Happy Winter Break!

We had a great turn out at last night’s Celebration of Learning.  Thank you for coming to celebrate your child’s achievements.  It was wonderful for us to see our students truly be the teachers and share their recent projects with all of you.  They were incredibly proud, as they should be! We are very proud of their accomplishments.

As our winter break begins tomorrow, we are optimistic that this important break will give all of our students at EMES a chance to rest, rejuvenate, and get rid of all the colds, flu and stomach bugs.  We’ve been fairly lucky here in CC3, but we have had some classmates out of school on and off.
Because we do have a fairly long break, we’ll keep Friday Folders here at school and get back on their regular schedule when we return.

Enjoy this break with your children.  We’ll be back raring to go on Wednesday, March 8th!
Christine and Kathy

Thursday Night!

We hope that many families will be able to join us tomorrow night, February 22nd for our annual "EMES Celebration of Learning".  Our third graders have been working really hard on a variety of things and are excited to show you their work.  You'll be able to see:

• Civil Rights Projects
• Weather Journals
• Writing Information Books

This event begins at 5:30 p.m.  and lasts until 7:00 p.m.  You're welcome to come at any time during those hours and tour our classroom as well as others in the building.  Just come at the time that suits your family the best and tour together,, students do not have to be here for the whole time.

We hope to see you tomorrow! 
Christine and Kathy

Literacy Updates and Other News

Snow days mid-week always make our school lives a bit more challenging, and this week was no exception.  The good news is how wonderful recess is after a new batch of snow!  Students have had a great time sledding, building forts and playing without the worry of so much ice outside.

Our literacy work has continued to focus on Civil Rights collaborative projects.  These projects are now in the finishing  phase and will be ready to share with families at our Celebration of Learning on February 22nd from 5:30-7:00 p.m.

These projects have addressed important transferable skills for 3rd graders.  They include:

• Creative and Practical Problem Solving
• Effective and Expressive Communication
• Working Independently and Collaboratively
• Informed, Integrated, and Critical Thinking

Another important piece of this integrated unit is the creation of a Google slideshow.  Students have worked with Ms. Arlyn and Mrs. Christy in technology class to create individual slides that are part of a team slideshow.  We have addressed many technology skills.  Skills addressed are:  sharing a folder, using a template, creating text boxes, searching and crediting images and finalizing slides. The finished products will give a clear message about Civil Rights leaders.  It's exciting to see how much growth students are making in regard to navigating Google and improving their skills with integrated technology.

On Wednesday morning, we will be working with our first/second-grade buddies to construct Valentine mailboxes.  Students will put their engineering skills to work using a variety of materials.  We are hoping you can help us gather materials by sending in cereal boxes, cracker boxes, egg cartons, and other cool containers that might be in your recycling at home.  We would also appreciate extra ribbons, bows, yarn or whatever you think would be a great addition to our work.  You can send materials in Monday-Wednesday morning.  Thank you!

Dates to Remember:

• Tuesday, February 13~Our last Winter Wellness afternoon.
• Wednesday, February 14~We'll have a classroom Valentine's Day celebration at our lunch time.  Students are welcome to bring in Valentine's to exchange.  Please let us know if you'd like to send in a treat for this celebration.
• Thursday, February 15th~EMES Annual "I Love East Montpelier Day".  Please contact Susan in the kitchen to sign-up as a lunch guest.  Lunch times are:
• Prek-K 11:15-11:50
• Grades 1-3  11:50-12:25
• Grades 4-6  12:25-1:00
• Monday, February 19-Friday, February 22 EMES School Spirit Week sponsored by the EMES Student Leadership Team.  Special days are:
• Monday~Decade Day-dress up in your favorite decade attire!
• Tuesday~Sports Team/Jersey Day
• Wednesday~Clone Day-dress up like a "clone" of a friend or a group of friends, how well can you match up?
• Thursday~Career Day-dress up like a career you'd like to have in the future!
• Friday~Comfy Cozy Day
• Thursday, February 22~ EMES Celebration of Learning 5:30-7:00 p.m. Come as a family and tour EMES open house style!  You do not need to come for the whole time, just what fits in your busy schedule.

Have a great weekend!

Math/Science Update

Welcome to Fabulous February!

This month will be another busy one leading right up to winter vacation.  Stay tuned for information throughout the month.

Math

During the past several weeks we  spent math the majority of our time on multiplication.  Students solved and created problems using each of the four models of multiplication.  For example, we solved a problem such as feeding a pet 2 scoops of food on Monday, 2 more scoops on Tuesday, and 2 more scoops on Wednesday using "Repeated Addition".  Repeated Addition is the first model of multiplication we investigated, as it is a great example of equal groups.  We then worked with the model, "Groups Of" with problems like I have 4 bags of cookies for the bake sale, each bag has five cookies.  We added to our knowledge of multiplication models with the "Array Model".  Students solved problems such as, I planted five rows of carrots with three carrots in each row.  Focusing on arrays helped students really understand and use rows and columns.  Finally, we investigated the "Area Model".  We solved area problems that involved land, flooring, and shapes.  Students also found the perimeter of polygons,  and distinguished between area and perimeter.

Throughout our work with the four models of multiplication, students also learned and practiced specific strategies to help them gain accuracy and fluency with multiplication facts.  Ask your son or daughter to tell you about these strategies.

• N X 1 (It's just one group of that number)
• N X 0 (No groups of that number)
• N X 2 (doubles)
• N X 5 (Use our fives knowledge)
• N X 10 (We use our place value knowledge)
• N X 9 (We think 10)
• N X 4 (Double, Double)

Currently, we have begun counting by the fractions, 1/2, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8 and identifying fractions of wholes.  We will continue to add to our fraction knowledge this month.  Students are also investigating various names for numbers such as 23 tens is 230 and 11 hundreds is 1,100.  Building this flexibility with numbers helps students when they are adding and subtracting larger numbers.

Science

We just wrapped up our unit on processes that shape the earth.  Students investigated weathering, erosion, the rock cycle (igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks), volcanoes (The Ring of Fire), and earthquakes.  Students had a great time building mountains out of sand and trying to prevent or slow erosion from wind and water using rocks and wood.  At the conclusion of this unit, students worked with a partner to design a four-story building that had to withstand an earthquake.  They were given certain constraints such as a limited number of materials (toothpicks and marshmallows) and a limited building time.  After the buildings were designed and built, we tested each building on a foundation of jello!  Some buildings withstood the quake and others did not.  Each team then made modifications to their building using what they learned from their own experience and from observing other teams' buildings.  Many teams discovered that triangles were the strongest shape to build with and a solid base made all the difference.  Students did a great job brainstorming, building, and working collaboratively.

This week we began our weather unit.  Students kicked it off on Monday by starting their data collection.  Each morning we go outside and observe and record the weather focusing on precipitation, wind type, clouds, and temperature.  Students then use their data to write a weather report in their science journals.  During this unit, students will investigate the water cycle, weather and climate in different regions, and will compare their weather findings to other places in the world during the same time period.  This unit is filled with fun investigations.

Please look for the new sharing calendar in today's folder and keep it handy!

Dates to Remember

• Monday 2/5 - February Book Orders are due.

• Wednesday 2/14 - Class Valentine Party.  Students are welcome to bring in Valentines to exchange with each other. You will find a class list attached.

• Thursday 2/15 - I Love East Montpelier Day-Please sign up for the lunch in advance by contacting Susan in the kitchen solander@u32.org.  The price for adult guests is $6.00 for children it is $3.75
• Lunch times are:  If you'd like to have your whole family eat together, and they are in different grades, we can work that out. 

                                11:15-11:50  PreK-K
                                11:50-12:25 Grades 1-3
                                12:25-1:00   Grades 4-6

• Celebration of Learning ~This annual celebration will take place on Thursday, February 22nd, 5:30-7:00 p.m. Please plan on joining us!

• 2/24-3/5  Winter Vacation~ We will return on Wednesday, March 6th.