October, 2011

The transition back to school has been remarkable. I am so pleased with how hard all of the kids have been working this year. I truly believe that they are the hardest working kids in the school. We have also been lucky enough to have some field trip experience as fun an educational payoff for what we have learned so far. Here is what we have been up to:

We all were part of the celebration of Mr. Papadonis' career at the Science Center and were entertained by his Science Magic Show. We got to meet a new hero/scientist, Mr. Musselman to the district, joined by Ms. Pavlicek a veteran to the Science Center Staff.

First Grade
Thank you, Ms. Baia and Welcome, Ms. Dooley! We have been so lucky to have the leadership and love of Ms. Baia to start our year on the right foot. While we will miss seeing her every day, we know that there is a good chance we will see her still as a substitute teacher in the building. We welcome Ms. Dooley back from maternity leave and are glad to get to know her a little more each day.

We had our first field trip to Davis Farmland in Sterling, MA. What a great day! The weather cooperated and we got to see, pet, and feed many different animals.

Alex's mom came to our class to talk about dental hygiene and gave us a useful goodie bag. Thank you for coming Dr. Shirazi!

Second Grade
We have been very busy learning in second grade. Ms. Pavlicek came to our school for our "Tree Walk". We had a BLAST at the Discovery Museum on Wednesday.

REMINDERS...
October 31: Halloween Parade starts at 1:45 for Grades 1-5 in the Gym. You are welcome to visit and watch! If you anticipate your child having a difficult time with this event, please let us know.
November 9, 5pm–9pm: Fall Marketplace
November 10: NO SCHOOL. Teachers will be in school.
November 11: NO SCHOOL. Thank a veteran.
November 15, 9am: Parent Coffee, 10am Confidentiality/Volunteer Meeting You must attend this meeting if you plan on volunteering or being a chaperone at all this year.

Thank you for putting in so much effort on homework at home. Please be sure to return the packets or assignments when they are due. In addition, any reading your children do with you benefits them greatly. Please read at minimum 20 minutes each day.

Have a great November!

Welcome Back! September, 2011.

Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer and the start of school. While I hope it was a relaxing and enjoyable one, I really hope some of it was spent reading.
It was very nice to see many of you on Friday. I feel strongly that these visits before school starts can aleviate some of the anxiety students might be feeling about the first day. Hopefully they can chat with you about any thoughts or concerns they have about this year. Rest assured we will be there to support them.
As far as support goes for this year, I would like to share that we will have Ms. Gilbert, Ms. Gillis, and Mrs. Stromski working in 104. They were thrilled to have met some of you on Friday as well. We can't wait to see the kids on Wednesday!
As a reminder, our email service provider has switched so emails will now end in bpsk12.org, so feel free to contact me at schultz@bpsk12.org

Summer 2011

Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer so far. I just wanted to thank all of you for another year of success and for the tokens of appreciation. The best gift is just seeing the students progress all year and the notes of gratitude. Knowing that we have made a difference is a teacher's greatest reward.
I also wanted to let you all know that over the summer, school email will be changing its host. So if you are trying to contact me (I do check my email weekly), you will need to write to me at:
schultz@bpsk12.org
Starting in September, my schultz@burlington.mec.edu will no longer be in service. Keep this in mind as you begin to prepare for the fall and have questions for the upcoming school year.

Enjoy the rest of the summer and keep reading together!

May, 2011

Spring has finally arrived!

Along with spring, comes spring fever.  This tends to be a part of the year where students have made some remarkable improvement thus far and we start to see some regression.  In our class, the students tend to be influenced by the impending transition to summer.  What's more is the anxiety about the unknown for next year as the students begin to thinking about the new faces they will encounter next year, the different routines, the higher demands.  Please take time to talk to your child about any feelings of apprehension or excitement.  Luckily, if your student is in Kindergarten or 1st Grade, our staff in 104 will continue to work with your child again next year.  If your child is in 2nd Grade, we will begin discussing the transition to the  3-5 Learning Center Class with Mrs. Melanson.

While there is much to think about for next year, we have had a great spring so far.  Here are some highlights from April and May.

Kindergarten

Meteorologist Danielle Niles, from NECN, visited our K classroom and we made water tornadoes.

Kindergarten went on a nature walk field trip to the Fells Reservation in Winchester.

Mrs. Patrick found her very own salamander.

We spotted a blue heron flying through the sky here.  We also saw frogs and turtles in the water.

One of our chaparones was brave enough to hold this snake so we could get a closer look.

Grade 1

We performed the annual Dinosaur Show for the whole school and families.

Welcome to our Dinosaur Show!

When you hear the ROAR, shout for MORE!

Grade 2
Mrs. Foley's class finished our work on the last Investigations math unit about fractions- “Parts of a Whole, Parts of a Group.”
• They began working on their current social studies unit- Antarctica.
• Mr. Papadonis (Burlington Science Center) put on a fantastic show, giving us an exciting review of the basic concepts surrounding the relationship(s) between the earth, moon, and sun. This was one of his last “shows” for students as he will soon be retiring! We also heard a few clues about his very last science show at FW which will take place in a few weeks. The children are so excited to see his “science magic show!”
• The students have been using laptops and our portable computer station, accessing the program “Trudy’s Time and Place,” and writing important facts about each continent.


K-2 Assembly
The Rope Warrior came to visit our school.  He explained the importance of cardiovascular exercise and showed us some amazing tricks with his jump rope.  Thanks PTO for bringing him to Francis Wyman!  Play the video below to get an idea of his talent.

Important Dates Coming Up:
* June 2nd: Grade 2 music show at 9AM for K and 1, at 1:30 for parents
* June 6th: Grade 1 Field trip to Tide Pools
* June 7th: Kindergarten Field trip to Boston
* June 9th: Grade 2  Field trip to Harvard
* June 22nd: LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!
* June 10th:  Field Day (Rain Date June 13th)

March, 2011

Think Spring.  Although the temperature outside hasn't given much hint of spring, it can't be far off.  Report cards went home last week.  I hope you are all pleased with the reports of progress about your child.  March is a wonderful time to take a step back and recognize the growth that students have made over the course of the year.  This is typically the optimal time of year as students have adjusted to the routines and do not have any interfering vacation days/weeks to take them away from learning.
While we can appreciate how much we have watched the students grow and learn since September, we now need to start thinking about preparation for next year.  Teachers are already planning out what students need to know by the end of the school year and are starting to think about placements for next year.  If you have any preference about students that work well with your child or teaching styles that help him/her learn, please let us know by sending a letter to the principal, Mrs. Astone.  Generally she sends out a form for you to return, but it's never too early to begin putting your thoughts together.

Here is what we have been up to:

Kindergarten
Earlier in the month we celebrated Dr. Seuss Day by having Mr. Mason (our trusty custodian) as a guest reader in the classroom.

We are working on an Art unit in Kindergarten.  The kids have all been working very hard on creating peices of art modeled after famous artists throughout history- even the Egyptians!  The kindergarten will showcase the artwork at the "Kindergarten Museum" on Friday, April 1, 2011.  Parents are welcome to visit for the opening reception around 8:30 for a nominal entrance fee to be donated to "Pennies for Patients."

First Grade
Earlier in the month we celebrated Dr. Seuss Day by having newly appointed Chief Kent from the Burlington Police Department as a guest reader in the classroom.

We have been talking about the different kinds of penguins in science.  We are using some great technology in our class, too.  Mrs. Tortolini has been doing some fun interactive lessons on the Smartboard and we have been using the computer lab to label features of the penguin and begin blogging. 
We have an upcoming field trip to see "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" on April 8th.  We had a great time seeing the newly renovated planetarium at the Museum of Science last month at the conclusion of our unit about the solar system.

Take a look at Mrs. Tortolini's Blog to find more news about what is going on in the classroom.

February, 2011

The snow piles are starting to show some signs of melting, the days are growing longer, and we have survived our first full week without snow days since December.  Just as we make this adjustment of being back in the routine, we will be starting our February Vacation.  While this will be a time to loosen up and enjoy the relaxation, we hope that students will continue to simply read over vacation.  Whether someone is reading a chapter book to the kids or they are reading to a family member or pet, it is helpful to stay in practice.

Here is what we have been up to:

Kindergarten
We have just wrapped up a unit on the ocean habitat.  The kids welcomed Mr. Papadonis at our school for "Superfish" and got to touch a real octopus!  The kids even got to explore the other Kindergarten classrooms to do different fish projects for "Fish Day."  We had fun on our field trip to the New England Aquarium in Boston.

First Grade
We have been so lucky to see our eggs grow into chicks, but we are sad to see them go back to the Science Center.  Take a look at Mrs. Tortolini's Blog to see a picture of them or for more news about what is going on in the classroom. 
We have been talking about the solar system, constellations, and the phases of the moon in science.  To wrap up this unit we are going to the Museum of Science in Boston to see "The Secret's of the Sky" in the Omni Theater.

Second Grade
We finished our reptile unit.  Students completed their reptile work with a particularly close look at turtles and snakes.  The kids did a wonderful job sharing their projects.  You might have heard about Mrs. Foley's classroom pet- "Twitch," a corn snake. To wrap up the unit, Mrs. P came in for the reptile/amphibian show.

January 2011: Happy New Year

Happy New Year!  As we welcome a new year, we often think about how we can improve the quality of our lives.  If you would like some tips about what you can do to help your children in 2011, I want to offer some suggestions of ways you can work on essential skills while getting quality time with your children...without them knowing it!

"Are we there yet?" 

The car is your friend.
1.  For a short ride offer the approximate countdown of how long until you arrive.  Count with your child up to 60 to see if it took more/less than a minute.  Or, if you can concentrate while driving, see how many times you need to count to 60 before arriving. 
2.  Count backwards as you pull into the street of the destination like a shuttle countdown, from 20, 10, or 5.  It makes the arrival very exciting.
3.  For longer rides, do an Alphabet Scavenger hunt:  See who can spot their ABCs first, take turns finding letters, or play as a team of letter detectives.
4.  I spy:  Try to give clues that describe the attributes (e.g. size, color, shape) of the object or features of the word (e.g. starts with sound/letter, rhymes with _ ) or how you use it.
5.  For rides around town, point out traffic signs and practice reading the words, noticing the shapes/colors, and and why they are important in the community.  Talk about landmarks that are close to your home (library, store, park, street names, etc.) that might allow your child to recognize when they are close to home.
6.  Sing!  Music is loaded with rhymes and candence that is helpful for kids to practice and is just fun.  Try to guess the next line to each other's songs.  Make up your own words that rhyme to change to song into a silly family favorite.

The more entertained the kids are, the less trouble they will be for you.  You just might enjoy the ride, too!

*Special Requests for winter:  Please send in boxes of tissues.  In the cold season, we are going through lots of them.  We would love any donations you can offer.  Please bring in extra clothes for your children in the event that he/she has an accident or gets clothing wet during outdoor recess.
Thanks!