Lake Champlain Watershed Demonstration

We've been learning all about how Lake Champlain helps our town of Colchester!!  We had an amazing presentation this week from Stephanie Larkin, who works at the Lake Champlain Basin Program.  She came to UMS to talk to all of the second graders about Lake Champlain and how we can (inadvertently) hurt as well as help the lake. We talked about some of the major lake pollutants such as soil, manure, grass clippings, oil, factory waste, pesticides, salt, and gasoline. People use these products to help make their daily life easier.  However, we use them without thinking of the consequences when these products end up in the lake after a rainstorm. After we talked about these pollutants, we talked about ways to help keep the lake clean and free from pollutants.  People can "scoop the poop" when they have animals, we can plant trees, shrubs, and grass to keep soil from eroding into the lake, put fences around farms, create wetlands to help filter out pollutants, and post signs on storm drains that go directly to the lake. Picking up litter also keeps trash from getting into the lake.  The lake offers so many wonderful benefits to the town of Colchester like supplying our drinking water, providing various types of recreation like swimming and boating, we receive money from tourists coming to visit our town, some people even eat fish from the  lake. With all of these great benefits of having the lake in our town we want to protect it! Here are some pictures from our hands-on experiment!

Burnham Library Field Trip

We had such a great time walking to the Burnham Library last Wednesday! The weather was gorgeous and Hannah and Pam, the children's librarians, met us at the front door. They were so excited to have us visit!!!  They told us a little history about the library, answered our questions, read us a great story called "The Dullards" and then the students were able to walk around and explore. Many students checked out a book and everyone enjoyed reading their story.  Here are some photos from our trip.

School Wide Meeting

Last Tuesday, we had a school wide meeting and some of the students in our class presented. We wrote a classroom book on how to be a good friend and we read some of our suggestions to the school. Everyone who presented used a nice clear speaking voice while our audience classmates were great listeners.  I'm so proud of everyone!!

Fire Safety Presentation

The Colchester Firefighters came to UMS today to talk about fire safety. We learned about "Stay Low and Go" which means we stay low to the ground to avoid smoke and leave the house if the fire alarm is going off. We also talked about setting a meeting place with your family in case you need to leave your house quickly.  If a piece of clothing catches on fire, kids remembered to  "Stop, Drop, Cover your face, and Roll" until the fire is out. Students leaned about how to tell if a fire is on the other side of a doorway too. The last thing the firefighters did was dress up in all of their gear to show us that we shouldn't be scared if we ever see a firefighter dressed up with their mask, hood, and air tank.. They are here to help us!  The students were mesmerized and learned a lot. Here are some pictures from our presentation.

Burnham Library Visit

On Wednesday, October 21st, our class will be walking to the Burnham Library after lunch with Mrs. Davis' class. We will leave school at 12:45 and return to school by 2:15. If your child has his/her own library card, they are welcome to bring it and check one book out during our visit.  If your child does not have their own card, I've sent a small blue card home. Please fill out BOTH sides and return it to school by this Thursday, October 15th so that the Burnham Library has time to make everyone's new library card before our visit.

When we arrive at the library, we will meet the Children's Librarians, listen to a story, take a tour of the children's section, and browse the books. Any child who checks out a book will be responsible for carrying it back to UMS and you will need to return it to the Burnham Library on your own.  We are so excited to visit this great local resource!

Open House

UMS is hosting an Open House on Thursday, October 8th from 6:30-7:30 p.m.  It is a very informal event so you can come and go as you please! This is your child's chance to shine and show off all of the hard work they have been doing in class!  I look forward to seeing everyone!

Potato Picking Day

Yesterday, the second graders harvested the potatoes that they planted in the spring of first grade. The potatoes were taken care of all summer by Mr. And Mrs. Perkins. Mrs. Perkins works at our school and she helped set up this great learning experience for our students.

Each student picked 3 potatoes and once everyone had a turn, we walked over and donated them to the Colchester Food Shelf. All four second grades were able to do this and we donated a lot of potatoes to help our neighbors! Here are some photos from our afternoon.