Start Up of Word Study!

This was Esprit's first week of Word Study!  We spent our first week learning about what it looks like and sounds like during word study and practicing word study routines, procedures and responsibilities.

During Reader's Workshop,Team Esprit spent this week practicing a variety of comprehension strategies through our class read aloud, Stone Fox.  We discussed how strong readers envision a story in their heads and make predictions based on what has already happened, what they know about how stories tend to go and empathizing with characters.

In Math, we continued to play games to work on our fluency with subtraction facts.  We also began working with measurement and went on a scavenger hunt for lengths.  We used strategies to fluently add sums, and practiced constructing viable arguments to critique  the reasoning of others.

Using our chromebooks, Mr. Badillo introduced us to Google Docs this week.  We practiced writing sentences on google docs, learned how to give our docs a title,  explored different fonts and font sizes and other options on google docs.  We will continue to use Typing Club to practice our keyboarding skills at school.  If your child would like to practice at home, they can access Typing Club from their home computer.at

In Writer's Workshop we began talking about why writers use paragraphs.  We spent some time using a template to create our own paragraphs in our writing.  We practiced including topic sentences, details and closing sentences when writing paragraphs.

The Esprit Team will be having our pictures taken on Wednesday, October 11th.  Please put that date on your calendar so you can make sure your child is ready for the picture.

Have a terrific weekend, everyone!

Walking Wednesdays!

Please join us for Walking Wednesdays!

October 2017

October has arrived, and you know what that means...Walking Wednesdays!  This year we thought we’d continue an opportunity for more students to participate in this wellness activity.  

Beginning October 4th, all K-8 SCS students and families are invited to meet at the “parade” green on the corner of Church Street and Route 7 (Farmer’s Market location).  We will meet up with buses E, D, G and H at about  7:45-7:50.  Any students who want to get off the bus and walk to school are encouraged to do so.  There will be cones set up on the right (north) side of Church St. with the Shelburne Police there to assist.  Teachers, staff, and community members will supervise students as they cross Route 7, walk down the sidewalk by the library and coffee shop, and head west on Harbor Road.

• October 4th, Bus E,      Driver~PJ
• October 11th, Bus D,    Driver~Diane
• October 18th, Bus G,    Driver~Damian
• October 25th, Bus H,    Driver~Lucy

Although, we would love to have everyone participate, this is an optional activity.  Any students remaining on the bus will continue on to the school.

Fire Safety Day

We have had another wonderful week with our Esprit third graders!  One highlight from the week was Fire Safety Day at SCS.  We learned about fire hazards in our homes and how we can help prevent fires.  We also practiced climbing out a window in the event of a fire.  The children also learned about the importance of creating an escape plan with their families and deciding on a meeting spot outside of the home in case of a fire.

This week in math we began the third grade Bridges Math Program.  To start, we focused on addition and subtraction facts and strategies we use to add and subtract numbers quickly and fluently. We also learned and played three games to practice addition and subtraction facts:  Make the Sum, Target Twenty, and Blast Off to Space.  Be sure to ask your child about his or her favorite math game from the week!


In Reader's Worskhop, we continue to build our reading lives and finding ways to make reading a positive experience this year.  We first talked about making a system to help others find great books in our classroom: book recommendations.  As children finish books, they can fill out a recommendation form and place in our binder in the library.  Other children can peruse the binder when looking for a new book!  We also began to talk about the purpose of reading: comprehension.  We started a whole class book, Stone Fox, and we will be using this as a mentor text to practice comprehension strategy through the rest of the unit.  The first strategy we practiced was asking questions.  Ask your child to tell you a little about the book Stone Fox.

During Writer's Workshop, we continue to learn about ways that writers generate topics for stories.  One ways writers gather ideas is by thinking about memories.  The children listed their ten best memories so far in life in their writer's notebooks and then chose different memories to write about.  Writers also write about what is important to them.  The children created Heart Maps with pictures and words to show what they value most in life. Throughout the year, they can return to these heart maps for ideas as they write.  Be sure to ask your child about his or heart map!

The children have also had the opportunity to work Jeff Badillo, our technology integrationist.  He introduced them to the chromebooks; taught them how to log in to Google; and taught them how to use Typing Club.  We will begin the year by learning and practicing typing skills to help make our work with technology and writing easier and more efficient for the rest of the year.  Mr. Badillo also went over the SCS Chromebook Responsibility Agreement.  These are a set of expectations in regards to use of technology and the chromebooks while at school.  You and your child must sign the agreement and return it to school.  Ms. Deb's class has already received this form. It is coming home today in Miss Niles' Friday Folders.

Lastly, we had a visit from two representatives of the PTO. They came to our team to talk about the fall PTO fundraiser.  Your child should have come home with a packet with all the information.  Please know that your child does not have to sell any items...this is optional.  However, if your child does sell items, some of the money comes back to our team to help fund some of our field trips.  Thanks for considering!  Have a wonderful fall weekend!  Enjoy another weekend of sunshine!

Shelburne Farms

We had a great day at Shelburne Farms!  The weather was just perfect!  We went to the farm to work on a community building project: making pizza.  We split into four groups and each group was responsible for creating one part of the pizza: dough, sauce, cheese, or toppings.  The children then had to create an artistic piece to share about their part of the process with the other groups.  Some groups created poems and skits and others created songs and drawings.  Be sure to ask your child about his or her role in this pizza making process!  Here are a few pictures from the day!

A huge thank you to our "Nearby Nature" parent volunteers in both Esprit classrooms for a wonderful lesson about spiders this week.   Through this lesson we took a close look at web spinners and wandering spiders, examined their anatomy, and considered their special adaptations. We earned about their lives as small predators, and scouted outdoors for spiders and webs.

Second Week Success!

We had another great week on Team Esprit!  We are all getting to know each other better and becoming more accustomed to third grade routines! Each class created a set of classroom promises to help make this the best year of learning.  The children were very thoughtful in creating these promises to each other to be safe, respectful, and responsible.  The children also created All About Me posters.  These posters will be hanging in our kiva.  Stop by to learn more about the children on Team Esprit!

This week in writer's workshop, the children were introduced to the idea of a writer's notebook.  This is a place to keep story ideas and a place for the children to do their 7-minute writes.  Each day we will write for at least seven minutes straight, building our writing stamina.  For these seven minutes, the children can write about any topic and in any form, such as poetry, lists, stories, etc.  The children also had the opportunity to decorate their writer's notebooks with images that inspire or interest them.  These images will hopefully be used to spark writing topics in the future! Ask your child what is on his or her notebook!

In math we continue work on a variety of math challenges involving number patterns, patterns in shapes, graphing, and number talks.  All of these challenges are created to provide math conversation opportunities and opportunities for the children to demonstrate and justify their thinking.  We also watched a few videos about the brain and how that connects to learning and learning in math.  Ask your child what happens in his or her brain when he or she makes a mistake!  In honor of making mistakes, we read Beautiful Oops!.  This book teaches us that mistakes can turn into art.  Each child was given an "oops" (a stray mark on a page) and he or she had to turn it into something beautiful.  We were impressed with their creativity!

During reader's workshop, the children filled out a reading inventory.  The questions on the inventory will give us information about the types of books the children like to read and their feelings about reading.  We will use these inventories to help children find books of interest in our classroom library and to offer recommendations.  We also have been building our stamina for reading independently in the classroom.  What book is your child reading right now at school?

Please check your child's Friday folder this week.  There is a note about our upcoming Esprit Curriculum night and our field trip to Shelburne Farms.  Please contact us with any questions.  Have a great weekend!

Happy First Week of Third Grade!

Esprit Third Grade has had a terrific start to our school year!  We have spent the week getting to know each other, discussing how we can be safe, responsible and respectful, and doing team building activities.  We have also created self portraits and built quilts of our hopes and dreams. Today we decorated our Friday Folders.  These folders will come home every Friday with any important information you need to have and any of your child's work from the week.  We look forward to seeing you on Monday, September 11th at 5:30 for Curriculum Night!