Notes from the Principal Mr. Brown As we approach the winter and holiday break, we are busily taking care of school business. Recently we received a box of brand new books donated to our school library from the students and families of the Milton Elementary School in Milton, Vt. Their school had a special fund-raiser and chose to purchase additional books that they wanted to share with a school that experienced the stresses of Irene. They hoped we would have a great year. We really appreciate their generosity and look forward to having these new books join the circulation of our current library books. I called the school to thank them and assured them that we are, indeed, having a great year. I have been at school on a couple of days when Eric Bird, from Digital Wish, has been working with the students. This is really a fantastic opportunity for our students and staff to learn about some interesting computer skills and programming opportunities. He also met with a small number of parents to talk about the school–to-home computer connection. All students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 are able to take a computer and printer home to use during the school year if they and their parents first come in and meet with Mr. Symanski who can go over the protocol. We ask at that time that you sign a user agreement, and sign out the computer and printer. Other members of the family are also encouraged to use the printers. Please arrange to come in and meet with Mr. Symanski about this great opportunity if you haven’t already. Families have done a fantastic job collecting and sending in the labels from the Box Tops Program. We also continue to receive generous contributions from the community with our bottle and can redemption program. We have begun collecting ideas for a spring school trip, and this money will certainly be extremely helpful in deferring the cost of this trip. December 16, 2011 Issue 1 Dates to Remember • Dec. 22-Jan. 2: Holiday Break • Jan. 3: School Reopens • Jan. 6: Ski/Skate Runners Start • Feb. 8: Grades 3-6 to Pentangle • Feb. 20-24: Winter Break • Feb. 27-Mar 2: Parent Teacher Conferences • Mar. 2: End of Marking Period • Mar 5 & 6: No School • Mar. 9 Report Cards Go Home • Apr. 10: Grades 5-6 to Pentangle • Apr. 11: Lifetouch Spring Photos • Apr. 12 &13: School Play • Apr. 16-20: Spring Break By Riley Earle Check out the first page of bvsvt.org for upcoming events and visit “Our Classroom” to view this newsletter online and in color! Digital Wish Students with their Posters Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy Holidays!
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Transcript
Notes from the Principal
Mr. Brown As we approach the winter and holiday break, we are
busily taking care of school business.
Recently we received a box of brand new books donated
to our school library from the students and families of
the Milton Elementary School in Milton, Vt. Their
school had a special fund-raiser and chose to purchase
additional books that they wanted to share with a school
that experienced the stresses of Irene. They hoped we
would have a great
year. We really
appreciate their
generosity and look
forward to having these new books join
the circulation of our current library
books. I called the school to thank them
and assured them that we are, indeed,
having a great year.
I have been at school on a couple
of days when Eric Bird, from Digital
Wish, has been working with the students.
This is really a fantastic opportunity for
our students and staff to learn about some interesting computer skills and
programming opportunities. He also met with a small number of parents to talk
about the school–to-home computer connection. All students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 are able to take a
computer and printer home to use during the school year if they and their parents first come in and
meet with Mr. Symanski who can go over the protocol. We ask at that time that you sign a user
agreement, and sign out the computer and printer. Other members of the family are also
encouraged to use the printers. Please arrange to come in and meet with
Mr. Symanski about this great opportunity if you haven’t already.
Families have done a fantastic job collecting and sending in the
labels from the Box Tops Program. We also continue to receive
generous contributions from the community with our bottle
and can redemption program. We have begun collecting
ideas for a spring school trip, and this money will certainly
be extremely helpful in deferring the cost of this trip.
December 16, 2011 Issue 1
Dates to Remember
• Dec. 22-Jan. 2: Holiday
Break
• Jan. 3: School Reopens
• Jan. 6: Ski/Skate Runners
Start
• Feb. 8: Grades 3-6 to
Pentangle
• Feb. 20-24: Winter Break
• Feb. 27-Mar 2: Parent
Teacher Conferences
• Mar. 2: End of Marking
Period
• Mar 5 & 6: No School
• Mar. 9 Report Cards
Go Home
• Apr. 10: Grades 5-6 to
Pentangle
• Apr. 11: Lifetouch Spring
Photos
• Apr. 12 &13: School Play
• Apr. 16-20: Spring Break
By Riley Earle
Check out the first page of
bvsvt.org for upcoming events
and visit “Our Classroom” to
view this newsletter online and
in color!
Digital Wish Students with their Posters
Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy Holidays!
The Classes
Kindergarten Corner
Mrs. Fitzpatrick
The Kindergarten class has
been exploring how it was to live around the late
1800’s. We are reading the book, Little House in
the Big Woods, by Lauran Ingalls Wilder. The
students are learning that life was different from
today. Students have noticed that not everything is different from the past. Many
students have gardens at home to grow food, hunt for meat and heat homes with wood.
The class wrote a poem to summarize what they learned.
Life in the Past
Growing, Gathering, Hunting
Getting the Wood for the Fire
Getting the Water
Keeping the Food Cool in the River
Keeping the House Warm with the
Fire
Tending the Fire for Cooking
Churning Cream to Make Butter
Life in the Past By Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s Kindergarten Class
First and Second Grade Update
Ms. McGuire
We have been working hard in Grade 1/2! The
students are enjoying learning about different types
of families, looking into what makes a family and finding
out where their families came from. The students are also
working hard at making connections
between the texts that
they are reading and
themselves, other texts, and the world. Our class has been
given a wonderful opportunity to use iPads as a resource.
We have primarily been using the iPads to work on math
and literacy but plan to incorporate them into social studies
and math soon. As a class we would like to thank all of you
for being supportive!
By Maya Cully
By Anna Walker
The Classes
Third and Fourth Grade News
Mrs. Grinold Friday is “technology day” with Mr. Bird, and the fourth graders really
look forward to learning about the exciting programs on their net books!
Recently, Mr. Bird has reviewed the Power point program. The third
graders have also participated in lessons with Mrs. Vaughn and Mr. Bird on this
engaging way to create slideshows. All students have begun to research a topic based on one of the
continents that they researched briefly last week. They will
be creating Power point slide shows on their topics. The
children have also been introduced to two new award-
winning math and science educational sites. The website is
called Explorelearning.com. One of the programs is an
interactive site for math and science. Students are able to
simulate science experiments (Gizmos) and are assessed on
their learning. The other site is for math fact fluency
practice and is extremely engaging for the students. I plan on
incorporating these interactive technology sites into
classroom and home instruction.
Fifth and Sixth Grade Mr. Symanski
The 5th and 6th graders kicked off their Social Studies by studying a society they
are experts on, Bridgewater. They did this by taking on the role of social
scientists who look at how a society works, plays, governs, moves,
and communicates. The class was divided into groups based on those
topics and made a list of how they are represented throughout their
town. After coming up with sub-groups and examples, they displayed
their results on a web in our classroom. Now, as we study the first
people to come to the North and South American continents
thousands of years before Columbus, we refer to the Bridgewater web
to make connections. For example, the students noted how the
Iroquois Indians governed through a confederacy. Then they
connected it with Bridgewater’s own form of governing through