NIS October 2019 News
Nantucket Intermediate School
Literacy Night Tomorrow - Tuesday, October 29th
It has been a wonderful but busy October at NIS. Our students have engaged in some amazing experiential learning opportunities, dug more deeply into grade level curriculum, and continue to build a sense of community in their classrooms and across the school.
On Friday I had the privilege of joining our third graders on their field trip to Plimoth Plantation. Our students, teachers, and chaperones regularly received compliments throughout the day on how engaged and well-mannered our students were. Thank you for all you have done as parents to teach them expected and appropriate behaviors, as well as promote the regular use of "Please" and "Thank you". Your hard work as parents/guardians did not go unnoticed!
We look forward to welcoming you to NIS tomorrow evening for our Literacy Night from 5:30 to 7:00 PM. Our theme is "Snuggle Up with a Good Book" and students are invited to wear their pajamas to the event. Hope to see you there!
Kind regards,
Evemarie McNeil
Principal
Did You Know: Cursive Writing...
At NIS our students are absolutely exposed to cursive writing and letter formation, but we don't dedicate much time to ensuring all students learn cursive. Thus, we also don't require students to write in cursive. This stance is in line with the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts. Below I've shared the actual standards with you pertaining to teaching the craft of writing at our grade levels. Our writing standards however do require us to have students effectively keyboarding. There is so much to teach and to learn. When it comes to how we allocate instructional time, we must choose to focus on the mandated learning standards first and foremost, even when it means giving up something we've previously valued.
Here is just one of many links about the Cursive Writing Debate I found when searching the topic online: https://thewritelife.com/cursive-writing-debate/
Here is a link to the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts: http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/ela/2017-06.pdf
Here are the specific standards related to written production:
Grade 3: "Write legibly and fluently by hand, using either printing or cursive handwriting."
Grade 4: "Write legibly and fluently by hand, using either printing or cursive handwriting; write their given name signature in cursive."
Grade 5: "Write legibly and fluently by hand, using either print or cursive handwriting; write their given and family name signature in cursive."
Nantucket Intermediate School
Email: mcneile@npsk.org
Website: https://www.npsk.org/Page/2182
Phone: 508-228-7290
NIS Literacy Night
Tuesday, Oct 29, 2019, 05:30 PM
Nantucket Intermediate School
Halloween - No NIS celebrations
For those of you who do celebrate, there is a lovely Halloween parade in town beginning at 5:00 PM on Thursday, October 31st. If you'd like to be in the parade meet at the fountain on Main Street.