The Eagle Express
Antrim Elementary January 2019
Happy New Year
Wellness at AES
In the first weeks of December we played throwing and catching games to help reinforce all of the skills we practiced in November. We played fan favorites like Clean Up your Room, Jail Ball, Throw and Catch Tag, Over and Under, Fill the Bucket and of course everyone’s favorite Battleship. Even Mr Macleod joined us for some fun in the gym! We also participated in a Speed Stacks unit. Speed Stacking is an activity that helps develop motor skills, patterning, sequencing, focus and concentration. It also promotes hand- eye coordination and ambidexterity, which are important skills in most any sport.
In Health we continued to learn about our amazing body and how the different systems work together. We talked about how the respiratory and circulatory system help us breath and carry oxygen to our body, how the skeletal and muscular system work together to help us move, and the role of the nervous system in making all of that happen. 3rd and 4th grade students also continued learning the names and locations of some of the muscles and bones in their body. We worked cooperatively in groups to put together large puzzles of Mike Muscles and Suzie Skeleton.
Kindergarten News
1st Grade News
In first grade Social Studies, we learned about Pilgrims and Native Americans. We started by reading many wonderful books to help us imagine the people and times they lived in. Some were Native American tales, while others gave facts about the Mayflower and the hard life of the Pilgrims. We took a field trip to the Monadnock Center for History and Culture to visit the Robbe Family Kitchen. We saw and touched the tools used in a Colonial kitchen, and went upstairs to play games children in the past would have played.
We wrapped up the unit with two days of hands-on activities. We made clay pots, carved soap arrowheads, threw straw arrows with and without tails, dipped string to make wax candles, wrote with quills, wove paper mats, beaded necklaces, and played like pilgrim children. It was a fun and educational unit!
In Science, we’ve started learning about wild animals that live in New Hampshire. We’re using great non- fiction picture books from our library, as well as websites and videos. We’ve been thinking about the different ways animals move, different habitats where they live, and different coverings on their bodies. There are so many more questions to explore! We’ve made posters and started a big mural together. We will be writing both facts and opinions about these animals this winter. First-graders love learning about these interesting and amazing creatures!
2nd Grade News
In the midst of all the excitement of December, second graders pressed on in math! We are learning to add numbers up to 100 (and soon up to 1,000) using both the open number line and the “HTO” chart with and without regrouping. The students are learning what strategy works best for them.
December is a month of celebration in second grade! We celebrated the holiday season as well as the beginning of winter. We read many seasonal stories and wrote about them as well. We also studied a Christmas around the World Unit. After learning where the seven continents and five oceans are located, we took a trip around the world as we learned how different countries celebrate Christmas. We were thrilled to have Mrs. Tenney visit us and teach us about the customs in Sweden. She wore her star girl crown, read to us about St. Lucia, and even brought us Swedish Christmas cookies to taste. Another highlight was our stop in Mexico. We learned that they have a huge celebration on Christmas Eve that includes going to church, eating a feast, and then having a huge party ending with breaking a star piñata. We made our own papier-mâché star piñata and broke it the last day before vacation. We learned that many of our traditions in America have come from other countries like Christmas trees, gingerbread houses, and wreaths from Germany. It was a great study in comparing/contrasting other countries’ traditions with ours in America.
One other highlight right before vacation was learning to play cribbage! Mrs. Aimee Mullahy came into the classroom for three days to teach one of the math groups how to play cribbage. Cribbage is fantastic for learning both math skills and strategy. This group completed one whole game and did really well! I’m hoping this group will teach other students, and Mrs. Mullahy is willing to come in and teach again! I remember playing this game with my grandfather growing up. Not only is this a great skill builder, but it’s a great game to connect generations!
Muzart News!
Ti-ti ta ti-ti ta! Students have been reading, writing and performing rhythms in Music Class. The eighth notes and quarter notes in the picture are made with play dough. In grades 2, 3 and 4 students make play dough notes and rhythms at the start of each class to help them recognize the name of the note and learn the value for each note. We also improvised and performed rhythms on instruments in December. We used djembe drums, rhythm sticks, hand drums, bells, maracas and more!
In addition to learning music notation we also analyzed music from “The Nutcracker” by the composer Tchaikovsky. We listened for changes in dynamics and tempo. Every grade level also learned a dance routine to the music. Through hands on experiences and movement we learned music concepts and performance etiquette.
Students and community members from across the ConVal District worked with local artists trained by our Artist in Resident, Gowri Savoor, to create beautiful lanterns. Every student at AES made a lantern to take home with a tea light! On December 1st we had our first Community Lantern Parade in Peterborough. We marched with them down Grove Street towards the park with live music being performed. It was a well attended event that showed the power of the Arts and great support for the Arts in our area!
Please Keep Sick Children Home
School attendance is important, however, your child may need to stay home because he/she is too sick to be comfortable to learn at school, and/or he/she might spread a contagious illness to the other students. Students should come to school able to participate in all school activities, and should not be tired and listless.
Returning Students to School: “The 24 Hour Rule/Guideline”
Students may return to school after 24 hours on antibiotics, when their temperature has been less 100 degrees for 24 hours, and/or no vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours and they feel better. It is important that the school knows how to reach parents or a designated emergency contact person during the day, particularly if a child has been sick.
And please remember to WASH YOUR HANDS~
Happy and Healthy New Year,
Nurse Mellon
Title 1 News
It was nice to see so many families at the AES Family Fun Night and Book Fair. Watching the students reading to the dogs, performing science experiments and enjoying themselves while learning, made the night special.
This month’s family question I would like to address is: What does each grade focus on teaching and what materials do they use to teach it? With the inception of the Common Core Standards came the benefit of knowing that all students are learning the same skills at the same grade level. Families now know that their child will be learning the same thing in Peterborough as they would in Antrim as they would in any school in the ConVal District.
When report cards are sent home we also send a supporting document for English language arts and math that informs families what foundation skills are taught at that particular student’s grade level. When the report cards come home please look for that document to clarify what your student is learning. Something you may notice if you have multiple students here is that all ELA students grades K-4 have the learning standard: Knows and applies phonics and word analysis skills. Even though the skill taught is the same, the depth of knowledge is different. For a kindergartener that skill means being able to look at a single letter and say it’s sound; for a fourth grader that skill means being able to use syllable patterns and affixes to read unfamiliar multi- syllabic words.
To ensure equity among students, our district requires teachers to use the standards to create teaching maps that are shared throughout the district. These maps guide grade level teachers in making certain they are teaching what they should, when they should. Throughout the year teachers across the district get together to review and revise the maps as a group and support each other with positive teaching strategies.
The ConVal District uses several programs and materials to support our standards. In English language arts we use: Letterland (for phonetic skills), Reading Street (a comprehensive curriculum for grades 1-4), the Florida Center on Reading Research and Lexia, among others to support the standards. For writing we use Keys to Literacy and Self Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD). In math we use: Eureka Math and Zern as well as several other research based math resources.
Thank you for your thoughtful questions. I appreciate the opportunity to address them on behalf of the staff here at AES. If you would like a specific list of standards please email me at klevesque@conval.edu or look for it at report card time.
4th Grade News
To celebrate the New Year, we reflected and wrote about what we would like to learn and achieve in 2019, and on the successes, positive memories, and challenges of 2018. With our Griffin's Nest buddies from Great Brook, we chose an AES Core Value, co-operation, honesty, kindness, respect, or grit, and wrote about how we will show it this year!
We are making progress with our multiplication and division facts. Learning math facts takes grit and time. 4th Grade have answered 21,984 multiplication and division facts on Reflex Math so far, and have almost doubled their fact fluency, all while playing awesome games like Wind Rider and Quick Slither! Families can support students at home with their math fact fluency by regularly using the resources shared at the Family Math Night and on the 4th grade website.
I’m late, I’m late for a very important date….
Fun song from Alice in Wonderland, however, it applies to so many situations.
There are several children each day who arrive at school after 8:40 in the morning. It may be 8:45, 8:50, 9:00, however, school starts at 8:40am with students arriving between 8:20 and 8:40. Did you know your student can arrive as early as 8:20?
By getting your child to school before 8:40 you allow them to greet their friends, have breakfast if that is part of your plan, and get in the right mindset so they can start school at 8:40 with their classmates. We understand that on a rare occasion you may have a car issue, appointments, etc. however, being on time to school is very important.
Did you know that each classroom has a Morning Meeting to outline the day, see where each student is at for the day and to establish strong relationships between staff and students? When a child arrives late they not only miss the opportunity to be mentally prepared for the day but they are interrupting what the teacher has already started in Morning Meetings, and it also makes attendance and lunch counts challenging.
We ask that you make sure your child arrives at school before 8:40 so that at 8:40 the teacher and student can start a positive day together.
Please remember to put changes in the student’s dismissal plans into Pickup Patrol prior to 2:30 in the afternoon so that our dismissal plans can be accurate. Thank you for your attention to this detail.
Happy 2019 to you and your family!
~The Front Office
Library Learning Commons
Local Events Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.
By Robin Gregg, School Counselor
On Martin Luther King Day, celebrated this year on Monday, January 21, 2019, communities in New Hampshire and the rest of the country will participate in commemorations, programs, and service activities. Antrim Elementary School and Pierce School families may wish to participate in two events in our area.
In nearby Hancock, New Hampshire, an event begins outdoors at 10 am on January 21, 2019. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech will be broadcast and read at the Hancock Bandstand on the town common in the middle of Hancock village. (In inclement weather, the speech will be read in the Vestry across the road from the Bandstand.) Following the speech, everyone is invited to the Vestry for snacks and beverages and a time of conversation and reflection. Art work and writing by Hancock Elementary School students will be displayed. This event is sponsored by members of the Hancock community who together have created a safe and inclusive forum to discuss topics of race and how ideas about and experiences of race affect our lives and community.
In keeping with this national Day of Service, donations to the Peterborough Food Pantry will be accepted at the Vestry during the event.
Later on that same day, in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, a program of events, “We Are All One Humanity,” takes place at the Jaffrey Civic Center, downtown Jaffrey, NH and at the United Church of Jaffrey, 54 Main Street, Jaffrey. Bells will ring during the National Bell-Ringing Ceremony at 4:45 pm (and earlier that day during the Hancock event described above.) From 5-6 pm at the United Church of Jaffrey, a program, “Let Freedom Ring: Choose Nonviolence,” features Keynote Speaker Dr. Dottie Morris and speakers sponsored by the International Institute of New England and includes music performed by the Jaffrey and Rindge school choirs.
At 6 pm at the Jaffrey Civic Center a reception with refreshments is open to all, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Exhibit will be on display.
The Jaffrey Civic Center and the New Hampshire non-profit relief organization NuDay Syria are partnering in a humanitarian drive in keeping with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service . NuDay Syria provides critically needed items to displaced Syrian children and families caught in one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. Donations of nonperishable food, new/gently used clothing, shoes, bedding and sleeping bags, fabric and sewing supplies, toys and games such as crayons, play-doh and puzzles, diapers, soap, detergent and toothbrushes may be brought to the Jaffrey Civic Center Jan. 11-26, M-F 9-noon and 1-5pm and Sat. 10-2. Volunteers are also sought to help sort and pack on Sat. Jan. 26, 10-4 (rain date Sun. Jan 27, noon-4). The following are especially needed: Non-prescription medications (especially for pain) and vitamins; medical equipment (walkers, wheelchairs, canes, crutches) and supplies (bandages, etc.); Cookware and utensils (no dishware or other breakables;Bicycles in any condition (they will be restored by a volunteer); tools and building supplies.
For questions, to volunteer or to arrange for pick-up of large items please call/text Jodi at 562-7033 or contact mlkjaffrey@gmail.com.
Stephanie Syre-Hager
Email: ssyre-hager@conval.edu
Website: aes.convalsd.net
Location: 10 School Street, Antrim, NH, USA
Phone: 603-588-6371
Twitter: @aes_ssh