Week 8

 

Representative Peter Welch paid a visit to the Elmore School This week!

We had a full week which began with a visit from Representative Peter Welch on Monday.  We had a casual conversation with the children which began with him reminding them that he met students from the Elmore School last year when we helped "save the post office" by showing up with signs of support for the Elmore Store and Post Office.  He shared a little about is role in government as a member of Congress.and then asked them to share a little about themselves.  We feel fortunate Mr. Welch would want to stop by our little school by the lake to meet with us.  

I finally finished reading assessments this week and we be starting guided reading groups next week!  

I will be looking at the data to determine what groups will be (they may consist of students from across the grades depending on the need of students.  These groups will focus on reading fluency and comprehension.

In math we are progressing along.  The 1st graders have been using graphs to compare sets and then expanded for (breaking teen numbers into tens and ones).  2nd graders began adding 3 equal addends by first adding the tens and then the ones to find the sum.  3rd graders have been working really hard this week on solving multi step word problems that involve comparison, addition and subtraction with and without regrouping.  This has proven to be quite a challenge!  

This week, with Peter Welch visiting, it was a good opportunity to learn about the 3 branches of government.  Students learned the three branches are the Legislative branch which makes up Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives (they propose the laws),  the Executive branch, consisting of the president, vice president , and cabinet (they pass or veto laws), and the Judicial branch consisting of the courts and judges (the interprets the laws).

In science we learned about Animal Habitat Diversity.  In this lesson, students solve the mystery of why a group of wild bighorn sheep would leave their usual desert habitat to visit a second, very different habitat: a local playground. In the activity, Habitat Scavenger Hunt, students record observations of the diversity of life found in the desert and the playground, as well as the physical characteristics of each location. Students combine these observations to create an understanding of how the living and non-living parts of a habitat support the animals that live there (Mystery Science).

At ECO on Thursday we had our first ECO class at our campsite!  We began with a fun tag game in the field, followed by snack and a story and we had our first campfire. Students explored plant diversity as they made observations about various coniferous needles to see how they are alike and how they are different.  During Forest choice, students made pine cone decorations, had a fire building challenge with the Kelly kettles, and Uma and Oliver lead a few students in making cordage.  Students also enjoyed playing in the leaves!  Thank you to Caitlin Mahoney of volunteering to join us for the morning.  

We DO NOT have ECO next Thursday.

Please email me your school lunch orders for the week.

Friday there is and early dismissal so we will not have Family Hot Lunch.  Students may order School lunch for Friday.  We will eat before dismissal.

Thank you to Paige and Rob Bowen for the frightening delicious lunch this week!  Students enjoyed Mummy wrapped hot dogs, jack o'lantern sweet potatoes, homemade applesauce, and monster mash cookies for dessert!

Announcements:

  

• Students need to bring their Library books back on Monday!
• School Banking day is Monday. 
• Students need sneakers for PE on Thursday
• Third graders need recorders and books on Friday.
• Friday, October 28th - Early Release Day.  Dismissal is 12:10
• First Trimester ends Tuesday, November 22nd
• No School November 23-25 (Thanksgiving)

Week 7

 

We had another incredibly busy week packed into four days!  Monday students had the day off and parent teacher conferences were held throughout the day.  It was wonderful to meet with families and share some information about how their students are doing so far this year!  Thank you for taking the time to join me for these important conversations. During the week I was able to complete the Primary Numbers and Operations Assessments with all the first graders!  Over all this data looks very strong! On Tuesday, we had Farm To School where students worked on harvesting seeds and they made seed packets (hopefully you saw these come home). On Thursday we had our second ECO session of the year where we hiked to the Beaver Pond on Elmore Mountain, and Friday was our Annual field trip to the Elmore Fire Station.

I am slowly plugging away at the reading assessments (F&P's).  I have complete first and second grade and part of third grade, so we are almost done!  Once these are completed we will begin guided reading groups where we will work on fluency and comprehension together.  During writer's workshop, several students have completed several small moment stories (personal narratives).  And this week we had our second spelling quiz of the year.  

I didn't have a chance to meet with math groups this week as I was assessing students during that time.  Instead students practiced math skills during math menu and Friday, students logged onto Dreambox (an online math program we will use as one of our options during math menu) for the first time this year.

Our theme this week was Fire Safety.  Students learned about having an evacuation plan (Get out , Stay out), Stop Drop and Roll, and we talked about calling 911 and what constitutes and emergency.  These things were reinforced during our field trip to the fire station on Friday were students also talked about potential fire hazards around the home.  They also practiced STOP DROP and ROLL and evacuating a room by crawling below the smoke and feeling the walls and doors with the back of their hand.  Then we made out way out to the bay where we watched deputy Tallman dress in his protective fire gear, and talked about the equipment a firefighter needs to fight fires.  Then the 3rd graders were able to try on their gear (something they have to wait until 3rd grade to do).  Finally all the students were able to go through two of the fire trucks!  Thank you to Fire Chief Jason Tallman, Firefighter Hunter Tallman, and Firefighter Adam Audet for hosting us and teaching us about fire safety!  And, thank you to Caitlin Mahoney and Steffany Mosley for chaperoning. In your child's Friday Folders please find a fire Safety planning sheet.  I've asked all the students to work with their family to make a evacuation plan and map it out on the paper.  Thank you in advance for helping them with this.  Children should also know their home address (number, road, town).

Thursday we hiked to the Beaver Pond On Elmore Mountain (off the Ridge Line trail).  Before we left, students were able to see a real (taxidermy) beaver, which Ms. Carrie brought with her from the NBNC.  Though there were no beaver sightings at the pond, we were amazed by all the evidence of beaver activities we were able to see both in and around the pond.  They certainly have been busy beavers!  Students also explored the pond to find various living organisms (water bugs and macroinvertebrate). After some time exploring, students made some observations in their ECO journals about what they saw.  Our plan is to revisit the pond in the spring to compare the two seasons.  Thank you to Rob Bowen for volunteering your time to join us this week at ECO.

This week we enjoyed a delicious family Hot Lunch consisting of Macaroni and Cheese and "dirt" cake for dessert provided by the Van Anda Family.  Next week hot lunch will be brought to us by the Bowen Family (details about that will follow)

Please email me your school lunch orders for the week!  And reminder that breakfast is also available.

Announcements:

• Students need to bring their Library books back on Monday!
• School Banking day is Monday. 
• Students need sneakers for PE on Thursday
• ECO is Thursday - Please let me know if you would like to volunteer.  We will be at the Elmore State Park for the morning.
• Third graders need recorders and books on Friday.
• Friday, October 28th - Early Release Day.  Dismissal is 12:10
• First Trimester ends Tuesday, November 22nd
• No School November 23-25 (Thanksgiving)

Thank you Elmore Fire Department for teaching us about Fire Safety!

Week 6

High School students and Third Graders with the School Mural they designed!

 It's hard to believe I am already writing about our sixth week of school!  We packed in a lot to our four day week, with visitors from Peoples Academy High School on Tuesday, and our first ECO on Thursday followed by our annual landscape painting of Elmore Mountain.  

I am still working through reading assessments.  Ms. Bourne and Mrs. Gresham came on Friday to help me with this process.  We are about 2/3 of the way through the class.  Hopefully I will finish this next week.  I also need to do the Primary Numbers and Operations Assessment with all the first graders.  I am planning to administer this assessment next week as well.  This is an interview style assessment taken 1-1 with me.  During this assessment students will be asked to count (forward and backward) including skip counting and counting on from any number, show place value knowledge with tens and ones to 100,  add to 20, write  and read numbers into the hundreds, estimate,  and show understanding of magnitude and equality.  Each assessment takes about 45 minutes.  

On Tuesday we had seven students from Peoples Academy, most of whom were Elmore Alum, came to the Elmore school during a High School outing to the Elmore State Park. Third graders worked with four of the volunteers to design a mural for our Shed!  We will be painting this in the coming weeks.  The remainder of the students played games with the other highschool students.  

Third Graders work with PA High School Students to design a school mural.

first and second graders played board games with High School Volunteers.

In math we have been working on solving word problems involving addition and subtraction using pictorial models such as number bonds and bar modals to show comparison.  

During Literacy, students continue writing narratives, reading daily, and practicing phonics and reading skills on Lexia Core 5 and with Literacy centers.  This week we had a short week with Yom Kippur on Wednesday, and Thursday we had ECO, so I am giving students another week with the same spelling words.  Beginning next week, we will practice spelling words at school during the week and I will send their word list home on Thursday for students to prepare for their quiz in Friday.  

This week we began a Science unit on Animal Biodiversity. In this unit, students begin to develop an understanding of the world's animal biodiversity. They explore animal classification and the traits that define each group. Students then turn their focus to habitats and how the surrounding environment affects what organisms live in a particular environment.

A note about homework:  Currently the only homework students each day have is reading, and beginning next week, spelling practice on Thursday.  Students should fill our their reading log and return it every day,  In addition to reading, students may bring home spelling or math work that did not get completed during the School day.  Generally this is a result of being unfocused and not attending to their work while at school.  In the event they were on task and haven't finished their school work due to time restraints or understanding, students will be given additional time to finish this work at school.  I am telling you this so you know that when this work is coming home with your child it is because they have not been using their time well while at school.

We have parent teacher conferences on Monday with a few appointments after school during the week.  The purpose of these conferences is check in after our first 6 weeks of school and to talk about hopes and Dreams for the School year ahead.  I am looking forward to meeting with you all!  If you need a reminder about the time of your conference please call the school on Monday morning.  

This Thursday we had our first ECO session of the school year.  We stayed in the schoolyard and enjoyed the beautiful view of Elmore Mountain and the lake.  Students played a fun tag game called the Fox and Raven, we heard a story about how to build a fire, students practiced fire safety and had the chance to strike a match, and we made Tea by heating water in a Kelly Kettle.  During "forest choice", students made name necklaces using tree cookies, painted kindness rocks, and explored insect life around the schoolyard. Thank you to Mike McCarthy and Deidra Keith for volunteering and to Jesse Baker for delivering a large load of firewood!

Next Thursday, during ECO, we will be hiking to the Beaver Pond on the Ridge Line Trail on Elmore Mountain.  Students should plan to wear shoes for hiking (or walking), and they need a water bottle and a packable snack.  Once at the pond we will be making observations about the pond life and area around the pond.  If you would like to join us for this outing, please let me know.

On Thursday we also made our annual voyage across the street, armed with acrylic paints, and paintbrushes to paint Elmore Mountain and the lake during peak fall foliage.  The attention to detail and the focus students demonstrate during this project show the appreciation the students have for the this beautiful place!  We are so lucky to live and work in the "Beauty Place of Vermont".

Please email me your lunch orders for the week.

Thank you to Caitlin Mahoney and Oliver for a delicious hot lunch consisting of Stuffed Shells, roasted carrots and Apple Crisp with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Family Hot Lunch is scheduled for the Van Anda family next Friday.  I will let you know more about this during the week.  

Announcements:

• Parent Teacher Conferences, Monday October 10th (No School) 
• Students need to bring their Library books back on Monday!
• School Banking day is Monday.
• Students need sneakers for PE on Thursday
• ECO is Thursday
• Third graders need recorders and books on Friday.
• Field Trip to The Elmore Fire Station on Friday, October 14th. Please return permission slips on Tuesday.
• School shirt orders are due on Friday, October 14th,

Week 5

This will be a brief update, for as you know, I was home sick most of the week.  Work continued through the week despite my absence.  We were very fortunate to have a couple very qualified guest teachers along with Mrs. Bellavance to keep things going through the week! My predecessor, Annamary Anderson, spent three days in the school this week, which I'm sure felt like walking back in time a few years!  

On Friday third graders had their first recorder lesson of the year with Ms. Leopold!  I heard this went very well. Third graders will meet with Ms. Leopold on Friday's through the next couple of months.  I feel very fortunate to have this collaboration is Ms. Leopold.  If you see here around the neighborhood, be sure to thank her!  As you know learning something new requires practice and students should spend time practicing at home during the week so that they are ready to move onto the next lesson each week.  Recorders and books need to come to school with third graders each Friday.

We begin Save for Success School Banking on Monday between 7:30 - 8:00.  If you child plans to participate and you haven't returned the forms yet, please send them along on Monday.  I am looking for one or two parent volunteers to help with the program each week.  The commitment would be once a week (Monday) between 7:30 - 8:00 (a few minutes before 7:30 to get set up).  I know this is short notice, but if you are interested and available this Monday for training, please let me know.

Next Thursday (October 6th) we have our first ECO class.  This will be our introduction to ECO and we will be staying right in the school yard for the day.  We will go over expectation (3 cares) and visit some of our safety protocol such as fire safety, and choose nature names.  We plan to spend the entirety of our time outdoors from 9-12.  Please send your child with clothing layers as it will likely start out damp and cool and looks like it will warm up through the morning.  All students need a water bottle, and you may want to send a hat and sunscreen.  Please let me know if you would like to join us for a fun morning outdoors on Thursday.  A reminder that all volunteers need to have a background check completed.  

Thank you to Fuller's for providing our Family Hot Lunch on this Friday!  

Next Friday Hot Lunch (TBD) will be provided by Caitlin Mahoney.

Please email me your lunch orders for the week. 

Announcements:

• Students need to bring their Library books back on Monday!
• Students need sneakers for PE on Tuesday this week!
• No School, Wednesday October 5th (Yom Kippur)
• We will begin having ECO on Thursday, October 6th 
• Third graders need recorders and books on Friday.
• Parent Teacher Conferences, Monday October 10th (No School) 
• Field Trip to The Elmore Fire Station on Friday, October 14th.