Chatham Elementary School
Where We Are Proud To Be SHARKS!
March 29, 2019
Fin'tastic CES Students Are:
Honest
Accepting
Respectful
Kind
Successful!
Important Dates:
April 3:
- Proud to Be A SHARK Community Event: PTO Cultural Arts Committee present Poetry in Motion. (1pm; CES Gymnasium-all welcome, for more information, see below)
April 10:
- Early Dismissal Wednesday (student dismissal 1:35pm)
April 15-19
- Spring break (no school)
April 24
- Early Dismissal Wednesday (student dismissal 1:35pm)
April 25
- CES Playground and Beautification Meeting (2:30pm; CES conference room)
New Session of After-School Clubs Starts April 9th.
Current sessions end March 28th. NO CLUB SESSIONS or CHORUS the week of April 1-5. ***Students in Team Up on Tuesday (only) and Build IT on Thursday will still meet.
Weekly Article: "Ask Me About..."
Each week the grade level teams will publish two to three statements for caregivers to use as conversation starters with their child(ren). Although the Scoop is a great place to see and discuss end-of-learning products, these "ask me about" conversation starters will help promote discussions about current learning. For additional questions to ask your child about school, please visit "Understood's" article:
How to Say It: Better Questions to Ask Your Child About School and keep us updated on how these questions are working!
Ask Me About...for Grade 4
What are two ways we can classify shapes?
Compare states from two different regions.
Ask Me About...For Grade 3
How I can write a whole number as a fraction
What tools we will use on our field trip to White Cedar Swamp Trail in May
Ask Me About...for Grade 1
What are some differences between sea turtles and land turtles?
Tell me the hundreds, tens and ones in the number 130.
Ask Me About...For Grade K
Ask me to tell you a word with the word pattern
-ash, -oke and -ill.
Ask me to tell you about the phases of the moon.
Ask me to tell you what these symbols mean: =, <. >
Ask Me About...For PreK
How big are the new caterpillars we have in class?
How does our estimation jar work?
What were some of the fun things we did on Baby Shark Day?
What is the difference between a warm color and a cool color?
Our Next Proud to Be a SHARK Community Event (4/3/2019) Is Courtesy Of Our PTO. Poetry In Motion Will Visit CES!
April 3rd at 1:00pm-ALL welcome
Cutural Arts Event:
Poetry in Motion
Poetry comes to life in David Zucker’s masterful performance of acting, mime, vocal gymnastics, humor, audience participation, and a trunk full of costumes, puppets, and props. David’s irresistible cast of characters, recreated from the poems by A.A. Milne, Lewis Carroll, Langston Hughes, Shel Silverstein, Edgar Allen Poe, and James Whitcomb Riley, are not to be missed.
David Zucker is an actor, director, playwright, mime and teacher who’s unique programs have been delighting, enlightening and inspiring audiences for 45 years. He has performed for over 1 million children in his career! David regularly tours the country to perform Poetry in Motion and Odyssey of the Mime for 6 different chapters of Young Audiences. He has been chosen from over 900 ensembles as a National Young Audiences Artist of the Year.
SHARK Shout Out
SHARK Shout Out
A SHARK Shout to the Masons for the donation of 3 laptops for 3 of our students, and for all of the toys for the holiday shopping spree.
SHARK Shout Out
A SHARK Shout Out to all the Kindness Club members that donated hours of kindness last month. Several members earned special recognition for their efforts (see below). Stay tuned for more recognitions next week!
A SHARK Shout Out to Lower Cape Outreach. They donated $1200.00 so that we could send four of our students to summer camp. So generous!
Press Release: Westgate Fund Gives $5,000. to Chatham Elementary
The Westgate Teacher Fellowship Fund award for 2019 goes to three teachers and the psychologist at Chatham Elementary School. They will be going to Canada in November 2019 to participate in the New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (NPDL) Lab in Toronto and to visit exemplary schools in Ottawa and Montreal.
The teachers are Meghan Lampert, Elise Johnson-Dreyer, Mia Caolo and school psychologist Nicole Camp. The award of $5,000 is the largest given in the 35 year history of the Westgate Fund. It will cover the expenses of this four-person “scouting party” to observe first-hand the ways in which Deep Learning experiences can be implemented in the classroom. While all Monomoy principals were invited to indicate interest in participating, it was the initiative taken by Dr. Robin Millen, principal at Chatham Elementary School, that led to the selection of these teachers.
NPDL focuses on the six C’s, character education, citizenship, collaboration, communication,
creativity, and critical thinking. It is the hope of the Westgate Committee, Dr. Millen and the scouting party, that the lessons learned by these teachers will be shared throughout the district.
One previous award by the Westgate Committee enabled a team of teachers from Harwich Elementary School to visit the New School in St. Louis, MO. to learn about Using Students’ Multiple Intelligences. Another went to a team of two teachers observing earth sciences in Hawaii. The day of their arrival they experienced a tropical storm, an earthquake, and erupting lava. The 7th grade students of one teacher then taught the 3rd grade students of the other about earth sciences. WestgateFund.org is the website for details on past grants and the procedure to apply for future grants.
Westgate Teacher fellowships are made to Chatham and Harwich public school teachers to further their own educations. The principle in the fund currently stands at $140,000. Interest on the principle, augmented by current donations, has enabled the Fund to award more than 70 fellowships totaling $150,000 over the last 35 years. Fellowships have ranged from $500 to $1500 per teacher.
Continental Math Club:
Ms. King's Kindergarten News:
We have used an app called Space View to see where the moon and other planets are in the sky. The planets and constellations are shown in the position they would be if we were to look in the sky. We made an augmented reality video of the planets in our classroom.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gkyIm_iuktbl_536LdMaFCBzuPzKLOMP
Another student shared the moon she brought from home.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1e63bef5tHH27ui8Jw2BUf1zIL5et4uHA
We are beginning our last big opinion writing project. We have chosen a pet and are making a list of all of the reasons why it would be the best pet. Next week we will put it all together as we write about the best pet.
Preschool News:
This week has been filled with spring fun. Audubon came on Monday to show us signs of spring. Also on Monday, we received caterpillars. They are Painted Lady caterpillars.
At the art table, we have been making different types of flowers and spring scenes. At the academic tables, we have been focusing on letters. We traced the letter "F" for flower and the letter "S" for spring. Fine motor activities include being creative with circles and straight lines.
On Friday, we filled our 9th shark jar. Students voted on a Baby Shark Day. We made headbands and sang songs.
Awareness Week Photos:
Down Syndrome Day
Wearing Blue
Diabetes Awareness
Grade 1 News:
Ms. Macomber's News:
Did you hear about our new partnership with the Fishermen's Alliance? Check out the article below:
By Doreen Leggett
Many people notice shells in tide pools or at the edge of the sea and don’t give them another thought.
Not Max Furman.
“I think, What are they doing in their shell? Are they trying to find food?”
Furman says he has never eaten shellfish, but he knows they are important to the way the Cape’s environment works. Just how important he isn’t sure, but the Harwich third grader is about to find out.
Third graders in both Chatham and Harwich will be starting a new shellfish unit next month, an effort launched by the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, partnering with A.R.C Hatchery in Dennis, the Monomoy Regional School District, and supported through a handful of grants.
“The curriculum is meant to instill the importance and fragility of the Cape's blue water economy, and the role of aquaculture in cleaning our waters and feeding our community,” says Melissa Sanderson, chief operating officer of the Fishermen’s Alliance, and chief architect of the pilot program.
And the stars of the curriculum, oysters and clams, can be used as a perfect gateway to discuss food, ecosystem health, ecology, clean water and even history.
“Wampum, made from quahog and whelk shells, has a history that goes back over 10,000 years in coastal populations, and on the Cape was used by the Native Americans to barter with European settlers,” Sanderson says.
Here’s another teaching moment: Using recycled hummus, yogurt and a host of other containers gathered by Sanderson, students will create their own watershed. For each watershed model they have a tray, recyclables, clay, and a sheet of light colored plastic. Students use the materials, as well as sand and coffee for dirt and scrubbing pads for marshes, to create their models.
Kids will also have a spray bottle, food coloring, cooking oil and glitter, or confetti, to see how different types of pollutants effect the watershed.
“And towels for cleaning up spills,” chuckles Sanderson, who has two young boys herself.
Learning about threats to the Cape’s water, and what they mean, provides a broader perspective on how shellfish can be harmed by how we treat our natural environment. Students will also learn how shellfish can mitigate damage.
They’ll discover how clams and oysters are adept at removing nitrogen from local water, turning it into shell, cleaning while growing.
The 100-page curriculum has 17 lessons that range from identifying different types and ages of shellfish to how you get a shellfish permit to where you can harvest, where you can’t, and why. Math is involved too; if an oyster filters two gallons of water an hour and 10 oysters are placed in a tank of cloudy water, how many gallons would they clean in five hours?
Marc Smith, director of curriculum for Monomoy schools, says the partnership has many benefits. It supports the state’s science standards, plus partnering with the community is part of the district’s strategic plan. Working with scientific organizations will help bring science to life and open students’ eyes to careers here, he added.
The main goal is to have the students answer this question:
How does knowing about shellfish help me understand my community and take an active role in conservation?
Students become “Shellfish Ambassadors-in-Training” to learn as much as they can about shellfish, their habitat and why they are important.
Thomas Jordan, also a third grader at Harwich Elementary, is intrigued with the idea of being an ambassador and likes the idea of keeping track of all they learn in a special ambassador notebook.
“It’s a good idea so I can remember everything,” he says. “The Cape is surrounded by water and I think people should learn about the water.”
“These ambassadors will help lay the foundation for the long-term community support and understanding necessary to ensure clean water and a resilient shellfish economy on Cape Cod,” says Sanderson. “The future of shellfishing requires the community to continue to provide the ‘social license’ necessary for aquaculture and nitrogen mitigation projects on public shorelines.”
The students will end the unit by designing their own prototype of gear that would be ideal to grow shellfish. They then travel to A.R.C to see how shellfish are raised from larvae to adults, complete with insights into how research is conducted.
“The hope is this shellfish-based education program will eventually reach every third grade student on Cape Cod,” Sanderson says. (More than a few parents are interested in it as well.)
The program is also meant to foster the essential, personal connection those on the Cape should have with the world around them.
“I think every kid who lives on Cape Cod should know how to dig up a clam -- to eat, or to check out,” says Nancy Goward of A.R.C., “or maybe just put back down and watch dig in. We have drifted so far away from the natural world and into the cyber/virtual world. Shellfish bring us back to the sand, surf and water.”
Third grader Thomas Jordan isn’t sure he would craft a career out of harvesting or growing shellfish, but if he does he knows what he plans to do with part of the proceeds.
“What I would do with money from selling shellfish is give it to charity,” he figures.
A Bee-Bot Stop Motion Video from grade 3 and the Makerspace Club
2018-2019 School Council
2018-2019 Members:
Robin Millen, CES principal (co-chair)
Maegan Storey, parent (co-chair)
Ann Barnard, teacher grade 2
Lindsay Bierwirth, parent (new member)
Meghan Lampert, parent and EL teacher
Deb Hanley Lopes, parent
Margaret Turco, teacher grade 3
Katherine Ware, parent and Library Media Specialist
Meeting agenda and minutes from past meetings online.
Click here for the 2018-2021 Schoolwide Improvement Plan
Now on Facebook! Please "LIKE" us!
To Make This Playscape a Reality~Please Vote Yes at Town Meeting for the CPA Grants!
CES Student-Parent Handbook 2018-2019
Healthy Choices: MRSD Wellness Policy
Chatham Elementary School Website
Quote for this issue:
Community News:
A Note From Brook's Free Library about Fine Amnesty Month:
Saturday, March 23rd: Meet Your Local Farmers Event
Join us Saturday, March 23rd
(noon – 3:00 p.m.)
in the gym at the
Harwich Community Center
You’re invited to the 10th Annual “Meet Your Local Farmers” event (free & open to the public) on Saturday, March 23, 2019 from noon – 3:00 p.m. in the gym at the Harwich Community Center (100 Oak St., Harwich, 02645). Kick-off the 2019 growing season, meet local farmers from around Cape Cod, and learn more about locally grown products.
Click here for a map to the Harwich Community Center.
Farmers will be selling all sorts of interesting (and delicious) items. And a handful of farms will be offering Consumer Sponsored Agriculture (CSA) opportunities where folks can buy a subscription that allows access to farm fresh produce from May to October.
This fun event is brought to you by Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) and the Cape & Islands Farm Bureau.
March 2019
Beginning in 2008, members of the Chatham Fire Department have taken part in an April Fools’ Day “plunge” at one of our local beaches. In the first year, there was only ten participants and $200 raised. The participants vowed to get together every year and to spread the word, hoping more people would join in the fun. It was decided that each year, we would raise money for a different local individual or family in need, usually to assist with the financial burden of an illness or injury. Each year, the swim has grown immensely, both in the number of participants and in the funds raised. In 10 years of publicly advertising the swim, nearly $125,000 has been raised for local families. Aside from the financial assistance, the huge crowd generates an enormous emotional boost for the recipient and his/her family. It is truly a testament to the strength of our local community, and it exemplifies the importance of everyone looking out for each other in our small community.
This year marks the 12th year that the April Fools from Chatham Fire have led the community into the frigid waters. On Monday, April 1st at 4:30 pm, the Fools will be swimming for Michele St. Aubin and her family. Michele has recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer with Liver metastasis. She has begun treatment at Dana Farber in Boston. Michele’s loving and devoted husband, Judd, has not left her side since she began treatment, and has therefore not been able to work. Michele and Judd are the proud parents of Asa, a student at Monomoy Regional High School, and Liam, a student at Cape Cod Tech. Both boys have grown up in the Chatham Elementary and Monomoy School systems. The St. Aubin’s are currently residing in Brewster. The St. Aubin’s have attended the April Fools’ Plunge themselves, and are incredibly proud of this great community that they call home. Please come out and help us offer some emotional and financial support to the St. Aubin family. 100% of your donations go directly to the St. Aubin family to assist them in any way they see fit. We hope to make this our biggest and best swim yet. There is no better way to slam the door on the lovely winter season than to take your first refreshing dip of the year!
Please join us Monday, April 1st at 4:30 pm at Hardings Beach in Chatham. Donations of all amounts are graciously accepted. A free post-swim BBQ will take place at the Chatham VFW, immediately following the swim. The BBQ is free to all (whether or not you attended the swim). There will also be both a silent and live auction at the VFW featuring many outstanding goods and services, as well as face painting and other activities for kids! Hope to see you there!
If you would like to donate but are not able to attend, cash and checks may be sent to:
April Fools
Chatham Fire Department
135 Depot Rd.
Chatham, MA 02633
(508) 945-2324
Thank you,
Justin Tavano
Chatham Fire Department
Event Coordinator
Please help the "Kindness Club" help others by donating your pull-tabs to CES.
Chatham Elementary School
Website: www.monomoy.edu
Location: 147 Depot Road, Chatham, MA, USA
Phone: 508-945-5135
Twitter: @ChathamElemMRSD