Back to School

Apples picked by students at The Elmore School

Monday morning we opened the school doors to a new year. Unlike last year, parents were able to bring their children into the school for their first drop off of the year. Under masks, were many smiles, evident by the sight of their eyes. We have been spending extra time outdoors where students are free to remove their masks this year. This has been a welcomed change for all.

We welcomed seven new students to The Elmore School this year. We have five new first graders, one new second grader, and one new third grader. Returning students have been great at including their new classmates and everyone is making new friends and getting to know each other.

The first week of school is all about getting to know each other and become familiar with our routines. We read several books together this week, students began writing personal narratives, and we reviewed letters and sounds, and talked about spelling strategies. Students also began silent reading routines. In math we bagan learning about our Math Launch activities (Number Talks, Which One Doesn't Belong, and math journals), and learned how to do a few types of number puzzles we will use throughout the year as independent practice. Students also have opportunities to explore games and activities on our math shelf.

I began assessing students to get a baseline for where students are in literacy. I started with first graders this week, collecting data on letter names and letter sounds, sight words, and phonological awareness.

On Thursday we spent some time talking about Rules, which resulted in us developing our class rules. They are: Respect Others and the School, Be Safe, Do Your Best. It's always interesting every year when we talk about rules. The Children almost always state what they can't do. But rules are just the opposite. Rules tell you what to do just as our laws. It's always a shift in their thinking.

The new Gaga Ball Pit (donated by last years third grade families) has been a huge hit! Many of the students have used it daily. The nice part about GaGa Ball is it is fast paced and very inclusive. When students get out, it never takes long for them to get back into the game. Just a few kids can play or several kids can play at one time. The more children that are playing the faster pace the game is.

I've also purchase a few other games for students to play outdoors. I will be introducing these over the next couple of weeks. They include Spike Ball (still waiting for this), Ball Slam (similar to Can Jam but played with a small playground ball), Croquet, and Bocci Ball.

I want to thank Andrea Audet for showing up with an apple picking pole for us on Wednesday! Our Apple tree is full of big juicy apples, but many are high up. Now we can pick our Apples and enjoy them. The children had fun on Thursday using the pole to pick the apples from the top of the tree. Next week I plan to make applesauce with the children!

We ended the day on Thursday with a celebration of the the end of the first week! Students enjoyed ice cream (left over from the ice cream social). Students who finished their summer work were rewarded with first dibs on ice cream.

Reminders:

Students should have extra indoor shoes they can change into when they come inside. It is fine if these are slippers, slides, or Crocs OR they can just be an extra pair of sneakers or shoes. It's very helpful in keeping our classroom floors clean.

PE will begin on Friday, Sept 10th. Please make sure your child(ren) have sneakers and extra socks. We will not have PE on Tuesday until sometime in October, but we will give the students extra outdoor time and movement!

Book orders are due Friday, September 10th. See my previous post for direction on online ordering.

There is no School Monday, September 6th (Labor Day)

There is no School on Thursday, September 16th (Yom Kippur)

There is no School on Monday, October 11th (Indigenous Peoples Day / Teacher PD)

We will be doing a Music Residency with Jon Gailmor the week of October 4-8. Students will be working in small groups to compose original songs, and we will do some whole class song-writing as well. The week will conclude with some type of performance. At this time we are not sure what that will look like, but as details are worked out we will let you know!

School Picture Day will be Tuesday October 5th.

Our first field trip of the year will be Friday October 15th when we visit the Elmore Fire Station for Fire prevention / safety week. We would welcome a couple of parent chaperones. Chaperones will need to have a background check prior to this field trip.

Please assure students have at least two clean masks each day.

We are excited to have school inperson 5 day per week this year. In order to be able to continue this, please keep your child home if they are experiencing ANY COVID - 19 symptoms.