Dear Parents,
Volume 1, Issue 2
Graymont Grade School Newsletter
NEWSLETTER: OCTOBER 2006
September 29, 2006
I want to thank all of those who attended the PTO/Open House.
We all appreciate the support the parents and community members
give to the school. Hopefully all the parents had the opportunity
to sign up for parent/teacher conferences on October 26 or 27. If
not, letters will be coming home asking you to schedule a time for
a conference with your child’s teacher(s).
There are many activities coming up in the month of October. The
students will be practicing emergency drills, having school
pictures taken, and beginning 4-6 grade intramural basketball.
Red Ribbon week will be October 23-26. This is a national event
that provides the opportunity for everyone to show their
commitment to a healthy, drug-free life. The students also learn
about the dangers of drug and alcohol use. The “Red Ribbon” is
the symbol of zero tolerance for illegal drug use and a
commitment to a drug-free lifestyle. The following is a schedule
of events for the students to participate in for the week.
Monday, October 23
“Put a Cap On Drugs”
Red Ribbon week will start by everyone receiving a ribbon or
bracelet to wear for the entire week to show support of being drug
free. The students will wear interesting hats.
Tuesday, October 24
“Team Up Against Drugs”
Students will wear team jerseys or favorite team sports apparel.
Wednesday, October 25
“Shade Out Drugs”
Students wear sunglasses.
Thursday, October 26
“Wear Red Day”
Everyone wear RED!
Daily rewards will be given to all students participating in the
daily themes. Participating students will also have the opportunity
to have their names drawn for prizes each day as well.
I want to encourage everyone to participate, have fun, and learn
throughout the entire week.
Yours in Education,
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Mrs. Fritchtnitch
Toby Tire
Toby Tire visited grades K-4 at Graymont Grade School on Monday, September 18th. Illinois
Secretary of State Jesse White launched this innovative school bus safety program designed to
keep children safe during their travels to and from school. The Toby Tire School Bus Safety
Program utilizes an animated character to drive home a message of shared responsibility
among kids and adults alike. The principal message of the program stresses the inherent
danger of the school bus itself. The symbol of a cartoonist tire helps deliver the message that
the wheels of a school bus are particularly dangerous to children boarding and exiting the
school bus. A Toby Tire book, video and coloring books were given to each class.
Athletics
Our boys baseball team won Regionals over St.
Mary’s 3-1. They went on to play Donovan for
Sections and the game was a nail biter. Unfortunately
Donovan won with a score of 3-2. Congratulations to
Caleb Leach, Nick Elliott, Matt Regenold, Cole
Borders, Stevie Carroll, and Dallas Burns for a
GREAT season and a job well done!
The girls basketball season is now underway. Let’s all
come out to support our girls for a successful season:
Hattie Rich, Abby Campbell, Stephanie Bray.
PTHS Band & Chorus
On September 20th the PTHS band and chorus came to visit Graymont
Grade School. We were very fortunate to have them as guests and to
hear their wonderful sounds. This allowed our students the opportunity
to see how their band career can continue once they reach high school.
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Student Council
The week of September 18-22 was a time for students to
campaign for the student council office they wanted to be
elected for this year. We held an assembly on Friday so the
student body could have the opportunity to listen to the
speeches to help them make a good choice. Campaign
managers introduced the candidates prior to delivering their
speeches. All students did a great job! It takes a lot of
nerve to get up in front of all of your peers and give a
speech why you should be elected. The results of the
election were; Kalyn Young- Vice President, Meagan
Frizzell- Secretary, and Courtney BierTreasurer. Congratulations to those elected.
Who’s Who
Among America’s Teachers
Mrs. Anne Erickson, kindergarten teacher at Graymont Grade School,
was recently selected for Who's Who Among America's
Teachers. This is a recognition program in the education field where
the ultimate consumers of education-the students- have the
opportunity and responsibility to honor the teachers who have most
significantly impacted their lives.
All of the students listed in Who's Who Among American High School
Students, Who's Who Among American High School Students-Sports
Edition, The National Dean's List, and The Chancellor's List
publications that honor our nation's top high school, college, and
graduate students, respectively, are given the opportunity to nominate
teachers who have been the most influential during their academic
career. Because of the high caliber of students involved in this
selection process, there are over 155,000 teachers featured in the
current edition of Who's Who Among America's Teachers, who are
clearly among our nation's best and most respected teachers.
We are proud of Mrs. Erickson, and congratulate her for this
prestigious honor.
“The Future Depends on what we do in the present” – Mahatma Gandhi
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Teacher News
Ms. Wilson
5th/6th Grade
In Reading we are about to complete Unit 1
and begin Unit 2, 5th grade (My World and
Yours) and 6th grade (The Living Earth).
Remember there is a spelling test every
Friday. Please encourage your child to study
their words to ensure they will be successful.
7th/8th Grade
In Reading we are currently
reading our third novel,
Tangerine, by Edward Bloor.
We are reading this novel as
a class with daily quizzes to
check for comprehension.
When finished, the next novel
we read will be in groups
based on specific interests.
Reading is very important – please
encourage your child to read at least 20min.
Every evening 
In Language Arts we just completed our unit
on nouns and will be starting verbs: action
verbs, direct objects, main/helping verbs,
linking verbs, present/past/future tense,
subject- verb agreement, regular/irregular
verbs.
In Language Arts we just completed our unit
on nouns and will be starting verbs: action
verbs, direct objects, main/helping verbs,
linking verbs, present/past/future tense,
subject- verb agreement, regular/irregular
verbs.
In Computers we have finished up their
State Research. They did a great job of
representing information on their assigned
state. For the month of October we are
going to focus mostly on the keyboard and
typing skills.
In Computers for the month of October we
are going to focus mostly on the keyboard
and typing skills
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Mrs. Hott
Math - We are moving along in Math
at all levels. In addition to our regular
lessons, we are spending time on
number facts and problem
solving. 7th and 8th graders also
learned how to play NIM, convert
numbers from one base to another
and should, within the next couple of
weeks, learn how to read a binary
clock.
Science - Our new 6th grade books
have arrived and the 5th grade ones
should be here shortly. In the
meantime, we have been reading an
overview of what Earth Science and
Physical Science are. 5/6 grade tried
out their skills in using the scientific
method by conducting an experiment
where they made observations,
formed a hypothesis, then conducted
a modified experiment to test their
hypothesis.
7/8 grade have been learning about
Newton's laws of motion and have
conducted a couple of their own
experiments to see first-hand the
effects of these laws.
Social Studies - We have been
studying geography in all grades with
5/6 grade beginning their study of
early civilizations. They will be
creating a timeline to show where
these civilizations fit in history which
will be displayed in our room.
7/8 graders have been trying out
different methods of navigation
including a compass competition and
a GPS scavenger hunt where they
computed and navigated
latitude/longitude points to find their
way to a "treasure". They are
beginning their study of other nations
with Canada.
Ms. Rients
This month we are starting a new
science unit on natural resources.
The students (and the teacher) are
very excited to get to use their new
science books! We are going to
classify renewable and nonrenewable
resources along with exploring how
we can reuse, recycle, and reduce
the use of natural resources. Also,
since experiments are a great way to
help us understand the information,
we will be making compost and
recycled paper, as well as, doing
activities with sun and wind energy.
In social studies, we have been
introduced to the different aspects of
culture. We are going to continue our
introduction by talking about the
various places people came from to
the U.S., our government, and how all
the regions work together. Then we
will be ready to study the Southwest
region of the U.S.
Our reading goals for Reading Counts
have been set, so in October we are
officially starting to meet these goals.
At the end of the month, if a student
has reached his or her goal, he or she
will get a Pizza Hut Book-It coupon
for a free personal pan pizza. Most
students have already started earning
points, so keep it up!
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Ms. Myers
Mrs. Erickson
First and second grade has fallen into
place. We have established our
classroom routines and begun our
core curriculum.
The Kindergarten class has settled
into a super school routine. The class
is really beginning to work well
together.
A huge chunk of our time during the
day is donated to reading. We will be
continuing our work with consonant
and vowel sounds. Furthermore, we
are learning and reviewing strategies
good readers use to decode words.
In math, we are focusing on addition
and subtraction in first grade. The
second graders will be working on
tables and graphs. We will be
collecting data and recording the
information on a tally table. October
will bring our class a new unit in
science. We will be studying the
different habitats that plants and
animals live in.
Patterning is the name of the game in
math. Our reading/phonics program
is moving along with a
letter/sound/motion every day. The
class is working on recognizing each
new letter and remembering its
sound.
A fantastic element that has been
added in first and second grade this
year is guided reading. Guided
reading is important because it places
readers in their exact level. With this,
students will get a one-on-one
opportunity to read with me. During
this time period, we go over the
strategies to use when we come to a
difficult word and also work on our
comprehension and predicting skills.
Students meet with me at least twice
a week to help reinforce our reading
curriculum. I hope to see even more
improvement with reading this year.
The class is getting ready for Fire
Prevention Week and they are also
looking forward to some spooky
activities as October rolls around!!!
Special Dates to Remember
•Oct. 6 – 11:15 Dismissal
(School Improvement Day)
•Oct. 9 – No School
(Columbus Day)
•Oct. 17 – 2:00 Dismissal
•Oct. 23 – Red Ribbon Week
•Oct. 24 – Hearing & Vision
Screening (grades 6&8)
•Oct. 25 – Report Cards
•Oct. 26 – Parent/Teacher
Conferences 4-8pm
•Oct. 27 – NO SCHOOL
Parent/Teacher Conferences
8:00-12:00
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