“where young cubs learn” march 2012 oh,say!what a day! · “where young cubs learn” march...
TRANSCRIPT
Oh,Say!What A daY! The “Cat in
the Hat” made a surprise visit to Center
School on Dr. Seuss’s
birthday! All of the
children got to say
“hello” and many also munched on green eggs and
ham!
Dates to remember:
Wellness Fair at HHS March 10
Hopkins Writing Buddies visiting March 13
Early Release Wednesday-March 14
Celebrate Reading! (Gr. 1) March 22
Ben Franklin March 16
HPTA online auction ends today March 24
Center School News March 2012 “Where Young Cubs Learn”
Parents invited! 9:15 or 10:15
The HPTA’s LARGEST fundraiser is just weeks away, and we need your help! The Online Auction and Children’s Gallery raised $40,000 last year. This success was due to the generosity and support of volunteers, sponsors, online shoppers, teachers, schools, and parents. The auction begins March 9, but you can become a big part of it right now! Consider becoming a sponsor or donating items. · 2012 Auction – Donation Only Form· 2012 Auction – Donation and Sponsorship Form
For more information, click here Contact: Jane Wojcik at [email protected] or Karen Bograd [email protected]
There will be no evening event. All auction items will be only online this year.
For more information, click here Contact: Jane Wojcik at [email protected] or Karen Bograd [email protected]
There will be no evening event. All auction items will be only online this year.
HPTA News
.
HOPKINTON HIGH SCHOOL 10:00 a.m.– 2:00 p.m.
March 10
Mileage Club taking shape… Any first grader who is interested in walking or jogging on our playground (we have a mini 1/6th mile loop mapped out) can "sign up" with Dr. K and receive a "Mileage Club" card that will help keep track of their laps.
Mileage Club will ONLY be on Thursdays (weather-permitting) and is completely optional. We will have extra adult supervision on-hand to assist with Mileage Club, and we're looking forward to adding this fun fitness option for the children. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Dr. Kennedy at school.
‘TECH BYTES’ TIP Mrs. Najarian
Elementary Technology Coordinator
Puppet Pals HD Create your own unique shows with animation and audio in real time! Simply pick out your actors and backdrops, drag them on to the stage, and tap record. Your movements and audio will be
recorded in real time for playback later.
This app is as fun as your own creativity. Act out a story of Pirates on the high seas, fight
as scary monsters, or play the part of a Wild West bandit on the loose. You can even
combine any characters however you want!
Your creations are only limited by your imagination (and voice acting skills in my case).
Puppet Pals is a free app, buy the director's pass and receive ALL current and FUTURE content.
Report Cards
Thursday
April 5 FIRST GRADE
“Celebrate Reading” Event
March 22 @ 6:00
(new date)
Week of April 9‐13
“FLAG DAY”
celebration
June 14
Spring Book Fair
May 3
Boston Marathon Monday April 16
“Sleeping
Beauty”
Puppet
Show
Apr. 24
MUSIC NEWS Mrs. Moran ([email protected])
As first graders enter the music room, they are welcomed by the beautiful music of W.A. Mozart (1756 – 1791). They are delighted by this great music. Additionally, they are intrigued by his fascinating childhood and his travels across Europe with his father and sister. Grade one musicians learned how classical composers had to follow specific ‘rules’ as they composed. Students learned about some various musical forms: how the symphony is comprised of movements and how a piano concerto combines solo sections with orchestral parts. So far, the children enjoyed Mozart’s famous Symphony in G Minor and also some piano concerti. They are now aware of what gives music the minor quality of sound – which can often be described as ‘worried’, ‘angry’, or ‘sad’. Ask your child if he or she remembers which pitch is lowered a half step (mi) to create this sound. (Hint: remind them about how they heard ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’ in a minor key). Mrs. Moran mentioned in her improvised, minor version that she and Little Bo Peep were sadly wandering around together looking for their sheep. They loved envisioning that!
First grade musicians have been learning about how we can use an ostinato, or recurring musical pattern, to accompany their classmates as they sing the ‘Center School Song’. They are diligently trying to perfect the two different patterns on some of our beautiful Orff barred Instruments: the metallophones and the xylophones.
Kindergarten musicians were enthralled by the beautiful singing of Britain’s “King Singers” as they sang a creative and humorous medley based upon Nursery Rhymes. Their favorite singing games include the rhymes from ‘Sing a Song of Sixpence’, ‘Baa, Baa Black Sheep’, ‘Sally Go Round the Sun’, and ‘The North Wind Doth Blow’. “Mad, Sad, Glad – a Piece in Three Moodments” inspired some thoughtful discussion among the children. This short and delightful three- movement composition was a wonderful way for them to determine what qualities within music create a specific mood.
Full day Kindergarten students enjoyed a special ‘circus day’ in music class. They lis-tened to three selections of music relating to the circus. I showed them some famous artwork by Chagall, Picasso, Renoir, and Seurat relating to the circus. Kindergarten
musicians later colored their own circus pictures with clowns, tight-rope walkers, elephants, lions and acrobats as they listened to lively, delightful music depicting the sounds of the circus. Half day kindergarten students began the study of Prokofiev (1891 – 1953) and the famous musical folktale, Peter and the Wolf. Eventually they will be coloring some of their favorite scenes from this musical story.
The children in Center School have been all smiles and laughter as they performed the German ‘Valentine’s Dance’. They were proud when they were able to sing and perform this dance at a lively tempo, along with a German band. How they loved to sing the German words in the song: “Will you be my Valentine? Maybe ja and maybe nein!” as they turned to dance with a
new partner!
With PALS (peer-assisted
learning strategies),
Mrs. Homan’s kids help each other as part
of their independent work during center time.
Welcome to Mrs. P !!!
Center School is pleased to
welcome Cathy Papayannapou-los as our Title I
teacher. She will work with students in
reading.
HEALTH NEWS Mrs. Lewinsky ([email protected])
In Health classes, first grade students have continued to apply the Problem-Solving Steps to generate possible solutions to common every day problems that first graders might face. The Problem-Solving “Steps” include:
Saying the problem, Thinking of solutions, Exploring consequences, and Picking the best solution.
In recent Health classes, students were able to define and distinguish between the many “Fair Ways to Play” (sharing, trading and taking turns). Sharing, trading, and taking turns are solutions intended to promote the goals of fairness and mutual enjoyment, so students are less likely to use aggressive solutions. As part of this lesson, Mrs. Lewinsky and Ms. Casey (our Boston University graduate student working with us) gave students the opportunity to demonstrate how to invite someone to play in response to scenarios such as, “you notice that your
classmate is being left out of a game.”
The final lesson of the Second Step Violence Prevention Unit included teaching and modeling for students what ‘being assertive’ is. Students learned that being assertive involves using an assertive posture (face the person you’re talking to, keep your head up and shoulders back), and use an assertive tone of voice (use a calm, firm voice; use respectful words). In a concentric circle activity, students had chances to practice demonstrating assertive communi-cation skills in response to scenarios such as, “someone on the playground calls you a baby, makes fun of your new haircut/shoes/etc., cuts in front of you in line, or says that no one likes you.” Mrs. Lewinsky and Ms. Casey were very proud of all First Grade students who are such great problem-solvers and who are able to BE ASSERTIVE!
LIBRARY NEWS Mrs. Mello ([email protected])
Congratulations to our “Top 3” students in the Center School bookmark contest:
Jas Bhamra in Mrs. Davis’s class Jack Green from Mr. Sanford’s class Kevin Cavanaugh in Mrs. Allen’s class
First graders will ‘channel the imagination’ of Dr. Seuss by wondering what they could “see” on Ash Street. Yes, they heard the book And to think I saw it on Mulberry Street in celebration of Dr. Seuss’s 108th birthday on March 2nd.
In addition, first graders will begin a unit on exploring various media resources. They will use magazines to find information and satisfy curiosity. They will participate in a guided discovery of dictionaries to understand the true worth of a book of words.
As a reward for all this hard work we will be starting the baseball season off with some romping games of “library baseball”. I have been slowly sharing the idea of playing baseball in the library where instead of bats and balls we are armed with dice and knowledge. Fun is sure to be had by all!
The kindergarten students will be having a month long celebration of Dr. Seuss ! We will begin the month with a lively reading of I Can Read with my Eyes Shut. The children will color hats with vari-ous colors and designs. Their photographs will be on display on our library digital frame. Next week the students will listen to Dr. Seuss’s ABC’s book. They’ll create a new page for the book using the first letter of their name. The next Seuss book will include balancing and apples with a reading of Ten Apples up on Top. The students will practice be counting the apples during the reading of the book and then counting by tens on the last page. Then they will create their own “Ten on Top” by drawing any ten things on a long skinny piece of paper. We will reinforce counting skills and counting by tens to see how many things we had at each table, and in the class. For our last week with Dr. Seuss, the students will hear the Foot Book. They will color and cut out feet. The feet will overtake our library as a conclusion of our Seuss celebration!
Throughout our celebrations students learned many interesting facts about Dr. Seuss:
Whether or not he was a real doctor
Which character he had written on his license plate How many times his first book was sent into the publisher
How many books he wrote Where he was born How to pronounce his name What his real name was ...and many other interesting facts !
SPEAC OF HOPKINTON
Erica Maurer is our Strides for SPEAC Boston Marathon
runner this year and is quite possibly out on the roads right
now training for the 116th running of the Boston
Marathon on April 16, 2012! The fundraising from the
run is our largest event of the year. If you would like to
meet Erika or make a donation, SPEAC is hosting a pizza party at
Cornell’s. It will take place on Saturday,
March 24th at 5:30 p.m. This event is
open to all families— bring the kids!!!
Show-and-Tell
Ben was “Star of the Week” in Rm. 3, and he showed his classmates his camouflage braces
that keep his legs strong.
BREAKING NEWS!!!
Kevin Cavanaugh wins the statewide bookmark
contest!!!
He’ll visit the State House on April 11 !!!!
Click on the link to read the Center School
School Improvement Plan 2011-2012
11 Ash St. Hopkinton, MA 01748
Center School
Phone: 508-497-9875
E-mail: [email protected]
The mission of Center School is to provide a positive, safe learning environment that encourages students to reach their full
potential: socially, emotionally, and physically.
School Hours: Kindergarten AM: 8:55 - 11:30 Kindergarten PM: 12:30 - 3:10
Kindergarten Full Day: 8:55 - 3:10 First Grade: 8:55 - 3:10
Principal’s Coffee Hour:
Friday, May 4, 9:30 a.m.
School Council Meetings:
Friday, March 23, 8:00 a.m.
Friday, April 27, 8:00 a.m.
“Thank you, my friend”
Grade 1
Thursday, March 22
6:00 p.m. First graders are still learning to
tie their shoes. Practice this skill as often as you can!