Thank you for a wonderful year!  See you all in August!

Important End of the Year Notes from Ms. Millham...

• Step Up (Grade K & 1) day is Monday, June 6th for all students.  Each child will meet his/her new teacher and classmates tomorrow.  Look for a placement letter in your child's home school communication folder tomorrow afternoon. 

• Monday, June 6 is the last day to purchase a yearbook.  We have them in the office for $12.00 each.  Make checks payable to PPS PTO.

• The Burnham Library field trips happen this week.  Our classroom now has all of our permission forms back :) Thank you!  The schedule is as follows:
  • Tuesday, June 7 at 1:00 – Mr. Allbee and Ms. Bourgea’s classes

• Thursday, June 9, 2016 is the last day of school. 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 for any and all of the activities listed below:

• • 8:30 to 9:00 - all school meeting - Mrs. Hooper is retiring.  We're recognizing her for all of her good work at PPS during the all-school meeting.
  • 9:00 to 11:00 – 4 activities for students:  Performance – drumming (Stuart Peyton of Burlington Taiko Drummers - he's doing our PTO-sponsored artist residency next year), dance party, Bingo, and a craft (30 minute rotations)
  • 11:00 to 11:30 – Classroom closure activities – in your child’s classroom
  • 11:30 to 12:30 – Barbecue lunch & recess (see instructions in the June newsletter)                                                                   12:45 – Dismissal to go home  You are more than welcome to take your child home at the end of the BBQ, but please make sure to sign them out with me first. I want to make sure that I see each student before they leave for the summer!! 

• Don't forget to look around the house for any library books and turn them in to Mrs. Bochanski. 

• All Food Service bills need to be paid in full - make a check out to the "Colchester School Lunch Program" or drop off cash in the Food Service envelope available on the kitchen door.

Reminder Letter

Dear PPS Famlies –

·       Don’t forget that our Mighty Makers Project-Based Learning Presentation is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 1:45 p.m.  Weather permitting, we will be outside to start and then grade level teams will take you on a tour of their project activities.

·       Students (and adults) should wear their tie-dye T-shirts to school tomorrow, June 3^rd!

·       We have a change in plans – placement letters will go home with students on Monday afternoon, June 6^th following their Step Up/Fly Up activity in the morning. 

·       Burnham Library applications are going over to the library today.  If you haven’t turned yours in already, please mail it to the Burnham with a note that says your child is a PPS student visiting next week.  The library’s address is:  898 Main Street, Colchester, VT 05446.

·       General end of the year clean-up:  please remember to turn in any library books, settle up food service bills, and notify us of any changes to your address, phone number, custody status, etc. in preparation for next year!

Our last day of school is Thursday, June 9^th.  It is a half-day with school dismissing at 12:45 p.m.  Expect the buses to arrive MUCH earlier than usual because there are few students who ride home on the last day.  Please plan accordingly J

Classroom News

Thank you

Thank you to all of the parents that have donated time and/or materials to our Mighty Makers project!  Students are having a blast finishing up the year by making our playground a better place!

Eric Carle as a Mentor

Eric Carle is a prominent children's book author.  Students in the classroom have become acquainted to his work.  This week we learned how Eric makes his painted papers.  On Tuesday, each child demonstrated their new knowledge by making four different types of painted papers (splatter paint, wet on wet, sponge paint and straw blown paint).  Students are now in the process of making stories, just like Eric Carle's.  We have octopus stories, cat and dog stories, spider stories and so much more!  It is great to see students using their imagination to make up their animal/insect themed stories.  When stories are complete, students will use the painted paper that they made earlier in the week to illustrate their stories through collage.  Everyone is extremely excited to see their stories come together!

Enjoying the Sunshine and Practicing our Skills

Important Dates

Mighty Makers Open House: Friday June 3rd at 1:45 

Step Up Day; a visit to First Grade: Monday, June 6th

Last Day of School: 1/2 day June 9th and BBQ (more information to follow)

Classroom News

May Disclaimer

The month of May is an extremely busy time of year in our school.  I will be out of the classroom a handful of days this month for Kindergarten Screening and for assessment days.  I will be testing students on their literacy and math skills in the next couple of weeks. I have been impressed by the skills that they have already shown me. I have seen a lot of improvements and children making tremendous gains throughout the year. Please continue to practice reading with your child at home. Being read to, and listening to your child read, is a crucial piece of the puzzle! 

Literacy and Math

As the Spring testing time quickly approaches, the class has been working vigorously with their sight words, math equations, Writer's Workshop and Daily 5.  We have been meeting with our "Book Buddies" from the second grade to help prepare us to be better readers.  This allows for a broader range of discussion of books and ultimately leads to students challenging one another. 

Science

During the month of May, we will be completing the our Five Senses unit.  Students have been enjoying learning about the sense of sight.  They LOVE to do "eye tests" on the Smart board! 

Tie Dying

Thank you to all of the parent volunteers that came in on Friday to help students tie dye.  It was a wonderful experience for them all and I know that they enjoyed having you here :) 

Classroom News

Maple Sugaring Field Trip

I thought you'd all love to have a glimpse into our adventure at the Audubon in Huntington on Wednesday.  Thank you to Melissa and Tricia for helping us out on our field trip!  

I spy a sugar house!

Going out into the sugar bush to collect sap from the trees.

Pouring our sap into buckets to bring to the sugar house.

Watching Jamie boil the sap.

Jamie is teaching us what a Hydrometer is.  It helps the sugar maker know when the sap has turned into syrup!

Best part of the day...TASTE TEST TIME! 

Of course our day had to end with a game of Duck, Duck Goose!

Ready, Set, Run 2016

I will be helping as a coach for this years Ready, Set, Run program.  I would love to see students in our class sign up for this great program!  It runs from 3:00-4:00 pm every Thursday (except over April break), starting next Thursday, April 7th.  For more information and to sign your child up, please visit: 

http://www.runvermont.org/youth/ready-set-run/