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

Town Hall Meetings.

By Kelly Jackson

By Tobin Calder

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