April is Families & Reading Month

Click on image below to view April is Families & Reading Month Newsletter.

Last Friday, our elementary and middle school gifted enrichment groups went on a field trip to Roberson Museum and Science Center in Binghamton, New York. They participated in an Iroquois culture program, which turned out to be loads of fun! Read about it and see more pictures on Mrs. Guerrero’s blog. http://brsdgifted.blogspot.com/2012/03/field-trip-to-roberson-museum-and.html


Our program guide Paige telling us a bit about the Iroquois.

Reader's Theater in Mr. Woodruff's 2nd Grade class

On Friday, March 23rd, Mr. Woodruff’s Second Grade performed a readers’ theater of the folktale Stone Soup. The class enjoyed reading the play and other versions of the tale. The themes of the tale are friendship, sharing, and working together. The performance took place in front of a large crowd of parents and family members. Everyone then enjoyed soup that the class made together.

4th Grade Sea Turtle Projects

Blue Ridge Fourth graders have completed their Sea Turtle Project in art class. Students learned about the endangered Sea Turtles and created an art project to make a Sea Turtle Sculpture. Also, a collection was taken in the fourth grade classes and we adopted a Sea Turtle named "Groove" that we can track via satellite on the Sea Turtle Conservancy website. You can view "Groove" and her whereabouts by going to http://www.conserveturtles.org/satelliteturtles.php

Celebrating Music in the Schools Month -- 5th Grade Select Choir performing for PTO

ES Life Skills Class Visits Rob's Market

Over the past few weeks, the Elementary Life Skills students have been learning about different kinds of vegetables. This has been a cross curricular unit that has been incorporated into the modified specials classes including Library, Art, Computers, and Physical Education. In order for students to apply the skills they are learning in class, we decided to take a field trip to Rob’s Market in Hallstead so students could see the variety of vegetable choices a grocery store has to offer as well as learn to recognize the location in the store to find such items. We had a great time learning about vegetables and had a lot of fun finding our vegetables in the store! To conclude this unit, students will be making vegetable soup with the items they purchased with Mrs. Tench and Mrs. McFadden in their modified Library class later this week.

Team v. Teachers Basketball Game

Click here to check out the results........................

http://brbasketball.blogspot.com/2012/03/team-vs-teachers-2012.html#!/2012/03/team-vs-teachers-2012.html

TerraCycle Eco-Product Design Contest

Click Here for Details.............

http://brsdgifted.blogspot.com/2012/02/terracycle-tuesday-eco-product-design.html

Celebrating Music in the Schools Month

At the March 5, 2012 school board meeting the Fifth Grade Select Choir (directed by ES Choral Director, Mrs. Kristen Burkhart) performed "Back to the Fifties" to recognize March as Music in the Schools Month and also thank the School Board for their support.

The students showed off their moves and sang the following songs......

• We Go Together


• Rockin Robin


• At the Hop


• Peppermint Twist

Pictured (L-R): Micah Mullen, Natasha Johnson, Jillian McAullife, Danielle Goff, Krystal Hepler, Jerni Schell, Luis Tobon, Jared-Jayson Collins, Jason Colwell, Daniel Tierney, Caleb Folk, and Band Director Mr. Thornton provided technical support.

The Lorax at Blue Ridge

A special event took place at Blue Ridge Elementary School on Friday, March 2nd. Read Across America is an annual celebration of reading that coincides with the birthday of classic children’s author Dr. Seuss. This is a nationwide event that is sponsored by the National Education Association. On Friday, elementary librarian Mrs. Tench and reading specialist Mrs. Roe brought two Dr. Seuss characters to life as they traveled to each grade to talk about Dr. Seuss, discuss this year’s theme book, and take the Reader’s Oath. This year’s theme book was The Lorax, a cautionary tale against “mindless progress and the danger it poses to the earth’s natural beauty.” To prepare for this day, Miss Dibble, the elementary art teacher and her fifth grade art club made colorful and whimsical Truffula Trees that decorated the walls throughout the school. Truffula Trees were trying to be saved by the Lorax in the book. The Lorax said, “I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.” Since The Lorax is all about caring for the environment, Mrs. Tench and Mrs. Roe invited Mrs. Guerrero to come along and talk to the students about TerraCycle! Mrs. Guerrero, the ESL and gifted teacher, introduced and spearheads the TerraCycle program at Blue Ridge. Students discussed ways that our school helps the planet, looked at samples of TerraCycle items, and even saw some recycled products that TerraCycle makes with our trash. At the end of the presentation, every student received a Dr. Seuss bookmark and Seuss-themed stickers. Special thanks to everyone involved! We had a wonderful day centered on READING and RECYCLING!

Picture 0259: Team Seuss: Mrs. Roe, Mrs. Guerrero, Miss Dibble, Mrs. Tench
Picture 0253: Book characters, Cat in the Hat (Mrs. Kathy Roe) and the Lorax (Mrs. Janelle Tench), take the Reader’s Oath with 2nd Graders

Celebrating Read Across America and Dr. Suess Birthday!

To see the day's events...........Click Below:

http://http//brsdgifted.blogspot.com/2012/03/terracycle-tuesday-read-across-america.html