Vermont Geography and this week

     We have been very busy this week and working very hard trying finish up the Vermont Geography unit. On Monday, students made a salt and flour physical map of Vermont which included the mountain ranges.  Later, they added the lakes and rivers and then labeled everything. They brought the maps home yesterday to study for their regions and mountains test today. After vacation we will be starting a unit on Vermont history.

     We read about rocks and minerals that are in Vermont and learned about the rock cycle. Then students created metamorphic brownies. These are brownies that have things (chocolate chips, M & Ms, coconut, nuts) added to them with the pressure of a spoon. Heat is added to cook them and we look for changes of the ingredients in the brownie.  The important thing that they remember is that metamorphic rocks are created with heat and pressure and some things change and some do not.

    After learning about the rocks and minerals in Vermont we “mined” chocolate chip cookies with sticks, separating the M & Ms and chocolate chips from the sand (dough). Each of the ingredients represented different rocks and minerals. They had to calculate the value of their mine.  Finally, they had to try to put the cookie back the way it originally was and they realized that once extracted from the ground, it can never go back exactly the way it was.

     In other subjects, we finished the read aloud Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.  Throughout the book we explored his style of writing or the author’s craft, so that we could improve our own writing. For example, Gary Paulsen slows down a moment and lets the reader know what is happening before the main character knows or how he repeats words or lines or uses short sentences.

In math students took a pretest on the multiplication unit.  We are currently learning how to multiply a 3 or 4 digit number by a one digit number.

     We used the dictionary several times this week to learn about the various parts of a dictionary, the guide words and the definitions.

     In writing we have  been writing opinion pieces. We took one of our 7 opinion pieces, looked at the rubric and revised it. These were shared in a staff meeting as we are working schoolwide on writing persuasive pieces. Our next unit will be on report writing. Students did a pretest on Friday.  We will start working on the writing reports after vacation.

     On Friday we participated in the 5/6 Carnival games that they made in math. You can ask your child about them. We also heard a concert at the end of the day. It is a brass trio from the VSO. They will be performing many styles of music including ragtime, jazz, Dixieland and German oompah.

Recycling/Composting Presentation

Today Amanda Garland from the CVSWMD did a presentation on recycling and composting. We learned the cycle of compost and where our compost goes when it leaves school.  We also learned about the cycle or recycling, how it goes to the sorting plant and then can be used to make into many different things and what happens when trash goes to the landfill and problems with the landfill. Then they sorted products into composting, recycling and trash and we found out if we were right.
 Below are some photos from the presentation. There is also a handout that will be coming home Friday.  Your child can tell you about the process.

February 15 News

     Many thanks to the Student Leadership for planning such a fun I Love to Read day yesterday.  We had an assembly to start off with. We received origami valentines from our pen pals in Calais. Everyone in the school participated in Stop, Drop and Read for 20 minutes. Patty Connor, our guest reader, read one of her family's favorite books called Eggbert. Then students created their own version of the main character Eggbert. Next, we had our Author's Tea and shared our poetry books with Mrs. Shedd's class and they shared their narrative books with gorgeous watercolor illustrations with us. We ended the day with a party. Thanks for sending in the drinks and snacks It was a great day. Students brought their poetry books home so that they can share them with you.
      Check below for Student Leadership's Spirit week and what is the special theme for each day.
     There will not be a regular spelling test next week. We will be working on dictionary skills and doing text searches for prefixes and suffixes and using the definition of the affix( a prefix or suffix) to determine their meaning. We will also be playing a game where students have to figure the number of syllables in a word.
     In social studies we have been learning about Vermont geography.  Students picked a county and did a project to find information about their county, put it on a quilt type square and then shared it in a small group.  We have also been learning about the regions and why they are divided that way, the lakes and rivers and the mountains. We also used Vermont road maps to look for information and to do a map project. Students will have a test on Thursday on the regions and the mountains.
    In writing we have been working on opinion pieces. This is one of the Common Core pieces that is required. We are doing common pieces throughout the school and then gathering to assess them. Students have written about-Which habitat would you like to live in and why? Their opinion about the Super Bowl, whether kale should be the state vegetable, what is the best thing to do on a snow day and from our Time for Kids-should the US stop using pennies. In each piece students need to make a claim, their opinion, and base it with evidence.  We compared this to a double stuffed Oreo.  First comes the opinion or claim, then their reason, more evidence or an example and their opinion again
    In reading we have been looking at the characters and the point of view of the story and how this effects the story. For instance, in the book that I am reading to them, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, the main character has been in a plane crash and is trying to survive in the Canadian wilderness. The story is told through the main character's eyes but if it was told through his mother's eyes, it would be a totally different story.  We have also added a lot of reading strategies to the CAFE menu.
    In math we have been doing some problem solving.  We will be taking a piece a week to practice and learn steps of how to solve a problem.  We finished the unit on graphing and graphing vocabulary. We have been working on multiplication. How to multiply multiples of ten, 2 digits by 1 digit and multiplication word problems. Next week we will be working on 3 and 4 digits numbers by one number.

Upcoming Important dates
2/20 Personal reading goal due
2/20 Pizza/snack items should be delivered
2/22 Any Read-a-thon money due
2/23 SS-regions and mts test

   

Next week is Spirit Week

Next week is Spirit Week set up by Student Leadership. Here are the special days.

EMES SPIRIT WEEK

February 18-22 2013

Show your school spirit by participating in these special days!  REMEMEBER all clothing choices, hairdos, hats, etc. must be examples of safe, kind and respectful behavior. 

“When in doubt don’t wear it out!” (or to school)

MONDAY-FAMOUS PERSON DAY-Dress as your favorite person from history, sports, music, etc!

TUESDAY-CLASS COLOR DAY-Show your class spirit by dressing in the color your class votes for!

WEDNESDAY-TROPICAL DAY!-Let’s get ready for a day in the tropics, wear your “island best”!  The brighter the better!

THURSDAY-CRAZY HAT OR HAIRDO DAY-Choose a safe, respectful way to show your spirit with a crazy hat or hairdo!

FRIDAY-COMFY COZY DAY-Wear your pajamas or comfortable clothes and enjoy the last day before WINTER VACATION with your classmates!

Valentine Buddies

 Today we met with our first grade buddies. They taught us a new bingo game.  You roll the 12 sided dice and add 10 to your answer.  We also played Uno. We also exchanged valentines. Below are some photos from the day.

Wetland Avatar

Thursday the students shared their Voki Avatar that they created with the class.  All of the Avatars talk and share their wetland research report. They did an amazing job. Thanks Arlyn for all the help. Check it out on the blog from the school website.  It's on the right. Better yet, your child can show it to you.There is also a link to their Forest Glogster Poster below it.

Next Thursday afternoon we will be sharing our poetry books with Mrs. Shedd's class. Can anyone bring in snacks or drink? Please send me an email if you can. Thanks!

What is the Vermont State...?

We have started a Vermont studies unit. We are starting with geography. We have learned about the Vermont regions, the physical features of each region, what can be found there and some interesting facts. Today we are looking the mountain, mountain ranges and features. Next week we will be investigating the counties. On Monday we did a scavenger hunt with a Pocket Guide of Vermont. Then we took the information about the state plants and animals and put them on posters in the hallway.

The whole school right now is working on writing persuasive/opinion pieces in writing. Today we are trying kale chips and writing about whether kale should be the state vegetable. How is your state knowledge?  Can you answer all the questions below? Your child has the answers in their binder.

What is the state......?

bird?
tree?
flower?
animal?
fossil?
drink?
rocks?
fruit?
pie?
insect?
cold water fish?
warm water fish?
motto?