Monday News

Dear Families,

We have been focusing on having a growth mindset. A growth mindset is the belief that we can learn anything if we put in the work, practice and effort to learn it.  This is the idea that mistakes and failures are part of learning and it's okay to make mistakes. Here is a video that will be shown in class on Monday to your child. You can watch it again with your child and have a discussion.

Wednesday is Open House at 6:00 pm. I hope to see you there!

Enjoy the warm weather,

Mrs. Carter

Important Dates:

Wednesday, September 27th is Open House at 6:00 pm

Thursday, September 28th, Picture Make Up day in the morning

Tuesday, October 3rd, Hike Day

Thursday, October 5th Rain date for hike day

Wednesday, October 11th, late start

Monday News

Dear Families,

We started our unit on Interdependence during Topnotch Thursday. The students created sit spots and chose microhabitats to study in every season. A homework sheet will be going home on Monday. The students will need to choose a microhabitat at home and answer some questions on a worksheet. We will do this for each season.

We started tracking and graphing the amount of daylight on Fridays. This Friday is the Autumnal equinox. Students will notice something interesting on this day! In January, we will begin a global mystery. We will find mystery classes around the world by tracking changes in day length as the Earth revolves around the Sun. We will also use cultural clues to figure out the mystery spots.
Here is the link to read more about the mystery.

A permission slip for a field trip to Shelburne Museum will be going home today. Please sign and return as soon as possible.

We are reading The Great Gilly Hopkins in class for our read aloud. Our first unit in reading is a character study. Gilly grows and changes throughout the book. She is a very interesting character!

Word Study has started and your child can let you know the teacher that leads his/her group. Word Study is 25 minutes for 4 days each week. It is part of our balanced literacy program, along with reading and writing workshop.

Enjoy your week,
Mrs. Carter

Sit Spots at Topnotch Thursday

odds and ends

Please have your child dress to be outside all day tomorrow. We will be starting our science unit on Interdependence. The students will also choose a sit-spot. 

We have been working on conferring with our reading and writing partners. What makes an effective reading/writing partner? The students explored this question. 

We have 4 chrysalises!

Our new working areas - stand-up desks and bean bag chairs. 

An area to work on our self-regulation skills. 

We created class rules. 

Monday News

Dear Families,

Wednesday is a late start day. Please check the BPMS website for details. 

We will lead all school morning meeting this week. 

Dates we lead all school morning meeting:
9/22/2017, 10/13/2017, 12/15/2017, 2/16/2018, 4/20/2018

Unfortunately, I have a science meeting and a math meeting on 10/13 and 12/15 and there will be a guest teacher. 

The students brainstormed and voted on a name for our outdoor days on Thursday. Drumroll please......Topnotch Thursdays. Please remember to send your child with clothes to be outside on Thursdays. We are in the process of collecting extra clothes to store at school. We still need boots, jackets, snow pants, mittens for our 'extra clothing' box.   


Enjoy your week,
Mrs. Carter

Monday News

Dear Families,

I hope you enjoyed the long weekend. I spent the weekend camping in Groton, Vermont with my family. Without internet or cell service, I was able to be in the woods completely unplugged from my phone or emails. This is the reason for the blog post coming to you so late on a Monday evening.

Last week, we began to establish routines and expectations. We will develop our hopes and dreams for the school year this week; focusing on things we can't do YET.

We will be outside on Thursdays. Please make sure your child is prepared for a day outside every Thursday. This includes appropriate footwear and layers to help your child stay dry and comfortable. A change of clothes is a good idea, too. Sunscreen and bug spray may also be helpful for your child.

Thank you for returning all the paperwork. Please return it this week if you have not already.

First homework assignment due Friday:

The students will be personalizing their writing notebooks. The writing notebook is a place for writers to catch all the inspiration they find in their lives that could lead to a piece of writing.  We personalize the notebook with pictures and memorabilia of important moments, all of which call to mind stories we might want to write about in some form. Collect pictures and magazine clippings to personalize your notebook. Parents may email the pictures to me and I will print the pictures if you’d like.

Class Schedule:

Mondays - Spanish and Library

Tuesdays - Music and Physical Education

Wednesdays - Art

Thursdays - Physical Education

Fridays - Guidance

Important Dates:

• 9/7, Thursday: Picture Day
• 9/13, Wednesday: Late Start
• 9/27, Wednesday, Open House, 6:00-7:00 pm

Enjoy your week,

Mrs. Carter