Elm Street News
October Newsletter
Mr. Fredette's Reading Challenge!
Elm Street Students have read.....99,223 minutes
Mr. Fredette has taken 148,170 steps.....and I had A LOT of meetings last week.
Looks like our students need to get reading! 15 minutes each night - they can read by themselves, to someone, or be read to. Just remember to sign off on their Reading Log.
As of this week, our totals are:
Grade 4 = 39,770
Grade 3 = 33,517
Grade 2 = 25,936
Let's encourage our students to read more! The more they read today is an indicator of the successes they will have tomorrow.
ESS Walk to School Day - Thursday, October 4th
We decided to celebrate a little early this year for Elm Street's 5th Annual Walk to School Day on October 4th. We estimated that we had over 750 participants! Thank you to everyone who made it possible and a fun day!
George Hill Apple Orchard - 3rd Grade Field Trip
On October 10th -homeroom's 201 202 203 and 204 and again on October 16th home rooms- 205 ,208, 209 and 210 are going to George Hill Apple Orchard in Lancaster to learn about cider pressing.
Picture Day
Picture Day is: Monday, October 15
100 Dresses
This performance is for our entire school AND we will also be welcoming in our 4th and 5th grade friends from Holy Family.
Thank you to Mrs. Ouellet for scheduling and organizing. And the Gardner Cultural Council for making it all possible!
ESS Family Movie Night
Unified Sports Program
See the below links for Unified Sports program at Winchendon School. It is a sports program for students with special needs. They have changed it to be ages 4-12. It runs Sunday's from 11-12 at the Winchendon School. Great opportunity for kids to have access to sports and fun peer relationships.
Website: unitedsportsprogram.weebly.com
Growth Mindset
What is it?
We used to think that our intelligence was fixed - meaning we were either smart or we weren’t. Scientists have proven again and again that simply is not true. Our brain acts like a muscle - the more we use it, the stronger (and smarter) our brain becomes.
IS YOUR MINDSET FIXED?
A person with a fixed mindset may do these things:
avoid challenges
give up easily
ignore feedback
become threatened by other people’s success
try hard to appear as smart or capable as possible
WHAT DOES A GROWTH MINDSET LOOK LIKE?
A person with a growth mindset may do these things:
embrace challenges
give their best effort
learn from feedback
become inspired by other people’s successes
believe their intelligence can change if they work hard
Ways to help your student
TALK ABOUT IT
Talk with your student about his or her day, but guide the discussion by asking questions like:
Did you make a mistake today? What did you learn?
What did you do that was difficult today?
PRAISE THE PROCESS
Instead of saying, “You’re so smart!”, praise effort, goal setting, persisting through challenges, or being creative. You can say something like:
Wow! You must have worked really hard of this!”
ENCOURAGE FAILURE (say what?!)
You student needs to know that failure can (and often does) happen and it is okay! Remind her that each time she fails and tries again, her brain is growing stronger! Don’t step in to prevent your student’s failure - this is how he learns to persevere in the face of challenges.
THE BRAIN CAN GROW!
Remind your student that his or her intelligence is not fixed. Remind her that when things are difficult, her brain grows if she persists through the challenge. Each time he learns something new, his brain is making new connections. Your student needs to know this is possible!
HELP THEM CHANGE THEIR DIALOGUE
The way your student talks to himself makes a huge impact on his mindset. If he says, “This is too hard! Help him change that to “I can’t do this yet, but I will keep trying.” Give her the words to say when she is feeling defeated by modeling it yourself!
Scholastic Rewards
HOMEWORK
Homework MAY BE assigned nightly.
Up to:
20 minutes for 2nd grade
30 minutes for 3rd grade
40 minutes for 4th grade
Homework can sometimes be the most difficult time of day for students.
Teachers communicate with families in many different ways. Some teachers have teacher pages, some use email or emailed newsletters and some use Remind, Instagram, Google Classroom or Classroom Dojo. Teachers are always willing to support their students and families.
Teachers' emails are listed on the Gardner/Elm Street Website:
http://www.gardnerk12.org/862/Elm-Street-School-2-4
Here are some tips from the US Department of Education:
✪ Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to do homework.
Avoid having your child do homework with the television on or in places with other distractions, such as people coming and going.
✪ Make sure the materials your child needs, such as paper, pencils and a dictionary, are available. Ask your child if special materials will be needed for some projects and get them in advance.
✪ Help your child with time management. Establish a set time each day for doing homework. Don‘t let your child leave homework until just before bedtime. Think about using a weekend morning or afternoon for working on big projects, especially if the project involves getting together with classmates.
✪ Be positive about homework. Tell your child how important school is. The attitude you express about homework will be the attitude your child acquires.
✪ When your child does homework, you do homework. Show your child that the skills they are learning are related to things you do as an adult. If your child
is reading, you read too. If your child is doing math, balance your checkbook.
✪ When your child asks for help, provide guidance, not answers. Giving answers means your child will not learn the material. Too much help teaches your child that when the going gets rough, someone will do the work for him or her.
✪ When the teacher asks that you play a role in homework, do it. Cooperate with the teacher. It shows your child that the school and home are a team. Follow the directions given by the teacher.
✪ If homework is meant to be done by your child alone, stay away. Too much parent involvement can prevent homework from having some positive effects. Homework is a great way for kids to develop independent, lifelong learning skills.
✪ Stay informed. Talk with your child‘s teacher. Make sure you know the purpose of homework and what your child‘s class rules are.
✪ Help your child figure out what is hard homework and what is easy homework.
Have your child do the hard work first. This will mean he will be most alert when facing the biggest challenges. Easy material will seem to go fast when fatigue begins to set in.
If homework continues to be an issue please contact your child's teacher as soon as possible.
Here are some additional sites to get the homework routine up and running smoothly:
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/homework-tips-parents
http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/homework.html
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/homework-project-tips/10-homework-help-tips
MCAS
We still have a lot of work to do, and through our School Improvement Plan we will address each initiative.
Next Spring's 2019 MCAS Schedule (Tentative):
Grade 3 ELA - April 2nd and 3rd
Math - 8th and 9th
Grade 4 ELA- April 9th and 10th
Math - May 14th and 15th
Student Council and PAWS (Pupils Assisting With School)
Congratulations to our new Student Council and PAWS representatives!
This year we decided to try a different format in order to be able to include more students in the 3rd and 4th grades. Student Council representatives will serve for half of the year, this enabled us to double the amount of student leaders in the 4th grade. PAWS representatives are 3rd graders this year so we could involve our younger leaders. All students have been given a schedule of meetings. All members will be able to attend lunch with Mayor Hawke and the celebratory breakfast in June.
We look forward to working with this energetic group of leaders!
Ms. Tawczynski and Ms. Tata
Guidance Classes
The first 4 guidance classes begin the week of October 15th for all students. The curriculum will depend on your child’s grade level. Bullying, Conflict Resolution, and Friendship are a few of the topics that will be taught. Our final three classes will be taught in January.
Character Education
October=Self-Control
We feel character is very important at ESS and beyond, so we have many activities to provide examples and modeling. Mr. Fredette reminds students on the daily announcement of the character trait of the month and gives examples. Classrooms create bulletin boards, teachers pick a student each month who demonstrates the character trait, and we have guest speakers at our Character Education Program.
Spirit Week
Elm Street is planning a "Spirit" Week during the week of October 29th. We'd love to see all our students participate.
Monday, October 29 = Crazy Hair Day (spike, shave, twist/turn, color/dye, or create something spooky)
Tuesday, October 30 = Sports Day (dress up in your favorite sports gear, team shirt or uniform - no helmets, pads or cleats, please)
Wednesday, October 31 = Dress Up Day (students will be allowed to wear appropriate costumes but under NO circumstances - no masks/no fake weapons/props/ no gore or face paint) - we want all students to feel safe and included in this day. This includes the buses. Students should not bring any of the restricted items on the bus - they should be left at home. This will be strictly enforced.
Thursday, November 1 = Pajama Day (wearing appropriate pajamas to school with appropriate footwear - no slippers please)
Friday, November 2 = School Pride Day (wear Orange and/or Black OR PBIS shirts to show pride in your school)
Thank you for your support and helping to build pride in our school. We wish to make this week a positive experience for all students, so please reinforce our expectations with your students and help them adhere to the guidelines. Thank you!