Quarterly Newsletter
October 2014
The Related Arts Teams, along with the School Counselor, will be publishing a quarterly newsletters letting parents and community members know what is currently being taught in the classroom.
Art News
From the Desk of Mrs. MacDonald
SAVE THE DATES!!!
First quarter visual art is off to the races!!
In 6th grade art wheel, we created a community village in clay. Our planning and zoning committee agreed to name the town “Artistic-ville.” We will be painting and assembling our village in the display case soon! Currently, we are finishing our Japanese Nōtan-inspired paper carving project.
In 7th grade visual art, we finished “drawing from life” by rendering our sneakers in pencil. Students learned more about light and shadow, and various shading techniques. We are now working on expressive self-portraits in printmaking after studying the work of Käthe Kollwitz, and will be beginning our mask project soon.
In 8th grade wheel visual art, we studied the art of the Dutch painters and completed our still life project. Students used a viewfinder, iPads, and a variety of shading methods to develop his/her work. Our 8th grade advanced art class is currently researching Surrealist artists such as De Chirico, Magritte and Dalí, and completing planning sketches for his/her final Surrealist-style fantasy landscape.
A.M. Preschool:
Preschool students have learned how to identify texture and did texture rubbings. They experienced hopping, skipping, jumping lines by acting them out, and then drew different types of line. Creature puppets developed painting, folding, and for some, scissor skills. Next up: color mixing and fall foliage paintings!!
NEWS FROM MS. SHAINESS Rm. A-104
6th Grade Art Extension Classes are working on a “Peace” poster for the Lion’s Club Contest.
4th and 5th graders have also been designing Fire Prevention Posters in class. Any 5th grade students from the 2nd-4th quarter wheel classes who would like to submit an entry should see Mrs. Shainess.
Grade 3 is learning about painter Joan Miro and looking at his painting “Harlequin’s Carnival.” They will be creating a fantasy landscape or interior, inspired by Miro’s imagery.
2nd graders have started their landscapes, incorporating foreground, background and middle ground.
1st graders did a primary color design with horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines, inspired by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. Colors so bright, they actually SING!!!
Kindergartners are beginning their Fall Self-portraits!
Afternoon Preschool students have done crayon drawings and texture rubbings, they have painted and recently mixed red and yellow to make orange, in anticipation of the colorful New England fall season. . .
Counseling News!
Hello from the Mrs. Polakowski!
Curriculum based lessons will be beginning soon! There are three types of social/emotional curriculum each student in the middle school will be receiving during the school year.
- Second Step Classes (Social Skills Classes) have or will be starting soon. These lessons will involve discussions surrounding:
- Empathy
- Communication
- Perspective taking
- Respectful disagreement
- Negotiation and compromise
- Emotion management
- Coping with stress
- Decision making
The goals of the Second Step middle school program are to decrease aggression, bullying, and substance abuse and increase students’ social skills and school success.
- The other type of classroom lessons are referred to as “Advisory Classes”. These classes are designed to meet adolescents' needs for autonomy, competence, relationship, and fun. Each class is designed around the “power of play” to create a safe and structured community based around Cooperation, Communication, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, Engagement, and Self-control.
- Lastly, students will also be engaging in classroom based discussions surrounding the topics of career exploration. These classes will center on current school and future career goals. Studies show that it is important to start these conversations early. Students will participate in goal setting, career inventories, career cluster exploration, and discuss the connection between what they are accomplish now is in fact connected to their future.
Library News
Mrs. MacMullen Reports:
We had 201 Summer Readers! Our students read over 1,000 books this past summer. Congratulations! Our summer readers will be receiving a spirit stick soon.
Preschool students have been introduced to the There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and variations of this title, such as There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed Some Leaves.
Kindergarten was introduced to books by Eric Carle. Students will be learning how to locate the letters in their name on the keyboard, close a program, and how to use the mouse (clicking and dragging).
Grades 2 and 3 have been learning about Biographies, and we will be looking at other genres as well. Grade 2 students will begin a typing program called Dance Mat Typing.
Grade 4 is learning about the Nutmeg Books. A letter will be going home shortly explaining what the Nutmeg Books are and the Nutmeg Challenge. They will continue practicing their keyboarding skills with the program called Type to Learn.
Life Skills News
From the desk of Mrs. Duers
In the Life Skills classes, students began the year by learning how to keep foods free of dangerous bacteria, using the guidelines of the Food and Drug Administration. The four basic principles of food safety are Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill. Once they understood how to keep their classroom kitchen sanitary, students were then ready to get cooking! Autumn is apple season, so our first cooking lab was apple turnovers and they were delicious.
As we move forward, students in grades 5 and 6 will be making three different cornbread recipes, while students in grades 6 and 7 will make three different Chili recipes. We will hold an in-house vote as to which recipes were the tastiest, and the winning recipes will be sent to the Chili Cook-off at the Columbia Classic 5K race on October 26th.
Music News
Welcome Back and Looking Forward to working with HWP Students from Mrs. Francis
The Elementary Music program is off to a great start this year. Students are continuing tolearn music concepts and are developing performance skills inpreparation for concerts. Concert dates will be announced in the near future. Pre- School students are learning about one new instrument per week, learning movements to classical music and singing songs with hand movements and rhythm instruments. Kindergarten students are learning song games and beginning to write music notes. First and second grade students are focusing on performance skills in preparation for being the first groups to perform on stage this year. They are also learning about children's music stories such as Peter and the Wolf and Carnival of the Animals. Third and Fourth grade students are reading various pieces written by classical composers. They are using the music elements tohave amore in depth understandingof the composer's music. They are continuing to listen to and learn about the families of instruments. The 4th grade band students are working on note reading and reading rhythm charts in the back of their band books. Until most students can play 3 band tunes in their lesson groups, full band will work on rhythm charts by saying and playing rhythms on their mouthpiece.They will alsoplay band tunes on the recorder until most students have a band instrument. Please refer to Power Announcement for the lesson and full band schedule. Fourth grade band students should stay on schedule for bringing in instruments and band books for bothlesson group and full band.
And Hello from Mrs. Breither!!
Middle School Music:
Jazz band is off and running! This year’s jazz band consists of Juliana Baker, Matthew Baker, Benjamin Bessette, Joshua James, Ethan Homiski, Dawson Lent, Aidan Merrill, Carter Meshanic, Peter Swenson, Elizabeth Tangarone, and Caroline Thorn. Please remember jazz band is every Tuesday and Thursday morning, before school, 7:30-8:15. There is a new attendance policy this year. Students will be allowed 5 unexcused absences and 5 tardies of 5 or more minutes between September 23 and the first concert, and then again between that concert and the spring concert.
Horace W. Porter’s Veteran’s Day Celebration:
The Porter Jazz Band will be performing the “Star-Spangled Banner” and Benjamin Bessette will be performing “Taps”.
Mark Your Calendars!
- January 15 – Winter Chorus Concert
- January 22 – Winter Band Concert
- May 21 – Spring Chorus Concert
- May 28 – Spring Band Concert
Opportunity for chorus students!
Notices just went home telling students about the chance to sing at the town’s Veterans’ Day celebration! The celebration will be on November 11, at 11:00am, at the town green. Assuming enough students are available students will sing a song both at the beginning and at the end of the celebration. I really hope our choruses are able to take advantage of this great opportunity! Please return the bottom portion of the notices sent home ASAP so that I can get a count of those able to participate!
General Music:
It’s hard to believe, but we are already half way through this quarter. This quarter’s general music students have been working hard. They have all taken their first written and listening quiz and will be starting their piano units shortly. Please remember to check PowerSchool frequently to stay updated on your children’s grades. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me at .
Physical Education News
News and Notes reported by Mr. Piro and Mr. Tobler
It is that time of year again! We will be performing our annual Connecticut Physical Fitness Assessments beginning the week of October 21st. The test consists of four fitness components; the mile run, the right angle push up test, the curl up test, and the sit and reach test for flexibility. Our students in grades three through eight will be participating. They have already performed their pre-tests and created a goal for themselves for each component. We are stressing each student perform their “personal best”, and their goals, which are challenging but achievable, are based on their pre-test performance, and where they would like to improve.
Parents can help by keeping our students active, and finding time to practice the exercises. While watching television, encourage students to do two pushups and curl ups per commercial. You’ll be surprised at how many this can add up to! Even though they are only doing two at a time, they could be doing about fifty of each for one hour of programming!
Keep an eye out for our annual “Turkey Trot”! It will be November 18th with a rain date of the 19th, and parents are encouraged to come and run with their children! We will be asking for a non-perishable food item as a voluntary entry fee. The Columbia Leo’s will help us again by delivering the items to a local soup kitchen to help those less fortunate during the holidays.