Weekly Newsletter
March 28, 2024
News from Principal Emma Liebowitz
MCAS testing starts next week. Below is the schedule. It is important for students to be well rested and on time for their testing day.
April 2 - Fourth Grade ELA
April 3 - Third Grade ELA
April 4 - Third Grade ELA
April 8 - Fifth Grade ELA
April 9 - Fourth Grade ELA
April 12 - Fifth Grade ELA
April 23 - Sixth Grade ELA
April 25 - Sixth Grade ELA
April 26 - Fifth Grade Math
April 29 - Fifth Grade Math
April 30 - Fifth Grade Science
May 2 - Fifth Grade Science
May 7 - Fourth Grade Math
May 9 - Fourth Grade Math
May 14 - Third Grade Math
May 16 - Third Grade Math
May 21 - Sixth Grade Math
May 23 - Sixth Grade Math
Upcoming Events
Friday, March 29 - Ed Pop the Magician at 2:00
Wednesday, April 3 - All School Meeting at 2:15
Friday, April 5 - Tom Ricardi Birds of Prey Presentation at 10:30
Friday, April 5 - Pizza and Bingo Night starting at 5:30
Monday, April 8 - Solar Eclipse (glasses are being provided)
Wednesday, April 10 - 1:50 Release
Thursday, April 11 - Third and Fourth Grade to the Symphony
Thursday, April 11 - Community Engagement Session (6:00 - 7:30)
Friday, April 12 - Kindergarten Registration at 9:00
Friday, April 12 - Preschool Registration at 10:30
Friday, April 12 - Sixth Grade to Boston
April 15 - 19 - April Vacation
Monday, April 22 - LEC Meeting at 3:30
Wednesday, April 24 - Hero Art Assembly at 10:30
Wednesday, April 24 - 1:50 Release
Thursday, April 25 - Ms. Melanie and Ms. Carole’s Classes to Shaker Village
Friday, April 26 - All School Spring Clean-Up
Link to Sanderson Academy calendar.
Preschool and Kindergarten Registration
Library News from Ms. Wilson
First, I’d like to extend a big THANK YOU to everyone who took part in this year’s book fair. This year’s sales have allowed us to add over twenty new books to the library, including books selected by the 5th grade. A special thank you to the PTO members that helped to pull it off.
This past Tuesday, Pe-K - 3rd grade students had a wonderful time visiting with local author Prudence Marsh who shared her new book, Pippa and the Lost Paintings! Students were wonderful hosts and asked many interesting questions.
Next week, students will select their favorite folk tale/fairy tale/myth or legend during the final rounds of the Battle of the Books! Today a 5th grader predicted that this year’s winner would be the tall tale of John Henry by Julius Lester. What does your child predict?
News from the Health Office from Nurse Loranna
Greetings from the health office. We are seeing an increase in GI viruses here at Sanderson. This virus in particular seems to be lingering longer than a typical 24 hour stomach virus. After a period of feeling improved, some are finding that they are feeling unwell again with nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea. For some the virus has started with stomach pain and cramping as well as loss of appetite. Please keep an eye out for any symptoms and reach out to the nurse for guidance and if your child is feeling unwell and will be staying home.
Reminder that students and staff need to be at least 24 hours vomit/diarrhea free and able to eat a full meal before returning to school. Start slow when adding in foods and stick to bland foods such as crackers, toast and soup. Sipping on water or pedialyte/gatorade can help to stay hydrated and is tolerated better. Also remember that the health office has plenty of rapid covid tests if you find yourself needing any, I can send them home with your student no problem at all!
Continue to encourage frequent hand washing and drinking plenty of water, both will help to keep you healthy and reduce germs from spreading. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions at all.
Preschool news from Ms. Freeman and Ms. Becky
We are learning about our 5 senses and are having fun using our senses to play some games. We played a listening game, listening to a sound we may hear on a farm and then trying to guess that sound. We also used our sense of touch to play a texture matching game called Ruff’s House. Preschoolers especially enjoyed an activity using their sense of smell. A cotton ball with essential oil was placed into a vented container. Preschoolers tried to identify various scents using their sense of smell. Images of the scents were added and now the preschoolers can match the scents with the corresponding images! We will continue to have fun using our senses to help learn about the world around us!
Preschool News from Ms. Melanie and Ms. Kylee
Preschoolers have been learning about the seasonal changes that happen in spring. They have noticed that the weather does not always match the season. We seem to be having a lot of winter weather lately, with the need to wear winter gear for outdoor play. On the other hand, the children have noticed that it is light out longer in spring than it was in winter. They have time to play a little bit outdoors after dinner. We are looking forward to seeing flowers push up through the soil and leaves returning on the trees.
The children are also learning about mixing primary colors to make new colors. They listened to the story, Little Blue and Little Yellow, by Leo Lionni. In the story little blue is friends with little yellow and when they hug they turn green and their parents wonder where they went. The children were given a paper with a dab of blue paint and a dab of yellow paint to mix the two colors as they listened to the story. They made predictions about what they thought would happen when the colors were mixed together. Next, they used their fingers to mix the blue and yellow together and made green. We will continue to make predictions, mix colors and discover what happens. Maybe we will discover a new color!
Kindergarten News from Ms. Sarah, Ms. Veronica and Ms. Beckwith
In math, we introduced our mini-unit on teen numbers last week by learning that “teen” means “ten.” And we looked at how we form the teen numbers by sliding the “some more” ones on top of the zero in the 10. We continued our focus on teen numbers this week with a game matching the numbers with 10-frames, 10-sticks of cubes, and coins (a dime and some pennies) to show each quantity. We also played similar matching games in our small group times. And we practiced fixing up a mixed up teen number line.
First Grade News from Ms. Wyckoff and Ms. April
The month of March sure has been a fast moving and busy month! We recently had a mystery reader visit our room! Ms. Anne (Hayley & Addison’s mom) from Porter farm visited us! During her visit she talked all about farm life and all the chores that need to be done to make everything work smoothly each day on a farm. She then read us two wonderful stories: Kiss The Cow! and Farmer Duck. Thank you for visiting first grade Ms. Anne!
In ELA children were introduced to nouns, adjectives and verbs. Children learned that a noun can be a person, place, thing or animal. An adjective describes the noun and a verb is an action word like swimming or running. We are using adjectives to describe the sun and moon in our writing. For example: The sun is rising and is purple, pink and orange or the moon is in the crescent moon phase. Adding adjectives to our writing can make our writing stronger and more interesting.
Last week first graders enjoyed spirit week and started the week with their favorite book or movie character. Of course teachers enjoy dressing up too! Kids were introduced to Mrs. Frizzle, a beloved book character from The Magic School Bus. In this series Mrs. Frizzle takes her class of 4th graders on many adventures on their magic school bus, and the first stop is outer space! After sharing the book with the kids we then watched the episode which was filled with many facts about each planet and space. As children watched they pointed to each planet hanging above their heads. This tied in nicely to our science learning and sure was a fun treat!
Third Grade News from Ms. Carole and Mr. Luke
This week we were lucky to hear stories from two different community visitors. On Monday, Judy Williams of Plainfield came in and read the story The Velveteen Rabbit to the class. On Tuesday we got to hear Prudence Peckham Marsh from Ashfield read her newly published picture book, Pippa and the Lost Paintings, with our preschool buddies. The third graders did a super job asking the author questions and listening intently. Both stories were well received, and we appreciate Ms. Wilson for organizing these experiences for us!
Next week third graders will take their very first MCAS. On Wednesday and Thursday they will be taking the English Language Arts tests. Please make sure you are planning for your child to be at school for the entirety of both of those days. To make these days easier, we do a few things differently in third grade.
There will be no homework for the nights before taking MCAS. That means there will be homework on Monday and Thursday evenings, but not Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
It will be an optional pajama day for the students. They will still need to have both indoor and outdoor shoes to wear, but let’s get comfortable!
Hard candy and gum will be allowed during testing. The school will provide some snacks and mint candy and gum, but if your child has special items to bring in, please make sure they are in a labeled ziplock bag in the backpack on the morning of the testing.
Fourth Grade News from Ms. Lagoy and Ms. Upright
This week students have started many long term projects. In ELA, students are beginning to write their literary essay about the theme of The Hope Chest. Students will have to support their thinking with evidence from the text. During our STEM block on Wednesdays, we will begin researching and planning to construct a basketball shooter and a basketball goal. This builds on some of the knowledge students have gained with our pumpkin launchers and then with our football launcher. Each project has students trying to refine the abilities of their launchers. In geography, we are beginning our studies of the Southwest Region.
Fifth Grade News from Ms. Johnson and Ms. Shero
This week, students were learning about the westward expansion of our country. Students were learning about people, places, and events such as Lewis and Clark, Sachagawea, Thomas Jefferson, Tecumseh, Dolly Madison, Andrew Jackson, Trail of Tears, and Osceola. In math, students are wrapping up our unit on geometry, coordinate grids, and volume. And in ELA, students are well into our module about athlete leaders of social change that mostly centers around Jackie Robinson. They are currently working on opinion writing about what they think was the most important factor in Jackie Robinson’s success.
News from Ms. Prew
Happy March MATHness! Click here to join the fun. I will have a certificate ready for anyone who completes a bracket! You have until April 9th. Enjoy. :) aprew@mtrsd.org
Reading News from Mrs. Morey
April is National Poetry Month! Poetry is a great way to practice fluency, reading with good expression, pace and phrasing. It is also an excellent opportunity to discuss figurative language. Find some poetry to read or write your own! Try some from https://poets.org/text/poems-kids
SEPAC News
Community News and Events
Check out what is happening in our area!
Free Concert
Pete Seeger Festival -- A FREE CONCERT FOR ALL AGES: Saturday April 6 at 2 pm at the Ashfield Congregational Church. Sing-along with nine musicians including banjo players who share Pete's songs as well as songs of today. For more information: Sarah Pirtle 625-2355.
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