UMS November Conferences!

I just wanted to let you know that UMS conference sign-ups go “live’ on Monday, October 31, 2016 at 8:30 a.m.  You can go to the UMS website and click on “Useful Links” and conference sign-ups are under the section entitled “Other Resources”.  Conferences will be held on Monday, November 21^st from 11:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m. and Tuesday, November 22^nd from 8:00 a.m. – noon.  Please remember that each child gets one 20 minute time slot, so please plan accordingly! I look forward to seeing you and talking about your child’s growth!!!  Have a fabulous weekend!

Fire Safety

October is Fire Safety month and today Colchester firefighters came to UMS to teach us about ways to be safe. We talked about how to call the fire department, what to do if we have a fire in our house,  setting a meeting place outside your house to meet your family, and if you get a spark or flame on your clothes, you need to stop, drop, cover your face, and roll.   The kids had so many amazing questions! They loved seeing the firefighters all dressed up in all of their gear.

Balance and Motion

Our Science unit this trimester is Balance and Motion. We've talked about how to make an object balance and that there should be equal weight on both sides to make an object stable.  We"ve done a few experiments where we added counterweights to an object to make it balance. Some of our new vocabulary words are counterweight, balance, gravity, and stable. Here are some pictures from our hands on time.

UMS Book Fair

Next week, October 17-Oct.20, Ms. Hebert is hosting the UMS Scholastic Book Fair in the library.  Kids will preview the book fair on Monday and have the opportunity to buy on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  You can send money in with your child or you are welcome to come in with them. There are also a few evenings that you can come and purchase books.  Here is a link for the scholastic book fair.

http://www.scholastic.com/bf/unionmemorialschool

Reading Workshop - Character Analysis

In reading workshop we are working on story elements.  We have been discussing the main character of a book. (RL 2.3), their outside appearance, as well as what is inside the character (their thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors).  We read the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes and made a chart of Chrysanthemum's appearance.  We then read Lily's Purple Plastic Purse and Owen also by Kevin Henkes and we discussed the main character's traits on the inside. For example, we discussed that Lily is spunky, she loves fashion, she adores her teacher Mr. Slinger, she sometimes doesn't follow rules, and she can have a bad temper, but she always apologizes for her mistakes,  We are learning that characters have inside and outside traits, and if we pay attention to these traits, it will help us understand the story better!

Carrot Harvest

In the spring of first grade, students planted carrot seeds.  Yesterday, the second graders got to pick the carrots! After we picked them , we donated them to the Colchester Food Shelf next door. The students were so excited to see the fruits of their labor! Here are some pictures of our adventures!

OPEN HOUSE: 

Our fall open house will be held on Thursday, October 6 from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. This is an opportunity for the students and their families to come and see some of the wonderful learning that’s been happening since the start of the year. This is a very informal event and I look forward to seeing you!  We always have a great turnout at nightly events, so parking is usually an issue. Claussen’s allows us to use their parking lot in the evening to help ease the demand. Also, we will be running a shuttle from Creek Farm Plaza. The shuttle will run continuously from 6:15 PM until 7:45 PM. Please park near Partner Tire as to not take spaces for the businesses that are still open at this time.