Kindergarten

Ms. Kicza

Kindergarten and first grade students had a wonderful field trip to the Reimanis sugarhouse! They started at a sugar maple tree, learned about the sugarbush, and experienced how lines get put together for the sap to get to the sugarhouse. They went to the sugarhouse and saw boiling, the fire, filtering, and much more as they learned more about making maple syrup. Erik connected with their learning about trees in kindergarten and birds in first grade, as his sugaring operation has a bird-friendly habitat certification. The students were eager learners, asked great questions, and brought their knowledge to the experience, too.

While students were not in the sugarhouse, Becky told them a story about how Penelope Porcupine found spring. She had student helpers for voices and a participatory audience. After tasting both sap and syrup, everyone had some free time to play in the yard, on the swings, and on tractors.

Thank you to Erik for such a warm welcome and so much fun learning! Thank you also to Caz for volunteering and helping out on the trip!

First Grade

Ms. Fisk

Second Grade

Ms. Giampietro

Third and Fourth Grade ELA & Social Studies

Ms. Cayer

Third graders are learning about the elements of a narrative and are group writing a Pourquoi Tale. It has been such a fun and creative time in our classroom planning and writing the tale! The students have also been putting forth some great effort on the VTCAP ELA! We are extremely proud of their perseverance!

Fourth graders are learning about animal defense mechanisms for many different types of animals. They have been reading and taking notes about animals that may burrow, flee, and have armor for protection. Fourth graders have also been working diligently on the VTCAP ELA and we are very proud of their effort!

Middle School Social Studies

Mr. Breen

Seventh and 8th grade had a great field trip to the State House. We met Rebecca Holcolmbe, our other representative, after meeting Jim Masland earlier in the year. Students were able to see the legislature fully in session, and went through the process of proposing, amending, and passing a bill. Seventh and 8th grade also finished their essays this week (they did a great job), and are starting a new unit now - we're learning about the Gilded Age. 

Fifth and 6th grade just wrapped up their essays. They also did a great job. They wrote about different sub-topics having to do with the continent of Oceania. Ask your child what they wrote about! Next up (after a vote): Europe. 

Middle School English

Ms. Simone

Fifth and sixth graders have embarked on their next read! Fifth graders are reading Sarah Orne Jewett's short story "A White Heron", set in 19th-century Maine, while sixth graders are reading Amal Unbound, a story set in modern-day Pakistan. Both of these texts are rich in new vocabulary and, in keeping with our year's theme, provide a strong sense of place.

Seventh and eighth graders will be doing a close read and Harkness table on Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" before taking on plays by M. Scott Momaday.

Pathways

Ms. Katie

Pathways classes are in full project mode! Fifth and 6th graders are making great progress on their Genius Hour projects. Students have chosen a wide range of topics. We are so excited to see where they take their ideas! Seventh grade Pathways class is making an Action Plan for our Service Learning project. Stay tuned for updates! Eighth graders are all planning, researching, and getting prepared to start their 8th grade projects, called the Portrait of a Learner projects. All of their projects are an amazing mix of personal interest and community impact. I am so proud of their creativity and drive! Whichever grade your child is in, make sure to ask them about their project and how things are going.

Library

Mr. Herrick

Hot off the press! News Alert! We have a book fair coming up on Wednesday, April 2nd from 12-6:30 during parent teacher conferences. We are doing this in coordination with the Yankee Book Shop in Woodstock. Twenty percent of all proceeds go to our very own school library! Stop by any time during the book fair hours!

 In the library for K-2 we have carried on with the structure of read aloud, discussion, and browsing, followed by a drawing activity. In the 3rd and 4th grade, I have been reading Charlotte’s Web by E.B White. In K-2 we read Frog and Beaver by Simon James. We talked about responsibility, leadership, and acts of helping. We discussed how we help at home and what we can do to take care of our community.

In grades 5-8 we wrapped up our changemaker research project and it was fantastic to see everyone’s growth. We are taking a break from research to focus on Digital Literacy. Talking points with your middle schooler: I’ve been using lessons from Common Sense Media, and our first step is talking about Media Balance. I encourage you to talk to your middle schooler about how they balance their media. I guarantee it will be an interesting conversation!

Spanish

Profe Katie

Kindergarten and 1st grade students are finishing up our units on colors and numbers! We are working on being able to identify and express colors and number in context, including when describing a picture, etc. Here are two videos we've watched in class: Veo algo azul and Veo algo rosado.

Second graders are focusing on expressing what they do or don't want - check out this video that we watched in class, ¿Qué quieres como un regalo?

Third graders are starting the lessons that the 4th graders have been working on! These lessons are tailored for younger students in exploratory classes, and emphasize both conversational skills and literacy skills in Spanish. Fourth graders are on Unit 2 of that curriculum, where we are focusing on the words 1. tiene (has), 2. hace (does/makes), son (are), and niños (children/kids). We are making our way towards using these words to learn about the Desfile de Faroles, or Lantern Parades, traditional to Costa Rica!

All 5th-8th Spanish classes have finished Locura de Marzo (March Madness), the music competition! Sixteen Spanish songs went head-to-head in a bracket-style competition, where over 240,000 students around the world learned about the songs and artists, and voted. Here is a link to the lyric videos for all 16 songs. The winner is.... "Candela" by Álvaro Soler and Nico Santos! Here is the Reveal Video for the final results. Apologies in advance for the Gen-Alpha slang, but your tweens and teens loved it!

As we finish out VTCAP testing season, all 5-8 classes will be watching movies in Spanish - 6th through 8th are watching The Book of Life, which discusses the Day of the Dead, family, and more! It also features a storyline about bullfighting, which is a perfect way to close out our own unit on bullfighting. Fifth graders are about to start a cultural unit about Perú and its ecology and agriculture, so we are watching Pachamama! It is a beautiful new animated film featuring young Peruvian protagonists and Andean tradition. We will be watching these movies in Spanish (with English subtitles) and discussing them in Spanish.