Sunday, March 31, 2019

Week 4 - 112,896 minutes read so far!

Week 4 results are in! We have had another incredible week with 112,896 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 21 more new students achieve "Mountain Lion Reader".  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, APRIL 1stStudents who bring in both of these to school will be entered into a raffle for prizes such as gift certificates and other items!  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 on Thursday if possible.

Participation for Each Classroom – Week 4
Ms. Carter– 90%
Ms. Lynch – 69%
Ms. Livingston – 92%
Ms. Totu – 91%
Ms. Kuzio – 62%
Ms. McLane – 61%
Ms. O’Sullivan – 70%
Ms. Pierpont – 78%

School-wide Total Minutes - 124,461 minutes
School-wide Average Total Minutes Read - 186 minutes

Top Reader in Each Grade - Week 4
Kindergarten – Samantha Becker
1st Grade – Silas Cashman
2nd Grade – Tobias Hamilton 
3rd Grade – Callie Rule
4th Grade – Benji Havey
5th Grade – Johnny Stanley
6th Grade – Whitney Dykstra

Teacher/Staff – Ms. Cota

Monday, March 18, 2019

Week 3 results - 81, 951 total minutes read so far!

Week 3 results are in! We have had an astounding 81,951 total minutes read by students so far! 

This week, we had 20 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 31. These readers earn a vote in which teacher or staff member do something “exciting" during the Closing Ceremony on Thursday, April 4th.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 – Harry Bliss Author Visit tomorrow – Tuesday, March 19th. Harry Bliss is an internationally syndicated cartoonist and cover artist for the New Yorker magazine.  His self-titled single-panel gag cartoon, Bliss, appears in major newspapers across the United States and Japan.  Bliss also illustrates books for children including: A Fine, Fine School, Which Would You Rather Be?, Countdown to Kindergarten, and Mrs. Watson Wants Your Teeth.  Bliss's first cartoon collection was Death by LaughterLuke On the Loose is Bliss's debut award-winning comic book for early readers.  Bailey, a Parents magazine award-winner, was published by Scholastic in September of 2011, followed by Bailey at the Museum in 2012.  He recently illustrated Grandma in Blue with Red Hat.

Family Game Night – Friday, March 22nd from 6-7:30pm in the MCS gym.  Monkton Central School Families put your game faces on and come compete with your peers, teachers, and parents at the MCS Read-a-thon Family Game Night.  The event is hosted by the Monkton PTO and the Russell Memorial Library.  It will run from 6:00-7:30pm on Friday, March 22nd in the MCS gym.  There will be snacks and the opportunity to enter a raffle to win some new books!  Hope to see you there! 

Next week: “Mystery Reader Week!”
  A short passage from a book will be read during lunchtime and students will have the chance to guess the book title, author, and who is the “mystery reader.”

Participation for Each Classroom – Week 3
Ms. Carter – 90%
Ms. Lynch – 85%
Ms. Livingston – 92%
Ms. Totu – 96%
Ms. Kuzio – 67%
Ms. McLane – 78%
Ms. O’Sullivan – 78%
Ms. Pierpont – 87%

School-wide Total Minutes – 81,951 minutes
School-wide Average Total Minutes Read - 205 minutes

Top Reader in Each Grade - Week 3
Kindergarten – Samantha Becker
1st Grade – Silas Cashman
2nd Grade – Aurora Schauerte
3rd Grade – Sophie Underwood
4th Grade – Benji Havey
5th Grade – Johnny Stanley
6th Grade – Whitney Dykstra
Teacher/Staff – Ms. Cota

Friday, March 15, 2019


Tuesday, March 19th, will be our Author’s Visit by Harry Bliss, a Vermont author and illustrator.  Harry Bliss is an internationally syndicated cartoonist and cover artist for the New Yorker magazine.  His self-titled single-panel gag cartoon, Bliss, appears in major newspapers across the United States and Japan.  Bliss also illustrates books for children including: A Fine, Fine School, Which Would You Rather Be?, Countdown to Kindergarten, and Mrs. Watson Wants Your Teeth.  Bliss's first cartoon collection was Death by LaughterLuke On the Loose is Bliss's debut award-winning comic book for early readers.  Bailey, a Parents magazine award-winner, was published by Scholastic in September of 2011, followed by Bailey at the Museum in 2012.  He recently illustrated Grandma in Blue with Red Hat.

You can learn more about Harry Bliss at his website by clicking here. 





Week 2 Results

What a great second week of reading! We have had an astounding 31,611 total minutes read by students and teachers so far.  A reminder that if your student forgot their log on Monday, if they bring it in on Monday, March 18th. Every minute counts! Also, if students have misplaced their reading logs, extra copies can be found in the main office. And a reminder that children can continue finding sponsors any time through the end of March.  Special thanks to Betsy Brown, Brian Cashman, and Theresa Schwegel for helping to tally minutes Monday morning and Sarah Rougier for tallying and updating the hallway game board.  Any parent who would like to help tally minutes on Monday mornings are more than welcome…any help is appreciated!


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 11 students reach this goal.  These readers will receive a vote for which teacher or staff member will do something exciting during the Closing Ceremony on Thursday, April 4th.  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 – Tuesday, March 19th—Author Visit: Harry Bliss (see separate blog post for more details!)


Friday, March 22ndMonkton Central School Read-a-thon Family Game Night.  
Monkton Central School Families put your game faces on and come compete with your peers, teachers, and parents at the MCS Read-a-thon Family Game Night.  The event is hosted by the Monkton PTO and the Russell Memorial Library.  It will run from 6:00-7:30pm on Friday, March 22nd in the MCS gym.  There will be snacks and the opportunity to enter a raffle to win some new books!  Hope to see you there! 




Participation for Each Classroom – Week 2
Ms. Carter – 80%
Ms. Lynch – 85%
Ms. Livingston – 100%
Ms. Totu – 96%
Ms. Kuzio/Mr. Davis – 77%
Ms. McLane – 70%
Ms. O’Sullivan – 91%
Ms. Pierpont – 78%

School-wide Average Total Minutes Read - 195 minutes

Kindergarten – Ezra Hamilton
1st Grade – Silas Cashman
2nd Grade – Flint Crary
3rd Grade – Rorrie Jay
4th Grade – Alison Brown
5th Grade – Johnny Stanley
6th Grade – Whitney Dykstra
Teacher/Staff – Ms. Cota

Runners-Up in Each Grade - Week 2
Kindergarten – Wesley Raphael
1st Grade – Violet Lambert
2nd Grade – Toby Hamilton
3rd Grade – Callie Rule
4th Grade – Vivian King
5th Grade – Isla Underwood
6th Grade – Alex Henley

Teacher/Staff – Ms. McGovern

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Week 1 Results are In!

What a fantastic first "week” (March 1-3) of reading! Students, teachers, and staff already read 12,304 minutes! 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 and Theresa Schwegel 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 11th, their minutes from Week 1 still count! We will back log their minutes. Also, if students have misplaced their reading logs, there are extra copies in the main office or can be downloaded from this blog under the "Forms" tab.

Also, you don’t need a sponsor to participate…every child can read and turn in the log even if they are unable to find sponsors.  However, if your child is in need of a sponsor, we do have community members who are willing to sponsor a child, so please let your student’s teacher or Holly Esterline know if you are interested in being matched with a community sponsor.

Finally, a special thanks to our 5th and 6th grade artists who created the sections of our hallway “game board” to track percent participation.  They drew Mystery Mountains, Sea of Fantasy, Adventure Alley, Non-Fiction Forest, and Graphic Novel Grasslands.  They are fantastic!  See below for pictures.

COMING UP THIS WEEKD.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read).  Students take books with them throughout the day, and at random times each day, D.E.A.R. will be announced over the speaker.  Students and adults will drop everything and read for 10 minutes.  On Monday, March 11th, we will have some surprise members of the Monkton Community who will drop everything and read with each class!

LOOKING FOR HELP –we always welcome anyone who might have time on Monday mornings from 8-9am, or whatever amount of time you are able to give, to tally reading logs.

We are happy to announce the participation in each classroom and the top reader in each grade:

Participation for Each Classroom – Week 1
Ms. Carter – 80%
Ms. Lynch – 54%
Ms. Livingston – 84%
Ms. Totu – 74%
Ms. Kuzio – 77%
Ms. McLane – 78%
Ms. O’Sullivan – 83%
Ms. Pierpont – 78%

Highest rate of participation was Ms. Livingston at 84%

School-wide Total Minutes - 
12,304 minutes
School-wide Average Total Minutes Read - 77 minutes


Top Reader in Each Grade – Week 1
Kindergarten – Wesley Raphael
1st Grade – Colton Fitzgerald
2nd Grade – Toby Hamilton
3rd Grade – Sophie Underwood
4th Grade – Alison Brown
5th Grade – Valkyrja Hotmer
6th Grade – Bella Hartwell

Teacher/Staff – Ms. Cota




 We are ready to Read, Record, and then Collect at MCS!


Our "game board" outside the library tracks the percent participation for classrooms for Week 1 as a "game piece" for each class moves through the board.  Each class choose an image for their game piece to represent their class.


Sections of our game board drawn by 5/6 artists: Non-fiction Forest

Sections of our game board drawn by 5/6 artists: Adventure Alley

Sections of our game board drawn by 5/6 artists: Mystery Mountain

Sections of our game board drawn by 5/6 artists: Graphic Novel Grasslands

Sections of our game board drawn by 5/6 artists: Sea of Fantasy



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