Monkton Central School Read-a-thon: 2015

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Closing Ceremony

The previous post listed all our final results - total minutes read, top readers, raffle prize winners and winner of the teacher or staff to get splashed - all of which were celebrated at the Closing Ceremony of our Read-a-thon on Thursday, April 2nd at the All School Meeting. Below are some photos taken at the Closing Ceremony. Scroll all the way to the end to see a video of all the splashing!

Graph in the hallway contained Week 4 average total reading minutes per classroom. Our scuba divers reached the ceiling!

All our Mountain Lion Reader pawprints celebrating those students who met their individual month-long reading goals.

So many wonderful books that students were excited to read during the Read-a-thon.

Ms. Esterline as our MC for Closing Ceremony.

Getting ready to reveal the results!

"Splash" giving a flipper wave to the students.

School-wide total minutes read by students, teachers and staff during the month.

We raised over $3900...and as of now, it is over $4000 with some last minute donations coming in!

Number of participants who turned in their reading logs at least once during the Read-a-thon.

Number of students who achieved Mountain Lion Reader status for reaching their individual month-long reading goals.

Friday, April 3, 2015

Final Results!

With our Read-a-thon theme, Make a Splash into Reading!, we hope that the time students spent reading was a journey that helped them explore new books and discover more about themselves and the world around them.

Our final tally of total minutes read was really impressive – 176,229 total minutes read by students, teachers, and staff in 30 days! We had 154 students, teachers, and staff participate by turning in reading logs at least once throughout the month and 94 students reached Mountain Lion Reader status (450 minutes for grades K-2, 600 minutes for grades 3-4, and 900 minutes for grades 5-6).

We also raised over $4000 for PTO activities such as trips to the Flynn Theater, classroom fieldtrips, providing after school enrichment opportunities, the World Language Program through Middlebury College, the Four Winds Nature Program, contributing toward programs such as the Artists in Residence, helping provide materials for classrooms and much more!

Events such as Rock and Read week, Linda Urban’s author visit, Character Dress-up Day and Mystery Reader Week were all fun and celebrated the reading students had been doing.

Thanks to all the students for the many hours they put into reading, to the parents for encouraging their students, for the community for supporting through sponsor pledges, and for the teachers and staff for their engagement and enthusiasm! A special thanks to the Read-a-thon committee members: Betsy Knox, Holly Esterline, Stephanie Murray, Casey Underwood and Anna Lester. A special thanks to parent volunteers such as Betsy Brown, John McNerney and Kristin Blanchette for help with tallying and counting.

Top readers – students who read the most cumulative minutes over the 30 days and received a $10 certificate to the Flying Pig Bookstore, Shelburne, VT

Kindergarten – Mason Stevens
Grade 1 – Matthew Broderick
Grade 2 – Whitney Dykstra
Grade 3 – Sam Mangini
Grade 4 – Norman Benoit
Grade 5 – Kassidy Jay
Grade 6 – Sarah Lavigne
Teacher – Ms. Perlee

Top Classroom with highest average minutes read and earned an ice cream party is Ms. Way’s 1/2 class! They also had the highest participation at 100%.

Raffle Prizes

Recycled Reading, Bristol, VT - $5 Certificates

1. Andrew Lester
2. Lander Magoon
3. Cassandra Guillmette
4. Aubrey Coffey
5. Zachary Jackman
6. Sam Mangini
7. Sage Petrocelli
8. Isayah Isham
9. Riley Coffey
10. Isla Underwood
11. Patty McNerney
12. Siena Stanley
13. Ivy Schulette
14. Natalie Adams
15. Halle Perkins

Cookie Love T-shirt (North Ferrisburgh, VT) – Hailey Isham

Gift card to Cubbers, Bristol, VT – Reagn Mayhew

Lake Monster Tickets – Anni Funke

Passes to Whirley's World, Middlebury, VT
1. Addison Mayhew
2. Nell Harvey
3. Elizabeth Castro

Laser tag and bowling coupons to Sparetime, Colchester, VT
1. Grace Harvey
2. Halle Huizenga
3. Vivian King

Admission and equipment rental for four people to Skateland, Essex Junction, VT
1. Clark Crary

Day passes and equipment rental to Petra Cliffs, South Burlington, VT
1. Lily Roberts
2. Lily Benoit

Getting splashed!
For all the students who earned Mountain Lion Reader status, they got to vote on one of six teachers or staff members who volunteered to get splashed! The six volunteers were:

Ms. Livingston - 1/2 grade teacher

Ms. Knox - Principal

Ms. Yerrick - Math Support
Mr. Irish - Support Staff
Ms. Perlee - Support Staff
Ms. Esterline - School Librarian

And the 3rd place winner who got one bucket was Mr. Irish, the 2nd place winner who got two buckets was Ms. Knox, and the 3rd place winner who got three buckets was Ms. Perlee!

Photos from the Closing Ceremony will be up in the next post...

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Week 4 - 139,233 minutes read so far!

Week 4 results are in! We have had another incredible week with 139,233 total minutes read by students, staff and teachers so far. Below are the results for Week 4 and the top readers in each grade. This week, we also had 38 more new students achieve "Mountain Lion Reader".

A special congratulations to Ms. Way's Class who had 93% pariticpation this week and was the top reading classroom. Great job to these wonderful students!

Just one more week to go!

IMPORTANT REMINDER:

· Please remind students to bring in their reading log AND sponsor pledge envelopes with money collected from their sponsors in on MONDAY, MARCH 30th. Students who bring in both of these to school will be entered into a raffle for prizes such as gift certificates to Recycled Reading Bookstore, Cookie Love, Lake Monsters, Petra Cliffs and more. If students forget to turn in their reading log and sponsor pledge envelopes on Monday, we are hoping that students bring them before the Closing Ceremony if possible. Certainly, we are happy to collect the reading logs and sponsor pledge envelopes anytime before the end of the year, but would love to have it sooner than later if possible.

Average Minutes/Students in Each Classroom thru the end of Week 4
Ms. Leggett - 458 minutes
Ms. Primo - 789 minutes
Ms. Carter - 656 minutes
Ms. Livingston - 744 minutes
Ms. Way - 949 minutes
Ms. Foley - 927 minutes
Ms. McLane - 854 minutes
Ms. Gagner - 927 minutes
Ms. Pierpont - 665 minutes

School-wide Average - 782 minutes

Top Reader in Each Grade - Week 4
Kindergarten – Mason Stevens
1st Grade - Nathan Lester
2nd Grade – Whitney Dykstra
3rd Grade – Sam Mangini
4th Grade – Norman Benoit
5th Grade – Kassidy Jay
6th Grade - Sarah Lavigne
Teachers - Ms. Perlee

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Character Dress-Up Day

On Wednesday, March 18th, we had Character Dress-Up Day at Monkton Central to celebrate our favorite characters from books! Here are some photos of the "characters" seen around school...

Don't let the Pigedon Drive the Bus!

Monday, March 16, 2015

Week 3 results - 95,151 total minutes read so far!

Week 3 results are in! We have had an astounding 95,151 total minutes read by students so far!

This week, we had 28 new students achieve "Mountain Lion Reader” status by meeting their individual goals of 450 minutes for students grades K-2, 600 minutes for students grades 3-4, and 900 minutes for students grades 5-6. bringing our number of Mountain Lion Readers to a total of 43. These readers earn a vote in which teacher or staff member will get “splashed" during the Closing Ceremony on Thursday, April 2nd.We will pass out the voting slips a day or two before the Closing Ceremony once we have a complete list of all the students who have completed their reading goals as Mountain Lion Readers.

IMPORTANT REMINDER:

We will be having “Character Dress-Up Day” this Wednesday, March 18th where students are encouraged to come to school dressed up as a character in their favorite book. They are welcome to bring a copy of their favorite book to school as well. Holly Esterline will be taking photos of students with their books for the classes that have library that day and she suggested stopping by the other classrooms that don’t have library that day for additional photos. Only photos of students that have signed the release form from their parents will be up on the blog.

Average Minutes/Students in Each Classroom thru the end of Week 3

Ms. Leggett - 325 minutes

Ms. Primo - 549 minutes

Ms. Carter - 373 minutes

Ms. Livingston - 533 minutes

Ms. Way - 560 minutes

Ms. Foley - 632 minutes

Ms. McLane - 623 minutes

Ms. Gagner - 656 minutes

Ms. Pierpont - 474 minutes

School-wide Average - 535 minutes

Highest rate of participation is Ms. Livingston’s and Ms. Way’s classrooms at 93% and Ms. Gagner’s classroom is the top classroom for Week 3.

Top Reader in Each Grade - Week 3

Kindergarten – Mason Stevens

1st Grade - Matthew Broderick

2nd Grade – Lily Benoit

3rd Grade – Sam Mangini

4th Grade - Norman Benoit

5th Grade – Kassidy Jay

6th Grade - Sarah Lavigne

Teachers - Ms. Perlee

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Week 2 Results

What a great second week of reading! We have had an astounding 53,940 total minutes read by students, teachers, and staff so far. A reminder that if your student forgot their log on Monday, they can bring it in next Monday, March 16. Every minute counts! Also, if students have misplaced their reading logs, they can be downloaded and printed from this blogsite under the "Forms" tab or extra copies can be found in the main office.

A reminder that children can continue finding sponsors any time through the end of March.

We are starting to see students already achieve the individual reading goals (450 minutes for K-2, 600 for Grades 3-4, and 900 for Grades 5-6) to earn “Mountain Lion Reader” status! We had fifteen students reach this goal this week. These readers will receive a vote for which teacher or staff member will get “splashed” during the Closing Ceremony on Thursday, April 2nd. We will pass out the voting slips a day or two before the Closing Ceremony once we have a complete list of all the students who have completed their reading goals as Mountain Lion Readers.

COMING UP NEXT WEEK – we will be having “Character Dress-Up Day” on Wednesday, March 18, where students are encouraged to come to school dressed up as a character in their favorite book. They are welcome to bring a copy of their favorite book to school as well!

Average Total Minutes/Students in Each Classroom - Week 2
Ms. Leggett - 185 minutes
Ms. Primo - 323 minutes
Ms. Carter - 238 minutes
Ms. Livingston - 311 minutes
Ms. Way - 355 minutes
Ms. Foley - 390 minutes
Ms. McLane - 338 minutes
Ms. Gagner - 355 minutes
Ms. Pierpont - 294 minutes

Highest rate of participation was Ms. Foley’s classroom at 96% and they are the top classroom for Week 2.

School-wide Total Minutes - 53,940 minutes!

School-wide Average Total Minutes Read - 303 minutes

Top Reader in Each Grade - Week 2
Kindergarten - Mason Stevens
1st Grade - Matthew Broderick
2nd Grade - Lily Benoit
3rd Grade - Sam Mangini
4th Grade - Norman Benoit
5th Grade - Kassidy Jay
6th Grade - Sarah Lavigne
Teacher/Staff - Ms. Perlee

Here are a few photos from our Author Visit from Linda Urban:

Here are our new Mountain Lion Readers from Week 2:

Our scuba divers are swimming upwards with lots of minutes read:

Some new books that students are excited to read this month:

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Local Vermont author, Linda Urban, will be visiting our school tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11th and will be sharing her experience as a writer. Linda is the former marketing director at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, California, and now writes children's books full-time and lives in Montpelier, Vermont. Her books have included Mouse Was Mad, A Crooked Kind of Perfect, The Center of Everything, and Hound Dog True.

You can learn more about Linda Urban at her website by clicking

here. She will be visiting classrooms at the following times:

Grades 1-2: 8:30-9:30 in Stacy's room

Kindergarten: 9:35-10:10 in K room (TBD)

Grades 3-6: 10:15-11:15 in the gym

Writing and Rewriting the Picture Book (younger grades)
Together, we’ll read Mouse Was Mad and talk about how the story came to be — from the first words, to illustration sketches, to the final book. Students will:

learn the parts of a picture book: cover, end papers, title page, page turns, text and illustration
discuss what makes them mad and use that to brainstorm ideas for what makes Mouse mad before the story begins
understand the importance of revision in both text and illustration

Your Secret Heart — Joy, Fear, and the Hard Work of Reaching Your Goals (older grades)
In this presentation, Linda describes her path to publication from a childhood affinity for writing, to a moment in her early teens where a harsh word from a peer led her to put aside the risk of putting her heart on the page, to her cautious reentry to the world of writing twenty years later and the publication of A Crooked Kind of Perfect. Along the way, Linda will encourage kids to pursue their own dreams by:

Identifying the dreams that truly excite them
Connecting with others who share and support that dream
Finding models that inspire
Persisting despite obstacles
Not letting the idea of “perfect” get in the way

Linda’s presentation will also touch on writer’s craft, including the use of details to tell a story and the importance of revision (and more revision) to make a piece of writing the best it can be.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Week 1 Results are In!

What a fantastic first "week” (Feb. 26-March 1) of reading! It was very exciting to see the reading logs come in and all the wonderful minutes read by the students. A special thanks to Betsy Brown for helping with the tallying. A reminder that if your student forgot their log on Monday, if they bring it in this coming Monday, March 9th, their minutes from Week 1 still count! We will back log their minutes.

Also, the first time students bring in their reading log, they will receive a coupon for a free cone at Ben & Jerry's. Each student will get only one pass on their first time turning in the log, whether their first time was this past week or if their "first time" is in a week ahead. We are grateful to Ben & Jerry's for donating these passes to Monkton Central students!

We are happy to announce the average total minutes/students in each classroom and the top reader in each grade:

Average Total Minutes/Students in Each Classroom - Week 1
Ms. Leggett - 44 minutes
Ms. Primo - 90 minutes
Ms. Carter - 51 minutes
Ms. Livingston - 65 minutes
Ms. Way - 89 minutes
Ms. Foley - 108 minutes
Ms. McLane - 103 minutes
Ms. Gagner - 106 minutes
Ms. Pierpont - 96 minutes

Highest rate of participation was Ms. Foley’s classroom at 77% and they are the top classroom for Week 1.

School-wide Total Minutes - 15,553 minutes!

School-wide Average Total Minutes Read - 86 minutes

Top Reader in Each Grade - Week 1
Kindergarten - Megan Bowers
1st Grade - Ivy Schulte
2nd Grade - Whitney Dystra
3rd Grade - Piper Guillmette
4th Grade - Norman Benoit
5th Grade - Kassidy Jay
6th Grade - Sarah Lavigne
Teacher/Staff - Ms. Charpentier

A reminder that Rock and Read is happening this week giving students an opportunity to spend time reading while in a rocking chair that will be in classrooms this week.

We also wanted to share with you a photo of “Splash” who made an appearance at the Read-a-thon Kick-off and was seen in the halls yesterday morning encouraging kids to “make a splash into reading!” Let's keep on reading!

"Splash" makes an appearance reading a book at the Kick-off!

Our graph outside the library of average minutes read by classrooms for Week 1. Watch as each class's scuba diver soars upwards as the average minutes read go up each week!

Here are some books that students are excited to read during the Read-a-thon!

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