Third grade started the day together with a whole group Responsive Classroom (RC) morning meeting which consists of a greeting, sharing, activity, and message. Third graders greeted each other by throwing the ball to each other and saying good morning. The kids loved that we had two balls going at once. For our activity, we played would you rather. Mrs. Calderone asked would you rather have Frosty or Rudolph for a best friend. Rudolph was the winner. Would you rather have to sing jingle bells loudly every time you entered a room or wear a Santa suit to school everyday? Santa suit was the winner. For the activity, we played the winter version of woosha warrior. The leader has their back to the crowd and strikes a pose; tree, reindeer or elf. If your pose matches the leader you sit down. The goal of RC Morning Meeting is building community and ensuring that every student knows they are are a valuable part of the classroom and school community!
LaPerche fourth graders worked with a writing partner to find four pieces of evidence to use to answer the question asked. Students need to find the evidence in the text that supports their answer. Student create their own graphic organizers and highlight the evidence in the story as they find it. LaPerche students are amazing writers!!
LaPerche second graders were discussing the difference between a theme and a lesson during Reader’s Workshop. They understand the author is always trying to teach them something. The students have been reading a variety of books by the same author that contain the same characters. The students were analyzing the characters to see how they changed or stayed the same from story to story. When you read books with your child try and determine the theme and the lesson. Use the chart from second grade to help guide your discussions.
The ride to a field trip is a great time to connect with kids while having fun playing silly games. New friendships are formed and others become stronger. LaPerche third graders students enjoyed their time on the ride to Smithfield High School for the holiday concert. Can you catch my hand before I pull it away?
LaPerche students were joined by the Smithfield High School baseball team on our Noah Strong parade float! Thank you, Mr. Connell, for building such an amazing float. Noah served as the Junior Grand Marshall of the parade. We love you, Noah, and were so happy to spend time with you! Thank you to all who braved the cold for the parade!
Melissa Chaput, Recycling Coordinator for Smithfield, visited LaPerche today to check how we are doing with recycling in the cafeteria. Mrs. Chaput was impressed with the student’s knowledge about what items are trash and what can be recycled. At LaPerche, we are trying to eliminate the use of single use water bottles. Think about giving a reusable water bottle as a Christmas gift!
Playing in the snow at school is so fun and creates great memories!! LaPerche students had a blast today climbing mountains, building tunnels, making snow angels and creating endless snow people taller than Mrs. Dorsey! The creativity and energy were on full display! Don’t forget to send your child to school with snow gear every day that we have snow! Wet snow gear is coming home today!
Second graders review all of their writing from first trimester to determine personal goals for second trimester. Each student thought carefully about what they need to improve on, what they are still working on and what they are most proud of. LaPerche students are getting ready to move from narrative writing to informational writing during second trimester. Personal goal setting is important for student growth.
LaPerche fourth graders prepare for two amazing performance opportunities. LaPerche fourth graders will be performing at the State House this week and then at Smithfield Woods Senior Living Center next week. They sound amazing and will be singing for the school on Friday, December 20 at 9:45am. Plan to join us as every grade performs at our holiday sing a long!
Fifth graders had a special role during our Veteran’s Day ceremony on Friday, November 15. Michael Graichen from Patriot Guard Riders brought a set of beautiful flags they use during ceremonies when Veterans are deployed, when they return, and during funerals for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. He taught the kids the proper way to hold the flag and we created a arch for the Veterans to go through to enter the ceremony.
First grade enjoyed a visit from community helpers from the Smithfield Police Department, Detectives Smith and Taylor and Sergeant Cerce. The children enjoyed a question and answer time with the police officers. Students had their fingerprints taken and a mug shot taken too.
We hope you can join us tomorrow, November 13, at 7 PM for an interactive discussion on vaping trends, risks, and strategies for talking to your child. The discussion will take place at Smithfield High School.
In PE today, first graders are learning how to dribble the basketball. They each have a cone that is their home base. They chose their own spot in the gym where they have enough space to be safe. The kids visit a neighbor and then circle their house three times while dribbling. Next, they visit someone across town and then circle their house three times while dribbling. Standing with the ball tucked under your arm demonstrates that you are done and ready for the next challenge. Practicing hand eye coordination, tracking the movements of the hands with the eyes, is important for reading, writing, various sports and so many activities.
Third graders work to dissect multi step word problems by underlining the known information, circling the question and then working with a partner to determine the answer. Students use math language as they work through the steps. Then, they come back together to check in and see if they are on track and what strategies could help them find the answer. Productive struggle is happening at LaPerche!
Kindergarten friends went on a hunt to find the letters hidden in their room and then practiced writing them. Such a great way to incorporate movement and learning. When you have practiced all of the letters, you can find a comfy spot to read. This gave Mrs. Caswell the opportunity to listen to each student read and have an individualized conference. Kindergarten rocks!
It’s Writer’s Workshop time in first grade! Students were writing their own adventure that included familiar characters, Frog and Toad. Their narrative writing needs to include a beginning, middle and end. Additionally, they have focus correction areas that remind them of the specific components they need to include. Today they needled to include when, how, where and what in their stories as well as have capitals, end marks and spaces between their words. LaPerche students are writers!
First graders celebrated the 50th day of school today with a Sock Hop. The children enjoyed learning and dancing to the hand jive, the twist and the limbo. They also had the opportunity to play with toys and games that originated in the 50s. Who misses sock hops?
R.C. LaPerche Food Drive
From October 14th to November 15th, R.C. LaPerche is holding a food drive to help benefit our LaPerche community and others in need. With the items we collect, we will be putting together Thanksgiving food baskets for our families. The LaPerche PTA adds a $25 Stop and Shop gift card to the basket to help supply a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. The remaining items will be donated to the Smithfield Food Bank.
We are asking you to please donate as many items as you can to help support our food drive. As an added benefit, Mr. Feinstein will give LaPerche $1.00 for every item we collect, up to $1,000.00! The October/November student council will keep a tally of the items we collect and the class with the most items will earn extra recess with Mrs. Dorsey.
Kindergarten - Stuffing or Rice
Grade 1 - Instant Potatoes/Pasta
Grade 2 - Peanut Butter/Boxes of Cereal
Grade 3 - Cranberry Sauce/Canned Vegetables
Grade 4 -Peanut Butter/Boxes of Cereal
Grade 5 - Gravy (Plastic Bottles or Cans Only Please)/
Boxed Dessert Mix
Thank you for your continued support and generosity.
At a recent writing professional development, teachers were given a “short scene” writing organizer by Pixar. Did you know that every Pixar short follows a specific formula? The scene is introduced with a who, what, when & where, followed by characters going about their every day, normal lives....until there is a problem! Characters are forced to respond to the problem. Every short scene ends with a thought.
Both third grade classrooms participated in creating a “short scene” pumpkin character! Students created a main character pumpkin to place in their short scene. Characters could be real or imagined. Upon completion of the project, students will be writing a “short scene” about their pumpkin.
Students in kindergarten are amazed to discover they will learn 100 word wall words this year!! There are so many hands on and engaging activities teachers plan to help students practice the words. In Mrs. Friel’s class, one activity they learned today was dry erase boards. The students use their work wall to write and read their word wall boards onto dry erase boards. Families will be amazed as they see how many words students can read and write!
