Spring News
April, May, June
Principal's Message
I am not exactly sure who coined the saying, “Play is the work of childhood” but it is very true. Children need down time to play. The language that develops when playing nourishes vocabulary, reading, and writing! Pretend play often follows a sequence and a story line with a beginning, middle, and end. Children who engage in play initiate novel strategies to solve problems on their own. Their play schema is very similar to the text features of good fiction with characters in a specific setting who have a problem and discover solutions.
Not only does play help with literacy skills; it is also promotes resiliency and responsibility. Unfortunately there is not a rule book for all play. Disagreements arise about teams, fairness, rules, ability, etc. As adults, we are often called on to resolve these conflicts. The quick fixes of ending a game, separating children, requiring an apology rarely have an enduring effect. While we can be helpful to calm children’s emotions and help with a resolution, there is a greater opportunity to provide children tools and time to resolve these differences on their own. As parents and caregivers, we can listen attentively, understand their hurt feelings, and promote empathy. Children can then own mistakes, compromise, and think about possible solutions. This is one of our challenges to empower our children to develop the ability to become independent problem solvers. This is a skill that will serve them well.
Sincerely,
Colleen Duggan
Design Engineering
Fifth Grade Egg Drop
International Potluck Supper
On March 20th, approximately 20 Fisher and Johnson families gathered in the Fisher School auditorium to celebrate our diverse cultures and ethnicities. A pot luck supper that included main dishes and desserts from countries such as India, Italy, Albania, Ireland, Korea, and China was served, with everyone having the opportunity to sample foods from other countries. The students entertained the guests with traditional dances and songs, stories about life in their native countries, and lessons in how to speak their home languages. Thanks to a grant from the Norfolk County Teachers Association, every child who attended the event had the opportunity to select a book to take home with them. As families were departing, they were overheard already talking about next year’s event. We hope more families will join in the fun next year as we honor and celebrate the many cultures in our Fisher and Johnson family.
The food was delicious!
The company even better! Sahithi plays a classical Indian song
Jacob teaches us all some Albanian greetings.
Guidance News
The Elementary School Counselors have a Twitter handle, @WalpoleESC where we retweet links to articles, resources, and updates on what is happening in our schools. Please follow us!
Also, please visit my blog: https://fisherschoolguidance.blogspot.com for updates on classroom lessons and the topics we discuss and learn about throughout the year. Included you will find some of the books, videos, and resources we use during our lessons together. Some topics we are currently discussing are: responsible decision making skills, friendship skills, what makes us unique/how are we the same, character traits, and who is in our family?
In May, the counselors from JMS and I will co-teach a series of lessons to our fifth grade students as they prepare to move on to middle school. Theses lessons will center around organizational skills, learning styles, and "who can help." The goal is to help our students feel excited and confident as they move on to the next phase of their education and life.
Cascarones - wishing good luck!
Mrs. McMillan’s first grade class read a story about a Mexican tradition spreading good luck during spring celebrations using cascarones. Cascarones are hollowed out colorful eggs filled with confetti. According to the story, the idea supposedly can be traced back to Marco Polo. Marco Polo bought eggs filled with perfume powder from Asia to Italy. The practice of giving these eggs as gifts spread to Spain and eventually Mexico in the 18th century. Overtime the perfume was replaced with confetti and slowly used in many Mexican celebrations- Easter, Cinco de Mayo, etc. Mrs. Jacobsen was kind enough to donate the cascarones to the class to continue the Mexican tradition. Mrs. McMillan’s students were eager to crack these beautiful eggs filled with confetti and spread the good luck to each other!
Art News
As we welcome the season of spring into the art room, we have been working on lessons that integrate with many subject areas. Currently, each grade level is working on the following skills and techniques:
Kindergarten: Caterpillars and butterflies have been the topic for the past month and students have enjoyed exploring mixed media techniques to create caterpillars. After reading “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle, they turned their beautiful caterpillars into clay “low relief” butterflies!
Grade 1: In celebration of Earth Day we will be reading “How do you Know It’s Spring by Allan Fowler. Here, students will learn about forsythia, cherry blossoms and pussy willows and create a mixed media composition using paint, tissue paper and print techniques.
Grade 2: After viewing and discussing floral still life paintings by Van Gogh and Cezanne, students learn a variety of water color techniques to create their compositions. They are also painting from observation by observing a variety of silk flowers.
Grade 3: Exploration of radial weaving has been an enjoyable area of study for our third graders. They choose a theme and 3 to 4 colors to learn the skill of weaving. Using a paper plate as the loom, students learn the challenging techniques of creating a warp and weft resulting in beautiful array of color! In addition, Art and Physical Education have integrated in an exciting unit of study where students combined their learning of figure drawing and throwing techniques culminating in captivating drawing/photographs! They are currently on display in the Media Center hallway gallery.
Grade 4: Our grade 4 classes are in the process of learning printmaking techniques. After learning about abstract artist, Gustav Klimt and his famous “Tree of Life” collage, students engraved their tree design into a Styrofoam block and printed 2 editions onto their warm and cool color watercolor backgrounds.
Grade 5: Our grade 5 classes are studying the principles of one point perspective drawing which integrate math and design. After learning to transform geometric shapes into forms using a vanishing point and horizon line, they applied this knowledge to create a variety of landscapes. In addition, we will be attending the Davis Museum on May 10th to participate in a guided tour and art making activity that focuses on American Art. This program integrates with our Social Studies and Visual Art curriculum.
Please enjoy the colorful array of exhibits that are on display throughout the year at our Media Center Hallway, Town Hall and the digital website “Artsonia.” In celebration of Youth Art Month, a system-wide exhibit took place in March. Our Fisher School exhibiting artists were as follows: Paige Sutherland & Lola Kittelson-kindergarten, Leyla Antonetti & Caroline Solbo-Grade 1, Cole Chase & Thomas Mitchell-Grade 2, Adrianna Pinto & Swara Soncchatra-Grade 3, Ava Griffith & Keira Connors-Grade 4 and Cole Bowden & Abby Poirier-Grade 5. In addition, we will be celebrating our annual District Art Show beginning May 1st at the Walpole Public Library! This spectacular show will feature a variety of two dimensional and three dimensional works of art from kindergarten through grade 12 students in the Walpole Public Schools. This exhibit will take place throughout the month of May so please stop by and view the progression of skills from our elementary and secondary level students. I am proud of how our students display strong effort and creativity and look forward to continuing to enhance their learning through the integration of visual art!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Joanne Hirschfeld
Music Instruction
Music classes have been progressing this year as students continue to gain skills, learn concepts and elements of music, and hopefully enjoy the journey!
Embedding the foundational concepts of music such as the steady beat, fast and slow, loud and soft, into Kindergarten students is a carefully sequenced process. First grade music is reinforcing pitch, melody, musical form and the essentials of reading music by introducing rhythms and songs with small vocal ranges and specifically-targeted rhythmic patterns found in many folk songs. This helps students become aware of the "crossover" of these patterns into other songs, making musical connections. Second graders have been solidly adding a group of four sixteenth notes to their repertoire, calling it "ta-ki-ti-ki" as we read the rhythms found within songs and othe musical pieces, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Rondo alla Turca. Third grade students are currently exploring two ways to create/compose their own music: writing a composition using the language of music; creating a composition using aural-only techniques (exploring through performing on their recorder, creating a tune and memorizing it WITHOUT writing it down, but being able to reproduce the exact same tune later). Students in Grade Four have been reviewing a song to memorize the fifty states, as a connection to their year-long classroom learning. Their reading and performing of music using their recorders has expanded to 2-hand playing, coordinating both hands, reading notes on more lines and spaces of the staff, and more challenging rhythms. Fifth graders are working to finish a final project in their ukulele experience. They are the FIRST students at Fisher Elementary School to recieve ukulele instruction as part of their music curriculum! I hope to hear their critiques of this ukulele unit and I value their ability to communicate both the positives and the negatives in a healthy, education-driven thought-process that is non-confrontational.
Physical Education
Mrs. Hornsleth
Welcome to the Class of 2031!
We are often asked how to prepare your child for kindergarten. Play is such an important part of a child's development. It helps children plan, organize, and share. It helps develop language and vocabulary around a specific pretend play scenario and around topics. This language is vital to the development of early reading and writing skills. When conflict arises during play and it will, children will develop skills of negotiating and compromising. They will gain confidence and independence. So when preparing for kindergarten encourage your child to PLAY!
Expressing our Appreciation
MCAS Schedule
Important Dates
May
1- District Art Show at the Walpole Library
2- STEM Day Fenway for Grade 5
2- PAC Meeting- 7:30 pm
2- Grade 5 STEM Day at Fenway
4-May 25- MCAS Math and STE testing window
8- School Council
10- Gr. 5 Davis Museum
14- Curriculum Meeting - 3:30 -4:45 pm
15- Grade 1 Acton Discovery Museum 9:00-2:00 pm
16- Kindergarten Parent Orientation
18- Early Release- Placement
25-Grade 3 Boston Tea Party Museum
25- Discovery Museum for Grade 2 in Media
28- Memorial Day - No School
30- JMS/BMS -Grade 5 Move up Day
30- JMS/BMS Grade 5 Parent Orientation- 7:00 pm at Middle Schools
June
1-Night at the Museum Grade 4- Auditorium, Media and Makerspace
4- Kindergarten Screening
5- Kindergarten Screening
5- Roger Williams Zoo- Grade 2
6- Kindergarten Tours
8- Field Day
11- Rain Date for Field Day
12- Step up Day
13 - Fifth Grade SMART Show Rehearsal in the afternoon (1:45- 3:00 pm)
14- Fifth Grade SMART Show for K-4 and then in the evening for parent/guardians
14- 11:00 am Elizabeth Englander comes to Fisher to award our fifth graders
15- Siemens visits Grade 4
19- Last day for K
19- End of the Year celebration for Grade 5- 2:00 pm
20- Early Release Day- last Day of School for Grades 1-5
To Contact Fisher School
Website: http://walpolefs.ss5.sharpschool.com
Location: 65 Gould Street, Walpole, MA, USA
Phone: (508) 660-7234
Twitter: @FishrSchWalpole