Happy 2024 to you all!
I hope everyone was able to enjoy the much deserved time off during the holiday season. Before we know it, we will be getting ready for February break! Time - please slow down!
Mason Road School is back in the Venmo Challenge!!!! The Dudley-Charlton Education Foundation (DCEF) has been providing our district, and especially Mason Road School, with some amazing opportunities for learning! When teachers have an idea on something they want to explore and need materials for, they are invited to complete an application for a grant that is considered by the DCEF. The grants range in various capacities. When you walk the halls of Mason Road, you see the amazing sensory walk in both the first grade hallway and in the kindergarten/preschool hallway. If you pop into Mrs. Hooper's classroom, you can check out the Weather Station! There are so many more things I can share on what DCEF does for our schools and students but it would take up my entire newsletter. SO, let's help raise some money through the DCEF VENMO CHALLENGE!!! All you have to do is click on the Venmo link above, make your donation, and be sure to note Mason Road School. At the end of this challenge, the school to raise the most money will win a breakfast for all the entire school staff! Why not help out our DCEF and get our teachers a nice breakfast as well!!!! And, with that competitive streak that I have in me, LET'S BEAT HERITAGE SCHOOL!!!
Please be sure to read this newsletter in its entirety. There is a lot of information. Most of the information is to provide you with things that are/have been taking place, things we need your help with, and dates to mark on your calendar. Often times families will contact the school and share that they had no clue about upcoming events. If you read the newsletter, you will know! If it is not in the newsletter, I will be sure to notify families accordingly. I sincerely appreciate your support in this.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at jdesto@dcrsd.org or check out our website page at MASON ROAD SCHOOL.
Sincerely,
Jen D.
* ONLY CLEAR LIQUIDS for classroom snack/daily drink. What you choose to pack your child for lunch (with the exception of soda - please do not pack that), is completely up to you. However, for snacks in the classroom, I respectfully ask/remind you that students need to bring a clear liquid. This could be water, clear Gatorade, Roaring Waters juice pouches, etc. I appreciate your cooperation and attention to this matter.
* ARRIVAL TO SCHOOL - please be sure to have your child at school NO LATER than 8:45am. If you are later than 8:45am, you MUST bring your child into the front of the school and stop by the main office. DO NOT LET YOUR CHILD COME TO THE DOOR without an adult with them. This has happened on more than one occasion and I feel it is important to send this reminder.
How much does your child love Art? Music? Computers? Health & Wellness? Please take some time to read about what our teachers: Mrs. Gravel, Mrs. Winans, Mrs. Shorten, and Mr. Davis have to share regarding what is happening during unified arts classes. Just click on the picture or visit January Unified Arts Newsletter.
Nurse Moisans's Corner
Hello MRS families and welcome to the New Year! Most all of us set some sort of New
Year’s Resolution around this time, and for many people that involves exercising more.
Exercising frequently is a great thing for everyone to be doing, including your children!
This is the perfect time of year to help your child find ways to maintain a healthy and active
lifestyle.
What are the benefits of exercise for children?
Just like with adults, regular exercise is extremely beneficial for children. Some of these benefits include:
Maintaining a healthy body weight
Helps build strong bones & muscles
Prevention of diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes
Reduced stress levels
Reduced symptoms of anxiety & depression
How much exercise does your child need?
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children should get a minimum of 1 hour of physical activity per day.
What can you do?
Some tips that you can use to help your child maintain an active lifestyle include:
Limit time spent playing video games or watching TV
Find activities that you can enjoy as a family such as taking walks or riding bikes around your neighborhood
If indoors, you can use YouTube videos that lead children in an exercise program
Happy New Year!
~Nurse Moisan
Social Emotional Learning SpotlighT
Greetings families!
Happy New Year! The start of this school year was a whirlwind of fun, laughter, and learning and we’re excited to see what the rest of the school year brings. Moving into 2024, we want to reflect upon one of the core values of Mason Road School, ‘kindness’.
Kindness
Here at Mason Road School, we recognize acts of kindness each and every day when Principal Awards are announced, but these awards only touch upon the kindness we witness and experience on a typical school day. Kindness is embodied in our school culture, and your children are already professionals. From helping to push in chairs, to walking a friend to the nurse, to giving smiles and “hellos” in the hall, there’s not a second that goes by that kindness is not observed in this school and we are so proud of all of your children.
Showing kindness has endless benefits. It helps increase empathy for others, compassion, perspective taking, and overall improves interpersonal relationships. Kindness also helps both the “giver” and “receiver” of kindness to feel good about themselves, improves self-esteem, and reduces symptoms of both depression and anxiety. Being kind helps create a sense of belonging, reduces isolation and lowers stress. We’d love to hear from you: What are ways you prioritize kindness in your household?
At-Home Practice: Celebrating Difference with Snowflakes
Start by making at least 4-5 paper snowflakes with your child(ren)
Start with a square piece of paper
Fold the paper in half diagonally to make a triangle
Fold the paper in half again so the two corners of the long side meet
Fold paper triangle in thirds, overlapping the left hand pointed corner over the triangle
Overlap the right hand pointed corner over the triangle.
Trim the pointed ends so the paper triangle looks as shown.
Cut your folded paper with variations of cutouts.
Gently unfold and enjoy your creation!
2. Observe the snowflakes with your child(ren). Have a conversation about how each one is different, and still beautiful.
Prompting questions:
What do you notice about the snowflakes?
What makes each one unique and special?
How are the snowflakes similar?
Rachael Shelburne, Adjustment Counselor
Kathy Kenyon, School Psychologist
Kindergarten Happenings
Happy New Year from the Mason Road School Kindergarten classes! We had a very busy month of learning! In the beginning of December, our Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) Knowledge theme was plants. We learned about the parts of a plant, the life cycle of plants, and what plants need in order to survive. We learned about the differences between deciduous trees and evergreen trees and about the agricultural scientist George Washington Carver. The children also had the opportunity to take on the role that bees play in pollinating flowers.
The children continued to focus on learning more letter sounds and blending sounds to read real
words and nonsense words in our CKLA Skills lessons. The children have also been learning
about “Tricky Words”. These are words that do not follow the pattern of letter-sound
correspondences that the children have learned thus far. Many Tricky Words appear in stories
so it is important for children to be able to read these words automatically. Up until this point,
the Tricky Words that have been taught are: “one”, “two”, “three”, “the”, “a”, “yellow”, and
‘blue’. A fun activity that can be done at home is to play the game “Memory” using Tricky
Words. Simply write each word on index cards or small pieces of paper. Make two sets of
word cards. Arrange the cards in rows with the words facing down. Have your child turn over
a card and read it and then turn over another card and read that one. If the words are the same,
your child can keep both cards. If the words do not match, then the cards need to be placed
back in the arrangement with the word facing down. As more words are introduced at school,
they can be added to the game.
Our math lessons were all about addition. The children practiced counting sets of objects and
joining the sets together. After we learned about putting parts together to determine how many
in the whole group, the children learned about writing addition equations using a plus sign and
an equal sign. The children also learned how to draw a model (picture) to go along with an
addition word problem. We are becoming great mathematicians!
Everyone enjoyed Spirit Week just before the break. Activities were planned to go along with
each story of the day. We had so much fun making memories!
January will be one busy, but fun month! Everyone came back from December Break with smiles on their faces, ready to learn. We hope you enjoy a quick break for Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend!
What’s Happening in First Grade?
In Language Arts, we are continuing to practice the Dolch Primer Word list and are moving on to the First Grade Word List. We are also working on First Grade Fry Phrases, groups of words students encounter in early reading.If you need a copy of any of the lists, please let Mrs. Connor or Ms. Pontbriand know. We are reading and writing words with the ee and oo sounds. We are also continuing our work with the fabulous H brothers (ch, sh, th) and Magic e. As always, please continue to read with your child as often as possible. Take a few moments to listen to your child read each day. It is equally important for the children to listen to you read to them. Modeling fluent reading and asking questions about stories also helps improve reading comprehension.
In math, we have been working on learning about subtraction facts up to 20. We learned how to use tally marks and we introduced graphing (pictograph). Students learned to read and interpret the data found in graphs and learned how to make graphs by themselves. We have also started working on number patterns to 120 and counting on a Hundred Chart.
What’s Happening in Kindergarten?
In Kindergarten Language Arts, we are continuing to focus on what sounds we hear in a consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) word, and connecting these sounds with the appropriate letter. These skills are allowing us to decode (read) and encode (write) words! While most students are becoming more confident in their knowledge of consonant sounds, we are working on solidifying our vowel sounds. Additionally, sight words are becoming more and more important to practice as students begin to read their first simple decodable books. Some of the sight words we have been learning are: one, two, three, the, a , and, red, blue, yellow and look.
In Kindergarten Math, students have been introduced to addition. They learned that addition is when you put 2 groups/parts together. We have just introduced subtraction and the concept of taking away. We will continue to practice these skills.
Make it Fun!
Try writing sight words on post-its. Stick them to the wall or on a table. Call out a word. See how fast your child can find it. We like to use magic wands to point out the words, but you can use a ruler or a flyswatter! You can also do this with pictures and have your child swat pictures/words with different focuses: specific beginning sound, words that rhyme, specific middle or ending sounds, etc. Being able to notice and manipulate the specific sounds in words is a very important skill in learning to read.
When practicing sight word flash cards mix in some silly cards to keep your child on their toes! This could be as simple as a card having a picture of their favorite character instead of a sight word, a card saying “5 second dance party” or even having them collect a prize like a sticker. While children are practicing their sight words, they will be excited for one of these fun cards to pop up and surprise them.
You can also follow the Dudley PTO on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DudleyPTO
