CC-3 Updates!

Chex Mix
Our Chex Mix making was a huge success.  As I write this blog post Friday morning, I'm excited about the sale!  A tremendous THANK YOU to all the families that donated supplies.  We made 18 double batches of mix, that is 432 cups of mix!  We had wonderful help from Tracy Phillips, Dave Christy and Monique Trepanier when it came to baking and bagging!  Students truly understood how their kindness will make a difference for Central Vermont children.

Dusting for Prints!
This week we've been finishing up our mystery unit.  On Wednesday, we did an exploration that involved using cocoa powder to dust for fingerprints.  Many of our students were very successful in seeing prints appear after dusting.  Please ask your child what he/she thought of in regard to this event.  We may have some future forensic scientists in our midst!  A positive outcome of this event was the fact our classroom smelled like a chocolate factory!

Mrs. Christy demonstrated the "dusting" process.

Literacy
This week we've working on reading skills associated with reading and sharing nonfiction text. Students learned a discussion protocol, called GoGoMo.  They did a great job reading an information book, deciding on key ideas, and then sharing their ideas with others.  Please ask your child to explain how GoGoMo works, it's a lot of fun!

In writing, we've been working on sentence structure, punctuation and neatness in our written work. Students have been improving their ability to write with complete sentences, making sure they have a subject and predicate.  We've been creating "lap book" resource guides for parts of speech.  So far we've added complete and fragmented sentences, common and proper nouns and plurals.  We'll be adding work with verbs and adjectives in the near future.

After break we'll be really concentrating on our informational writing unit.  This week students reviewed their pre-assessments and we talked about setting goals for this next unit.  Many students shared the fact that spelling and punctuation are key goals for them to work on.  As we tackle this next unit, students will be writing about something they are "experts" about.  It would be a great help if you could talk to your child and promote their thinking about what he/she truly knows a great deal about.  The possibilities are endless from raising puppies, to camping, sports, travel, collections they may have, a favorite activity, vacation spot, etc.  This is always a really fun unit to teach and students make amazing writing gains.

Upcoming

• Monday 12/19 -Gifts for Giving-Students need to bring a bag or box to transport their gifts in.
• Friday 12/23-K-3 Music concert at 1:45 p.m. in the EMES gym.  Students need to remember they will be playing their recorders.
• Friday 12/23-Classroom Celebration right after the concert.  If you'd like to join us, you are welcome to!  Please let us know if you'd like to send in a goodie to share!

Have a great weekend, stay warm!  We anticipate a VERY BUSY week next week, so we'll send our best wishes for a wonderful holiday week today!  ENJOY the break with your kids!

Christine & Kathy

Holiday Celebration

Next week will mark the end of 2016!  On Friday, the 23rd, students will have a concert in the gym beginning at 1:45p.m..  3rd graders will be playing their recorders.

We thought it would be nice to have a small class celebration after the concert.  We'd love for you to join us!  If you'd be willing to bring in a goodie to share it would be appreciated.  It will be a low key even,t to send us off for a great vacation.  If you are willing to bring something in, please email us so that we know what we will have and/or need.  Thanks so much, please let us know if you have any questions!
Christine and Kathy

Wednesday, December 7th

December Book Orders

December book orders are due tomorrow.  I will be submitting the paper and online orders tomorrow after school so they arrive before vacation.

Basketball Season Is Upon Us!

New or changing sports schedules can be confusing for students and teachers.  It is a tremendous help to us, and the front office if you send in notes when your son/daughter needs to stay after school for an event or practice.  Thank you!

Chex Mix

We are collecting donations for our Chex Mix sale until Wednesday, December 14th. We are making and mixing on Thursday, and will be selling it on Friday. We can use a couple of parent volunteers to help bake and bag the mix beginning at 1:45 p.m. Thursday, the 15th.  If you can help please let us know!  cchristiano@u32.org and kchristy@u32.org.

Following is a list of types of cereals, etc. we can use:

Wheat Chex                 Goldfish style crackers

Corn Chex              Cheez-it style crackers             Mini melba toast

Rice Chex              Cheerios (no honey-nut) 

                   

Small Pretzels-check labels to make sure they are from a peanut-free facility
* We have all the spices, bags, etc. that are necessary.*

            

The 2nd and 3rd grade classes will be having their annual Chex Mix Sale on Friday, December, 16th.  Bags of Chex Mix will cost $1.00.  All proceeds will benefit THE SANTA PROJECT.  This important Central Vermont project, sponsored by THE WORLD newspaper, buys new winter clothing for Central Vermont children in need.  Thank you for supporting this great cause!

Next Week's Sharing

Next week students will be sharing information books. Students have been taught how to fill out the forms to accompany their sharing.  Students are welcome to borrow information books from our classroom library, EMES library or share one from home.  Here is the link for the form: December Information Book Sharing. Mrs. Christy is happy to help any students who need more support with this assignment.

Important Events and Dates

Happy December!  It is hard to understand just how quickly a year flies by!  Here are some important dates and deadlines to keep in mind.

Sharing~  Here is the link to our Sharing Calendar for December. Today we made sure that student's had a hard copy of the handout that needs to be completed for their informational book sharing, for the week of December 12-16. In literacy class we went over the example and talked about information books that are available for students to borrow from class.  All students put the paper in their backpacks.

Chex Mix Benefit~ We're really starting to collect Chex Mix supplies!  Please check our blog entry post for Chex Mix Kindness Project for items that we could use as donations.  Donations need to be here by Wednesday, December 14th.  


Book Orders~ The last day for December book orders is Thursday, December 8th.

Food Drive~ The EMES Student Leadership Team is sponsoring a Food Drive to help the EM Fire Department create holiday food boxes for East Montpelier families.  Any donations of canned goods are appreciated! The drive ends Friday, December 16, 2016.

Winter Concert~ The EMES Winter Concert will be held on Friday, December 23rd at 1:45 p.m.

Thank you!  Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!
Christine & Kathy

Winter Gear and Storage!

Hi Families,
Well, it looks like winter weather is truly here!  Today we were trying to help students hang up everything in their lockers/cubbies after recess.  There is one locker available per student for storing all their gear! Organization is always a bit tricky, but we're up to the challenge!

Basically, your child needs:  one pair of boots, one pair of snowpants, one jacket, a warm hat and mittens/gloves as well as indoor shoes for each day.  Extra socks or pants can be helpful for really wet days. If you can help your child decide what he/she really needs here at EMES, that would be great as some kids had multiple boots, shoes, etc. that there is just not space for.  We know this transition to winter always takes a bit of time for all of us, but any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

In other news, we are always grateful that many families think of teachers around the holidays with thoughtful gifts, this is certainly not expected nor necessary.  We truly appreciate kind gestures. However, in conjunction with our year long theme of kindness, if you were thinking of a teacher gift, we would like to request a different option.  If you'd like to donate to our Chex Mix project in lieu of teacher gifts that would be a wonderful gesture and one we'd greatly appreciate.

We wish all of  our students and their families a wonderful Thanksgiving break! We hope you'll be able to spend it with family and friends, safe travels to those of you who will be venturing away from home.

December Kindness Project Preparation!

CHEX MIX KINDNESS PROJECT

Second and Third Grade Community Service Project

For many years the students in our classes have completed a community service project during the holidays.  The project is THE WORLD newspaper’s “SANTA PROJECT”.  This project collects money and buys new coats, hats, boots, and mittens for Central Vermont children.  This year, we will once again, make and sell “Chex Mix” as a fundraiser for this project.  We will make the mix on Thursday, December 15th and sell it on Friday, December 16th to students, staff and families of EMES.  The cost will be $1.00 per bag.

In order for this project to be a success we are asking families for donations of mix supplies.  It is truly amazing and fun for the kids to see all the great contributions we receive each year.  We need many, many boxes of cereal; it can be Chex or a generic variety, it doesn’t matter the brand!  We cannot accept any nuts or products that contain any honey-nut ingredients.  Please check ingredients before sending in contributions, pretzels can be especially tricky!  Following is a list of types of cereals, etc. we can use:

• Wheat Chex                              Goldfish style crackers
• Corn chex                                  Cheez-it style crackers
• Rice chex                                  Small pretzels-check labels!
• Cheerios (no honey nut)             Mini melba toast   

                

We will supply the spices, butter and baggies for the project.  Please send in your donations by Wednesday, December 14th so we can plan accordingly.

Thank you for your generosity in this important event.  We know how expensive groceries are, so we really appreciate your help in teaching this important lesson of giving to our students.

Please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail us with any questions!  If you can help bake or bag the mix the afternoon of Thursday,December 15h, please let your child’s teacher know.  THANK YOU!!

Friday Folders...on Monday! Election Day! Tissues Needed! Sharing Review! Gift wrap order?

Mrs. Christy's apology...Friday Folders were all packed and ready to go on Friday, but they spent tht weekend on our counter!  They are making their way home today.

As we all know, tomorrow is a big day in Vermont and the USA.  Election Day has finally arrived! In celebration of this day, students will be able to participate in a mock election here at school. Students will be able to sign in as "registered voters" and vote for both national and state officials.  In the spirit of the election, we invite students to dress in red, white and blue tomorrow if they wish.

Cold  season is definitely here and we've gone through an abundance of boxes of classroom tissues we personally purchased.  If you'd like to send in a box or two of tissues to support our classroom through cold and flu season, they would be greatly appreciated by students. Tender noses appreciate tissues that are a bit softer than what we might acquire here at school.

This afternoon we reviewed sharing for this week.  Students need to choose a book he/she has read and complete the November Book Share-Summary Sheet which is linked.  Students who said they did not have a copy, were given another one to bring home today.

Finally, we have a mystery package of wrapping paper that was  purchased from the PTNO gift wrap sale.  It had our class information on it, but not the name of the student who sold it.  The order contains two rolls of gift wrap.  One roll has snowmen, the other reindeer.  A bottle of very intersing disappearing ink is also in the package.  Please let us know if this order belongs to you and we'll make sure it goes home with your child.