Raymond C. LaPerche Elementary School

In kindergarten each morning, one student is the leader during Morning Meeting. Leading the class provides opportunities for public speaking. We want LaPerche kids to understand they can be a leader in all settings. Expecting all students to lead reinforces the importance of focusing during the lesson. It also provides opportunities for kids to be decision makers as well as practicing wording ideas in their own way.

In light of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) February 25th press conference which updated the country on the current status of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), we would like to share with you some information and tips to help prevent the spread of illness within our community. This video linked below explains the Coronavirus in clear language. It is from CBC News (Canada) and is presented by Dr. Peter Lin. After viewing it myself, I watched it with my kids to reinforce good handwashing habits and to help them understand the virus. http://bit.ly/2uOtj28 To echo the CDC, there is not currently a Coronavirus pandemic in the United States and no diagnosed cases in Rhode Island. We are, however, continuing to monitor developments and how they determine our course of action. We welcome your active participation in sharing with your children the importance of daily health practices to combat the spread of sickness. They include: Get your flu shot and encourage the people around you to do the same. Wash your hands often throughout the day. Use warm water and soap. If soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based hand gel. Cough or sneeze into your elbow. Flu is spread through coughing or sneezing on other people or into your hands. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Germs spread this way. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious foods. Keep surfaces (especially bedside tables, surfaces in the bathroom, and toys for children) clean by wiping them down with a household disinfectant. Keep your child home if your child has a temperature above 100°F, or showing other signs of flu, (We ask that students show 24 straight hours of non-medicated good health before returning.) We continue to work closely with our town officials and the Rhode Island Department of Health in planning potential responses should the virus begin to spread in the United States. Thank you for your support and we will keep you updated on any changes to upcoming events or school activities if needed. For your convenience, we have provided a flyer linked below from the Rhode Island Department of Health and their website landing page with more information. https://health.ri.gov/diseases/respiratory/?parm=163 https://health.ri.gov/publications/factsheets/novel-coronavirus.pdf

Valentine’s Day and Kindness Celebration in Kindergarten! Students participated in a variety of Valentine's Day centers. Our science center investigated what would happen if a candy heart was placed in water, soda, and vinegar. Students then recorded their observations. Our art center used tissue paper to create heart collages for our gifts to our families. Our math center focused on addition practice with plastic hearts and addition mats. Our writing center was where students wrote a sentence about why they love their families to pieces for their family gifts. The last center was another art center where students created their special valentine bags for their cards and kindness strips later in the afternoon.

Just like we explicitly teach students how to read, problem solve and investigate, we also teach students how to stand up for others, celebrate themselves and recognize what makes each person unique. Third grade started the day answering the following questions: What makes you feel loved? Every person here is totally awesome! Let’s tell them why! An Upstander is a person who stands up for what is right. What can you do to be an upstander? Finish the sentence: Our classroom is... Being different isn’t a bad thing. It means you are Brave Enough to be yourself! What is one thing that makes you different? Do something everyday that makes the world a like more AWESOME! What can you do to make the world a little more awesome? What an amazing way to start the day! Third grade rocks!!

It’s Kindness Week at LaPerche. Students and staff are encouraged to do random acts of kindness for each other. When you do something kind or notice others being kind, students record it and add it to our mural in the cafeteria. The goal is for the mural to be completely covered by Friday afternoon. We are well on our way!

Indoor morning recess is in full swing at LaPerche. Students have opportunities to build, draw, create, solve, play, chat and so much more. We love to be outside at recess but when we have to be indoors we have fun together!

Wednesday, February 5 was the 100th day of school at LaPerche! Our first grade students aged overnight on Tuesday and came to school as an interesting looking group of 100 year olds! Students across the building engaged in all sorts of activities and centers based on 100. Thank you to all of the amazing volunteers who helped make the centers such a success!

The district spelling bee took place at LaPerche on Tuesday, February 4. School bee winners from Gallagher, LaPerche, McCabe, OCRS and Winsor battled it out to represent Smithfield in the state spelling bee. And the winner is...Elena, an amazing seventh grader from Gallagher! Runner up? Will, a fabulous student from fifth grade at LaPerche! Awesome job by all!

During health class today, fifth graders were broken into teams to research a variety of heart diseases including peripheral heart disease, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease and stroke. The kids were given appropriate websites to visit and then expected to prepare a presentation. The class discussed the importance of eye contact, using a loud clear voice, and no reading off their paper when they present. LaPerche students will be proficient public speakers!

The January student council chose “Dress Like You Are Going to a Dance Party” for their spirit day! At different times throughout the day, DJ Dorsey played music on the intercom and the whole school started to dance. Mrs. Schnell’s class started a congo line in the hall and the rest is history! School is a blast at LaPerche!

Fourth and fifth grade classroom spelling bee champions competed today in the LaPerche school spelling bee. All eight students did a great job carefully thinking about and then spelling the words asked of them. The students in the audience were given an index card so they could try and write the words as our finalists spelled them. Our two finalists will represent LaPerche in the district bee on Tuesday, February 4 at 9:45 at LaPerche.

Congratulations to these five amazing singers from LaPerche! They all auditioned for and were chosen for the Elementary All State Chorus by the Rhode Island Music Educators Association! They will get to rehearse and perform with 150 of the best vocalists in grades 4,5 and 6 from around the state at Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium in March!

Fourth graders at Laperche play the math game Close to 1,000. The game involves place value strategy as the student work to build two 3 digit numbers to add together to get as close to 1,000 as possible.

Fifth grades at LaPerche meet with Smithfield Police Officer Perry each week for D.A.R.E. Classes. Today they discussed peer pressure and stress. They talked about the stressors in their life and how to respond to it. Kids shared many strategies to relieve their stress including reading, watching tv, hugging their dog, playing outside, going for a walk, playing a sport, laying down, playing with toys, riding a bike and more. LaPerche students have many great ideas to relieve stress!

Fourth graders had two choices in music today. Some students chose to compose music for the fourth grade writing music competition which will be submitted to the RI Philharmonic. The other option was to practice the chords they learned last year on the ukuleles to prepare for new songs for this years music concert. Mrs. Barrette brings music to life at LaPerche! LaPerche is excited to welcome Max Votolato from the Hartt School in Connecticut. Max graduated from SHS and is striving to become a music teacher. He is learning from the best!

Kindergarten students are writing informational books during writers’ workshop today. Friends were thinking about what they were able to do on their own and finishing the sentence, I know how to.... Kindergarten students know how to set the table for dinner, make their beds, play hockey, write a story, get ready for recess, take care of puppies, wash their hands, draw a robot and so much more! Wow, our kindergarten friends know a lot!

Fourth graders are discovering equivalent fractions using hands on manipulatives including fraction tiles and circles.

Third graders scrubbed in on Friday to perform text feature surgery! Third grade has been learning the importance of text features-specifically how authors use text features to help the reader better understand a topic. Surgeons had to identify which text feature a patient needed to be prescribed based on his or her symptoms, describe what the purpose of that text feature is, and what specifically was taught about the topic using that text feature. Just like any OR, emergencies happened periodically. Math was embedded into this hands on experience when students had to “race the clock” to solve a word problem to save their patient.

During Responsive Classroom morning meeting today, the fourth graders moved to theater seating for the message so they were all facing the tv. While reading the morning message, students practiced recognizing punctuation and added movements for each one. In kinesthetic learning, movement and action replace more passive ways of learning. Many students learn best by combining mind and body. These pictures show the movement for quotation marks, apostrophe, period and question mark. Can you tell which movement represents each?

It’s hockey time at LaPerche! Before traditional hockey begins, it training time via centers! At one center, second graders pass to a teammate and have opportunities to play goalie. At a second center, they work on accuracy while they shoot a beanbag and try to knock down a cardboard pillar. The pillar represents their teammates stick. If they hit the pillar it would be a good pass. At the third center, they are playing as a team against another team (cones stationed around the space). The kids work as a team to pass to each other without hitting the other team. At the fourth station, the team works to make three passes before shooting on goal. Traditional hockey for Kindergarten through fifth grade begins after training ends. We are so thankful to have an amazing PE teacher, Mr. Connell, who understands how to scaffold instruction!