Friday, May 31, 2012

 Breaking News:

1. Choose turkey or ham for the last day. 

2. Send rubber boots tomorrow for walking in the stream.

3. Want to help at Fun Day? Call Pat Bannerman, our PE teacher to volunteer.

4. The Save-the-Pandas fundraiser ends tomorrow (Over $50.00 so far!)

5. Please send in the home-school journals so we can add them your child's scrapbook.

6. Please return any classroom books you still have.

7. Sharing for next week: Bring in your stuffed animal and tell why it is important to you. 
8. Ask your child to show you his/her Kidblog (go to the Horizon Team Page.) 

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Dear Parents and Families,

        We have been focusing on end-of-the-year assessments in class, here, and it's amazing how the days are flying by. I am so proud of all these kids have accomplished. Students are "sharing" this week on the theme of "What I have gotten better at,  what I need to keep working on, and what I realize I am great at."  In the midst of the end-of-the-year distractions and giddiness, these 1st and 2nd-graders are showing they have gotten smarter -- but also wiser.

        We were treated to Chinese lessons last week by a wonderful Chinese visiting-teacher named Tao. She has been in our CSSU district for a some weeks now, and it was her week to spend at ABS. What a delight to hear her accent, to feel her excitement at being here, and to watch her PowerPoint on the provinces of China.  Students also learned how to sing Happy Birthday and how to count to 10.

         We have Four Winds lesson tomorrow, the 1st of June.  We are studying streams. Everyone, please bring boots.

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Here are the upcoming events for these last two weeks of school:

Friday, June 1: Four Winds

Monday, June 4th:  Celebration of summer birthdays (1:45) 

Tuesday, June 5th: Step-Up Day (2nd-graders visit their new teachers at WCS)

Wednesday, June 6th: Maple Street park End-of-the Year Picnic (9-2). Lunch will be served at 11:00. Parents, come join us!

Thursday, June 7th: special assembly in the ABS gym (1:45-2:30).

Friday, June 8th: Fun Day at WCS 9-11 (this is like a "Field Day" from the old days. Students move by classroom through a dozen or so stations from water balloon toss to "knock over the milk jugs", etc.)  

Call Pat Bannerman at ABS if you would like to volunteer to help.

 Tuesday, June 12th: Kindergarten step-up day  8:10-8:40: 2nd graders return to their old kindergarten class, and the soon-to-be 2nd graders will meet their new classmates: next year's first graders!

Also Tuesday, June 12th, End-of-the-year assembly in the ABS gym: probably 2:00-2:30.

Wednesday, June 13th: last day of school. It's a half day. 

There will be no hot lunch. Instead, there will be bag lunches with either turkey or ham sandwiches. 

*****Parents, if you want your son or daughter to get lunch on the last day of school let me know ASAP  if you would like the ham sandwich or the turkey sandwich. 

Have a great weekend, everyone. 

Mr. Bolger

May 18, 2012

May 18, 2012

Dear Parents,

It has been an eventful week! 

On Monday, students eagerly wanted to tell about giving their Moms their Mother’s Day poems.  

Science workshops have been fun as we have focused on many different aspects of planting and growing and harvesting plants. Thanks, Mitchell Ward, for bringing in the Venus Fly Trap. That is so cool. 

In Math and Reading, we have been doing a lot of review and assessments in anticipation of upcoming report cards. Your children, in Reader’s Workshop, are proud of their progress in reaching higher and higher levels (ex: j, k, l, etc) over the last couple of weeks. Students are trying out books that they had only been able to dream about at the beginning of the year. Way to go!

Thanks, everyone, if you were able to donate something to the Teacher Appreciation Week.  I picked up a nice dessert from the table in the front office, and I know that Amy and the kids will be happy to see it tonight.  I love this community. And thank you, kids, for your kind cards and words.

In Read Aloud, we are reading Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist by R L LaFevers. Ask your child about the book and about what is happening now.

What great weather! I hope everyone has a great, sunny weekend.

Take care.

Mr. B

Friday the 13th in Mr. Bolger's Class

April 13, 2012

Dear Parents,

Reading Restaurant: thank you again everyone, for making our Reading Restaurant a success. The kids are still exchanging their writing pieces, and they are avidly reading, and discussing them.

Literacy: we have finished our read-aloud book, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. We have followed that up by writing reflections on what we liked most about the book and what we thought the author, Eleanor Cameron, wanted us to learn.

-

Sharing: our theme for the coming week is “When I am 25 years old…” 

This week’s theme was “Something I notice about adults…”  and it yielded such provocative responses as, “I noticed that when I ask my mom questions, she says, ‘Ask me tomorrow,’” or “I noticed that grownups are always on the computer,” or  “I notice that grownups talk to their sisters on the phone a lot.”  Today, one student said, “Um, you’re not going to like this…sometimes grownups are grumpy.” J

Four Winds: last week, we had a great 4-winds lesson on  Deer. We learned that they eat about two pounds of branches and leaves each day. That’s a lot of sticks!

Ms. Jacy is Leaving!  Thursday of next week is our student teacher, Jacy Hagy’s last day with us :(    Jacy has done it all -- from teaching Fundations by playing charades  -- to teaching Space by having us  research big questions and paint them onto big, hanging stars  -- to teaching us how to  write good poetry by closing our eyes and really noticing what we think about when we think about spring.  She even joined the Horizon House Band on Stage at the Variety Show and Hula Hooped while everyone sang. She’s awesome! We will be compiling letters to her, but your child may feel motivated to write a nicer letter at home or make her a little craft as a thank-you. Purely optional!

Some Upcoming Dates:

·         Conferences continue today and next week. Please contact me if you haven't yet signed up for a conference.

·         2^nd-Grade Parent Input Sheets for transition to 3^rd grade are due:  Monday April 16th

·         Letters out to parents with placement decision:  early June 

·         Step Up for incoming 3rd graders: June 5th

·         Parent Orientation for 3rd grade: June 5th

·         Tentative Kindergarten (new First Graders) Step Up Day:  June 8^th

·         \Our Horizon end of the year picnic: Maple St., Park,  June 6 from 9 AM to 2 PM. Parents, of course, are welcome!

Sleep! With the arrival of spring sports and our spending more time outside after dinner, a lot of kids (including my own) just can’t resist staying up late and going to school tired. Let’s all work to help our children keep that regular routine and get to bed early for a full nights sleep!

Compost Day is Coming!  Don’t forget that we will have our tenth annual ABS compost day coming up –either the second or the third Saturday of May. Students have been composting their food scraps in the cafeteria all winter long, and they have been made into compost at an off-site compost center. Now it’s time to bring back the compost. Families pre-order  (at about $8.00 per 33-gallon barrel of compost.)  Then you come on that Saturday, you bring your own barrel, and our first and second graders (volunteering for the morning) shovel your compost into your vehicle for you. It’s a glorious event! So, try to hold off on buying compost ‘til after vacation.  Thanks!

Have a Springy weekend, everyone.  Do we dare leave our cell phones at home and go have a picnic in the woods somewhere?  I will if you do.  I almost can’t imagine…

Mr. Bolger

Ps: Some Quotes from our Sharing Last Week:

“Someone Who I Admire…”

“I admire Tyler and Mitchell because they play with me at recess and they’re nice.” - Leo

“And I admire my dad because he likes to play with me.” - Leo

“I admire Luna, Anna, Adia, and Anna Sophia because they are really kind. They play with me at recess.”  -- Kayla

“I admire Neil for helping me build the stuff of the spaceship.”  - James

“I admire my dad because he is really strong and he can build a lot of things and he helps me build stuff at home and other stuff. And we take apart stuff, like I took apart my toy car. I feel good when my dad does that with me.”  - Sean

“I admire my mommy, and I’m going to tell you three reasons. First, she is really nice. She doesn’t yell at me. 2^nd, she’s really helpful and she lets me help her sometimes. The 3^rd reason is that when it comes to having tough times, she tries to cheer me up, and it makes me happy.”

– Ananya.

‘I admire my dad because I really want to build houses like him. And he’s really good at making  robots and rocket ships and forts out of cardboard.”  -- Brodi

“ I admire my dad because he’s really nice to me. The second reason is he plays with me when he has time since he works a lot and I barely get to see him. The third reason is he does reports with me when I come home with nonfiction books on Wednesdays.”  - Anna Sophia

“I would want to admire myself! That’s because I like myself very much because I’m awesome at video games because each level I do it only takes one or two shots to beat it! And, I’m also good at making good aliens, and I’m an awesome reader too; at least I try to be awesome!”

– Diego

“I admire Kayla because she is creative and a nice friend. And I admire Julia because she lends me her markers when she is doing free-draw.”  <What adult would you like to be like when you grow up?> “I would like to be like my mom because she’s kind and she’s smart, and she can draw good pictures.”  - Luna

“I admire two people: one is Luna and one is Kayla. Why I admire Luna is because she gets a zip line in her back yard and I get to play on it; and why I admire Kayla is because she is very creative and nice. “ - Julia

“ I admire my dad because this morning he gave me mints and he gave me a pencil with all the presidents. And I admire my mom because she reads me books at bedtime and she gives me snuggles.”  - Tyler

Quotes still to come: Cutter, Adia, Mitchell, Olivia Roberts, Olivia Beaudry, and Anna Van Buren. Stay Tuned!

March 30, 2012

March 30, 2012

Dear Parents,

It’s been a very active week! We’re getting our classroom ready for our Reading Restaurant (next Thursday), We’re doing the final editing on our Space Research reports, and we’re learning how to insert pictures and clip art into those papers. Many of us jump-roped in the gym today as part of Jump-rope for Heart, and we learned that the jumpers raised over $19,000.00 ! Thank you, parents, for your generosity.

Those of us who stayed in the classroom had our hands full too. We hung our stars and constellation mobiles. We cut out moons, and we did some work on our spaceship.

We all got back together in the afternoon and we ended the day with a “Swarm Party” that entailed a schoolwide parade to celebrate our being safe, kind, and responsible. It started when the Kindergarteners marched down the hallway, and walked through every kiva to pick up 1^st and 2^nd-grade classes. We paraded right out the art-room door, around the building and into the gym where we sang a thunderous rendition of the Allen Brook song.  What a great way to end the week.

Please email me if you haven’t yet told me how many seats we should reserve for your family on Thursday night.

Also, please email me if you haven’t yet signed up for parent-teacher conferences. Check the conference schedule I sent out last week to see what some possible times are (and give me your first, second, and third choices).

Have a great weekend, everyone. See you at the Reading Restaurant!

Mr. Bolger

March 18, 2012

Dear Parents, 

Reading Restaurant: as most of you know, we will host our annual Reading Restaurant on Thursday, April 5^th .  It is an evening event. You and family members come to Horizon, and we treat you to a tasty viewing of your child’s writing from across this year. Children work together to serve you their writing, and you leave a “tip” or a comment for every piece you read.

Our Reading Restaurant title this year, chosen by the students, is 

“The Black Hole Diner.”

We’ll also have the room decorated with a space theme, and the kids should look for casual black clothing (at home or at a second-hand store?) to dress up in.

We will have two seatings, and your child will be either in the first one (6:15-7:00 p.m.), or the second one (7:15-8:00 p.m.)  We will be assigning roles and shifts for the kids tomorrow (Monday), and then I will send out a form in the next couple of days for you to make your reservation. By the way, there is no charge for this event. 

Parent-Teacher Conferences:  I have emailed you a sign-up sheet for the second and third weeks of April  (April 9^th - April 19^th). Please let me know if none of these times work for you. 

Space Research Papers:  we are hard at work on our Space Research papers. Students are studying everything from Venus to galaxies to black holes. We’re excited that you’ll get to see them at the Reading Restaurant. 

Building our Space Ship: Eric Van Buren, Anna’s dad, was able to get the wood 1x3s for us to make the skeleton of our space ship--starting tomorrow. Thank you, Eric.  Jessica Lamorey is going to help us with the construction project.  At this point, the only other thing we need is the cardboard. So, send it in!

That’s it for now. Have a great week, everyone. 

Mr. Bolger

February 24, 2012

Ray Holland, Master Storyteller,

Reads Burt Dow, Deep Water Man by Robert McCloskey

To Mr. B’s Fundations Class

Dear Parents,

 I was talking to my Fundations class yesterday about their success on the Unit-11 tests. We were kind-of marveling at how far we have come this year.  We've moved through 11 units,   and there are only about 6 units to go.  The kids were able to talk quite thoughtfully about the gains they have made in their reading.   They also remarked on how their handwriting has improved since September. One of my Fundations students exclaimed, “That is the best “polish” I have ever written!”

With February break upon us and  report cards and conferences coming up in just a few weeks, this is a great time for all of us --  teachers,  parents, and  students,  to reflect on what's been accomplished and what still have left to master --  in the last three-or-so months.

The big thing with reading this time of year: if your child is struggling with fluency, is  reading out-loud books that are a couple of levels below their  instructional level.  Encourage your child to read those stories out loud several times to just practice hearing themselves say the words fluently and with expression. Read the book, you and your child,  as though you were a pirate family on the high seas. Then read it as though you were aliens on a far-off planet. Don’t forget to read it as though you were your dog and cat reading to each other -- whatever it takes to read and read and read. By the way, it is obvious to me as I look at those reading logs, that you all have been relentless in your support at home of your child’s reading. I am grateful to you.

By the way, another fun, and valuable thing to do for fluency is to do Reader’s Theater. Take a Shel Silverstein poem and take turns saying those silly lines. That, too, is a tried-and-true way to build that fluency.

For readers who are solidly on grade level and are reliably reading on their own, the important work now is to help them 1) develop their habit for lifelong reading: help them develop a habit of reading at a regular time every day for pleasure, and help them get used to trying out different genres.  2)  strong, young readers need help thinking about, talking about, and making sense of the more complicated themes that begin to emerge in 3^rd  and 4^th and 5^th-grade level books like Harry Potter or Lemony Snickett.

For readers at all levels, it's so important for us to ask them what kind of books and genres and topics interest them, then try to put in the time to go on websites and talk to bookstore owners to find great books,  great new series, and great new characters that will really strike a chord with them and maybe be the series that they will look back on in twenty years as the one that really launched them as readers.

In writing, our student teacher, Ms. Jacy, is teaching a unit on poetry -- encouraging students to really close their eyes and see the pictures – see the images --  that come up for them. We want them to get used to paying very, very close attention to that internal movie. Once you get good at noticing it, watching it, and  telling about it,  then writing about it is actually pretty easy!

Four Winds:  we tested insulated and non-insulated cannisters of water, and we made mouse homes using cattail fluff and pieces of grass for insulation. We also noticed that Mr. Bolger and Sean were both not very insulated outside (not wearing jackets), so their body temperatures would probably “stabilize” at 32 degrees more quickly than the rest of the class.

Burt Dow, Deep Water Man by Robert McCloskey: We were paid a visit by  Mr. Ray Holland, master story-teller. He read about Burt Dow and his adventures on the high seas for our 2^nd-grader Fundations class. We noticed that Mr. Holland puts a lot of emotion into his reading, and that makes it more fun to listen to. We noticed lots of words with vowel teams in them (like “tail”). We also noticed that Burt is an r-controlled syllable. It’d sure look funny if they’d spelled it Birt.

Friday Folders: are empty today because with report cards coming up, I need to hold onto the papers this week  to review and assess. I’ll get them to you as soon as we get back from break.

Friendship List: completed! Thank you, Jodi.  I will email it to all of you all this afternoon.

Have a wonderful break, everyone.

Mr. Bolger

February 9, 2012

Olivia shares her alligator skull

February 9, 2012

Dear Parents,

It has been a stellar week. 

Science

Ms. Powers has my core class working in the tech lab studying the stars.  I have had her class with me learning about waxing gibbous moons and figuring out why the light on the moon’s surface always seems to go from right to left.  Next week,  we will switch so I will be working with my core  class.  By the way, what a gorgeous full moon we had this week! Ask your child to keep an eye on it and watch it change across the weekend.

Handwriting and typing: we are continuing our work in handwriting using our clock letters. I'm seeing a real difference – though everyone needs practice to be more consistent.  We will be starting with Type-to-Learn 4. TTL4 is available for your child to use at home. Let me know if you are interested.

Reading:

We have begun a new read-aloud called The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. Ask your child what is happening so far (Chuck and David, two teen-age boys – are building a space ship out of junk in their garage, and they hope to fly to “a nice little planet – just my size…”).

Reading Assessments:  now that the reading assessments are completed, Mrs. Powers and I are very proud of the progress these kids have made in their reading. Ask your child to tell you his or her new “independent” reading level. Email me if your child is not sure.

Variety Show – next Friday (tickets go on sale Monday):

Don't forget that next Friday is the Williston Variety Show featuring our very own Horizon house band with Mrs. Powers,  Ms. Rodliff ,  Ms.Schwartz,  Mr. Mozill , Ms. Jacy,  Ms. Lemieux,  and Ms. Trasciatti-Holmberg, and even Mrs. Rodliff’s husband, Dan,  playing drums. The tickets are seven dollars for adults and five dollars for kids. They always sell out, so get them early. The evening is a real blast and an exuberant celebration of our community and the talent of our children.

Sharing (see accompanying Sharing schedule) : we have resumed our sharing, and your child knows his or her sharing day.  A new feature is that every week, now, we will have a new sharing theme.  Until April vacation, we will share only on these themes. And thank you for not bringing in toys or stuffed animals!

Review of our goals: we are looking at our hopes and dreams for this year – the ones  that we established in September. We are revising them now, as we reach our goals and set a “spring challenge”  for ourselves.

We have been safe, kind, and responsible!   Last week, we celebrated a month of great school-wide behavior with 400 kids and adults doing the Hokey Pokey in the gym.  Imagine.

I am going to try to sit down with Amy and the kids this weekend, and do nothing. I think you should join me.

Yours in doing nothing,

Mr. Bolger