Last Blog of The Year

This post is always met with mixed emotions—joy for all the summer fun ahead, but also sadness as our group prepares to go their separate ways. I have no doubt that each of these students will continue to be successful as they move forward!

Your child came home with quite a bit in their envelope yesterday, including a Father's Day card, a report card, a book of our class adventures, and, for many students, some high-frequency word practice ideas.

It has been an absolutely wonderful year together! Thank you for supporting your child throughout the school year. I know firsthand what a big job it is to wake your child up, make lunches, read through everything that comes home, pick out outfits, and get them ready for school each day. It is no small task, and I truly appreciate all that you do to help make your child's success possible.

Thank you for a fantastic year, and I wish you and your family a fun and relaxing summer!

❤

Field Day Fun

 Greetings,

Enjoy a peek into our last full week! 

• June 15th: Music with Buddy in the Classrooms

• June 17th: Move-Up Day (8:30-9:00 a.m.)

• June 17th: Student Last Day of School

Cave Reading, Insect Masks, & Writing, Oh My!!

Students had a wonderful week exploring why the world needs insects! Insects are an important food source for many animals, and without them, food webs around the world would be disrupted. So, the next time someone says, “Why do we have to have so many bugs?” (probably a direct quote from many of us!), we can remember that insects play a very special role in our ecosystem.

Students also had so much fun creating glowing insect masks this week! On Friday, Ms. Neeson brought in her black light. We viewed them under it, and the room was filled with laughter, cheers, and excitement as everyone admired their creations.

Our kindergarteners are doing an amazing job with their writing. They are working hard to use uppercase and lowercase letters appropriately, tap out words to hear all of the sounds, and add details to their writing. On Friday, students wrote lovely poems outdoors, inspired by the world around them.

In math, we continue to build teamwork skills through partner games. Students especially enjoyed playing Going to Boston, where they practiced adding multiple dice and comparing their totals.

• June 8 Biking in PE

• June 11 Field Day!

• June 15th: Music with Buddy in the Classrooms

• June 17th: Move-Up Day (8:30-9:00 a.m.)

• June 17th: Student Last Day of School

Calling All 2026-2027 Kindergarten Students

Hello Incoming Kindergarten Families! 

We are thrilled to welcome all incoming Kindergarten students and their families. We look forward to seeing you on Monday, June 8th, for our Family "Meet & Greet" event from 8:15-9:00a. We will start in the multipurpose room (by the main entrance) and then make our way down to the classrooms to visit both spaces and allow you to meet both Amy Poor and Kathy Cowan (our two amazing Kindergarten teachers).

To help you get to know UCS and meet some of the wonderful members of our Kindergarten team, please enjoy this introductory video. 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out! Enjoy your week. 

David Marlow

Shelburne Farms

 

Yesterday, we ended our week with a special service project: planting the marigolds we have lovingly nurtured over the past six weeks! We hope they will thrive over the summer and welcome us back in August.

We began our week with a fun field trip to Shelburne Farms. We saw many of the farm animals and ended our visit with a picnic on the lawn. It was a beautiful day! Thank you to the chaperones who joined us and helped make the trip a success.

In Literacy, we continue to practice recognizing short and long vowel sounds and continue to work on those tricky power words.

In Math, we have been counting quantities and collecting data. As we calculate how many noses, fingers, feet, and other body parts are in a group, we are beginning to use skip-counting by 1s, 5s, and 10s to find our totals more efficiently.

6/1 We will be having a celebration! Students have been working hard on listening and have earned cave reading, aka blanket forts, and reading inside them. Kiddos are welcome to bring in blankets, stuffies, and flashlights for this!

6/3  Wednesday: Guest Teacher

6/11 Field Day

6/17 last day of school

This week we had a wonderful time together! We took a lovely walk in the woods and searched for spring ephemerals — those early-blooming flowers. 🎕

In math, students enjoyed playing Teen Bump, counting games, and an “I Am, Who Has?” game using 10 and 20 frames. These frames help students recognize numbers quickly and build strong number sense.

In literacy, we explored the lives of spiders! These eight-legged, eight-eyed creatures are truly fascinating. 🕷

This time of year is always exciting because we have so many special events happening at school! Students sang beautifully at our music evening under a bluebird sky — thank you for coming to support your child! Later in the week, we enjoyed a performance from the chorus and band from Browns River Middle School. Finally, on Friday, students from Mt. Mansfield visited our UCS students and helped around the grounds during their service day. We are so lucky to welcome these visitors each year!

Wishing everyone a safe, relaxing, and meaningful Memorial Day weekend with family and friends! 

Tuesday 5/26 Shelburne Farms Field Trip  9am-2pm (Please bring a lunch or order one, sweatshirts, & a water bottle)

Attributes and Social Insects

This week, students were troopers with the rainy and cold weather. I hope they get outside this weekend and soak up the sunshine!!

In Math, we focused on identifying attributes that two or more objects share. We used those attributes to sort sets of objects in different ways and then described and compared the data in each category. We continue to practice place value and focus on teen numbers. Kindergartners had fun playing a game called Guess My Number! Students ran around the numbers until it was time to stop and find a number. They did not want to land on the two numbers I called out! It was all in fun and a great way to practice teen numbers.

In Literacy, we immersed ourselves in the hives and hills of social insects! Our readings taught us how these insects work together and have different roles. Students have done well in retrieving facts from the books we read and expressing those ideas in their writing.

• We will be taking a field trip to Shelburne Farms on Monday, May 26th! Here is the permission form, and we plan to send a paper copy on Monday.  Please sign and send it in as soon as possible.
• Art & Music show will be this Thursday, 5/21!
• Memorial Day 5/25 - No school

                                                                 

 

So proud of our class! On Friday morning, we ran the All-School Meeting. While nerves were high, the students did a beautiful job! It’s not easy standing up in front of the whole school to speak and show off your work.

Thank you to the families who were able to fit this into their day. It was so nice seeing your smiling faces looking back at us. 😍

Wishing all mothers, grandmothers, and caregivers a very happy Mother’s Day this weekend — you deserve some extra hugs! We hope you enjoy the marigold that was shared with you. It can stay in its current pot for another week or two before being planted in a larger pot or in the garden, where it should flourish!

• May 21st: UCS Art & Music Show

• May 25 Memorial Day - No school

  
  

 

                                               Doing some Green Up together on Friday💚

This week in Math, students used scales to explore a new type of measurement—weight! They compared objects to other objects and to cubes, while also practicing counting and writing numbers. They also enjoyed playing games like Sparkle, Snake, and Strike Me Out.

In Literacy, we explored 6-, 8-, and even 100-legged critters, diving into our reading and pulling out fascinating facts along the way.  During our small group work, some are working on silent e/long vowel words while others are practicing digraphs and cvc words. 

In ECO, students listened attentively to a puppet show about an insect's life cycle and then went exploring for them in the forest. 

In Writing, we began a mini poetry unit, experimenting with lyrical, rhyming, and colorful language. As usual, this group amazed me with their imaginative creations!

Lastly, please remember that we have entered tick season. Please check your child daily for ticks, as we will be spending more time outdoors. Unfortunately, we are unable to supply or apply tick repellent or sunscreen at school, so we ask that you apply these at home before your child arrives if you wish.  

Important dates

Wednesday, May 6 Early Release

Friday, May 8, our class runs the All-School Meeting

Abenaki Visitors, Ecosystem WeVideo, & Planting

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What a fantastic week we had, filled with so many meaningful opportunities!

This week, we welcomed Abena and Charlie as our Abenaki Artists-in-Residence. It was a wonderful experience learning about the Abenaki language, as well as the animals and plants that are important to their culture. Students created wooden figures that connected to both our garden and the teachings they shared.

Thank you for your patience with the recycled material creations that went home this week. Students were inspired by the book Christina Katerina and the Box, and their creativity truly shone through their projects.

We also created an amazing video to showcase our learning about ecosystems. Students researched facts, practiced their presentations, and performed in front of a green screen. Mr. Weber worked his behind-the-scenes magic to bring everything together! We may share the video at our all-school meeting, but here’s a sneak peek! Here is the link 

Lastly, we had a visit from Kristyn Achilich, a parent and the Director of Environmental Studies/Sciences at St. Mike’s. She taught a lesson about how plants give us gifts when we care for them—and how insects play an important role as well. 

Your child may have brought home a dogwood stick to plant, a gift from Kristyn. If your child did not bring one home, they chose not to take one.

Happy break! I hope you’re able to enjoy some time outdoors despite the changing weather.  And don’t forget—Earth Day is on Wednesday and Arbor Day is on Friday! 🌍🌳🌲