Transcript Slide 1

Volume 1, Issue 27
April 30 , 2009
As the end of the year quickly approaches, there are many activities scheduled.
Our annual Awards Night program will be held on Tuesday, May 19th, at 6:00 p.m.
at Graymont Grade School. We will enjoy a delicious catered banquet followed by
the presentation of various awards for achievement and recognition for our
students. Letters will be sent home with the details. Please send in the RSVP
along with payment by May 12th.
Graymont Grade School Newsletter
NEWSLETTER: May 2009
Eighth grade promotion will be held Wednesday evening, May 27th, at 7:00 p.m.
This year’s graduates are Caleb Bray, Dallas Burns, Steven Carroll, Abby Follmer,
Cynthia Ribota, Lindsay Rich, and Claralee Schwarz. Mr. Leo Johnson, Pontiac
High School Superintendent will be our featured speaker. A reception for the
graduates will be held after the ceremony.
Fun Day is being planned for Monday, June 1st. We need parents to volunteer to
help that day. Anyone interested can call and let Lori know at 743-5346.
Those students who have met their reading goals for the year will be enjoying a
bowling party on Thursday, May 28th in Pontiac. Congratulations to all the
students on reaching their lofty goals. Keep on reading!
Report Card Day will be Wednesday, June 3rd, from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. There will
be BUS SERVICE. It is hoped that students will come to school as they usually
do. After they arrive, the students will be given their report cards and then the
buses will take the bus riders back home (at about 8:15 a.m.). Report cards will be
with the students’ teachers until 9:00 a.m. After that they may be picked up in the
office any time during regular business hours. If you can’t get to school, you may
have your child’s report card mailed. Contact the office to make arrangements for
mailing.
This has been a fantastic year so far. The teachers have covered a tremendous
amount of curriculum and we will still have a lot of learning yet to do. We are
looking forward to finishing the year strong and maintaining the excitement through
the end of the year. We appreciate your assistance in keeping the students
focused and on track.
I have truly enjoyed my first year at Graymont Grade School. Graymont is a
wonderful community that should be very proud of their small school. Thank you
to everyone for making my first year a pleasant one. I look forward to working with
the students, parents, and community again in 2009-2010. Take care.
Sincerely,
Bill James
1
Student Council Spirit Week: May 11 – May 15
•
•
•
Monday – Hat day
Tuesday – Mismatch day
Wednesday – Rainbow day
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Kindergarten – yellow
1st/2nd – Red
3rd/4th – Green
5th/6th – Orange
7th/8th – Blue
Staff - Pink
Thursday – Crazy hair day
Friday – Sports apparel day
8th grade graduation
Congratulations to Caleb Bray, Dallas Burns, Stevie Carroll Abby Follmer, Cynthia Ribota,
Lindsay Rich, and Claralee Schwarz who will be graduating from Graymont Grade School
on Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Good luck to you and your future endeavors at the
Pontiac Township High School!!!
Band and Chorus Organizational Contest Results
I.E.S.A. Solo & Ensemble contest was held Saturday, April 18 th at Prairie Central Jr. High
in Forrest, Illinois. We had 11 solos and ensembles compete and we brought back 8 first
place awards and 3 second place awards. The mixed woodwind trio consisting of Emma
Rich, Abby Jacobs, and Kylee Bier received a perfect 1 st!!! Congratulations to all!!!
We will compete Saturday, May 2nd at Organizational Contest in Dwight. Chorus
performs at 11:00 a.m. And the band performs at 1:00 p.m.
There is a good reason they call these ceremonies "commencement
exercises." Graduation is not the end; it's the beginning. ~Orrin Hatch
2
Mrs. Erickson - Kindergarten
Kindergarten is beginning several of their final units. We are learning to tell time to the hour and half-hour
with our personal clocks. By the end of the end we should be doing a good job with time. Everything is
“bugging” us in our room. Insects and spiders are our focus for the rest of the year. We will be founding out
that there are a lot of good reasons for insects!! We are writing lots of words and reading simple sentences.
There are also some “top secret” projects going on in preparation of Mothers’ Day. The class is getting
ready for our moms” visit on Friday, May 8th. Our moms will be in for some very special surprises.
We had an awesome time on our field trip to Gamma Phi Circus . It is so amazing to watch all of the
college kids who give up so much of their time practicing to be successful in the circus. It is so exciting for
the Kindergarten class to see how they can apply what is learned in P.E. Thanks again to the PTO for
funding our trip.
We are doing lots of review of material that we have covered all year to be really ready for first grade. We
are all very excited about buying lunch, another recess, and not being the youngest class in the school!!
We are going to have a safe, fun-filled summer.
So long…..farewell……
I just want to take this opportunity to say “thank-you” to everyone in the Graymont community. I have loved
my 10 years in Kindergarten and have enjoyed watching my students continue to grow and be successful.
The kids at Graymont are exceptional! I am taking with me so many wonderful memories of my teaching
days at Graymont. My family and our farming operation are going to take up much more of my time, but I
still plan on coming back and seeing everyone from time to time. Thanks for a wonderful experience.
“Schools are places for developing
the broadest and richest
experiences imaginable for young
people.”
~Joseph S. Renzulli
3
Mrs. Hinz – 1st/2nd
Reading: We are now into our 6th and final unit. Throughout the month of May we will be
working on r-controlled vowels and the (ow) (ou) diphthong. Furthermore, we will be working on
reading concepts such as: theme, plot, and drawing conclusions. Second grade will focus on
reading concepts such as: theme, making judgments, and character. We will also take time to
review and discuss different tricky concepts that were covered throughout the year. We will
also be working on our fluency with some different reader’s theatre activities!
Language: We have finished up our language book early, so we are dedicating this time to
writing. We will be working on writing stories, letters, and some poetry.
1st/2nd Grade Math: For the rest of the year, both grades are going to be working on the
same concept together. We are hitting a lot of concepts in the final weeks of school. We will be
studying probability using many hands on materials. Math will come to an end studying
measurement. We will work on measuring length, weight, capacity, and temperature.
1st/2nd Grade Science: Our class will be learning all about life cycles this month. We will be
focusing on learning about frogs and butterflies. By the end of this unit, the first and second
graders should be able to about each stage of a frog and a butterfly’s life. We will also be
taking some time to do some fun experiments. We will make frog skin and drink nectar with our
proboscis. This unit is also an excellent opportunity to incorporate some arts and crafts
projects.
Our end of the year field trip will be on May 29th. We are going to be traveling to Bloomington
and checking out Milner Library at Illinois State University. Then, we are going to take the train
back to Pontiac and have lunch at a park. Our final stop will be at the Pontiac movie theatre.
We will be watching a movie and enjoying some snacks. We are all looking forward to this big
day!
“When others fail him, the wise man looks to the sure
Companionship of books.”
~Andrew Lang
4
Ms. Rients – 3rd/4th
Reading, Language, Writing
In reading, both grades are reading from Unit 6. They are practicing identifying the different parts of the plot:
conflict, climax, and resolution. They are also identifying the author’s purpose, differences in text structure,
visualizing, and steps in a process. In writing, we have been composing poetry. You can check out our haikus and
cinquains on the school’s website. We’ve also used similes to write creative stories. In all our writing we will
continue to practice all the skills we have learned this year, like using descriptive phrases, using correct verb
tenses, and writing in complete sentences. As we finish the year, we will create a definitional book and do more
creative writing.
**Congratulations to Kate Roberts and Camryn Tickle who have now finished their AR goal for the year. There are
only a few weeks left for our remaining classmates to meet their goals. We want everyone from the class to be at
the pizza and bowling party, so keep reading!
Math
Both grades are starting to learn how to multiply by 1-and 2-digit numbers. We will also do some division by 1-and
2-digit divisors towards the end of the year. Those students who have learned their math facts throughout the year
will find it definitely comes in handy when multiplying and dividing with bigger numbers.
*Congratulations to Tristin Barlow and Julia Ridgway who have soared through their Rocket Math and completed
all their math facts!
Science/Social Studies
In social studies we finished our trek across the United States. We have visited all the regions and along the way
learned about their geography, culture, and economics. The students know all the states and their capitals, so
challenge them when you see them. Our last unit in science will be simple machines. We will discuss the different
types of simple machines and why they are important. At the end of the unit, students will have the opportunity to
make their own simple machine out of recycled materials to do a job.
Ms. Wilson – 5th – 8th
5th/6th Reading: We only have 1 story left before we have completed out reading textbooks!!! During this story we
will refresh our skills on visualizing and fact/opinion. To finish out the year, we plan to switch gears and read age
appropriate novels as a class. We will apply what we’ve learned all year to the reading/comprehension of these
novels. They will be given independent reading assignments with quizzes here and there to ensure they are doing
the reading. I chose the novels Max the Mighty and Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick. These novels contain a
lot of humor, suspense, and lesson on how to treat others. There will be no spelling test with the novels.
7th/8th Reading: We are currently reading the Novel Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. The students are really loving
this book. It has done a great job connecting to what they learned in social studies about WWII, specifically how
Jews were treated. They are learning that Jews too had their own version of the Underground Railroad when trying
to escape to Sweden. To end the year I plan to select a fun, more laid back, modern novel that the students can
relate to personally.
5th-8th Language Arts – We have finished our language arts books! Now we are using what we have learned all
year and applying them in cross-curricular assignments. One way this is really helpful is working on our writing
skills.
7th/8th Social Studies: We plan to finish the year studying Asia and also a strong emphasis on Africa. Currently we
are learning about their ancient geography, religions, and empires. Next we will focus on these cultures today 5
Accelerated Reader: Congratulations to Madison Jeziorski, Kevin Shaughnessy, Justin Rich, Kylee Bier,
and Abby Legner for meeting their 4th quarter reading goal. There is still time left for students to reach
their yearly goal and join us at the pizza/bowling party, so keep on reading!!!
Mrs. Hott – 5th – 8th
5/6 Social Studies – Thanks for visiting our Ancient History Museum!! The students did a GREAT job. They have
learned a lot and were very excited to share what they have learned in our museum.
We have moved on to Early Africa and will hopefully be able to spend some time in the Middle Ages before the
end of school.
5-6 Science – We are now learning about energy – what it is, how it changes and specific types such as sound,
light, thermal, electric, etc. We have begun our second section (light and thermal energy) and will be ending with
a section on electricity.
7-8 Science – We have almost finished with our book on interactions of matter with our last section being Atomic
Energy. Students are researching various aspects of atomic energy including some famous nuclear accidents
(Three Mile Island and Chernobyl) as well as radon, the Manhattan Project and a couple of biographies of
scientists who have worked in this area. We will finish out the year learning about various physical science
concepts and hopefully participate in some in-school competitions related to these concepts.
Math
We are well on track for completing what we need to for each of the grades this year. Current topics for both 7 th
and 8th grade include square roots, leading up to a discussion of the Pythagorean Theorem. 6th grade is moving
right along in the 7th grade book and 5th grade are deepening their base of knowledge in anticipation of moving
into the 6th grade book next year.
8th grade will be spending some time at the end of the year reviewing basic multiplication and division calculations
without using calculators as requested by the high school. We are also reviewing the solving of equations which
will be very important to them next year in Algebra.
May Dates to Remember
• 1 – Reverse Bus Routes
• 8 – Dismiss @ 11:15
• 19 – Awards Banquet 6:00 pm
• 22 – End of 4th Qtr.
• 25 – No School
• 28 – AR Pizza/Bowling Party
• 29 – 1st – 4th Field Trip
June Dates to Remember
• 1 – Fun Day
• 2 – Teacher Institute
• 3 – Report Cards 8:00 am
Buses will run
“Talent is God given; be humble. Fame is man given; be
grateful. Conceit is self given; be careful.
~ John Wooden
6