Hello Promontory Families!
Next week is an exciting week, as it is the second (and final) round of student-led conferences for the school year! SLCs are a great opportunity for parents and guardians to see what their student has been doing at school, and it is an excellent setting for students to explain their work and take responsibility for their assignments. Next week, students will be spending much of their expedition time getting their working binders ready for conferences. They will have assignments to show you that they have completed or are currently working on for the second semester. As your student goes through their work with you during their conference, I encourage you to take the opportunity to ask questions such as...
Since grades are due Monday after school so teachers can get progress reports ready for conferences, missing work is due first thing in the morning on Monday. After then, students must stay caught up or have any other missing assignments turned in by Tuesday, March 27th in order to participate in the scholar dollar reward that will be on Friday, March 30th. I have already sent out emails today to parents whose students have three or more missing assignments from me. There will also be a missing work report on students' desks Monday morning. This week, students began the third and final case study of our expedition. This case study focuses on child labor that still currently happens throughout the world. Students will be doing research on one of three different products (sports balls, chocolate, & clothing) to look at how children are used in the manufacturing of these items. Students have already chosen their product and will soon begin their research. As a reminder, we will be taking a field work trip to Gossner's Foods in Logan on Tuesday March 27th. While there, students will examine the working conditions of a modern-day factory and they will compare that to what they have learned about working conditions during the industrial revolution. We will be leaving the school around 12:30 that Tuesday and will return back at 3:00. Thank you to those who volunteered to drive! I will be sending an email to you soon! Important Upcoming Dates: Wednesday, 3/21: Conferences (2-7pm) Thursday, 3/22: 1:30 Early out for conferences (2-7pm) Friday, 3/23: No school for conferences (7:30am-3pm) Tuesday 3/27: Missing work due for scholar dollar reward, Gossner's field work (12:30-3pm) Thursday 3/29: Maturation Clinic Friday 3/30: Scholar dollar reward in the afternoon Monday 4/2-Friday 4/6: No school-Spring Break! Lastly, I will be out of the classroom Monday morning. I have a much needed appointment to get my hearing checked (students can attest to it's need), so Ms. Courtney will be teaching that morning. If you have any questions comments, or concerns, please feel free to email me. Enjoy your weekend! Lindsay Kelty
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Hello Families!
Students worked very hard on their essays this week. They gave lots of peer feedback and did some editing. We will not be using anymore class time to work on these. Any final typing and correcting they need to do should be done this weekend. If your student does not have access to a computer and needs to work on their essay, please just shoot me a quick email. I can tell they learned a lot from their earthquake essays in our first expedition! I can't wait to read the finished products! Our Lyddie essay marks the end of our first case study of this expedition. On Monday, we will begin case study 2, which focuses more on working conditions. Students will also need to finish up their question packet for Lyddie this weekend if it is not already done. The following information was sent out in an email regarding picture day on Tuesday of next week: Tuesday, February 27 is Class and Spring Picture Day. All students will have their pictures taken with their crew in school uniform for class pictures. New students who have not had their pictures taken yet for the yearbook will also have their individual pictures taken in school uniform. Spring Pictures are optional. Students may choose what to wear for those pictures, but will need to wear their school uniform to school, and they will allowed to change for Spring Pictures. Order forms will be sent home with students this week. You may also order online. Go to mylifetouch.com For Class pictures the code is UM447007G0 For Spring pictures the code is UM447167Q0 If you order online, please make sure to print your order form and return it on picture day. Siblings two years of age and older are invited from 11:00-11:30. We do have yearbooks still available. The price is $14 for a softcover or upgrade for $19 to get a hardcover. These truly are beautiful books with lots of colored pictures of memories for your students. You can pay in the office, or you can pay online. Go to YBPay.lifetouch.com with Yearbook ID Code: 12405517. If you have any questions, please contact the office. If you need an extra order form, please let me know by Monday morning so I can send one home with your student before Tuesday. Thanks! Our crew put on a great Megacrew this week. Thanks to all who were able to come watch! They explained our expedition to the rest of the school and shared poetry that they have written since our kick-off in January. They also explained the novel "Lyddie" and a group of students also preformed a scene out of the book. Everyone all did an excellent job! Lastly, I apologize again for not being available Friday after school for those students who had planned on staying to get help and work on missing work. I am typically always available on Monday, Thursdays, and Fridays (weather pending). Please let me know or have your student let me know if they would like to stay after school any of those days. I will communicate any changes I have to make to that schedule due to weather or other commitments. Thanks! As always if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about our class or your student, please do not hesitate to contact me! Ms. Kelty Hello everyone!
This week, students finished reading through chapter 18 of Lyddie. We are pausing our reading to write an argumentative essay over a decision Lyddie has to make (and we don't want students to know what she actually decides). Today we talked about argumentative essays and students were able to see an example and had to identify the different parts. Next week students will begin the writing process for their essays. I will soon be sending out emails to families whose student is missing three or more assignments from me. There has been an increase of missing work this semester, and I think a large part of that has to do with our morning work. I am now grading cursive for responsibility because I noticed towards the end of the first semester that it just wasn't getting done. Students are given a new cursive sheet at the beginning of the week and are to work on it throughout the week. It consists of responding to a prompt in cursive. I am only accepting work that has the front and back page filled. Many students are not using their time wisely in the morning, so it is not getting completed. Spelling packets are another assignment that also often do not get turned in on time. Students are given new spelling packets every Monday and need to complete one page of it each day, and then turn it all in on Friday. This is to be completed as homework. I also have them write their words usually 2-4 times each night, which I also expect to see in their packet (there are blank pages for them to write). I will now be including their spelling words in my weekly updates so that you are able to help your student study. :) Many students have several missing assignments and it is continuing to snowball. If students ever need help getting caught up, I am always available during break, and most Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays after school until 4:00. If your student would like to stay after school, please have them check in with me ahead of time or please shoot me an email. I can also arrange before school times if students are not available after school. Just let me know if they need help! I also hand out missing work reports every Monday so students always know what they are missing at the beginning of the week. Here are some important upcoming dates to remember: Friday, February 9th: Ms. Kelty gone at conference. Ms. Courtney will be teaching Friday, February 16th: No school-teacher training Monday, February 19th: No school- President's Day Wednesday, February 21st: Our crew leads mega crew! We are hoping to put on a skit for Mega Crew that shows part of Lyddie. If any girls in our classroom have old dresses they would be able to wear to dress up as mill girls, please let me know! :) We hope you can all make it! Next week's spelling words (Unit 14: Six, Seven, Eight) 1. Hexagon 2. Sextant 3. September 4. Spetennial 5. Septet 6. Septuagenarian (this is a weird one! It means, "a person who is between 70 & 79 years old") 7. Octagon 8. Octave 9. October 10. Octopus If you have any questions over the work we are doing, missing work, or any of those upcoming dates, please feel free to email me anytime! Have a great weekend! Ms. Kelty Hi there! We are officially one week into our new expedition, Revolutions to Resolutions! This expedition will cover three case studies: 1. Working Conditions in Industrialized America 2. How Working Conditions Change 3. Voices for Change Throughout these case studies, students will be learning about the working conditions that existed in our country during industrialization, how young people were affected by harsh working conditions, and the potential solutions to child labor inequalities that exist throughout the world. To start off this expedition, our class is doing a novel study of the book, Lyddie, by Katherine Paterson. This story follows a young girl named Lyddie and her journey as her and her brother are hired as servants to pay off their family's debts. We are already three chapters in, and students are really enjoying the book and our discussions over the text! Also new in our classroom is a program called Daily 5 that we are doing during our English Language Arts/DEAR time. Each day, we go through a mini lesson on one type of figurative language or part of speech. Students take notes of these concepts, including their definition and examples, and then complete exercises using the information. So far, students have learned about six different types of figurative language (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, idioms, onomatopoeia, and personification) and we have started singular, plural, singular possessive, and plural possessive nouns. At the beginning of the school year, students were doing a great job of taking their planners home and getting them signed. However, this seems to have really taken a dive. There are no consequences for unsigned planners, however, students are rewarded for getting it signed. Each day they have it signed, they earned scholar dollars. I will also be rewarding those who get it signed everyday during the week on Fridays. I believe that it is important for students to share their days and their homework with their parents/guardians. This instills in them a sense of responsibility and it keeps parents in the loop as far as what is going on at school and whether or not their students are staying on top of their homework. Please encourage your student to bring home their planner everyday and make time to go through some of their day with them. Thank you! Lastly, just as a reminder, there is not school tomorrow, Monday the 15th for MLK Day. I hope students enjoy, as their is not another day off until mid February! :) Please enjoy some pictures below from our expedition kick-off on Monday. Have a great Sunday! Ms. Kelty Hello and happy new year!
I hope your families all had great holidays! I know students had a blast at their intensives the week before break. I will be posting some photos from my intensive, along with some that I snapped during our community scholar dollar store. We've had a great short week. We worked on tying up some loose ends from our first expedition. Students picked out their best pieces of work from the working binders (where we put completed student work throughout the year) and moved them to their portfolios. Work that did not go into the portfolio will be coming home tonight. You saw some of it at conferences, and some is more recent, so please ask your student to share those items with you. :) We also took time to refresh our minds on the procedures and expectations of our classroom (I might have needed this more than them) and practiced certain transitions that we need to improve upon. We looked at the norms we created at the beginning of the year and updated them based on how the school year has been going. Next week will bring our new expedition! Parents, please check your emails for a message from Mr. McKay regarding this. I also ask that students bring winter attire on Monday, as our activity will take place outside that morning. More details about our expedition will come next week after our kick-off! Please don't hesitate to to contact me this weekend if you have any concerns or questions regarding Monday, or our new expedition. As a reminder, there is a 1:30 early out next Friday, the 12th, for teacher training, and then no school the following Monday, the 15th, for MLK Day. Also next Friday, students will be taking an SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory) assessment, which just gives me a good look at their reading levels. They also took this at the beginning of the year. These scores help me see who I or Ms. Courtney can work with one-on-one or in a small group to improve reading and comprehension. Lexia, the online reading program that students do when we have computers, is something students can and should do at home if they have access to a computer and internet. If you have any questions about this, please do let me know! I hope you all have a great weekend! As always, please contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have about our classroom! Ms. Kelty Hello Everyone!
First, I'd like to thank you all for attending our celebration of learning. I hope your family had fun learning about earthquake preparedness and seeing some of your student's work. They have been working so hard throughout this expedition and I know it's meaningful to them to get to show you what they've been doing at school. Feedback is especially welcome for our celebration of learning, so if there is anything you'd like to share about what parts you liked or what areas we could improve, please send me an email at [email protected]. Thanks! It is finally time for the highly anticipated week of intensives! Students should report to school as normal tomorrow. They will come to our classroom first to find out where their classroom will be for the week. After that, they will report to that classroom/teacher through Wednesday. Please make sure students wear appropriate clothing for their intensive. This is most important for students attending Mrs. Hilton's winter sports intensive. Please help your student make wise clothing choices so that they stay warm! Students in my intensive will need comfortable clothing that allows them to move freely. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or their intensive teacher. Besides those two items, there is not much to update in our classroom! We will kick off our next expedition on Monday, January 8th, after returning from break. Please make note of these important dates for the rest of December and for January. December 18th-20th: Intensives December 21st-January 3rd: Winter break January 4th (Th.): Back to school! January 12th (Fri.): Early out, teacher training January 15th (Mon.): No school- M.L. King Day If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please email or call me anytime! Ms. Kelty Hi everyone!
We have been very busy since returning from Thanksgiving break, as our time left with our current expedition is quickly coming to a close! I'd like to apologize for the amount of computer work students have had for assigned homework this week. Because we only have access to computers one day per week, it makes it very difficult for us to type during school. Students will continue to work on editing each other's essays this week, which means they will likely have to make the changes on the computer at home. Please do let me know if your student does not have internet or computer access at home, and I will make sure I find time for them to do this at school. Students are also welcome to do this right after school in our room if that is more convenient for them. Their essays are due on Monday, December 11th. Along with their earthquake essays, students have also been working on their earthquake preparedness guides. They are looking awesome! Our last day of working on these will be on Monday. The other teachers, along with myself, Mr. McKay and Ms. W will be looking over all of the guides from our classes to choose which ones will be sent out in a future Perry City Newsletter. Intensives are quickly approaching and we only have two weeks left of regular class time! The cutoff for missing work is December 11th. If students wish to participate in intensives, they must have their missing work in by that day (exceptions for work missing from absence). We will be having our second scholar dollar store on December 15th. Like intensives, students are required to have all missing work in to participate in this as well. This store will be community-wide. We had some awesome creations and services brought to our last store, I can't wait to see what they come up with this time! As a reminder, items that students bring must be homemade. They can also provide services, such as nail painting, hair braiding, games, etc. Let me know if you have any questions. We will have our celebration of learning for our expedition, "It's My Fault", on the evening of Thursday, December 14th from 6-7 pm. Families will go through a variety of activities surrounding our expedition and will get to see their student's work. Please make room in your schedule-it is going to be a great time! Lastly, earlier this week there was a slip of paper sent home for Mr. Wallace's class' Navajo Drive. They will be collecting items such as canned/dry goods, toiletries, 5-gallon buckets, and gently used and new clothing and blankets. If you have any items you'd like to donate, please send them with your student. We have a big container at the front of our room where we are collecting items. Thanks for your help! Summary of Upcoming Important Events: Dec. 11th (Mon.): Missing work due for intensives and scholar dollar store Dec. 14th (Th.): Celebration of Learning (6-7pm) Dec. 15th (Fri.): 5/6 Community-wide scholar dollar store Dec. 18th-20th: Intensives Dec. 21st-Jan. 3rd: Winter Break Thanks so much! Feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns! Ms. Kelty Hi families!
We had a great week! We dedicated a lot of our expedition time preparing for our student-led conferences and our students did an awesome job! They have created some excellent pieces of work so far this year and I'm so happy they had the chance to show them off! Thank you to everyone for making time to come listen to your student! I know they appreciate that opportunity! Along with SLC preparation, students also worked on their earthquake preparedness guides during expedition this week. They are working very hard on making these look professional before sending they get out in the Perry newsletter. I'm excited to see our finished products! Next week, we will return to our earthquake essays that everyone got to see at conferences. Students have started or finished their introductory paragraphs and we will move on to the body paragraphs on Monday. Next week will be a very short week for Thanksgiving break! There is no school Wednesday-Friday. Also, students will be assigned to their intensives on Monday after school. Please try to help your student remember to bring back their SIGNED intensive sheet where they rank their top 5 choices. If they are not returned until Tuesday or later, it is very unlikely that they get their first choice. As mentioned in the intensive letter that was given out at conferences, students who have missing work on Monday when we assign intensives will be put at the "back of the line". Also, all missing work is due December 11th if students want to participate in their intensive. If missing work is not turned in (and does not stay caught up) when December 11th arrives, students will attend study hall during those three days instead of their intensive. It is very important that students start working on missing work now and stay caught up after the 11th! I can't believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner! This year is really flying by! I hope everyone has a fun and warm weekend! Ms. Kelty Hello everyone!
This coming week is an exciting one! We will preparing work at the beginning of this week so that students are prepared to show you everything they have been working on since the school year began. You can expect to see something for each subject: expedition, math, science, and reading! Students and parents who are new to Promontory may have never experienced conferences that are led by the student (not me!). This really helps them take ownership of their learning, the skills they have learned to help them succeed, and areas in which they are still working. And for those of you who hear "nothing" when you ask what your student did all day at school-finally, your questions will be answered! Our winter break is quickly approaching, which also means that intensives are as well! When you come for conferences, you and your student will receive a paper for them to list their top three choices. We've discussed this in our classroom this week, but students MUST talk about their choices with you as some of our intensives do cost money. These papers must be returned to me by the Monday after conferences, the 20th, as this is when us teachers will be sorting them into their intensives. Another conversation we have had this week, but that I also want to fill you in on, is that students who have late work will be saved for last when we draw names for intensives. Students who have shown responsibility by staying on top of their assignments and homework will be rewarded by getting sorted first, thus having a better chance of getting into their first choice. When intensives roll around in December, students who have any missing work will have to go to study hall instead of intensives to work on those assignments. Intensives are so much fun, so please help me encourage our students to get caught up and stay on top of their work for the next month! This week we will continue to work on our two larger projects for our expedition. Students have been working in pairs on earthquake preparedness guides. Mrs. Hilton spoke to the city of Perry to see if it would be possible to send these out in their newsletter and this week, the mayor approved it! We are still in the editing and fixing stages, but I let you all know ahead of time when these will be sent out. Students have also been working on essays over their choice of earthquake topic. We are still in the early stages of these, but students will be sharing what they've completed so far at conferences! Important November/December Upcoming Dates: November 15th (Wed.): SLC's 2-7pm November 16th (Th.): EARLY OUT- SLC's 2-7pm November 17th (Fri.): NO SCHOOL- SLC's 7:30am-12pm November 20th (Mon.): Student intensive choice sheet due November 22nd-24th: NO SCHOOL- Thanksgiving break December 18th-20th: Intensives December 21st (Th.): NO SCHOOL- Winter break begins! I cannot believe how quickly winter is approaching! We've had such a great few months of school! I remind the students often, but I want parents to know as well that I feel so lucky to work in such a great school with a great community! All of the students in our crew are so special to me and I love getting to come to school everyday to teach them! I appreciate them and you for all that you do for our school and crew! Enjoy your Sunday and I will see you all this week at conferences! Please email me if you have any questions! Ms. Kelty Hello!
This week marked the final fieldwork trip for our expedition. We had a great time at the USU campus. Alexis showed us some of the samples the 5/6th community found at the Wasatch Fault using their huge electron microscope. They told us these were some of the best samples they have ever seen! We also got to explore the Geology Department's huge collection of rocks, minerals, and fossils before we took a look at other rocks under microscopes. Lastly, we were given a demonstration of the chemical processes that take place when minerals form. It was so awesome! We had a great time and we all learned so much. Visit the photos page to view an album from this trip. Even though our fieldwork is over, our learning about earthquakes is not! This week, students started creating earthquake preparedness guides after they did their own research on what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. We will continue with these next week, along with starting earthquake essays! Now that November has finally arrived, it means that student led conferences are here! Half of our crew is signed up already! If you haven't yet signed up, please visit this website to get your name in a time slot: https://pickatime.com/client?ven=11609912&event=313998 If none of the available times work with your schedule, please just shoot me an email and we will find a time that works! Because of SLC's and Thanksgiving, we've got some "special" days coming up in our calendar. Please mark these down! There will be more to come when December arrives. Important Dates for November: Friday, November 10th: Early out (teacher prep) Wednesday, November 17th: Student led conferences begin Thursday, November 16th: 1:30 Early out (student led conferences) Friday, November 17th: No classes (student led conferences) November 22nd-24th: No school (Thanksgiving break) Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Please contact me if you ever have any questions or concerns! Ms. Kelty |
AuthorsMs. Kelty will post news and announcements about our class here. Archives
March 2018
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