MMM
3/25/19
Lori Casavant (2nd)
Greg Otero (29th)
Books That Build Empathy in Children
“A well-written story can not only transport the reader into new worlds but also affect how elementary-level readers see and participate in the social world around them,” say Stephanie Kozak and Holly Recchia (Concordia University/Montreal) in this article in The Reading Teacher. “Part of what makes human interactions rich is the ability to feel the joy that others feel, to share in sorrow when someone is in need, and to experience a sense of righteous anger when someone is treated unjustly. Equally crucial is the capacity to understand and empathize with others who have very different experiences.” They suggest these storybooks as powerful ways to build empathy in elementary-school children:
- Miss Nelson Is Missing! by Harry Allard
- A Year of Borrowed Men by Michelle Barker
- Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts
- The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
- Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña
- Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis
- Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall
- Owen by Keven Henkes
- Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle
- Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers
- The Bad Seed by Jory John
- I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
- The Stamp Collector by Jennifer Lanthier
- Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine
- Virginia Wolf by Kya Maclear
- The Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco
- After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) by Dan Santat
- The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka
- Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems
“Reading and the Development of Social Understanding: Implications for the Literacy Classroom” by Stephanie Kozak and Holly Recchia in The Reading Teacher, March/April 2019 (Vol. 72, #5, p. 569-577), https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/trtr.1760; the authors can be reached at stephanie.kozak@concordia.ca and holly.recchia@concordia.ca.
bus evacuation drills
We will be having bus evacuation drills on Monday, April 1st. Please discuss the Importance of bus safety with students. Evacuations will be done at regular AM drop off times.
speech screenings
From Krystn and Hannah
Speech screenings will be conducted within the next few weeks. Screening requests should be completed based on the following:
Kindergarten screenings will include:
- Kindergartners recommended by classroom teachers who are performing below the 50th percentile in their classrooms in terms of academic progress due to suspected expressive and/or receptive language concerns.
- Kindergartners who are identified by their teachers with observable articulation, voice, fluency, and/or social difficulties.
1st – 5th grade screenings will include:
- Students who are below grade level and not making academic progress in their classroom due to suspected expressive and/or receptive language difficulties
- Students who are identified by their teachers with observable articulation, voice, fluency, and/or social difficulties.
To request a screening, please complete a screening request checklist. Please also complete the ETA form (unless you have already completed one for the Academic Review Team). You can find the ETA form in the "Team Meetings" folder on your desktop. You may email the completed forms to us or put them in our mailbox. Please also make sure you have contacted parents about the screening.
If we referred a student in the fall for a spring re-screen, you do have to complete any paperwork. We will do the screening.
Please note, during speech and language screenings therapy may be interrupted and services may be missed. Please contact us with any questions/concerns.
Important MCAS Updates
ALL STAFF: We are resharing the link to the MCAS schedule. This schedule indicates all changes in specials etc. We may also need to add a lunch shift to give grade 5 more time on their test days.
All staff that are involved in MCAS (or have a chance of being involved in administering MCAS) will need to attend MCAS training with Amy. Please plan to attend one of the trainings listed below:
- March 27 @ 8:15
- March 28 @ 3:20
Reading Standards Mastery assessments
Reading Standards Mastery assessments will appear on student dashboards in iReady on the dates below.
Grade 3: Standards Mastery iReady Assessment May 28th - May31st, 2019 (focus on 3.2 and 3.9)
Students must complete this assessment prior to continuing any online instruction. Two standards are being assessed in each grade level and iReady expects this should take students approximately 30 minutes.
Here is a resource from iReady that explains standards mastery and provides additional resources for using these results to inform our practice.
CARE & SHARE
Please remind your students to bring in items for Care & Share. Our monthly food collection makes a huge difference in our community, while teaching our students the importance of giving. As an added incentive, the class that brings in the most each month will earn 15 minutes of extra recess on the new playground!
- March: Crackers
- April: Spaghetti
- May: Juice Boxes
- June: Cans of Tuna Fish
DATES FOR THIS WEEK
Monday 3/25:
Tuesday 3/26:
- Grades 4 & 5 Bullying/Cyber Bullying Assembly, 9:15 – 10:15 am
- Grades 2 & 3 Bullying/Cyber Bullying Assembly, 10:30 – 11:15 am
- Kindergarten Tours, 1:45 – 2:45 pm & 6:30 - 7:30 pm
- Robotics Club Grade 4 & 5, 3:00 – 4:30 pm
Wednesday 3/27:
- Fourth Grade Field Trip, Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Concert Series
Thursday 3/28:
- Community Meeting, 1:45 (Grade 2)
- Staff MCAS Administration Training, 3:20 – 4:20 pm
Friday 3/29:
panda paw cash-in dates
COMMUNITY MEETING DATES
Wednesday, 5/15 at 9:30, Grade 4
Thursday, 6/13 at 9:30, Grade 5
STAFF BREAKFASTS
04/05/19 - Grade 3/ Claire/Brett/Deb P.
05/03/19 - Rooms 6, 7,16, & 18
05/17/19 - Grade 5 Cara/Tess
05/31/19 - Kindergarten/Hannah/Daphna
06/14/19 - Specialists/Gary/Michele Klein