Environmental Sciences Magnet School at Mary Hooker | October 2014 1
Greetings ESM Students, Parents/Guardians, & Families!
Please take time to review the many amazing and unique things that our students are
doing throughout the building at the start of our new school year.
Kindergarten
Kindergarten is in full swing! Our literacy theme is My Family and Me. Within that
topic we are learning about letters,
spelling new sight words,
producing rhyming words,
sequencing and making
predictions. In math, we are
learning how to count and write
the numbers from 0-5, as well as
order and compare amounts
between 0 and 5. If you have not
done so already, please send in 100
of an item in a Ziplock bag. Please
label it with your child’s name,
too. We will be using this to practice counting to 100 by 1s, 5s, and 10s. It could be
pennies, paper clips, or any other household objects. In science we are studying our 5
senses. We are utilizing the Aquatics Lab, Greenhouse, Vivarium, and ESM Gardens to
explore the world around us. Enrichment
Clusters begin on Friday, October 3rd
and we
are very excited! Keep a look out for more
information from your child’s teacher. Also,
please make sure you turn in the required
reading logs – students who make the highest
gains are usually those who are reading
regularly at home. If you have not done so
already, please send your child to school with
an extra set of clothes that they can keep at
school. Accidents do happen! We are looking
forward to seeing you at your child’s October conference! Thank you for your
continued support!
First Grade
It’s that time of year again! First graders
begin their unit on the life cycles of a
butterfly. We are excited about rearing
Monarch caterpillars and are anxiously
observing their transformation into beautiful
butterflies. Our caterpillars are growing
quickly and will soon become chrysalises in
front of our eyes! We will begin working on
our service learning project in January,
protecting and preserving the Monarch
butterfly. Please take part in our exciting
adventure by having your child share the latest developments. In math we are learning
how to add and subtract to 20. Our new reading program by National Geographic is
Environmental Sciences Magnet School at Mary Hooker | October 2014 2
well underway! We have been working on previewing and setting a purpose before
reading text. When reading with your child, have them read the title and preview
pictures before reading to develop good reading habits. Spelling and Reading tests will
take place weekly. We are looking forward to a big surprise, details to follow!
Second Grade
It’s hard to believe that we have
already completed our first month of
second grade. Our second graders
have been busy learning about so
many new things. We have spent
time reviewing in math as well as
learning new strategies for addition
and subtraction. Be sure to ask us
about how to make 10’s when
adding! We love our new reading
program. Our first unit has been
focusing on communities. It would
be fun to go for a walk around your
neighborhood and make a map of
where you live. This would be a
great share during morning meeting.
We have done so much learning
about plants and how they change
with the seasons. We even started
our second grade phenology. Ask us more about this and the trees that our classrooms
are watching.
Third Grade
By: Alexander Lambert, Ariman Anbu, and Jaden Loitz
We have been learning about birds from the start.
We even had Horizon Wings Raptor Rehabilitation
visit with three types of birds. We learned place
value in math. We have awesome pets in our
classroom; frogs turtles and a hedgehog! We read
‘’Rain School’’ and ‘’Nasreen’s Secret School’’.
We have MAP testing to grade our scores in reading
and math. We have special places like the gym,
music room, gardens, greenhouse, library, aquarium,
and school even goes from pre-k 4 to 8th
grade!
Sometimes we even go to plant the garden or we see
if there are some food growing on the plant. We
have many types of fish. We also have drills like
code red, code yellow, code blue and code green.
3rd
grade always gets a reading packet every week
for homework. We have 3 classrooms of each
grade. We have lots of different places to go for our
field trips. Third grade is pretty cool so far!
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Fourth Grade
Our first month of
school was filled with
learning routines and
lots of other things
too. In science we’ve
been learning about
biotic/abiotic factors
and producers,
consumers, and
decomposers that are
found in various
ecosystems. This
month, we will be
focusing on
ecosystems of
Connecticut,
including the stream
by our school. We will be identifying macro-invertebrates and we will also be visiting
Hammonasset Beach to learn more about beach ecosystems and erosion. We are so
excited! In Reading we’ve been studying poetry. We now know how to identify stanzas
and lines and we can use imagery, onomatopoeia, and repetition when we write poetry.
In Math we have been working on strategies for patterns and multiplication. In writing
we are working on informative/explanatory writing pieces. We’re organizing our
thoughts in graphic organizers and providing details to defend our thinking. We can’t
wait for parent/teacher conferences.
Fifth Grade
5th
Grade is officially underway! Lockers are organized, students are rotating to their
different subject blocks, and academic instruction is in full-swing. In English Language
Arts, students are working with different
texts, specifically the Declaration of
Human Rights, to learn more about
equality and each individual’s rights. In
Math, students mastered place value and
are moving on to adding and subtracting
whole numbers and decimals, then
advancing to multiplying and dividing
whole numbers and decimals. In
Science, students have begun their
Energy unit, and have conducted
experiments to help prove that light is a
form of energy. During the last week of
September, the 5th
grade took a week long camping trip to The Discovery Center. In
addition to camp games, camp fires and S’mores, students learned about the importance
of diversity, working together, and accepting each other for who they are. The 5th
grade
is off to an amazing start to the year!
Environmental Sciences Magnet School at Mary Hooker | October 2014 4
Students work together to arrange
themselves by birth year on a balance
beam at The Discovery Center.
Sixth Grade
In English Language Arts (ELA) students
have begun reading and analyzing the
popular Rick Riordan novel, "The
Lighting Thief". We are working on
strategies that help us read closely and
think deeply. Students are learning to cite
evidence from the text to prove their thinking; they are also learning to make inferences
about the main character, Percy, based on how he responds to challenges.
In Math students have begun the Prime Time Unit. September focused on strategies for
finding factors and multiples. In October the students will begin to recognize and use
prime factorization and recognize which situations call for common factors, common
multiples, the least common multiple, or the greatest common factor. Additionally
students will continue to use factors and multiples to solve problems, and explain some
numerical facts of everyday life.
Science: Students are investigating
water usage, the role of waste water
treatment plants & septic systems, and
finally providing possible
solutions/designs to prevent future
problems. Students will also be
working on Explore Learning.com
using the GIZMOS to investigate and
complete a simulation lab on density of water
to increase our understanding of concepts of
Properties of Water.
Seventh Grade
In 7th
grade, we are working with positive and
negative numbers to solve real world problems
such as shopping excursions and football
problems. We’ve also been doing a lot of
team challenges such as the paper chain
challenge. In science, we’ve been
experimenting with plate tectonics. Close
reading and analyzing texts has become our
normal day in ELA. Middle school is more
complicated than last year. We’re excited for
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clusters and all the new after school activities that are starting. In advisory, we have
been planning service projects and getting to know our groups. Some of our advisory
team names include the Pink Spartan Muffins.
Eighth Grade
Student-Written Newsletter Articles
This year in 8th
grade, students are going to write the newsletter articles. This month,
Darien Velasquez had the winning submission!
Flag football Team: In October, the ESM flag football team is going against the
Kennelly flag football team. I can’t wait! You should really go to the game and cheer
them on. I really hope they win.
Civil Rights Art Show: In October, 8th
grade students are going to be creating art
pieces for the Civil Rights Art Show. The show will be in the LGI and will be held in
November. Look out for information in the next newsletter.
Haunted House: There is also a Haunted House which will be on October 25th
. You
should go, last year it was really fun!
Middle School ADVISORY Advisory is fun. We learned about our power
animals and about high school. We play a lot
of games together and we made a poster
board today. The board was a collage from
magazines of goals and we will look back on
it to see if we’ve changed for the better. In
October, we’ll learn more about high schools
for next year and practice for our
conferences. –Isaiah Shorter, 8th
grade
Art We have already started on our ceramic bowls with a difference to prepare for our
Empty Bowls ceremony on
Dec. 18th
. Some of us are
trying to make our bowls on
the potter’s wheel this time.
Our theme in art this year is:
“What is Your Story?” Some
stories we nurture from our
daily experience, and some we
discover along the way even
while using clay, crayon, paint
and musical sounds. We write
our stories or even present
them orally to peers. Middle
schoolers also express their
story line through poetry, song,
drawing, and batik, the process
of wax resist dyeing on cloth.
Environmental Sciences Magnet School at Mary Hooker | October 2014 6
Computer Education
Welcome to the 2014-2015 school year. Boy did the
summer fly by. I hope many of you practiced your
keyboarding skills. This year we will continue to use our
Edu-typing program in grades 1-8. Most of this will be
independent work. I am sending home your login codes
and passwords. Please try to get on a computer and
practice as much as
you can. I will monitor your progress and the time
spent on the typing lessons. Any 1st through 4
th
grader who can log 400 minutes of typing by May
14th
2015 will receive an award and certificate. 5th
through 8th
grade will need to reach 750 minutes
in order to get their reward.
I look forward to working with an entirely new
schedule of classes. This year promises to be
exciting and challenging. Please be prepared to do
some great work and have some fun along the way.
Engineering
As we zoom into our second year with LEGO Engineering
at ESM our junior engineers have hit the ground running!
Students in grade K-6 are working in small groups and
continue to use LEGO Education Kits to build simple
models and discover key physical science concepts such as
pulleys, levers, gears, wheels and axles through
observation, reasoning, prediction and critical thinking.
Our 7th
and 8th
grade students are researching, creating and
testing Rube
Goldberg machines.
If you have played
the game Mouse
Trap you know
what a Rube Goldberg machine is. The room is
filled with tubes, marbles, dominos, tape, glue
and more! Our creations are amazing! The room
is a bit messy, but that’s OK. We are having fun
and learning a ton! Excitement is exploding this
year in the LEGO Engineering Lab!
Environmental Sciences
Aquatics Lab
The school year started with students bringing back our classroom critters that had been
fostered by our ESM families over the summer. Leopard geckos, turtles, fish, hermit
crabs or frogs can be found in over 20 classrooms at ESM this year!
Environmental Sciences Magnet School at Mary Hooker | October 2014 7
As fourth grade studies ecosystems, they are
evaluating the population of
macroinvertebrates in the nearby stream
through experiments that they developed.
Each class is exploring how one
environmental factor could change the
number and type of life in our stream. If
you don’t know what a macroinvertebrate
is, ask any 4th
grader! Next month they will
study different habitats at the Long Island Sound shoreline as they make their annual
fall trip to Hammonasset State Park.
6th
grade made their fall trip to Long Island Sound
aboard Project Oceanology’s two research vessels last
week. Each trip yielded a different catch in our net.
One day we caught sea robins, kingfish, porgy and
three different types of flounder. Another day we
caught lots more porgy, a 36cm (big!) clearnose skate,
and spider crabs. Both groups also got to experience
catching subtropical species normally found much
further south, but got caught in the Gulf Stream current
that brings warm water up the east coast.
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Library
It has been a busy beginning of the new school year. Kindergarten classes are great
listeners and learners. They are enjoying story time and learning the proper care of
books. Later this year they will be learning the responsibility of borrowing a library
book.
First graders are eager to come to the library to hear stories. They are able to choose a
book of their choice to bring home and share it with their families. They are learning to
be responsible citizens and take proper care of their book.
All second, third and fourth graders are now visiting the library on a weekly basis to
borrow two books of their choice. Ask your child what book they are reading and
details of the story.
Fifth grade classes are being exposed to academic research. They are successfully
finding books on the shelf using the online catalog and doing research using Britannica
Encyclopedia on-line database.
The library is humming every morning with many students stopping by to return and
pick out a new book. Please feel free to stop by the library
Quick facts: Since August 26, 504 books have been checked out of the library.
Top titles for September are Diary of a Wimpy
Kid, Lunch Lady and the graphic novel series,
Amulet.
Music
Students in Pre-K, First grade, and Third Grade
General Music have begun the school year
exploring steady beat and rhythm through body
percussion and instrumental playing. Students
have also explored movement through singing activities with large and small groups. In
addition, students in Fifth Grade have focused on basic note reading using fractions.
Enrichment Clusters begin on Friday, October
3rd
. I will be collaborating with Ms. Lehr
(Second Grade Teacher) for the mini-musical Go
Fish.
The ESM instrumental program has begun for
students in Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth grade.
Students
meet once a
week and
have signed up for the following instruments:
drums, flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, and trumpet.
Congratulations to Pre-K (Mrs. Hammond), First
Grade (Mrs. Clavette), Third Grade (Mrs. Gray),
and our Eighth Grade student participants for their
two assembly performances on September 19th
to
celebrate the fall equinox.
Environmental Sciences Magnet School at Mary Hooker | October 2014 9
Physical Education/Health
The first month of Physical Education has been an exciting start to the school year. The
ESM Physical Education department has begun the Project Adventure curriculum for
grades 4-8.
In the upcoming months, we will
be adding more and more Project
Adventure activities that will
include: hanging ropes, island
pallets and much more equipment
to enhance student fun and
personal achievement.
Students in grades 4-8 will be
finishing up the Connecticut
fitness testing this week. Please
have your children practice the
time tested exercises of: push-
ups, ab-curl-ups, mile-run and
hamstring stretches. These
exercises are crucial for a children’s foundation of personal fitness. The exercises of
push-ups, abcurl-up should be done every other day. While running a mile should be
done the days in between.
Upcoming events: ING race October 7th at Rentschler Field grades 7 and 8.
Spanish
¿Cómo estás? ¿De dónde eres? How
do we find our place in the world?
What are the benefits of speaking
several languages? In Spanish UA
classes, 5th and 6th grade students
acted out dialogues preparing for a
trip overseas! Spain and Ecuador
were the focus as we figured out what
to expect when we travel abroad, and
how to communicate through basic
introductions and expressions. 7th
grade took on the challenge of
identifying major geographical
features in South America while 8th graders acted out cultural folklore from Cuenca
and Quito, Ecuador. ¡Nos vemos!
Literacy Highlights
Book Fair-We have had such a great start to this school year! Our Fall Book fair was
incredibly successful- not only did make it possible for students and teachers to refresh
their book collections, but also raised a substantial amount of money that will allow us
to continue to purchase books and materials for everyone to enjoy. Look for these new
titles in your class and at upcoming family events. Our next book fair will occur in the
spring and features the “Buy One Get One Free” deal!
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Book Donations- This summer
ESM donated hundred s of books
to students in parts of South
Africa. As we have made shifts
to implement new standards our
curriculum needs have changed,
and after providing classrooms
with new materials, we had a
surplus of our old anthologies and
student resources that we could
share. We partnered with the
United States- African Children’s
fellowship and were able to send
our supplies to independent
teacher library centers in South Africa.
Book Recommendations- This month I want to highlight two books that were available
at our Book Fair. Please see Ms. Irwin if you are interested in borrowing a copy of
these or other new favorites!
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown: Jasper Rabbit loves
carrots—especially Crackenhopper Field carrots. He eats them on the way to school.
He eats them going to Little League. He eats them walking home. Until the day the
carrots start following him...or are
they? Celebrated artist Peter
Brown’s stylish illustrations pair
perfectly with Aaron Reynold’s
text in this hilarious picture book
that shows it’s all fun and
games…until you get too greedy.
Sisters by Raina Telgemeier: The
companion to Raina Telgemeier's
#1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling
and Eisner Award-winning graphic
memoir, SMILE.
Raina can't wait to be a big sister.
But once Amara is born, things
aren't quite how she expected them
to be. Amara is cute, but she's also a
cranky, grouchy baby, and mostly
prefers to play by herself. Their
relationship doesn't improve much
over the years, but when a baby
brother enters the picture and later,
something doesn't seem right between their parents, they realize they must figure out
how to get along. They are sisters, after all.