Classroom Presentations
Be sure to check your child’s backpack, which contains the Thursday packet. Enclosed are photos from most of the classes on Grandparents’ Day, which I hope you’ll pass on to the family members who attended the event. They are in an envelope marked with your child’s name. Enjoy these wonderful photos!
During this last week before Spring Break, we have been celebrating our students’ learning in many ways. The children in the Multiage 1-2 classes have been presenting what they’ve learned about the continents and some countries of their ethnic heritage. These inquiry presentations are the result of at least six weeks of research based on students’ questions. They read trade books, visited websites, and invited parents to share about their travels to these continents. Some students prepared slide presentations by downloading photos from the Internet or illustrated slides using Kidpix, a software program.
Each classroom’s presentation was uniquely creative! One group transformed their classroom into a world museum by building the structures which people from different countries live in (e.g., an African hut, lodging in Antarctica). Another group wore clothing of the country (e.g. tartan kilt and tam-o’-shanter from Scotland, Chinese silk shirt and pants, Mexican poncho). Students in another classroom drew and wrote postcards to their classmates, as if they had visited the country themselves.
One Kindergarten class will share their learning about the concept of non-verbal communication through photographs (which are displayed in Wilcox), and the other Kindergarten class will talk about insects and their habitats. Although these presentations are before the publication of my letter, you can always visit the preschool and elementary weblogs for a summary and photos of these presentations.
The Fifth Grade has been involved in a special project with the Sixth Grade, one one which involves the participation of many private and public schools in Hawaii. After learning about certain Japanese kanji and Hawaiian `olelo no`eau representing concepts of peace, unity, and cooperation, each MPI student designed a quilt square using select words. The decorated fabric squares will be pieced together to form a large banner to welcome the arrival of the Dalai Lama to Maui in April. Melvina Kurashige (Middle School Japanese teacher) and Shirley Rivera (Elementary School Character Education teacher) will be part of a large group of educators in an audience with the Dalai Lama. We are thrilled to have two MPI faculty members who’ll return with impressions of their experiences.
The Ho`olaule`a is this Friday, March 16. We’ll be taking the children for lunch and games at 11:30am. You may have been contacted by your child’s respective teacher(s) to assist with a small group of students, if you’re available. The teachers will handle scrip distribution on Friday. If you’d still like to purchase a Ho`olaule`a t-shirt for your child, you may do so at the event. You may take your child home earlier on Friday, but please sign out your child with the classroom teacher only. The event is for our entire MPI community, so please bring your family for more fun in the afternoon. The Ho`olaule`a closes at 7:00pm.
Since our first and second graders have been studying about continents, I asked the students at the schoolwide assembly this morning which continents some children and faculty will be traveling to with their families during Spring Break — North America, South America, Australia, Europe, and Asia are on the travel itinerary! I’m going as far as the windward side of O`ahu! Enjoy the next two weeks with your children. Be safe and healthy, and we’ll see you again on April 2!
For our children,
Edna L. Hussey
Principal
Posted on March 15, 2007 11:42 AM | Permalink