ECO cancelled for Friday

Our E.C.O. lesson has been cancelled due to the cold weather predicted for tomorrow.  Students should still wear/bring warm gear in case we are able to get them outside for recess.  We will reschedule to add an extra E.C.O. lesson in March.  Thanks!

Classroom News: Special Events From Our Week!

Forest Choice Time:

On Wednesday, our class went outside to have some "forest choice time" in the E.C.O. woods.  Students checked on their forts from our Building Bear Dens lesson and added to these structures.  Several worked hard to dig larger branches out from the snow and ice with their stick tools.  We were joined by our preschool friends toward the end of our choice time, too.  Students showed great teamwork and seemed to have lots of fun!  A big thank you to Tracy for joining us during forest choice time!


100th Day of School:

On Thursday, we celebrated the 100th Day of School with some fun math lessons based around the number 100.  We started with a Counting-by-100s Sit-Down greeting.  (These counting greetings are a big favorite in our room!)  Then, we worked in pairs, small groups, and/or independently to figure out the many different coin combinations that make 100 cents or $1.00.  Finally, students worked in groups to create pattern block or geoblock structures with 100 (or sometimes more) blocks.  Many groups had creative names for their sculptures, too. 

A Visit with Mrs. Pastore and Cuddles!

On Thursday, we had our first visit with Carolyn Pastore (former EMES teacher and current substitute teacher) and her reading/therapy dog, Cuddles.  On this visit, Mrs. Pastore told us about how she got Cuddles and how they trained Cuddles to be a therapy dog.  Cuddles is a very gentle Shih Tzu dog, who seems to really love attention from kids.  In pairs, students had a chance to read a few lines of their "expert books" to Mrs. Pastore and Cuddles.  In future visits, students will take turns reading with them for longer periods of time.  Our next visit is scheduled for Thursday, February 16th.   Thank you, Mrs. Pastore!

 

Updated Important Dates

EMES Food Drive~February 6-17

We'll be collecting food items for the local East Montpelier/Calais Food Shelf.  If you can, we'd love you to help our class make a great contribution.  Canned and boxed food is welcome.  Items such as:  peanut butter, tuna, soups, pasta, etc. are greatly appreciated.

Friday, February 10th and Friday, February 24th:  E.C.O. from 9:05 to 11:10  (Please note that these dates have changed from Tuesdays to Fridays for the month of February.)

Tuesdays, February 7th, 14th, and 21st: Winter Wellness afternoons

All students will be participating in our EMES Winter Wellness Tuesdays.  These afternoons begin at 12:45 and last until the end of the school day.  It's important for students to remember any and all gear they need to make the most out of his/her chosen activity.  At the end of each Wellness Tuesday, students will be dismissed by their Wellness leaders, so we won't see all of the kids at the end of the day, therefore "go home" plans for Tuesdays are especially important.  

Tuesday, February 14th:  Valentine's Day Friendship Celebration

Wednesday, February 15th:  I Love East Montpelier Lunch  

It has become an annual tradition at EMES to have a day right around Valentine's Day to celebrate the great community that makes up the town of East Montpelier.  We will have a special lunch on this day and guests are welcome to join students.  You do need to make a lunch reservation by contacting Susan in the kitchen at solander@u32.org or calling 223-7936 ext. 306.  Meals for adults will be $5.75.   Here is the schedule for lunch times, in case you want to try to coordinate or plan for others. Students are invited to wear red/pink, etc. on this day to celebrate!

11:15 - 11:50      PK, K, 1

11:50 - 12:25      2, 3, 4

12:25 - 1:00        5-6

Thursday, February 23rd at 6 pm:  EMES Celebration of Student Learning

Families are encouraged to join us for this annual EMES event. Students in all grade levels invite you to attend as a family and see the exciting learning that takes place throughout our busy days! The evening begins at 5:30 in the gym with a presentation by the EMES School Board followed by classroom visit time from 6:00-7:00 p.m.

Important Dates

Friday, January 27th:  Report cards were mailed home to families.

Friday, February 3rd: Teacher Inservice/ No school for students

Tuesdays, February 14th (tentative date- changed from the 7th) and 21st: E.C.O. mornings 9:05-11:05 am

Tuesdays, February 7th, 14th, and 21st: Winter Wellness afternoons

Tuesday, February 14th:  Valentine's Day Friendship Celebration

Wednesday, February 15th:  I Love East Montpelier Lunch

Thursday, February 23rd at 6 pm:  EMES Celebration of Student Learning

Classroom News

Literacy/Writing:

Students have continued reading and writing "expert books" as part of our literacy and information writing units.  They have been looking for "expert words" in our books about plants with interesting defenses, animal eyes, dinosaurs, the coldest town in the world, the invention of duct tape and other exciting topics.  These vocabulary words help us to be able to "learn the lingo" of our topics.  They also continue to ask and search for answers to their own questions about their texts.

We have also been learning about the different types of information that we can add to our own "expert books" to teach our audience even more about the topic, such as definitions, explanations, details, facts, steps, and tips.  Students have been setting goals to "lift the level" of their own writing.  It is exciting to see how they are learning to assess their own progress and push themselves to stretch out their writing, check for capital letters and punctuation, and use interesting vocabulary words in their daily writing.

Technology Integration:

During our Technology Integration times, we have been working with Ms. Arlyn to change the speed and direction of our robots' movements.  First, we experimented with different ways that we could attach the belt to the two pulleys.  Students made predictions and then recorded their observations and results.

Next, partners were challenged to create a program to make their Dancing Birds turn clockwise and then change directions to turn counter clockwise.  They could also add other interesting steps to their programs, such as making sounds or changing the backgrounds on the computer screen.

Throughout the process, students have been recording their ideas and learning in their Lego Robotics journals.  We have been impressed with their collaboration and problem solving!

Read Aloud with Ms. Lyford:

Ms. Lyford joined our class this week and read us the story, One, which connects with our learning about how to prevent bullying.  In this story, the characters are colors.  Ask your child about this story and how it connects to our learning during our Thursday PBIS Morning Meetings, as well as our classroom discussions about bullying prevention.

Lego Robotics

Our latest class celebration:  Indoor choice time!

Read Aloud with Ms. Lyford

Classroom News: "Flooding the Model"

During our Library/Technology and Discovery times, we have been working on our "Flooding the Model" project that incorporates important ideas about geography and earth science.  We started this project with a clay model.  We discussed various types of landforms and students created labels for the landforms on our model.  These landforms include: mountains, canyons, valleys, and craters.  Then, students colored and labeled their first maps of the model.

Next, we added water to "flood" our model.  Students watched how our landforms changed and recorded these changes on a new map that showed bodies of water and land.  We continued to add more water over the next few lessons.  Students added a new blue color to their second maps to show the changing coastlines and areas of water and land.  We also discussed additional vocabulary words for the landforms and bodies of water that we noticed, such as lake, river, ocean, and peninsula.

One of our mentor texts for this project was Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor, which tells the story of a woman who showed perseverance by proving that women can be scientists and by figuring out a way to create a map of the ocean floor.  We made many connections to our model project during our discussions.  One big idea that we discussed was how there is land underneath the ocean's surface.  This lead to a deeper discussion about the earth's crust, plate tectonics, and Pangaea (the supercontinent that existed long ago when today's continents were joined together).

 

We continued to add more water to our model, which changed the landforms and bodies of water.  Our new maps looked very different from our first two maps.  Students also continued to rename the places on our map based on our changing model, including new islands and bays.

 

Next, I read aloud the book, Island: A Story of the Galapagos.  This book describes how one of the Galapagos islands was formed and how it changed over time.  In addition, we learned about how different species of animals adapted over a long period of time to help them survive changes in their environment.  This discussion made an important connection between this current geography/earth science unit and our upcoming study of animals and adaptations.

Finally, students wrapped up the unit by writing about changes that they noticed in our model over time.  We also continued to add to our vocabulary posters to include words such as strait and archipelago.

A big thank you to Ms. Arlyn who co-taught this unit with me!