Reynolds Rock Stars

Finishing Our Kindergarten Year

Fly Up Day and Step Up Day

On Tuesday, June 2^nd, all Porters Point School students will begin the transition process for next year with a visit their new teacher and classmates.  We call this tradition “Fly Up Day” for our future Grade 1 and Grade 2 students and “Step Up Day” for future Grade 3 students.  Our goal is to have all students feel more confident and prepared for next year by introducing them to their new teacher and classmates before they leave for the summer break.

        
Fly Up Day for Kindergarten and Grade 1 students:  Kindergarten and Grade 1 students will visit their new teacher and classmates in the new teacher’s room for about 30 minutes.  During this time, teachers will lead students through some fun activities to help students get to know them and each other better.  Students will begin to familiarize themselves with their new environment and will share all the things they are excited to learn next year.

Project Inside Out

Project Inside Out starts on Thursday, June 4^th and ends on Tuesday, June 9^th.  The program is held rain or shine.  Breakfast and lunch will take place at the regular times in our school schedule.

Please make sure that your child has these items to Project Inside Out every day:

·         A water bottle

·         Sunscreen – apply before school and send additional sunscreen for the afternoon

·         A hat

·         Sneakers

·         Clothing appropriate for the changing temperatures throughout the day – a sweatshirt for morning activities when temperatures are in the 50’s with short sleeves for warm afternoons

 

Right now, the weather report looks great for most days with temperatures in the upper 70’s on Thursday, Friday, and Monday.  Rain is in the forecast for Friday afternoon and all day Tuesday.  Activities will move inside the school building on rainy days.

 

Last Day of School

Our last day of school is half-day on Wednesday, June 10, 2015.  School ends at 12:45 p.m.  The schedule for the day starts with breakfast and classroom closure for teachers and students at 8:15.  Parent/guardians are welcome to join us any time after 9:15 for the activities listed below:

·         9:15 – Project Inside Out closing ceremony

·         9:45 – All-school photo

·         10:00 – Fun activities:  Bingo, Magician, Dance party (30 minute rotations)

·         11:30 – Barbeque lunch (see instructions in the newsletter)

·         12:45 – Dismissal to go home

 

 

 

 

April 1st, 2015 - Field Trip to the Audoban

March 31st, 2015

  Dear Families,

 

During the month of April your child will be having guidance lessons focused on how they can stay safe.  Act 1 Section 3 of Vermont Law (V.S.A) states ALL Vermont schools (K-12) are required to provide instruction about how to recognize and prevent sexual abuse and sexual violence.  I know this is a sensitive subject, but this unit is a developmentally appropriate curriculum with an emphasis on equipping students with the skills needed to respond to unsafe situations.  Below you will find the topics covered for this unit according to grade level:  

·         Kindergarten

o   To use our words assertively to stay safe.

o   Being safe out in the community: How to handle those situations when you may feel scared such as getting lost in a store.

o   “Uh Oh” feeling and what those feelings tell us and how should we respond.

o   Safe touch; some touches makes us feel good, some touches makes us feel uncomfortable like a push, punch, or when someone touches any of our body parts that are private.

·         First Grade

o   Personal safety concepts: being safe around people you know as well as around strangers, checking with a parent or caregiver before going anywhere.

o   To be able to identify trusting adults in our lives and what things we need to tell them.

o   Comfortable touch verses uncomfortable touch:  How to respond to uncomfortable touch.

·         Second Grade

o   People are like the weather:  We make an analogy between the weather and people, how the weather is safe most of the time.  There are those exceptions when the weather is not safe.  Just like the weather, most people behave in safe ways, but there are times when people act in ways that are not safe. 

o   How to tell the difference between good (happy) secrets and bad (uncomfortable) secrets, and the importance of telling secrets that make you feel uncomfortable to a trusted adult. 

o   Practice telling an adult about unsafe situations:  We’ll use role playing to practice telling trusted adults about unsafe situations.

 

If you have questions or concerns about this unit I will have detailed lesson plans posted on my blog or you can feel free to email me at krigerg@csdvt.org or give me a call directly at 264-5927.

                                                                               Sincerely,

                                                                                       Greg Kriger

Field Trip

Wednesday April 1st, Audubon Field Trip! 

Please have your child bring a bag lunch and dress warmly.  Snow pants and boots will keep them dry.  We will be leaving PPS at 10:30 and returning after 2:00.  We have learned the process of turning sap into syrup and we are eager to have hands on experiences of tapping trees, collecting buckets, exploring the sugar house and enjoying Vermont's beauty.  Thank you for returning your child's permission slip and their $10 to attend the fun!! 

Thank you Mr. Hard and Ms. Alaria!

Thank you for sharing your time and talent with all of us!

Phoneme Segmentation

Taken from: http://blog.maketaketeach.com/teaching-phoneme-segmentation/

Close Reading and Finding Evidence in the Text

Close Reading:

The main idea of Close Reading is that students are truly comprehending a text and able to cite specific evidence from the text to answer their questions related to specific Common Core Standards. 

A Rabbit Example: 

Friday, February 20th

 Forever Friends

 

Future Rock Stars

The Power of Words

                                     Dr. King inspires our writing 

Working with Technology

Some students today got to work with Mrs. Randall using either the application TinyTap to create sentences and practice sight words. Other students got to use the application Explain Everything to make a video of initial letter sounds. Please continue to practice letter sounds, sight words and encourage reading at home daily. Check your child's blog today and in the next few weeks for updated documentation of learning. Thanks for sharing your child with us today and every school day!

Tiny Tap Application Video Example
(Click link for Tiny Tap Example above and then click play to watch... Click and drag the words around to match to the sample puzzle and to hear the sight word recording).

Breathing Buddies

Practice with a breathing buddy. For young children, an instruction to simply "pay attention to the breath" can be hard to follow. In this Edutopia video, Daniel Goleman describes a 2nd-grade classroom that does a "breathing buddy" exercise: Each student grabs a stuffed animal, and then lies down on their back with their buddy on their belly. They focus their attention on the rise and fall of the stuffed animal as they breathe in and out.