May 12, 2014

May 12, 2014

Hi Parents,

Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers. I hadn't been thinking about Teacher Appreciation Week, so I was totally taken by surprise when the kids walked in first thing and gave me their flowers.  I was honestly touched. Thank you for taking the time to find a flower and do the impossible --- getting it here in one piece. We put them in a vase, and they brightened up the room. 

Then, all across the day, the kids kept asking, "Can I take a flower home?" So, I decided,
"Sure. Of course I should share these with you guys."    Thank you, again.

Another wonderful thing that happened was that Karen Allen and your kids created a book about our class! It features every one of our students (and we're going to photoshop in Hanna!) Karen got it published, and she came in and read it to us today. It tells about how, when you are having a blue day,  remember that you always have friends by your side. Thank you, Karen!

         
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Field Trip to the Montshire Museum:

Don't forget that our field trip to the Montshire is on Friday.We leave right at 8:15....it would be helpful if your child could be sure to have breakfast at home due to the tight schedule.

We plan to arrive there at about 9:45 am.

I have heard from three parents/grandparents who wish to be chaperones. We may not have any more room on the bus, but if you would like to chaperone and you are able to drive to the Montshire (and are able to pay for your day pass) we'd love to have you.

Remember we have a late pick up that day. We plan to arrive home at ABS at 3:30 pm. Please plan to pick up your child then.

There is no cafeteria, at the Montshire, so if you are chaperoning, remember to take your own cold lunch.

There is a gift shop.  I will be downplaying it, and I'll tell the kids that I won't be buying anything myself.  The kids who wish to buy something usually  bring something between $2.00 and $5.00.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH: Today, Mrs. Frisby learned that the Rats have a plan to move away from the farm. We wondered why they would want to move away -- especially since they would lose their comforts like electricity and electric lights which they somehow have been smart enough to figure out how to use!

The next chapter is called, "A Sleeping Powder For Dragon." 

I hope your week is off to a good start.

Mr. B.

May 3, 2014

Dear Parents and Students,

The year is nearly through. And it feels too soon.

I remember a December Morning Meeting when students were  predicting when the first real snow would come. It came, and the skiing season -- with Friday skiing -- came. There were Halloween entries and Thanksgiving entries in our Home-School Journals. We had our Polar Express Day and The Hundredth Day of School, and Halle moved away. Now,  February and March vacations, and even the Reading Restaurant are behind us.  Baseball has started, and we're scheduling our dentist appointments into August.

Looking ahead, I feel proud and also sentimental knowing that we will be saying, "So long!" to you 2nd graders. Xander, Wylie, Scarlet, Nina, Kali, Derek, Delia, DJ, Chloe, Charlie, and Brendan, You have been the backbone of this class; you have all grown so much,  and we will miss you so much. Soon-to-be Second Graders,  Zoey, Taeshaan, Phin, Megan, Jasper,  Boden, and Audrey, come August, you will be the old kids, and I will look to you to lead with all your curiosity and passion --  to welcome and guide your new, younger classmates.

 Reading Restaurant -- a last word:  I want to compliment you, students, for your great writing and for your great performance as waiters, busspeople, chefs, and maitre-d's in our Reading Restaurant. I just put together the compilation of all that Reading Restaurant 2014 writing, and it really is impressive. Congratulations. Ms. Poirot has been very interested in your pieces as she chooses writing from across our school and WCS to feature in the Spring edition of The Scribe.

Upcoming Events: 

Monday, May 5: our new classmate, Hanna, arrives!
Monday, May 5:  I will be doing end-of-year assessments in Reading.
Monday, May 19: "          "                   "                               "
Friday,  May 9: Beauty and the Beast at WCS.  (also 2 shows on May 10th)
Friday, May 16: Field Trip to the Montshire Museum (we have three spots available on the bus for chaperones. First come, first served. Email me if you're interested!)
*note: we will be arriving back here at ABS that day at 3:45.  You will need to arrange to pick up your child.
Friday, May 16: Williston School Satisfaction Survey is due. Here is the link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/W7X7WBS . It's very helpful to us teachers. Thank you for your honest thoughts!

Details on Beauty and the Beast, May 9th (from Cindy Pavlik): 

"There will be no hot lunch options that day, but cold sandwich order forms were forwarded by John to all classroom teachers.  If you have any students needing a cold lunch prepared by the cafeteria, please be sure to submit a completed form to Helen by Tuesday, May 6.  If you do not have a form, and you want to order from the cafeteria,  email Mr. Bolger  with your choice of turkey sandwich or ham sandwich. 

Everyone should eat at 11 in their houses, except Kindergarten, which can use the cafeteria.

Expect to board the buses at 11:30.

Parents who pick their children up need to be reminded to pick up at WCS.

All Part 2 kids needing to return to ABS after the play will take Bus I."

That's it for now.  Please email me if you have any questions. I hope you're enjoying the bits of sun and warm air. 

Mr. Bolger 

April 1, 2014

Reading Restaurant is Coming Up!  Can you help us get ready?

Greetings, Parents!

We have been hard at work on our Space Research projects. We are also painting phases of the moon, making Elmer's Glue moon craters, and  twisting apart Oreos to create a Waxing Gibbous Moon!

The Horizon Reading Restaurant will take place here in Horizon on Thursday, April 17th. I will be sending out to you an invitation tomorrow. Please sign it and send it back as soon as you can to let us know how many seats we should reserve for you!

Here is what we need help with:

1. Make  (milk-jug) Space Helmets  for the kids: Take home our 20 milk jugs, cut them into the shape of a helmet with scissors, spray painting them (paint provided). estimated time: 1.5 hours.  You can do this at home. Deadline:  Friday, 4/11

 2. Make (soda-bottle) astronaut jet packs for the kids: take home 20 pairs of soda bottles, spray-paint, glue, and tape them onto cardboard. Estimated time: 3 hours  Materials are provided. You can do this at home. Deadline: Friday, 4/11

3. Put up Bulletin-Board Displays in the Classroom: come in any day this week or next. give me an hour of your time. We have five or six "moon", and "space" displays that we need to complete with a little cutting, pasting, and labeling, and then put up on our walls.

You would let me know what day or days you have free, and we'll get you in here for an hour or so. Deadline: Friday, 4/11

4. Volunteer to come in (and bring your kid!) on Saturday, April 12th or Sunday, April 13th any time between about 8:00 am and 1:00 pm. We'll be in here doing final painting of scenery and hanging of (electric) stars. Doughnuts, juice, and coffee provided! We had a great time together last year.

5. Type up our students' rough drafts of their research projects into final-draft form for our Reading Restaurant. Estimated time: your call. One to two hours. Can be done at home. Deadline: Friday, 4/11

6. For the most courageous of all: come in to the classroom, sit down with a student, help her to read her book about Saturn and talk to her about how to pull out the information and answer the questions she has for her report. Estimated time: 40 minutes. Value: priceless.

6a: Ask your own child what he or she is doing for the space report. It'd be great if you could spend some time over the next couple of days helping your boy or girl look up their topic on Youtube. You may find an interesting Discovery-Channel program on your child's topic. Also, just talk about what you know about his or her topic. It'll give them a foundation and a lot of confidence for when they dig into their books and websites in here.

That's it for now.  Have a great week. And thank you, in advance, for whatever you can do.

Mr. Bolger

March 19, 2014

March 19, 2014

Hello Parents! 

A few dates and details: 

1) Reminder: can you donate $1.00 with your child to  the Heifer Project 

 (look it up on YouTube) -- the $ is used to buy and donate a farm animal to families in developing countries.   I have asked your children to do a chore to defray the cost :)

2)  Williston Variety Show- this Friday evening (Call WCS front office for tickets. Hurry! They sell out!) -Mrs. Powers, Mr. Terko, Ms. T-H, and I, will be in it. I think tix are $5.00. 

3)  Jump Rope for Heart:; Friday, March 28th.

4)  Field Trip to the Flynn Theater on Weds. April 16th.

5)  Reading Restaurant: Thurs. April 17th (Theme: Space)

   - note: please send in gallon milk jugs (for making  18 space helmets) .  

             Also, please send in two-liter soda bottles. We need enough to have two

             per student (jet packs!) 

6) Field Trip to  The Montshire Museum: Friday, May 16th.

7) We are studying the moon and the constellations as we launch our Space Studies unit. In Writing, we are finishing up our fictional short stories and we will begin research projects next week. 

8) FYI: we've had another sighting of Strep in Horizon.

That's it for now. Hope to see you at the Variety Show!

Mr. Bolger

February 6, 2014

Feb 6, 2014

Dear Parents,

We celebrated the 100th day of school today. It was a ton of fun; about half the students created 100th-Day projects and they shared them: "100 places I've been," "100 books I've read," "Here's a bridge I made out of 100 marshmallows," etc.  I really noticed how when you invite/allow a child  to show artistically something they know about, each kid's display is entirely different from the next kid's, and each kid is often into something enirely different from his or her classmates.

Yesterday, we went to see the 3rd-4th-grade chorus perform at WCS.  It was exciting to see so many former Horizon students; they were singing their hearts out.  Our kids were thrilled when one of the songs the 3rd and 4th graders did was Amani Utupe  which we sing in the kiva all the time. Ask your child to sing a couple of bars for you.

Dental Cleaning: There will be a dental cleaning clinic at ABS in the coming days. Please check the School Bell for info, or call the main office to schedule a cleaning for your child.

Feb. 5, 2014

Feb. 5, 2014

Dear Parents, 

Wow! What a busy couple of weeks.  Here's a quick overview of what we've been doing:

In Reading and Writing, 

- we have been finishing our Opinion pieces. I asked students to think of the best place in Vermont and then to try to convince others to go there.  Our list of "best places in Vermont" include Cochran's Ski Area,  Derby Line, and Olive Garden.  We've focused on organization and voice in these pieces.  Look for them soon on our KidBlog. 

- Elsewhere in Literacy, it's I Love to Read and Write Month, so every classroom at ABS is doing 10-minute "Stop, Drop, and Read" periods throughout the day tomorrow.  Another interesting project is that a rolling writing easel is making its way from room to room. Every classroom adds two lines to an ongoing  story. Ask you child to tell you what this exciting fiction story has, thus far, been about! 

- For Read-Aloud, we are reading Matilda. We just can't get enough of Roald Dahl. 

- Please keep those reading logs coming in. We've got a lot of good loot from the holidays hidden in our treasure chest!  Let me know if your child is having trouble finding good books to read. I went to the bookstore recently, and I have lots of suggestions. 

Comings and goings:

- We were sad to say, "Good-bye" to our classmate, Halle Christian. She and her mom, Jessica,  moved to Colchester, but she will continue to have a spot on our Kidblog. It will be fun to see her comments pop up on our blog posts! You can still reach Halle by the telephone number written on the Bolger-class Friendship List we sent home (or see it below.)

-Danielle Hertz, a Junior from Champlain College, is our new Tuesday/Thursday teaching intern. She's from Los Angeles, and she brings us lots of energy.  Welcome also to Alyssa Jeffer from UVM. She will be with us every Thursday. 

Science Experiments:

- As you know,  we have been growing lettuce and carrots in our indoor, classroom garden, and we harvested and ate a huge salad of it yesterday. Yum! We also got the idea to do an experiment to figure out if saying nice things to a plant will make it grow taller that a plant to which we say lots of mean things. We designed an experiment on Monday after lots of discussion as to what would prove it one way or the other.  Now,  we will be saying lots of sweet and sour things this week  as we measure and record our data. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, our sharing theme for this week is "Do  you think your feelings (and expressing those feelings) can affect how tall a plant grows?" 

Upcoming Events:

- Weds: The 3rd-4th-grade music concert:  we will bus over at about 1:15 pm. tomorrow.  We will be back at ABS in time to take board buses from ABS to go home. 

- Thursday: We celebrate the 100th Day of School! Our optional assignments: make something that has 100 in it. Also, we are inviting students to look in their cupboard and see if they can WASH THEIR HANDS, and then count out 100 of something that we can add to our class's 100th-Day Gorp. We will have 100th-day  activities throughout the day.

Thank you, kids, and Karen Allen, for my magnificent 100th-day t-shirt complete with 100 buttons! I opened it up today, but I promise I won't wear it until Thursday. 

- Next 2 Weeks: Parent-Teacher Conference/or ands: don't forget to sign up! There are slots still available between next Monday and the Friday the 21st. 

- Next Friday: Valentine's Day Celebration: will take place, of course, on Friday, February 14th. Because many students leave to ski on Friday afternoons, we have decided that we'll exchange valentines and have a little celebration in the morning. Then, we'll  have Valentines cupcakes in the afternoon, and  for the skiers, we'll wrap the cupcakes up in little bags for them to take home with them.

- Thursday, April 17th: keep the date for our Horizon Reading Restaurant.

A couple of last things:

- Thank you, Karen Allen, for bringing  in your harp last Wednesday and playing for us. It was  just beautiful. We sang This Land is  Your Land, Loch Lomond, and You are My Sunshine with new  words. 

- Looking for 1-pint or 1/2-pint mason jars. We would like to grow sprouts in our indoor garden to eat during snack time. 

Well, that's all, Folks!   Have a wonderfully-snowy-but-safe end to your week. 

Mr. Bolger