THANK YOU!

Dear Families,
We are so grateful for the beautiful dahlias and gift cards that we received on the last day of school.  We were incredibly touched by your generosity and kindness.  The gift cards will be put to good use during our summer break as we enjoy sharing them with our families.  We hope you all have a wonderful summer.  Enjoy your family time. Thank you! 
With love and gratitude,
Christine & Kathy

Keyboarding Code

If students would like to keyboard over the summer, they can access Keyboarding Without Tears via student links on the EMES website.   Here is the code they may need, 5747C9! 🙂. They will alos have to know their own personal code for the site.

Last Day!

Dear Families,

It is truly hard to believe that we have reached the last day of school for 2017-18!  It was just 180 school days ago that we greeted your children with much anticipation and excitement for the year ahead.  Today, we send them off!  It has been an amazing year!  We are so incredibly proud of this wonderful group.  They have worked so hard and learned so much about themselves, their community and their world.  Thank you for sharing them with us, they have truly been a CC3 "Dream Team". As we venture into new roles next year here at EMES, we'll remember this last CC3 group fondly.

We are so grateful to all of you for the wonderful gifts you bestowed on us today. We are appreciative of your kindness and generosity and so touched by your thoughtfulness, to the point we are currently both in tears!

As you prepare for the summer ahead, just a few tidbits and reminders.

Your children are amazing readers, writers, mathematicians, inventors, collaborators, technologists and problem solvers.  We hope their summer will be filled with plenty of rest and relaxation, family time and outdoor adventures.  We also hope they'll continue to read, write and figure a bit to keep up the tremendous gains they've made this year.  We thoroughly enjoyed their 3rd grade reflections that they recently shared and were in awe of how much they recognized in themselves.

Report cards will be mailed home at the end of this week.  We find that the font size for comments on the report cards can be quite small, so we've created a bit of a "cover sheet" with our comments that we hope will be easier on the eyes!  You will also notice a separate sheet for art.  Students reflected on their art experience, due to the fact Mrs. Morse was on leave at the end of the year, there are no additional art grades on report cards. The same comments from us, are also embedded within the report cards.  The cover sheet will also have your child's classroom placement for next year.

Please remember, there are numerous factors that are considered when creating balanced class lists.    Our EMES placement team has painstakingly paid careful attention to your "Thoughtful Placement Forms" as well as other factors when creating the 4/5 classes for 2018-19.  The process was thoughtfully done, keeping the best interest of every child in mind. Placement is always challenging, no matter the circumstances, but we feel we have done our job and trust that you will agree with and support the team's decisions in regard to your child.

And...that's a wrap!  Thank you for sharing your kids with us. Thank you for supporting us in our work, and supporting all that happens here at EMES.  We are truly fortunate to work here.  Have a wonderful summer!   We've truly enjoyed the journey!

All our best,
Christine and Kathy

This week and next!

We've had a busy week and have accomplished many great learning goals.  First, we're really excited and ready for EMES Tech Night!  Students will have an opportunity to share with family and friends three different integrated technology projects.  In our classroom we will have set-up Lego Robotic Pull-bots and Book Creator Traditional Tales.  Next door, in the Reteach classroom will be the first public viewing of our East Montpelier~Past, Present and Future video interview project!

Tech Night Schedule~Tuesday, June 12th~5:30-7:00 p.m.

• 5:30-6:00 student presentations in classrooms
• 6:00-6:45  Learn how to...sessions run by the Tech Club in the library 
• 6:45-7:00  Enjoy cake in the cafeteria.
• 7:00 Door prize drawings in the gym

* We realize this time of the year is very busy for families, we'd love for all of our students to come to Tech Night, but totally understand if it doesn't work out.

East Montpelier Tour Field Trip, Wednesday, June 13th

We're all set for chaperones and drivers.  Thank you for helping out families!  We need to leave school by 9:10 a.m. on Wednesday morning.  We'll make seven stops on our tour, ending up at our students' future at U-32, where we'll enjoy our bag lunches in the courtyard (or in the building if raining).  Lunch will be a bit later than we are used to, so please help your child remember a good snack, we'll have time for snack along the tour!  We'll plan to be back at EMES by about 1:45ish. 

Our other stops will be:

• Morse Farm
• The Old Meetinghouse
• Fairmont Farm
• The Fire Station
• The Town Clerk's Office
• Four Corners School

We're grateful for all the community members we'll meet, greet and learn from on the tour!  This trip will happen rain or shine! 

Things to ask your kids:

• What book are you doing for your character study poster?
• What is the difference between plot and theme of a story/book?
• What are you most proud of in regard to your technology projects?
• Have you finished your June homework 3rd grade reflection sharing?

Have a great weekend, we hope to see you at tonight's TALENT SHOW!  6:00 p.m.!

News from CC3

We've had another busy week here in CC3!  Here are some highlights!

Golf at The Country Club of Barre
The weather for Wednesday's trip to the golf course could not have been more perfect!  We're grateful to Mr. Blanchard, parent drivers and chaperones, and local PGA Professional John Goodchild for helping us with this event.  Students had a chance to try out their golf skills on a real course, learn about the golf business, golf etiquette and how golf can be a lifelong sport.  Many students showed some real enthusiasm for learning more about the game of golf.  Information about golf camps at the course this summer went home with students who requested it.

East Montpelier Unit and Field Trip
This week we finished up our "green screen" interviews.  Now, we've turned all of our footage over to our 5th grade Tech Club members for editing!  This has been a great project, and we're grateful to the East Montpelier Community members that volunteered their time.  The final project will be able to be viewed at Tech Night on Tuesday, June 12th.

Mrs. Christy apologizes for the date confusion on our "Tour Around Town" Field Trip Information form!  This time of the year brings with it many moving parts, numerous events, dates, meetings, etc.  Needless to say, something got mixed up in a generally smooth running machine!  For clarification, our EM Tour will take place on Wednesday, June 13th from about 9:00-1:30 p.m.  Thank you to the families that have already volunteered, we should be set with drivers and chaperones!

Literacy Updates
We've nearly finished our Traditional Tales writing unit.  This week students have worked hard on inputting their stories into the Google App, Book Creator.  Ms. Arlyn, has been integral in this work, and we're so proud of the progress students have made this year using the Google platform.  They will be well equipped to enter fourth grade!

We are continuing thinking deeply about characters in reading workshop.  Please ask your child to tell you about the book Shiloh  and the many challenges the main character, Marty faces.  There are many life lessons in this book that can be great discussion starters at home.  You might ask your child to retell you the book thus far.  Then, have them explain to you some of the big  problems Marty is dealing with, and what their thoughts are on Marty's behavior.  The book presents the challenge and struggle between telling the truth or lying to protect someone or something you love.

Math & Science Updates
We have officially wrapped up our Magnetism unit with the final presentations of poster projects.  Everyone did a beautiful job and clearly put in a lot of hard work at home.

During math this past month, we have focused on multiplying 2-digit by 1-digit numbers, finding the area and perimeter of polygons (primarily rectangles), gaining fluency with the remainder of our basic multiplication facts, adding and subtracting numbers within one thousand, estimation, and building flexibility with numbers using our place value knowledge.

You can see all of this hard work in action if you ask your son or daughter to find the area and perimeter of a rectangle with the dimensions 32 and 5 (32 X 5).  Your child will need to multiply the 2-digit number (32) by the 1-digit number (5) to find the area and add the four sides (of the rectangle) to find the perimeter.  When finding the area of the rectangle, his or her understanding and application of strategies to fluently multiply will be of a great help.  Once he or she have multiplied the digits 5 X 2 to find the ones, they will use their place value knowledge to solve 5 X 3 tens.  Your child will know the product is 15 tens which is also called 150.  They will then find the total product (area) by adding the ones and tens together.  Once he or she has solved for the area and perimeter, they will probably also be able to tell you if they calculated correctly based on their estimates before multiplying or adding.  Our third-grade students have been working hard!  We will finish the year by revisiting fractions.

Calling all books!
The EMES library is trying to get all borrowed books back so that Summer Book Bags can be filled.  Please have a treasure hunt around your home for any books on the loose.  It's a great time to check bookshelves, coffee tables, underneath beds, in tree houses, etc. for both school and classroom library books.  We love to have students borrow our books, and we also love to see them come back!

Upcoming Events
Thursday, June 7~EMES Talent Show 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, June 12~EMES Technology Night 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 13~ CC3 East Montpelier Tour Field Trip
Friday, June 15~EMES Field Day (Rain Date-Monday, June 18)
Wednesday, June 20~Last Day for Students-dismissal at 12:30 p.m.

CC3 is a BUSY Place!

Dear Families,
WOW, we sure do have a lot going on in CC3! If you think we're winding down on the school year, think again!  We've got many exciting projects in the works, keeping track of everything at this busy time of the year is challenging!

First of all, our East Montpelier Unit is moving along splendidly.  We are grateful to guest speakers and interviewees that have recently visited.  They include: Michael Duane, Burr Morse, Rosie Laquerre, Seth Gardner, Bruce Chapell, Carolyn Pastore, John Hall and Clara Ayer. We are grateful to them for coming in and sharing their East Montpelier stories with us.  Students have also done a fabulous job with their "green screen" interviews.  Each of our guests complimented students on the quality of their questions as well as their attention during presentations.  Over the course of the next couple of weeks, video footage will be edited by our 5th grade tech club friends and a final video production will be unveiled at our EMES Tech Night on June 12th!

Our writing of traditional tales is also progressing nicely.  This week, students were introduced to the Google application, Book Creator.  Students are in the process of uploading text and illustrations to complete their original books.  It's amazing all the transferable skills that are integrated into this reading, writing and technology work.  We're sure the finished products will be amazing!  They too, will be unveiled at Tech Night!

During reading workshop, we're continuing to work on our character study unit.  On Friday, we celebrated the fact that students filled 5 PBIS chip buckets with a viewing of the movie "Because of Winn Dixie".  The film is a great connection to the book, which was really fun for us to discuss.  We are now reading the book Shiloh, this is another great character study book and will surely become another class favorite. Please ask your child to tell you about Shiloh so far, and what connections there are to Winn Dixie.  Students are doing much deeper thinking when it comes to analyzing characters, envisioning, and predicting.

In Discovery, we have finished our unit on magnetism.  Students are enjoying sharing their magnet poster homework assignments with classmates.  We've seen some real creativity in this work.  The remainder of our "Discovery" classes will be spent on our East Montpelier Unit.  It's great to see students take such an interest in their home town!

Upcoming Events:

• Monday, May 28~No School-Memorial Day
• Wednesday, May 30~PE Lab to The Country Club of Barre 9:00-1:00 p.m. 
• Tuesday, June 12~EMES Technology Night 5:30-7:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, June 13~East Montpelier Tour Field Trip 9:15-1:30 p.m. Please see the PINK information sheet in your child's Friday Folder for chaperone/volunteer information.
• Friday, June 15~EMES Field Day-Raindate-Monday June 18
• Wednesday, June 20~Last Day for students-dismissal at 12:30 p.m.

Reminders!

Just a few reminders:

• Summer Book Bag forms are due back to the library asap.
• Our K-3 concert is this Thursday, May 24th at 2:15 p.m.  CC3 students need to remember their recorders!
• If you'd like to submit one, Thoughtful Placement Forms for class placement are due on Friday, May 25th.