Giving Thanks at School

We enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving Dinner together at school. Many families were able to join in too. We practiced good manners, and appropriate types of conversation as we dined in our classroom. The cafeteria
reported serving 495 lunches! Wow! We have so much to be thankful for.


 
 

 

A Shelter for Mr. Whiskers and Lorraine



Mr. Whiskers and Lorraine



The message

As we began our NAP lesson on debris shelters, we constructed some "first graders" to sleep in the shelters in Hubbard Park for two weeks. The teams creating these "first graders" decide to name them "Mr. Whiskers" and "Lorraine". The class is hoping to build shelters that are protective enough to keep our first graders dry for a two week period in November. This presents quite a challenge.

 

All that is left is a stump.

On our way in to the park, we spotted the park caretaker and his crew in the middle of a tree removal project. They invited us to watch as the top of a dead tree is removed. The class is offered some "debris"( branches) to use for shelter building.On our way back from the park we got to see the stump that remains.

The class worked together to build cooperatively. At one point teams formed spontaneously to help load leaves onto partners arms. Aftert the shelter was complete, we did a water test to see if it would be waterproof. We learned that more layers were needed. We also learned that a debris shelter could protect a person who was lost and needed to overnight in the woods.Here are some images and videos of our debris shelter building.


Building the frame



Mr. Whiskers and Lorraine go in to the shelter. We'll check on them in 2 weeks.

Rowan,Mya and Molly made some videos of shelter building!

Walking Trip to Positive Pie 2

Our class will get a  first -hand look at how pizza is made. Max has invited our whole class to Positive Pie 2 for a special visit and morning snack. We would love some parents to join us for this short trip. If you are free on Thursday, November  17th at 10:15, please meet us at our classroom. We will walk over to Positive Pie, and have a tour and a snack.We hope to return back to school by 11:30 at the latest. Thanks so much Max!

Eleven

We spent some time on 11/11/11 exploring the number 11. We made combinations of 11, did an 11 workout, read about 11, and wrote sentences with exactly 11 words. Later we had an 11 scavenger hunt(thanks to all of the parents who helped with this) and a special snack. What an excellent date.

A Lego flag with 11 stripes!

A unique 11 project. A person born on Novemebr 11. He was able to appear live for the presentation.




 

Thanks to Deborah, Tiffany and Jennifer for helping with snacks.

A lucky number!

Veteran's Day 2011

 

We spent some time making cards to honor Veterans. We learned that each person in the class knew at least one veteran! The cards were handed out at the VFW after the parade.

We also made flags and marched in the parade through downtown Montpelier.Many first graders were excited to spot Veterans in the parade, and along the route. Family and friends along the route were an added surprise.

 

Some gigantic leaves were found on the way back from the parade!

Fifth Grade Buddies

Free picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

11/11/11

We will be making flags to carry in the parade- like these Union School kids did!

We will have a busy and exciting day on Friday. In the morning, we will join the 5th graders as they honor veteran's by marching in the Montpelier Veteran's Day Parade. We will begin at the rotary and march a portion of the parade route.Please join us, or stand among the route to honor veterans.Kellogg Hubbard library would be a good place to spot us!

Upon returning to school, we will have an action packed day in celebration of the number 11. Please contact me if you would like to assist our class on this day, or would like to send in a tasty treat, or plan an "11" craft project!

Thanks so much.

Reminders

1. The scholastic book fair is coming to UES. It will be open on Thursday, November 3, from 8-3:30.It will also be open on Friday, November 4, from 8-3:30 and again from 5:30-9:00. (during the family movie night)

Our class will be going on Thursday at 11:30. We will be browsing, and children with money will purchase at this time. Please let me know if you would rather make a purchase with your child, or will attend at a different time.

2. The family movie night is coming up! "A Bug's Life " will be shown on Friday, Novemeber 4th in the UES auditorium. Tickets are $1.50 and popcorn is 50 cents.Donations are appreciated for the bake sale. Parents must accompany children to this event.

3. Homework packets are due each Monday.

4. Labeled outdoor clothing is easier to return to owners.

Pumpkin Time

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Hoots!

This week UES launched school-wide positive behavior effort (Vermont Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports program). Simply, in addition to building community in our classroom and helping students learn, practice and meet the goals of CARES, our school is observing and acknowledging positive student behaviors in action. If you are interested in learning more about VTPBIS visit: http://www.pbis.org/


Students receive Hoots as an acknowledge of an individual or group positive behavior in the classroom, the hallway, at recess, lunch, etc - anywhere at UES during the school day! They are small green cards that any staff/faculty or administrator can give to a child who demonstrates CARES behavior. When each class has earned 100 Hoots, the whole group receives recognition through a certificate and a visit from our district mascot Screech the Owl. We are hoping he visits us tomorrow... stay tuned.

Hubbard Park in October

NAP and Debris Shelters

We will head to Hubbard Park tomorrow for NAP. We will begin to learn about debris shelters, and may even start to construct our own. For more information about shelters, check this link:

http://www.natureskills.com/survival/primitive-shelter/

We welcome any adults to join us for this outdoor learning experience! Berenice and Kristen are planning to join us. We will leave Union at 11:30 and will be near the sledding hill. Please listen for us!!