August 29, 2007

Welcome Parents and Students,

My name is Ms. Moran. I am the new science teacher and I wanted to welcome everyone. I will be teaching 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade science and the resource science teacher for K-3. I hope everyone is looking forward to an exciting new year.

I have a few housekeeping items I need to mention. If possible, I would like to request that any types of appointments be made after school. I know that sometimes this may not be possible, but if we can avoid any unnecessary absences it would be greatly appreciated. I ask this because science builds upon prior knowledge and if your child misses a day of instruction or a lab assignment, there will be little or no time to make that lab work up. Labs are crucial in developing understanding (and points). Alternative assignments would have to adhere to the objectives of the missed assignments and must be approved by the science teacher.

Absences must be excused by the grade level teacher in order for a missed assignment to receive credit. A simple note the next day will be sufficient for science.

Now for some fun stuff…

We have received permission to put a garden in the vacant lot in the front of the school. Please sign up to assist in the Garden Project, as it will start sometime around February. We will need water, compost, wood plots, plants, seeds etc. The garden is for all grades!

We have a trip to the Marin Headlands November 19 – November 21, 2007 for the 8^th grade class. I will need parents to help chaperone this three day trip. Please see Mrs. Granucci if you are interested.

Science projects will be a requirement for grades 6, 7 and 8. Projects must be completed by January 25, 2008 for Catholic Schools week. Start bringing in your completed projects on the 30^th and 31^st of January. Projects must have all parts assembled and present for class presentations by the week of February 4, 2008. Students are encouraged to start investigating topics for their individual projects as soon as possible. Topics and experiment questions need to be approved by the science teacher. The scientific method will be taught the first week of school and will be the standard by which projects will be done and assessed (100 points). I will supply a detailed handout for the science fair in class.

4^th and 5^th grade already have a folder for science. Class materials for 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade:

3 ring binder with dividers for

1 - Notes

2 – Class work/vocabulary

3 – Homework

4 – Lab write ups

5 – Science Journal

Books will be assigned in class. Please bring a pencil and a blue or black ink pen.

Assignments will be posted on the website.

Parent volunteers are welcomed and any parent who has a science job or background is encouraged to sign up for classroom presentations about your science job, but please see me to schedule time.

Wow. What a lot of information…

Thank you for you help and cooperation. Let’s have fun.

Kristina Moran

Science Teacher

Phone:  224-6525

kmoran@stapollinaris.com