The Polar Bear Post
Vol. 1, Issue 5 February/March 2022
The Principal's Corner - "Momma Bear's Musings"
Our students were excited to celebrate Read Across America! Our amazing Title 1 Team orchestrated this event as we invited in guests for our Community Reading Day at Park Avenue School! There were smiles all around as children enjoyed meeting our readers and then hearing a special story read to them. Reading opens up the world for our students and we appreciate so many people willing to give their time to our Polar Bears!
Let's continue to provide opportunities for our children to develop a love for reading both at home and at school as we partner in helping them discover the JOY that a book offers!
Mrs. Parmley
BHS Football Players Join in the Fun!
Thank you to all our Readers!
Mr. Tai brought such expression and joy to our class!
Even our staff joined in to share the love of reading!
The amazing team that planned this event!
Author & Illustrator, Josh Alves, joined Mrs. Ray's class.
Assistant Principal's Message
There are several ways to engage students in math fact practice. Quiz them with old fashioned flash cards or have students write out their math facts.
These fun website links can also be an engaging way to practice:
http://www.factmonster.com/math/knowledgebox/
http://www.funbrain.com/tictactoe/index.html
http://www.abcya.com/math_facts_game.htm
Mrs. Allen
Dishing with the Dean~
“I’m late! I’m late for a very important date!” Don’t be like Rabbit in Alice In Wonderland! Be on time for school!!!! When you’re late for school, YOU are late for a very important date!
Do you know that if you are 15 minutes late every day, that ends up being 1 hour and 15 minutes, or 1.25 hours of school you miss each week? There are approximately 40 weeks in the school year, so let’s do the math! 1.25 hours a week X 40 weeks = 50 hours in a year. If you divide 50 hours by the 6.5 hours there are in a school day, you will miss over 7 days of school a year, just by being 15 minutes late every day!
So don’t be like Rabbit! Set those alarm clocks and don’t be late for YOUR very important date!
Mrs. Thompson
Pre-Kindergarten
Kindergarten
To start the month off, we will be celebrating Read Across America month with our Dr. Suess spirit week. We will have a special guest come into our classroom to read a story to our students in promotion of “Read Every Day”.
In literacy, kindergarteners will be focusing on listening comprehension, learning more high frequency words and reading and writing CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words.
In math, we will focus on addition and subtraction within 10 using visuals and mentally add and subtract within 5. It’s important to review the addition symbol (+ plus) and subtraction symbol (- minus) with your child.
Report cards will also come out this month to let you know how your child is progressing in our kindergarten curriculum. As you review your child’s report card, please know that students P’s are ok (they know the skill but haven’t mastered it YET). They might need extra practice at home to increase their confidence in that particular skill.
It’s also important to note that as kindergarten expectations increase over the course of the year, so does our grading rubric. For example: in oral counting, students are expected to count to 30 by the end of trimester 1, 60 by the end of trimester 2 and 100 by the end of trimester 3.
Grade 1
Grade 2 News
Second graders have been busy reading, reading, and reading some more as they participate in the joy of the nation’s biggest celebration of reading known as Read Across America. The goal is to have read 5,000 pages collectively, as a grade level, by March 2nd! Please continue to support the love of reading at home by encouraging your student to read and reread familiar text. Rereading familiar text will also help to build students’ reading fluency. A trip to a local library is always a great way to enjoy reading too! In math, students will continue to work on double digit addition and subtraction. Strategies that are supporting that important math work are drawing a picture of the tens and ones from the numbers, breaking the numbers apart into tens and ones, and also using what is called an open numberline to count back or count on by groups of tens or by single ones. Please continue to practice basic math facts as this is a huge support to the work that is being done currently with double digit addition and subtraction. As always, thank you!
Grade 3 News
After a well-deserved February break we will continue to work on test taking strategies for the upcoming MCAS ELA and Math testing. To prepare for this experience students will gain an understanding of various types of questioning to include multiple choice and open response questions (those that require a written response). Students will be required to type a paragraph in response to what they read so, if at all possible, they will benefit from practicing their typing skills. This can be accessed through Clever if a device is available to them at home. They will also be working in school to practice these skills and learn what is expected the day of testing. Again nothing to stress about but we want to take this seriously as it is a way to show what they know.
Our learning continues in all areas of the 3rd grade curriculum. In ELA students learned about the character’s point of view in a story while reading excerpts from the “Clementine” series. Point of view is the way a person sees something; their opinion or perspective. They are also working on writing complete sentences to answer questions about the text. They are expected to use capitals at the beginning of a sentence and the appropriate punctuation at the end. In addition, they continue to look for text evidence by going back to the story they are reading when answering questions. In math, students are working on fractions. This includes vocabulary (numerator/denominator), fractions on a numberline, fractions equal to and greater than one whole, and equivalent/comparing fractions using symbols (<,>,=). In social studies, our focus has been learning about the Puritans and the Pilgrims. In science, we will be learning about the survival of the fittest. We look forward to continuing our remarkable work as we persevere with a growth mindsets.
Third Grade News
Grade 4 News
Even though it is cold outside, things are heating up in fourth grade! Students are working hard to find equivalent fractions in math. They show their knowledge using numbers, models, and even explaining it with words. In Social Studies, they just finished wrapping up the Southwest Region. Most students concluded that the weather there is a little more agreeable than what we are seeing here in the Northeast! In English Language Arts, students are learning about the features of an argumentative text. They are studying the ways advances in science can be helpful and harmful. Looking at the pros and cons of GM foods and BT corn have helped them better understand this concept. As we roll into our winter break, we hope each student finds time to rest, regroup, and READ! Enjoy time with friends and family. We have lots of exciting things to learn in the upcoming weeks! Please reach out on Class Dojo if you have any questions or concerns.
ELL News
Our English Language Learners are done with ACCESS testing! We would like to thank all of the teachers, staff and families who have been so supportive of this process. The students have worked very hard and we are extremely proud of them.
Journal writing is a great way for students to practice their English and writing skills at home. The focus does not necessarily have to be on spelling, -- just being able to identify and use English vocabulary is great practice. Even students new to the country, who may choose to write in their native language, can add in a few English words that they are learning. They can also write a page of all their new English words to practice. Younger students can draw a picture next to their new words.
Just a reminder about our morning ELL Tutoring Program. This program provides extra support with the English language and many reading and writing strategies through various topics. This is offered Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7:15-8:15 for grades 3 and 4 and Tuesday and Thursday for grades K-2. Unfortunately, there is no transportation for this program.
Any skills your child can practice at home will undoubtedly help their language proficiency. Thank you for your continued support of your child’s education! We are always here to answer questions or concerns.
Mrs. LaBonte
Mrs. Coutu
Ms. Pascieri
2022 MCAS Dates at PAE
We understand that this year remains very challenging for students and families with the changes in the state mandated stay at home requirements. We want to encourage families to continue taking these opportunities to build skills by obtaining activities from their teacher. Suggestions for your student to make the most of their time when they are not completing academic work are listed below. Attending school remains an important factor for your student’s academic and social/emotional growth. Please have your student continue to attend school when they are not symptomatic.
Reading anyway you can
Teaching them to play a classic game (checkers, chess, card games, etc.)
Build their own board game
Watch a movie. Then have them summarize with details.
Encourage movement activities
Best Wishes,
The Counseling TeamNews from our Reading Specialist- Mrs. Deborah Puishys
Vocabulary is another essential component of reading
and plays an important role in learning to read.
Oral vocabulary refers to words we recognize and use when we are speaking or listening.
Reading vocabulary refers to words we recognize and use when we are reading or writing.
Children often learn vocabulary indirectly through everyday experiences with language, both orally and in print.
Through conversations with adults, children will learn new word meanings.
Having stories read aloud to them helps children discover new words and concepts and relate them to their prior knowledge and experience.
Children will also acquire new vocabulary by reading extensively on their own.
Some vocabulary should be taught explicitly through direct instruction, allowing students to learn more difficult words that are not a part of their everyday language. Teaching content related vocabulary prior to reading text leads to better reading comprehension. It is important to combine direct teaching methods with indirect vocabulary learning to reach all students. Partnering together for this important learning will help children become better speakers, listeners, readers, and writers!
"The role of vocabulary in academic success increases through the grades, and that early vocabulary knowledge predicts reading comprehension skill in later grades."
(Pierce, Wechsler-Zimring, Noam, Wolf, & Tami Katzir, 2013).
Unified Arts
Our Polar Bears have been working hard in all of the Unified Arts this year. They have shown their perseverance in all of our classes.
In STEAM all grade levels are doing experiments to learn more about physical science. First and Fourth graders are studying types of energy while Kindergarten and Third graders are tackling motion. Our Second graders are learning all about the states and properties of matter. We look forward to using our science knowledge to solve engineering problems in the near future.
The students are finishing up a variety of different projects in Art. Grades 1-4 will soon be starting projects based on pop-art and symmetry. Kindergarten students will begin learning about color as we navigate color-mixing!
In Technology students are working on their Keyboarding and Navigation skills. They are using their Wonders spelling and vocabulary to improve their typing fluency and become more familiar with their Wonders words.
Students are learning folk dances in their Music classes. We are looking forward to putting on a musical showcase for each grade level in the coming months.
Our kiddos have been very busy in physical education class over the last month. In Gym B our students have been working on rhythm and dance. During the past few classes we have practiced a dance routine to the song “Cupid Shuffle” and are now able to perform all movements to the song. To help with rhythm we have also been working on hula hooping and jump roping to improve our balance and coordination. In Gym A we have been working on team sports. We finished up the month by playing “castle ball” which involves being able to work as a team to protect your “castle” and also work and strategize to knock down the opposing team's castle. Once we return from a well deserved winter break we will be starting our football unit in Gym B and basketball unit in Gym A.
Celebrating 100 Days in Gr. 2!
Wearing 100 Cotton Balls for 100 Days of School !
100 Butterflies to Celebrate!
Mrs. Robin Parmley, Principal
Email: rparmley@webster-schools.org
Website: https://www.webster-schools.org/Domain/110
Location: 58 Park Avenue, Webster, MA, USA
Phone: 508-943-4554
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Park%20Avenue%20Elementary/580103225452897/
Mrs. Lorinda Allen, Assistant Principal
Email: lallen@webster-schools.org
Website: https://www.webster-schools.org/Domain/110
Location: 58 Park Avenue, Webster, MA, USA
Phone: 508-943-4554
Twitter: @AsstPrin_PAE
Mrs. Anne Thompson, Dean of Students
Email: athompson@webster-schools.org
Website: https://www.webster-schools.org/Domain/110
Location: 58 Park Avenue, Webster, MA, USA
Phone: 508-943-4554