MHS/WES Newsletter
Thursday, May 4, 2023
Important Upcoming Dates
- May 7: Annual Town Meeting 11:00AM-6:00PM WES Cafeteria
- May 15: 7:00 PM Recital Night for A Band and Chorus that wish to participate WES Cafeteria
- May 17: Wednesday ~ Last meeting of the year: PTO Meeting- 6:30 in the WES Cafeteria
- May 19: Friday ~ 3rd Grade Colonial Day
- May 22-26: 5th Grade Nature's Classroom
- May 30: Creation Celebration 6:30PM-8:00PM
News from 2nd Grade
Students enjoyed Poem in Your Pocket day last week. This event is celebrated on April 29 every year to encourage people across the United States to express themselves through poetry. It was exciting to see second graders collecting poems from each grade level in our building!
It’s hard to believe that we are beginning our final units of study in second grade.
Wit and Wisdom- compels students to closely examine the impact of three key Civil Rights heroes; Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges, and Sylvia Mendez. How did these figures respond to the injustices they faced? What can we learn from their actions? A series of narrative nonfiction texts and historical photographs serves as students insight to the past. By examining the impact of these three individuals on the country, students will build a deep knowledge of what it means to live out the nation’s creed of “liberty and justice for all.”
Math - We have begun our work in Module 6 in our Bridges math program. Over the course of this unit, students investigate two-dimensional shapes, fractions (halves and fourths), congruence, symmetry, and transformations (slides, flips, and turns) using a variety of tools and models. There is a strong emphasis on identifying, describing, constructing, drawing, comparing, contrasting, and sorting various types of triangles and quadrilaterals, as well as other shapes, throughout the unit.
Be on the lookout for information in regards to Camp Learn-A-Lot. Your child’s teacher will reach out soon about this exciting event!
News from 3rd Grade
Colonial Day: Friday, May 19th
Colonial Day is around the corner! Information about costumes, volunteering, donations and lunch went home last week with all students. A Google form will be sent to all families on Monday, May 8th regarding lunch options for Colonial Day. We are asking all families to complete the form as soon as possible so that we can get a final number to the cafeteria. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher.
Thank you!
The Third Grade Team
Technology/Engineering News
5th Grade: “Robotics”
5th grade has just completed their amazing robotics unit. During this unit, the students learned the importance of teamwork and collaborative learning.
We started with an introduction to building and understanding the importance of mechanical parts. We further expanded our knowledge with learning basic coding, having our robot moving forward and backwards.
Afterwards, the students were introduced to the challenge table. The challenge table is an official Lego Mindstorm competition table that I got for free a number of years ago. The table is an imaginative recreation of what it’s like to travel to Mars. The students start off on planet Earth, where they need to travel to the space station and assist with moving the boulders out of the loading docks. They then fuel up and lock in their coordinates to the moon. During their exploration they travel over rough terrain and finally set their sights to Mars. When they finally reach Mars, they need to explore the mountains and travel back to Earth to complete their mission. You would be surprised at how much coding is needed to travel over a 4x8 foot robotics table.
4th Grade: “Light Up My Circuits”
As the 4th-grade begins their introduction to the different forms of energy this spring, here in technology/engineering class we are learning about how to apply our energy knowledge by designing and creating “series” and “parallel” circuits. We will then further our knowledge by creating a hands-free scribblebot that will autonomously draw on its own.
This is a great lesson for the students to learn how to plan and carry out tests to a given model or prototype, where the variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify which features need to be improved.
3rd Grade: “Spike Out Robotics Interests”
During the earlier part of this school year I wrote a grant for new Lego Spike Essential kits worth six thousand dollars. I found out in October that I was awarded the grant and was able to bring 17 new kits to our school. These kits replace our older Lego WeDo kits and can better excel our students in "meaningful play" by motivating our students to become resilient and independent thinkers. I’m sure the students came home with many glorious stories about what they built and how they programmed it.
2nd Grade: “Digital Fabrication”
In this unit, we are visualizing and creating 3D geometrical shapes on a CAD-like online software. If you are unaware of the term CAD (computer-aided design) is the use of computer-based software to aid in design processes. CAD software is frequently used by different types of engineers and designers. CAD software can be used to create two-dimensional (2-D) drawings or three-dimensional (3-D) models. In this case we have created two shapes, a cube and are now working on a triangular prism. Our last project will be coming home this week.
1st & Kindergarten: “Think like an Engineer”
What does it mean to think like an engineer?
Thinking like an engineer is about training your mind to conduct the methodical process of problem solving. It is examining a problem from many different angles, analyzing and considering what the problem is, who has the problem, what materials are needed to solve the problem, and finding the best solution.
To further this thought process we are using the application called “Inventioneers”, which is an outstanding tool for learning about real time physics, including the science behind different features like air, fire, magnetism and jumping bunnies.
As always donations of Kleenex, Paper Towels, Disinfectant Wipes and Baby Wipes are always greatly appreciated in the technology room!
News from the Purple Palette and Paintbrush!
Save the date: Tuesday May 30 is the “Creation Celebration”, our annual Art Show. 6:30-8:00 pm.
I am looking for volunteers for that night to help with crowd control, activity stations, photo opportunities. Please let me know if you are able to support in this way! abanning@awrsd.org
Also looking for sports magazine donations!
Thanks!
Ms. Banning
Learning Tree Inclusive Preschool Program
The application for preschool community peers is live. Please refer to the preschool program website for more information. We encourage you to share this information with friends and relatives who have young children ages 3 or 4 who may be interested. Applicants must reside in either Westminster or Ashburnham.
Ash-West Special Education Parent Advisory Council ~ A resource of Parents and Guardians of students with disabilities
General Ashburnham-Westminster Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) membership is open to all AWRSD parents/guardians of children with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Section 504 Plans and other interested parties. We need volunteers to help plan workshops, staff tables at local school and community events, become future leaders, assist other parents, and plan new activities and projects. Learn more about us and our work on our website https://sites.google.com/view/ashburnham-westminster-sepac. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ashwestsepac.
