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Green Meadow News December 6, 2012 Donna Dankner, Principal Christopher Fleming, Assistant Principal
It is always exciting to see all the families as they come to school during conferences to meet with teachers and discuss student learning. Conferences provide opportunities for conversations about student progress as well as the sharing of ways to support students at home. When educators and families work as a team to support learning, students are more successful and better able to master grade level standards. At Green Meadow, we are especially fortunate that our families are so supportive and involved in their children's education not just during conference week, but throughout the year. Fostering ongoing communication between home and school continues to be an important goal. To achieve this goal we have developed a series of programs consisting of open forum parent coffees, discussion on specific topics related to education, and family events. To fit the schedules of as many families as possible, we have planned both morning and evening events over the course of the year. The family surveys completed last year identified a variety of topics and formats in addition to requesting continuation of favorite events. Programs such as the spring Family Open House, Bingo for Books, and the second grade Hoops-a-thon offer opportunities for families to share learning experiences. Your first chance to drop in for a Coffee and Conversation is tomorrow, December 7 at 8:10 AM! We are exploring the option of beginning these Parent Coffees as the morning arrival begins and as a way to make them convenient for school drop off before the work day begins. Additional conversations include: · Friends and Foes on January 10, 2013 at 6:30 PM (Snow date January 17) · What’s Happening Inside the Classroom: A Conversation about Curriculum and Instruction on February 1 at 8:10AM · Understanding the MCAS on February 28 at 6:30 PM · The Placement Process on April 5 at 8:10 AM. For more events, including Hoops-A-Thon and Bingo-For-Books in March, see our updated Year-At-A-Glance Calendar, which is also going home today. We would be interested in your feedback about this schedule. We hope you are able to join us for our first Parent Coffee, tomorrow, Friday December 7 at 8:10 AM. At 8:10 AM. Another exciting initiative is a new student production called “Tigercast News.” Tigercast News is a special project allowing different classes to create a school news program each month. Students serve as reporters, news anchors, and videographers as they report on stories of interest within the school community. Congratulations to the students in Mrs. McPhail's Third Grade Class who collaborated on the first edition which was shown to the students during a school wide assembly in November. You can view the November edition of the new “Tigercast News” by visiting the Tigercast page on the Green Meadow website https://sites.google.com/a/maynard.k12.ma.us/gmspbb/. Watch for the December installment that is being developed by Mr. Thomas’s Class.
Donna Dankner
News from Mrs. Lawton’s Class: Over the past few weeks we have been very busy celebrating Thanksgiving, and now jumping into the holiday season. We have been working on finishing our unit on small moments in writer’s workshop. We will have our publishing party the week of December 17th and are very excited to share our writing with our new fourth grade buddies from Fowler. Last month we visited Fowler and listened to the stories that Mrs. Hobb’s class wrote about. This month it will be our turn to read to them! We just began our geometry unit in math and we will also be adding some holiday crafts to celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanza! We hope you all have a great month! Happy Holidays! Mrs. Lawton
News from the Library: The library has been bursting with energy since the beginning of the school year. Kindergarten students have learned the rules of the library, how to use shelf markers, how to check out books, and how to take good care of those books. We also discussed visiting the Maynard Public Library and the possibility of getting their own library card there, with parental permission. Nonfiction books are incorporated into library lessons whenever possible and kindergarteners have been enjoying choosing books from our large nonfiction section. First graders have also been learning about the differences between fiction and nonfiction and have had selected readings about lions, monkeys, farm animals, Thanksgiving, and Tooth Fairy traditions from around the world. Second graders learned about what it would be like to be president of the United States (many would like to someday be president), how to use a dictionary, and facts about our fifty states. Second graders are also in full swing with Reading Counts, a reading incentive program they can access on the computers in the library or in their classrooms. Third graders have been learning about many different types of literature, such as Greek mythology, tall tales, fables, and trickster tales. They have also learned how to sign into their own private school accounts and the basics of creating their own Word documents. We look forward to our continued learning in the library in the coming months! Mrs. Patino
Special Note:
Dates to Remember: v December 6 & 7, 2012 Parent/Teacher Conferences – 11:25 Dismissal each day v December 7, 2012 Friday Parent Coffee – 8:10 A.M. v December 10-14, 2012 Holiday Shop v December 14, 2012 Early Release, 12:30 Dismissal v January 15-17, 2013 Kindergarten Registration |
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