The Franklin Cup Race

On Friday January 31, Heritage Elementary joined together with Newlonsburg Elementary for a rubber band powered car racing competition. The final racing car designs were the result of a final project the students completed for the Motion and Design science unit. The final race came down to Heritage vs. Newlonsburg.  This year, the Heritage car edged out Newlonsburg by hundredths of a second.  Congratulations to Heritage, and the winning team from Mr. Mausser’s class.  This is the first of an annual event.  This year the trophy went to the hosting school of Heritage.  Next year, the students of Newlonsburg will host the event.

5th Grade Expository Book sharing with 2nd Grade Friends

5th grade students from Miss Calfe's class wrote expository books and shared them with Mrs. Calfe's 2nd grade class.  They did such a great job and the second graders were very attentive! One of the 2nd grade students had his interest sparked so much that he started making his own book already!

First grade-special holiday themed events

First grade students participated in some special holiday themed events in the week leading up to the winter recess.  Students created Gingerbread Houses with the help of parent volunteers on Monday.  During Polar Express day on Tuesday, students read this story, sequenced the events of the story, enjoyed hot chocolate and compared/contrasted the book with the movie.  On Friday, the students celebrated Grinch Day.  They read the story How the Grinch Stole Christmas, followed oral directions to create a Grinch craft, wrote about how they would make the Grinch smile and enjoyed some special Grinch themed cupcakes and Grinch “juice”.   

Heritage Winter band and chorus performance

Wednesday, December 18^th, Heritage students and faculty gathered in the gym to hear a wonderful holiday concert presented by the 5^th grade band and chorus. The Heritage students displayed their best audience behavior as the band began the performance with an array of holiday favorites, including “Up On the Housetop” and “Greensleeves.” Student speakers introduced each song with a brief history of the tunes and the musical challenges presented in each piece.

The chorus followed with six songs, including “Hanukkah Lights” and a fun performance of “Frosty and the Hand Jive.” The students proudly displayed their strong voices and their great dance moves.”

    

1st Grade Author Celebration

Early this December, 1st graders gathered for their first Author Celebration of the year. After lots of work writing, revising, and adding details, the writers chose their very best "small moment" stories from October’s and November’s Writing Workshop to share with classmates, parents, teachers and administrators—they even completed an “all about me” writing piece to share at the final presentation.

Once teachers modeled how a sharing session might unfold, students practiced reading their stories to one another. During the celebration, visitors mingled across the 1st grade students and listened to the stories that the children wrote. The visitors listened intently, leaning in to see pictures and smiling to show appreciation. At the end of the ceremony, the children shared cookies and punch with their families in recognition of their accomplishments.

The 1st grade writing philosophy draws on the work of Lucy Calkins, Professor of Curriculum and Founding Director of The Reading and Writing Project at Columbia Teachers College. It encourages Heritage students to fully engage in the practice of writing, while teaching them valuable lessons about the overall process.

                                                   

 

2nd grade reads with High School Students

Members of the Franklin Regional National Honor Society, under the supervision of Mrs. Bruno, visited Mrs. Seymour's 2nd grade classroom for the third time this school year. The high school students work with 2nd graders as reading buddies. Our high school friends brought their favorite stories to share.  

36 high school students have volunteered to work with reading buddies so far this school year, and future sessions are planned for February and March.

Gingerbread Center Day

On Friday, December 13th, Heritage Kindergarten students participated in Gingerbread Center Day activities in their classrooms.  Fun and learning was centered around this holiday tradition that was studied in class through stories and discussions of traditions around the world.  Parent volunteers helped make the experience special as we rotated through stations of gingerbread art, reading, math, and games.  

Author's Celebration in Mrs. Sberna's 5th Grade Class

Fifth grade students in Mrs. Sberna’s language arts classes have been working diligently on their narrative writings, and today they celebrated their hard work!  Each student work shopped their piece from prewriting through peer conferencing, revising, teacher conferencing, editing, and, finally, publication.  Stories ranged from fictional tales of the lost colony of Roanoke to personal stories about achieving a goal or taking a trip.  If you see one of these authors, congratulate them on their latest writing success!

Soldier Holiday Project-2nd & 3rd Grade

With the holidays quickly approaching and our 2nd & 3rd grade students wanted to send a special thanks to the men and women serving overseas who cannot be with their families during the holiday season. Classrooms decorated bags and filled them with small goodies that will make the holidays merrier for our soldiers. Bags were decorated and filled on November 26th in the Heritage cafeteria. Parent volunteers and donations help made this project possible. Below you will find a list of items that the soldiers requested.

• Beef Jerky
• Individual Drink Mixes
• Granola Bars
• Protein Bars
• Fruit Snacks
• Crackers
• Trail Mix
• Gum
• Holiday Candy
• Pens/Pencils
• Writing Paper
• Travel Size Kleenex
• Playing Cards
• Disposable Cameras
• Crossword and Word Search Books
• Envelopes
• Board Games

**Anything that can be easily carried when the soldiers are out on missions is greatly appreciated**

1st Grade Pumpkins

1st grade used pumpkins to do many fun investigations in math/science before Thanksgiving!  

They also made pumpkin pie in a cup!