Newsletter
Fall/Winter 2004

First Grade News
Submitted by Mrs. Tracy Bush

Second Grade News
Submitted by Mrs. Tracy Bush

We have had a very exciting and eventful start for the school year!!  We have spent time getting to know each other and the classroom through story writing and, of course, story telling.  These first graders are great storytellers, now we just need to put them in writing. We have been working on personal narratives and adding characters, setting, details, and dialogue to our stories.

   We have also been working on our 25 Book Campaign since September.  Students are reading books at home and logging them for our campaign.  Our class goal is 35 books by the end of the year. 

   October and November have proven to be busy months with our Fall Festival, Parent Conferences, Book Fair, and now Report Cards.  In December we will begin working with our CAT buddies, Mr. Brown’s ninth grade class, on writing projects and other activities.

"Be a Good Citizen"
is the second grade motto. Each second grader has a good citizen notebook to help them remember the rituals, routines, and behaviors for success in school this year.

They have been hard at work reading about good citizens and writing about times when they were good citizens. They will continue to study Citizenship in November. There will be election excitement and patriotic reports to work on.

   Our writing genre study is Narrative Writing. We have been creating stories that share events in our lives and some that stretch our imagination. We are learning to take "snapshots" of action, events, characters, and/or settings that are important to our stories. We are crafting our stories to "show" more using details rich in vocabulary. Our "Race For Reading" is on as we read across America, the theme for our 25 Book Campaign.

   Math is challenging! We have just started unit 4 in our Everyday Math Journals. Double and triple digit addition strategies are introduced in this unit.

Third Grade Word Challenge
Submitted by Paula LaDeau

Third Grade News
Submitted by Mrs. Lori Slattery

Wow, we are off and running! Much has been happening in third grade for the past 2-½  months. In our Writer's Workshop, we are finishing up on our Memoirs. Students are learning the conventions of writing (indenting, paragraphing, and punctuation) along with good writing strategies. These strategies include good beginnings, using details to describe, and how to provide closure to our pieces of writing.

   In our Reader's Workshop we are busy reading Charlotte's Web by E. B. White and discussing character traits, making predictions and seeing what great beginnings to a story really look like with each new chapter we read. We are also learning how creating suspense really draws the reader into the story. We are learning to visualize what is happening during the story by reading all the describing details in each chapter. I think everyone is enjoying Charlotte's Web.

   In Math we are busy adding and subtracting, graphing, skip counting (getting ready for multiplication), figuring out how to find the missing part in math problems. We are still working with money and time, which are hard concepts for most students but we are working very hard on all concepts to improve our math skills.

   We split our time between Science and Social Studies for one forty-five minute block and we are now into Social Studies. In Social Studies we are just starting to learn about our community and all the wonderful things that there are to do in Crown Point. I think we were all surprised by the list students generated during one class period of activities to do in Crown Point, local businesses and historical buildings/areas. In Science we finished up our Gardening Unit and learned a great deal about plants, photosynthesis, and food chains. We also learned what producers and consumers are.

Candy Corn Count Contest Winners
Submitted by Mrs. Jaci Pockett

Young Citizens At Work
Submitted by Mr. Randy Pertak

Runners-up (from left to right) included Courtney Meachem in 4^th Grade, David Landon in 5^th Grade, Crystal Wyatt, Grand prize winner in 2^nd Grade, Jodi Brown in 4^th Grade, Jerrica Manley in 6^th Grade, Ford Trepanier in l^st Grade, Spencer Russel in Kindergarten and Paige Harris in 3^rd Grade. 

   Elementary school students participated in a candy corn counting contest during the Fall Festival on October 29, 2004. Students K - 6 were asked to estimate the number of candy corns in a container, and the winner would receive a fabulous painted pumpkin! A student from each individual classroom was rewarded for being the closest in their classroom, and received a smaller version of the grand prize.

   The grand prize winner was Crystal Wyatt from 2nd grade. She guessed 465 candy corn and there were 468 candy corn in the container. Great job!  Many thanks to Mr. Kordziel and Mrs. Olsen for decorating the pumpkins for the contest!

During the month of October, our school celebrated the book of the month, E is for Empire, by Ann E. Burg.  The value of the month that was being celebrated to go along with the book was Citizenship.  As a way of giving back to our community, the 4^th grade class created a book called, C is for Crown Point.  The students created a list of special places, people and items that are special to Crown Point.  At the end of the month celebration for the book and value, the students presented Mr. Dale French, Town Supervisor, with a copy of the book to put on display at the Town Office.  (A copy is also being sent to Senator Betty Little.)  The students did a wonderful job and should be very proud of their hard work!  A special thanks goes out to Mrs. Hall and Mrs. Ryan for all of their hard work in doing this project.

A Journey Back In Time
Submitted by Mr, Jarad Andersen.

On September 28, students in grades 4, 5 and 6 had the opportunity to visit the historic schooner Lois McClure.  The Lois McClure is a historic replica of a schooner from the canal era.  Scientist used schematics from sunken vessels to build an exact replica of a schooner from the 1800’s.  We visited the schooner at the pier in Port Henry.  Students got a tour of the boat and also had an opportunity to spin the wheel to see how the rudder worked, and operate the crank and pulley system that pulls up the anchor.  Students really enjoyed this hands on learning experience.

   “Ding, Ding,” imagine you just woke up on the boat called the Lois McClure, one of the best boats in New England!  “Oh my Gosh, this isn't what we expected.” We thought this boat would be a lot smaller, like a sailboat!  Everyone was surprised to see a very long, very wide boat with sails.  We were shocked that it fit all of the 5^th and 6^th graders on the boat.   

   As we boarded the Lois McClure it was like going back in time. The first thing that stood out in our minds were the masts, they resembled giant telephone poles. As we looked around we saw a wheel that steers the rudder. As we turned the wheel we had to look out for the shin crusher. This was a giant beam that helped the rudder turn. We were surprised by how easy it was to turn the wheel. We then went from the stern to the bow to see the anchor. They were able to remove the anchor from the

water by using a crank and pulley system. When we tried to pull up the anchor buy hand it was extremely hard. Then we used the crank and pulley system and it was a lot easier.  

   We then went below deck in the bow of the boat. This section is called the fore-castle. The forecastle is a storage area and a sleeping quarter for teenage boys or hired hands.They stored pulleys, ropes, extra chains, and navigational lights. It smelled musty in the room because of the older ropes. The middle of the ship was used for storage of goods. It was cold enough to give you goose bumps. 

   The pieces of limestone that we used as seats weighed over one-ton each. It was kind of uncomfortable to sit on these large rocks. It made you feel even colder than we did when we first went below deck. In the stern we saw the Captain's quarters. It was small but it made you feel warm and cozy. This section served as the sleeping quarters, kitchen, and dining room for the Captain and his family.

   We had a really fun time visiting the Lois McClure. We learned how that boat transported products from place to place. We found it much more interesting to see and hear about the Lois McClure in person. We learned much more than we would have reading about it in a book.

  
We hope you liked our report on the Lois McClure.  The 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders.

 Picture by Mrs. Silke Huntington.