ELMORE School News

Weekly Update

Dear Elmore School Families,

We had another busy, abbreviated week of school. With the change of the month, so too, did we see a change in the weather. There was a shift, almost like a switch was slipped, to sunny skies! We acutally had four sunny says in row which outnumbered the entire month of January. The days are gradually getting longer. It feels like February is offering us some renewed hope for the future, hope this is true on many levels. School was closed on Friday for teacher Professional Development. I spent the day, with colleagues, at MES for in in-person LETRS Training. LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of REading and Spelling) is the district-wide, two year, literacy training the Elementary (and some Middle Level) teachers are taking.

"LETRS teaches the skills needed to master the foundational and fundamentals of reading and writing instruction—phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and written language."(Lexia LETRS)

It is always a nice opportunity to get together and learn alongside other colleagues.

This week, during writing, students worked on their final Drafts of their explanatory writing pieces, where students are explaining how to do something. at the beginning of this unit, first and second graders each choose a something they know how to do and throughout the unit they learned how to effectively teach someone else about the steps needed to do it. Third graders were given a prompt to follow and using what they already know about the topic and what they learned from resources provided, they are writing about how to be a good friend.

During phonics this week first graders worked on reading and writing words spelled with -old, -ost, -olt, -ild, -ind. In words spelled with these patterns the vowel (i, and o) makes a long sound followed by two consonants (a blend). The second group worked on words with long e spelling patterns (ee, ea, ey, and y). The third groups reviewed r-controlled words spelled with /ar/ and /or/, and the fourth group worked on words spelled with the /ch/ sound spelled ch, t(u), tch.

During math this week, first graders solved equations involving adding onto a teen number. Second graders found the length of and objects using inches and feet, and found the length of an object when the the starting number is something other than 0. Third graders completed their first secssion of the unit introducing division and they took a summative assessment (checkpoint).

We had another wonderful afternoon at the skating rink at Spruce Peak on Wednesday. It is great to see how much improvement the kids have made in just a few weeks! We have one more Wednesday at the mountain next Wednesday. Volunteers are Meg Witherbee (or Ed) (cross country skiing) and Lisa Le0pold (ice skating). Ashley Kitonis will provide a snack.

We will have Beef Tacos for family Hot Lunch on Monday, provided by Birdies Family! School Hot Lunch is available next week on on Tuesday and Thursday. Salads and Sandwiches are available Tuesday - Friday. Please submit lunch orders by 6:00 pm on Sunday.

Our 100th Day of School is Tuesday! 100th day projects are due on Tuesday morning. Thanks for your support in this fun endeavor.

There is a permission slip in your Friday Folders for our field trip next week to Montpelier. Please return the permission slip this week. If you would like to chaperone, please indicate so on the permission slip. I will let you know by the end of the week if we will need you to chaperone.

That is all for now! Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

In gratitude,

Diane Nicholls

Announcements:

Library -Monday. Remember to bring your books back!

Tuesday - School Banking

Tuesday - 3rd Grade recorder Lessons

Ski and Skate: Wednesday February 11th @ 11:15 - 2:30

PE Thursday - bring sneakers!

Tuesday, Feb. 17th - trip to The Manor to Sing

Wednesday, Feb. 18th - Field Trip to The State Capital and VT History Museum in Montpelier

Feb. 23 - March 3rd -No School (Winter Break)

March 6th - ECO begins again

March 14th - 2nd trimester ends

March 25th - Annual School Concert at the Elmore Town Hall from 6:30 - 7:00

Diane Nicholls

Diane is using Smore to create beautiful newsletters

As the honored teacher at the Elmore School I have a passion for helping students be at their best. This is my 6th year at the Elmore School and 18th in the LSSU School Districts. I love teaching at the Elmore School and feel very lucky to be part of the community. I earned my BA in Elementary Education with a certification in Early Childhood Education from Johnson State College, and my MA from the University of Vermont in Curriculum and Instruction. In addition in teaching, I am a certified child yoga teacher, and run a summer day camp with a focus on yoga and mindfulness.

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