Mrs. Hood’s Class: Celebrating Friendship!

Posted on February 14, 2020 by Andrea Hood

“A friend is one of the nicest things you can have and one of the best things you can be” – Douglas Pagels

Children had a blast preparing for our Friendship Celebration! They exercised their fine motor skills to create their beautiful Valentine’s bags and they were super excited to share their valentines with each of their friends! We talked about the importance of being a good friend and ways we could demonstrate love and care for them. We focused on one expression that promotes happiness in our brains, a hug. Children had fun choosing friends to give big hugs! It was priceless!

Children also enjoyed a special homemade fruit salad during our friendship celebration! There was so much love in the air!

We thank you for all your donations to make this day so special!

We hope you have a great little break and a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Important News & Upcoming Events

Posted on February 10, 2020February 11, 2020 by Alison Kistner

No School Thursday, February 13th – Parent & Teacher Conferences Online sign-ups were sent on Friday (1/31). Please note, teachers can also make time for conferences throughout the week during times that work for their teaching schedule. Parents can reach out to their child’s teacher directly if they are unable to attend conferences on 2/13.

No School Friday, February 14th and Monday, February 17th – President’s Day Weekend

Parent Association New Event: Trivia/Movie Afternoon Saturday, March 7th-3:30-6:30pm.
Join us at school for an afternoon of competitive trivia! The trivia program is digital, interactive, fast and fun. This event is open to FWM friends and family! Don’t delay, sign up today to reserve your spot here!

Don’t have a babysitter? Childcare for children (walking through 8th grade) will be available at school for $20 per child which includes pizza and popcorn. Children will be grouped by age group depending on the number of students. Please register in advance here.

Trivia Overview: 6 adult players max per team and a maximum of 25 total teams. If you don’t have a team of 6, you will be assigned to a team. Each team is encouraged to create a team name and can choose to decorate your team table in any way that you choose. The trivia game lasts approximately 2 hours. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place as well as last place and best decorated table.The event is BYOB and feel free to bring snacks for your table to share.

Any questions, please email Parent Chairs: Natalia Kokalj-O’Driscoll Kristen Rio Brooke Hopkins Rossana Cinquegrana:

Join a Book Study to discuss the book, How to Raise an Adult. Head of School, Chris Robertson, will be facilitating a discussion in May about this excellent parenting book. For more information, please click here.

March Break Camp Registration is OPEN (Toddler and Primary children). To register your FWM toddler or primary child in FWM’s March Break Camp, please click here. Parents may register their child for one or both weeks. March Break Camp is: Week 1 (March 16-20) and Week 2 (March 23-27).

Google Earth celebrates Black History Month

Posted on February 10, 2020February 10, 2020 by Danielle Ulacco

Google is honoring black history month in several ways- one being an interactive, digital tour on Google Earth. Students enjoyed using this tool and I encourage you to try this one at home, too!

Google Earth’s digital tour, called “The Journey of Us”, has colorful pins across the globe that highlight an event or a person. Each pin represents an area of innovation: advocacy, education, film and TV, business, dance, and technology.

“The stories include generations of people who pushes boundaries and resisted limiting ideologies as they laced the way for the next generation.”

Important Information & Upcoming Events

Posted on February 3, 2020February 10, 2020 by Alison Kistner

Parent & Teacher Conferences are Thursday, February 13th. Online sign-ups were sent on Friday (1/31). Please note, teachers can also make time for conferences throughout the week during times that work for their teaching schedule. Parents can reach out to their child’s teacher directly if they are unable to attend conferences on 2/13.

Join a Book Study to discuss the book, How to Raise an Adult. Head of School, Chris Robertson, will be faciliating a discussion in May about this excellent parenting book. For more information, please click here.

Thank you to Parent Chairs: Christi Orlowski, Regina Leahy and Lisa Kessler and all the other parent volunteers for an amazing job on the 1^st Annual Snow Ball event! The event was attended by over 60 students and their special adult. A memorable time was had by all!

Middle School: Research Night

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Michelle Lamb

Please register for the MS Acadia Trip by next Friday, 2/14!!!

http://www.grandclassroom.com

Thank you to all who came to watch our 6th & 7th year scholars give their presentations on Thursday night! Research Night was the culmination of a multi-week investigation into a topic surrounding the theme, Historical Events. Students used an inquiry-based research method to develop and support their thesis statements.

The expository paper included 3-5 pages of writing, in-text citations, transitions, an interesting introduction, and a summative conclusion. Skills such as locating reliable resources, word and sentence variation, organizing information, and paraphrasing were included.

For their presentation of 5-10 minutes, students were asked to use the research that was relative and interesting to their topics to achieve the answer to the question, “What do I want my audience to walk away knowing?” The visual component to their presentations included audio clips, video segments, pictures, and some quotations relating to the topic. The students focused on their voices being the main focus for information and doing as little reading as they could.

The Middle School teachers are incredibly proud of the students showcasing their individuality in their topics. Congratulations!

Mrs. Hood’s Class: Love Is In the Air!

Posted on February 7, 2020February 7, 2020 by Andrea Hood

“Of all things, love is the most potent.” – Maria Montessori

As Valentine’s day is approaching we have taken the opportunity to talk more intentionally about love and friendship to the children. Through new books, games, songs and social opportunities, children have had the opportunity to practice kindness and express love.

One of the main highlights this week was the introduction to a very special project. We call it “the mailbox work.” This is a multi-step work used to strengthen pre-writing skills in our students while reinforcing the concept of care for others. The first step is to choose a friend’s picture. This helps the child to maintain the focus on the activity. Then the child chooses a piece of paper and creates a beautiful card for his/her chosen friend using colorful pencils. The child then folds the card, place it inside the envelope and can ask one of the guides to help them write the name of the friend and then the child places it inside the mailbox. One of the details they seemed to like a lot was licking the border of the envelope to seal their message. 🙂 Children enjoyed making cards for their friends and at times for themselves. Self-love is equally important, right?

On February 12th, we will be having a friendship celebration in our classroom. Giving and receiving valentines is a special part of a child’s school experience and one they truly enjoy! This is a great opportunity to help children think about friendships. Whether you purchase or make cards, sit with your child as they create or sign them and talk about their classmates and what it means to be a good friend. There are 16 students in our class. Please have your child sign with your help the back of each valentine. Leave the envelope blank (with no specific name on it). This enables your child to distribute his/her valentines in a more independent and successful way.

For food tasting, children enjoyed exploring a kiwi! And this one was a big winner! Children really liked it!

We are looking forward to meeting with you all at Parent-Teacher conferences next Thursday, February 13th and talking about your child’s progress at school.

Please enjoy one of our Spanish songs the children have been practicing for weeks. We are confident most of the children are able to sing it for you now.

Saltan los conejitos (the bunnies jump)

Saltan, saltan los conejitos ( They jump, they jump the bunnies)

mueven, mueven sus orejas largas. (They move, they move their long ears)

Cavan la tierra muy presurosos (They dig the earth very fast)

cuando escuchan alguien llegar (When they hear someone arrive)

¿Será mamá?, ¿Será papá? (Will it be mom ?, Will it be dad?)

Trala la la la larala.

Mrs. Carroll’s Class: Classroom News

Posted on February 7, 2020February 7, 2020 by Cindy Carroll

On February 12^th we will be celebrating Valentine’s Day in our classroom. Giving and receiving valentines is a special part of a child’s school experience and one they truly enjoy! There are 25 students in our class. Please have your child sign (alone or with your help) the back of each valentine. Leave the envelope blank (with no specific name on it). This enables your child to distribute their valentines without having to read each classmate’s name. If your child is able to read the names of their classmates then they may choose to write names on the outside of the envelopes. Please allow ample time for the name writing process. This is a great vehicle for them to practice writing their name so remember to use upper case only for the first letter of their name. We will be passing out valentines on the 12^thbut please feel free to send in completed valentines before then. Have fun!

On Wednesday, February 19th the kindergarten students will be celebrating the 100th day of school. From the very first day of school, the kindergarten children have been learning to count by 1’s, 5’s and 10’s to 100. That afternoon is filled with fun activities and special snack. Each kindergartner will be asked to bring in 100 small objects to share with the class. These objects will be returned. A letter and plastic bag for the objects will be coming home soon.

If you have not yet signed up for a time to meet on our Parent/Teacher conference day please take time to do so. We look forward to seeing everyone on February 13th!

Enjoy the week!

Cindy & Sharlene

Mrs. Wilson: Sweet Surprise!

Posted on February 7, 2020February 7, 2020 by Cynthia Wilson

This week the children were invited to participate in a small group activity. Wednesday they made a special sweet treat to share with their family. The children worked together to mash up strawberries and add in the other ingredients. They even had an opportunity to taste their product. On Thursday the children marble painted heart shaped doilies for their Valentine’s Day bag.