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Booth Free School Newsletter
April 2024
Dear Booth Families,
There is so much excitement buzzing this week as students celebrate Autism Awareness and learn about what it means to be neurodiverse. This week was planned in collaboration with our student council, which kicked off the week with a whole school morning meeting, anti-bullying pledge, and activities during library time. All these activities focused on acceptance, inclusion, and uniqueness. We also have solar lights that make Booth Free School light up blue in the evening. It might be nice to take a drive by one evening to see Booth Free School all lit up!
Thank you to our Booth Free School PTO, Sarah Curren, and Trish Gordon for holding another successful Read-A-Thon for our students. Also, we are grateful to all the families that donated books for our students to purchase. The funds went towards our 5th grade Aloha (we raised $338.74). The remaining books are being donated to the Book Bank with New Haven Reads. More information about the organization can be found here. Almost all of our students participated and had fun diving into books, participating in activities, and winning exciting prizes!
We also had our Connecticut Invention Convention at Burnham School, which included students from 4th and 5th grade. We had our very own SRO, Officer Epps, and Bridgewater's First Selectman, Curtis Read, attend as judges. Our contestants who will be moving onto the state semi-finals are Celeste Palumbo and Harper Chin. Congratulations to all our students who participated! It was so enthralling to see all the creative and helpful inventions our students created.
Looking ahead, our students are getting excited for our whole school visit to Shepaug to see our SVS students performing in Matilda. We also have some classroom field trips, our Elementary Concert – Jam Session (we hope to see you there!) and of course our upcoming spring break to look forward to.
Dr. Rhew
News from First Grade 🌺
News from Third Grade 🌺
When there isn’t anywhere else to go, a good book can take you away! In third grade, students have dedicated quality time building their reading lives. During these cold, stormy weeks, with spring nowhere in sight, a highlight has been our independent and shared reading times. Our read-alouds help students develop their expressive language skills, share interpretations, and grow their ideas. Because of Winn Dixie, this month’s mentor text, helps our students explore complex themes of friendship, acceptance, and letting go, while being entertained by quirky characters, like librarian Franny Block who once fought off a bear with a copy of War and Peace. Each day after recess, students know they can drop everything and read! They can be found reading in cozy corners, listening to classic audio books, or having a collaborative chat about their books. During daily reading conferences, we discuss their books and search for their next amazing read. Some days we read and research using non-fiction to inform and change our thinking. Other days, we get together with our kindergarten friends and share our favorites. No matter the season, or what’s happening in the world outside, third graders are learning that a simple book can offer us magic or adventure, smiles, or tears…and deeper connections with ourselves and the world
News from Fifth Grade 🌺
News from The Library 🌺
April for rainbows
And April for showers!
April for a bright hint
Of lovely May flowers.
April for nonsense
And April for play-
Best of all times
Is a real April day!
-Lenore Hetrick
Celebrate
April is certainly a month to celebrate. The month of April is: Celebrate Diversity Month, Arab American Heritage Month, National Poetry Month, and Reading Without Walls Month. Tuesday, April 2 is International Children’s book day as well as World Autism Awareness Day, and April 7-13 is National Library Week.
April is Celebrate Diversity Month
It is important to be aware of the diversity of the world around us. Opening our eyes to new cultures, new ideas, and new ways of celebrating is an important aspect of citizenship and character-building. This month in our library classes, we will be focusing on titles that highlight diversity. Students will also have the opportunity to take these thoughtfully chosen books and express their own thoughts and feelings about diversity.
Spring Reading…Time to Start a Series!
Now that spring is officially here, we’re ready to shake off the winter chill, grab a book, and head outside. We have dozens of new books in our library, just in time for spring. Kids can come check out our selection of popular series, such as the Baby Sitter’s Club Graphix, Wings of Fire Graphix, Keeper of the Lost Cities, and Spy School series for the older students; and the Dragon Masters, Dragon Girls, Roscoe Riley Rules, and Sisters 8 series for the students who are just starting to delve into the world of chapter books. We’re beginning to gear up for Summer Reading, so perhaps your child will find just the right book series to carry them through the spring and into the summer.
Read Across America: April
The National Education Association’s (NEA) Read Across America theme for the month of April is: Discover the Power of Poetry. As April is National Poetry Month, this theme is especially timely. The elementary title is How to Write a Poem by Kwame Alexander and Deanna Nikaido, which invites the reader to discover the world of poetry around them. The middle grade selection is Moonwalking by Zetta Elliott and Lyn Miller-Lachmann, a novel in verse that tells the story of the friendship between two young men from very different cultures who find common ground in music and art in 1980s Brooklyn. Both of these titles encourage readers to open their eyes to the art and poetry all around us.
News from Student Council 🌺
Over the course of this past month the student council has continued to promote the Just Be Kind initiative by adorning the school with pictures and notes relaying that important message. Our members have not only discussed how little acts of kindness can go a long way, but have also recognized that kindness feels good to receive AND give. With this in mind, we are launching a new fundraiser with kindness themed clothing. We hope that you will be as excited as we are to acquire a new kind wardrobe!
In addition to the apparel fundraiser, the student council has worked together to choose new merchandise for the BFS School Store. We are excited for our customers to check out the exciting new school supplies, coming soon. Please remember that K-2 and 3-5 shop on an alternating schedule during the morning arrival time. There is a $5.00 maximum spending limit per visit. Thank you for your support and continued business! All of the proceeds from our school store and fundraisers go toward programming or materials for the entire school’s enjoyment.
News from Music 🌺
Thank you to everyone who participated in our “Bring a Friend to Music” Day! The students were so excited and so proud to show what they know. If you were unable to join us there is good news. You have a music expert who can tell you all about what we do in class and can demonstrate some of our songs and games! Check in with your student if you have more questions! :)
K students got to play instruments!! They learned to identify and safely play several including tambourines, sand blocks, and finger cymbals. We also continued moving in different pathways (space) while moving loose and stuck (flow), or heavy and light (weight). These movement activities help students successfully develop beat competence (time) as they continue to grow as musicians.
First graders learned about jazz! They improvised and scat sang. They listened to stories and songs. They learned about Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gillespie. We have some pretty hip first graders!
Second graders built on their knowledge of chords to learn the blues! They learned the chord progression, improvised over the chord changes, and even wrote their own blues song! We recorded ourselves improvising our own melodies for our lyrics!
Third graders continued their hard work on recorders. They can play at least 3 songs with the melody and chord roots (and harmony parts on some songs too!). They improvised endings to a song and learned to play familiar tunes in more than one key! Mostly they worked on being stronger musicians.
Fourth graders were rocking out on bucket drums! They learned grooves to play with fun songs and then created grooves of their own! The tough part was putting the grooves on drumset!
Fifth graders continued their work on ukulele. They chose new tunes to work on and stretched their skills to accommodate the new chords they needed. Next they will learn to identify notes in treble clef (and bass clef) and write rhythms in duple and triple meter
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News from the Nurse 🌺
April is Move More Month! The American Heart Association has named the entire month of April as Move More Month to increase awareness of the benefits of physical activity and health behaviors throughout your day to prevent disease. Be an active family. Here are 25 tips to keep kids moving. Make moving a game. Be a movement role model. Take advantage of every opportunity to move. Everyone benefits with 60 minutes of movement a day.
Remember....every move counts!!!
Dates to Remember 🌺
4/2-4/7 Autism Awareness Week
4/3 PTO Meeting, 3:30pm
4/4 All School trip to SVS to see the musical production of Matilda
4/5 Music Jam Session, 2:00 pm. - Parents are invited to attend!
4/9 4th and 5th Grade Field Trip to Prospector Theater.
4/15-4/19 Spring Recess
4/30 Smarter Balanced Testing Begins
5/2 Kindergarten Meet and Greet, 1:15 p.m.