Weekly Newsletter
December 1, 2022
Events/Calendar
Wednesday, December 7 - 1:50 Dismissal
Tuesday, December 13 - Mohawk Trail Musicians perform at 11:00
Wednesday, December 14 - 1:50 Dismissal
Tuesday, December 20 - Winter Boutique
Wednesday, December 21 - Winter Boutique
Wednesday, December 21 - All School Meeting at 2:15
Friday, December 23 - 12:30 Dismissal
December 26 - January 2 - School Vacation
Tuesday, January 3 - School Resumes
Link to Sanderson Academy calendar.
Health Office News from Nurse Loranna
Hoping everyone had a wonderful break! I hope it was filled with lots of yummy food to eat and gathering with friends and family. Due to the extra gathering that likely happened, I thought it would be important to highlight the best practice if having covid-like symptoms (which is basically any and all symptoms!). Stay home if feeling unwell (thank you! I think we are doing a great job of this and it really, really makes a difference) and test with an antigen test. Drink lots of fluids, rest as much as you can, and wash hands frequently. Even if testing negative, you should remain home until symptoms are much improved- don’t hesitate to reach out if you need guidance on this, it can be tricky. Re-test in about 48 hours and/or before returning to school/work. This part is key as it is very common to test negative with an antigen test initially in a covid-19 illness. If you have been exposed it is best practice to wear a mask and monitor for symptoms. If you do develop symptoms, test and then re-test! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me anytime, I check my email frequently and will respond as quickly as possible, especially if it is illness related. Thank you for your help in keeping Sanderson Academy a healthy and caring environment for all!
Kindergarten News from Ms. Sarah
In math, our focus this week was on number sequencing. We played a mixed-up number line game and practiced writing short strands of the number line in the correct order in our math journals. We also played games to build fluency with the ways of making 5 (such as 2+3 or 1+4) and getting faster at recognizing quantities to ten arranged in a 10-frame. A favorite game is “Plunk it--make 5” where I drop cubes in a bucket and the kids respond with how many more I would need to drop to make 5. We also play this game as a “make 10” version!
First Grade News from Ms. Wyckoff
As first graders finish their first module in our new ELA program, they are designing a “magnificent thing” for the classroom. The first step was to brainstorm things needed for the classroom, such as a sign to showcase student work. First graders needed to identify if the creation they brainstormed would solve a problem such as having a container for pencils needing to be sharpened. After brainstorming, children selected groups and shared ideas about materials needed for the project. The next phase was to write about their “magnificent thing” and sketch out their ideas. First graders are currently in the working phase where they put their ideas to work! Before the magnificent thing is completed students will revise and reflect on their creation before their final project really is a “magnificent thing” Check out all the hard work happening so far. Stay tuned for the final projects!
Second Grade News from Ms. Robertson
This week during our reading time we are learning about schools in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and the problems the schools have and how they solve them. We learned that in 2010 an earthquake struck this area and damaged or destroyed many schools, making it hard for students to continue their learning. As we did with the rainforest school, we will take notes about the problems and the solutions the students in Haiti face. We will then use our notes to do a piece of informative writing called a problem and solution paragraph, with a beginning sentence that introduces the topic, detail sentences that describe the problems and how they are solved, and an ending sentence that reminds the reader of the topic. As a tie-in to our learning about the schools in Port-au-Prince, we read aloud the book The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Cole, which told the story of six-year-old Ruby Bridges, who helped to end segregation in the schools of New Orleans.
As Thanksgiving was celebrated last week, we ended our read-alouds about the Pilgrims by reflecting on the question “Are there Pilgrims in the world today?” We read aloud the story Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen, which told the story of a young Russian girl who immigrated to the United States. Molly, the young girl, came to identify with the Pilgrims of 1620, as she, too, was searching for religious freedom and a new home in a foreign land.
During our Fundations block, we have been working with glued sounds (–am, -an, -all, -ank –ink, -onk, unk, -ang, ing, -ong, and –ung). Glued sounds are letters that keep their individual sounds, but when the sounds are tapped out, two or three fingers are “glued” together to show the number of sounds working together. To review and extend our work with glued sounds at home, an activity you can do with your second grader is to think of lists of rhyming words, such as ink, link, rink, sink, drink and stink. Your child can then use the words to create silly sentences, such as “The pink ink made a drink that stinks.”
We are continuing our work with place value during our math block. We recently completed an activity called Scoop, Count, and Compare, where we estimated how many scoops of beans we would need to get close to the target number 125. After scooping out our beans, we counted them into groups of hundreds, tens, and ones. When we had our total amount, we compared our total to 125 and then found the difference between them. We have also been using unifix cubes to build two-digit numbers and to identify how many tens and ones are in these numbers. We also looked at other ways we could build such numbers, such as 54 being shown as 4 tens and 14 ones or 2 tens and 34 ones.
Our theme time this week finds us working with a map of the United States, locating its land and water borders, as well as its capital. We also identified the state we live in, the smallest state, and the largest state and created a map key to go along with the map. Our theme time also finds us continuing our lessons from the Second Steps curriculum, where we are learning about focusing our attention and being careful listeners.
Fourth Grade News from Mrs. Lagoy
Fourth graders are embarking on our final unit in the first module of our new ELA curriculum. In this unit, students move from considering what has inspired the poets we have been reading about to write poetry, to thinking about what inspires them to write poetry. We began the unit this week by writing original poems, focusing on word and phrase choice and adding punctuation for effect. Next week, students will create a presentation explaining why they wrote their original poem and where you can see evidence of this in their poem. In the second half of the unit, students will practice reading new poems aloud for fluency in preparation for reading their poems aloud for the performance task. For the performance task at the end of the unit, students will participate in a poetry presentation in which they will read aloud an original poem and then explain to their classmates, with the use of visuals Check out our Thanksgiving Day Parade. For our STEM project this month, students learned about stop motion. Stop motion is animation that is captured one frame at a time, with physical objects (the float and balloon) that are moved between frames. When you play back the images, it creates the illusion of motion. Students worked extremely hard and showed great perseverance on this project. We hope you enjoy our finished product.
Fifth Grade News from Ms. Johnson
In math, we are currently working with decimals and place value. Students are looking at patterns in our place value number system to discover what happens when numbers are multiplied or divided by powers of ten. In ELA, students are using the painted essay structure (a color coded way to identify different parts of an essay) to construct essays about how two different characters in the book we read react differently to the same situation. On full Wednesdays, we do a class activity in the afternoon. This week, a student with a lot of experience with the coding program, Scratch, taught the class how to use it and its features and students tried out some coding themselves.
Sixth Grade News from Mrs. Lilly
Thank you to all the families that helped us to raise money by participating in the Butter Braid Fundraiser! The orders will be arriving on Thursday, December 15th. Sixth grade has started working on our first essay. This essay is based on the book we’ve been reading, Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief. We are comparing a scene from the movie to a chapter in the book. The class has been taking time to think about the changes the producers made in the movie to make an impact on the viewer as well as the details that are in the book to help the reader have a deep understanding. We’ve also been working on a Greek Mythology Readers Theater to connect to our study of Percy Jackson. The readers theater has given the sixth grade an opportunity to work on our reading fluency as well as make us laugh!
Library News from Ms. Wilson
December will be an exciting and different month in the Library! While Pre-K through 2nd graders will continue practicing library navigation, grades 3 - 6 will experience more technology integration into their library lessons this month.
Digital Citizenship is the responsible use of technology to learn, create, and participate. Throughout the year, students will work through six lessons that are guided by research and aligned to state standards. This week students had their first lesson following the theme ‘Media Balance and Well-Being’ and focused on making healthy media choices. We will be using the books What Can a Citizen Do? by Dave Eggers and Unplugged by Steve Antony to guide some of our discussions.
December is also the Hour of Code! The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, using fun tutorials to show that anybody can learn the basics. The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week, which is held each December in recognition of the birthday (December 9, 1906) of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. We will be celebrating the Hour of Code this December with both online and offline activities. Stay tuned for more information!
Last week, some students took part in a “Thankfulness Challenge.” Each student had one minute to write down as many things as they could that they feel thankful for. After, table groups had 10 minutes to create the tallest tower possible using only their combined notecards. The tallest tower belonged to 3rd graders Sawyer, Brolen, and Caroline. Way to go!
News from Ms. Prew
Our math curriculum, Bridges in Mathematics, includes many components to engage children in math. Another component is: Number Corner! Number Corner is an integral component of the Bridges Core curriculum. It includes 20-minute daily workouts that provide practice with a wide variety of skills.
Spanish Opportunity
Grade 5 & 6 Interest in Participating in Spring Musical - May 5 & 6 2023
Students in grades 7-12 are currently in the final stage of preparing for the MTRS Winter Play which will be performed on December 9th and 10th. We are already looking forward to planning and preparing for the Spring Musical, a production of Guys and Dolls, to be performed on 5 & 6th May, 2023 and would love to involve students in Grades 5 & 6 in this show.
To help Director Eva with the planning and casting, we would like to invite care providers of students in grades 5 & 6 who might want to participate to complete this informational survey.
In January, Director Eva will schedule a student meeting for students in grades 5 & 6 at MTRS to see which roles students will take in the show. A parent information meeting will also be scheduled for early January with information about rehearsals at MTRS and an opportunity to ask Eva logistical questions.
CFCE News
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