Old Mill Pond News
February 2020
February Dates to Remember
Tuesday, February 4 - School Banking
Wednesday, February 5 - PTO Meeting, 6pm
February 17 through February 21 - Winter Break
Tuesday, February 25 - School Banking
MCAS Dates
ELA Sessions -
Grade 3 March 31st and April 1st
Grade 4 April 6th and 7th
Grade 5 April 8th and 9th
Math Sessions -
Grades 3 April 28 and 29th
Grade 4 May 4th and 5th
Grade 5 May 7th and 8th
Science and Technology Sessions -
Grade 5 May 11th and 12th
Six Flags Six Hour Reading Program
OMP will once again be participating in the Six Flags Six Hour Reading Program. This program also known as Read To Succeed is a free program that allows students in grades K-6 to earn tickets to Six Flags New England just by reading six hours for fun.
This year students DO NOT return their completed logs to OMP. Instead parents log in to the program at sixflags.com/books and use OMP’s code (9VUUX) to register and record your child’s reading. To receive a free ticket in May, all logs must be submitted electronically by Wed., April 15th.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or Mrs. Ivy Peritz-Smith, OMP Six Flags Coordinator, at iperitz-smith@palmerschools.org.
FROM THE MATH INTERVENTION TEAM:
1. Use age appropriate math talk. Math talk grows with your child. Math talk is simply talking to your child about the math that they experience.
2. Look for opportunities to count or add. Count the number of green tiles on the floor of the grocery store or the number of cracks you walk over on the sidewalk. Once children are able to add, look for opportunities to allow them to do this. On a drive or a walk you might say, “I see two geese on this side of the lake and three geese on the other side. How many geese does that make?
3. Look for opportunities to problem solve. One of the best places to ask questions about math is in the grocery store. The problem solving involved in an everyday discussion about how much of a specific food your family needs involves a lot of math concepts and content.
4. Ask open-ended questions to sustain math talk as long as possible. The goal of math talk is to keep the child talking. Instead of simply telling your child how many apples you think you need and putting them in a bag and moving on, take the time to stop and ask open-ended questions and listen carefully to the responses. For example you could ask, “Should we buy the bag of apples or buy individual apples?”
5. Be prepared to take extra time for math talk. Discussion about something like how many apples we need to buy takes time, but these types of interactions are wonderful opportunities for learning. From Support Math Readiness with Math Talk by Eugene Geist on https://www.naeyc.org/
ESL Corner
Happy February!
Now that ACCESS testing has been completed in January, the school will be preparing our third, fourth and fifth graders for MCAS testing in March and April. Your child is working very hard to learn more English skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. We are very proud of the progress they have made this year! One important way that parents can help at home is to read to your child. Studies show that children whose parents read to them at home become more successful at school. We will be celebrating Read Across America Day on March 2nd! This is a great time to do more reading at home to prepare for this special event! More information will be sent home with your student about events at school including more information about Read Across America Day. We hope that everyone has a safe and healthy month! It is always a great reminder that school attendance, along with reading at home, is very important for your child to be successful.
Best Wishes,
Christine Rapagnola
English Teacher
Kelly Simpkiss
English Teacher
Kindergarten February News
1st Grade News
We are just over half way through our 2019-2020 School year and are looking forward to a strong second-half for all our students. We just finished up unit 3 in our Wonders reading series in which we learned about changes over time, including how plants change and grow, how stories and tales have beed told over time, how different things were long ago and now, and where our food comes from. we hope your student shared some of his/her new knowledge with you. We are looking forward to starting unit 4 “Animals Everywhere”
Students are learning to add detail to their sentences in their writing. They are also continuing to respond to texts.
In math, we have been introducing place value and working on addition and subtraction within 20.
2nd Grade News
Welcome, 2020! New year, same attendance goals!
Strong attendance is a core value at Old Mill Pond. Attendance is crucial to your child’s success. Attending school regularly helps children to feel better about school and themselves. Building strong attendance habits in elementary school will help children do well across their lifespan in high school, college, and careers. School attendance contributes to greater academic success and positive feelings towards school, whereas school tardiness and absenteeism have adverse impacts on learning.
Last quarter, the classrooms with top student attendance received an ice cream party thrown by Mr. Leander! At Old Mill Pond, staff are also rewarded for perfect attendance via a drawing for receiving a parking spot up close to the building!
Breaking it down!
If your child misses 5 minutes per day, that adds up to missing 900 minutes per school year, which equals missing 2.5 days of the school year.
If your child misses 10 minutes per day, that adds up to missing 1,800 minutes per school year, which equals missing 5 days of the school year.
If your child misses 15 minutes per day, that adds up to missing 2,700 minutes per school year, which equals missing 7.5 days of the school year.
Surely 1 or 2 days does not seem like much, but…
If your child misses school 1 day every 2 weeks, that equals 20 days per school year, which equals missing 4 weeks per school year.
If your child misses school 1 day per week, that equals 40 days per school year, which equals missing 8 weeks per school year. Over 13 years of schooling, that equates to missing over 2.5 years of school!
If your child misses school 2 days per week, that equals 80 days per school year, which equals missing 16 weeks per school year. Over 13 years of schooling, that equates to missing over 5 years of school!!
For more information, please visit https://www.attendanceworks.org/. Additionally, We would like to welcome Ms. Angela King to our school adjustment counseling team! Ms. King has eight years of experience as a school adjustment counselor and as a behavior specialist, making a great addition to our team. Upon Ms. King’s arrival, there has been a shift in counselor caseloads which may impact your child; Rebecca Curry: K, 4, 5, Pre-K Angela King: 3, STEP 1, Discovery, Pre-K Stephanie LaVenture: 1, 2, STEP 2, RISE Counseling Office Direct Line: 413-283-4300 Ext 1406