Week 9

This week I have just a few announcements for you.  

We have ECO again on Wednesday, Nov. 3rd.  from 9:00 - 12:00.  I currently have two parent volunteers for this week. Volunteers should plan to arrive around 8:50.  This week our focus will be Sun Stories (Shadows, Sundials, Compass Basics).  If you are interested in volunteering on Nov. 17th, please let me know. 

With the funds from our very successful yard sale/bake sale fundraiser last weekend I have purchased a cargo wagon and a cargo sled in which we can pull our materials and equipment to our ECO campsite.  Additionally, I've purchased some rain gear, warm mittens and gloves, and warm socks.  I would also love to have a few extra pairs of snow pants on hand.  If you have a pair of snow pants that your child has outgrown and no longer needs, please consider donating them to the school.

The Sargent Family is on the schedule for Hot Lunch this Friday.  I will let you know what the menu will be.  

Please email me school lunch orders (Mon- Thurs this week).  A reminder, if you request a lunch, I ask that you do not send a lunch from home.  This week there were several lunches that went uneaten.  I will NOT be placing lunch orders for students unless I get an email from you each week.

From Superintendent Heratys' update: sign up for updates HERE

The LSUU School District is excited to announce we are ready to begin the antigen Test to Stay (TTS) program. If you would like your child to participate in this program, please provide consent HERE. Only if your child is unvaccinated and a close contact would this apply but it is important to sign the consent form prior to a potential situation as the system takes at least one day to upload a consent form.

Visit https://education.vermont.gov/covid19/testing-test-to-stay to read more about the TTS progam.

We finally had our first frosty mornings this week.  Please assure students have mittens, hats, and warm coats.  PE continues to be outdoors on Tue and Fri (unless it is raining).  Extra socks / shoes are encouraged.

There is NO school on Thursday, November 11th (Veterans Day) - Teacher Professional Development.

Nov. 23rd.  End of First Trimester

Thanksgiving Break is Wed. Nov. 24 - Fri. Nov. 26.  

Early Release (12:00) Friday, Dec. 3rd.

That's it for this week!  

WEEK 8

Our first ECO Circle of the year.  Students enjoyed a snack and story as they got ready to explore!

Our week was full of many exciting moments!  Third graders began the week with their first recorder  lesson with Mrs. Leopold.  The morning was abuzz with sounds of excitement as students awaited her arrival.  I'd like to extend my appreciation to Lisa for agreeing to work with the third graders this year!  I'd also like to thank Heather Hill, who graciously agreed to alter some bags I had, so each student will have a bag to store their recorders.  Students also have special face masks for playing instruments.  These will stay at school, but next week students will be able to bring their recorders home to practice. 

I'd also like to extend my appreciation to Lisa Leopold who offered to help put our video performance together!  If you have not had a chance to see the video yet you can click on the image below to view the video.

Monday was also Pajama and Stuffy day!  This was our second reading reward of the school year.  For this reward students read over 3,540 minutes  to climb Hunger Mountain.  Stuffy day inspired our writing focus on Monday as students wrote drafts of stories featuring their Stuffy as the main Character.  Students spent the next few days finishing their stories and revising them.  

Tuesday I began administering the PNOA (Primary Number and Operations Assessment) to first graders.  I was able to finish these on Thursday.  The PNOA gives me a glimpse at student's number concept and what they strength and weaknesses are.  

Wednesday, we had our first ECO (Educating Children Outdoors) class.  We had amazing weather to be outside for the morning.  we began outside our school by doing introductions and going over expectations.  After walking to the Elmore State Park we played a predator and prey tag game featuring the Great Blue Heron as the predator and fish and frogs as the prey.  Then we settled in at our campsite  (outdoor classroom) where students enjoyed their snacks and listened to a story about how to build a fire, told by our NBNC Naturalist, Carrie Riker.  Students chose their nature names and shared them with the groups.  After that students had forest choice where students began by finding sticks to build a small fire for the Kelly Kettle  so we could make tea.  During forest choice, students enjoyed using sticks and other forest materials to build fairy houses, and used magnify glasses to explore the forest up close.  We ended our day with Journaling at our sit spots while having some tea.

On Friday we had our first spelling quiz of the year and we also had a quiz in Math.  Next week, students will begin having spelling homework were they will choose one of 3 practice pages each night.  On Thursday they should  focus on reviewing the words to prepare for their quiz on Friday.  We have concluded our first units on math on addition and subtraction strategies, and comparing numbers.  Over the next couple of weeks we will focus on linear measurement.  

On Friday, we also participated in the VTRAN's Name a Snowplow Program, which was open to all Vermont Elementary Schools.  Schools were invited to submit snowplow name proposals in an effort to name each truck in the 250 fleet.  As part of the program snowplow drivers will visit the school with the  named truck for the unveiling of the name.  Named trucks will be located near the school who proposed the name.  We used the Civic process of voting to decide on the name.  First students suggested names, them we had a blind vote where students were able to vote on their top 4 choices.  One we had narrowed down 4 choices students had to write a persuasive paragraph about why their top name choice should be chosen.  Students read their persuasive paragraphs in order to persuade their friends.  Then we voted by secret ballot.  The ballots were counted and ultimately the students chose "Snowy Owl".

Thank you to Deidre Keith and Ariah for the delicious Taco Bar for Hot Lunch on Friday!  I thinks it is safe to say we love it!

Reminders:

Library is Monday!  Remember your books!

PE is Tues and Friday:  Remember sneakers and be on time!

email me your lunch orders for the week.  There is no family Hot Lunch next Friday.

Early release, Friday, October 29th.  Dismissal is 12:00. (we will eat lunch prior to dismissal)

No School, Thursday Nov. 11th (Veterans Day)

Thanksgiving Break: Wednesday, Nov. 24th - Friday Nov. 26th

Getting ready to light the fire.

Building Fairy Houses

Exploring Nature

Awe and Wonder...

Sit spots and journaling

Just Chillin"

Week 7

 

Elmore Students Visit the Elmore Fire Station to Learn about Fire Safety

Week seven began with Indigenous People's Day.  Students had the day off from school but Parent Teacher conferences took place throughout the day (and afterschool this week).  Thank you to all the parents who took time to meet with me this week!  I truly appreciate the opportunity to have discussions with you about your child and share with you What I've learned about your child.  

On Tuesday, the students wrote Thank You notes and made cards for Jon Gailmor.  This provided a nice time for us to reflect on the work we did with Jon last week.  The cards were very thoughtful and creative.  I know Jon will treasure them.  You should have all found a CD with the six songs students recorded last week.  Five of the songs are original songs, while Jewel of a School was added to (with 3 new verses).

Ms. Waldman came on Wednesday for Guidance.  Her lesson this week was all about Self Control.  It was perfect timing as I had just been talking with the class about using self control.  We learned that the steps to self control are 1. STOP,  2. THINK (good choice vs. poor choice), 3.ACT (make a good choice).  One student reminded us that making mature choices isn't always as "fun" as making immature choices.  I thought this was very insightful.  

Our week concluded with our annual field trip to the Elmore Fire Station.  Students learned about fire hazards around the home, practiced calling 911 to report an emergency, practice STOP, DROP, and ROLL, and how to crawl under the smoke along the wall, feeling the wall with the back of their hand to find an exit, and they practice crawling through a maze following the firefighters voice.  As is tradition, 3rd graders were able to try on the firefighter gear, and all students were able to go inside 3 fire trucks, and learn about some of the special equipment on the fire trucks.  Upon returning to school students wrote reflections to tell something they liked and something they learned.  Thank you to the Elmore Firefighters who took time our of their day to teach us about Fire Safety!  

On Friday we also had our first family Hot Lunch!  Lunch was provided by Izzy's Family.  Students enjoyed delicious, cheesy Macaroni and Cheese, fruit, and a Cookie!  We will have another Hot Lunch next Friday provided by Ariah's Family!  

Reading reward!

Students have been doing a lot of reading and filling out their reading logs!  We have submitted our second mountain of the year, Hunger Mountain.  Students voted to have a PJ and Stuffy Day, which we will have on Monday!  Students are invited to wear their comfy cozy PJ's (or clothes) and bring a small stuffed animal for the day!  The reading logs have been updated...grade 2 has increased from 15 minutes to 20 minutes of reading and grade 3 has increased from 20 minutes to 30 minutes.  Students are welcome to borrow books from the classroom, I just ask that they return them with done.

Library is Monday!  Remember to bring your books!

Physical Education is Tuesday and Friday at 8:00.  Students need sneakers and should bring extra socks they can change into. Please try to be on time on Tuesday and Friday so students do not interrupt PE class.

As many of you know, we are now locking the shed in the evening and on weekends.  If you are the last one(s) on the playground after school, please help assure that all equipment is stored in the shed and the shed is locked at the end of the day .  I greatly appreciate your attention to this matter.  

Email me your Lunch orders for Monday - Thursday!

 

Week 6

Morning Fog lifting over Lake Elmore

We have completed our first 6 weeks of school!  After the first week, this is the first major milestone of the school year for any teacher.  Routines and expectations have been established and our newly formed community of learners has come together.  Week six did not disappoint!  

It's a Girl!

On Monday we arrived to find the Monarch Butterfly had just emerged from its chrysalis on our ceiling. I was able to climb up and put it back in the butterfly habitat (net), until we were ready to release it. While we missed the magical transformations of caterpillar to chrysalis and chrysalis to butterfly, we were happy to celebrate the release of the butterfly back into nature!  Prior to it's release we determined the Butterfly was indeed a female as it lacked two additional dots which mark the wings of a male Monarch.

We Also had a visit from Principal Heraty on Monday morning who surprised the children with a brand new Croquet Set, Bocce Ball set, and a large Connect 4 game we can play at recess!  We had some beautiful weather this week to enjoy our new games!  Thank you Mr. Heraty!

Our week was filled with the joy of music.  Throughout the week students worked in small groups to compose and sing original songs with Jon Gailmor.  We had four groups so we decided to write four songs about the seasons. Each group spent their first Day with Jon writing the lyrics to their song.  In the next session they put their words to a melody which was then recorded.  The whole class also wrote 3 additional verses to our school song, "Jewel of a School" which was originally written back in 2003 by the Elmore Students with Jon's tutelage.  Additionally,  the students wrote a new school song titled "The Wings of Elmore" inspired by our new School mascot, The Owl!  Students brought home the lyrics to the songs they worked on.  Jon is putting together a CD, for each student, with all the songs, and we will soon have a video to share with you of their "performance".

One of the groups working on recording their original song with Jon Gailmor

Putting "The Wings of Elmore" to music.

Students collectively read over 1200 this week!  This gets us within 40 min. of our next mountain summit (Hunger Mountain = 3540').   Each minute read equals one foot elevation.  Way to go Elmore Owls!

Next week I will be administering the Primary Numbers and Operations Assessment (PNOA) with all the first graders.  All first graders and the District take this assessment 3 times per year.  It is an interview style assessment giving us information about students' number sense, looking at: counting and sequencing,  numbers and operations, magnitude, and estimation.  

Monday, October 11th is Indigenous People's Day.  there is no school, but we do have Parent Teacher Conferences.  Students are welcome to attend the conference with you.   

We will have Library on Tuesday Next week!  Remember to Bring your books!

Our first family Hot Lunch will be next Friday October 15th, provided by Izzy's family!  I will let you know early next week what the menu is.  No "School Lunch" Friday.  

We also have our Field trip to the Fire Station next Friday, October 15th.  There is a permission slip in your Friday folder which needs to be signed and returned on Tuesday.  If you wish to chaperone, please indicate this on the permission slip and I will confirm with you by Thursday.

ECO is Wednesday, October 20th from 9-12.  I believe I have one parent volunteer.  If you wish to join us, we could use one more volunteer.  

A beautiful day for Croquet.

Connect 4!

Students work on writing the lyrics to "Wings of Elmore"

Our monarch butterfly found a leaf to rest on just after being released.

Students who missed painting last week, were able to paint the mountain landscape on Monday

A "Beauty Spot" indeed!

Week 5

Students set up to paint the fall colors on the Elmore Mountain - An Annual Tradition

Week five flew by in a whirlwind!  We are really getting used to our routines and students are settling in with work habits.  I am still in the process of doing beginning of the year assessments, and hope to be finishing up in the next two weeks.  Once this happens we will begin more explicit reading and phonics groups.  

We kicked off the week with our first Farm to School lesson with Miss Kyle!  Students learned about the process of composting and what a healthy compost consists of (green matter, brown matter, and living organisms).  

During writers workshop this week our focus was on stretching out our small moment stories by adding more details, writing a powerful ending, and using checklists to help set goals and work hard to achieve our goals. 

In addition to silent reading, students have been spending time partner reading with their deskmates.  This is good practice for students, as it gives them the opportunity to listen to other students, read to other students, and have conversations with other students about what they are reading.  This is something we were not able to do last year, so it is a nice addition to our reading time.

During math each grade has been working on addition and subtraction strategies using various "part, part, whole" models such as number bonds, and number bars.  We ended the week with students applying what they practiced to word problems.  We also had our first week of "Math Menu".  Math Menu allows students to have to choice over what they are doing to practice math each day.  On the menu there are "Must do" items and "choice" items.  Students are free to choose the order in which they do their "must do" items (though they need to do their practice pages first.). Math menu follows the general class lesson and then allows me to focus on individual students or groups of students who need help while students work independently.

We have started a unit on Economics, which is one of our Global Citizenship standards.  Students have identified Needs vs. Wants, Opportunity Cost (having to choose between and need vs. a want and sometimes having to give up something we want to get something we need), and Consumers vs. Producers.  Next week we will discuss Goods and Services.  Eventually students will apply what they have learned to participating in our upcoming fundraiser, and then helping to pick items we need to purchase for our ECO program.

Thank you to everyone who made our 2021 Open House a great success!  Students were so proud to share with their families their work and their classroom/school!  

It is an annual tradition for students at the Elmore School to paint the landscape of Elmore Mountain every fall.  Student's have been asking when it would happen... Friday was our day.  If your child was absent on Friday, we will plan to have them paint one day next week or the following week.  

In your students Friday Folder this week there are several things that need your attention.  

• Picture envelopes for ordering school photos - see below
• Flier for the upcoming School Sale Fundraiser (Thank AnnMarie Dryden for organizing this).  Please consider donating items for your yard sale/ craft sale/ back sale, as well as your time. Click HERE to sign up.  All proceeds will go toward purchasing equipment and gear for our ECO program. Items that do not sell will need to be reclaimed by the donor.
• 1 day remote work packet - NO...we are not going remote!  Please hold onto this packet and keep in a safe place where you will be able to locate it in the event we do need to shift to remote learning at any time.  There is one day of paperwork for students to to (as well as reading).  In the event we need to remain closed longer than one day, arrangements will be made for parents to pick up student devises and a remote/virtual learning schedule will be put into place.

There is a lot happening in the next few weeks at the Elmore School!

Next week:  

Our music residency with Jon Gailmor will take place next Monday - Friday.  Students will be split into four groups.  Each group will meet with Jon 2 times to compose an original song.  Each day the whole class will also meet with him to write a song together and write a couple of new verses to our school song.  On Friday we will have final rehearsals, voice record, and video record the students performing, which will be made available to you.

School Picture day is Tuesday!  Please find an envelope in your child's Friday Folder. Please return your picture envelope on Monday.  If you plan to order a package, include your payment with the envelope.

Pizza Day next Wednesday!  We will be having Pizza as an option for school lunch next Wednesday!  Please discuss this with your child.  I had to give the kitchen a count for how many wanted to have pizza on Wednesday and all but 2 indicated they wanted to pizza.

Book Orders are due Friday, October 8th.

No School October 11th - Parent Teacher Conferences.  Please see me if you have not signed up for a conference.

Fire Safety Field trip to the Elmore Fire Station - Friday October 15th @9:00am

ECO - Wednesday, October 20th from 9-12 at the Elmore State Park.

Recorders! - 3rd graders will begin learning recorders on October 18th.  Mrs. Leopold ( the music teacher at MES) has generously agreed to teach Elmore 3rd graders recorder this year!  Students will meet with her at 8:00am on Monday mornings, so please assure students are on time.

Reminders: 

Email your lunch orders to me by 7:00 pm on Sunday (including pizza orders for Wednesday).

Library is Monday - remember your books!

Please pack a set of extra clothes including extra socks!

Students should have a pair of indoor shoes!

The days are getting cooler.  Please assure that students have extra layers.

We will begin a rotation of Hot Lunch on Fridays provided by families beginning on the October 15th.  There are still several opening on the schedule.  Click HERE to sign up to bring Hot Lunch for the Students at the Elmore School.  

Check out these Proud Artists and their Beautiful Masterpieces!