BUBBLES’ BLOG
NOVEMBER 2015 NEWS FOR
S. B. BUTLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
IMPORTANT DATES / EVENTS
Tue, Nov 3rd No School for Students – Election Day
Staff Professional Development
5th Grade Bake Sale
Thur, Nov 5th 4th grade mile run - FHS
Wed, Nov 11th No School-Veteran’s Day
Tue, Nov 17th PTO Meeting – Media Center 6:30-7:30pm
Wed, Nov 18th Literacy Training Workshops 9am & 2:15pm
Wed, Nov 25th Early Dismissal – Thanksgiving Recess 1:12pm
Nov 26 & 27th No School –Thanksgiving Recess
Tue, Dec 1st Picture Retake Day 9-10:30am
Tue, Dec 8th Early Dismissal – Teaching & Learning Initiative 1:12pm
Thur, Dec 10th PJ’s & Cookies Literacy Event 6-7pm
Fri, Dec 11th Polar Express Movie Night 6-8pm
Tue, Dec 15th Chorus & Band Concert 6:30pm
Wed, Dec 16th Groton Strings Festival – FHS 6:30pm
Wed, Dec 23rd Early Dismissal – Winter Holiday Recess 1:12pm
Thu, Dec 24th – Fri, Jan 1st No School – Winter Holiday Recess
PRINCIPAL’S CORNER
Dear S.B. Butler Families,
I want to thank you all for attending our Parent-Teacher conferences last week. A solid home-to-school connection is so important to a student’s success in school. Thank you as well for completing the School Survey that was made available during conferences. This helps us find ways to improve our communication to families. It was nice to see many of you in the hallways and stopping in to purchase books at the Book Fair.
I would also like to extend a big thank you to our P.T.O. and the families that contributed to the teacher appreciation brunch/dinner. It was greatly appreciated by all. There were many wonderful treats to keep staff going throughout the day. As I settle in at S.B. Butler, I am very impressed with our level of commitment and involvement by our families and the community.
I look forward to seeing you around the school!
In Partnership,
Steve Wheeler
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Health Room
Mrs. Grater & Mrs. Donnel
We are almost finished with vision and hearing screenings. If your child has failed any screenings, after retest a referral will be sent home. This year screenings were not done on second grade per new state regulations. If you have any questions about screenings, please feel free to call or email me at My school hours are 8:40am to 3:35pm.
Flu Season is not far away, it is very important that your child receive his/her vaccine as soon as possible. Remember unlike other viral infections the flu can cause severe illness and life –threating complications especially in young children and the elderly. Getting the flu vaccine and eating a well balance diet with lots of fruits and veggies will help keep your family healthy and strong for the upcoming cold and flu season!!!
Preschool
Mrs. Field & Mrs. Mangelinkx
The preschool students have been having a wonderful time exploring the changes for Fall as they explore the outdoors. During the blustery weather one student was heard to exclaim “It’s a leaf storm!!” as she and her friends joyously ran around trying to catch the leaves falling from the trees. The students have been working hard on their skills. In November, we will explore the themes of Healthy Harvest and Families. We will also continue to work on specific skills such as patterns, basic math concepts and learning to sequence stories.
Kindergarten
Mrs. Horler & Mrs. Whitten
Our Kindergarten friends have been having a fantastic time in school. We had a great October filled with lots of learning about apples, pumpkins, and community helpers. We move into late fall and we will be learning about the harvest as our discussion of autumn continues. We will also learn about our senses and how we use those to discover things about our world. In math, we will continue to practice writing the numbers using standard formation and we will continue to explore 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional shapes. In writing, we will be writing like scientists and moving onto expanding small moments in personal stories.
We will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with a friendship snack prepared by both classes. Just a reminder - please send your child with a jacket every day. Our playground has crosswinds and gets quite chilly. We go outside everyday if possible!
First Grade
Mrs. Celtruda & Mrs. Grigg
In November, the first grade will be learning about families. There are all kinds of families but we all have one common thread: we love each other, work and have fun together. They will also be learning about how life was long ago as compared to today. We will be reading about the first Thanksgiving and Native Americans. We will be having our Thanksgiving feast on Wednesday, November 25th. First graders dress up as Native Americans and 2nd graders dress up as Pilgrims. More information will follow on that.
In math, we are currently on unit 2 which explores different strategies for adding and subtracting. It would be beneficial for your child to practice the addition and subtraction facts to 10 at home to become more fluent.
We have finished our first writing unit on narratives and will be delving into informational writing.
Second Grade
Mrs. Bailey & Mrs. Westkott
Happy autumn! J The days are really flying by now! We are all settling in nicely in grade two. Our morning meetings are having a very positive impact on the class. It is wonderful to begin the day with so many smiles!
On Friday, October 23rd Mrs. Bailey’s class visited the Mystic Health Center and met the residents for snack and ‘getting to know you’ activities. The children and adults loved the interaction! In November Mrs. Westkott’s class will make the same trip. We are hoping to build a strong community connection through this valuable experience.
In math we are working on a unit on place value and addition within 200. We continue to use the Computer lab each week to work on STMATH as well. The children are always happy to visit the lab!
We began a new unit on informational writing, focusing on writing like scientists do. The children seem excited about this new genre! We can’t wait to see the wonderful writing they will produce!
We are reading many interesting non-fiction texts to go along with this unit in writing. Forces and Motion is our mentor text and it is a fabulous resource for our young students!
Third Grade
Mrs. Gwaltney & Mrs. Zuliani
We have been very busy in Third Grade. We enjoyed meeting with families at conferences. We believe that working together with families ensures success at school for our students.
This month in writing, we continue our unit of study on writing true stories. Students have been working on revision strategies to write meaningful stories about their lives. We have learned to revise our leads and endings to make our stories more captivating. We also have begun to describe events in our stories using our five senses. It’s fantastic seeing the kids filling up their notebooks with the stories of their lives!
In Math, we are at the end of our first unit of multiplication and division. We have learned many strategies to solve for unknown equations in multiplication and division. We also solved area problems in this unit. We encourage all third graders to practice their math facts nightly so they have automatic recall with their facts!
We are heading into a busy time of year for all families. Expect to see their homework each Friday so you can plan for the week ahead.
Fourth Grade
Mrs. Burdick, Mrs. Genovese & Mrs. O’Connell
·We will be moving our focus to nonfiction in reading and writing. Students will be learning about the various nonfiction text structures as well as skills such as note-taking and summarizing. They will be working hard to create their own nonfiction pieces as well.
·In Math we will be completing our unit on multiplication and beginning a unit on division.
Daily multiplication and division fact practice is a necessity to ensure your child’s success!
Upcoming Events:
·November 5th: Mile Run at Fitch High School
·November 17th: Field Trip to the Mashantucket Pequot Museum
·November 19th: Young People’s Concert – Garde Arts Theater
Fifth Grade
Mrs. Hubbard & Mrs. Wilson
We have been diligently working away in 5th grade. In reading, we will continue to read Wonder. We will be focusing on making inferences, summarizing, and looking for the main idea. We will also be wrapping up our Unit 1 in Math Expressions which focused on adding and subtracting fractions. Our next math unit will be working with multiplying and dividing fractions. In Writing, we are concluding our Narrative Unit and will be celebrating our published pieces with our Kindergarten book buddies. Our next unit will focus on Informational writing and we will be talking about the Westward Expansion. Our Native American projects are due November 13th; we are excited to see the results of all their hard work. We are looking forward to the Election Day Bake Sale on Tuesday, November 3rd. Be sure to keep those ovens baking so we have enough baked good products to sell. Also, if you are able to volunteer, please let your child’s teacher or one of our parent volunteers know as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for all your support!
Art
With Ms. Whitchelo
The P.T.O. will again be helping the art room by doing the fundraiser Original Artworks. Hopefully this year we will make enough money to purchase a much needed drying rack. Masks, origami, and weaving are currently happening in the art room and I look forward to putting more artwork on display as the year continues. Thanks to all the parent volunteers that helped put up art for the portrait art show this year at conferences. I hope you all enjoyed the wonderful faces of S.B.B.
PE/Health
Mr. DeMario
- SNACK ATTACK! Healthy snacks are highly encouraged for your child’s snack at school. Whole fruits and veggies are best at providing energy till lunch. Sugary snacks don’t have the long lasting energy and nutrition like whole fruits and veggies. Snack Attack will be starting up in November, so let’s get our children on the right track. Remember your child needs energy to learn.
- RECESS! Recess has been going well. Just want to gently remind parents that it’s getting cooler outside, so please have students bring clothing to school so they can be comfortable during recess. Also, if you have a skill or talent that you would like to share with S.B.B. students during recess, please get in touch with me. Students love it when someone comes in and teaches them a new activity. Last year we had yoga and it went well with the students.
- CT Physical Fitness Testing! The fourth grade students have been taking the test for this. So far the students have been doing well. The mile run is coming up on November 5th, so encourage your child to practice running after school to be better prepared for the final test. Also, some classes have not started the push up part of the test, so encourage them to keep practicing until they are tested.
Reading
Mrs. Fridinger & Mrs. Pombrio
This year at SBB, I will be focusing onproviding intervention services to students in grades 3-5. Because of this focus,I am ableto work withstudents during Writer's Workshopin their classroom and even pop into some rooms during Reader's Workshop. Being able toobserve and workwithstudents inboth reading and writing allows me to furtheridentify theirunique literacy strengths and weaknesses. Then, I can plan intervention lessons that will address their needs in order to see them grow, succeed and build confidence.
It was great meetingall of youduring conference week. With all of your support at home andyour child'shard work in school, I'm sure we'll be celebrating the growth they will be making this year in reading!
Mrs. Fridinger, Literacy Specialist
I’m excited to be working with Mrs. Fridinger as a literacy teacher here at S.B. Butler. This year, instead of each of us providing literacy intervention for all grade levels, we are focusing on a few grade levels apiece. I will be supporting kindergarten through second grade students. Not only will I take time to offer intervention to students who need extra reading support, I will also have the pleasure of being in some classrooms as we implement our new writer’s workshop. I enjoyed meeting many parents during conferences and one of the curriculum nights, not to mention those I met in rare form at the costume dance (I was the clown on the unicycle). I can't wait to meet the rest of our S.B.B. community and I look forward to our partnership as we work together to help our students along as they grow as readers and writers!
Cheers! Mrs. Pombrio, Literacy Interventionist
Math News
Mrs. Fleming
Now that we’ve been in school for a few weeks, we are introducing some more activities to help improve math skills! Fact fluency is important in all grades so it’s always helpful for students to practice at home using flashcards or websites like Xtramath.com. Grades 3-5 are participating in Math Masters each week to increase their speed, fluency, and accuracy with their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. They have the opportunity to earn certificates at our in school celebrations to recognize those students who have mastered each level. This is a great way to motivate our students to memorize their facts! Keep practicing those facts!!
Music Classes Are Making Lovely Music at SBB!
Mrs. Martelle, Mrs. Stevenson & Mr. Schneider
The winter concerts are just around the corner! If you haven’t marked your calendars yet, please do so you don’t miss seeing our talented SBB musicians!
The S.B. Butler Winter Concert will take place on Tuesday, December 15 at 6:30 p.m. in the gym. This will feature the 4th and 5th grade chorus, as well as selected members of the band.