March 4th, 2016
News and Updates from FSMA
Happy Pig Day!
On Wednesday, our school celebrated NEA’s Read Across America Day with a One Book,One School experience. Our choice, Happy Pig Day by Mo Willems, tells us that everyone and anyone can participate in the celebration if they want to and they show up. At our school, everyone and anyone can learn, have fun, be welcome, and be loved if they want to and they show up. And so we spent a day saying “Oinky, Oink, Oink” (which is Happy Pig Day, in pig).
"Portrait of a Pig"
In art, we looked at "Portrait of a Pig" by Jamie Wyeth and students heard a story about how Jamie set up his paints outside on his neighbor's farm. He left the area and returned to find that the neighbor's pig, Den Den, had eaten 17 tubes of oil paint! Luckily, Den Den survived. Jamie made Den Den the subject of numerous paintings and even bought The Pig to keep as a pet.
We had fun looking at Jamie's pig paintings as part of Read Across America Day!
Reading Time
On Wednesday, one of the things we did was have a School-wide Reading Time. This year, teachers at FSMA have developed their skills in teaching independent reading time by focusing on ideas from a resource called The Daily Five. Teachers help students choose appropriate books, build their stamina, and deepen their comprehension skills. Another fun part of the day was having Guest Readers in our classrooms - thanks to everyone who volunteered to read!
87ers tickets available for FSMA families - The 87ers have reached out to offer our families $5 tickets for any game in the remainder of the season (and, an NBA Alll-Star is making a comeback and is on the team). Email michaelmotyczka@sevens.com for tickets
Tuesday, 3/8 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. "Coffee and Conversation" - Come and find out how FSMA teachers use assessment in the classroom and how we approach state testing
Thursday, 3/10 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. FSMA Ice Skating Event
Friday 3/18 - 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. FSMA Adult Mixer at Tonic
Wednesday and Thursday 3/23 and 3/24 - Parent Teacher Conferences
Shoe Recycling... begins March 21st (help us fill our boxes and ship gently used shoes all over the world to people who can use them)