ELMORE School News

Dear Elmore School Families,

We had another busy week at the Elmore School. Monday evening brought us our first measurable snow at the School. We had Tuesday off to honor our Veterans, but when students returned to school on Wednesday they were eager to get out to play in the fresh snow. At recess the field was filled with kids rolling snowballs leaving behind grassy trails. The week continued to be cold and snowy leaving us with a our first snowy ECO on Friday. It looks like we in for another, bigger, snow event Sunday into Monday. So it seems, we have transitioned into our next season already.

During Literacy, students worked on phonemic awareness, reading fluency, and drafting during writing.

As I have mentioned, we are using a new spelling program this year that teaching very specific phonics rules. It is a rigorous program with a focus on applying these phonics rules to spelling words, rather than memorizing a list of words. While there are some "growing pains" this year as we transition to this approach, I feel very confident it will yield proficient spellers over time. So, students may be coming home with "quizzes" that may have more errors, but as they learn more and more rules, they will become more proficient in their spelling. I think this will be especially true over the long term (years 2 and 3 of this approach).

During writing, this week our focus was on writing our first drafts. Students drafted introductions and wrote the body of their opinion pieces with a focus on using transition words, reasons, and evidence to support our reasons.

During math first graders represented and solved compare problems by finding the difference (using subtraction or by finding the missing addend ( 9 - 4 = ? or 4 + ? = 9), by teaching these approaches simultaneously, students make connections and learn mathematical flexibility. Second graders are wrapped up another section in unit 2 with a focus on adding and subtracting 2 digit numbers using place value. And third graders are solidifying their understanding of area by using inch squares to find the area of rectangles.

During music our focus was on rhythm, as students played repeating rhythms by clapping and using rhythm sticks. During art students learned how to use one point perspective in drawing.

During ECO on Friday students learned about biodiversity and how each species (animals and plants) in an ecosystem affect and impact the ecosystem. When one species is removed it can drastically affect the other life and even the geography of an ecosystem. We launched the lesson in the classroom with this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q) about Yellowstone National Park. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend taking 5 minutes to watch it. It is fascinating! During ECO students played an engaging tag game to teach this concept. In the 1920 fishers were nearly extinct in Vermont. During this time the porcupine population grew which contributed to the destruction of maple trees. In 1958 fishers were reintroduced to Vermont, which helped to control the porcupine population. The game demonstrated that more maple trees survived as a result of the reintroduction of fishers. During forest choice students tried their hand at lighting a small fire using flint and steal, enjoyed roasted apples with cinnamon and sugar, and played in the snow!

Our next Family Hot Lunch will be Chicken and vegetable stir fry, white rice, dessert on Monday, November 17th provided by the Soriano family.

We will have a special Thanksgiving school Hot Lunch on Wednesday! This will include a turkey dinner with all the "fixing" and dessert! (there will only be dessert for students who order school lunch)

Please email me your school lunch orders by Sunday afternoon.

School Hot Lunch will be available next week on Wednesday. Sandwiches and Salads can be ordered Monday - Friday. Please use the Green button below to email me you school lunch orders by Sunday at 6pm. Additionally, please indicate if your child will have family Hot Lunch on Monday.

Thanks for another great week!

With Gratitude,

Diane Nicholls

Announcements:

Library is Monday! Please send books.

No School Banking Tuesday

PE is Thursday - send sneakers!

ECO - Friday, November 21st @ 9:00 - 12:00 (Elmore State Park)

November 10th - 20th - Food Drive

Nov. 24 - 28, 2025 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)

Thursday Dec. 4th - Early release - 12:00

Friday, Dec. 5th - No School (Family Conferences)

Wednesday, Dec. 10th - Caroling at The Manor - 10:00 am

December 24 - Jan 2 - No School (December / New Years break)