This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey
After a snow day on Monday and a delayed start on Tuesday, we enjoyed a short but action-packed week together! The highlight was getting outside to play in the snow on Wednesday. Every single student remembered their cold-weather gear! Great job being prepared for winter fun!
In our writing lesson, we focused on transforming short, unelaborated sentences into engaging ones by choosing vivid, descriptive words.
In geometry lessons, fourth graders worked on proving equivalence between polygons and rectangles, building on last week’s lesson. Fifth graders continued their study of the apothem, measuring sides, apothems, and radii of triangles, squares, and polygons. It was exciting to see everyone diving deep into hands-on mathematical exploration.
Our history lesson this week focused on Ardipithecus ramidis, an extinct ape species. Students were fascinated to learn how scientists piece together the story of early hominids and prehistory.
On Friday, students performed their readers’ theater for families and middle school students! Their hard work and enthusiasm shone through. There’s one more performance for our lower elementary friends next week.
Looking ahead:
  • Monday, February 9 is Moving Up Day for fifth graders. They will spend the day as a middle school student. Students should arrive at school at 8:00 for the start of their middle school day.
  • Thursday, February 12 will be a busy and meaningful day. After making sandwiches for the soup kitchen, we’ll celebrate Valentine’s Day as a class. Please look out for an email from Nora with more details about the celebration. Thank you for your continued support with our community service!
“True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

“In these times, more than ever before, our hope is that education will offer an aid to better the condition of the world.” -Maria Montessori, London Lectures 1948

This week in Upper Elementary, we stayed busy with our learning despite the short week. In our writing lesson, we focused on adding variety to our topic sentences. We discovered that topic sentences can be declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, or imperative. Additionally, we learned strategies for using appositives and subordinating conjunctions to make our topic sentences more engaging. For our follow-up work, we will incorporate this new knowledge into our autobiographies. As we progress on our projects, we are applying the skills we learn in writing lessons to enhance our writing each week.

In grammar this week, the fourth graders studied personal pronouns, focusing on person and number. We explored singular and plural forms of first-, second-, and third-person pronouns. Meanwhile, the fifth graders learned about action verbs, linking verbs, and predicate words, as well as distinguishing between transitive and intransitive verbs.

In geometry, the fourth graders learned about the equivalence of polygons to rectangles, while the fifth graders concentrated on identifying the sides and points, apothem, and radius of polygons and circles.

In history, we continued our exploration of our closest fossil relatives, marking the beginning of our study of six primate groups: Ardipithecus ramidus, Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Neanderthal, and Cro-Magnon. about the equivalence of a polygon to a rectangle, and fifths focused on identifying the side/point, apothem, and radius of polygons and circles.

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” -Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham, Alabama jail, April 16, 1963

We had a fantastic week in Upper El! Our first order of business was introducing our new guinea pig, Porky, to Teddy. We gave them some time out of their cages to get acquainted. We discovered that Porky needs to learn some manners, so we are giving Teddy some time to teach him while we assist a little. Next week, we will continue to let the two spend short periods of time together.

On Tuesday, we attended the Middle School Math Carnival. We had a blast playing the games created by our sixth through eighth graders, winning tickets, and enjoying some delicious treats. Our fifth graders are very excited to participate in this annual carnival next year!

On Thursday, we made 120 sandwiches for the St. Vincent DePaul Mission in Waterbury. We are becoming quite efficient at Cafe Upper El, completing the sandwich-making and cleanup in just half an hour. Thank you very much for all the food donations, and a special thanks to Nick, Leslie, and Nora for volunteering their time.

We are making great progress on our autobiographies, incorporating our writing lessons into our work. Students are enjoying taking a stroll down memory lane as they write chapters about their younger years and learn so much about their families!

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey
We had a fantastic first week back after the holiday break! I hope everyone had a joyful and relaxing time with family. It was so nice to see all the smiling faces back in our classroom, ready to dive back into learning.
The highlight of our first week back was welcoming a new member to our classroom: our adorable little guinea pig! After a class vote, we decided to keep his original name – Porky. Everyone is excited to help take care of him and see how he settles into his new home with us. Early next week, we will officially introduce him to his new big brother, Teddy.
One of the exciting things on the horizon is our autobiography projects! This special assignment will take the place of our usual literature circle work for a bit since it needs some extra time and support from families at home. Students will be gathering their stories, photos, and memories with help from parents and family members. Once everyone has their information collected, we’ll have plenty of time at school to draft and edit our work. We can’t wait to share these finished autobiographies with everyone at a special presentation at the end of February!
Next week, we have some fun activities lined up. We will make some tasty sandwiches together and attend the middle school math carnival!
Upcoming Important Dates:
  • Tuesday, January 13 @ 2:00: MS Math Carnival
  • Thursday, January 15 @ 9:30: UE Community Service – Sandwich Making
  • Friday, January 16: Early Dismissal – Professional Development
  • Monday, January 19: No School – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
  • Friday, January 30 @ 2:15 – UE Performing Arts Presentation

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

What a joyful week we’ve had, full of preparation, anticipation, and celebration!

We wrapped up our lessons for the session and had our final Literature Circle before heading off on our two-week break, finishing up our assignments together. We baked four delicious loaves of banana and zucchini bread (with chocolate chips, of course!) for our December birthday breakfast on Wednesday, chosen by our birthday honorees. We worked hard to transform the Upper El/Middle School hallway into a gingerbread house, which our adorable toddlers and primary students especially enjoyed. We even found time for sledding, snowball fights, and building snowmen—all while getting ready for the Winter Showcase.

On Thursday, we celebrated with our holiday party in our PJs, exchanged “Secret Holiday Pudding” gifts, and watched Annie on the Promethean Board. To top it all off, our amazing students, led by the equally amazing Megan Kirk, delivered a stunning, emotional performance on Friday to send us off into winter break.

Thank you so much for the yummy treats you sent in for our party and for the thoughtful gifts you gave to Sara and me. I wish you a beautiful holiday season filled with love and peace!

See you in 2026!

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

It was a busy and emotional week in Upper El.

Earlier in the week, the students decided to have a Secret Santa-style gift exchange. During our class meeting, they agreed to rename it “Secret Holiday Pudding” to make it more inclusive. Each student completed a questionnaire listing their favorites to help their secret person choose a thoughtful gift.

We also headed down to the edge of our property by the pond to do some archaeological work and retrieve some of the items from our history lesson a few weeks ago, when we studied artifacts left behind over time. The students learned about the different roles people have on a dig team and experienced how much care and patience the work requires. This coming week, they will look at some of the samples they collected under the microscope as our lessons continue.

On Thursday, the class spent the morning making 167 sandwiches. We pivoted a bit this week and chose to share the love closer to school, donating the sandwiches to the Newtown Senior Center. They will be delivered to members of our community who are in need and are unable to leave their homes for various reasons. Thank you to all who contributed ingredients, and to Michael and Priscila for volunteering their time to help us make sandwiches.

The end of our week started with a visit from our adorable book buddies, which always brings a lot of joy to the classroom. Then our middle school friends joined us as we said a sweet and tender goodbye to our little friend, Houdini, and laid him to rest in the woods behind the school. The students held that space with such care for one another.

We spent the rest of the day simply enjoying being together and decorating the hallway outside our classroom to transform it into a giant gingerbread house. The creativity, collaboration, and laughter were exactly what we needed.

I am continually inspired by the love and resilience of these beautiful humans I have the good fortune of working with every day.

Upcoming Dates and Information

  • Please check with your child each day to make sure they have a warm coat, hat, and mittens or gloves for daily outdoor play.
  • Wednesday, 12/17 at 8:30: December Birthday Breakfast for families of children with December birthdays
  • Thursday, 12/18: Class Holiday Party – Students can wear their pajamas and bring their gift for the Secret Pudding gift exchange.
  • Friday, 12/19 at 10:30: Winter Showcase and Early Dismissal

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

What an exciting week we’ve had in Upper El! The children were thrilled to learn that this year’s spring musical will be Wonka! The announcement sparked a lot of enthusiasm around our classroom, and the children are already talking about which character they hope to be. It’s going to be a show to remember!

Here are a few learning highlights from this week:

Writing: We learned to use keywords to create outlines, and then used those words to create an organized structure for a summary, paragraph, or report.

Geometry:

  • Fourth-years learned about the equivalence of a trapezoid to a rectangle.
  • Fifth-years worked on finding the area of a polygon by comparing it to an equivalent rectangle.

Biology: Our latest lesson on the vital functions of animals focused on circulation. We discussed the differences between incomplete and complete, open and closed, circulatory systems, and the children asked thoughtful questions that made the lesson even better.

Grammar:

  • Fourth-years reviewed the different types of adjectives and learned to put them in descriptive or limiting categories. They also learned about comparative and superlative adjectives.
  • Fifth-years learned about the future progressive tense, which conveys information about an action or event that occurs over time in the future.

Looking ahead:

  • Thursday, December 11 – We’ll be making sandwiches for the St. Vincent DePaul Mission in Waterbury. Thank you to all who are contributing ingredients, kindness, and helpfulness to serve our local community!
  • Wednesday, December 17 – December Birthday Breakfast! I’m looking forward to celebrating all our December birthdays together right after drop off at 8:30.
  • Thursday, December 18 – Class Holiday Party and exchanging of “Secret Pudding” gifts.

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” -Henry Ward Beecher

This coming week, we have our schoolwide ceremony of giving thanks and sharing bread, and we couldn’t be more excited! To kick things off, we’ll have a student from each level – primary through middle school – representing one of the four elements: wind, earth, water, and fire, as a poem about the four elements is read by middle school students. It’s a beautiful way to connect with nature and remind us how intertwined we are with the world around us. After the poem, each class will get a chance to share what they’re thankful for. I always love hearing what the children appreciate; it’s a beautiful reminder of the many things—big and small—that fill our lives with joy and happiness. Then, upper el and middle school students will share blessings from various cultures in different languages. This is such a fantastic opportunity for us not only to celebrate our differences but also to embrace the variety of traditions that make our community so unique. Finally, upper el students will present the five contemplations focusing on gratitude and mindful eating. These reflections are important reminders for all of us to appreciate what we have and to be mindful of our blessings. We will end our gathering with middle school students distributing bread that’s been baked by each class to all of us. There’s something really special about sharing bread; it brings a sense of warmth and unity to our celebration.

We prepared for our upcoming celebration by baking three types of bread on Friday. Thank you very much to Elle for helping us bake bread! We appreciate your time and all of your help.

Let’s take a moment to reflect on what we’re grateful for and enjoy this wonderful experience together as a community. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!