Green Meadow Update
Robert Rouleau
Happy Thanksgiving
Outdoor Lunch Bunch
This past week, Green Meadow received a few requests asking if it would be possible for students to eat lunch outside. As a result, the administration team came together to brainstorm some ideas as to how to make this work for our students. After some discussion, we came up with a viable plan that, we believe, might work if we are able to secure enough parent volunteers throughout the school day.
We are hoping to form an “Outdoor Lunch Bunch” which would meet outside to eat lunch every day if the weather allows. In order to do this, we would need to gauge interest, know how many groups will be participating, and we would need to secure some parent volunteers who would be willing to guide the students outside as well as to sit with them for the duration of the lunch block. The parent volunteers would be responsible for picking students up and dropping them off to class in a timely manner as well to make sure that students are dressed appropriately for the chilly weather. They would also be responsible for checking that students have their lunches whether they are home lunches or school lunches.
In order to allow volunteers to gain access to the building, all volunteers would have to be CORI checked, possibly finger printed, as well as attend a training session provided by administration. Volunteers would also need to provide proof of COVID19 vaccination or a negative test each week that they volunteer. We would also need to make sure that we have enough volunteers so that we have a few extra folks to “cover” in the event that a volunteer gets sick or isn’t available to cover his or her own group for the day. As you can see this is an involved process but if given adequate support, we could potentially make it happen.
If you are interested in having your child participate in the Outdoor Lunch Bunch or if you would like to volunteer, please fill out the following survey:
After we receive this information back, we will be contacting all parents with more information regarding our school’s plan moving forward.
We thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We hope to work alongside each and everyone of you in order to make eating outdoors a possibility for our students at Green Meadow.
Preschool News
Dear Families and Friends,
Thanksgiving is almost here and from all of us to all of you – many wishes for a happy and healthy time with your family members during our school break. This week we will continue to recognize the importance of sharing and use teaching opportunities and literature to help recognize the things that we are thankful for in our daily lives.
This will be a short week and I would like to offer children the opportunity to bring their favorite book to school this week. We WILL read them all! If anyone is not able to bring a book to school, they will be able to either choose one from our library to read or find a read-aloud on YouTube to share with classmates.
When we return from Thanksgiving break our theme will be “Boxes” - which will be both educational and fun! If you have any boxes (the size that a preschooler can sit in) that you do not need please send them to school and we will put them to good use!
Have a great week!
Spanish Immersion News
I hope this email finds you well.
This week in our classroom:
Spanish Language Arts: This week, students practiced making syllables with the letters m, ma /mah/, me /meh/, mi /mee/, mo/ moh, and mu /moo/. Students are now able to read words with those syllables. Everyone is taking home a practice sheet; please help your child to practice the lesson.
We continue to practice recognizing rhyming words, initial sounds, ending sounds, etc.
Vocabulary: mamá (mom), mano (hand), mesa (table), mono (monkey), muñeca (doll) miel (honey)
Link: Video lesson - Ma-me-mi-mo-mu
Math: Model and count 8 with objects and represent up to 8 objects with a number name and a written numeral.
Science: Animals observations, we continue to observe squirrels to understand their behavior.
Social Studies: We are talking about the things that we are grateful for. It was heartwarming to heart during our discussions that most of the students are thankful for the time they spend with their families. Some of their quotes were:
I am grateful for my daddy because he hugs me when I am scared, Piper
I am grateful for my mom because she reads with me, Caleb
I am grateful for my mom because she plays with me, Jahnaeyah
I am grateful for mommy dates on the weekends, Madeleine
Important information and Reminders:
November 24th – 26th – Thanksgiving break – no school
- Thank you to all the veterans who came to read to the students last week!
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Queridas famílias,
Espero que este e-mail encontre bem,
Esta semana em nossa sala de aula:
Artes da Língua Espanhola: Esta semana, os alunos praticaram fazer sílabas com as letras m, ma / mah /, me / meh /, mi / mee /, mo / moh e mu / moo /. Os alunos agora podem ler palavras com essas sílabas. Todos estão levando para casa uma folha de prática; por favor, ajude seu filho a praticar a lição. Continuamos a praticar o reconhecimento de palavras que rimam, sons iniciais, sons finais, etc.Vocabulário: mamá (mãe), mano (mão), mesa (mesa), mono (macaco), muñeca (boneca) miel (mel)
Link: Vídeo-aula - Ma-me-mi-mo-mu
Matemática: Modele e conte 8 com objetos e represente até 8 objetos com um nome numérico e um numeral escrito.
Ciência: Observações de animais, continuamos a observar esquilos para entender seu comportamento.
Estudos Sociais: Estamos falando sobre coisas pelas quais somos gratos. Durante nossas discussões, foi comovente o fato de a maioria dos alunos ser grata pelo tempo que passam com suas famílias. Algumas de suas citações foram:
Sou grato por meu pai porque ele me abraça quando estou com medo, Piper
sou grato por minha mãe porque ela lê comigo, Caleb
sou grato por minha mãe porque ela brinca comigo, Jahnaeyah
estou grato para encontros de mamãe nos fins de semana, Madeleine
Informações importantes e lembretes:
24 a 26 de novembro - feriado de Ação de Graças - sem aula.
Obrigado a todos os veteranos que foram ler para os alunos na semana passada!
Gracias,
Sra. Galdamez y Sra. Castillo
Third Grade News
Ahoy, 3rd grade families!
We began a new read-aloud chapter book, the New York Times best-seller Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng. Through read-aloud time I model what good readers are thinking and doing while spending time with text. Georgia has a knack of ending each chapter with a cliffhanger, causing a collective "NOOOOO!!!" from the class when I put the bookmark back inside and close the book for the day. It's wonderful to see them so excited about the story! For more information about the story, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Moon%27s_Incredible_Book_of_Hypnotism
In our Fundations routine this week we practiced the spelling options for long E [ee, ea, ey, and e-e]. Students learned a new Word of the Day: heal. We reviewed homophones, and today will put our skills to practice with the Unit 11 Story: "Winter Daydream". Baby Echo even got into our safety protocols and was wearing his little mask over his beak! ("beak" having the long E spelling of "ea"!)
During our literacy routine this week, students were introduced to Lexia and ReadWorks. Lexia is an adaptive blended learning program that accelerates the development of literacy skills for students of all abilities, helping them make that critical shift from learning to read to reading to learn. ReadWorks is a platform driven by cognitive science and thoughtfully designed to provide differentiated high-impact instruction that builds better readers. Students viewed/listened to Thanksgiving On Plymouth Plantation by Diane Stanley. We also spent time with our "good fit" books for Read to Self.
During Writer's Workshop students continued to develop a paragraph with a topic sentence, details, and a closing sentence. Using the "hamburger" graphic organizer, they chose from a list of prompts to create a well-developed paragraph. We are still focusing on capitalization, punctuation, and proper spelling of grade-level words.
We learned about LINE PLOTS this week in math. Students learned how to create a frequency table, and then plot the data into this graph. They are becoming quite proficient in analyzing the data in these types of graphs! Students asked to generate their own questions for classmates to answer...who was I to say no? A teacher's dream! Kudos to them!
In social studies we wrapped up our unit about the Pilgrims and Wampanoag. We learned about a "hornbook" used by pilgrim children, and then created our own! Students enjoyed tracing the old English letters with a stick on the wax paper. They brought ALL unit materials home from their social studies folders. Please take time to review their hard work with them.
During our SEL [Social & Emotional Learning] lesson with guidance counselor, Julie Danforth we discussed the meaning of "personal bubble". We identified people who we'd allow into our "intimate(closest) circle", and then the 2 larger circles beyond that of general friends/acquaintances, and then random strangers. We talked about how sometimes it is a good thing when our personal space bubble is popped, and other times it is unexpected and uncomfortable. I'm sharing a video that Mrs. Danforth sent after our lesson here [animals popping our personal bubbles!], and it will also be posted in our Google Classroom. https://safesha.re/2un1 There was a request to replay "Pantomime Telephone". Ask your child about their experiences!
Please remember you and your child can always access our Google Classroom to review materials and strengthen the home/school connection.
KIND REMINDER: If you need to change your child's dismissal plan, please send in a WRITTEN NOTE including my name (Mrs. McPhail), the date, your child's name, and a brief description of the plan. Please do NOT email me with the change during the school day for that afternoon. I cannot guarantee I will see the email because I'm teaching/working with your children/not near my computer, or there could be a problem with the technology system in the building on any given day. The SAFEST, BEST WAY is to always send a note with your child.
Until next week....BON VOYAGE!
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THINGS TO REMEMBER/UPCOMING EVENTS:
THANKSGIVING BREAK------>WED/THURS/FRI, NOVEMBER 24th, 25th, and 26th NO SCHOOL
REPORT CARD CONFERENCES------>THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2nd (EARLY RELEASE)
EARLY RELEASE DAY---------->FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3rd
Scholastic Online Book Order due--------->Thursday, December 9th [class activation code: FPM6Z]
Christmas Parade
PLEASE SAVE THE DATE!
The 55th Annual Maynard Christmas Parade will be held on Sunday, December 5, 2021 at 2 pm. Come and celebrate the holiday season with your friends, family and town residents.
Please consider making a donation to help make this our greatest Christmas Parade to date.
GMPTO Reminders
Holiday Shoppe 2021
As a holiday tradition, the GM PTO is again sponsoring the Holiday Shoppe, a gift-purchasing event for the children. The event gives children the opportunity to purchase a special gift for their family. This event is for Green Meadow students in grades K-3 only.
This year, the Holiday Shoppe will run on Saturday, December 4th at the Boys and Girls Club from 10am-5pm. It will not be during school hours. Due to this new approach, all children wanting to participate will need to sign up for a 15 minute time slot. Parents will bring their child(ren) to the club at their designated time slot and then wait in the car while their child(ren) shop. Volunteers will be there to shop with your child(ren) and bring them back to your car when completed.
Please Note: Due to high interest and limited open slots for safety, time slots are on a first come, first serve basis. The PTO cannot guarantee a slot.
Click on the following link to secure a time-slot. Make sure to sign-up each of your children for a time slot, not yourself! (Holiday Shoppe Registration - Click Here!)
Once signed up, envelopes with details for shopping will be sent home in backpacks the Thursday before the event!
The sign up end date for the Holiday Shoppe is November 27th.
Please Note:
COVID-19 Protocol: Unfortunately the holiday shoppe is only open one day this year. If your child is sick, has had any covid exposure or is participating in the test and stay program on the Thursday or Friday prior to the shoppe day - your child is not permitted to come to the shoppe. This is important to keep everyone safe!
Gift Limit is 6: Due to time limitations, there is a maximum of 6 gifts per child.
We Need Volunteers: This event would not be possible without the help of our volunteers. Please help keep this tradition going by signing up for a time slot. We need parents to shop with kids as well as do simple wrapping (put items in bags)! (Volunteer Sign-Up - Click Here! We are looking for donations of tape and bows that can be dropped off in the Green Meadow Lobby in the bin
Holiday Shoppe Flyer:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hgxc5Qsi7DkfaiwwqdyZzgyLRUy-fuKvhBmFw3PyWkQ/edit?usp=sharing
Direct Donation Flyer:
Upcoming Events
November 24 - No School
November 25 - No School - Thanksgiving
November 26 - No School - Thanksgiving
December 2 - Early Release Day K-3 / Regular PK Day
December 1-3 - Virtual Parent Teacher Conferences
December 4 - PTO Holiday Shoppe
About Us
Email: rrouleau@maynard.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.maynard.k12.ma.us/o/green-meadow-school
Location: 5 Tiger Drive, Maynard, MA, USA
Phone: (978) 897-8246