What's Bruin at Pierce School?

Library Media

Next week Mrs. Donovan will be back.

We have an amazing opportunity coming your way! If you’ve ever wondered how to best support your child’s learning at home, Mrs. Pope is here to help. On November 10, you can schedule a time before or after your parent-teacher conference to meet with her. She’ll share easy, practical strategies you can use to make learning fun and effective at home.

We can’t wait to hear from you! She can be reached at apope@conval.edu

Pierce School will be having an After School Ski/Snowboard Club that will travel to Crotched Mountain for a 6 week program this Winter. More details will be forthcoming soon, but for now if you are interested in your child participating in this club please contact Melinda Adams at melinda.hay.adams@gmail.com to be added to the interest list. Melinda will contact all those on the list when details have been finalized.

News from Ms. Besson

In Kindergarten we have started telling stories with pictures! We can’t read books just yet but we love using our imaginations to create stories based on the pictures of our books! We also have been working on our fine motor skills! This week we passed spider rings around with sticks and we also have a new sorting game that helps us with these skills.

News from Ms. Powell

This week in math we have been working with a hundreds chart and how it can be used as a tool to help us with our math! We practiced filling in missing numbers and had to try and put the chart back together like a puzzle. We also made some addition pumpkins where they had to solve some addition problems on the pumpkin seeds and then decorate their pumpkin! For ELA we read The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything and did some sequencing and retelling activities. Next week we will start getting into Folktales!

The Turtles are Here!

They have arrived! Our tiny Painted Turtle hatchlings are now in Ms. Sutton’s class ready to grow and be cared for. This is our fourth year working with local naturalists from the Harris Center and many other turtle specialists to help these turtles get a head start on life. In the 7 months that we will have them, they will grow to be the size of a 3-4 year old turtle. We call this process “head starting”. Raising these adorable reptiles allows us to connect with local animals, integrate learning into all subject areas, and will provide life long memories of caring for and protecting these animals. When they were first introduced, one student said,”I don’t understand, but I feel like I might cry.” A true connection to the natural world!

This week we spent time getting to know them, marking them for identification and we learned about the tools we will use to measure them. All students will collect weekly data to make sure they are growing big and strong. This has been an exciting week! Stay tuned for the names chosen and updates on their growth.

4th Grade Happenings

This week we continued our work with fractions. Students were asked to sort a deck of fraction cards to determine whether they were less than 1/2, equivalent to 1/2, or greater than 1/2. After sorting the cards, we recorded our sorts on the board and in our math books. Students were asked to look for patterns and use their reasoning skills to come up with a rule to determine fractions less than, equal to, or greater than 1/2.

In social studies, we watched a Discovery Channel documentary about the Woodland Natives. Students learned the importance of the birch tree to make canoes, baskets, and coverings for wigwams. Students the used corrugated cardboard to create birch bark patterns and made birchbark baskets.

What's on the Horizon?

Another month just flying past us. Please Join us for the Trunk Or Treat this weekend the 25th, hosted by Bennington Recreation and grab a glow stick. We hope to see you there enjoying this super cool event! Do not forget to mark your calendars for our Craft Fair coming up on November 15th, here at our school. The fair will start at 10am, we will have many amazing vendors and tons of raffle prizes. Do not miss out on visiting Santa who will be bringing joy to our event.

The PTO is working to provide a water cooler for the staff; we love our staff and appreciate them immensely. The water cooler would provide hot and cold water year round! Thank you Pierce staff for all you do!!! Our school environment it the product of hard working staff!

Book Bags and the Chapter Book Challenge!

Kids are working very hard in reading groups and getting very familiar with our routines and expectations! It is so great to see this growth.

Some students in the early grades are taking home Book Bags with borrowed books to read at home to you. Thanks for your help listening to them read and helping them develop their reading skills. Bags will go home on Mondays and can be returned on Fridays and the process will repeat each week.

Older students are still participating in The Chapter Book Challenge! Students in Third and Fourth Grade are encouraged to develop that nightly reading habit. Students can see Mrs. Pope if they need help finding a Just Right Chapter Book!

Also, be on the lookout for "Brag Sheets" from our work in center groups, Students have been working hard, earning stickers and completing reading activities. Activities may include reading word lists, reading short stories and practicing writing and applying their knowledge of the English Language through dictation practice. Every once in a while, they will take home their work to share with you at home. Hopefully they will Brag about what they have learned and share it with you!

And finally, a permission form for our vocabulary project will be coming home soon!

Thanks for all your support.

Mrs. Pope

A Great Start!

Hello and welcome to Pierce Elementary School. My name is Sarah Kotwicki, and I am the school counselor at Pierce, Francestown, and Temple Elementary Schools. I am at Pierce three days a week: Monday, Thursday, and Friday. This year I will be supporting the Second Step curriculum with the classroom teachers. Second Step is a social emotional curriculum that focuses on understanding and recognizing emotions in yourself and in others. We will work on developing strategies to respond in healthy and productive ways. The Second Step program helps our students develop skills for getting along with their peers and finding success in school. In addition to these lessons, I will be meeting individually and in small groups with students throughout the year. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to me any time. I look forward to getting to know your children and you!