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

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

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!

Lego Engineering

For the students in grades 1, 2 and 3 at Memorial School Legos become more than just a toy. Students here use these familiar tools to learn about engineering and teamwork. The Lego Engineering curriculum begins in first grade when students are introduced to the engineering process and use this knowledge to construct a wheelbarrow and a motorized car.  Then in second grade they not only continue building with Legos but become computer programmers. They learn how to use Robo Lab, simple programming software, to control the speed and distance of their motorized car. They make predictions, measure distances and draw conclusions. By grade 3 students combine all of their first and second grade knowledge to build mechanical alligators and create complex programs to make their alligators move.