Panda Press
March 15, 2024
Dear Thacher Families:
Yesterday evening's A Night to Discover was amazing! Thacher and ELC were well represented with approximately 40 students/staff participating. It's always exciting to see how talented our staff and students are.
As a reminder to 4th grade families - due to unforeseen circumstances the elementary schools are no longer able to participate in the district concert later this month. We are working on identifying a time to invite families in for a performance.
Sincerely,
Frank W. Rich
Principal
Parents' Night Out
ST Math 100% Club
Book Board Winner
Congratulations to Ms. Marcotte's class for designing the winning book board for Read Across Thacher/ELC Week!
From the Music Room
Hello again to all of our wonderful Thacher families. Below are some updates from the music room.
Lower Grades (K-2): As the warmer months approach, we have shifted our lesson focuses to more spring-based songs. Students have continued singing, saying, and playing loads of engaging tunes and chants. One special highlight from this past week was creating our very own “rainstorms” using instruments and our bodies. Students have gotten creative with percussion instruments like hand drums by using fingertips to imitate the sound of rain hitting car rooftops, rainsticks and ocean drums to simulate heavy rainfall, and even cymbals to make loud thunder crashes! Second grade students have also shown immense progress on our rainfall medley song. It has brought a great smile to my face seeing the kids apply their growing knowledge of vocal technique to sing this great medley found here on the Music for Kiddos YouTube page. Kindergarteners and first graders have shined singing a variety of echo songs (and they learned the term itself); while all students have demonstrated an increasing movement vocabulary by moving in a variety of ways in self space (all alone) and in shared space (in a group or with a partner).
Upper Grades (3-4): Students in our upper grades have continued honing their recorder skills and some classes have begun layering our mallet instruments like xylophones and metallophones along with the recorder in order to give a unique layer of sounds in our music room. It is always exciting to see the kids get excited to learn a new recorder note or master a song and demonstrate it to me during a playing quiz. Students have learned tricky vocal technique concepts like how to breathe and sustain a supported breath, articulate phrases with crisp consonants (currently our focus is on the [f], [p], and [t] sounds), and develop a tall sustained “oo” sound. It is especially great to see them apply this knowledge out of warm-ups and into their classroom songs… you should hear our fourth-grade choir sing a minor scale. Who knew an exercise could sound so lovely?! Finally, students have been working really hard on listening to different types of music and respectfully engaging in discussions about their likes/ dislikes, how songs made them feel, certain musical features they noticed and more importantly, backing up their positions with solid reasoning!
Insights Classrooms: Our insights classrooms have also been enjoying a steady shift into more warm-weather-based songs (perhaps this is more my own wishful thinking… spring can’t come fast enough for Mr. Chippo)! Students are increasing their rhythm vocabularies, and (when able) their vocalization/ tonal vocabularies as well. I encourage all families to listen to songs from the Music for Kiddos page–the spring playlist has been a favorite, and since the songs are written by a music therapist-educator, they are engaging as well as useful in teaching important singing and movement skills! Our insights classrooms also used the following video to make rain sounds with drums and our voices. Most importantly, it is always a joy to see the kids building their social skills–learning teamwork, sharing, patience, perseverance, and many other day-to-day habits!
As always… keep on rocking and enjoy the pictures below.
Musically yours,
Mr. Chippo
Music Specialist
Thacher Elementary School
These fourth graders were excited to achieve yellow level on their recorder today!
The Kindness Closet
The Kindness Closet in the health office is in need of donations. Current needs are:
Boys' underwear (sizes 6, 8, 10)
Boys's pants (size 8, 10)
Boy's tops size medium
Girl's pants (size 8, 10)
Girl's tops (size medium)
Thank you!
be kind and be well,
Lisa Kilfoyle, BSN, RN, NCSN
School Nurse
Community Resourse & Support Liaison
Thacher Elementary & ELC
Monthly Meeting
This meeting will be virtual.
Monday, Mar 18, 2024, 06:30 PM
Through the Helpline that operates from 9 AM- 5 PM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 8 AM- 6 PM on Tuesday and Thursday, callers will complete an intake which takes about 15-20 minutes and then within a day or so of their call will be assigned to work with a Resource and Referral Counselor who will help them navigate the challenges of finding mental health services, including obtaining a referral match to an outpatient provider, as well as information and resources related to mental health and wellness. Please see What to Expect When You Call the Helpline or visit interface.williamjames.edu for more information.
The INTERFACE Helpline is not an emergency service. If you or the person you are seeking to assist requires a crisis response to meet immediate safety needs, please call 988, 911, go to your local emergency room, or find your local crisis services by calling 833-773-2445 and asking for crisis support.
Click the image above to view Project Connect's Newsletter
The following parent workshops are FREE and open to all. Training certificates are NOT available. Please contact: jcapitanio@attleboroschools.com to register and receive the zoom link.
https://www.smore.com/r7gfz Nurturing Your Kid’s Big Emotions, Wednesday, February 27, 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Zoom
Upcoming Important Information & Dates
March 18: Wear Green Day
March 18: PTO Meeting
March 21: Rock Your Socks Day
March 29: No School - Good Friday
April 1: MCAS - Grade 4 ELA
April 2: MCAS - Grade 4 ELA
April 3: MCAS - Grade 3 ELA
April 4: MCAS - Grade 3 ELA
Thacher Elementary School
Email: frich@attleboroschools.com
Website: http://tes.attleboroschools.com/
Location: 160 James Street, Attleboro, MA, USA
Phone: (508) 226-4162
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thacherelementary