Old Mill Pond News
March, 2020
March Dates to Remember
Wednesday, March 4th - Optional Individual Spring Pictures; OMP PTO Meeting, 6pm
Monday, March 9th - Cat in the Hat; Hat Day - Wear a hat! Any hat!
Tuesday, March 10th - Fox in Socks; Crazy Sock Day - Wear your silly socks to school; School Banking
Wednesday, March 11th - Wacky Wednesday - How wacky can you look?
Thursday, March 12th - Green Eggs & Ham; Green Day - Can you be green from head to toe?; OMP Spring Open House 4:30-6:30pm
Friday, March 13th - Dr. Seuss Reading Day
Tuesday, March 24th - School Banking
1st Grade News
What a fantastic February we had in first grade! We had so much fun celebrating Valentine’s Day and the 100th day of school, but we still have so much more learning to do!
In Math, students have been working hard to use different strategies to solve for the unknown in a number sentence. They are becoming much more solid in adding and subtracting. We will be moving on to Module 3, which extends students’ kindergarten experiences with length comparison where the length of one object is used to compare the lengths of two other objects.
In Reading, our Big Idea for Unit 4 is “What animals do you know about? What are they like?” The first graders are already excited about this unit and look forward to learning new facts about animals. We are also working on long vowel sounds and all the different ways to make those sounds.News from the Math Corner
In the primary grades, play opportunities enhance children’s mastery of academic concepts and build motivation to learn. In fact, two of the most important things that play can develop are interest and motivation. Encouraging these in the early grades brings children on board in contributing to their own learning. For example, playing board games can strengthen math concepts while building social competence.
With this in mind here is a list of board games that encourage math thinking:
Rummikub – A fast moving, easy-to-learn game for kids that reinforces skills such as sequencing and patterns. Using strategy (and a bit of luck) players arrange their number tiles into sets (groups of the same number) or runs (consecutive numbers in the same color). This is an addicting game that is fantastic for groups, and has several variations to keep things interesting.
Yahtzee – This classic game is fun for all ages. Roll the dice, create combinations, and earn the highest score to win. Such a great way to work on probability, counting, addition, reasoning, and strategy skills.
Rack-O – Players race to be the first to get all of their cards in sequential order. A fantastic game for all ages, and is especially fun with groups. Would be wonderful for a math center in the classroom or homeschool environment.
Qwirkle – If you’re looking for a game that will allow children to practice spatial recognition, planning, and problem solving skills, this is it. A straightforward and engaging game that involves matching tiles to earn points, using strategy, reasoning, and critical thinking. This is a game adults will love just as much as kids.
Prime Climb – This beautiful and colorful math game offers kids a unique way to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills. Players roll the dice, and use mathematical knowledge (and a bit of luck) to work their way to the center of the board, bumping opponents back to the start, as they move along. A great way to inspire critical thinking, while learning and having a blast!
Enjoy!
The OMP Math Intervention Team
Hand Strength is Essential for School
There have been numerous reports that children’s hand strength is declining across the nation partially due to the increase in the overuse of technology and the limited play time that children are participating in. Hand strength is essential for all school related activities including pencil grasp, scissor skills, clothing management, lunch time, math centers and more. Strengthening starts at the bigger core and shoulder muscles first and then moves to the smaller muscles of the arms then hands. Everyday activities that can help build hand strength for children of all ages fall into three main categories: weight bearing, pushing/pulling activities and squeezing activities.
Some examples of weight bearing activities include: -playing on hand and knees promotes neck, core and hand strength -animal walks (crab, bear, donkey and inchworm) promotes weight bearing for improved shoulder and hand strength -Wind up toys are super fun and help strength fingers by turning the dial -yoga for kids can help with self-regulation as well as strengthening through weight bearing -monkey bars, jungle gyms and other playground equipment are great for strengthening core, shoulder and hand strength Some examples of push/pull activities include: -putting together large beads that pop together is great for precision muscles -Mr. Potato Head can be changed into many different faces to promote grasp and finger strength -Rubber band activities such as geoboards or putting them around items for strengthening with resistance -pulling items against Velcro -lego or duplo blocks help develop grasp strength -baking activities that involve stirring, kneading, scooping -tearing paper for crafts strength hands and improve two hand coordination Some examples of squeeze activities include: -using play dough, putty or slime to squish, roll, pull, pinch and squeeze -Using squeeze bottles to complete chores such as washing tables and windows will help with hand strength -clothespin activities or crafts help develop eye hand coordination as well as finger strength -bubble wrap is a kid favorite that helps establish cause and effect as well working on hand strength -use tweezers/tongs to pick up items and put them into containers
OMP Counseling Corner!
As a reminder, the MCAS dates are as follows:
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 May 7th and 8th
Grade 4 May 11th and 12th
Grade 5 May 13th and 14th
Science and Technology Sessions -
Grade 5 May 15th and 18th
Have a great March!!
Stephanie LaVenture, Rebecca Curry, Angela King
413-483-4300 x 1406
Hello from the ESL suite!
Big news for our ELL students...We have a new room! The ELL classroom is now located in the first grade section of the school in room 107. Our beautiful new classroom is a welcome change for our students. Thanks to all that helped with our move. The ESL team is overjoyed! Please come see us at Open House.
We will be piloting a new program called Fast ForWord. This is a computer based program that helps students with fluency, decoding, and vocabulary development. Students will be able to access this program in their classrooms. The ESL team is working hard to help prepare our grades three to five students for MCAS. More specifically, we have been focusing on answering open response questions. It’s hard work, but... “We can do hard things!”
As always, please email us with any concerns or questions.
Mrs. Simpkiss and Mrs. Rapagnola