Principal's Message
Dear Booth Hill Families, last week I wrote about all the great activities we have in store for February. However, one of our biggest fundraisers and a great event that brings our whole school together is the Kids Heart Challenge. Our Bobcats kick this off on Monday, January 29, and it runs until March 3. This annual event raises critical research money for the American Heart Association. Students learn how to live an active and healthy life and how their contributions impact the lives of others. Many thanks to Mr. Dwelle and Ms. Moynihan for spearheading this event.
I've received a few e-mails from parents on previous newsletters stating they enjoyed reading the more personal stories from school. Thank you for reading my weekly updates and for taking the time to send me some wonderful notes. With this in mind I've brought back, "Line of the Week." These are stories and one-liners that I encounter. This past week I had lunch with first graders. During our conversation we stumbled on to Sunday dinners. After exchanging some dinner stories, we were captivated by a student who explained that his Sunday dinner includes: pasta, salad, lasagna, meatballs, and steak. After hearing this, I asked: "How do I get invited to this amazing dinner?" The student responded, "Well, the only way you be can invited is if one of my uncles doesn't come over. Then we'll have an extra seat." I love it. I'm on the waiting list and looking forward to a seat at the table one of these Sundays!
Our staff and students have been working hard on our Vision of the Graduate dispositions, With this in mind, below is our work by grade level and departments.
Kindergarten: focused on communication and expression as students worked on public speaking during their Social Studies unit on families. Students interviewed a family member about their past and connected it to themselves. Students collected the information and presented it to their classmates. The areas of communication that we focused on were: speaking with purpose, having an awareness of audience, organization of ideas, and listening to others.
First Grade: worked on conveying what we learned in their Holidays Around the World unit. We defined communication as: enunciating when speaking, projecting our voice to an audience, maintaining eye contact, and using whole body listening. In conjunction with our student-teacher conferences, we collaborated with our music teacher to extend these communication practices beyond the classroom and onto the performance risers, culminating in our first grade International Celebration.
Second Grade: set out to improve students' growth mindset specifically while working on the challenging concept of addition and subtraction with two and three digit numbers with regrouping. Students have been working hard on being flexible mathematicians by choosing a strategy that has been taught and adapting when necessary. We define a growth mindset as showing drive and motivation with an end goal in mind, using self reflection to develop a path toward success, understanding that mistakes and challenges are opportunities to grow and learn, as well as seeking support from teachers or peers to find ways to accomplish a task.
Third Grade: students focused on having a growth mindset as they worked on the challenging concept of multiplication and division using the distributive property. We defined a growth mindset as, persevering when facing challenges, setting short and long-term goals, knowing that mistakes help us grow, asking students for support when we're unsure of a task, recognizing accomplishments, self reflection, and motivation.
Fourth Grade: students have applied a growth mindset through their work on challenging word problems in math. Our Bobcats were encouraged to review errors and understand that mistakes we make are an integral part of the learning process. Students were taught how to seek support from their peers and adults and reflected on how they've improved their mindset over time.
Fifth Grade: focused on communication. Students worked on this skill through involvement in realistic fiction book clubs. Fifth graders learned that one way to build communication is through accountable talk. We defined accountable talk as: being able to respectfully agree, disagree and grow an idea to show an understanding of other’s thinking. Students were given prompts to help guide their conversations in a meaningful way. Some prompts included: I agree with you because, Can you show me an example of, I see that part differently now and can add to what you were saying.
Music: having a growth mindset approach in music involved 5th grade students viewing their winter concert and reflecting as a whole group what they would like to improve. After this whole-group discussion, students completed a self-reflection form. Both activities were extremely beneficial to demonstrate what we can identify to improve in an environment that promotes honesty and feeling comfortable enough to share with peers.
Art: focusing on communication our art students worked on the concept of self-reflection and critique. Students critiqued themselves on time spent and effort made, creativity and use of materials with a project. Students reflected and wrote about the positive aspects of their work and expounded on why they feel positive about their art.
Library Learning Commons: students visiting the library worked on growth mindset as they participated in various coding activities. From navigating tricky turns with Sphero Indi racecars, to programming their own dance parties, students learned through trial and error that computer science can help us become resilient and adaptable learners.
Physical Education: students focused on communicating within the concept of a team structure. During specific activities students were asked to communicate details about a game to one another and to encourage teammates for their efforts, not solely just on results. Students also reflected on how their communication skills assisted in the efficiency of a game, and how they contributed to a positive attitude among each other.
Special Education Department: students in a variety of small group settings worked on a growth mindset to celebrate each individual's personal and academic accomplishments. Students have the opportunity to take risks and persevere when faced with a challenge. Staff members highlighted reflecting on what students did well, and how their perseverance benefits them.
Reflections Winners!
Booth Hill always has a strong showing in the PTA Reflections contest. This year was no exception, as several students earned the following awards:
- 1st Place for Visual Arts-Ryan Ouimette
- 2nd Place for Visual Arts- Ryan Ouimette
- 3rd Place for Visual Arts-Rashik Haty
- 1st Place for Primary Literature-Bryson Malin
- 1st Place for Intermediate Literature-Eve Malin
- 1st Place for Photography-Leah Lennon
- 1st Place for Music Composition-Zoe Zaveruha
Booth Hill Elementary School
Email: dpierce@trumbullps.org
Website: boothhill.school
Location: 545 Booth Hill Road, Trumbull, CT, USA
Phone: 203 452-4377