Weekly Newsletter
December 15, 2022
A Message from Principal Emma Liebowitz
Events/Calendar
Friday, December 23 - 12:30 Dismissal
December 26 - January 2 - School Vacation
Tuesday, January 3 - School Resumes
Tuesday, January 10 - PTO Meeting at 7:30 - Virtual
Wednesday, January 11 - 1:50 Dismissal
Monday, January 16 - No School
Wednesday, January 18 - All School Meeting at 2:15
Wednesday, January 25 - 1:50 Dismissal
Link to Sanderson Academy calendar.
Health Office News from Nurse Loranna
Greetings from the health office! I wanted to take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful winter break and holiday. As well as thank you for all you do to keep Sanderson healthy and thriving. This fall and winter has been brutal for illnesses, we have had many with back to back illnesses which is so incredibly hard on families and the kiddos too. As we have been less exposed to many typical childhood illnesses and germs over the past several years, this seems to be the year that we are building up our immunity, resulting in more frequent illnesses. It also seems the virulence of these germs is higher (just my musings on what I am noticing). Which is the perfect storm for frequent illness. I do so appreciate your understanding of the need to have sick children stay home, and your grace when a child needs to go home early. It is one of the most important ways we can keep our school healthy- to stay home when feeling unwell! On that note just in case you have not heard, you can get 4 free covid tests sent to you by mail: the US Government is once again offering free test kits to households (4 kits per address). Individuals can sign up on the site: https://www.covid.gov/tests.
Please consider testing upon our return to school after the break, especially if feeling unwell.
Also- please let me know if you have any winter clothing needs and I can likely help with that :)
Thank you again and have a happy and healthy break!
Preschool News from Ms. Melanie
We’ve been enjoying the abundant snow in the yard right outside our classroom. One huge pile has attracted a lot of activity–just right for climbing and sliding! Inside, we have finished a variety of winter holiday projects and our preschoolers brought home some very special gifts to share with their families. We wish everyone a joyous holiday season, full of fun and lots of outdoor play–and a very happy and healthy new year to all!
Preschool News from Ms. Freeman
We read a variety of gingerbread stories in class. We talked about how there are different versions of the Gingerbread Man and many stories with gingerbread characters. Preschoolers chimed in to help read the repetitive text and made predictions when a fox entered the story. To help make these stories even more enjoyable, we made gingerbread houses. Thank you for the donations to help make this project possible!
Instead of gingerbread, we used graham crackers to assemble the houses. The photo shows preschoolers building and decorating their houses.
Kindergarten News from Ms. Sarah
This week we paused between our units of study to give classmates a chance to get caught up in work they missed when they were out, and also to do some special projects—gift-making and winter decorations for our classroom. We did some fun activities around one of our favorite books, The Gruffalo, which is about a clever mouse that outsmarts all the other characters. We have loved climbing on the huge snowbanks around the front of the school! And after some work, we managed to get a sledding trail going down the hill. It was tricky in the deep snow but now that the trail is packed, we are finally picking up some speed with the sleds! And to have some special time together before the holiday break, we decorated cookies!
First Grade News from Ms. Wyckoff
This week has been full of so much fun! We had the wonderful opportunity to see our buddies not once, but twice! The first time we joined them in mindful movement and then they visited our room to make some crafts. While we crafted buddies shared about vacation plans, fun they’ve had in the snow all while enjoying some festive music. Thank you fourth grade for being the most wonderful buddies! In ELA we are finishing our most magnificent writing pieces that will soon be on display in our hallways. This week as we close out 2022 we are thinking of what we are grateful for and sending well wishes to friends and family near and far and creating beautiful gifts for our families and classmates. Wishing everyone a safe, enjoyable and restful vacation! See you in 2023!
Third Grade News from Ms. Carole
In math this week we began the work of tackling rounding. We have learned how to round to the nearest ten in two, three, and four-digit numbers. We also began to learn how to round to the nearest hundred in three-digit numbers. Estimating and rounding are things that adults do regularly in the real world, whether we are counting miles, gallons, or dollars. It would be helpful for you to vocalize about the rounding you do in your life with your third grader to see how this important skill applies to real life.
Third graders enjoy being in charge of the school sign out by the road. This is a cooperative activity that requires planning, coordination, and teamwork. This week we have set the sign to express our best wishes for the new year. We hope everyone has a fun, safe, and relaxing vacation, and we’ll be thinking about our resolutions for making 2023 an even better year.
Fourth Grade News from Mrs. Lagoy
Fourth graders are getting ready to begin a whole new unit in our EL program when we get back from break: Animal Defense Mechanisms. In this unit, students will be researching various animals and will write a choose-your-own adventure book. This week we watched some Coyote Peterson videos. You can ask your children to share some facts about the animals we saw in the videos. Their defense mechanisms were fascinating! We are all VERY excited to officially begin this unit of study when we get back. In math, we are learning how to convert fractions to decimals. To do this, students are using our base-ten blocks in a whole new way. Be sure to ask them how they are helping us convert fractions with denominator 10 or 100 into a decimal. I hope everyone has a wonderful break and I look forward to seeing fourth graders in the new year!
Fifth Grade News from Ms. Johnson
Fifth grade students have started learning about the water cycle. We have been learning from Bill Nye the Science Guy and did a lab to make a water cycle in a bowl. In ELA, students are writing monologues and director notes to go with them to connect the monologues to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In math, students are using various strategies to multiply whole numbers and decimals. They are using area models, ratio tables, double and half, five is half of ten, and other patterns.
Sixth Grade News from Ms. Lilly
We have been so busy in sixth grade! We have finished reading Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief and will complete our last assignment connected with the book in January when we return from break. Next in our ELA curriculum we dive into the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. This book is about a 13 year old boy from Malawi, who is determined to save his village and family despite many challenges. In social studies we’ve been learning all about the first civilizations. We are currently designing real estate advertisements to move to a Sumarian Village! Ask your child about their advertisement, many have created their ad on Google Slides and they can show off their great work!
News from Ms. Prew
How to Support Students at Home: Math Conversations
Math at home CAN be joyful and productive. You don’t need to know the strategies students are using in school in order to support your children at home. Try these conversational strategies!
Step 1: Promote curiosity by asking, “What do you notice?” (This is great because there are no wrong answers to this question.)
Step 2: Start from a place that makes sense. Ask:
“Is there something you know that can help you solve the problem?”
“Can you think of another problem that is like this one?”
“Can you draw a picture to help make sense of the problem?”
Step 3: After solving the problem, follow up with…
“What strategy did you use?”
“Can you explain the steps you took to solve it?”
Enjoy! :) aprew@mtrsd.org
News from Ms. Trish Aurigemma
Did you know that random acts of kindness can benefit you and your child's health?
Watch this short video to learn about the benefits of being kind.
Research shows that giving to others releases the body's chemicals that help us feel good or happy. So try some of these fun ideas with your child to help keep your family feeling good:
Volunteer at a community organization.
Give up your seat or place in a long line for someone else.
Help a neighbor bring in the groceries.
Shovel a neighbor's driveway and/or do yard work.
Plant a tree or volunteer in your local community cleanup.
Hold a door open for someone.
Give a compliment
Resources:
Ivan, Todd MD: “How Random Acts of Kindness Can Benefit Your Health”. Posted January 31, 2022 https://www.summahealth.org/flourish/entries/2022/01/how-random-acts-of-kindness-can-benefit-your-health, Summa Health Date Accessed: December 18, 2022
The Science of Kindness Video. You Tube. uploaded by Trish Aurigemma, 12 December 2022, ”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9UByLyOjBM&ab_channel=randomactsofkindness”.
Letter from the Department of Education
Mindful Movement News from Ms. Sue
During our ALL SCHOOL get together this week we ALL (yup everyone at Sanderson) did our best pretending to be on toboggans and we all swayed left & right, belly laughing our way down our imaginary mountain!! What we discovered is how many health benefits we receive from laughter…Wishing you all a wonderful winter break, time with family and friends, outdoor activities and LOTS of LAUGHTER!! See you in 2023!!
About Us
Email: eliebowitz@mtrsd.org
Website: https://sanderson.mohawktrailschools.org/
Location: 808 Cape Street, Ashfield, MA, USA
Phone: (413) 628-4404
Facebook: facebook.com/SandersonAcademy