Thursday, November 30, 2006

Winter Concert




Old Town Elementary School held it's annual Winter Concert on Wednesday, November 29 at the beautiful Old Town High School MacKenzie Gymnasium. Under the direction of Ms. Amanda Lake, the First Year Band, Second Year Band, and Grades 4-5 Chorus put on a breathtaking performance. It was very clear that Ms. Lake and her students worked VERY hard in preparing for the concert. Congratulations, and great job!!

Ms. Lake would also like to remind students and parents:
-rehearsals will be as normal the weeks of Dec. 3-7 and Dec. 10-14
-Spring Concert is May 16 @ 7p.m. at the OTHS MacKenzie Gymnasium
-Second Year Band Trip is Friday, May 25
-Old Town Summer Music Camp for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade is August 6-10

Show Your OTES Pride!!



Old Town Elementary School recently teamed up with Milligan’s Landing Embroidery and designed a new school logo (shirt front--above). Students and teachers also voted on a new motto: “Work Hard and Be Kind” (back of shirt). These screen-print shirts are available in all sizes (youth and adult); and, in each Learning Community color: Green, Red, Yellow, and Blue.

Our goal is for every student at OTES to have a shirt representing the color of their Learning Community. Students would wear their shirts on field trips, and various ‘spirit’ days at school. In the attempt to make this happen, we are setting up a scholarship fund for students who are unable to make a purchase. Please privately speak with Mr. Cyr or Dr. Tuell if you need assistance in purchasing a shirt for your child.

In addition to t-shirts, you can also get winter hats, baseball caps, fleece jackets/vests, hooded/crew sweatshirts----all of which proudly display our school motto and logo!! These can be seen on display in the school lobby.

Order forms can be picked up at the OTES office!!
PLEASE MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO MILLIGAN’S LANDING EMBROIDERY

Friday, November 17, 2006

School House Rocks!!! OTES Style......







Miss Leighton's 3rd grade class teamed up with Mrs. Burgess and her 7th grade students from Leonard Middle School to begin composing music. The 3rd graders had been learning about the skeletal system, and wrote lyrics to a song based on what they had learned!!

The 7th grade students were our visitng experts on the use of a computer application called Garageband. Garageband enabled the groups to record their voices as they sang their songs. The program also allows the students to add different layers of sound tracks including drum beats, guitars (both bass and lead), piano, and other techno-sounding rhythms. Once they complete their songs, they will be exporting them to iTunes where we will burn a class CD!! Students will also have the option of converting their songs to .mp3 files to put on their iPods and other .mp3 players!!

Conjunction junction, what's your function?...............

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Mix-It-Up Lunch!!


Today was Mix-It-Up Lunch for two of our lunches. The event was organized by Mrs. Wilcox, our school guidance counselor. Instead of sitting by grade level during the 20 minute lunch, students sat at tables according to their month of birth. Students were then told to complete the worksheet on their tables.....this paper asked random questions such as "Who has been on a boat?" The activity encouraged students to learn each other's names. Students did an amazing job completing the papers while learning each other's names. Every student left the lunchroom with at least one new friend!! To make the event even more fun, Dr. Tuell, Mr. Cyr, and a handful of students dressed in 'fruit and vegetable' costumes. Meeting new friends is a lot of fun, but we still have to eat healthy!! :)

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Kindergarten Goes Wireless!!





Mrs. Swett's Kindergarten class used our brand new Apple iBooks this afternoon. Students were introduced to one of our two C.O.W.'s (Computers on Wheels). During this mini-lesson, the class learned how to use the track pad (click with your thumb and drag with your pointy finger). Afterwards, we got online and went to Mrs. Swett's Portaportal page and explored a website. Great work!!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Mr. Cyr and Dr. Tuell School Second Graders



Mr. Cyr and Dr. Tuell challenged the 2nd graders at OTES in a game of "Jail Ball" on Friday, November 3rd. The game was a result of 2nd graders earning 25 stars for excellent cafeteria/hallway behavior. The game was an exciting way to reward students for a job well done. The second graders proved to be an admirable opponent for the not-so-young administrative team! Congratulations!

OTES Mock Election...The Results Are In!!!




Grades 3, 4, and 5 held their State of Maine Mock Election today. All voting was done using our new laptops. Students used a web-based survey tool called www.surveymonkey.com. Students were able to follow the election results in "real-time." The results are in, and can be viewed at the following links:

Grade 3 results

Grade 4 results

Grade 5 results