South Elementary Family Newsletter

PTO’s November Newsletter

Upcoming Events: Mark your Calendars!

Wednesday November 6th-18th: Fun Run!

• Fun Run Kickoff is November 6th.

• Students who sign up before November 6th will be entered in a raffle to win a $25 gift card to Art Pop! Sign up using the link: https://mybooster.com/v3

• The Fun Run will take place on 11/18. More details to follow!

Thursday, November 7th: Papa Gino’s Night 4PM-9PM

• 869 GAR Highway, Somerset

• Walk-in or phone orders: Mention this fundraiser when you place your order for South School to get the credit for your order.

• Online Orders: Enter Code 19 at the payment screen and click redeem.

• South School earns 20% of orders!

Tuesday, November 19th PTO Meeting

• South School Cafeteria at 6:00PM

• Review the upcoming school year and events!

• All are welcome! Please join us!

PTO Updates:

Trunk or Treat

• Thank you to all who decorated their cars and distributed candy!

• The event was filled with so many creative trunks, interactive games, and activities at the various cars.

• There were so many clever and creative trunks decorated at this year’s events.

• The winning car this year was Inside Out 2 by Ava and Ms. Donovan!

• Our 50/50 Raffle prize was awarded to Landon Carreiro who generously donated the winnings back to the PTO. Thank you!!

• Thank you to the volunteers and participants who helped to make this event happen! The PTO greatly appreciates all of the time and effort it takes to make this event happen.

Want to Volunteer?

• The PTO is still looking for an event coordinator. This is a 2 year position that is shared with two other coordinators.

• This position assists in setting up and decorating events, selling tickets at raffle tables, and cleaning up.

• It’s a great way to be a part of the school community and get to know families.

• Anyone interested in the position can email the PTO at somersetsouthelementarypto@gmail.com

Why Join the PTO?

• The PTO is a volunteer organization made up of parents, teachers, administrators, and support staff.

• The purpose of PTO is to enhance and support the educational and recreational experience at South School.

• Meetings are a great way to meet other parents and work together on upcoming

events.

Contact PTO

• Follow South Elementary PTO on Facebook for updates and information!

• somersetsouthelementarypto@gmail.com

Mandated Screenings

I am pleased to announce that BMI and Postural Screenings have been completed for this year!

The remaining screenings are Vision (Grades 1-5) and Hearing (grades 1-3) will be conducted as soon as posing.

Please note that School screenings under 105 CMR 200.000 are intended to supplement, not supplant, oversight of care by the student's primary care provider. Therefore, please provide, asap, an updated Physical Exam for your child with all documented screenings so that your child’s education process is not interrupted for a screening that they have already had. Please advocate that the physician should be doing these screenings at their annual exams. I know there are a couple of physician offices that prefer to pass the responsibility to the schools but, as stated above, it is under the oversight of physicians and part of your child’s comprehensive exam.

Thank you, in advance, for your attention in this very important matter.

November is the start of the Holiday season. We often think of Thanksgiving, Veterans Day, turkeys, pumpkins, beautiful foliage and cool weather when we think of November. This is traditionally the month we celebrate Thanksgiving and it is also National Native American Heritage Month. It is a time to spend with family and friends who are like family.

There are many activities to do at this time of year that can create positive life long memories. Pumpkin picking and carving! Raking leaves and jumping in them! Making pies and eating them too! What comes to mind when you think of November? What traditions do you and your family celebrate? Do you want to start new traditions or is this a time of sadness due to shorter days and longer nights. We are all different and have unique traditions, routines, expectations and cultural celebrations.

No matter what life has brought you so far, what can you be Grateful for this November?

Some fun books on Gratefulness:

A Little Thankful Spot by Diane Alber

Gratitude is My Superpower by Alicia Ortego

Teach Your Dragon Gratitude by Steve Herman

Some good ideas to practice in November are a Gratitude Journal.

There are many ways to do this but here are some tips.

Time Required

15 minutes per day, at least three times per week for at least two weeks.

How to Do It

There’s no wrong way to keep a gratitude journal, but here are some guidelines to help you get started.

Write down or type up to five things for which you feel grateful. You can use a notebook, your phone’s notes application, a word processor, or whatever works best for you. The physical record is important—don’t just do this exercise in your head. The things you list can be relatively small in importance (“The tasty sandwich I had for lunch today”) or relatively large (“My sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy”). The goal of the exercise is to remember a good event, experience, person, or thing in your life—then enjoy the good emotions that come with it.

As you write, here are some important tips:

1. Be as specific as possible. Being as clear as possible is key to fostering gratitude. “I’m grateful that my coworkers brought me soup when I was sick on Tuesday” will be more effective than “I’m grateful for my coworkers.”

2. Go for depth over breadth. Going into detail about a particular person or thing for which you’re grateful carries more benefits than a surface-level list of many things.

3. Get personal. Focusing on people to whom you are grateful has more of an impact than focusing on things for which you are grateful.

4. Try subtraction, not just addition. Consider what your life would be like without certain people or things, rather than just tallying up all the good stuff. Be grateful for the negative outcomes you avoided, escaped, prevented, or turned into something positive—try not to take that good fortune for granted.

5. See good things as “gifts.” Thinking of the good things in your life as gifts helps you avoid taking them for granted. Try to enjoy and savor the gifts you’ve received.

6. Savor surprises. Try to record events that were unexpected or surprising, as these tend to bring up stronger feelings of gratitude.

7. Aim for variety. Writing about some of the same people and things is OK, but focus on different details each time you write about them.

8. Write regularly. Whether you write daily or every other day, commit to a regular time to journal. Do your best to honor that commitment.

Click here for Ideas to help your child with a gratitude journal.

In your corner,

Cecilia Huard,LMHC

School Adjustment Counselor

cecilia.huard@somersetschools.org

Jennifer Shaw,MSW,LCSW

School Social Worker

Jennifer.shaw@somersetschools.org

Dear Third Grade Families,

It is hard to believe that we are more than halfway through Trimester 1. Students have been working diligently and demonstrating great enthusiasm in their learning journey.

In our morning routine, the students have been thoroughly enjoying our engaging Morning Meeting and Number Corner activities. These activities have been instrumental in developing higher-level thinking skills in areas such as number sense, geometry, data, and the metric system.

In mathematics, we are focusing on mastering multiplication facts. To support your child's practice at home, I have compiled a list of websites where they can practice multiplication. Additionally, traditional flashcards are an effective low-tech option.

1. Math Playground (www.mathplayground.com): This website offers a wide variety of multiplication games and puzzles that will challenge and reinforce multiplication concepts.

2. Multiplication.com (www.multiplication.com): Here, third graders can find interactive games, quizzes, and printable worksheets to practice multiplication in an enjoyable way.

3. Coolmath Games (www.coolmathgames.com): This website offers a collection of multiplication games that are both educational and entertaining. Students can sharpen their skills while having fun.

Our reading lessons have centered around narrative texts, with a special focus on analyzing character actions and motivations to understand story sequencing. We have just concluded our read-aloud unit featuring the incredible author Patricia Poloco. If you would like to explore more of her captivating books with your child, please check out her official website http://patriciapolacco.com

In writing, we have been exploring the essential elements of narrative writing. Through the use of graphic organizers, the students have been applying these elements to their own writing. We are also working on improving our typing skills and becoming proficient in using Google Drive.

Currently, in social studies, we are delving into our unit on "The Election." The students have thoroughly enjoyed working collaboratively to learn about the history of elections, the process of voting and the electoral college . We are looking forward to learning the results of November 5!

As we head into the holiday season, we wish you continued health, success, and time to make wonderful family memories.

The Third Grade Team

ELA and Social Studies

As we embrace the beauty of October, we want to share some exciting learning that took place this month. We are focusing on biographies in reading. We know that a biography is about someone's life and the person is interesting and important. In writing, we are determining the main ideas in writing as well as using brain dumps to come up with our main ideas. We have learned about elaborating nonfiction writing. Instead of just writing facts about a topic, we are describing what the topic looks like and why it is important. This helps our writing be more interesting to the reader. We continue to syllable types and morphology in phonics. We are continuing to learn about the 13 colonies and the reasons for the Revolutionary War. We are determining different points of view at that time, such as Native Americans, colonists, slaves, French settlers, etc.

Math and Science:

In math, we are beginning to learn about fractions. We are comparing fractions using a clock and money. We are measuring mass with scales. We dehydrated carrots and continued to measure the mass to see if the mass changed. We are learning how to read line graphs. We have determined the volume of rectangular prisms. In science, we are studying Earth and space. We have viewed constellations and are determining the rotation of the Earth.