End of Year Update!

Hello everyone!

The final day has arrived and boy has the school year ever flown by. It was a pleasure working with your children this year. They accomplished so much and made great gains academically and socially.

This year featured so many opportunities to participate in hands-on activities and projects that enabled students to make connections to how things work and want to inquire about more on the topic.

This year in math my focus was number sense. Students completed the Reflex site and worked very well with whole number, decimal, and fraction dice and card games. Solid number sense aids in your approach to problem solving. Students benefitted from constant mixed review throughout the year. Great gains were made using our Star Data as a result. Exemplars and Real-Life Problem Solving sought to challenge students with the application of concepts. Projects were used to make help students apply their knowledge in useful ways.

This year in Science my focus was to create interest in discovery and inquiry through hands-on learning. My main focus was to present the concept and ask students to share ideas from their personal lives to create a learning community. Students also strengthened their presentation skills by creating learning posters that they had to present to the class. My finding was that students took more pride in their creations when they knew they had to present them to their peers. The Glogster Solar System Project continues to be my favorite because it is so fascinating for us to be this little spot on the radar of an infinite galaxy. It was great to see students select moons and exoplanets that many people had never heard of to create awareness.

I witnessed so many acts of kindness that made me smile. When people reach out to others, it makes the world a better place. It is the desire to want to help people that makes a difference in life. Casey McQuillen, the young lady who visited us last week, spoke so very well for our students about the power and effect of words. My main takeaway was how negative comments can stay with a person for a long time. Think before you speak!

Here are some quotes from my room.
"Do the right thing when no one is looking!" John Wooden, UCLA Basketball Coach
"Perform with Pride!" Tom Hill, Bromfield Varsity Soccer Coach
"The tortoise always beats the hare with consistency!" Darren Hardy, Author of The Compound Effect.
"Never let the fear of striking out keep you from swinging!" Babe Ruth, New York Yankees

For the future I ask my students to seek challenges and never give up. Be persistent when faced with a struggle.
"Nothing is easy and you may stumble, you may fall, but over time you will get it." Tony Horton, P90X
"...and you will succeed 98 and 3/4 % guaranteed." Dr. Seuss, Oh! The Places You'll Go!

I hope you all have a restful summer and please stop by and visit next year!

Sincerely,

Mr. Marrese