VSO Petting Zoo

Free digital slideshow generated with Smilebox Adventurers had a fabulous time at the Vermont Symphony Orchestra petting zoo this morning.  We learned about the history of different instruments and talked about percussion, string, brass and woodwind instruments.  Everyone had a chance to try out all the instruments in the zoo.  We played the trombone, trumpet, tuba, flute, violin, cello, harp and a variety of percussion instruments.  What a wonderful experience for all of us! On Thursday we will be visiting the Flynn to see the VSO present "One Green Earth".  We will be leaving early in the morning and returning home before lunch.  We look forward to seeing all the instruments we learned about today being played in the performance. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to meet with everyone during conference time and celebrate your child's learning.  We will begin some new units in December.  We will be writing poetry during Writers Workshop and will be learning about the water cycle in science.  We have a field trip to ECHO that connects to our science unit planned for Thursday, January 20th.  Students will need to bring a bag lunch on that day as we will be eating at ECHO.  I will provide more information when we get closer to that date.  If you would like to be a chaperone for this field trip and have had your finger printing done, please contact me sometime before then.  We will be bringing 3 parents per classroom.  The first people I hear from will be able to go. Don't forget this Saturday is the Holiday Craft Fair.  We will need all hands on deck for this event!  Please make sure to come for your volunteered time to help out.  Thank you so much to all of you for your support with this event.  A huge thank you to Elaine Brand for organizing this event! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Science, Science, Science!

Made by John

 Yesterday we had a visit from "Professor John" who teaches science at St. Michaels College. He taught us about states of matter. We learned about solids, liquids and gasses.We learned that a solid sits still, a liquid pours and a gas floats above ground. We did an experiment that showed us that air has weight.  The desserts on this week's homework menu are science experiments that relate to what we learned from Professor John.

Today we had Hands On Nature and learned about "Pebbles and Rocks". We learned that Igneous rocks, such as granite, are formed from fire. Sedimentary rocks such as limestone, are formed by sediment being pressed and formed in layers. We also learned that Metamorphic rocks, such as marble, are formed by pressure and heat. These are the three ways rocks are formed.  We went outside and searched for different kinds of rocks and played a game.  We also did several activities inside that taught us more about rocks.  It was a fun morning of learning.  Many thanks to our Hands On Science volunteers for another terrific experience with science!

Just a quick reminder that our Craft Fair work day is this Saturday from 9-12. Please check the Adventurers website and go to "Craft Fair Wish List" to see if there are any items you can donate for the Craft Fair. We were also notified today that we were chosen to do the food booth. Please send me an email if you are interested in helping out with the food booth.

I look forward to meeting with everyone next week to celebrate your child's progress this year.  All of your children have been working very hard this first trimester and have many accomplishments to be proud of!

Math Night!

A big thank you to everyone who came to math night and those of you who worked hard to put this event together for the Adventurers team.  It was a great night of fun, learning new games and connecting with the many wonderful families we have on the Adventurers team.

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Readers and Writers Workshops continue to go well.  We have learned about writing the "outside" and "inside" of our small moments during Writers Workshop and started learning about reading journals in Readers Workshop.  We will begin using our reading journals next week.  Guided reading groups are going well.  I'm already seeing a lot of progress in all my friends.  They are amazing readers!

We began focusing on "teen numbers" in math this week.  We have been playing several new games and have been introduced to several new work stations.  Next week we will be creating our own picture problems about sea stars and crabs.

A quick reminder that this Wednesday will be class pictures, picture retakes and Hands On Nature.  Please make sure your child comes to school with appropriate outdoor gear for Hands on Nature.