mastricola times 3rd quarter 2013

7/30/2019 Mastricola Times 3rd Quarter 2013

1/8

P r i n c i p a F s MessageHappy Spring and welcome back from the April vaca

tion week! The winter thaw and rain has brought usgreen lawns and beautiful spring flowers in abundance.An event that reminds us that spring has arrived to theMastricola community is our Kindergarten Open House,where we welcomed many new and returning familieswith children who will enter kindergarten this comingfall. It's always so exciting to see their enthusiasm asthey have time to explore the kindergarten classrooms.

Part of what makes our community at JMES so special is that we celebrate the diverse talents of our stu-dents at every grade level. This quarter our Fourth graders performed the musical. It's Saturday for all of the stu-dents and staff and in the evening for their families. Itwas an enjoyable event for all - there's nothing morepleasing than hearing children sing.

Another traditional family event is JMES' PrincipalStory Hour. This year's theme was 'It's a Story Laboratory' was held on March 21^ for our Preschoolers, Kindergarteners, First and Second graders. It was very well attended and kicked off the PATT's Scholastic Book Fairfundraising event. We thank you all for attendingthe parent/teacher conferences and for visiting theBook Fair which supports many of the programsoffered to the students.

(Principars Message cont'd Page 8)

P A T T Presidents^Message

May 2013

Assistant Pr i nc i pa l ' s Message.. that TIGER Theater performed their anti-bullying musicalfo r MES on February 21' ?

..that three MES Destination Imagination teams competedat the Nashua North on March 16 ?

..that Jacqueline Davies, author, visited our school onMarch 26^^ which was hosted by the PATT?

.. that on March ^0^^ the MES Fire Muster team placed thirat our annual competition?

.. that Mr. Saunders and our fourth graders performed themusical "It's Saturday"? It was held on April 4*" for theschool during the day and for family and friends in theevening.

..that Mrs. Cleasby and our students held our Fitness Fundraiser April 10 -12 ?

.. that the PATT Family Fun Run was held on April 13 ?

.. that Mr. Saunders and the Guitar Club performed for family and friends on April 17 ?

... that on May 6 ^ is the start of National Teacher Appreciation Week?...that our 4^^ graders will take the NECAP Scienceassessment during the week of May 13 ?

(Assistant Principal's Message cont'd Pag

What a crazy year! We can't believe it's almost over. Thanks to all who attended and helped out at all the PATT events likeBingo Night, Principals' Story Hour, Book Fair and the Fun Run. Without all the support, these events wouldn't be possible. That being said, we still have many openings to chair events for the 2013-2014 school year, as well as openings on the PATTBoard. Please contact Ann Martin annm__03054@myfafrpointnet for more information about how to get involved and to vol-unteer.

The final push is just around the corner. Kat Knauer and Ann Waller have organized a great Teacher Appreciation week tothank our fabulous stafl" and the Field Day committee is working hard to make our largest PATT event a success. Here's to agreat 4th quarter!

Nicole WilliamsNancy Phillips-1-


2/8

PreschoolBoth Preschool classes were busy in April learning about

the Spring changes that are happening around them. Partof our goal is to encourage great observers! Paying attention to details in the world around them is a skill that willhelp them to succeed in leaming in many different areas.

We talked about snow melting, mud, spring flowers suchas forsythia (which started blooming over vacation), daffodils, and crocus. We talked about robins and how they migrate in the winter and return in Spring. All classes also didsome spring planting, which has already come home tothem. Encourage them to report back to school about thegrowth of their plants.

As a culminating activity and another chance to "findSpring" around them, all three 4 yr. old classes attended (orwill attend) a hike at Grater Woods hiking loop. We foundmany, many signs of spring: buds on the bushes, a goose,ducks, lots of ants, a salamander, and even a great big blackfrog. This is a great 1mile loop hike that is located rightbehind the Middle School if you are looking for a place tobring your child.

IF irst Grade

KindergartenKindergarteners say, '*\fIhad a pot of goldIwould. . .""Fill it with tacos.""Take all the gold out and put other things in the pot.""Use it to buy a beautiful dress, a pink Mustang, and a beautiful pink pair of shoes.""Use it to be rich.""Spend it on my friends and family.""Take it to the race track and trade it for a ride in a racecar.""Give it away to get something different.""Spend it all on candy.""Take all of the gold and celebrate...Ihave gold! ! !""Buy some Batman and Spiderman toys."

"IfIwere a leprechaun,Iwould . . . ""Dig for gold.""Bring my gold to the other side of the rainbow.""Show everyone that leprechauns are nice.""Go to Hawaii!"

The first grade classrooms are buzzing with many literacy and math activities. We are learning about characters' personalities and physical traits, locating Information in a nonfiction text and how to use context clues to learn new words. Our dailymath fluency practice has helped us with our fact power. The students continue to work on counting money and telling time.

On March 13, the first graders visited the SEE Science Center in Manchester. They explored many hands-on exhibits aboutlight, electricity, momentum and sound. The favorite exhibit was the electrostatic generator which made several of our classmates have very crazy hair! Another fun activity was making silly putty In the Slimy Science Lab. Ask a first grader to tell you theingredients in silly putty.

We are currently studying weather, and leaming about diflPerent kinds of storms and clouds. The finale to our weather unitwill be a visit from WMUR Meteorologist Kevin Skarupa.The first graders are happy spring has arrived, and are excited that they don't have to wear snow pants and boots any

more!


3/8

Second GradeDuring the third quarter second graders enjoyed a field

trip to Parkers Maple Barn. While they were there they enjoyed a scrumptious pancake breakfast and took a tourlearning about how sap is turned into maple syrup. If youhaven't seen the slide show on our website please take aminute to check it out.

Students have been working hard to improve their writing skills. Learning how to formulate complete sentences,capitalize and use punctuation properly are just a few skillsthe students are working toward mastering. They are alsoattempting to add verbs and adjectives to make their writing more interesting and to help create mental pictures forthe reader. In reading, students continue their daily quest tobecome proficient readers. Working on reading multi syllable words, identifying prefixes and suffixes, reading withgood expression and fluency are just a few of the skills covered this quarter. Students spent 3 weeks learning to identify text features. Ask a second grader you know why anauthor uses headings, labels, table of contents, a cut away,diagram or an index. In math, students have put forth theirbest efl'ort learning about fractions, how to calculate perimeter and area and have compared customary and metricunits of measurement.

After several winter months our coat closetshave shed a few layers and students are enjoyingthe warmer weather outside during recesses.They continue to enjoy their duties of the WeeDeliver Program. Every Tuesday and Thursdaythe students anxiously wait to see if they receivemail.

T h i r d Grade

Our third graders were hard at work duringthe third quarter. They have completed the int r o d u c t i o n of the lower and upper case cursivealphabet and are now capable of completingw r i t t e n assignments using this new skill.

We are nearing the conclusion of our studyo f the Native American cultures and introducinga brand new science unit to third grade -WEATHER. We have exciting activities and experiments planned.

As we complete this quarter, our third graders should now be able of independently readin g silently for a half an hour. Please try to haveyour child choose books from diflFerent genrest o expose them to all types of literature.

Happy Spring!

Fourth GradeThe fourth graders are off to a busy start to their "N ew Year". The Granite State Fit Kids Program was present

ed and the children really enjoyed the weekly instruction. The activities focused on nutrition, health, and fitness.

A n o t h e r highlight has been learning 2-digit multiplication and division and learning about fractions. Mrs. Wyman continues to review library skills to reinforce the use of reference materials. Students are researching USregions and learning about the wonderful country we live in. In addition, students have been collecting donation^of f o o d for the f o o d bank, and we thank everyone for helping make that a success.

Finally, The Discovery Museum recently shared a "L/ght and Laser^' presentation to enhance students understanding of light for our unit on energy. The fourth graders continue to work hard and their effort makes a difference everyday!

-3-


4/8


5/8

MusicThe third quarter was a busy one in the music room.

We prepared and performed our 4 ^ grade musical and Guitar Club show. Both were huge successes. Kudos to the 4 ^graders and their teachers for putting in all the hard work tomake this year's show one of the bestIhave been a part of.

The 3"^ graders are hard at work with recorders andwe will be performing along with our JMES chorus at theannual Art and Music Show in late May. If their playing con-tinues to improve at the rate It is now, we will be in for afantastic performance.

The 2" graders have finished their families of instruments unit which consisted of looking at many instrumentsand getting our hands on quite a few to see how they workand sound. They also were able to utilize the SMART boardhere at school to explore the NY Philharmonic Orchestra'sKidzonewebsite. They were able to play games and explorethe instruments of the orchestra there.

Grade 1 spent a lot of time studying rhythm and how itis notated. They each created a packet of ''fruit rhythms"which they used in class and eventually took home to createrhythms of their own.

The 4 ^ quarter is sure to be busy with every grade level starting new units and exploring various aspects of music.

Fitness F im News

March Madness is here with our school wellness initiatives in full swing. Jump Rope for Heart was a huge successas we raised $5,920 for the American Heart Association.Thank you to everyone who helped to support this year'sevent.

The Fitness Fundraiser took place during the week ofApril 8 -12* with Tuesday's classes on April 16 and the FunRun on Saturday, April 13 .

In our PE classes, the third and fourth grades havebeen taking part in the March Madness basketball phenomenon. They have learned basic skills from dribbling, shooting, passing, and game play. They even had a chance tocomplete March Madness NCAA brackets.

The first and second grades have just finished a unit onjump rope skills. They have learned how to use the basicsingle rope, partner ropes, long ropes, various jump roperhymes, and even double-dutch. Ask your kids to demonstrate some new jump rope tricks and I'll bet you will beimpressed!

As always, remember to bring those sneakers on PEdays and ask about our school minute moves every Wednesday at 10:30.

Mr. SaundersMusic Teacher

Mrs. CleasbyPE Teacher

A r tThe end of the year is fast approaching and the art room is filled to the brim with your child's wonderful art ready to deck the

halls of JMES for the upcoming Art Show on May 29th.Grade four students earned lots of favorable comments on the "Winter Birch Tree" paintings on display in the entry of JMES.The kids were very proud of the results they achieved while learning about cool , warm and complimentary colors. A discussion

about light and shadow was explained and demonstrated. The young artists used blending and shading colors while gaining experience with different media, techniques, and processes. The faculty here at JMES was amazed. In their current project they areworking with a new medium, acrylic paint, and learning the process of creating a landscape painting.

The figure plays an important roll in art but it is often a frustration to children trying to depict action. In our "Red and YellowSketch a Fellow" third grade students enhanced simple stick figures to show action. They also used pattern and repetition tocreate rhythm to enhance the action of their figures. First and second grade students created figure drawings in their "DancingLeprechauns". The kids discovered they could draw many tricky poses and some even created acrobatic arrangements. In theseprojects students see results quickly and courage to try becomes the standard in the art room. These projectsinstilled a confidence and pride in their ability to draw the figure.

Mrs.Bosiak, Art Teacher


6/8

L i b r a r yNewsTo celebrate National Poetry Month the library bulletin

board is dedicated to our student poets. In many of theclassrooms the students write poems about the subjectsthey are learning about in Science and Social Studies. Manyof the fourth graders wrote poems about the states theyhad researched in the library. After reading a biography,Mrs. Hitchcock's students wrote poems about their famousperson. Some of the poems that are displayed on the Library bulletin board are also posted on the Library website.

H W r it e a poe m. fl Sho r e anm

m n 1 BM1

-1: (in J.'TtfEvery week Mrs. Wyman posts Almanac and Geography

questions for the students to look up and answer. The students who have won the most prizes so far are Mike Lyna infourth grade, John Brennan in third, Riley O'Hara in secondand Nora McMakin in first. Second grade has the mostdiflPerent students who have won so far. Ask your kids ifthey have tried to do the library questions.

l\Ars. Wyman, Librarian

Guidance OfficeTransition

By its very definition, the word transition congers up asense of change and, perhaps, a sense of nervousness orexcitement. A passage from one place to another; a passage from one chapter to another.

Fourth quarter marks the beginning of transition forstudents at Mastricola. Whether going from a half day kindergarten to a full day in grade 1, OR from our building tothe Upper Elementary, all students have begun to thinkabout 'what's next.'

As educators, we will help t h e m , over the next fewmonths, see these changes as positive - talking, sharing andexperiencing new things will help ease some of the angstchildren may have around moving up. As parents, perhapsyou will do the same. Because we don't really know what'saround the corner, we rely on our o w n past experience forguidance. Just a few suggestions for you to chew on:* Replay the beginning remember how you felt on the

first day of school this year? Think about how you feelnow.* Remind those who are staying here at MES that the

only things that really change are the rooms into whichthey are walking on September 3' . For those movingup to J MUE S , a tour, a buddy and a call to me will helpmake that transition smoother.

(Guidance cont'd page 8)

ScienceM a s t r i c o l a scientists have been busy at work! Our first and third graders have been learning about weather. We

are exploring different weather instruments that are used, what a meteorologist does, and the different types ofclouds. The fou rth graders have finished their unit on weather as w e l l . Kevin Skarupa, meteorologist from WMURchannel 9 News visited our 1st, 3rd and 4th graders to talk about the weather cycles.

Our first and second graders are getting ready to explore the life cycles of plants by growin g their very own. First graders will also be exploring the life cycles of butterflies and frogs.Be sure to ask your first grader about the different types of frogs they have learned about!And lastly, our fourth graders enjoyed their field trip to the Discovery Muse um. Be sure to askthem which exhibit they enjoyed the most!

M r s . CordeiroScience Facilitator - 6 -


7/8

Viirse's CornerA recent study concerning children's weight was completed by

anonymous questionnaire for parents of children in the 4-8 year agegroup. The study looked at parent's perception of their child'sweight. The study showed that parent's concern about excessweight did not differ between those children with normal weightand those children who were overweight. What was surprising wasthat the accuracy of parent's perception about their child's weight(with the overweight child) was only accurate 10.5% of the time. Putmore simply, 89.5% of the time, parents fail to recognize when theirchild Is overweight/obese.

Obesity is now considered to be the most prevalent nutritionaldisease of children and adolescents In the United States. Most ofthis stems from poor diet and exercise habits. These preferencesare influenced by parental practices and familial environment andprobably shaped in early childhood. Parental participation is neededin recognizing when your child Is overweight and in understandingthat obesity puts the child at risk for associated short and long termhealth problems in addition to being more likely to become obeseadults.

If you have concerns about your child's weight, or if you question if your child is overweight, please feel free to contact me orvisit the followingfor weight questions: http://www.cdc.gov/hMlthyweight/as$essing/bmi/childrens_bmi/about_childrens_bmi.html or visit http://apps.nxcdcdc.gov/dnpabmi/ to track your child's weight and BMI.

Adaptedfrom Etelson, D., Brand, D.A., Patrick, P.A. and Shirall,A (2003), Childhood Obesity: Do Parents Recognize This HealthRisk?. Obesity Research, ii:i362-i368.doi: io.i038/oby.2003.i84

Social Studies

Linda S. Freeman, RNSchool Nurse

This was an exciting quarter in the area of Social Studies.Children celebrated and learned about Martin Luther KingDay and President's Day. They also were able to witness apresidential Inauguration. These events provided a mix ofhistory and current events. We encourage you to continuethese discussions In your homes.

This quarter, grade levels have worked on the followingskills and essential questions:* Grade 1:

* "How are countries/communities celebrated?"* "Where is my place on the map and why doIlive

there?"* Grade 2:

* "Why do we need money?"* "How do individuals make a difference?"* "Why do people live where they live?"* The second graders enjoyed a field trip to

Parker's Maple Barn where they learned aboutthe economics of a local business.

* Grade 3:* Continued learning about Native Americans.

Grade 4:* "How/Why is the United States

divided into regions?"

Airs. AdamsSocial Studies Facilitator

Wellness NotesSpring Greetings from the Wellness Committee, we hope this season finds everyone happy and healthy. Here at JMES we

have been busy with:*Fun In February-the snow people made at JMES were well dressed with items donated.* March Madness-basketball stations for all grades were a big hit at the end of the day.

We will move into Spring with Active in April . We hope to get outside and take advantage of the O'Neil field with somewalking or jogging.

We hope that many parents will participate in the Zumbathon on May 10* as members of the Wellness Committee will bethere to show support.

As the days get longer and your schedules get busier please remember to spend some time to relax andregroup as a family. Eating well and getting enough sleep is important for everyone.

Wellness Committee-7 -


8/8

(Math cont'd)The high achiever comes to understand math more deeply

and learns problem-solving skills important for the workplace.Struggling students may find an alternative method that allowsthem to solve problems that they could not solve before.

Math and TechnologyLooking for an App to help your child master division? How

about one for telling time, fractions, or decimals? The TexasComputer LducMJm_>^sodatio^^ has created a spreadsheet ofmath Apps, organized by topic and strandwith everythingfrom counting to calculus. (Of course, a favorite of the JMEScommunity is the Everyday Mathematics Ap_ps!)

Mrs. Romero, Math Facilitator

(Guidance News cont'd)* Don't dwell. Answer questions, calm concems and move on.Asking frequently how students are doing with changemakes them wonder If they should feel worse than they do.* Please remember, the staff andIare here for you if you needus. Use our experience and our knowledge to help youthrough this next mostwonderful stage.

Mrs. Hoover, Guidance

(Assistant Principal Message cont'd)

that the Art & Music Show will be held on May 29^^? The3"^grade students will play their recorders and the s' ^M^grade chorus will sing several songs. There's a lot of incredible artwork in the hall, so be sure to check it outwhen you visit!that Field Day plans are well underway? It will be heldon June 12 . This year's entertainment will be a magician!that the Kindergarten picnic will be held on June 18th?

..that the 4^^ grade celebration will be held on June 17 ,at 1:00 in the JMES Gym?that the last day of school is on June 21st?that MES would like to thank everyone for followIng the parking lot procedures during arrival and dismissal times!

Happy Spring,

M r. Gratton ,Assistant Principal

(Principalis Message Cont'd )

In literacy we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday during our 'Read Across Mas tr ico la ' week. 'Stop, Drop and Read' was one' of the most popular activities. The author of the Lemonade Wars series, Jacqueline Davies, met with all of our studentsand shared her love for writing. A big thank you goes out to Mrs. Merchant, who in keeping with the spirit of the authorvisit treated all the children to lemonade during their lunches. Mrs. Romein, M r s . Wyman and Mrs. Stearns have met regularly with a group of fourth grade students for the 'Battle of the Books'. The students read many books this year and thencompete against one another by answering challenging questions about each story. This has been a lot of fun and reallychallenges and celebrates each participant's love of reading.

Our fourth graders are kept very busy during the months of May and June preparing for the many activities that havebecome a yearly tradition - In early May they will be taking the Science NECAP assessment. They will enjoy the MHS Baseball Day, Artist in Residence program, Fourth Grade Celebration, JMUES Concert and tour and visits from Mrs. McGill andM r. Morris .

Lastly, we would like to share a connection that the Merrimack School District has been building with Southern NewHampshire University (SNHU). At the Mastricola Complex (JMES and JMUES) this past fall and spring, we hosted eightSNHU student interns who were taking the course. The Inclusive Classroom. These eight interns, as a part of the coursew or k, observed classroom and special education teachers in our 2"" and 3"' grade rooms every week for one hour. Wealso were able to place four student teachers into classrooms this year to work alongside our teachers who mentored during each semester.

As this year continues to move at a rapid pace, we thank you all for your continued support in making this a spectacular year! I hope you plan some outdoor time taking advantage ofthe longer days and brighter skies. Happy Spring!Warm regards,Emilie Carter, Principal

mastricola times 3rd quarter 2013

Documents