Volume 1, Issue 26

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Welcome back to school!! I hope everyone had an
enjoyable spring break and got plenty of rest so
that we can finish the year strong. We have many
exciting events coming up this month. The PE
classes will begin the skating unit upon our
return from break. This is always a fun unit for
the students. Hopefully, everyone will stay on
their feet! In preparation for solo and
ensemble contest, Mrs. Schrock will be hosting a
dress rehearsal evening on April 2nd beginning at
700 p.m. This is a great opportunity for the
students to perform the musical selections in
front of an audience before facing a judge. Our
students have been working very hard preparing
for this event. Everyone is invited to attend
and enjoy the evening. The actual contest will be
April 18th at Prairie Central in Forrest.
School will not be in session on April 10th or
13th in respect to Good Friday and Easter. This
will be a nice long weekend for everyone to enjoy
spending time with their families. The Graymont
PTO kicked-off a Pizza sale fundraiser Thursday,
March 19th. The students have had the
opportunity to sell the product over the spring
break. The event ends March 30th. Delivery will
be on April 24th from 300 p.m. 500 p.m. and
money will be due on May 1st. We are already
beginning to make plans for the next school year.
 For parents of new kindergarten students,
Graymont Grade School will be holding
Kindergarten Orientation on Tuesday, April 7th at
600 - 645 p.m. Parents will find out all about
entrance requirements, school readiness,
curriculum, and registration. If you have a
child who will turn 5 years of age on or before
September 1, 2009, please call the school at
743-5346 so that we can prepare for the
orientation.  If anyone knows of a family in the
community who may not get this notice, please
pass this information along to them and have them
call the school.   Have a great
April! Sincerely, Mr. James
Volume 1, Issue 26 March 31 , 2009
NEWSLETTER April 2009
Graymont Grade School Newsletter
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Mrs. Erickson - Kindergarten
Calling All Kindergarteners for 2009-2010 We are
already beginning to make plans for the next
school year. For parents of new kindergarten
students, Graymont Grade School will be holding
Kindergarten Orientation on Tuesday, April 7 at
600p.m. in the Kindergarten Room. This session
should last approximately 45 minutes. Parents
will find out all about entrance requirements,
school readiness, curriculum, and registration.
If you have a child who will turn 5 years of age
on or before September 1, 2009, please call the
school at 743-5346 so that we can prepare for the
orientation. If anyone knows of a family in the
community who may not get this newsletter, please
pass this information along to them and have them
call the school. Thanks for your help! Spring
has finally arrived!! We are so glad because that
leprechaun really made an awful mess in our room.
It took us a long time to get our room back in
order. We are still working on tricky words,
scrambled sentences (punctuation and a capital
letter to begin the sentence), sounding words
that we dont know and reading. Simple addition
and subtraction take up a lot of our time. We
often use different kinds of manipulatives to
help us build the problems. Most of the class
is still working on counting to 100. We will
continue to work with money and also begin
telling time. Gardening, seeds, and plants will
occupy us all during the month of April. We will
use gardening in math, science, and social
studies. The Pizza Hut Book-It Program has ended
for the year. Thanks to all of the parents who
helped their children participate by reading with
them. The highlight of our month will be our
field trip to ISU to see the Gamma Phi Circus on
April 24th. We will also be having lunch in
Normal and then coming home. We will be able to
see how many of the skills we are learning in PE
can be applied in other ways. Everyone in
Kindergarten wants to wish you a Happy Easter!!

We may sit in our library and Yet be in all
quarters of the Earth. - Sir John Lubbock
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Mrs. Hinz 1st/2nd
Reading Phonics and studying specific vowel
sounds will continue to be a major push. First
grade will also be focusing on the following
concepts main idea, cause and effect, sequence,
theme, and drawing conclusions. In April, the
second graders will be will be studying several
different vowel sounds. Furthermore, we will be
working on reading concepts such as realism and
fantasy, context clues, plot, and
theme. Language Arts For the 1st graders the
main focus for the rest of the year is pronouns
and correctly using them. We will also learn
when to use I and me correctly, were to place
certain commas, and continue with our basic
grammar review. The second graders will be
working on using some troublesome words, such as
to, two, too correctly. Moreover, we will
continue to work with verbs with spelling
changes, contractions, and recognizing
grammatical errors in sentences. Math This
month both grades will be working on the same
topic. In the first part of April, we will be
learning about fractions. We will work on
coloring the correct portion of a fraction. We
will also learn what each number represents in
the fraction. The second half of April, we will
be working on patterns. We are going to practice
making and labeling the different types of
patterns. We will also be learning to extend,
transfer, and correct different
patterns. Social Studies Together our
class will be studying our Earth. We will be
learning about the states, continents, and
oceans. We will also learn about different types
of landforms. We will talk about different
monuments and important places in the United
States. We will also have a home project where
students will create their own continent.
Finally, our class will discuss different ways to
protect our Earth. We will be talking about the
three Rs reduce, reuse, and recycle.
chance favors only those minds which are
prepared Louis Pasteur
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Ms. Rients 3rd/4th
Reading, Language, Writing In reading, 3rd grade
will begin unit 5, Are we There Yet? Our
stories will be about different times and places.
They will focus on making judgments,
distinguishing between fact and opinion, and
making predictions while reading. The 4th graders
are finishing unit 4 and will begin unit 5, which
is Other Times, Other Places. We will work on
summarizing and identifying important elements of
the plot. In language arts, we will learn how to
punctuate different titles and when to use
hyphens. In writing, we are composing fiction
stories. Next, we will try our hands at poetry.
In all our writing we will continue to practice
all the skills we have learned this year, like
using descriptive phrases, using correct verb
tenses, and writing in complete sentences.
Congratulations to Tristin Barlow and Audrey
Jeziorski who have now finished their AR goal for
the year. For those still working towards their
goal, keep reading! Math Both grades are still
working with fractions in math. We have reviewed
the basics, so next we will add and subtract
them. The challenging part will be adding and
subtracting fractions that dont have the same
denominator, so we will have to be ready to work
hard. Just like putting fractions into simplest
form, we are going to have to rely on our
multiplication facts to get us a common
denominator. Then we will relate fractions to
decimals. Science/Social Studies We will finish
our chapters on light and sound energy. We have
discussed different types of waves, how sound
moves through our ears, and how we can change
pitch and loudness of sounds. Weve seen how
light behaves differently with different matter,
as well as, worked with reflection and
refraction. After science, we will switch back to
social studies. We will study both the Mountain
States and the West. Weve had a lot of fun
traveling across the U.S. from the Atlantic Ocean
to the Pacific Ocean. Soon the students will know
all 50 states and capitals!
Ms. Wilson 5th 8th
5th/6th Reading We only have 6 stories until we
finish our reading textbooksthe kids remind me
of this quite often. Over the next couple of
stories we will be studying reading elements
character development, generalizing, authors
viewpoint, graphic sources, paraphrasing, and
fact/opinion. I love the energy your students
give each week during our reading circles ?
7th/8th Reading Now that we have switched back
to our reading textbook we are taking a look at
reading elements setting, visualizing, folk
tales, primary source, secondary source, and
fact/opinion. Most students thoroughly enjoyed
our reading novels so we may end the year with a
good novel. 5th-8th Language Arts Now that
ISATs are over we have returned to our language
textbooks. We are focusing on how to write
proper letters while incorporating commas,
interjections, hyphens, correct
punctuation/capitalization, colons, and semi
colons. They are all convinced they will never
in their life have to actually hand write a
letter however they must be prepared in case
they do ? 7th/8th Social Studies We will be
starting our 3rd chapter on Europe, which the
kids really seem to be enjoying and grasping
quite nicely. This chapter will focus on
European Empires, Europe at War, and the Soviet
Union. After this chapter we will turn our focus
to North Africa and Southeast Asia. Accelerated
Reader Congratulations to Madison Jeziorski,
Kevin Shaughnessy, Justin Rich, Kylee Bier, Staci
Dixon, Abby Legner, and Lindsay Rich for meeting
their 3rd quarter reading goal.
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Mrs. Hott 5th 8th
5/6 Social Studies We are still traveling
through Ancient Rome and wont finish until after
spring break. We will be spending most of our
1st week back preparing for our Ancient History
Museum before the PTO meeting on April 7th. 5-6
Science Ask your student about Newtons 3 Laws
they should be able to tell you quite a bit
about them and how they affect our lives. We are
in our last section of Forces, Motion and
Machines and are learning about the uses of
simple machines and how they are combined into
compound or complex machines. 7-8 Science We
are talking about the many ways that matter
interacts including various kinds of chemical
bonding, chemical reactions, etc. Math Our Pi
Day Celebration was very exciting it was fun to
watch each class as well as staff and some
parents participate in our pie eating contest.
Thanks to all who helped out! Our Math Team
competed in the Livingston County Math Contest in
Dwight on March 17th. We had a 7th grade team
which consisted of Emma Rich, Abby Jacobs, Kylee
Bier, and Abby Legner. All represented our
school well Abby L. scored high enough to tie
for 4th place while Emma was in the top half of
the competitors. Our 6th grade team consisted of
Justin Rich as well as 3 5th graders Madison
Jeziorski, Hadley Tucker, and Kevin Shaughnessy.
They also represented our school well both
Justin and Madison were in the top half of the
competitors. Very nice work especially for our
5th graders taking a 6th grade test (there wasnt
a 5th grade option). A special thanks to Gail
Tucker for helping proctor for the test and
keeping an eye on the students during the supper
break while I helped grade tests!
Mrs. Sullan Art
The Kindergarten, First and Second graders
penguins have skated home along with their arctic
mountains in order to make room for Spring. We
have decided to ignore the last bit of winter and
bring out butterflies, flowers and pastel
lanterns. The primary grades will also be making
some clowns, banners and puppets. Third and
Fourth grade have finished painting their snow
globes, mixing their own tints from the 3 primary
colors. They worked on these for a month and did
a wonderful job. Their next projects include
creating collages, puppets, and clay
figures. Fifth through Eighth Grade has moved
along the Art History Timeline, successfully
studying 1 and 2 point linear perspective
(invented in the Renaissance), created
blurry-edged Impressionistic paintings and lastly
will be tackling the Modern Era of Cubism,
Surrealism, Pop and Op. By the end of the year,
each of the grades will have experienced drawing,
painting, 3-dimensional work like sculpture, and
printmaking. It is a pleasure to work with the
students at Graymont. Thank you very much for
your support and if you have any questions or
comments I would appreciate your input. Mrs.
Sullan
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Ms. Ores 5th-8th Health and K-8th PE
Congratulations to the 8th grade class! They won
a 150 prize from Positive Promotions for the
excellent work they did during Red Ribbon Week.
The 8th graders worked very hard to come up with
the weeks agenda to promote staying drug free.
Great job! The 7th and 8th grade health classes
will now be studying the body image. Some teens
have distorted body images. They may compare
themselves with models or athletes and think they
are too fat or too thin. We will discuss
appropriate weight and the factors that influence
it. We will explore weight problems and
healthful ways of reaching and maintaining
appropriate weight. Our studies also include a
lesson about eating disorders such as anorexia
and bulimia. The 7th and 8th grades will be
attending the Its Your Future, Its Your
Choice event at the Pontiac Junior High on April
15th. The overall objective of this project is
to reduce teen/pre-teen pregnancy and incidence
of Sexually Transmitted Diseases by encouraging
teens/pre-teens to make healthy choices and
practice abstinence until they are mentally,
emotionally, and financially ready to become
parents. The 5th and 6th grade health classes
are currently studying the major systems of the
human body. We have and will learn, over the
next few weeks, about the skeletal, muscular,
circulatory, respiratory, nervous, digestive and
excretory, and endocrine systems. We will
examine the function, parts, and possible
problems that can affect each system. Students
will be answering questions such as What does
the circulatory system do? How does my body use
air when I breathe? What are the different
functions of the skeletal system? How can I
protect my nervous system from injury? There
are a few special events in P.E. this month.
First of all, the students will be skating during
the first week of April. Your child will learn
basic skating skills such as starting, stopping,
forward skating, backward skating, cornering, and
a number of safety tips for being a smart skater.
Students will also be participating in Jump Rope
for Heart and Hoops for Heart. Kindergarten
through 4th grade will be encouraged to raise
money for heart disease through the Jump Rope for
Heart program. Students will be participating in
various jump rope activities on April 9th at 100
to win prizes and work on improving
cardiovascular endurance. The 5th through 8th
grades will also be raising money, but through
the Hoops for Heart program. The top ten
fundraisers from these four grades will get the
chance to play in a basketball game against the
faculty at 205. All students who raise money
will get to participate in basketball contests
during half-time of the game. Everyone is
welcome to come and watch the show and help
support the American Heart Association.

• April Dates to Remember
• 2nd 700 Solo Ensemble
• 7th 700 PTO Meeting
• 9th Jump/Hoops for Heart
• 10th No School
• 13th No School
• 22nd Progress Reports
• 30th 700 pm spring Concert