JJIS News

This fall we began our new Wonders Reading program. While reading a variety of fiction and nonfiction texts, students focused on community, culture, traditions as well as our country’s history including our landmarks, government, and immigration. Through these texts students have developed their reading skills and strategies. In addition, students completed a narrative writing unit where students developed personal narratives that include an interesting beginning, a developed middle, and a strong ending while using craft and elaboration techniques such as dialogue and descriptions.

In our most recent module, third graders have been learning about measurement. Using a variety of containers and scales, students explored kilograms and grams to measure weight and liters and milliliters to measure capacity. Utilizing vertical number lines, students developed skills in rounding numbers to the nearest tens and hundreds which they later applied to determine the reasonableness of their answer.

Through some interesting experiments, students explored forces and motions, including gravity and balance/unbalanced forces. Students learned the importance of the scientific method and how to learn from mistakes while taking data and adjusting their designs. For example, students created “Hopper Poppers” out of cardboard and elastics. Students worked to engineer the highest popper. Another experiment required students to engineer the strongest bridge with only paper.

A couple of third and fifth grade classes also worked together on a STEM activity to create “Mayflowers” out of aluminum foil, tape, and straws. The students enjoyed the cooperation activity and light-hearted competition for the boat that could hold the most pennies without sinking. The opportunity to develop community and cooperation across grade level helped to support our school goal while allowing students the opportunity to apply our new SEL skills we are developing through the Second Step curriculum.

Fourth graders have finished up their first writing unit as they brainstormed and created a small moment story.

They also had the opportunity to visit the CT Science Center in Hartford to explore and learn. While there they participated in a hands on discovery lab where they got to learn about the effects of erosion by making their own stream.

Fourth graders have spent the first trimester becoming master mathematicians while multiplying multi digit numbers. They learned how to use three different strategies (Area Model, Partial Products, and Standard Algorithm) to help them solve the problem. Once the students have learned and mastered all three strategies they can choice which works best for them.

In Science Fourth graders have been learning all about volcanoes and how they affect the Earth's landscape. This process includes learning where volcanoes have formed on the Earth's surface through a science experiment where students explore the past and present pattern of where volcanoes exist on the Earth by mapping volcano locations on a world map and looking for patterns, such as the "Ring of Fire" around the Pacific Ocean.

This trimester 5th graders read the book Wonder and discussed many character perspectives and how they see the same event differently. They also worked on summarizing and theme.

In writing, they completed their narrative unit. They also hosted the annual monster motel and worked on writing descriptive poems.

5th graders also became very skilled storytellers and worked on stretching out a moment and elaborating to add details.

The whole grade went to Bushy Hill for a fun day of team building to start the year. They have begun working with artist Mrs. Glynn to support their social studies unit learning about Native American cultures.

In math 5th graders are building skills and can now add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions.

4th and 5th graders have started in their weekly production companies. Production Companies provide opportunities across grade levels to support HOTS strategies within a specific topic. They offer democratic practices as students choose the progress of their ProCo. Some Production companies include the Editorial Board (where students facilitate and run our monthly town meetings) and the Save our Earth Production Company where kids clean up and recycle materials around the school.

While the 4th and 5th graders are partaking in their Production Companies the 3rd graders are working in enrichment blocks designed to use hot strategies to enrich grade level curricular needs. During these Enrichment Blocks, third graders began the year by learning about why JJIS is a HOT School. Next students learned about the different multiple intelligences and took surveys to help determine where their individual strengths might be. Recently, Enrichment Block has focused on the book “Fly Away Home” by Eve Bunting. Each week, students have participated in a reading activity with a focus on one type of the multiple intelligences. The goal is to provide an authentic learning experience for students to explore their learning style. For instance, students have used playdough to represent vocabulary words as an artistic activity. Whereas, students interviewed each other as characters from within the book to explore point of view as an interpersonal activity. Other activities included making tableaus to explore the theme of the text in a bodily kinesthetic way. Students will reflect on the variety of learning activities to help determine which way they learn best.

JJIS 's two Lego Robotics teams, the Mega Whats and the Puppeteers, worked hard for many months leading up to their competition. They competed in the Bash at the Beach First Lego Tournament in Lyme and had an amazing time showing off their skills.

• The Jack Jackter Intermediate School Nurse's office worked with the Colchester Lions Club who came in to do a vision screening for all our students.
• S & S World Wide of Colchester reached out to donate classroom materials to our school. The materials were received by Principal Elise Butson and will be distributed to classrooms after the winter break.
• 4th graders in Mrs. Cuthbertson's class worked with Mrs. Deacon of the Colchester Garden Club to create ornaments that were then used to decorate the flag pole at Cragin Memorial Library.
• Jack Jackter has once again collaborated with the Colchester Senior Center to gift holiday boxes to over 25 Senior Citizens in town. Each classroom put together care boxes with items the students brought in and the boxes were presented to the Senior Center at our December Town Meeting.

• 12/22 JJIS Town Meeting
• Winter Break 12/23 - 1/1
• 2/7 - Read Aloud Day
• 2/15 - District wide Digital Learning Day