Volunteers

We are in need of a few volunteers to help with recess coverage to help monitor/play to support students engaged in healthy play. Our recess time is from 11:40-12:40. If you are interested, please call the school office at 674-2332.
                                       

 Auction

The Annual Custodian Auction is March 14. Snow date: March 15. If you are interested in donating an item, please contact Eric Liimatta, our custodian. If you plan to attend, it will be held at OHCHS in the cafeteria. The event is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  They put tickets in bags and drawing starts at 1 p.m.
                                       

Mrs. Clarke

We enjoyed a couple of warm, sunny days outside this week in West Paris!
Mrs. Rogers has begun to organize our 3rd/4th grade ski day at Mt. Abram. It will take place on February 14. We ask that families pay $3 to help with the cost of transportation. Mt. Abram is generously covering all other costs including rentals and lessons!
We had house meetings on Friday and created posters that included our crests. Our 6th grade house leaders will hang them around the school next week. What pride our students have for their house families!
Many of our students are engaged in informational writing.
Please enjoy your weekend.
Fondly,
Beth
                                   

 Classrooms

PreK – What a great week! I am so happy to see everyone after a long weekend. We are still continuing with our unit 3, which involves wind and water. This week we have been making docks and cargo ships in the block center, working with weather puzzles, manipulatives, and weather matching games on the rug. We are exploring goop, snow, and treasures in blocks of ice in the sensory table. At the art table, we have been sculpting with clay and painting with ice cubes.
As always, we are working on our name writing, letters, and numbers. You could do this at home, allowing your child to help write your shopping list, counting steps as you go up and down stairs, or using the environment to make connections. These ideas will help build literacy comprehension.
Have a great weekend and stay warm!
Ms. Larracey

Kindergarten – Every morning we will be writing a sentence together using interactive writing as writing sentences is a little bit tricky at this time. Please spend some time with your child daily working on this skill.
We are working on measurement in math and are measuring our shoes, lines, arms, legs, noses etc. and everything in the room using connecting cubes rather than a regular ruler. We are focused on the concept rather than the exact answer.
Please read to your child nightly and have her/him read the easy “snap” words that we have learned so far.
Mrs. Biggers

Grade One – This short week has been a busy one! We’ve continued our nonfiction study in both reading and writing, and in math we’ve been constructing equations to match numbers. For example, your child may be asked to formulate equations for the number 10. This could look like any/all of the following: 5+5=10 (doubles) 25-15=10 (subtraction) 4+3+3=10 (multiple addends).
In science, we’ve begun our unit on light and sound. This week we shared books about those topics and completed some Mystery Science activities online with a focus on making sounds and vibrations.
Please make sure that your child is showing you his/her behavior calendar each night. Please initial it to let me know you’ve seen it and return it the following day. Also, if your child has inside shoes, please send them so that (s)he doesn’t have to wear boots all day.
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Chafin

Grade Two – It feels like a very short week here in second grade but we filled it with a lot of learning! We learned about the Lunar New Year and traditions that many families celebrate with each year. We love learning about new cultures and celebrations in second grade!
In writing we are working on forming opinions and building our reasons to back those opinions up.
In reading we are focusing on the adventures books take us on and the characters we meet along the way. This is preparing the students to begin book clubs in the near future.
Science this week was messy but a blast! We continued to investigate weathering and erosion; more specifically how rain creates landforms such as canyons. The students had a great time creating their land and rain showers. Did I mention it was messy???
Just a reminder that students are expected to be reading 15-20 minutes every night and recording it in their logs. This is their nightly homework.
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Puiia

Grade Three – Third graders are reading to learn! This week we are reading informational articles related to our planet and its atmosphere. Ask your son or daughter to explain why we have daylight and darkness and why we have seasons. We’re also learning more about sky conditions and how identifying clouds and wind direction can help us predict the weather.
Our informational writing celebrations are scheduled for next Wednesday at 9:15. We hope you’ll be able to join us.
We think you’ll learn a lot. Also, we plan to enjoy a day of skiing at Mt. Abram on February 14. If you can volunteer to help out on that day, we’d love to have you.
Mrs. Cooper

Grade Four – We are looking forward to beginning our reading unit, Reading the Weather, Reading the World. In the past, students have loved this unit because it is about Extreme Weather. Mrs. Chafin is joining us for this unit, and the students are so excited to share their learning with her.
The 5th and 6th grade are fundraising for their Boston trip. Stay tuned for more information.
The 3rd and 4th grade will be going to Mt. Abram for a free ski day the Friday before vacation (February 14). If you can join us, that would be great! More news to come.
Remember to send your students with warm winter gear and boots. Recess can be quite cold if they aren’t dressed properly.
Warmly,
Mrs. Toita

Grade Five  – We are continuing to work on informational reading. Part of this work includes a tie-in with our history unit on Colonial America, and includes learning more about who lived on this continent before Europeans arrived. Some of the reading we’re doing is on a site called ReadWorks. Your child can show you what they’re reading by logging on to google classroom.
We’re also enjoying a class read aloud called “Sing Down the Moon,” which is about a Navajo community in Canyon de Chelly.
Please continue to work with your child on their multiplication facts; so much of their work in math is made so much easier when their facts are automatic.
Thank you for your help!
Mrs. Timm

Grade Six – Informational writing has kicked off this week. Creating the foundation for this thinking takes time. Using the R.A.C.E (please ask your kiddos about it) method, our learners are pushing themselves to articulate with precise vocabulary supported by textual evidence.
Logical reasoning and other analytical thinking is a 180 in the very subjective opinion based learning we have been doing lately. Whether in our nonfiction reading or informational writing, these learners don’t shy easily from the challenge.
Our first in-class fundraiser for Boston was not only fun, but effective. Thank you all for the continued support as we strive to make this amazing opportunity for these kids a reality.
Mr. Onofrio

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