SRES Eagle Times
September 22, 2022 - Issue No. 5
Inspire, Create and Grow a Community of Lifelong Learners
NEWS FROM MRS. HAZARD, PRINCIPAL
Happy Thursday SRES Families!
We are sending our newsletter a day early as tomorrow, certified staff will be busy learning more about Responsive Classroom practices and honing our skills so as to build community and provide engaging academics.
MAP (Measured Academic Progress) assessment:
- Students in grades 1-4 will participate in the fall benchmark for both mathematics (Tuesday) and Reading (Thursday).
- You can help by making sure your student gets enough sleep and has breakfast (either at home or at school). Please also encourage them to give the assessment their best effort (no clicking through!)
- MAP data is used to guide instruction and show growth over time. Data will be shared and discussed with families.
- MAP is a computer adaptive assessment (adjusts the difficulty of questions given student response).
Safety/Emergency Drills
- We have successfully conducted both of our required emergency drills for the month of September. Our students followed the taught and modeled expectations with few reminders - well done SRES students!
- SRES' Safety Team meets twice a month to review and fine-tune our plan.
White Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillars (see image below)
- Students have been asked to stay away from these caterpillars as they can cause an allergic reaction.
- The caterpillars have been seen on our playground.
AM Drop Off/PM Pick Up
- Please pull all the way forward
- Please be as quick as possible when unloading/loading
- Please do not drive around cars in front of you as it creates a safety hazard
- Thank you!
Family Engagement Survey
- Please take a moment to complete THIS very brief survey to help us with planning. Thank you!
Looking ahead:
- Friday, 9/24: No School, InService Day (we will be learning more about Responsive Classroom!)
- Week of 9/26: Measured Academic Progress (MAP) assessment for grades 1-4
- Thursday, 10/6: Picture Day!
- Monday, 10/10: No School, Indigenous Peoples Day
- Tuesday, 10/11: No School, InService Day (we will have a menu of professional learning opportunities!)
- Week of 10/17: NH Dance Institute residency!!
As always, please reach out with questions, concerns, ideas, and feedback. Together, we make a difference!
Your partner in education,
Laura Hazard
laura.hazard@wnesu.com
White Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar - Stay Away!
As a parent, I know how much you want to hear about your child's school day when they get home and that it can sometimes be challenging to get more than a one word answer! Here are some great conversation starters to have some meaningful conversations with your kids while driving in the car, or at the dinner table, that will hopefully give you more than a one word response! You could even make it into a game where you choose one question a day and everyone in the family gets a turn to answer.
As always, feel free to reach out with any questions, or concerns.
Stephanie Fuller
School Counselor
stephanie.fuller@wnesu.com
What a busy couple weeks! Our classroom has been watching a monarch caterpillar eat lots and spin it’s crysalis. The kindergarteners have been checking it every day!
In Math we have been working on our shapes and numbers. We have been using playdoh to create shapes, which also helps strengthen hands! We have also been counting to 20 everyday and getting better as we go.
In ELA we are focusing on letter sounds t, b, and f. We are listening to hear their sounds at the beginning of words. We have also started working with rhyming words.
Last Thursday, September 15th, we celebrated “Dot Day”! We read the book “The Dot” by Peter H. Reynold, and discussed how the main character, Yashti, used a growth mindset by practicing getting better at painting from just starting with a simple dot. We made our own dot creations and signed our names on our artwork! Here are a few of our first grade friends' creations.
☆ Reading: The first graders have continued to learn routines and expectations for our Reader’s Workshop time! We have learned new centers such as read to self, listen to reading, and our poetry center. We also started a new Interactive Read Aloud unit of “Having Fun With Rhyming Texts” and have read different books with rhymes and rhythm, such as “Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash” by Sarah Weeks.
☆ Math: The first grade mathematicians have been working on strategies for addition within 20. We have learned different games such as “Roll and Record” and “One or Two More” and have been sharing our different strategies for solving problems with addition.
☆ Science: This week we began our space science unit! We talked about what we already knew and wondered about space. We will be starting our first Mystery Science space lessons next week!
☆
Reminders: Please make sure to have your child come with a water bottle each day to school! Thank you for your support with this!
Reading
Second Grade Readers have practiced how to pick out independent reading books from our classroom library.
They learned the benefits of reading “just right books”.
Now they are starting to share their thoughts about the books that they are reading.
Writing
These writers have been practicing routines to get their materials and to get started writing their stories.
They are writing stories about things that they have done.
They are learning to write or draw the whole Writer’s Workshop time.
Phonics
We started our phonics program, Fundations in second grade. Students are reviewing skills, like digraphs and blends, from first grade.
Math
Second Grade Mathematicians are getting ready for our Math Menu time. They have practiced how to independently complete the windowpane and problem solvers.
Mathematicians are showing how to use strategies to add numbers together. I love seeing all the great math thinking!
Theme
REMINDERS
Math: The third graders have been making arrays and area models as an introduction to multiplication. They are creating their own story problems and drawing pictures to illustrate them.
Reading: The third graders have been learning how to write summaries of books. They are learning how to find the main parts of the stories into a correct sequence by using the words, “First, Next, Then” and “Finally.”
Writing: The students this week and last have focused on writing complete sentences with capital letters, punctuation with subjects and verbs. They practiced noticing mistakes in sentences, giving them a foundation of skills for when we begin peer editing.
Science: The third graders have continued their study of biomes. This week, they have focused on the climate, animals and plants of both grasslands and the tundra.
Hello From Fourth Grade!
In math, we have started using the Math Menu to guide instruction. This looks like completing a windowpane (computation practice), reflecting in a journal, playing a game, and using technology to further enhance math concepts.
Reader’s Workshop has us working in guided reading groups with a teacher, practicing independent comprehension, phonics, and listening activities, and choosing just the right books.
Please remember to join our class REMIND page for communication. Information cards were sent home on the first day of school. Also, water bottles and a snack every day are appreciated!
The Intervention team is having a great start to the new year! Our time in class has been spent supporting students with learning activities in the classroom and working with students one on one to better understand each child so we may best support their reading progress. We are so impressed by what they are already able to do and we look forward to supporting students to become the best readers they can be throughout the coming year! Keep your eyes open in the future for great ideas to support your child's growth in reading at home.
This month's tip: Carve out time for reading in your family. It could be in the morning, right off the bus, after dinner, or just before bed. Even 10-15 minutes of quiet reading time will boost your child's stamina for silent reading over time! (Reading aloud with them is also a wonderful option!) Children may read picture books, novels, graphic novels, children's magazines, and poetry. Establishing this time will be an invaluable asset to your child's reading growth and reading stamina this year! So, snuggle up to a great book - preferably a real live book in your child's hands!
Ms. Dianne Clouet
All SRES students got to explore newly arrived library books on 9/16/22. Many of the new titles were chosen last spring with direct input from students. There was much excitement among students upon finding new books they’d been hoping for!
As part of the library curriculum on 9/16/22, children participated in a play about how to care for one’s books at home. Students had many good ideas to guide the plot!
Here are photos of Kindergartners looking at and choosing a new library book.
First grade students continued working on their running, evading, and spatial awareness skills during a game of Zombie Tag. Students are free to run until they become zombies. When caught, they put their hands in front of them and try to catch other people. Zombie Tag is great for getting exercise and using a lot of energy!
Kindergarten, First and Second Grades are all on their fourth week of our First Steps In Music Curriculum. This curriculum includes a full "musical workout" every class that keeps us moving, singing, creating and keeping the beat.
Kindergarten: Ask your student to perform "Five Little Hotdogs" or sing "Frog In The Meadow" for you.
First Grade: Ask your student to perform "I Think Music's Neat" or sing "Ridin' In A Buggy" for you.
Second Grade: Ask your student to perform"Big Pig" or sing "Pickin' A Spot" for you.
Third and Fourth Grades have been working on musical phrasing (move-its), learning new folk dance steps and playing instruments to the beat. Third Grade Loves to sing "Sun Inside Us". Fourth Grade loves to sing "We Will Build This House". Ask your student to sing one of these songs for you! Both classes are cruising along learning rhythms in their Conversational Solfege Units. Third Grade is practicing songs and rhymes and echoing duple rhythms. Fourth Grade is doing the same with 6/8 rhythms.
We are off to a super start!
Third Grade playing a beat game and going "out" to play an instrument
Fourth Grade
Fourth Grade Artists are working on a collaborative piece on Franks Stella, an abstract artist! We explored his various works of art and discussed what abstract art is! These artists have been hard at work using lines, shapes, and colors to create a piece to add to a larger class wide work!
Third Grade
Third Grade artists have been learning about Keith Haring's Pop Art inspired Graffiti Art! These artists have been practicing their Haring figures and are creating a positive and negative space figure as shown below. These students have been off to a great start!
Second Grade
Second Grade has started our "What Lifts You?" Wings for the school this year! We explored the works by Kelsey Montague. She is a traveling artist that creates community art pieces for the public to enjoy and engage with! We will be creating our own set of wings that each grade will work on!
First Grade
These artists have been hard at work creating works of art inspired by Piet Mondrain! We reviewed his works of art and learned how he created his art using horizontal and vertical lines!
Kindergarten
Kindergarten has started their year off great with practicing our painting skills! These artists showed great care for the art room and were focused creative artists! Keep up the great work!
AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM NEWS
SRES After School Program is off to a great start!
MONDAY SCIENCE NIGHT: Our students teamed up to complete the challenge of building a boat that floats with just tin foil, tape, cardboard and paper. Students then tested the buoyancy of their boats by adding blocks to the boats. The winning boat held 39 Jenga blocks before it sank!
TUESDAY CRAFT NIGHT: Each student made a fairy bell to hang at home. It was amazing to see the creativity in each fairy bell creation.
WEDNESDAY EXPLORING SOCCER: This was our first time exploring soccer in ASP. We started with ball control. The students that have experience playing soccer were very helpful with modeling ball control.
THURSDAY: We are looking forward to the Grafton Museum's visit!
Looking ahead to the weeks ahead; we will be engineering scarecrows, experimenting with leaves, crafting some seasonal crafts, and much more!
We still have a few spaces left!
Please reach out to the school or Tina White (tina.white@wnesu.com) if you are interested in your student joining us.
Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains
At Girl Scouts, girls grow their academic success, develop new talents, and explore their passions. By promoting skills like critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration, Girl Scouts sets girls up for powerful futures. Partnering with Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains means providing a high quality, girl-centered, and girl-led experience for tomorrow’s leaders and change-makers right at your very own school. Please visit our Girl Scouts’ Academic Edge tool to review results on success girls achieve with Girl Scouts:
https://www.whygirlscouts.org/academic-edge/p/1
Information Meeting about 37 MAIN/the DISH Building
SAXTONS RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
