Empathy

UES DELAYED OPENING PROCEDURES

With the snowfall and low temperatures this week, we wanted to be sure members of the UES community were aware of the UES schedule in the event of a delayed opening. Please note the 10:00 am time for the open of School. There will be NO coverage for students prior to that time, so please make backup plans. Thanks!

9:30 Teachers arrive

10:00  UES doors open; IAs arrive; buses begin to arrive; we're open for business!

10:00-10:25  Students will begin arriving to class; transition time; Morning Meeting.

10:25  UES schedule officially starts.

Day in the Dark

On Friday, December 20th, all first grade classes will be having a “Day in the Dark” to reinforce  learning about day and night, including solstice the shortest day and longest night of the year!  If you have anything at home that would light up in the dark we would appreciate it if you could send it to school.  Here are some suggestions:

• Flashlights
• Headlamps
• Lite Brites
• Black Lights
• Glow in the dark markers/paint
• Lava Lamps
• Glow Sticks
• Glow in the dark beads
• Disco Balls

We will return your items that day. Please label all items sent to school. If you have any questions, just let us know.

Wouldn't it be cool if we all dressed in black? If you can, do it!

December Birthday Breakfast

Please join us to celebrate December Birthdays on Friday, December 20th.  If you plan to attend, please drop me an email so I can plan accordingly.  As a reminder, parents should leave by 9:00.  We have a busy day planned and I know the kids will be excited to turn off the lights and begin our, "Day in the Dark" to celebrate the winter solstice.  Please see the post for Day in the Dark for more info!

A Message from Kristina Kane

Good Morning!

Your students' art portfolios are outside your classrooms.  Please hold them for parents to pick up through Wednesday, and then send any remaining ones home with the kidson Thursday or Friday.  

If anyone is missing anything, they can come see me and we will look for it (may have been missing a name.)  

I would appreciate your feedback - if it works, I will repeat this in June.  My goals were to get more artwork home safely and to make things simpler for classroom teachers.  

Thanks for all your help and support!

Day in the Dark Preparation

On Friday, December 20th, we will have our annual "Day in the Dark". This year, we have been learning about the seasons, and the reason for the winter solstice. Please help your child select dark clothing to wear. We also welcome a variety of light sources such as glow sticks, headlamps, flash lights, light wands, etc.

A Note from the Nurses

Hello All,

Our PE teachers have some extra sneakers in the gym for students to borrow during PE time.

In the past, children have visited a box by the office to look for shoes if they forgot their indoor shoes. We can no longer support this practice. If teachers want to keep a couple extra pairs of shoes in their classroom, I advise visiting the "lost and found" surplus table before break. Please understand that we cannot be a clothing and shoe resource for 400 kids. I am sure you already remind parents to send in shoes and dry clothes but I will ask Chris to put a reminder in the Owl newsletter.

Thanks so much,
Sarah and Trees-ah

IF YOU HAVE EXTRA SHOES TO DONATE TO THE CLASSROOM, WE'D APPRECIATE IT. THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE WhO FORGETS THEIR SHOES EACH DAY. WE CAN KEEP A BIN IN OUR ROOM FOR CHILDREN WHO NEED TO BORROW SHOES. IF YOU HAVE EXTRA SHOES, SEND THEM IN! THANKS! - Jill

Updates

A few updates for you as we close the second week of December (can you believe it?) and head into our last week of school before the holiday break. Our last day of school will be next Friday, Dec. 20th, returning on Thursday, January 2nd.

We will have our December birthday breakfast next week, Friday December 20th. If you are able to send in a healthy breakfast item to school with your child to share, we would gratefully welcome it. I'll be sending an email out soon for those who signed up to bring something. Also, as always, please join us as your schedule allows even if your child is not having a birthday this month.

Students have been excited to finish up their Where in the World? map projects that were due today, Friday 12/13. Please feel free to send your child in with theirs on Monday if you would like to have a couple of extra days this weekend. We can't wait to see them and learn all about their travel and/or travel wishes!! Thanks for your support in the area of independent projects, we are all enjoying learning so many unique things (including, special interests and talents!) about one another every month!! We are planning to share them over the next week at school.

On Wednesday, December 18th, we will be helping our buddy class out with two assemblies. We will be performing a dance with them at 8:30 and 2:00. Feel free to stop by and watch!

Every year the 5th grade has a craft and bake sale to fundraise for their Spring trip to Boston. The sale is next week on Wednesday December 18th. If you would like your child to visit the sale and make a purchase please send them to school with money in a sealed labeled envelop or plastic baggie. Thank you. A flyer will be coming home soon. A few dollars is MORE than enough!

Thursday, December 19th is the First Grade Book Exchange. Please send your child to school with one (or more if you are interested in donating more) book appropriate for first grade reading to swap. The even will take place at 12:15 p.m. (changed from 9:00) I am looking for parent volunteers to come at 12 p.m. who can help out during the exchange - please e-mail me if you have a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon. We are very excited about this activity!! See the flyer that went home this week for details.

A celebration of the darkest day of the year will take shape as First Grade Day in the Dark next Friday, Dec. 20th. Please look for a note home/blog post about this soon, and how you may be able to help your child prepare. (If you come for birthday breakfast, you may be eating in the dark!)

Items purchased through the school fundraiser have arrived! If you have a question or concern about your order, feel free to call the main office. The staff, Zephyr or Pam, will be able to provide you with either some resources or contacts who can help resolve the issue. Thanks so much for supporting our school!

An ECO update, we will not have an ALL first grade ECO outing on Thursday, Dec. 19th. We are looking at January for a possible special event. We will keep you informed.

Enjoy the weekend with your family. Looks like there's some snow in the forecast! Keep warm, and thanks as always for all you do to support your child's love and enjoyment of learning!!

Upcoming Assembly

Each month, the student body gathers (K-2 and 3-5) for an assembly.  This year, each month's focus has been on a different component of CARES.  Assemblies are put on by fifth graders - organized and run by members of each class.  This month, our buddy class is responsible and they have asked us to perform a dance along with them.  If they'd like to practice some of the dance moves, have them watch the videos below.  The two assemblies will be on Wednesday at 8:30 (K-2) and 2:00 (3-5).  If you care to watch, you're more than welcome to stop by the auditorium for the assembly!  

Custodial Duty

Unfortunately, some of our custodians were out sick today.  Students were asked to take extra care to clean their classrooms.  Our class did this with ease, but then decided to help out the school and show C.A.R.E.S. to help keep our school clean.  All students in our class spent 15 minutes at the end of the day emptying the trash from each classroom on the first floor and replacing the bag.  NICE WORK, FIRST GRADERS!

December Earth Science

This month students are learning about Earth and its place in the universe, particularly relationships with our moon, the sun and stars. Students will be introduced to patterns in nature that occur naturally because of earth's relationship with universal bodies in our solar system. Students will make observations, predictions and become familiar enough to describe these patterns and why they occur, including:

-Night and Day (a daily pattern)

-The Phases of the Moon each Month (a monthly pattern

-The Seasons (an annual pattern)

Students are also expanding their vocabulary by learning the meaning of Earth science words, and using them through literacy, discussion and inquiry-based activities. These words include, but are not limited to: Earth, universe, sun, stars, moon, axis, orbit, rotate, revolve, spin, 365 days, seasons, day, night, light, heat, horizon, daylight, reflection, shadow, sunrise, sunset

You can help your child become more familiar with these "very big" science ideas that even adults often question and grapple with by making simple observations with them. 

Lunar phases:

Look at the night sky, what does the moon look like? What shape is it? Is the shape the same or different than the last time you looked? Is the  moon a source of light and heat?

Seasonal changes evident in the night sky:

Where are the stars and do they make shapes in the sky? Are they close to the horizon or above you as you look up? 

Sky changes show evidence of night and day:

Can stars be seen during the day - does that mean they are not there? Where is the sun when it is night? Is the sun a star? Does the sun give Earth heat and light? What time does the sun begin to light the sky in the morning? What time does the sun disappear for the night? Is it the same time every day? Is it the same time in Winter as Summer?

Enjoy the wonders of our universe through conversations with your child, and by making observations as well as asking questions together. 

Informational Writing

Before Thanksgiving, students finished up their small moment narrative writing. Students have made a shift from story telling to writing about an informational topic.  Children are thinking about what they are experts in and using a teaching voice to teach all about a variety of topics.  Each child is coming up with a variety of topics to use when writing a new teaching book.  Topics include but are not limited to: ballet, bunnies, dinosaurs, Keith Haring, football, lockers, cheetahs, yoga, etc.  Using their fingers, each teaching book is carefully planned.  Separating topic subjects is helpful to do in the planning stages for young children.  A lot of time is spent orally telling the words that will be included in the book. After writing a draft, students are now going back and thinking about elaboration.  INQUIRE with your child how they imagine someone reading their book who knows nothing about the subject.  Students are thinking about the questions they may have (who, what, where, when, why, how) when they read the book.  They then go back and add this new information to their work.  Sometimes, children work with their writing partner to help expand on there ideas. This shift to nonfiction writing has been exciting and kids have jumped right into it with an open and enthusiastic mind!  

THE STEPS TO WRITING A TEACHING BOOK:

Step 1: Thinking of  a topic.

Step 2: Planning across fingers.

Step 3: Sketching the plan

Step 4: Writing the words.

Step 5: Collaborating with a partner to expand on ideas.

Food Shelf Donations

On Friday, First Graders and their buddies volunteered to unload the truck after our school wide Food Drive.  Each person in the school donated a food item.  Our job...unload over 500 items and bring into the Food Shelf.  Students worked hard and showed Cooperation, Empathy, and Responsibility throughout the morning. Nice Job, First Graders! Thanks to all the parents who helped support your child and help them remember to bring in an item.  

First Graders will not be doing ECO on December 19th.  Please look for a winter schedule in a few weeks.

ECO

Every afternoon, after ECO, students journal about their morning outside.  Some students did some of their journaling on the blog today.  Enjoy students 'best guess spelling.'  More student posts to come!  

We showed miss bates class the back side of

harrison field on the way there.

Lary was the fire tender

we made tea.We mad a fire.  We culectd mouse tales and chikude sticks for the fire. We drank the tea

that we  made.it was yeumy. But sume people 

did not like it. while we were dringking owre tea  lary told us a story about anamls . The story about the anamls was baste on a bird and it was a ledgind.then we left. It was fun.

Community Visit and UES Interviews

Today's community visit was to Bear Pond Books on Main Street.  Students listened to a story read by Jane, the children's book expert, and learned about the job of a store clerk who works at a book store.  Jane shared her enthusiasm for helping customers find the most perfect books.  Her job keeps her busy, as she cleans the shelves, sets displays, orders books, and helps the customers each day.  Store clerks work hard to make their customers happy. As students explored the children's space, some found some great book titles, spotted the space section (an upcoming unit of study), and even looked closely at an old cash register.  Earlier in the day, students learned how about life back 100 years ago and how stores then may be different to how they are today.  One way was the cash register, so seeing this piece of equipment was eye-opening for many! INQUIRE with your child how many children's books are estimated to be at Bear Pond?  Why is Tuesday a favorite day for a clerk at Bear Pond?  I know many children are itching to get back to explore some books, as only eyes were used this afternoon to view.  Have fun on your own visit!

Over the last few weeks, students have been looking closely at the UES community. One way students are learning is by interviewing random adults that work at our school.  Before vacation, we learned all about Mr. McClane, a 2/3 teacher that works upstairs.  Students took turns asking him questions, and learned all about how long he's been teaching, why he chose teaching, about when he was a child in first grade, and so much more.  Enjoy this link of Mr. McClane sharing about when he knew he wanted to be a teacher.  Next week, we'll get to learn about Pinky, who delivers milk, Esther, a cafeteria chef, and Miss Pat, a special educator who works with upper grades.

Museum Tour

Thanks so much for supporting your child's inquiring mind, creativity and interest in special places in our Montpelier community through the November optional independent learning project. We celebrated just before the Thanksgiving break with an ALL first grade museum tour of projects made by every student. Each student presented their project to peers touring from other classes, explained why it was a special community place to them, how they made it, the materials they used and facts they learned. This was wonderful practice using cooperation and assertion to share information about their own work, and listen to peers explaining their projects, too.

So many students are already working on the December optional independent project: Where in the Word? about maps due December 15th. Please send your child's map and accompanying project materials to school as soon as it is finished. Students will present them to the class, then I will display them on one of our first grade hallway bulletin boards - have fun, and thanks again for your support! As a reminder, this project is again optional.  

Check out some favorite first grade places in Montpelier, you may recognize a few!! 

Reminders for walking Field Trips

On Wednesday our class will travel by foot to visit the Bear Pond Book store. This trip is in connection with our social studies learning theme focusing on getting to know who works in our community, where they work and what they do to help.

 

Focus on our community retailers will engage students in thinking about what people who live in Montpelier do to meet their needs, and do for fun. We will also be considering what people do when they visit our community. We will explore the children's section as observers and social studies investigators. We will also listen to a story read by book shop owner Claire Benedict.

 

Please talk with your child about how they can use C.A.R.E.S to make the trip a wonderfully fun learning experience, and show respect to our community members.

 

Also, this week we are taking on a community service challenge proposed by Screech here at UES - "stuff-a-nest" with non-perishable food items for the Montpelier Food Shelf. Please send items to school with your child by Friday, December 6th.

 

We will work with the food shelf staff to unload the UES "nest" on Friday December 13th as a service to our Montpelier community. We will travel to the food shelf on Friday morning.  

On Thursday, we will travel to Harrison Forest for ECO. Please help your child be prepared with outdoor clothing and a change of clothes for when we return.  

News from Mr. Hennessey

Welcome to the Union Elementary Wise Owl!  We hope that you enjoy this new way of learning what's going on at UES!  If you'd like to have the Wise Owl sent to you, please send your email address to chrish@mpsvt.org.  I'll be updating the Owl at least once a week with both news and celebrations, and I'd love to be able to send it directly to you if
that's what you'd like.  Here are some very important updates that you’ll need to know:

NEW SECURITY SYSTEM AT UES!  Beginning on the morning of Monday, December 2, the UES community will enter a new era of security and safety as we continue to do our best to keep our children and staff safe.  Faculty and staff will be issued photo ID cards today, and these cards will each have a chip embedded in them allowing entry into the building. Keys will no longer be necessary.

Exterior doors will now be locked at all times before, during, and after school.  Guests visiting UES will now enter the building through the main, front entrance using a video/buzzer system linked to the front office.  Upon entry, guests (parents, contractors, etc.) will sign in at the front office and be given a guest ID pass.  From December 2 on, all faculty, staff, and guests must have an ID or guest pass visible at all times while in the building.  If you don't have an ID and are in the building, an adult (or maybe even a student!) will ask you to return to the office to get one.

We fully recognize that this is an entirely new way of allowing access to our school for the community, but we hope that you can all understand that these changes need to happen.  As we all get used to this new system in the coming weeks, we welcome your questions, suggestions, and feedback.  Please let us know what you think!

SCHOOL EXPERIENCE SURVEY:  In an effort to get more feedback from UES families, we've put out a School Experience Survey on our website.  The survey will only take a few moments to fill out, so please look at it when you have a chance.   We really want to know how you think we're doing!

You can click here to take the survey right now!

NOVEMBER ASSEMBLIES:  RESPONSIBILITY!  If you happened to stop by our assemblies before or after your Thanksgiving lunch last week, you got to see quite a show!  Ms. Kelley's class had the task of putting together a show with the theme of Responsibility, and did they ever come through!  The students presented a well rehearsed and planned out show that was both informational and entertaining.  Outstanding job!

Please check out the Wise Owl Blog on the UES website to see some great photos from the assemblies!

8:00 START TIME:  With the cold weather and new security system going into effect after Thanksgiving, we think it's a good time to remind the community that Union Elementary does not open its doors until 8:00.  As of December 2, the doors to the school will be locked and staff will not be available until that hour, so it's very important to make sure your child isn't dropped off before that time. Adult supervision inside and out will begin at 8:00 in the cafeteria for those who want breakfast, the playground, and "Quiet Start" in the library (which is limited to the first 40 students who choose to go to the library).  The bell rings at 8:20 for the official start to the day. The half hour between 7:30 and 8:00 is always busy for our faculty and staff preparing the day and participating in meetings, so we really appreciate all of your cooperation with this!  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Magic and Muffin Man

The children have been working on a synchronized dance unit in PE.  Check out these videos (if you get updates on email - check the blog for videos).  

Birthday Breakfast

This morning we celebrated students with a birthday in November.  This is a great opportunity to join in our morning meeting and stop by the classroom. If you missed today's breakfast, feel free to come December 20th at 830!  Thank you to all parents for helping to supply snack items for the celebration.