Blog

Ms. Kayser’s Class: Winter Wonderland

Posted on by skayser

The classroom has been transformed into a winter wonderland! The students walked in Monday morning to discover that the holidays had taken over. It is always so exciting for everyone when new works appear on the shelves. It brings so much joy to both us and the children as their curiosity guides them to re-explore all the shelves.

In geography we have traveled across the globe to Antarctica. The children have really enjoyed learning about this cold continent and how different it is from North America. As the month progresses, we will be learning all about the scarce number of animals and plants that are able to live in the harsh climate of this continent and explore how they survive!

Outside of the classroom, this week brought us a special visitor: Aris, Officer Felicia, and Officer Matt! Aris is a two year old German Shepherd from Slovakia who is training to be a part of the K-9 Unit in the Newtown Police Department. Officer Felicia spent time on Tuesday to talk to the children about how Aris and the rest of the department are working hard every day to keep us all safe! We even got to learn some of the German language they use to train Aris and watch as he listened to commands. The children were ecstatic to watch Aris work.

Thank you Officer Felicia, Officer Matt, and Aris, as well as the rest of the Newtown Police Department, for going out every day to protect us and our community.

Ms. Kayser and Ms. Alli

6th year French and Spanish Students!

Posted on by Francoise Cutrone
The 6th year Spanish and French students are doing extremely well. Everyone is working so well and is very eager to learn. We have had a wonderful trimester and every day these students spent in my class, they have been learning new vocabulary and grammar. We sometimes combine the 2 groups and work on both languages if there is a similarity in the explanations of grammar or conjugation. On this day, December 6th, was one of those days where we learned about the verbs “ir and aller” (to go). We conjugated these verbs in the Present Tense and also learned that these 2 particular verbs can help us speaking about the near future. You can see the enthusiasm on all these students faces ! Keep up the good work, guys!

Upper Elementary: Community

Posted on by Brian Comstock

On Tuesday, a couple of officers from the Newtown Police Department visited our school along with Aris, a police dog trained to help the Newtown Police.  Aris is a German Shepherd that the department got from Siberia. We watched a demonstration of Aris in action and then the officers answered questions.  The strength of this young dog was amazing and the officers told us that Aris is equal to four officers when in the line of duty!

Although we do not have a field trip planned for December, we decided it would be a great idea to visit the St. Vincent DePaul Mission in Waterbury, CT. We have been been connected to this shelter for over 8 years now by making and delivering sandwiches. A few years ago we felt that we could offer more support to those in need by providing new clothes and fleece blankets to the children that reside at the shelter. Next Tuesday we will wrap these gifts, make cards, and then deliver the gifts as a whole class to the shelter. This will be a great learning experience for the students and we look forward to helping those in need, especially during the holiday season. Thanks so much for your support and donations!

Mrs. Thomas: Exploring Hanukkah Toddler Style!

Posted on by Stephanie Thomas

We added some fun and simple work to our environment to explore Hanukkah. The children enjoyed drawing on blue paper with white crayons; sticking blue and silver tissue paper onto contact paper; and using small tongs to transfer little blue and silver presents from one silver bowl to another.

Although these were popular activities for most children, nothing compared to our wooden Menorah. Every day this week, the children have gathered around the table patiently waiting their turns to place the candles into the Menorah. However, we were all surprised with what the children have done after they place the last candle: they sing “Happy Birthday” and blow the candles out! Their genuine excitement and innocence in singing this song made us all smile a little brighter this week.

For those of you who celebrate, we wish you a very Happy Hanukkah!

Mrs. Carroll’s Class: Canine, Color, and Compassion

Posted on by Cindy Carroll

Officers Felicia and Matt from the Newtown Police Department K-9 Unit visited this Tuesday with their canine, Aris. The officers shared with the children how canines are used to support the police department in keeping us all safe. Aris kept us all captivated by both his beauty and allegiance to his trainers.

In Art, the children learned about the Northern Lights, complimenting this months’ study of Antarctica.  The students were able to create their own  “dancing light” drawings by layering various colorful lines using chalk pastel. Miss Jen encouraged the children to blend the colors with their fingers to create a glowing effect to represent the glow of the Northern Lights. Enjoy!

The class celebrated Saint Nicholas Day on December 6th.  St. Nicholas is known for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.  On the eve of  St. Nicholas Day children traditionally leave boots outside of their doors in hopes that he will leave a small treat in them. We were thrilled that St. Nicholas visited Fraser Woods School and left a tasty gift, a boot full of candy canes. His life mission remains a continued model for compassion.

Until next week,

Cindy & Sharlene

Mrs. Doyle’s Class: Special Visitors

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

This week we had two special visitors.  On Tuesday, Officer Felicia, Officer Matt, and Aris from the Newtown Police Department spent some time teaching us how they all work together to keep us safe.  Aris is a two year old German Shepherd who is still in training and part of the Newtown K-9 unit.  He comes all the way from Slovakia. The children loved hearing that his favorite food is ice cream and that he lives at home with Officer Felicia.

On Wednesday, we learned who St. Nicholas was. St. Nicholas was a Bishop who inherited a lot of money from his family.  He was also a very gentle, kind man who lived by the virtues of personal generosity, charity towards those in need, and taking care of the young and the most vulnerable.  We learned that  St. Nicholas loved to perform random acts of kindness for those in need. Many people around the world celebrate St. Nicholas Day by leaving a pair of boots outside their door.  So, we left them outside our classroom door.  To our amazement, the boots were beautifully decorated and filled with candy canes the next morning.

Wishing you a warm and wonderful week!

Mrs. Doyle & Mrs. Lyga

Mrs. Hood’s Class: Jingle All the Way!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

 

Winter holidays are used in our environment as a fun way to keep children engaged, encourage joy of learning, and help us to introduce the passage of time and seasons. Since they bring a sense of light and joyfulness to the long, dark winter months and create a sense of community, we welcome them wholeheartedly. The sound of jingle bells are everywhere in our environment. Your children love exploring the sounds of different size bells while spooning, tweezing, sorting, playing, singing, and dancing.

Some of the favorite works this week seemed to be dressing the snowman while practicing parts of the body vocabulary; the Menorah posting activity where children practiced colors, counting, and new words such as: star, Menorah, and candle; placing ornaments on our tiny Christmas tree and all the new seasonal practical life activities.

Cranberries were the seasonal food we introduced this week! Mrs. Wilson shared with us a fabulous cranberry sauce she made and let me tell you that all your children loved it!  Another 100% liked fruit for your list.

We can’t wait for our holiday celebration next week! Remember you are welcome to send your child in pajamas. Stay tuned for fun pictures!

Lower Elementary: We Are a Patchwork Quilt

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

We start every morning with a community gathering. During this time, the children are enjoying practicing the songs they’ve learned in music class for our upcoming holiday concert. Thank you, Ms. Kim, for sharing your beautiful piano accompaniments with our class!

On Tuesday, we had a four legged friend come to visit. Aris, a Newtown K9 came to show off a few tricks with Officer Felicia and Officer Matt. The children were thrilled to hear that he’s only two years old and has already caught two bank robbers! Thank you for your service, Officers Aris, Felicia, and Matt.

We are continuing to work hard as the holidays are fast approaching. In geometry, the first years had a blast listening to the “Love Story of the Lines” while learning about convergent, divergent and parallel lines. Then, they used the Box of Sticks to demonstrate their understanding. After learning about the common protractor last week, the second years are working on measuring angles with a common protractor. Last but not least, the third years enjoyed their supplementary angles lesson.