February 18, 2011

Dear Parents,

Everyone has been very excited about the school play. On Wednesday, students got their roles and today, students get their scripts. Play practice will start when we return from break. It will be held on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of each week.
Robotics will start on March 8th and meet every Tuesday. This year we will compete with other schools in the area.

If you have not scheduled a student led conference, there are still some openings Wednesday, March 2nd and Thursday, March3rd.

This week the 8th graders completed the GSA math test as well as a unit test. I am sure all of them are looking forward to a well deserved break. The 5th and 6th graders have been learning about scientific notation and units of measure used in astronomy. The next topic of study for the 7th and 8th graders is volcanos and how they relate to the theory of plate tectonics.

February 11, 2011

Dear Parents,

We broke with tradition and started a third puzzle! In our classroom, puzzling is a popular past time. This and the many indoor recesses made it seem like a good idea. 200 salmon eggs arrived on Wednesday and they are safely nestled in the tank of 33ºF water. The eggs were fertilized on November 19, 2010 and we expect them to hatch in April.

Thank you for attending our student led conferences. Students always seem eager to talk about their progress and I am impressed with their honest evaluations and interest in improving. NECAP scores were handed out at the conferences and the remainder will be sent home today.

If you have not signed up, we do have next Thursday afternoon for conferences and we can always schedule something after the break.

Today we are going to the Grand for a film, Oceans Alive and next week we will resume our studies.

Did you know that if the Earth were 2” in diameter, the moon would be about 1/2” in diameter and the distance between the two would be about 5 ft? The sun would be the size of a mini-van and about 6 soccer fields from the earth.

February 4, 2011

Dear Parents,

The highlight of the week was making ice cream. Mrs. Weed brought in the churn and ingredients. Josie, Ethan and I gathered icicles while EB and Nate helped mix the ingredients. The kindergarten came by to see what we were doing and Nate very patiently explained how the process.

We had a great time at the Maine School Book Awards. Many of the 5th and 6th graders are still writing and reciting tongue twisters.

This week we made magnets by wrapping wire around a nail. We energized the wire with a flash light battery and instant magnet!

The delivery of salmon eggs was put off until next week but we are ready. Tyler S, Tyler B, Nick and Gabby helped with the cold task of getting water from Winslow Stream.

Parent Teacher Conferences are next week. Please call Mrs. Kilpeck to set up your conference. Your child has picked out their work in each subject area and is ready to tell you what and how they are doing in each class. I hope you will be able to attend next week but if not, we would be happy to arrange another time with you.