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March 2017

Donald Ross School Newsletter

I apologize for speaking too soon about “moderate” weather. We proceeded to have three snow days in February. We will add the three days onto the end of our school calendar, the words “No Snow Days Off” is our new daily chant! We need to be prepared for our fickle New England weather. We could still have plenty of cold days before spring emerges. Please send your children to school prepared for the elements. We go outside for recess each day; warm clothing including hats and gloves are a must. The only exception is for rain or extremely frigid temperatures. Getting outside provides students the opportunity to expend energy and gives them a much-needed movement break.

Arrival and Dismissal Morning drop-off has been going well. Cars should pull up to the gym door when possible this allows more cars to pull up and have children exit safely. We ask that you do not allow children to exit cars in the teacher parking area or on Hayward St. When your car arrives in front of the school children can exit safely and swiftly. As weather improves we hope to see more children and families walking to Ross. A reminder the first bell is set for 8:35 a.m. There is no supervision in school before that time. We ask that you not send your children to Ross before staff is in place to greet them. Exceptions are breakfast starting at 8:15 a.m. and meetings/tutoring as arranged by staff members and families. There are a growing number of students waiting in the afternoon for family members to pick them up. Please do your best to greet your children at dismissal at 2:50 p.m. If students are waiting after 3:00 p.m. we ask that you come in to sign your child out. If you will be later than 3:00 p.m. to pick up your child please call the office to let us know when you expect to arrive.

The Ross Report

Contents

The Ross Report 1

Dear Parents and Guardians 2

Upcoming Events 2

Aspirations Awards 3

A Message from:

Mrs. Gay 4

Ms. Martin 4

Ms. Machado 5

Ms. LaFerriere 6

A note from Nurse Olsen 7

Kindergarten News 8

Grade One News 9

Grade Two News 9

Grade Three News 10

Grade Four News 10

Grade Five News 11

Lost and Found 12

Cultural Arts - Urbanity 12

Mindfulness 12

Early Release Days 12

Frank McGourty, Pr incipa l

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Upcoming Events

March 1 –Faculty Mtg. 7:30am

March 2 – 5th Grade Leadership Team 8:00 a. m.

March 9 - Student Council 8:00 am

March 14 –Action Planning Mtg. 3:15 – 4:15

March 14 – PTO Mtg. 7:00 p.m.

March 15 – School Share 2:10 p.m.

March 16 – 5th Grade Leadership Team 8:00 a.m.

March 17 – 1st and 2nd grade Musical 1:30 Ross School gym

March 20 – Ross School Improvement Council

March 23 - Early Dismissal 12:10 (gr K - 5 10:30 (AM K) No PM Kindergarten No lunch served

March 24 – 3rd Grade Recorder concert 9:00 a.m. Ross Gym


State Assessment News State assessments are changing again, the next-generation tests provide an opportunity for added focus on critical thinking skills and factual knowledge. Next Generation MCAS, sometimes called MCAS 2.0 will use “legacy” questions from former MCAS testing, questions from PARCC testing and newly created questions. Tests will return to an untimed format, students will take the time they need as long as they are working productively. Braintree Schools will administer the fourth grade MCAS assessment in a computer based format, students will take the test on Chromebooks. Grade 3 and 5 students will take paper based assessments this year. By 2019 students in grades 3-5 will all take part in computer based testing. Students will be given examples to practice the testing format and fourth graders will have a tutorial on using tools on the computer during testing. Testing will take place during the months of April and May. Teachers have been preparing students to master Standards of State Frameworks which assessments are based on. Students should not worry about these assessments, they need only to give their best effort, as is the expectation for each day. MCAS Next Generation Assessments Grade 3: English Language Arts: 4/11, 4/12, 4/13 Mathematics: 5/11, 5/12 Grade 4: English Language Arts: 4/6, 4/7, 4/10 Mathematics: 5/16, 5/17 Grade 5: English Language Arts: 4/25, 4/26, 4/27 Mathematics: 5/9, 5/10 Science: 5/18, 5/19 Assessments will not be timed this year; students may have extended time as long as they are productively working. Our goal is to have students focus as always on putting forth their best effort. Please be sure that your children have a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast before the test. During the testing window, there will be make up assessments given to students who may be absent on scheduled assessment dates.

Sincerely,

Frank McGourty

Ross School Student Aspiration Awards

Belonging Nathan Chan Emma Curtin Alessia Centofanti Bala Harish Saravanan Ella Gangi Rachel LoPorto

Curiosity and Creativity Okan Dervisoglu Julian Silva Hetaa Galam Fionn Boyce Maddison Caliacco Kristy Sargent Eamon Corbo William Marston

Heroes Symone Luckey Emma Koca Kaitlyn Truong

Spirit of Adventure Veronica Girgis Jake Logan

Sense of Accomplishment Addison Kowalski Henry Nikolla Harper White Yeabsera Engidashet Caitlin Nugent Aiden Troung Hailey McNamara Johnathan Livingston Andy Kuang Dinho Lopes Kiro Kalliny

Leadership and Responsibility Kayla Furtado Sophie Varga

Fun and Excitement Gabriell Gomes Dylan DaSilva Kareem Mian Kerlos Atef

Confidence to Take Action Allison Kelley Garoid Stones Camryn Walsh


Donald Ross School

20 Hayward Street

Braintree, MA 02184

Phone:

(781) 380-0240

Fax:

(781) 380-0243

E-mail:

[email protected]

We’re on the Web! www.braintreeschools.org

GUIDING PRINCIPLES For the Ross School

Community

Show respect for people and property.

Act responsibly.

Keep yourself and

others safe.

Do your best.

Visit the PTO Facebook Page!

http://www.facebook.com/donaldrosspto




A Message from Ms. Gay

March is a busy time for music in the Braintree Schools. Here at Ross, First and Second Graders will be performing "The Food Show", a tribute to our food service workers in the cafeteria. The date for this performance is Friday, March 17, at 1:30 P.M. Third Graders will take the stage the following week to show off their learning to play the recorder. Please join us on Friday, March 24 at 9:00 A.M. If you have a fourth or fifth grader who plays a band or string instrument, watch your child's backpacks for a notice from Mr. Rebrovic regarding the All Town Band and Orchestra concerts. Kindergarten students have been enjoying seasonal songs and game songs. Please remind students to wear sneakers on music day, as we are moving to music and need to be safe.

Mrs. Martin

A Message from Music

Congratulations to Mahathi Shankar! Her artwork is going to be exhibited in the Statewide Youth Art Month show at the Transportation Building in Boston from Feb. 26 through March 30!

Please join in the celebration of the second annual Braintree ARTfest. The following students will have their work displayed at this exhibition from March 1st through 24th: Chloe Sumner, Ioannis Garcia, Emma Koca, Amelia Rea, Bridgette Curran, Valery Valdez, Cherryl Wu, Samantha McColgan, Sedion Demaj, Jennifer Yip, Noah Noun, Elgin Law, Peter Brooks, Madison Keddy, Lola Antonelli, Jack Amante, Lily O'Brien, Liam Fuller, Anya Lazaj, Myrel Dous, Neel Naladala, Pranathi Bammidi, Neha Naladala, Alex Matheny and Sophia Chin

Ms. Gay

The students at Ross have been working diligently to strengthen their math fact fluency skills. We are encouraging students to practice on the XtraMath website or with math games daily. If you need help with the XtraMath site or if you are looking for ideas to practice math facts, please just ask The Massachusetts Standards for each grade level are listed below. The importance of this basic skill cannot be overstated. This knowledge is necessary for students to move forward with new and more complex mathematical concepts. Currently, the students in the primary grades continue to focus on developing these skills while the students in the upper elementary grades are applying their current knowledge of these skills to learn about and develop a better understanding of fractions.

What should my child be able to do by the end of the school year?

Kindergarten Fluently add and subtract within 5 (e.g. 2 + 3 = 5 and 5 –1 = 4)

Grade 1 Fluently add and subtract within 10 (e.g. 4 + 6 = 10 and 10 – 3

= 7)

Grade 2

Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies

Know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers (e.g. 9 + 8 = 17)

Know from memory related subtraction facts of sums of two one-digit numbers (e.g. 17 – 9 = 8)

Grade 3

Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division (e.g., knowing that 8 x 5 = 40, one knows 40 ÷ 5 = 8) or properties of operations

Know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers (e.g. 9 x 8 = 72)

Grade 4 Know multiplication facts and related division facts through 12 X 12 (e.g. 12 x 11 = 132; and 132 ÷ 12 = 11)

Grades 5 and 6 Know and apply math facts for all four operations while solving problems involving multi-digit whole number calculations as well as fractional and decimal operations

Mrs. Machado

A Message from Math


Page 6


Page 6

I cannot believe that the year is almost over. The kids have been very busy in their classes. Grades 3-5 have worked hard on their basketball skills. The students worked on dribbling with their right and left hands, passing to partners with a bounce pass and chest pass as well as shooting at the basketball hoop. The younger grades played around the world. It is a shooting game that allowed the children to challenge themselves with different length of shot. The 4-5th graders were able to play a full court game of basketball that allowed them to use all of the skills that were learned into a game situation. I continue to emphasize skill development, teamwork and enjoying being active in my classes. With the wide variety of activities that we cover in my class the students may discover a new activity/sport that they would like to pursue beyond my gym class. I would like to thank you in your continued support of having your children wear sneakers on their gym days. The safest footwear is sneakers for the activities that we participate in. As always, I would like to thank you all for the support that you have given the P.E. program here at Ross School

Mr. LeFerriere

A Message from Phys. Ed

Hello all. I hope you all enjoyed vacation week. Here are a few reminders and updates: Just a reminder about HEAD LICE: As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, head lice are most commonly

passed from home to home over vacations and/or during sleepovers. Please continue to vigilantly check

your child’s head daily. If you suspect lice or are uncertain please call me or your pediatrician.

Grades K, 1 and 2 have morning recess and snack. Please remember to send in a healthy nut free snack

and drink with your child. They have snack at 10:15 am. Their small bodies need that recharging as their

next opportunity for nourishment is not until lunch at 12:10 and 12:30. If you are unable for any reason to

provide a snack please call me at 781-356-5308. No child will be left hungry.

As the cold weather is still upon us please remember to send your child to school with a warm coat, hat

and mittens if necessary. It is important for the children to get out in the fresh air for recess. Unless it

is inclement weather, recess is outdoors. Your child will enjoy this much needed break if he/she is

properly dressed and warm.

PLEASE CHECK THE LOST AND FOUND TABLE AS THERE ARE MANY ARTICLES OF CLOTHING AND OTHER

BELONGINGS. ALL UNCLAIMED ITEMS ARE DONATED TO THE CLOTHES CLOSET AT THE END OF EACH

MONTH.

When should I keep my child home from school? 1.

When your child has a temperature of 100 degrees or above.

2 .When your child has a contagious illness such as chicken pox, strep throat, or the flu.

3. If your child has a skin rash, or condition not yet diagnosed by a doctor.

4. When your child is vomiting or has diarrhea.

5. When your child has conjunctivitis, with red, itchy, draining eyes.

Also, please remember that your child should be fever free (temperature below 100.4) without Tylenol or

ibuprofen for 24 hours before returning to school. School policy requires a note from your child’s doctor

for any absence of 5 days or more due to illness, or if your child needs to miss gym class due to illness or

injury.

Please remember to call your child in sick to the absentee phone line at 781-380-0240; option 1. It is

very important to us to know that your child is safe and accounted for. We are concerned about your

child’s safety.

The nursing director for Braintree Public Schools is currently looking for substitute nurses. Please

contact the Director of Nurses, Mrs. Laurie Melchionda at Braintree High School (781-848-4000 ext.

7840) for further information.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

Nurse Olsen, R.N. – Ross School Nurse 781-380-0240 Option 3

A Note from Nurse Olson



This month our reading unit is titled “Let’s Go Exploring!” We will continue to review alphabet letter recognition, letter naming, and matching uppercase to lowercase letters. We continue to build upon phonemic awareness in kindergarten, as we explore initial, medial, and final sounds in words. Phonics lessons will offer practice with matching alphabet letters to the sounds they make. We will master sounds /h/ spelled Hh, /l/ spelled Ll, consonant blends, /g/ spelled Gg, and “superstar vowel sound” /o/ spelled Oo. Our kindergarten high frequency words to practice this month are they, you, of, are, do, that, one, two, three, four, and five. We continue to develop our comprehension skills, reading about and discussing sequence, cause and effect, character, classify and categorize, as well as retelling. Kindergarten cares about “conventions,” learning about subjects (naming parts), predicates (action parts), complete sentences, telling sentences, capital letters, and periods. We are writers, working on directions, poem, description, list, and informal letters. During the month of March, MSKC can’t wait to investigate addition, balanced equations, and three dimensional objects during mathematics lessons. Our students are working to master addition facts to 5. Kindly encourage your child to work with addition flash cards in order to build automaticity. Math lessons incorporate several manipulatives, games, and activities to engage students as they practice important skills. This month we will continue to enjoy our second of three science units, My Five Senses. We look forward to exploring our senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch with fun and engaging activities. Live animals, such as owls, will help students to understand both human and animal senses. As warmer weather approaches, your kindergartener may wish to join you for a “five senses walk,” during which you may wish to discuss what you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste(?). Enjoy! As part of social studies in March, we will be learning all about Dr. Seuss/Read Across America Day, Ireland/St. Patrick’s Day, Junior Achievement, and spring. Second Step is a program we use to help students develop learning skills and improve upon social skills. Our kindergarteners enjoy our interactive lessons. Currently, we are focusing on Emotion Management and Problem Solving. We will learn and practice the problem solving steps. These include: SAY the problem, THINK of solutions, EXPLORE consequences, and PICK the best solution.

Mrs. Rupprecht

Kindergarten News

Donald Ross School Newsletter Donald Ross School Newsletter

We have just begun Unit 3 in the Reading Street program. This unit focuses on what things are changing in our world. We will think about how places change, how we learn as we grow and change, and changes seen in nature. For comprehension strategies, we will be working on summarizing, inferring, monitoring and clarifying, visualizing, and activating background knowledge. Please remember to read with your child every night! In Science, we will finish up our unit on solids and begin our unit on liquids. First-graders will investigate the properties of liquids, including opacity, color, texture, viscosity/fluidity, buoyancy, and miscibility. Our little scientists love the hands-on activities that our science curriculum provides. We encourage the students to think like real scientists by observing, recording, and questioning. In Math, we will be learning how to write fact families with turnaround addition facts and related subtraction facts. We will also learn strategies for how to solve missing addend subtraction problems. Please continue to practice both the addition and subtraction math fact cards that were sent home with your child. A great math website to visit is www.ictgames.com. It has a lot of fun interactive games that you and your child can play together!

Mrs. Monteiro, Ms. Wells, and Mrs. Swanson

Grade One News

In like a lion... Second graders are ferociously working in all areas! In math, students are working on 3-digit subtraction. They are using place value and Greg Tang's "funny numbers" to subtract with regrouping. They are not focusing on the standard algorithm; rather, they will write numbers in expanded form to subtract ones, tens and hundreds. Students are also working diligently on their facts through XtraMath. We encourage students to practice at home, too! Reading Street Unit 4 has students answering the questions, “How do things change? How do they stay the same?” Each story we read will have a theme about changes. At home, we expect students to read books, poetry and magazines to help increase reading fluency. Reading for 15 minutes every day is part of second grade homework! Social Studies biography projects are underway! Students are reading about famous Americans who have faced obstacles and challenges, but have persevered to achieve great things. Students will work in partnerships or small groups to research, take notes and create a project of their choice. Students will use higher thinking and study skills and will showcase how much they have grown as students this year. We are also continuing with Second Step, our social-emotional curriculum. Students are working on skills for learning, calming down techniques and problem solving steps. We hope that these strategies will help students to be the best they can be!

Mrs. Holmes, Mrs. Malcolmson & Ms. Gavrailov

Grade Two News

http://www.ictgames.com/

Social Studies During Social Studies the students will continue to learn about the life of a Pilgrim. This curriculum will certainly prepare them for their field trip to Plimoth Plantation, which will take place in the month of May! Science We are starting a new unit in Science and students will be learning all about water!! Our water unit consists of four investigations in which students explore the properties of water, changes in water, interactions between water and other earth materials, and how humans use water.

Reading This month, we are beginning our 4th unit in the Reading Street Program. During this unit we will read 3 biographies, a folktale and an expository text. While we read we think about our big question: What does it mean to be unique?

We will continue to focus on comprehension skills that will help our third graders become better readers. The skills we will work on during this unit are generalize, fact and opinion, and cause and effect. We will also review graphic sources which include the parts of nonfiction text like captions, diagrams, maps, and more. During this unit we will keep practicing good reading skills like, summarizing, inferring (using what we know and what we’ve read), and questioning. We will also continue to work on building vocabulary by learning how to use context clues to figure out the meaning of unknown words.

Math In Math our third grade students have been exploring fractions, including partitioning a number line, improper fractions and equivalent fractions. Our next focus will be on finding the area and perimeter of shapes.

Mrs. Almada, Ms. Fitzgerald & Mrs. Hoelscher

Grade Three News


Grade Four News Reading-Our fourth grade students continue to read realistic fiction novels that explore how literature relates to meeting challenges in real life. Our students are currently reading Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, My Side of the Mountain, and Hatchet. As we read, we are focusing on determining importance and summarizing the main idea from the text. Math- In March, our students will focus on geometry. They will learn to draw and identify lines and angles, as well as classify shapes by the properties of their lines and angles. Students will also learn to measure angles using a protractor. Writing- Our fourth graders will continue to develop their narrative essay writing skills to recall an event that occurred in their life or to develop a creative story based on imaginative experiences. This will require the students to use rich vocabulary, sensory details, and transition words. Science-Our last unit in electricity will be on electromagnetism. Your children will take all they have learned from their unit on magnetism and their investigations on circuits and connect how they are related to each other. They will learn when electric current flows through a coil of wire wrapped around an iron core it produces magnetism. Social Studies- We have finished up on the Southeast and studying our nation's capital, Washington D.C. We will be studying the vast and plentiful Midwest region of our country. We will talk about the geography, people, and early years of settlement. We will also feature interesting areas like the Badlands of South Dakota and the beautiful Great Lakes.

Mrs. Thompson, Mr. Morris, and Mr. Keaney


Grade Five News Reading - All classes have been engaged in learning about an important time in our history through various nonfiction texts and novels; the Civil Rights Movement. At this point in fifth grade, students are using a multitude of strategies to understand their reading. Their focus recently has been on making inferences. Ask your child about the formula for this strategy: BK+TC=I. We also continue to incorporate student reflection and writing about their reading on a regular basis. In March, we will work more on our open response writing to text and using evidence from the text to support our answers. Social Studies –Students continue learning about early settlements of the French, Dutch, Spanish, and English and their reasons for settling in the New World. As we continue on in our history, students will focus on learning about the original 13 colonies and how the land impacted their living, how they established their own government, and the steps they took to become independent England. Students will also focus on the importance of the coast helping develop the economy of colonial Massachusetts. Math - We are currently working on multiplying fractions by whole numbers, mixed numbers, and other fractions! This can be a tricky concept as products can be larger or smaller depending on the numbers used. Up until this point students have associated multiplication with larger products. They are working on showing their work using both an equation and a visual model. After February break we will get back into the swing of things with line plots (one of my favorite units to teach), and then dive right back into the land of multiplication by multiplying decimals. Science - We just finished our review of planetary science. Students explored the phases of the moon and the characteristics of the planets. Students were able to use their knowledge as the pondered the skies at home. During our study, students were able to observe both Venus and Mars in addition to the recent “Snow Moon” eclipse. Our study of science has continued with the exploration of simple machines. Students will learn how the six simple machines help humans do work through a variety of hands on activities.

Ms. Connolly, Ms. Kilduff, Mr. Morris


The following are early release days, with dismissal at 12:10 for students in grades K-5. There is no afternoon kindergarten. Breakfast will be served on these days but lunch will not. Thursday, March 23

Early Release Days


Ross School will take part in a program to bring Mindfulness practices and strategies to students and staff. The program is a practical evidenced based approach to reduce stress and improve academic performance, student and teacher wellness and the school environment. Eileen Shaw will present a workshop to staff at a faculty meeting this week. Eileen has her BA in psychology and her Master’s in Education. She is trained in many medication techniques and she is passionate about sharing the benefits of meditation with others to assist in reducing stress and allow them to reach their full potential. Eileen will visit all grade 3-5 classrooms to teach techniques and strategies to teachers and students. Teachers will facilitate the use of taught techniques during class and transitions. There will be a parent information session in mid-march to serve as an information session. Eileen will follow up with students and seek their feedback from students regarding the use of Mindfulness strategies. A thank you to the Ross PTO for their support of this program

Is your child’s closet looking sparse these days? We have a growing number of clothing items in the Ross Lost and Found bin. The items are located on a table near the entrance to the gym. Items include hats, gloves, sweatshirts and even boots. Please look for lost items here. Unclaimed clothing will be donated to a local charity after the March 14, PTO Meeting.

Lost and Found

Cultural Arts Event - Urbanity Dance Cultura

Ross Elementary School PTO is excited to welcome Urbanity Dance, Boston's premier contemporary dance company

on Thursday, March 2nd at 10:00 am. Urbanity will be performing Dancing in Each Other’s Shoes; a story of empathy, partnership, and emotion with the aim to inspire and empower students to apply the lessons of self-expression and acceptance in their own lives.

This program is funded in part by a grant from the Braintree Arts Lottery Council (BALC), a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), a state agency.

We thank BALC and the MCC for their continued generosity & support!

Mindfulness

Ross School – March 2017

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 -Faculty Meeting 7:30

am

2 -5

th Grade Leadership

mtg. 8am

3 4

5

6

7 8

9 -Student Council mtg. 8am

10

11

12

13

14 -Action Planning

Committee mtg. 3:15-

4:15

-PTO mtg. 7:00 Ross

gym

15 - School Share 2:10 pm

16 -5

th Grade Leadership

mtg. 8am

17 -1

st and 2

nd grade

Musical 1:30 pm Ross

gym

18

19

20

-School Improvement

Council 3:15 – 4:15

21

22

23 Professional

Development -Early Dismissal

12:10 (gr. K-5)

10:30 (AM K)

No Pm kindergarten

No lunch Served

24 -3

rd grade Recorder

concert 9:00 am Ross

gym

25

26

27

28

29 30 31

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