MHS/WES Newsletter
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Important Dates
March 21 ~ Elementary Report Cards go home
March 24 ~ All District Chorus Night at OAK 6:30 p.m.
April 13 ~ PTO Meeting at 6:30 p.m.
April 11 ~ MCAS testing begins, please see the full schedule belowApril 18-22 ~ No School, April Vacation
May 5 ~ WES Creation Celebration 6:30-8:00 p.m.
May 18 ~ PTO Meeting at 6:30 p.m.
Kindergarten News
We have all enjoyed meeting and connecting with families regarding your child’s strengths and areas to work on, at our recent and ongoing parent teacher conferences. We are thankful for the many donations received during this time as well.
Our students continue to work on their math fluency abilities, as they add and subtract to 5. Our sight word recognition and decoding success also continues to develop. Thank you for your practice at home. We look forward to learning outdoors as the weather continues to improve!
Our students eagerly participated in a recent presentation put on by the Discovery Museum of Acton and our amazing PTO! We learned and explored about force and motion, including gravity, friction, collision and more! Each student was able to create their own toy at the conclusion. We all had a great time!
Thank you to our families, the PTO and the Discovery Museum!
Enjoy the daylight!
The Kindergarten Team
MCAS SCHEDULE
APRIL SCHEDULE:
April 12: GRADE 3 -ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS
April 13: GRADE 4 -ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS
April 14: GRADE 4 -ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS
April 26: GRADE 5 -ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS
April 27: GRADE 5 -ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS
MAY SCHEDULE
May 4: GRADE 3-MATH
May 5: GRADE 3-MATH
May 9: GRADE 5-MATH
May 10: GRADE 5-MATH
May 11: GRADE 4-MATH
May 12: GRADE 4-MATH
May 17-GRADE 5-SCIENCE
May 18-GRADE 5-SCIENCE
Chartwells Food Service - 5th Grade Lunch
Social Emotional Learning Class:
During Social Learning Class (Grades K-3), students have been exploring the importance of accepting others by:
Watching entertaining videos, including story read-alouds that promote respect & celebrate individual uniqueness.
Playing games, making illustrations and participating in group activities.
Grades 2 & 3: Creating socially and age appropriate survey questions. Students then had an extended movement break to walk around and converse with several classmates to obtain information about people’s viewpoints pertaining to various activities, foods, games, favorite class subjects, etc.
In the month of March, students have been playing more interactive games and activities in Social Learning Class in order to promote:
A.) Teamwork
B.) Sportsmanship
C.) Respect
D.) Following rules & expectations
** Following the completion of the games, students discuss their observations
about what went well and areas for improvement.
** Students will soon be playing games & activities outside (during Social Learning Class) to reinforce teamwork, sportsmanship, respect & following rules.
David Weinberg, M.Ed.
Guidance Counselor
Westminster & Meetinghouse Schools
Office: Room 133 (WES)
Email: dweinberg@awrsd.org
Phone: (978) 874-2043 X133
News from 4th Grade!
Can you believe it was two years ago - when these students were in second grade - that we shut down for the virus? These kids have grown up SO much over the last two years! This is their first “normal” year since first grade. We are noticing that students are doing a wonderful job adjusting to all the changes over the last two years, and we are so proud to watch them continue to grow and learn.
In science, students have been studying plants and recording data. In the fall, we studied a specific plant in the courtyard. When the weather forced us inside, students began to graph their data and analyze their findings. We were fortunate to have an expert join us and guide us through collecting data about our different plants.
At this point in the year, we are encouraging students to gain more independence and self-help skills. We are also continuing to work on our stamina, especially while writing longer pieces in our English Language Arts blocks. Students are also powering their way through understanding how to find equivalent fractions, as well as know how to compare, add, and subtract fractions. This is a tricky unit, but students have been using a variety of hands-on materials to help them visualize different fractions and see how they relate to decimals. All of these skills will come in handy when we have MCAS in April and May.
Technology News from Mrs. Breen
5th Grade ~ Paper Ball Run STEM Challenge
The 5th graders are learning about the engineering design process, which emphasizes open-ended problem solving and encourages the students to learn from failure and success.
Currently, we are working on the Paper Ball Run STEM Challenge. In this engineering challenge, the students will be building a ball run using nothing but paper and tape. However, there is a twist! They will need to make their ball run as slow as possible through their track. Some of their constraints are that they can only use up to 30 pieces of paper, that there are entrance and exit criterias for the ball, and innovation is the key component to this challenge. Their final score will be calculated by using this equation:
Final score = (4 × time in seconds) – (number of sheets of paper).
This project nurtures students’ abilities and collaborative efforts to create innovative solutions in a group environment. Wish them luck!!!
4th Grade ~ Scribblebot
In this unit, the mythical Mrs. Scribbles needs the 4th graders' help to design art. However, there is a challenge, they can not use their hands. Mrs. Scribbles wants to hire them to come up with a machine that will make interesting patterns. The 4th graders will need to build a scribble bot that has an out-of-balance motor and is built on a chassis that has attached drawing utensils.
Since the students are in the design stage of this unit they may want to bring in recyclable materials for this project. If so, then please send in these materials in a labeled bag with the student’s name and class code.
3rd Grade ~ Building & Coding
Third grade is having a blast constructing their different LEGO WeDo robotics. In this unit, they are learning various soft skills that will shape the way that they work and interact with others. Including teaching about creative thinking, teamwork, communication, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills.
2nd Grade ~ Electronics/Circuitry
The 2nd graders have been learning the basics about electronics and circuitry. By using kits called Snap Circuits, the students follow building instructions and assemble conductive components for different challenges. We have been having a blast lighting up LEDs, making fans spin, and play different pieces of music.
1st & Kindergarten ~ Osmo Centers & Lego Challenges
The MHS Technology room has been transformed into hands-on learning centers that include different Osmo stations, iPads, and Lego challenges.
Our Osomo centers pair learning core subject matter with the use of technology.
These centers include:
Math: in the form of counting and addition
Spelling (Words): beginning word sounds and letters
Tangram: visual thinking, shapes, and spatial awareness
Newton: creative problem-solving and angles
Masterpiece: self-expression art
Lego Challenge: building based on a problem or criteria
ABCs (sticks & rings): using shapes to build letter shapes
Detective: world maps & problem solving
Pizza shop: counting and direction following