Specialist Newsletter & Resources
Winter Edition
Physical Education Newsletter....... Brian Grigsby
K-1: Students have been working on overhand and underhand throwing. The emphasis at this age is their throwing technique- turning the body so the opposite shoulder is facing the direction of the throw, stepping with the opposite foot, and bringing the ball up near their ear in a "tic-tock" motion. The throwing unit included a station play lesson where students were throwing bouncy balls off the wall, bean bags into small goals, yarn balls at bowling pins and our very own paper airplanes (especially made without the pointy tips :)). Kindergarten and first graders also played a game called "Oscar's Garbage Can" which has become a kid favorite. We concluded the unit with a game of "Frog Toss.” This activity gave the students a chance to practice their accuracy with the underhand toss. If their beanbag landed in, on, or knocked something over they got to bring the object back to their team. I like to say... "make it take it!" One of the many highlights for the kindergarten and first graders was a game called “Star Wars” that involved storm troopers and Jedi knights. Mix in a little Star Wars music and wow, do they get into the game!
2-3: Second and third graders have been working on their throwing as well. They too started the unit off with throwing/catching stations that involved throwing spider balls to the wall, velcro targets, and scoops. Students also had a chance to practice their throwing in a game called “Touchdowns” in which the teams had to work together to get their entire team in the end zone. To get in the endzone, students had to complete a pass to one of their teammates. I concluded the throwing unit with a crowd favorite called the "Frog Toss". This is an underhand tossing game in which hundreds of pieces of equipment are placed in front of the class. Groups must take turns tossing the frog out into the "pond" area so that their frog either lands in, on, or knocks something over. If this is done, students may take the object that the frog landed in or on back to their group where they will eventually tally up their points at the end of the game. All objects have different point values based on the difficulty to obtain. The second and third-grade classes also completed units in basketball and hockey. A highlight in the basketball unit for many was a game called “Hot Spots” where students dribbled around the gym collecting spots off the floor if they were able to make a shot from that particular area. In puff hockey, students enjoyed a game called “Number Hockey” in which students took turns playing 3 on 3, 4 on 4, or 5 on 5 games. It was great witnessing students cheering each other on.
4-5: The fourth and fifth-grade throwing unit consisted of a round of castle ball as well as a new version of a game called “Kingpin”. In this game, students had to combine the skill of throwing and capture the flag…(except students weren’t trying to capture anything!) Students had to sneak over to the other team’s play area to attempt to throw a ball and knock over one of their bowling pins without getting tagged. Lots of fun as you can imagine! The older students have more of an opportunity to use the skill of throwing in more of an "open environment.” They might be throwing with someone defending them such as in Kingpin or throwing at stationary targets with people blocking/guarding as in the game of castle ball. The fourth and fifth graders also completed a unit in puff hockey. For the fifth graders, this is an especially important activity as they will soon be facing the Noyes teachers for a friendly game. The students played a few versions along with some skill practice such as “The Dog Pound” which targeted the skill of stick handling.
Peter Noyes Visual Art Curriculum......... Colby Caravaggio, Art Teacher
All of the Peter Noyes K-5 artists completed their designs for the annual Square One Art project. I have mailed all of the artworks to the company and expect the order forms with the free sheet of stickers to arrive April 1st! Be on the lookout for your young artist’s catalog.
Kindergarten students recently began a painting / collage lesson depicting multi-scoop, towering ice cream cones. The project begins with a paint mixing lesson. The students are to create paint swatches by mixing a small amount of a color into white paint. They do this for each of the seven colors on the paint tray. The resulting colors resemble ice cream flavors. The following week the students use a stencil to cut out “scoop” shapes and a cone shape to complete a collage.
First Graders had a lesson on drawing from observation. They were asked to remove one of their shoes and place the shoe on the table. This request was met with shock and amusement. Students used crayons to draw their shoes as realistically as possible. The next lesson will be an “Introduction to Figure Drawing” unit. I encourage young artists to avoid drawing stick figures or gingerbread figures to represent the human body. Instead, I focus their attention on “Shirts and Pants.” I find it is much easier, and proportionately accurate, to start by drawing clothing first.
Second Graders recently finished glazing their ceramic “Footprint Turtles.” The shells were made by stepping on a slab of clay before shaping it into an upside down pinch pot. Currently, the second graders are designing foam printing plates to be printed on colored paper. One of their prints will be laminated to create a printed bookmark.
Third Graders started a clay project that entailed making a “mouth pot” sculpture. The students started by making a pinch pot. Once turned on its side, the opening of the pinch pot would represent the mouth of their sculpture. After discussing how to attach two pieces of clay together (slip and score), the artists attached teeth/fangs, tongues and the like inside the mouth of the sculpture, and eyes, noses, horns, wings, tails, etc. to the outside of their sculptures. After the sculptures are fired in the kiln, the students will use multicolored glazes to color their creations.
Fourth Graders also started a clay project. They were shown how to make a coil pot from a pinch pot base. Students were encouraged to incorporate elements of texture into the wall of the coil pot. After the pots were fired, the students had two choices for surface treatment. They could glaze the pot with multicolored glazes, or paint the outside of the pot with washable black tempera. In this second option, the tempera is immediately washed off in the sink. The result is an aged look. The black tempera stains the white clay and does not completely wash out of all of the seams and texture of the coil pot. Many are then painted with metallic acrylic paint.
Fifth Graders recently finished creating 3D paper mache masks! The masks start with a human face mold, and then additions are added with aluminum foil, newspaper and masking tape. All masks are painted with acrylic paint. The fifth graders next project is also a 3D head sculpture, but this sculpture will be constructed with clay. The head will be made by combining two pinch pots to form a hollow egg shape. Depending on the artist’s plan (human, animal, monster, etc.) features will be added by using the slip and score technique.
Don’t forget to periodically check “Mr. C.’s Artroom” blog (http://mrcsartroom.blogspot.com/) for images of the projects described in this newsletter. You will also find highlights from the Noyes Visual Art curriculum and lots of other student work on display!
Peter Noyes Library Barbara Gogan, Librarian
Lessons in the Peter Noyes Elementary Library have many goals, including:
Developing a love of reading
Learning proper digital behavior
Using media to learn how others live and feel
How to find useful and reliable information
ALL GRADES
We have continued Digital Citizenship
We supported participation in the Peter Noyes Earth Expo
We spent 1 or 2 lessons in December participating in the Hour of Code
Kindergarten, First & Second Grade
We are beginning work on the Irma Black Award .
The students will be discussing critically each of the four semi-finalists and the 1st and 2nd graders will be voting for their favorites.
Third and Fourth Grade
We are beginning work on the Cook Prize .
The students will be discussing critically each of the four semi-finalists and the 3rd and 4th graders will be voting for their favorites.
Fourth & Fifth Grades
Massachusetts Children’s Book Award (MCBA)
The MCBA is an award voted on only by 4th, 5th, & 6th graders in Massachusetts. If students read at least 5 of the books, they may vote on their favorite. The winner is revealed in April and the library hosts a small get-together for the voters to celebrate.
The ballots are being cast now and we are all excited to hear the results!
Kindergarten-
We read The Stinky Cheese Man and other variations of The Gingerbread Man and compared it with the traditional folk tale they know well. They also had a scavenger hunt in the library as they followed clues the Gingerbread Man left and began learning about alphabetical order and the Dewey organizational system at the same time.
First Grade
The first graders are learning about genres, beginning with Classic, Adventure, and Mystery.
Second Grade
The second graders are learning about library organization and parts of a book such as the spine label and call number.
Third Grade
The third graders are learning how to locate books in the online catalog and on the shelves.
Fourth Grade
The fourth graders made accounts in NoodleTools. They are also learning what bibliographies are, why they are important, and how to create their own.
Fifth Grade
Recently we have begun The 32 Second (really more like 5 minutes) Hamlet. We are exploring Shakespeare’s influence on the English language and the universality of the stories, as well as how much fun they can be to watch and perform.
Music Curriculum......Mr. Michael Gorgone, Music Teacher
Kindergarteners have been learning how to properly play the metal instruments, wooden instruments, mallet instruments and hand drums we have in class. Students have also spent some time exploring the hundreds of different sounds on our keyboards! We have learned basic music terminology like high and low pitches, and discussed playing loud and soft with various instruments and our voices through games and movement activities like “Doggie Doggie” “Here Comes a Bluebird” and “Button You Must Wander.” This week students will begin working on how to group beats into 2’s and 3’s (2/4 time signature, and 3/4 time signature).
First grade students have learned about two dynamic symbols p for piano (soft) and f for forte (loud). First grade students have also done a fantastic job reading, writing, and playing music using quarter notes and eighth notes. We have identified a new symbol in music called the quarter rest. This is a special symbol because it makes no sound! We have practiced these rhythms through songs and games like “Cut the Cake” “Down Came Johnny” and “Closet Key.”
Second grade students have been working with three new rhythm symbols whole notes, whole rests, and half rests. We have also been studying the instruments of the orchestra and the four families of instruments (strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion). Students have been listening to orchestral pieces of music as well as seeing, hearing, and touching some real instruments of the orchestra. Students have also composed 4 rhythms that they were able to play on a timpani drum!
Third graders have been working towards earning recorder karate belts by demonstrating their knowledge of the notes G,A,B, E and low D on the recorder, being able to hold and put together their recorder correctly, as well as accurately play the rhythms and pitches of the given “challenge” song. We have started to learn the notes high C and high D, and have also started to play pieces of music that use eighth notes. Learning to read standard notation in music is a difficult task that is best accomplished with practice! It takes time, but the more exposure to reading music students have, the quicker they will learn.
Fourth grade students have been studying the fastest rhythm we learn here at Peter Noyes, sixteenth notes. Students have been reading, writing, decoding, and playing games using this new rhythmic symbol over the past few months. Fourth graders have also been studying the difference between Major and Minor keys and have been able to accurately identify whether they are hearing a major or minor piece of music. This week students have been working on writing an original melody in either a major or minor key to be played on Soundtrap using the computer keyboard as a piano. The students have been hard at work and I look forward to having them share their projects with their classmates.
Fifth grade students have been studying sixteenth note combinations and have been focusing on reading, writing, and playing music using all known rhythmic symbols. We have played various games like Jeopardy, Box Toss, and Polygon to review these symbols as well as identify specific rhythms we hear. 5th graders are currently working with Soundtrap to combine digital instrumental sounds with handwritten original melodies. We have also begun learning how to read vocal sheet music as we start to prepare songs for the 5th grade Moving On Ceremony.
World Language......Julianne Herz
First graders can now count to thirty and continue to review all topics introduced earlier in the year. They have begun work on their animal unit which includes naming el perro/ dog, el gato/cat, el conejo/rabbit, el pájaro/bird, el oso/bear, el pez/fish, la rana/frog, la serpiente/snake and el caballo/horse. They are working on various activities that combine numbers, colors and animals. In addition, students can also answer: ¿Cuál es tu animal favorito?
Second graders are now being introduced to clothing vocabulary including: abrigo/coat, chaqueta/jacket, camisa/shirt, camiseta/t-shirt, falda/skirt, vestido/dress, pantalones/pants, calcetines/socks, zapatos/shoes, gorro/hat and pijama. They have learned the song ¿Qué me pongo hoy? and continue to review all material introduced earlier in the year.
Third graders are expanding their knowledge of house vocabulary to include exterior parts of the house such as el jardín/garden, la ventana/window, la puerta/door, la piscina/ pool, el balcón/balcony and la chimenea/chimney. Students are combining colors, clothing and parts of the house to increase communication. Students continue to review all material introduced earlier in the year.
Fourth graders have completed their Spanish speaking countries of the world unit. In this unit they identify Spanish speaking countries. In pairs, they studied a Spanish speaking country and created a google slides project to share with their class. Students are learning the tener expressions including: tengo hambre/I’m hungry, tengo sed/I’m thirsty, tengo sueño/I’m tired, tengo dolor/I’m hurt, tengo miedo/I’m afraid, tengo calor/I’m hot, tengo frío/I’m cold, tengo suerte/I’m lucky and tengo prisa/I’m in a hurry.
Fifth graders have begun work on a Storyboard That project which includes facts about themselves which they will then share with their classmates. They have also been introduced to the use of ser versus estar (to be) learning a basic overview of the different uses for each verb along with various adjectives.
Resources and Challenges from Specialists:
From Mr. Grigsby: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yiV4Q81I0L7NrCdMVHXLEw9H02pKqRgltqrWRDyq94w/edit#slide=id.p
From Mrs. Gogan: https://sites.google.com/sudbury.k12.ma.us/peter-noyes-school-library
and also, students in grades 3-5 have access to e-books here: https://sites.google.com/sudbury.k12.ma.us/peter-noyes-school-library/catalog
From Senora H:
Grades 1-2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LOlypqYEMYwhUVcOPzeYeGEDEEOpocNA/view?usp=drivesdk
Grades 3-5: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zGMO26u1WsqvOASTPaHl44Q6f7f-mj8T/view
From Mr. C, take the color wheel challenge: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19BAOQzY6fHqnVfavdX-FzZvN9DKqvCmqaXYi0521oOw/edit?usp=sharing
Check out his website: http://mrcsartroom.blogspot.com/