Weekly Newsletter

Vision and hearing screenings will begin soon for first grade students. If you do not wish for your child to participate in these screenings, please submit that in writing to the health office. As always, please reach out with any questions: mwhitaker@mtrsd.org (413) 628-4404 x 102

In preschool, we finished putting our gardens to bed for the winter and harvested our dried scarlet runner bean pods. There was an abundance of pods and the children were so happy to find them on the bean teepee, collect them all and then pull out the dried plants. The pods were placed on the science table, awaiting little hands to break them open and find the treasure waiting inside. The children quickly noticed them and pulled the purple and black speckled beans out. “They are magic beans”, they declared. What a rewarding find!

Preschoolers have also been learning all about what it means to be a kind friend. They made a kindness heart for the class bulletin board and came up with very thoughtful ways to share kindness with others. Some of their thoughts included giving hugs, helping others, inviting friends to play, and taking care of pets. The children are also coming up with ideas to share their kindness at home with their families and in the larger school community. It is so easy to catch a preschooler being kind!

Currently in science, we are launching our new unit on Force and Motion. First, we previewed our essential vocabulary for this unit: force, motion, gravity, push, pull, and position. Then we did two investigations to experience these vocab words. One investigation was throwing different objects to try to reach a target. The other investigation involved rolling different sized balls into empty and full water bottles to try to knock them over. After the investigations, we reviewed the vocab words and discussed how we experienced them in the investigation. We also read a book about Force & Motion to build our background knowledge of this exciting topic.

This week our focus was on Push & Pull forces in our study of force and motion. We did two activities to help us notice how we use force and to help us distinguish between pushing (moves object away) and pulling (moves object closer). One was a push & pull inventory and the other was a push & pull version of shuffleboard. We also read a mini book about pushing and pulling objects in our daily lives.

Our magnificent things are complete! First graders brainstormed ideas, gathered materials and got to work. After carefully inspecting their creations they chose one or two things to revise before the magnificent thing was truly magnificent! First graders presented their writing and creations to the class in preparation for sharing at an upcoming all school meeting. The next time you are in the first grade hallway, take some time to read and admire the first graders’ hard work! Now that module one is complete, we are moving on to module two which has us focusing on the sun, moon and stars. We began this module by looking at photographs, watching short clips and discussing what we notice and what we wonder.

Last Monday we had no school due to Veterans Day. Veterans day is a day to honor all who have served in our military. These are individuals who are brave and work hard to keep our country safe. Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11th. The reason it is celebrated on the 11th is because fighting in World War I ended on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour. Prior to Veterans Day first graders and their families were invited to send in pictures and share about the Veterans in their family. In just our first grade class alone we learned that there are 56 Veterans in our families! 19 served in the Army, 4 in the Coast Guard, 15 in the Navy, 12 in the Air Force and 6 in the Marines! We created a display in our classroom to showcase these wonderful Veterans and what they have done to keep us safe!

Third grade has been wrapping up the garden season for the year and enjoying cooking some of the harvest. We recently used our carrots to make carrot bread, which was well-received by all! We will be using one of our pumpkins to make baked squash pudding in the coming days as well. Last week we planted the garlic which needs to overwinter in the ground and will be ready for the next class of third graders to harvest next fall. We send out a special “Thank You!” to the Belval family for donating a bale of hay which we spread out over the garlic to keep is safe during the winter.

Last week we dyed 26 t-shirts for the Local Goods orders. The class enjoyed learning this craft and made some beautiful shirts! If you ordered one, we hope you love it.

In Language Arts we are currently working on a book about Booker T. Washington’s childhood, and his desire to learn to read. We are working on finding the lesson or moral of a story and naming the details of the text that support that moral. Soon the students will be writing a paragraph about this book.

In math we are practicing using number lines to solve three-digit addition and subtraction. When approaching a subtraction problem with a number line, it is important to determine if it makes more sense to use the removal technique or to find the difference. Students are working on sorting out those approaches so they will be more reliably successful in getting the answer.

This week with our buddies we will enjoy a visit with local author MK Smith Depres. We are grateful to Ms. Wilson for organizing this special visit for us.

We are beginning a new unit in math learning about fractions and decimals. In this unit your child will: compare fractions with like and unlike denominators, locate fractions on a number line, add and subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators, identify equivalent fractions and decimals, and compare decimal numbers. Your child will learn and practice these skills by solving problems like those shown below.

As you see work coming home you may be wondering why students are using so many pictures to show fractions and decimals? Why not just use numbers? Students use models like the egg carton, rectangles divided into equal parts, and the number line to represent fractions. They also use a square divided into 100 smaller squares to see decimal numbers and fractions. Students will eventually work with numbers alone, but for now, the pictures help them build a strong understanding of decimal numbers and fractions, and of the relationships among them.

Fifth grade has been learning about the Constitution. Students have been using primary sources to discover what was originally written in our Constitution and what was not originally in our Constitution. Students were reading letters sent to the delegates from Abigail Adams (advocating for womens’ rights), Chief Cornplanter of the Seneca Nation (asking for the return of land), and an author under the pen name of Humanity (asking to abolish slavery). Students noticed that, although these political thinkers had many valid points, their ideas were not included in the Constitution.

In mathematics, our amazing Sanderson students engage in many types of activities that promote math discourse and encourage perseverance with problem solving. One activity is called What Comes Next? Check out the examples below from the Math at Home website. What do you notice? What do you wonder? Send me the solutions you come up with! Enjoy! :) aprew@mtrsd.org