Pelham School Press

This Pelham Press includes a letter that addresses our increased absences from colds and flu. Mr. G (our custodian George Graiff) and Tom White, our night custodian, are always working hard to keep our building clean. These days they spend extra hours cleaning and disinfecting all surface areas in the high traffic areas of the school and in each classroom. Teachers are also having students regularly clean their desk tops and reminding students to cover their mouths when they cough and to use tissues. Paula Russell, school nurse, has met with teachers to encourage the use of handwashing and hand sanitizers, and soon Captain Clean will visit each classroom to remind students to wash their hands before eating and after using the bathroom. Parents, please reinforce these reminders at home. The simple act of handwashing is one of the most effective ways to help prevent the spread of disease and one that we can all do. Rena Moore

TRICK OR TREAT For UNICEF

wE HAVE COLLECTION BOXES FOR THE “TRICK OR TREAT FOR UNICEF” PROJECT. IF YOU WOULD LIKE FOR YOUR CHILD TO PARTICIPATE, PLEASE STOP BY THE SCHOOL OFFICE TO PICK ONE UP. oR, YOU CAN CALL or SEND A NOTE TO THE SCHOOL OFFICE, AND WE WILL PUT ONE IN YOUR CHILD’S BAG.

The Weather is turning colder. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for both the chilly mornings and warmer afternoons. Check the Pelham School Handbook for weather closing information.

AMHERST TRIVIA BEE

Thursday, October 29, 2009, 7:00-9:00pm

Middle School Auditorium

What a great family evening out.

Admission is free, but donations are appreciated

Baked goods and lots of fun for all ages.

Come join us, the bigger the crowd the more fun!

All proceeds benefit Amherst Education Foundation.

Language, Literacy, and Culture Community Meeting: Please join us for our next Language, Literacy, and Culture community meeting, “Re-imagining Literacies,” a dialogue with Arthur Auer, Director of the Waldorf Teacher Education Program at Antioch University New England, and Peter Johnston, Chair of the Reading Department at University at Albany-SUNY, on Monday, November 2, 2009, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., for an exploration of the ways critical literacies and Waldorf language arts pedagogies might inform each other and literacy teaching in multilingual and multicultural classrooms. This gathering will take place in 20 Furcolo Hall, School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, located at 813 North Pleasant Street. Let us know if you are planning to participate in this conversation by contacting the LLC Student Advisory Committee (SAC) at sac2009mailbox@gmail.com, so we can plan accordingly. We look forward to seeing you.

Parent Conferences After having completed almost all parent conferences, I am struck by the support and involvement of Pelham parents in their children’s education. Children adopt the values of their parents and when parents express interest in their children’s schooling, the message of its importance is echoed more loudly. We are a team in maximizing your child’s potential and I would like to thank you for your time, input and participation.

Captain Clean We have begun our germ-hand washing unit entitled “Captain Clean.” Children will be treated to and perform in several plays about germs, watch germs grow in Petri dishes and conduct experiments to discover the most effective way to wash hands. This is a great way to learn how to stay healthy and I hope that it makes a positive difference in the number of illnesses this year!

Homework Folders Sending home a couple of books each day is providing the extra practice to make a significant difference in your child’s rate of reading progress. Homework folders continue to be a great success and children seem to be enjoying this new routine. Please contact me right away if the folder goes missing or you have any questions. Thank you for making the time to listen to your child read.

Science: This month our focus has been on forest and wetland habitats. We visited both of these areas and made observations about what we saw. During this unit, we learned about how streams are formed and also about the water cycle. We were lucky to have two parents with knowledge in these fields come and give a lesson. Ms. DeBoer taught us about habitats and Mrs. Gwyther taught us about how pollution gets into our rivers and streams as well as the importance of keeping our streams clean. We are very thankful for these presentations which added additional perspective to our classroom experience.

Our next unit is called Pebbles, Sand, and Silt. We will delve into the different ways rocks are formed and changed. We will do many hands on experiments to study rocks. Any parents that have knowledge about rocks are invited to come to speak to the class. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in doing a lesson.

Math: We are using many different techniques to help solve addition problems and to solve addition and subtraction word problems. After modeling ways to explain (show on your paper) how to arrive at an answer, explanations have greatly improved. Some children are even finding multiple strategies for solving these math problems.

We are also working on the addition combinations. The children brought home cards to learn plus 1, plus 2, and combinations of 10. I have begun to test children to see if they have learned these.

Writing: The children are learning about the two parts of a sentence, the subject and the action of the subject. So far we have worked on creating interesting sentences by choosing powerful words which only had these two barebone parts. Next we will write a story using only barebone sentences (not an easy task).

We have also worked on writing stories using a picture that includes the setting, main characters, problem, solution, and ending. The children are learning to edit their work looking for capital letters and ending marks.

Parent conferences are still going on. It is great to get to talk to each parent and learn more about your child. Thank you for all your support and feedback.

Middle School Talk: The Counselors at ARMS will be presenting an educational talk/discussion session for the benefit of parents of middle school students. The topic of the first talk will be on the social-emotional development in early adolescence and will be given on Thursday, November 19 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm in the Middle School Library. The material for discussion will include social skills, parenting, keeping students safe in cyberspace, typical development, etc. This is a great way to understand the metamorphosis taking place in your adolescent child and how to deal with it. If you would like specific items to be discussed, please send your request to the FSP Co-Chair, Rama Janaswamy (email doctor_jey2000@yahoo.com), and he will make sure to pass them on to the Counselors ahead of the talk. All parents and families, including those of prospective middle-schoolers, are welcome