GES Grey Wolf Gazette
February 17, 2023
CONVAL DISTRICT KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION INFO
Registration for students residing in Greenfield will be held on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 or Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at Peterborough Elementary School.
Please share this information with any families you may know that don't currently receive our newsletter!
Peek Into Preschool!
ConVal Summer Program News!
We have two summer learning opportunities for our elementary students for 2023!
Explore and Expand Summer Learning Program is for rising 1st through 4th graders! This four-week long program is designed to support student learning by bolstering school-year skills and helping to fight summer learning loss. Students will receive 1.5 hours of academic support from ConVal Certified Teachers and Tutors. An additional hour of the program is reserved for enrichment exploration, including drumming and cartooning residencies.
Additional Details
July 5 through July 27
3 Mornings a Week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday)
9:00 am - 12 pm
Location: Peterborough Elementary and Antrim Elementary
Transportation will be provided
Class Size for Explore and Expand: 15 students to 1 teacher
Classes/Groups will be mixed grades
Middle School Summer Academy is offered to rising 5th and 6th graders! This four-week long program is designed to introduce students to middle and high school learning opportunities while bolstering school-year skills and helping to fight summer learning loss. Students in the Middle School Summer Academy have the opportunity to participate in a Residency, similar to Explore and Expand or participate in the high school Theater program.
Additional Details
July 5 through July 27
4 Mornings a Week (Monday through Thursday)
9:00 am - 12:15pm (12:15 allows students to participate in the Theater program)
Location: ConVal High School
Transportation will be provided
Class Size : 15 students to 1 Teacher
Upcoming Dates!
Registration Forms Sent Out - March 17, 2023
Registration Forms Due - April 7, 2023
Confirmations or Waitlist - May 1st, 2023
If you have questions, please reach out to:
Explore and Expand & Summer Academy: Amy Janoch ajanoch@conval.edu
It's Read-a-thon Time!
Dear Greenfield Families and Friends,
Happy Friday! It's been another busy week here at GES. Our 3rd and 4th graders visited the Applied Technology Center at ConVal High School on Tuesday. Students enjoyed a tour of the facilities and learned about the different programs offered. They came back excited and full of ideas about what they might like to study when they get to high school!
Students in grades 1-4 have completed the Winter Benchmark Assessments in reading and math. I'm proud of how hard they worked and the growth we have seen across the board.
We are half way through our Read-a-Thon and have already earned $1,880! We smashed our goal of reading 3,500 minutes with a total of 4,628 minutes of reading so far! Let's see if we can hit 10,000 minutes by the end of the Read-a-Thon next week! We have 43/70 students signed up and earning minutes. If all our students are signed up we will exceed that goal! It's not too late to sign your child up so they can earn minutes towards our goal. Please help us by using the link below to sign your child up! Thank you for your support!
https://www.read-a-thon.com/readers/enter_code
Kindergarten/Mrs. Hodgen: Code: 3130897
Grade 1/Mrs. Barnes: Code: 3130898
Grade 2/Mrs. Goodspeed: Code: 3130899
Grade 3/Ms. Heard: Code: 3130900
Grade 4/Mrs. Cook: Code: 3130901
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES-PLEASE CHECK AND ADD TO YOUR CALENDAR!
1/30-2/17/23: Winter Benchmark Assessment Period
2/10-2/23/23: GES Read-A-Thon! Information about how to sign your child up was sent home last Friday. Teachers also emailed the link to sign your child up and share with family and friends. Last year we raised almost $2000! We are shooting for 100% participation this year!
2/20-2/24/23: Special: Health/PE with Mrs. Parker. Don't forget your sneakers!
2/25-3/5/23: February Vacation!
3/6-3/31/23: March Madness Book Bracket! All K-4 students will be reading the same books and voting on their favorites each day until we get down to the final two!
3/6-3/10/23: Special: Art with Mr. Shapiro
3/8/23: GES PTO Meeting at 5:30 in the Library. Come learn about spring fundraisers and other special events happening through the end of the year. FREE Childcare will be available!
3/13-3/17/23: Special: Health/PE with Mrs. Parker. Don't forget your sneakers!
3/14/23: NO SCHOOL! Teacher Professional Development Day! Town Meeting/Voting Day
3/20-3/24/23: Special: Library with Mrs. Aborn
3/27-3/31/23: Special: PE with Mrs. Parker. Don't forget your sneakers!
3/27-3/31/23: CIRCUS RESIDENCY! Troy Wunderlie's Big Top Adventures is back for a week long residency with our K-4 students.
3/31/23: CIRCUS PERFORMANCE! Join us at 6:00pm for the grand finale performance! You don't want to miss this!
What's New In Mrs. Hodgen's Kindergarten?
Math: In module 4, we have been learning all about addition. This week we just started working on subtraction. We used the 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed song to introduce this concept and played a fun game today called “Get off my boat!”
Literacy: Kindergarten has progressed to reading and spelling words with four sounds! We learned all about suffix -s this week and why it says /z/ sometimes. We loved reading the decodable stories “Pet Cats” and “Cubs in the Den” to practice those plural words.
Science & Social Studies: We are just wrapping up our unit all about Penguins. We have used this theme to start working on some informational writing. They are really working hard on tapping out sounds and writing what they hear.
SEL: It seems like we are constantly working on the same thing, but every week brings new opportunities to practice our skills. We practice identifying our feelings and checking in with our bodies and how we are feeling and seeing those feelings in other people. We also keep practicing using tools to help us regulate strong feelings and using strategies to be our best learners.
Read Aloud: Amelia Bedelia’s First Valentine, A Crankenstein Valentine, The Valentine Bears, The Day it Rained Hearts, The Hat, The Midnight Farm
First Grade Fun with Mrs. Barnes
Math: In math we have been working on place value to the tens and ones place, and working on comparing numbers. We are just learning about the symbols that mean greater than, and less than. I am sure many of you were taught with the alligator method, but we do it a bit differently and it really seems to be sticking with them. Even the second graders were just telling Mrs. Goodspeed how they learned it with me last year.
Literacy: First grade dove into words with silent-e long vowels this week. We learned how silent-e does it’s job by jopping back over one consonant to make the vowel say it’s name! We practiced reading and spelling words with a-e, o-e, and i-e patterns like cake, rope, and hide. We focused on picking out the main idea in a story we read and then finding important details to support that main idea. We are working very hard on our writing skills and writing longer more detailed sentences. We used those sentence skills to finish up our arctic animal research.
Science: We studied arctic animal adaptations by researching and writing about walruses and Canada lynx.
Social Studies: We learned about influential Black Americans like Rosa Parks, Bessie Coleman, and Misty Copeland.
SEL: We practiced identifying problems and brainstorming solutions to those problems.
Read Alouds: This week we read Amelia Bedelia’s First Valentine, The Day It Rained Hearts, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose, Love, Ruby Valentine, I Am Rosa Parks, Bunheads, Firebird, and Mae Among the Stars. We just finished reading the second Ivy and Bean book The Ghost That Had To Go! It was hilarious!
Good Things are Happening in 2nd Grade with Mrs. Goodspeed
Math: This week second graders continued practicing addition and subtraction using the standard algorithm. We are starting to increase the size of our numbers to regroup more than once with addition.
Literacy: In literacy we began reviewing reading and spelling r controlled syllables. This week we focused on or and at words like storm and start. We also compared and contrasted two versions of Goldilocks.
Science & Social Studies: We learned about red and pink animals and why they are that color.
SEL: forgiveness, treating each other with respect, picking good tools for different zones
Read Aloud: The Three Snow Bears, Goldilocks, The Hundreth Day From the Black Lagoon, A Mouse Called Wolf, The Tortoise and the Hare
Overheard in 3rd with Ms. Heard
We visited the ATC at CVHS on Tuesday and learned all about the amazing classes offered there. It was fun to visit the high school and learn about possible career paths!
Math: We are focused on finding the area of composite shapes in math. The kids figure out how to break the shape up into rectangles, find the area of the individual rectangles and then put it all back together. Next week they are going to take a large composite shape and turn it into their dream home! I am expecting more than one gaming room!
Literacy: In literacy we continued learning about different text structures. We read “Kid Inventors” and the kids looked for cause and effect relationships about how the inventions came to be. We also learned about the different reasons an author might write something; authors write to persuade, inform or entertain. We use the acronym PIE to help us remember!
Science & Social Studies: We have finished the informative paragraphs about our birds! Our next step is to put it all together in a class flag book! We also started our short fiction story related to our bird. Everyone has planned a 3 part story related to information they learned about their bird! We are also using watercolor to help us write descriptively.
SEL: We continued with the idea of T.H.I.N.K.ing before you speak, and added in thinking before you act. We learned about impulses and how sometimes they can be very helpful and keep us safe, while other times they can result in negative consequences.
Read Aloud: “What If Everybody Did That?”, “Kid Inventors”, “The One and Only Ivan”, “I Survived the Great Molasses Flood”
What's Cookin' In 4th with Mrs. Cook?
Math: We have been working with multiplying two digit by two digit numbers using area models and partial products as we progress to the standard algorithm. Students have also been practicing their skills in solving multi-step word problems using order of operations along with identifying which practice is most efficient to use when solving. 4th grade students completed their Winter NWEA assessment this week, over all they have shown growth over the course of our year so far. This assessment will help me determine what we learn next, and where we need more practice.
Literacy: Students finished reading Who Was Martin Luther King Jr. We discussed his life, and the importance of his work. They are now using what they learned from the book to create a flipbook project. Students are also working on Suffixes and the rules to when you drop the e and double the consonant and when you just add the suffix on the end of the word. In writing students have been working very hard to finish up their Picture in writing project on their chosen NH mammals. They have put great effort into the sketching, planning, painting and drafting their written parts as well. I am so impressed and proud of the progress I have seen this year in these students' writing.
Science: This week we explored the human heart. How it is the hardest working muscle in our bodies. Students experimented with squeezing a piece of paper for 60 seconds, and discussed how this is similar to the work the heart does as it pumps the blood throughout our bodies. Except that the heart pumps ALL the time. Students also learned about the first ever heart surgery to fix a “broken” heart.
SEL: Every morning in our class we go over our schedule for the day, and discuss what we will be doing along with any changes there might be. This week we talked about how there may be times in the day when we are learning certain material or if there are changes in our routines; it can throw off our day, and sometimes that can lead to feeling anxious or uneasy. We talked about how our schedule is our road map. It gets us from one place to another; the start of our day to the finish. When we have challenges or changes it causes speed bumps or zigzags in the road. We discussed how this can affect us individually, and what tools we can use to help us get through these times in the day. Students picked a preferred tool or strategy from their tool boxes and put them aside so they could have them available during that time of day that might be difficult.
Read Aloud: We finished Swindle this week! It was a very exciting book about an epic baseball card heist carried out by a group of 10 year olds. It was very entertaining and the students enjoyed it. Ask them how it ended!
Classroom Counseling with Mrs. Lofstedt
School counselors recently were provided with the updated Second Step curriculum! Students have been enjoying the updated lessons. Information about the updated curriculum has been added to my website at https://sites.google.com/conval.edu/lofstedt/home
Kindergarten: In this week’s lesson, your child learned how to state a problem without blame or name calling. They practiced identifying problems in given scenarios, listened to me state the problem, and then repeated the statement. Children may be tempted to blame others when they’re upset about something. Encourage your child to avoid blame by describing what happened without focusing on who is at fault.
1st grade: In this week’s lesson, your child learned to use body language and context clues to figure out when someone feels worried. They practiced looking at the person’s face and body, as well as thinking about what’s going on in the situation. Encourage your child to notice when others around them might feel worried. Have them practice using body language and context clues to figure out when family members, friends, or characters in books, movies, or on TV might be feeling worried.
2nd grade: In this week’s lesson, your child learned that we can feel disappointed when something we want or expect does not happen. Remind your child that everyone feels disappointed sometimes. Ask them what they can do to feel better the next time they’re feeling disappointed.
3rd grade: In this week’s lesson, your child learned words for three degrees of anger: annoyed, angry, and furious. Ask your child to explain the differences between feeling annoyed, angry, and furious.
4th grade: In this week’s lesson, your child learned what it means to rethink a situation and how it can help them calm strong emotions. Tell your child about a time when rethinking a situation, or thinking about it in a different way, helped you feel better. Encourage your child to talk about times in their lives when rethinking could have helped them.
Another Math Challenge!
SEL Corner with Mrs. Styren
As we continue into February, I'm reminded of how much I look forward to spring and summer and the months ahead. I'm reminded of how much happier I am when I have things to look forward to and hope for. Research has shown that those who are happier have a sense of hope and that this element is one of the most important factors in happiness. And when we're happy, our kids are much more able to be happy as well. I hope you find the following resources and ideas this week helpful toward understanding, and I "hope" you're able to find more hope in your lives as well!
- Kristina Styren, School Psychologist at ConVal for Pierce, FES, GES, and HES
Resource of the Week:
https://www.pbs.org/parents - You may be familiar with PBS Kids, but did you know PBS has a whole section devoted to helpful tips for parents? They have expected milestones abilities children should have at each age, articles, book recommendations, videos, and ideas for fun activities to do together as well!
Article of the Week:
Child Psychologist: The No. 1 Skill That Sets Mentally Strong Kids Apart from 'those kids who give up' - and How Parents Can Teach It - As said above - Hope is so important to instill in children, and here is a great article on why and how to support our children so they can be more resilient overall.
Family Activity:
Make a recipe! PBS has a list of different recipes you can make together with your kids from cookies to holiday pancakes to homemade butter, and includes tips for teaching math skills to your kids in the process. It's a really great way to connect and spend time with one another while feeling success in making something as a team. If you make anything fun, let us know - we'd love to see your picture
https://www.pbs.org/parents/video/collection/recipes-to-make-with-your-child
Local Events and Activities
2022-2023 Calendar
Resources
End 68 Hours of Hunger Program Information
Where to find ConVal District and GES News!
GES has a facebook page! You can find the link here:
https://www.facebook.com/Greenfield-Elementary-School-532738607668635
The ConVal School District has news blog to serve as a hub for the latest updates, information and news about the district’s schools, students, faculty, events and accomplishments.
The blog, ConValNews.com is integrated into the schools and District’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and will automatically broadcast news blog content onto these platforms, connecting directly with the district community.
With a clean, user-friendly and mobile responsive layout, the news blog allows for easy navigation throughout. It can be accessed on computers, cell phones and tablets. Community members can subscribe and be notified by email when new posts are published.
Parents/guardians, students, staff, and community members should still utilize the district’s main website, Convalsd.net, to access the District-wide calendar of events, contact information, school committee meeting notices and minutes, important documents and notices and to view general information about the district and its schools.
Connect with us!
Email: croy@conval.edu
Website: https://ges.convalsd.net/
Location: 860 Forest Road, Greenfield, NH 03047, USA
Phone: 603-547-3334
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Greenfield-Elementary-School-532738607668635
Twitter: @ges_royc