Mrs. Anthony, Mrs. Allen, and Mr. Nelson.
Off and running we are! Just wanted to update everyone a little bit. Students have been great these first few weeks, working hard through assessments and new schedules (we have recess before lunch this year).
Remember school photos on Friday!
Our first field trip is next week. Our class will leave Tuesday morning to raft the upper Kenai River. Afterwards we will drive to the KNWR OEC, out Swanson River Road. We encourage families to come join us for dinner Tuesday evening. Early the next morning we will pack up and meet ranger Michelle at Hidden Lake for a fire ecology field trip which includes hiking down Hidden Creek Trail to Skilak Lake through an old burn. We will return to school Wednesday afternoon.
Check this blog for class newsletters for more details about this trip and for other upcoming events.
Our class wants to welcome new 4th grade students, returning students, and our three brand new to Montessori students; Jackson, Allivia, and Peyton. A big welcome to parents and families as well. I can’t wait to see students and get our year started. I know it can be a difficult transition from summer so our fist week will be low-key, packed with great connection activities, and just a few assessments.
I send home a weekly newsletter, which is posted on this blog along with lots of other useful information and links. You can bookmark it by clicking on the link below and then adding it to your favorites:
I am so excited to see everyone, catch up, and to learn about our new students. I feel blessed in this position and thank you for sharing your children. I enjoy our learning journey, and have an open door policy. You can always call me at 260-9221, or email me at: mfaris@kpbsd.k12.ak.us
Wow, this year has gone so quickly- especially third quarter and the beginning of 4th quarter. We went from community groups, to spring break, to preparing for our very early Peterson Bay field trip.
I do want to thank all of you for helping make the trip such a success. Students were very well prepared, and experienced some great tide-pooling and invertebrate investigations. We ate well, played hard and enjoyed each other thoroughly. A special thanks to our parent volunteers; Mrs. Anthony, Mrs. Fann, Mrs. Gagnon, Mrs. Kahn, Mr. Triana and Mr. Mickelson.
Happy New Year!
Wow, things are happening quickly. Just now getting to update this blog. First I wanted to thank all of you for coming to conferences. It is always great to visit about your wonderful children. I appreciate all of your efforts and support; for your children, myself, and our school. It does take a village to raise a child.
The big trips we have coming up:
Wildlife in Winter and snowshoeing at KNWR- Friday, March 3rd.
Alyeska (outside of school day, leave at 7:30 and return at 6:30)- Thursday, March 9th.
Peterson Bay two night, three day trip- April 10-12.
Nikiski Pool field trip in May- date to be announced.
We will need drivers and chaperones so please contact me if you would like to help out.
There are a host of other activities for students, especially 6th graders. Please check the monthly calendars on this blog. Current newsletters are even more detailed so please refer to them about activities, dates, and times. They are also posted on this blog.
I just want to thank every one for coming in to meet with me at conferences. It is so great to get on the same page with parents, and discuss their child’s learning. The more we can work together for these children the better.
Emma and Ashlee pulled off a great Halloween party. We also have to thank all the students and parents who helped pull this off. A huge shout out to Mrs. Shields for being brave and subbing on Halloween. I went to my father’s 80th birthday; it’s the first halloween I haven’t been with my class.
We are going to wrap up our Civil War studies in the next couple of weeks. Students will have a 2-part project due on Nov. 18th. As we continue Soldotna Creek water quality monitoring, Henry will be visiting to move forward our marine debris learning and zero waste curriculum.
Our class will be hosting the all school assembly on November 11th.
Wow, what a beginning to our school year. We have certainly hit the ground running; two field trips, Soldotna Creek water quality monitoring, and a school potato dinner. All students have worked very hard so far and they have blended to create a great, supportive learning environment. I am so proud to see any student drop what they are doing to help another in our class.
This first quarter our writing focus has been narritive writing so students have written a letter, a personal narrative, and are now finishing up a descriptive essay.
Our science focus had been studying waste, specifically marine debris. Our field trip to Homer was funded by a NOAA grant to educate students about the impact of waste, how it becomes marine debris, and how to reduce it. We are also working on experiments to understand independent and dependent variables.
We have focused on social skils, leadership skills, procedures, and routines. We will begin studying the Civil War next week.
I want to thank all of our parents who make our field trips possible by volunteering their time, food, and help. These learning opportunites are invaluable!
I’d like to welcome all of our new 4th grade students, our returning 5th and 6th grade students, and our two brand new students Daisy and Thatcher. We must include a welcome to parents and families as well. I am very excited to get started with kids- that is what makes teaching such a great career.
We will have much more information about our class soon, and most of it will be posted on this class blog. You can bookmark it by clicking on the link below and then adding it to your favorites:
I hope each and every one of you had a restful, fun, and exciting summer break. I can’t wait to see everyone and continue our learning journey together.
Just want to thank all of our students (especially the 6th graders), parents, and staff for such a wonderful school year. Out last few weeks were SO BUSY! Unfortunately I was very sick on our Peterson Bay field Trip and it took some time to recover. But I would like to thank those parents who donated food and especially those parents who volunteered their time to accompany us: Ms. Sturman, Mr. Hansen, Mrs. Gagnon, Mrs. Fann, Mr. Mickelson, and our new intermediate teacher Mrs. Moore. THANK YOU!
After we returned I was very busy putting together our all school slide show, and our 6th grade graduation slide show. I wasn’t able to send home a newsletter the last two weeks so I would like to apologize. Students were very helpful these last two weeks; they worked hard on their assessments, helped clean and organize our classroom, and generally enjoyed their last few days together. I was blessed with an awesome group of students this year. I hope and pray everyone has a great summer. I wish the best for our 6th grade students as they move on, and am excited for a new school year in the fall.
Wow! So many things happened third quarter and we were so busy- I am just catching my breath. First and foremost I want to thank our students- they always shine and impress when helping out our comunity. Ms. O’Brien took all the 4th grade students to the Soldotna Senior Center, Mrs. Carter took all the 6th grade students to Ridgeway Preschool or Bishop’s Attic, and I took all 5th grade students to the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank and they were wonderful. We couldn’t do it without parent help (Big Thanks to Mrs. Fann, Mrs. Coray, Mrs. Miller, and Mrs. Payment).
We also went to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, and to Alyeska. Once again our parents helped us pull off these adventures.
Students worked hard on learning about opinion or persuasive writing this quarter (some may have even written you letters:). All practiced and performed a forensics piece in class, and Luke Ermold moved on and medaled at the district competition!
We will have a busy 4th quarter as well: state testing, 6th grade swimming and boot-camp, Common Sense Media instruction (learning about internet safety, etc.), and preparing for our Peterson Bay field trip in May. I am looking forward to learning and growing with your children during this last quarter- here we go!