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 Spofford Times Newsletter |
Greetings!
We hope that you had a chance to go to the book fair at Barnes and Noble this weekend either in person or online! It is a great way to do some holiday shopping if you need to while also supporting the school! Many thanks to Mrs. Patch for organizing this for the school. The proceeds benefit our own library collection for the students. With the holiday season upon us now, most families are preparing for their own family celebrations that support many important family traditions and your own heritage. Heritage is a vital part of who each one of us is. It contributes to our sense of self. It is something that across our history was passed on through story telling from one generation to the next. Now, the art of story telling (with all the media that surrounds us) is a lost art. So, by telling stories to your children about their family heritage and traditions, you are creating a chance for them to practice listening and reinforcing their own catalogue of family stories that they will carry with them for their lifetime. So, a wonderful gift to give this holiday season is the time to tell your own established family story and traditions that your child will carry on in his/her life. Traditions are wonderful ways to carry on important family history as well as important memory making for all! I wish you all a wonderful week and month of family holiday memory making! J A Special Thank you: Many thanks to the parents PTO for putting on a lovely spaghetti dinner on Friday night!
Have a terrific week!
Parent Coffee:
I hope that parents can come to our monthly get together for some treats and conversation. It is this Friday at 9:30 in my conference room. Hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Kathryn Nikas, Principal
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Sixth Grade News
Photo above: The Earth View globe during the first visit with Mrs. Sorensen!
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It's hard to believe, but the first term is wrapping up and the 6th grade team has been working diligently. In science the 6th graders are studying the general and specific properties of matter, and conducting experiments to reinforce the concepts of density, volume, mass, and gravity, and will be moving on to matter for term two. In social studies, 6th graders are learning about Russia. Some students are also participating in a pen pal program with children from Uganda. In Ms. Boyle's social studies class, students are raising money to adopt an endangered animal from the World Wild Life Foundation. Ms. Magee's math classes have started the next pilot math program, Math Expressions. Students will be using this program for the unit on multiplication and division of decimals and fractions. Friday, December 2nd the Earth View globe visited Spofford Pond! It was well received by the students! -The 6th grade Team |
From the Health Office
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From the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Simple Steps to Avoid the Flu: Wash hands with soap and warm water or use an alcohol based hand rub or gel frequently, especially after visiting public places or being in contact with anyone with a cold or the flu. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing. Turn your head (never cough in the direction of someoneelse) and cough or sneeze into a tissue. If tissues are not available, cough or sneeze into the inside ofyour elbow. Do not take young children, those with immune system problems or the chronically ill into large crowd unnecessarily when flu is in your community. Avoid close contact (holding, hugging, and kissing) with anyone who has a cold or the flu. Be very careful with children, as they are most likely to become sick with the flu Stay home from work or school and avoid public activities for at least 5 (7 for children) days if you havesymptoms of the flu. Do not share items that can spread germs and viruses, like drinking cups, straws or other items that you put in your mouth. Clean things that are touched often in the household, classroom and child care settings: door or refrigerator handles, phones, water faucets, light switches etc. BMI screening has been completed and the BMI letters to 4th grade students should arrive in the mail this week. We are now in the process of conducting hearing and vision screening, please remind your child to wear his glasses to school.
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| From Betsy Gadbois, Literacy Teacher
Strategic Book Shopping! The Holidays are here again - and there are no better gifts than books! Holiday shopping is stressful enough... which is why I want to help you to choose the RIGHT book for your child. Although I hate to squash a child's excitement to own the new, cool best-seller that lots of children might be reading at school - please approach such a purchase with caution - as a child's independent reading experiences need to be matched to them carefully. When planning instruction here at school - we are constantly monitoring your child's current "instructional" and "independent" levels of reading through the Fountas and Pinnell Leveling System. For example - a typical 3rd grade range of levels may include Levels M, N, O and P. Dependent upon your child's suggested level - it is recommended that their independent reads be within their range of strength to ensure a strong, consistent progression of their literary skills. Please visit my website through the Spofford Pond Homepage for two fantastic links that will help you to find appropriate book choices for your developing reader. Click on Finding "Just Right" Books For My Child which will give you some additional explanation as to why a child's "just right" level is so important - and two parent-friendly sites for you to search for options for your child. Additionally, I am always available to you for advice or support! Happy Shopping!
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Technology News
| From Candyce Wainwright, Technology Coordinator
The Spofford Pond School Web site http://www.boxfordschools.org/spofford.html Our school website is where you will find general information about Spofford Pond School, including a list of upcoming school events, the 2011/2012 school calendar, Parent Handbook, the current cafeteria menu, and other pertinent information. Also included are selected Internet activities for your children. The website is divided into three different sections: For Parents, Resources For Kids, and Our Teachers. There is a link to our Nutrikids site where you can manage your students' cafeteria accounts. You may find the link to the Spofford Pond Weatherbug data page useful to determine current weather conditions at the Spofford Pond School each morning. Useful information regarding the curriculum is found at the For Parents section. The About Spofford Pond link brings you to information for the current and next school years, as well as information about our curriculum. The curriculum guides are in pdf format and you can download them for your perusal. All of the links on our website have been reviewed by our staff, but please understand that Internet content can change rapidly. The best defense is to monitor your children at all times when they are working on the Internet. Here at Spofford Pond, we recommend that you supervise your children closely whenever they work on-line. Many thanks to Hagan Rivers who designed our website, took all the photographs of student work displayed on the site, and maintains it regularly. We are very grateful to her. Mrs. Wainwright
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Spanish News
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¡Felices fiestas! Happy Holidays from the Spanish classroom! We hope you are enjoying good food and time with your families during this season. We are incorporating those ideas into our Spanish curriculum for the next couple of months. In third, fourth and sixth grades we are reviewing and expanding our vocabulary for talking about our families. Third graders review the Spanish words for immediate family members and begin to learn vocabulary for some extended family members. In fourth grade the students add to that knowledge and begin to say a little bit more about those people. They answer questions about their names, ages, and birthdays, and begin briefly describing their families. The sixth graders are creating family photo albums! Their albums can be about their real families, or about an imaginary family and they have to describe and tell about each family member in greater detail. In fifth grade we are continuing learning food vocabulary. They are learning how to talk about foods they like and don't like, and ask which foods their friends like. They will be practicing how to talk about different meals of the day, and how to ask for something in a restaurant. It's a great time of year to be talking about food and remembering our families! Señora Careri y Señora Marcille
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Boxford Athletic Association
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BAA Spring Soccer Registration is Now OPEN Please go to baasports.com and click the Player and Coach Registration link on the main page. Late Fee charge of $35 begins 12/15/11 If you signed up for Fall/Spring, you do NOT have to re-register. GENERAL INFORMATION: Spring Soccer: Starts Saturday in April 14th and runs until second Saturday of June, including both weekends of April School Vacation. U06-U14 times are the same as the Fall. U16 & U18 games are on Sunday starting at 1:00 pm. Playing Locations: Intra-Mural team games are all scheduled in Boxford. Travel Teams have 4 home games in Boxford and 4 away games anywhere in Essex County |
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