Week 8 - All Together!

There was a new energy At the Elmore School as Monday brought a welcomed change with a full classroom!  The children were happy to be back together and enjoyed playing with their friends.  Seeing the row of desks filled was a welcomed sight!  On Monday we adjusted what our Morning Meeting looks like by moving our chairs to the perimeter of the desks to make a large square around the desks so everyone can see each other.  We've also adjusted snack and lunch to a split schedule to allow for fewer students to be unmasked at a time.  When the weather is comfortable, we will continue to eat outdoors as a whole group, but on those days when it is not favorable outdoors, we will split the group up so half (every other row) eats at a time, while the other half does something at their desk or have recess.  

We began the week by developing our school rules.  We watched a video about the Preamble to the Constitution and read the book We the Kids by David Catrow.  

Then we had a discussion about what rules are and why we have them.  From there, students listed rules they felt would be helpful at the Elmore School.  We categorized these ideas and came up with just a few rules we agreed upon.  They are: 

• Care for each other and the environment (and school), 
• respect other people's' choices, 
• and stay safe. 

On Friday we developed playground specific rules, which seemed necessary with more students using it at a given time.

On Tuesday students identified their Hopes and Dreams for the school year.  We discussed what a goal is and the difference between a short term goal and a long term goal.  Hopes and Dreams are a long term goal for the school year, vs.  a short term goal that you might identify at the beginning of a lesson or day.  The students created three goals: one for reading or writing, one for math, and one social goal.  They wrote their goals on the arches of a rainbow template and then they painted the rainbow using watercolor paint.  

We continued the theme of rainbows as a symbol of hope on Friday was we read the book Share Your Rainbow.

"Inspired by kids across the country displaying rainbows in their windows, acclaimed illustrators come together to imagine everything these rainbows represent: caring for one another, and our hopes for the future. In this collection of eighteen scenes, readers will lick an ice cream cone, swim in the ocean, cuddle close with cousins, and celebrate a birthday with a party full of friends and family. Each spread has a hidden rainbow for kids to find!" (Amazon.com)

After reading the book, students created their own "rainbows of hope", as their shared what they are looking forward to in the future (post Covid-19).  These drawing/paintings will be displayed in our front windows for all to see as they drive past our school.

Some of their works in progress

On Friday, we had Farm to School.  In this week's lesson, students did some taste testing of various apples, used their senses (tastes, smells, looks, and feels) to describe them.  Students used descriptive words to fill in a table to describe the apples.  Then they explored what the inside of an apples looks like (a star), and counted how many seeds each apple had.  Finally, they voted on their favorite apple and created a graph using and apple core to stamp their vote on the graph.  

Morning health screenings went pretty smoothly with full attendance.  We anticipated it taking longer, but we were able to get everyone screened prior to 8:00 allowing us to begin our day on time.  In the near future parents may be able to fill in the screening form on their own device.  Ericka or I would take your child's temperature and then you would enter it into the form and submit it.  This should help things move even quicker.  I am currently working with the district to find out what needs to happen in terms of acess to wifi to make this possible.  

Reminders:  

• Library is Monday.  
• iPads and headphones should travel back and forth from home to school everyday.  Chargers should stay at home, and iPads should be charged at home.
• Students should be filling out their Reading Logs on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Total number of minutes read each day should be included as we are keeping track of our minutes to earn class rewards.  Parents are not required to sign the logs.
• In order for students to get credit for attendance on Remote Wednesdays, the need to be part of Morning Meeting (or a group), and/ or complete assignments.  If I have no evidence of participation by the end of the day on Wednesday, your child will be marked absent for Wednesday.  
• Morning Meeting will be at 8:15 on remote days.  Students may need to sign back into their Google account prior to accessing the google meet.  We've taped their Google login information inside their work folders.

Through the generous support of the USDA, Lamoille South Unified Union will be hosting a Farmers to Families Food Box Distribution beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28, at Morristown Elementary School.

The Farmers to Families food boxes will contain fresh produce, chicken, milk and dairy products and the distribution is open to anyone needing to access food.  To reduce wait times, we ask that people pre-register.  We also encourage people to pick up for others who may lack transportation.  Please take a moment to complete this quick registration form –  thank you for your help in making this run smoothly!