Swanton Students Present at ECHO Center
Posted on May 18, 2006
A group of 4th graders from the Swanton Central School planned a presentation and an interactive game to share with other children visiting the ECHO Center in Burlington as a part of their Earth Day celebration. The students presented various skits about recycling and set up their version of Earth Day Jeopardy for visitors to play as they enjoyed the various exhibits at the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center.
"People of the Dawn" for 100 Points-
These Native American people are know as the "People of the Dawn"
Who are the Abenaki people?
"Lake Champlain" for 200 Points-
Lake Champlain is the birthplace of which branch of the military?
What is the U. S. Navy?
It was a great day and the students did a fantastic job. They also won the grand prize of a notebook computer for their school! Way to go Swanton students!!!
Principal's Challenge Two - Respect
Posted on January 30, 2006
Respect Letters
Julie Benay, the principal at Mary Babcock School in Swanton, VT has again challenged her kindergarten to second grade students to write about the core concepts. This time she asked students to write a short letter to someone they respect. The students were also asked to tell the person why they respected the person. Click on the link above to view a .pdf file of the children's letters.
Great job kids. I loved your letters!!
Swanton Students Help Make a Wish Foundation
Posted on January 23, 2006
Mrs. Hancock's and Ms. Jenkin's classes participated in a community service learning project this last trimester. The students chose a charity or project to research and support for the trimester. As part of their work, students were responsible for planning to have a guest come to speak on the charity. Seven students selected to focus on The Make a Wish Foundation. They taught other classmates about the foundation and arranged to have a local director of the foundation, Dan Dulude, to come to the classroom to share more about the foundation's work in Franklin County. The girls presented a check for $83.50 to Mr. Dulude for the foundations future projects.
Principal's Challenge - Belonging Poems
Posted on December 2, 2005
Julie Benay, the principal at Mary. S. Babcock School, in Swanton, Vermont has challenged her students to create poems about belonging. Childen from grades kindergarten through second grade were asked to write a poem about Belonging (one of the Core Concepts students and teachers have been learning about in school). They were given a starter line "Be kind to everyone" and given the challenge of writing a poem with the help of their families. Click on the link above to see all of the fantastic poems!!
Great work, kids and families! And a special thanks to Mrs. Benay!!
A Thank You Note from Nick B.
Posted on November 18, 2005
This note was passed on to me by Mary Wood, the SCOPE Coordinator at Swanton Elementary School.
Dear Mr. Fox:
Thank you for coming into our classroom and talking to us about caring. I learned somethings that are important like caring for people and pets.
Nick B.
Thanks Nick. I really enjoy the time I can spend with you and your classmates. Taking the time to write me this note shows me what a caring person you are! I am very proud of you and I will hopefully see you again in a few weeks.
Mr. Fox
Short Poem from Felica
Posted on November 18, 2005
I was doing a lesson on caring with 5th / 6th grade students at Swanton Elementary School when Felica, a sixth grade student, handed me a note. Her note was in response to my asking her class for student work to put on the blog. Felilca wrote this poem in about two minutes and slipped it to me as I left the room. I think she REALLY wants to be publilshed! Thanks, Felica. Here is your poem.
Ice Cream Poem
I love ice cream when it's hot,
Vanilla, chocolate, rocky road,
I love ice cream a lot!
Kindergarten Belonging Y-Chart
Posted on October 14, 2005
If you listen to the podcast (Episode 3) you will hear Mrs. Lasher's kindergarten class at Hindsburg Community School creating this Y-Chart. They did a great job. Who says this work is too hard for kindergarteners!!
Belonging Y-Charts
Posted on October 4, 2005
Students across our model schools are working on the Core Concept of Belonging. One activity we ask our teachers to do with their students is to develop a Y-chart of each Core Concept at the beginning of each school year. This is a vehicle through which students can explore a concept by identifying how it looks, feels and sounds when the concept is practiced by everyone in the class. "If we were all working on helping each other Belong, what would it look like?" "What would it sound like?" "What would it feel like?"
The Y-chart is a great graphic organizer for helping students generate many positive examples of the concept they are working on! Since each class does their own chart, it is also developmentally appropriate. A kindergarten Y-Chart will look very different from a chart from an 8th grade class. During a recent visit to Hinesburg Community School, I heard a kindergartener say that 'Belonging felt like being at home". I think she gets it!
The chart pictured above was created by a 6th grade class at Swanton Central School.
