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| Students making observations about the budding process of on our Apple Tree |
On Thursday Jason Batchelder joined us in the afternoon and taught us about tree grafting. Jason brought clippings from both an Empire and Macintosh apple tree and he explained and demonstrated how to graft the clippings onto the apple tree in the schoolyard. We will watch them over the next few weeks in hopes that we will see buds appear. If the graft is successful in a couple of years the tree will (hopefully) produce Empire and Macintosh apples in addition to the apples it already produces!
On Friday, Kyle Weatherhogg with Farm to School, joined us in the morning and we planted some seeds in our raised bed. The seeds we started indoors a couple of weeks ago have sprouted, Kyle has another raised bed she plans to bring so we can expand our garden space with these plant starters. We split into two groups and while some were planting seeds the other group spent some time at the apple tree. Each student "adopted a bud" on the tree. They used a "scientists eye" to draw what they saw. They will revisit the "bud" over the next couple of weeks to record the changes they see.
We spent Friday afternoon Greening Up. We started in the classroom by reading Earth. My first 4.54 Billion Years by Stacy McAnulty followed by a discussion about the harmful things that are happening to the earth and what we can do to help. 
Then we walked to the town garage/fire station on beach road and back collecting litter and trash along the way. When we returned to school the children had collected nearly 4 bags of trash! I know that several of you were planning to "green up" as a family over the weekend as well. Thank you for taking the time to make our beautiful state green and for instilling the values of taking care of the earth, which provides so much for us.
This week I was able to begin doing final reading assessments for the year. It is exciting for me to see the growth that every students have made over the year. One of the things I love most about my teaching position at The Elmore School is that I have the privilege of seeing students grow as learners over multiple years. I also had some students in kindergarten, making this my third year with them. Seeing students grow and learn over time is so enlightening, and I feel so proud of every student.
We had many wonderful and creative Economics projects presented this week. We have a few more to go on Monday as there were students who were absent that we had to allow more time.
Third Graders will practice taking the SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) this week so that they learn how to sign into and navigate the platform for taking the test which we will begin the following week.
We have ECO on Wednesday, May 11th. I could use a couple of parent volunteers. Please let me know if you would like to volunteer. Our focus will be weather. This will be the final ECO at our "campsite" as the last ECO on May 25th will involve a hike to the Beaver Pond.
Thank you the DiMotta family for providing hot lunch on Friday. Students enjoyed Hamburgers and chips followed by Strawberry Jello cake and fresh strawberries. The Kate and Mike at The Elmore Store asked if they could provide Hot Lunch one day, so we have added them to the Calendar for next Friday!
Finally, I would like to wish all the mothers and grandmothers a very Happy Mother's Day. You are your child's first and most important teacher. I value you and appreciate you all so much. I hope your day is filled with love, and time doing you enjoy!
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