Thankful. As we enter the holiday season, I want to take a moment to tell you how thankful I am for you and your children. Thank you for choosing to send your children to Conway Grammar School. We work hard to provide a full education for each and every child and to make every child feel happy, safe and excited to learn..

-Principal Gordon

December 6th and 13th - 1:30 -Early Release

Dec 13th - Winter Concert - 10:00 AM

December 17th - 8:45 - All School Meeting

December 17th - Ugly Sweater Day

Dec 20th - Pajama Day Dec 20th - School-Wide Curl Up and

Read - 1:30 PM

December 23rd - Jan 1 - Winter Break

January 2nd - Back to School!

December 2019

Principal’s Corner Upcoming Events

Lunch BillsIt’s important that lunch bills are paid on time.

Thank you

Conway Grammar School

Winter WeatherPlease be sure that your child dresses for outside recess every day. Coat, hat, mittens and boots. Children will not be allowed to play in the snow if they do not have boots on due to the fact that their feet will get wet and stay wet. Thanks for your cooperation as we do try to get the children outside every day.

SunflakesBy Frank AschIf sunlight fell like snowflakes,gleaming yellow and so bright,we could build a sunman,we could have a sunball fight,we could watch the sunflakesdrifting in the sky.We could go sleighingin the middle of Julythrough sundrifts and sunbanks,we could ride a sunmobile,and we could touch sunflakes—I wonder how they'd feel.

In Preschool we are learning about houses and homes. We are talking about what makes our houses feel like home. We are reading books about different kinds of homes; homes for people and homes for animals. We read a book called Jack the Builder; in this book Jack builds all different kinds of structures. The pictures show how Jack uses his imagination when he builds. We are building and imagining, too!

In kindergarten we have been learning about the Pilgrims and Wampanoag, studying how they got their food, made their clothes and built their homes. We even built our own version of the Mayflower. We have also been learning about what it means to be thankful and were even paid a visit by Roger the turkey!

KindergartenPreschool

First graders are learning math strategies to support fluency. One strategy we have practiced is called doubles +1. This strategy uses a doubles fact to solve a trickier fact. To solve 6+7, firsties can use 6+6 to get 12 and add one more to make 13. Strategies like this lead to more efficient solving, but more importantly, they help children see the connections which exist between numbers and facts, leading to deeper math fluency.

Second graders are completing their narrative writing unit and preparing to publish their work. Some of their “small moment” stories include pets, family trips and fun memories. They will be displaying their work in the second grade classroom.

Second GradeFirst Grade

The Wings classroom has just completed a unit on plate tectonics, layers of the earth, and landforms. We constructed volcanoes and watched them erupted. We ended the unit by creating a four column graphic organizer and writing a paper on volcanoes!

Third graders have been studying how the Wampanoag and Pilgrims peacefully worked together for 50 years. They are also learning about subtraction with money and are finishing a narrative writing unit.

Third GradeWings

Fourth grade students have been working very hard on their road trip projects, traveling all over the United States visiting museums, landmarks, and restaurants while calculating their total miles. They’ve had a fun time learning about regions at the same time.

We are working on the standard algorithm and area model for multiplying muti-digit whole numbers. Students practice in groups using Problems Sets and computer based programs like Khan Academy and Dreambox. Fifth grader Henry Maxey says, “the assignments on Dreambox work well for helping us work on our multiplication and area models.” Students have also worked with adding and subtracting decimals. Liam Wells says, “We have a lot of fun games to go with our math decimals and multiplication.”

Students have also been writing their own stories, or narratives, and get helpful feedback from their classmates. They do that by spending part of writing time every day reading classmates’ stories in Google Drive and leaving comments. “This helps us by letting us know what our classmates think so we can make edits about things we couldn’t pick up on our own,” says Will Dacus.

Written by Mrs. West, Gianna, Henry M., Urijah, Will, Jack, and Liam

Fifth GradeFourth Grade

Sixth Grade

After a successful review of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Periods, sixth graders will finish their survey of music history with the Classical, Romantic, and Modern Periods. Fourth graders have begun Recorder Karate, where they synthesize their music reading and recorder technique to bring new songs to life. Lower grade students are working hard to master the concept of steady beat and singing in tune with the help of our solfege notes.

Lots of things are happening in the sixth grade! The students are really enjoying geography, making maps of imaginary places and using new geography vocabulary. They are researching and hand drawing maps of states of their choice — one map focuses on physical features and the other focuses on political information. We are also learning about mountain systems and watersheds.

Physical EducationFirst and second graders have been working on rhythmic movement, scooters, jumping rope, pivoting, kicking/trapping, rolling/bowling, gymnastics, throwing and bean bag skills. This week, students were challenged with the weighted bucket lift and colored spots foot tap, (both ideas came from the state PE convention). The wellness tip for October was "Floss Like a Boss" and "Don't Be a Turkey, Eat Fresh Not Fried" for November.

Music ArtThe older grades are learning about Yayoi Kusama, who is a 90 year old female artist from Japan. Many of her art pieces involve vivid colors and have a welcoming whimsical feel to them. Yayoi is famous for her pumpkin polka dot series. As a matter of fact she has a brand new balloon that is being featured in this year‘s Thanksgiving Day Macy’s parade.

Screen TimeOut-of-School Time

This is an exciting time in the Library/Media Center, with students beginning to program robots and computers! Younger grade students are learning to use buttons and color codes to create programs for robots to follow.The older grades are developing their programming and problem-solving abilities by completing challenges in in a program called Code.org. Sixth grade students are programming their own music and are connecting simple circuit boards to their computers. This allows them to use real-world objects to play their programmed music.

Library/Media

A New York Times article, Screen Use Tied to Children’s Brain Development, by Perri Klass, M.D., Nov. 4, 2019, reviewed a study that found that “preschoolers who used screens less had better language development.” The study used brain scans, diffusion tensor M.R.I.’s, to look at the amount of myelination of the neurons. This is a coating of the connections between nerve cells and it acts to insulate the nerve cells and facilitate signaling. According to Dr. Hutton, when areas in the brain are encouraged to communicate with each other, the coating is stimulated and the amount of myelin around the nerve fiber increases. Therefore, when we practice something, it reinforces these connections. The study concluded that children with reported higher screen times had lower amounts of myelination, especially in the areas involved with language and literacy skills. Children with more exposure to screen time also had poorer expressive language and language processing speeds on cognitive testing. This study does not show causation, but an association between higher screen time and brain structure along with related skills. Whether the results are due to the screen time itself or the activities the screen time replaces has yet to be determined. The bottom line is that nothing can replace playing, telling stories, spending time outside, along with talking and reading with young children, in developing early literacy skills. Caretakers in the early years are vital in supplying those rich experiences for young children.

https://publicdomainvectors.org

At the Out-of-School Time Program, the children have been building a variety of forts outside. We even had Gini Traub the Regional Environmental Education Coordinator visit to teach us about building various shelters with simple materials. Now that the weather is getting colder, we have been spending more time indoors making slime, baking, and creating autumn crafts such as scarecrows, watercolor leaves, handprint trees, and paper plate owls.

Health OfficeHope you all had a healthy and happy Thanksgiving. Sarah Tuttle and I want to thank all of the children, families and friends who contributed to Monte's March! Your support of our neighbors in need is priceless.

We are finishing up vision screenings for students in grades 1-5 starting the first week of December. As always, if you do not hear from us, your child(ren) had no difficulty with the screening.

Thank you for continuing to send your child with hats, gloves, coats, snow pants and boots. We so appreciate when the kids have what they need for a fun and safe recess.

Best, Nurse Meg & Nurse Sarah

Holiday TipsThe holiday season is fast upon us! This time of year often brings a combination of lots of fun, happy times, but also lots of stress. Here are a few simple suggestions and reminders that are geared toward keeping this season as joyful and stress-free as possible:

1. We have often been conditioned to think that the holidays should be all positive and awesome, but then we’re faced with disappointment and sadness when this isn’t what happens in reality. Try to avoid the wish to have “perfect” holidays.

2. Keep schedules of gatherings, parties, and other events realistic, leaving room for ‘down time’.

3. Structure in time to do what helps you (the adults in the family) stay centered. This might include physical exercise, getting the right amount of sleep, spending time in nature, enjoying a hobby, or spending time with a friend.

4. Consider what your family sees as the true meaning of the holidays and maintain a focus on that meaning, avoiding other cultural pressures.

5.

Sending you all best wishes for a good holiday season!

Shafiya Finger, School Psychologist

LAUGHING BOY In the falling snow

A laughing boy holds out his palms Until they are white.

By Richard Wright

.

Winter Trees

BY WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS

All the complicated details

of the attiring and

the disattiring are completed!

A liquid moon

moves gently among

the long branches.

Thus having prepared their buds

against a sure winter

the wise trees

stand sleeping in the cold.

Did you know that we have a peer mediation program at CGS?

We have four sixth graders who are trained as peer mediators. Students who are experiencing a conflict with another student can request peer mediation in an effort to resolve the dispute. Participation is always voluntary and each child must agree to work together to come to a mutually agreeable resolution. There are rules that students agree to follow during mediation. They are: no interrupting, no name-calling or put-downs, be as honest as you can, and respect confidentiality.

The mediators help students put the skills taught through the Second Step Program into practice. In addition to confidentiality, peer mediators are responsible for repeating/reminding students of the rules if necessary, and if there is any problem during mediation, the mediators will involve one of the advisors (though that has not been necessary in the two and a half years that we have had the program). Peer mediators are not allowed to give advice. They remain non-judgmental, and assist the disputants in listening to each other and collaborating with one another to reach an agreement. They ask questions after each child has told his or her side of the story and help by summarizing what they heard the person say. At the end of the mediation, the mediators are responsible for filling out an agreement form which is given to an advisor. The agreement is a “contract” that is signed by the mediators and the disputants. Most mediations have been successful, and when surveyed, about 95% of the students who have used the peer mediation program have found it to be a positive experience. Often, at this level, it simply involves apologizing rather than letting an issue escalate.

Students are always reluctant to try something new. Parents can help by encouraging their children to request peer mediation when they talk about small disagreements or hurt feelings involving friends.

If you have questions about the program at CGS, do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Jo Cyr-MuttySpeech Language Pathologist

Peer Mediation Program