Friday, September 28, 2012

LIBRARY LUNCH BOOK CLUBS FOR GRADE 3, 4 and 5


  

I am happy to host 3 separate book clubs for our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders this year!  Many, many students have signed up to "try out" the book clubs and while I expect that several will decide a book club is not the right venue for them to share their love of books, a core group will start to form and enjoy the Book Club during their lunch period one Tuesday a week.  BTW, if your child has signed up for Book Club and ultimately decides its not for them, please recognize that opting out is a completely appropriate decision for some.  One of the beauties I have found in hosting the lunch book clubs is that while many enthusiastic students sign up, at the end of the day several want, even need, to get their run-around, physical activity time during recess....yet these kids will often take the Book Club Title List and go ahead and read the books on their own.  That is a win-win! They are reading, doing it on their own time:) Please celebrate that! While I have repeatedly told my own children not to "quit" anything, I have assured all 3rd, 4th and 5th graders that they need to do what works for them...not what their friends, parents or even I want them to do. 

With that said, I look forward to talking about the funny, inventive, intriguing NOT TALKING by Andrew Clements with 3rd graders and the classic THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH by Juster Norton during the month of October.  The Book Titles and Meeting Dates will be posted here on the sidebar for easy reference.  Please encourage (and help) your child reserve Book Club titles via the Manchester Public Library.  Unfortunately, the school library doesn't have the funding (or the space!) to house multiple copies of most titles but the MVLC can access dozens of copies in a timely fashion!

Happy Reading!

- Ms. Silag, Memorial School Library Teacher

Thursday, September 20, 2012

PTO fundraiser starting

Art Room News
From Mrs. Yutkins

Look what's Coming!
        

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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Las noticias del programa : Español



¡Hola!  As a new teacher to the Manchester-Essex Regional School District, I’m very excited to join the Essex Elementary and Manchester Memorial Elementary schools as the Spanish and French teacher.  I’ve worked as a Foreign Language teacher for nearly a decade, but this is my first chance to work with elementary students, so I’m very excited about the new challenge.

Second through fourth grade classes have Spanish once a week.  We will continue to learn the basics of Spanish while focusing on practicing these basics in every day conversation.  We will focus on practicing with many small in-class projects, some written and some spoken.  In addition to language and conversation, culture and history will be discussed in class, with interdisciplinary connections made whenever possible. 

In fifth grade the students will have a more intense experience with classes twice a week.  As in the past, the first half of the year will be Spanish and the second half will be French.  The dominant language of the classroom will be whichever language we are studying.  Whenever possible, we will try to speak in Spanish and later in the year, French.   

Once I get more settled into a routine here at MERSD, hopefully early October, I will be posting foreign language links and class updates on my website:

                        senoracarrancho.wordpress.com

I’m very excited to be on board here at MERSD and am looking forward to a great school year!

Monday, September 17, 2012

The New Art Room is Awesome!

What a great start we have had to this school year. The new art room is wonderful. Students entered to a bright and friendly space. The following is an email from a parent which describes the art room perfectly.

"WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOUR ROOM IS TRULY AWESOME!!!! What an amazing job you've done - it feels so big and open and ready for minds and creativity to be opened up and set free! Yes, there is a sense of freedom in there, it feels like a place where there are no boundaries for imagination, a place where ideas can develop, a place where there's room to explore, to create, to open up."

 I'm so very greatful to be able to work in this district and have an admistration that supports the arts.
The following are some pictures of the art room showing the room before, during and after as the we got it ready for school.




Claudette Yutkins

Technology

I am looking forward to an exciting new year in the Technology Lab! Students will be busy creating podcasts, posters, brochures, participating in Lego Engineering, designing models in Google SketchUp, creating maps, collecting and graphing data with Excel and many more fun technology projects throughout the year.

Remember if you are looking for some great educational sites to use at home check out Caught In The Web.

Also, throughout the year be sure to keep an eye on our Podcasts By The Sea section of the Technology website (also found under the Memorial Showcase) for student created audio/video recordings.

Keep an eye on the Memorial Specialist Blog for posts and pictures of the many fun and exciting Technology projects and activities to come!

~Mrs. Seymour

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Physical Education

This will be my 10th year teaching physical education and I am very excited to be working in the Manchester Essex School District! The year is off to a great start. We are currently practicing our soccer skills and learning new games. I hope to implement more project adventure activities into every grade, especially with the 5th graders beginning later in the year. I look forward to a great year of physical activity, fitness, team building and sports!
Mrs.  Aiello-Goncalves

From The Music Room

Everything is off to a great start in the music room!  Third grade parents please be on the look out for the recorder information/order sheets which were sent out in the Friday folder.  Also, the Manchester Essex Elementary School Chorus will soon begin rehearsals.  This group is open to all 4th and 5th grade girls and boys in the district.  The Memorial students will begin rehearsing on Tuesday, September 23 at 7:40 a.m.  There is no audition - just come and sing!  Watch for further notice coming home in this week's Friday folder. 
I look forward to a great year of music-making at Memorial School! 
Mrs. Wood

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Pre-School Visits Library



TheMemorial School Library welcomed Mrs. Turpel's Pre-School students for a read aloud.  The preschoolers will visit the library on a weekly basis to hear stories read by their teachers, mystery readers and hopefully by me!

This is the first time the preschoolers have included library in their busy day and I am thrilled to have them here! 

- Ms. Silag, Memorial School Library Teacher

A NEW YEAR FOR THE WHOLE CHILD!

The Specialists here at Memorial Elementary are excited for a new year of ART, MUSIC, TECHNOLOGY, FOREIGN LANGUAGE, PHYSICAL EDUCATION and LIBRARY to develop the whole child in all students in grades K through 5!  Subscribe to this Blog to receive weekly posts that will keep you-up-to-speed on what we've got going on in the art room, tech lab, library, gym, foreign language class and music room! 

This year we welcome new Spanish Teacher Senora Michelle Carrancho and new Phys Ed Teacher Rachel Aiello- Goncalves (Mrs. Aiello to the kids!).  They join Technology Teacher Mrs. Jenna Seymour, Music Teacher Mrs. Anne Wood, Art Teacher Mrs. Claudette Yutkins and Library Teacher Ms. Samantha Silag!