BUBBLES’ BLOG
JUNE 2016 NEWS
S. B. BUTLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
IMPORTANT DATES / EVENTS
Wed, June 1st Spring Band & Orchestra Concert 6:30pm
Thurs, June 2nd FIELD DAY – All Day
Mon, June 6th K Celebration 2pm
Mon, June 6th Cinderella … If the Shoe Fits 6pm
Wed, June 8th PTO Basket Boogie 5:30-7pm
Fri, June 10th 5th Grade Promotion and DARE Graduation 10am
Fri, June 10th LAST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS!! 1:12pm
Early Dismissal
PRINCIPAL’S CORNER
Dear S.B. Butler Families,
As part of our Character Education program, Jahrel Haggan and Thomas McLaughlin were selected to be “Principal” for a day. Both students spent a good portion of their day with either me or Mrs. Porter. Their demonstration of good character is a great model and inspiration to everyone at S.B. Butler. I look forward to continuing our character education program next year and recognizing students for demonstrating fairness, respect, citizenship, responsibility, caring, and trustworthiness.
On the evening of May 24, second grade students and our fourth and fifth grade chorus showcased their talents with singing and celebration. Our halls were also decorated with many pieces of art work produced by SBB students. A big thank you goes out to Mrs. Martelle and Ms. Whitchelo for the many hours of preparation and planning. I would also like to thank all of our staff members that helped out on the night and the parent volunteers that spent time displaying the art work.
Lastly, I would like to thank the entire S.B. Butler community for making my first year a great one! I look forward to next year and the excitement that new learning will bring. Please be sure to encourage your students to read during the summer. Sharing a book with your child is a great way to learn about new cultures, hobbies, interests, and adventures. I hope you all have a restful and fun summer!
In Partnership,
Steve Wheeler
Health Room
Mrs. Grater & Mrs. Donnel
Summer is a time for playground fun, swimming, boating, biking, camping and other outdoor activities; unfortunately these activities can lead to higher risk of injuries. Good news is that many injuries may be preventable by following simple safety tips:
Playground 101
Teach children that pushing and shoving on the playground can result in accidents and injuries. Remind your child to sit down while swinging. Encourage them to wait until the swing has stopped before getting off. Remember to go down the slide one at a time and to wait until the slide is completely clear before taking a turn. Always sit facing forward with legs straight in front of you. Insist that they never slide down head first.
Before you send your child out to play, make sure they always wear shoes to protect their feet from cuts and scrapes and splinters. Wear sun screen to protect from sunburn and harmful ultra- violet rays.
Make safe splash
Teach children never to swim alone or go near water without an adult present. Give your child individual attention when they are swimming or near a body of water. Never dive into the shallow end of a pool or into above ground pool.
Supervision and common sense can go a long way to prevent accidents and injuries. Wishing you all a wonderful and safe summer from the SB Butler Health Room!
Fifth Grade
Mrs. Hubbard & Mrs. Wilson
We are so very proud of our 5th Grade students for their hard work this school year. We wish them all the best in their new journey through middle school. Thanks to all parents for your support throughout this year!
5th Grade Events:
· 5th Grade Promotion and D.A.R.E. Graduation - June 10th 10am
Kindergarten Happenings
Mrs. Horler & Mrs. Whitten
As Kindergarten is coming to a close, we have many things on our calendars.
For language arts and science we are focusing on our Coastal Communities. We will culminate our unit with a field trip to the beach on June 3rd. While at the beach, we will explore the coast using a scavenger hunt, enjoy a snack together and play a few games.
In math, we are focusing on the consolidation of the units we have taught this year. We continue to practice teens as a group of ten with extra ones. We also practice measuring using weight and length.
We will be tie dying t-shirts for our Kindergarten Celebration. The celebration will be on Monday, June 6th at 2 pm.
The Kindergarten team would like to thank all of the volunteers and parents who have made this year a terrific success! Enjoy your summer and read lots of books together.
Read at the beach.
Read in the car.
Read anywhere you are.
And you will be reading star!
First Grade
Mrs. Celtruda & Mrs. Grigg
We are so proud of our first graders and all the accomplishments they have made this year in reading, writing, math, as well as socially. They are ready for second grade!
We would like to thank all our parents for your support throughout the year. We appreciate you accompanying us on field trips, sending in boxes of tissues during cold and flu season, and all the endless other ways you support us!
During the summer, please keep reading, practicing math facts to 20, and practice the sight words. Most of all have a relaxing, wonderful summer!
Second Grade
Mrs. Bailey & Mrs. Westkott
Second grade is producing some wonderful poetry! The students were proud to share at our second grade celebration.
We enjoyed our visit to Haley Farm with the Nature Center. The students learned about the different layers of soil and we were lucky to see an osprey guarding her nest.
The year is wrapping up quickly. The second grade play was a hit! Our last visit to Mystic Manor was bittersweet! Field day is sure to be a blast on June 2nd, please have your child dress for field day activities and the weather. J
We have enjoyed watching your children grow. They are ready for the challenges of third grade. Please remember to read and write over the summer break.
Love,
Mrs. Bailey and Mrs. Westkott
Third Grade
Mrs. Gwaltney & Mrs. Zuliani
We are so proud of all of our third grade students’ progress this year! It’s been amazing to be part of their journey this year. We have seen them flourish and grow in so many ways!
In Reading, we have come such a long way in our written responses to texts. Students are now able to support their thinking with specific evidence from the text. In Math, we’ve made so much growth with our multiplication and division facts. We can now recall many facts readily. This will really help us in fourth grade. In Social Studies, we’ve learned about the history of our state and many cool state facts. Ask them what our state insect is! Science was always exciting with all the hands-on experiments we did!
Over the summer, the Summer Reading Challenge will be a great way for the kids to keep up with their reading! Keep them practicing their math facts too. We wish all of our students the best of luck in fourth grade. We hope you all have a wonderful summer break!
Fourth Grade
Mrs. Burdick, Mrs. Genovese & Mrs. O’Connell
Wow! We can’t believe the end of the school year is approaching. It’s been a wonderful year in fourth grade!
· Reading: We will finish the year with Greek Mythology. The students are reading some wonderful fiction books that they will use to complete a “Cereal Box Book Project.” Please send in any empty cereal boxes you have to help us out!
· Math: We will be completing our geometry unit.
· Social Studies: We will spend the remainder of the year finishing up the regions of the United States.
· Science: We will be studying how animals and plants adapt to their environments.
PE
Mr. DeMario
Thursday, June 2nd is Field Day at S.B. Butler. We will be needing volunteers to help out before, during and after the event. If your available and want to help out, please keep June 2nd open. If you have any ideas, thoughts or comments to share with me, please do get in touch.
Math News
Mrs. Fleming
Wow this school year sure did fly by! We were able to do so many fun things in math this year like learning new math games, applying math skills to real life situations through performance tasks, rotating through math centers, ST Math, and so much more!! It’s always a good idea to practice math facts over the summer so they are fresh in our minds when we come back to school in September. Another fun way to practice math and to try some more challenging concepts is to play online math games. There are some terrific links on the S.B. Butler website and on my home page. I hope everyone has a terrific summer! We are already planning some exciting things for math next school year!!
Reading
Mrs. Fridinger & Mrs. Pombrio
Are you ready for summer reading?
All of Groton Public Schools and our local public libraries are participating in a Summer Reading Program. On June 7th, Roberta Donahue from the Mystic Noank Library will be here to help us launch the kick-off to promote this event. Your children will hear about the many fun and exciting activities offered at the library and will be given a form to record the books they read over the summer. It is our hope that ALL students in grades PreK-5 read at least 10 books at their appropriate reading level. (Children not yet readers can record books read to them.)
In order to participate in SBB’s Summer Reading Celebration in September, students will be required to return the completed form to their next year’s teacher. Students will be informed of the deadline for this form in the Fall.
Happy Reading and have a wonderful Summer!!
Media
Ms. Harper
I hope all students participate in the Summer Reading Challenge! The Mystic Noank Library has many exciting programs happening. Roberta Donahue will be here on June 7th to talk to the students. Reading Challenge Forms will be going home at that time. Please encourage your child to read this summer!
Special Education Teachers and Speech-Language Pathologists
Mrs. Salovitz, Mrs. Harris,
Mrs. Buttermore & Miss Kasparek
Summer is almost here and provides a great opportunity to read LOTS of books! The students have made tremendous growth and we are so proud of them. We hope you have a fantastic summer and make some wonderful memories. The link below is to a summer reading bingo! See if your child can fill the whole card before the end of summer. Happy ReadingJ
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_K3lvgkkxw_Umduc0JRSTNpRWc/view?pref=2&pli=1
Music Classes Are Making Lovely Music at SBB!
Mrs. Martelle, Mrs. Stevenson & Mr. Schneider
Mrs. Martelle would like to congratulate the 2nd graders for doing an awesome job on their musical!
The 4th and 5th grade chorus was also spectacular!
There will be a performance of “Cinderella….If the Shoe Fits” on Monday, June 6 at 6:00 p.m. in the SBB gym.
The band and orchestra members are looking forward to performing for you on Wednesday, June 1st at 6:30pm. This concert will feature all of our 4th and 5th grade band and orchestra students, including the jazz band! We hope you can join us for an evening of wonderful music!
Wishing you all a Wonderful Summer!
Fun Ways to Keep Your Child Learning This Summer
This excerpt was from an article which appeared GreatKids.
Summer vacation can be either a learning wasteland or a learning paradise. The temptations are great for children to spend hours watching television or playing video games, but with a little ingenuity and planning, the summer can be transformed into a time to stretch the mind, explore new hobbies, learn about responsibility and build on skills learned during the school year.
Summer is the perfect time for children to discover that learning is fun and can happen anywhere. “You don’t want your kids to think that learning is only something that happens in places called schools,” says Susan K. Perry, author of “Playing Smart: The Family Guide to Enriching Offbeat Learning Activities for Ages 4-14.” “Rather, you want them to grasp that learning is fun and can go on all the time, anytime, anywhere, with handy materials, not only based on the instruction of an actual schoolteacher. The summer is a great unstructured mass of time to try out new things and explore interests that don’t necessarily fit into the school curriculum.” Here are some activities to get your child started on a summer of learning fun:
· Grow the biggest zucchini in your neighborhood: What better way to learn the basics of science and how things grow than to plant your own garden? You can start with seeds or small plants. Talk about what plants need to be hardy: air, water, sunlight and nutrients. Vegetables are especially fun and educational to plant because your child will learn where food comes from and will also get to eat the end product.
· Clip, paste and write about your family adventures: A family vacation is a perfect opportunity to create a trip scrapbook that will be a lasting souvenir of family adventures. Collect postcards, brochures and menus from restaurants and tourist attractions. Encourage your child to write descriptions of the places you visited and tell stories about your family’s escapades. Or suggest a scrapbook on your child’s favorite sports team or a chronicle of his year in school. The scrapbook might contain photos with captions, newspaper clippings or school mementos. Many photo-sharing Web sites, such asShutterflyorKodakGallery,will help you (for a fee) create professional quality photo books, where you arrange the photos and write captions.
· Get theatrical: Young children can make their own puppet theater. Begin by cutting off the finger-ends of old gloves. Draw faces on these fingers with felt tip markers and glue on yarn for hair. Or glue on felt strips to create cat, dog or other animal faces. Then your child can create a story that the finger puppets can act out. For older children, find books containing play scripts for young people (see “Helpful Books” sidebar)and encourage your child and friends to create their own neighborhood theater. They can plan a performance, make a simple stage at the park or on the steps of someone’s home, create playbills and sell tickets.