Granite Street Gazette
October, November, and December 2024
Pre-K News
Dear Parents and Guardians,
In October, our classes focused on fire safety. The students learned essential safety tips, such as creating an escape plan and understanding the role of firefighters. To enhance their learning experience, we organized a field trip to the local fire station. The firefighters provided a tour of the station, demonstrated how the fire trucks and ambulance operate, and discussed the importance of fire safety in everyday life.
We also initiated the 5th Grade Book Buddies program. Each student was paired with a 5th-grade buddy to foster a love for reading and collaboration. Together, they selected books to read and discussed them to deepen their understanding. The pairs are also working on creative projects. This program not only enhances reading skills but also builds friendships across grade levels.
Halloween was a highlight of the month of October! Both classes celebrated together by dressing up in costumes and participating in special centers. These centers included themed arts and crafts, and Halloween-themed games. The festivities also included a dance party held in the gym, where students showcased their dance moves and got temporary tattoos.
Ms. McNally and Mrs. Pangburn
Kindergarten News
Dear Families,
We have been hard at work in kindergarten during October and November! We have finished up our unit on families and worked on separating the beginning sounds and saying the rest of the word. We call this “onset and rime”. This is a very important step in the beginning stages of reading and writing.
In math we focused on numbers 1-10, learning concepts such as greater than, less than and equal to. Our centers and hands-on activities have included comparing larger and smaller numbers and subitizing.
Thank You,
Mrs. Hatch and Mrs. Anderson
First Grade News
Dear First Grade Families,
We hope this newsletter finds you well and warm as we transition into the colder months. Your partnership and support mean the world to us, and we are grateful for the wonderful community we are building together.
Important Announcements
As the weather gets colder, please remember to dress your children in warm clothing each day.
Students need coats, ski pants, boots, hats and gloves/mittens.
It’s essential for their comfort and health during outdoor activities.
Celebrations from October and November
These past two months have been vibrant and full of learning! Here are some highlights:
Pumpkin Investigations: Students engaged in exciting hands-on activities exploring the science of pumpkins.
Pumpkin Writing: Children expressed their creativity through writing projects centered around pumpkins, showcasing their imaginations.
Thanksgiving Feast: Grades 1 and 2 celebrated together with a delightful Thanksgiving Feast, sharing gratitude and delicious food.
These moments remind us of the joy and creativity in our school community!
Looking ahead, we are excited to announce that our Winter Concert will take place on December 17th. It promises to be a festive celebration of our students' talents and hard work. More details will follow as the date approaches.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support in making our school a nurturing and inspiring environment for our children. Together, we can make a significant impact on their learning journey.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Waite and Mrs. Petrin
Second Grade News
Dear 2nd Grade Families,
During the month of October, our students explored the book "Friends Around the World," which allowed them to learn about different cultures and lifestyles. They enjoyed comparing and contrasting the United States with other countries, fostering understanding and appreciation for diversity. In Math, students engaged with word problems that helped them practice addition with total unknowns and subtraction with unknown results. This hands-on approach has helped enhance their problem-solving skills!
As the weather turns colder, we kindly remind families to ensure that students have warm winter gear such as jackets, hats, and mittens. We are grateful for your ongoing support in nurturing your child's growth and learning. Together, we are building a strong foundation for their future!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Michaud and Mrs. Osborne
Dear Grade 3 Parents,
It’s hard to believe that November has passed and December is upon us! We have been busy with Veteran's Day, Student-Led & Parent Conferences, and now looking forward to our Christmas concert and special holiday activities.
In our literacy lessons, students read "Sable" by Karen Hesse. We emphasized the skills of asking and answering questions, utilizing the RACE strategy to formulate responses. RACE stands for Restate the question, Answer the question, Cite evidence, and Explain how the evidence supports your answer. This method helps your child craft complete and thoughtful answers.
In grammar, we continued our exploration of nouns and are now focusing on the rules for plural nouns. Additionally, we have introduced vocabulary words into our literacy program. Each week, your child will bring home five vocabulary words to study. Throughout the week, we will learn to define these words, use them in sentences, and identify their synonyms and antonyms. We are also exploring prefixes and suffixes through “Wow Words.” An assessment will be conducted every other week covering the ten words from the two weeks. Your support at home in learning these words would be greatly appreciated.
Your child has finished the first unit on multiplication and division in our Reveal Math Program. We concentrated on drawing and using representations, such as equal groups and arrays, to solve multiplication and division problems. Key vocabulary terms that were introduced include factors, product, and quotient. Please encourage your child to share some of the methods they use to represent multiplication and division at home. We are now close to completing our second unit of multiplication. Our focus with this unit is using patterns to multiply with 0, 1, 2, 5, and 10.
As always, thank you for your support.
We wish you and your family happy holidays!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Mooney & Ms. Wheaton
Fourth Grade News
Dear fourth grade families,
We are excited to share the wonderful learning experiences your children have been engaging in this month! Our Literacy unit culminated in the annual Living Wax Museum, where students showcased their creativity by reading, writing, and presenting biographies to the school and families. Alongside this, Ms. DeSilva's class enjoyed the thrilling novel I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies, while Mrs. Brown's students were captivated by The One and Only Ivan. Both classes have been diligently expanding their vocabulary skills.
In Math, we've wrapped up our unit on addition and subtraction and are now diving into multiplication. We encourage students to practice their multiplication facts at home to support their learning journey.
Our Science lessons have been buzzing with excitement as students explore animal habitats and prepare detailed animal reports. In Social Studies, we've delved into Maine and Millinocket history, finishing with "Lost on a Mountain in Maine." A highlight was our trip to the Temple Theater, where students enjoyed popcorn, soda, and a movie screening. This month, we will honor Veterans Day by learning about veterans and meeting some local heroes.
Please ensure students dress appropriately for the weather. They are welcome to keep a pair of sneakers for indoor use and a sweatshirt for fire or evacuation drills.
Remember, punctuality is key, as Science and Social Studies begin promptly at 8:05 AM.
November and December have been busy months- In social studies we practiced note taking, highlighting and took our first test. This was to test our knowledge of Maine and Millinocket History. In science we continued working on our dioramas for our animal habitats.
In math we continued into multiplication and patterns. Literacy we dove into opinion writing, readers theaters and new novels.
Thank you for your continued support!
Warm regards,
The 4th Grade Team
Fifth Grade News
Dear 5th Grade Families,
The past two months were filled with lots of learning and growth in 5th grade! In literacy, students compared and contrasted legends and folktales from different cultures. In doing so, students focused on summarizing, identifying character traits, and drawing connections between stories. Students continue to strengthen their vocabulary knowledge and skills through weekly activities that focus on prefixes and suffixes, Greek and Latin roots, as well as idioms. Additionally, we’ve been exploring ways to expand our sentences in order to make our writing more vivid.
We also launched our Book Buddies program with Pre-K, which students greatly look forward to each week! Each 5th grade student is paired with a Pre-K buddy with the goal of fostering a love of reading and working collaboratively across grade levels. Each week, 5th graders meet with their buddies to select books, read, and engage in meaningful conversations related to literature. The pairs also work on creative projects together. This program provides immense benefits to students in both grade levels as it not only enhances reading skills, but also builds strong relationships throughout the year. Furthermore, the Book Buddies program allows 5th grade students to practice and strengthen their leadership skills.
In social studies, students created their region brochures aimed at persuading their audience to visit their selected region. Students engaged in independent research on the major characteristics of their region, including landforms, climate, natural resources, and top attractions. Brochures were on display for families to see at Student Led Conferences in November.
During the month of November, students engaged in multiple memorable learning experiences. Students had the opportunity to take a field trip to the Temple Theatre in Houlton to watch “Lost on a Mountain in Maine.” The following week, students had the incredible privilege of joining our 4th grade students to engage in a video chat question and answer session with the film’s producer, which provided incredible insight into the making of the film. Additionally, students attended the first act of the “Newsies” musical at the high school. We are so proud of our 5th grade students who performed in the musical! Furthermore, on the day before Thanksgiving break, students took part in our 3rd annual Cranberry Day for 4th & 5th grade. Students engaged in a range of collaborative, hands-on, activities that focused on the small, yet mighty, red berry that is native to Maine. Students created a cranberry wreath craft, played cranberry fact jeopardy, conducted a “dancing cranberry” experiment, and had the opportunity to taste test and rate a variety of cranberry products.
We are continuing to push forward with our new math program. We completed our unit on place value which focused on comparing decimals and rounding decimals to the nearest hundredth. We then started on adding and subtracting decimals and will be finished with that unit very soon. Next up will be working with multiplication. I would encourage your child to practice their multiplication facts at home to help with quick recall.
In Science we finished up our Life Science unit. We learned a lot about how energy gets transferred in food chains and food webs. One of our hands-on activities was to play a game called “Big Fish” where students had to build a pond environment with foods, producers, and decomposers for their fish to survive. As they added things to the pond, they had to adjust the carbon dioxide levels so it stayed within a healthy range for the fish. The students all had a great time with this activity.
Reminders: Homework is assigned Monday-Thursday every week for Math. Literacy homework is assigned every Monday and is due on Friday. Students also have weekly spelling tests. Families, please aid in the success of your student by checking their binders daily for homework and other important information. Please encourage and remind students to complete their homework and to study their spelling words. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us via the Remind app or email.
Thank you for your support!
- Ms. Lazareva & Ms. Thibodeau
alazareva@millinocketschools.org
mthibodeau@millinocketschools.org
December was a busy month for all staff and students at Granite Street. Units of study in reading, writing, and math were wrapped up before the holiday break. We had our annual lighting of the wreath. Mr. Cody McEwen from the Millinocket Recreation Department gave our school the wreath and handed out candy canes and gingerbread cookies to our students, and Mr. Zach McEwen led all the staff and students in singing Christmas carols. Our students did a wonderful job singing at the Christmas concerts in the Walker Auditorium at Stearns. On the last day before break, students were able to participate in fun events. Ms. Leach, Mrs. Reece, and volunteers provided fun activities in the gym for each grade level. The first and second grade students sang Christmas carols for the residents at Katahdin Health Care. Grades 3-5 had a block party where groups of students rotated through the classrooms to participate in a variety of activities. Kindergarten students had reindeer bags of goodies to open as well as art projects and a party. PK students rotated between the rooms doing fun Christmas art and other activities as well as a party. Thank you to all the parents who provided food, gifts for exchanges, etc.
Upcoming Events:
December 23, 2024-January 5, 2025 Christmas Break - no school
January 20, 2025 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - no school
January 29, 2025 Early Release Day
Reminders:
Please remember to stay in the pick up line at the end of the school day and not park in the lot.
Students should not be dropped off at Granite before 7:30 each morning unless your child has chorus practice.
Students should not have cell phones at school. We are also seeing more students wearing smart watches which is causing disruptions in learning. These should be left at home.