Grade Level Events

Throughout the year, Sunset Mesa students participate in wonderful unit studies and events that are fun, fulfilling, and a delightful way to expand our core curriculum. The children experience music, art, literature, science, math, and drama through a broad variety of activities, guest speakers, and field trips. We love having parent volunteers help and participate with us! Here are just a few of the unit studies and events that make each grade level an exceptional experience:

Early Childhood Preschool, 3 Year Old Classes
Unit Studies include:
• Teddy Bear Unit, culminating with a Teddy Bear Picnic
• Marvelous Me, learning about ourselves and our friends
• Exploring Senses
• Falling for Autumn Unit, enjoying the changing seasons
• Amazing Apples
• Colorful Leaves
• Hot Air Balloons
• Pumpkins and Scarecrows
• Life on the Farm
• Thanksgiving Unit, complete with a traditional Thanksgiving Feast 
• Winter Celebrations
• Winter Wonderland Unit, icy and snowy fun
• Let It Snow!
• The Mitten by Jan Brett
• Winter Animals
• The Jacket I Wear… by Shirley Neitzel
• Gotta Have Heart
• President’s Day
• Children’s Literature
• Rumble in the Jungle
• Commotion in the Ocean
• Dino Dynasty
• Jelly Beans
• Rainbows
• Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!
• Butterflies and Flowers
• Mother's Day Tea
• Splishy, Splashy Summer

Early Childhood Preschool, 4 Year Old Classes
• Literature and pre-reading skills through author studies:
       Eric Carle
       Jan Brett
       Dr. Seuss 
       Leo Lionni
       Many Others!
• Nursery Rhymes, an introduction to rhyming
• Celebrate America Unit
• Desert/Rainforest Units, comparing flora and fauna
• Polar Animals Units, a chilling experience!
• Nocturnal Animals/Diurnal Animals, comparing habitats and habits
• New Mexico, our weather, events and traditions
• 100th Day and 101st Day Celebrations
• Simple Machines Unit: wedges, levers, inclined planes and wheels
• Winter Party
• Valentine’s Day Party
• Solar System Unit, and out-of-this-world adventure
• Parent Participation Day
• End of the Year Picnic and Field Day
• Crazy Days:
      Silly Sock Day
      Pajama Day
      Hat Day
      And More! 

Montessori Preschool Classes
Units of Study:
• Solar System
• Human Body
• Continents and Land Forms
• Plants
• Insects and Spiders
• Amphibians and Reptiles
• Mammals
• Birds
• Science Experiments
• Children’s Birthday Celebrations
• Thanksgiving Feats
• Winter Holiday Program
• Gentlemen’s Night
• Earth Day Celebration
• Ladies’ Night
• Mother’s Day Party

First Grade
• “All About Me” presentations, building classroom community
• Apple and pumpkin math weeks
• The Pumpkin Patch field trip, a farm experience
• Storybook character pumpkins
• New Mexico Fiesta,  a celebration with cooking, music, dance, and more
• Writer's Walk to Fame, a week of collaborative writing experiences
• Thanksgiving Celebration
• Winter Holidays Around the World, exploring cultural diversity and family traditions
• Explora Museum field trip, hands on science
• “I Have a Dream” Day,  events to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.
• 100th Day of School, fun with “100” as the theme
• Popejoy field trip, experiencing professional drama
• Botanical gardens field trip, Living Things Science Unit
• End of Year Blast!

Second Grade
• Pumpkin Day, how many ways can we use a pumpkin?
• Teeny Tiny Day, our world from a different perspective
• Community Awareness Unit
• Shady Lakes Field Trip to experience and observe pond habitat and life cycles
• Family History Unit with a Traditional Dessert Get Together
• Chinese New Year Celebration
• A Taste of Holidays Around the World in December
• “BIG Day,” something to remember during the Tall Tales Unit
• Mystery Lunch, celebrating Encyclopedia Brown
• Zoo Field Trip in October for animal studies
• Alice in Wonderland Musical Field Trip
• Flat Stanley Breakfast with our traveling flat guests
• Natural History Museum field trip
• Spider Unit

Third Grade
•Field Trips to El Rancho los Golindrinas, Popejoy, Albuquerque Museum and Balloon Museum
•Various writing genres experienced during the year: Personal Narratives, Explanatory, Persuasive, and Expository
•Novel Studies throughout the year
•Introduction to several reading genres
•Science Units which include Structure and Function, Healthy Science, Space/Our Planet and Scientific Thinking
•Math games and Explorations
•Cultures and Traditions around the world
•Poetry Unit
•Seasonal Arts and Crafts Units
•Study of Communities and extending ourselves into our own Albuquerque community

Fourth Grade
•Fall Retreat to Manzano Mountains
•Various genres of writing and literature infused throughout the curriculum and units of study
•New Mexico Unit, students research and present state reports; a special day is set aside for students to showcase their projects, design dioramas based on books they have researched from their states, various art and written projects centered around our state, and enjoy a family potluck
•Biography Unit with student oral presentations
•Field Trips: Students will attend a symphony concert and various theatrical productions. They will also tour Casa San Isidro and Coronado Monument.
•Community Service Project for needy children or senior care centers
•Reading Extensions:   Students study the literary devices in novels and complete Multiple Intelligences projects
•National Parks: Students research, make posters, t-shirts, create dioramas,  and design a power point presentation about famous National Parks
•Novel studies throughout the year
•Hands-on Science!   Students hypothesize, investigate and draw conclusions throughout their hands-on studies of Engineering Toys, Survival, chemistry, New Mexico Earth Science, and the Human Body
•Seasonal arts and craft projects

Fifth Grade
• Fall Retreat to Manzano Mountains
• Research projects on the Revolutionary War
• Revolutionary Tea Party
• Living History Museum
• Science projects: Biomes research presentations, crystal making, and launching solar bag.
• Million Dollar Project: A study on economics as students develop businesses with a million dollar budget
• Musical Performance
• "Pi Day"...or is that "Pie Day?" Students have fun with both
• Novel Studies and culmination activities; projects, interviews, dramatizations
• Field trip to El Ranchos De Las Golondrinas
• Government simulations
• Community Service Project
• Graduation events