Principals Corner

Heres hoping that Spring will visit us soon! The snow lasted longer than any of us expected. I know I am looking forward to flowers and warm breezes coming our way.

We had fun celebrating Dr. Suesss birthday last month. We listened to Dr. Suesss, Happy Birthday to You, at the All School Share, first grade was filled with delight when Mayor McGlynn read his favorite, Green Eggs and Ham, we shared Dr. Seuss books by reading them across grade levels, and voted for our favorite story from a list of eight Dr. Suess titles. Which one do you think received the most Co-lumbus votes? Horton Hears a Who, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, Fox in Socks, The Foot Book, Green Eggs and Ham, or How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Columbus winning title was - How the Grinch Stole Christmas with 227 votes. Which title do you most enjoy?

The third, fourth, and fifth grades worked hard to complete the ELA MCAS. Thanks to the Columbus Teachers and families who helped prepare the children for these as-sessments. Check within the news-letter for the Math and the fifth grade Science, Technology, & En-gineering Assessment dates, as well as the PARCC Field Test for Mrs. DiPersios and Mr. Platis clas-ses.

The PTO continues to support the Columbus in so many awesome ways. Thank you for your contin-ued support during fund raising. Our next school wide event is the Art & Music Celebration where the

PTO will be present selling conces-sion items. If you would like to lend a helping hand at this, or any PTO activity, please contact any PTO board member. Photocopying for teachers and Fun Day are two upcoming activities that could use parental volunteerism. PTO board member emails are found at the Columbus website on the PTO webpage.

Also at our Art & Music Celebra-tion, Mr. Moock, Mrs. Karapetian and the fourth grade students will debut the Columbus School song they wrote together during Mr. Moocks Artist in Residence Pro-gram. How lucky was the fourth grade to be part of this creative program! Join us on April 15th, not only to appreciate your childs ar-tistic talents, but to stay for the spectacular music performances as well.

For those of you with family or friends attending the Columbus Kindergartener in the fall, join us on April 8th at Medford High School Library or May 1st at Co-lumbus Elementary School for our Building Bridges Program. (Details on calendar)

Enjoy the break from April 18th - 25th, but please note that the last day of school is presently sched-uled for June 25th at noon due to all the inclement weather days we

survived! Kathleen Kay

* IMPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS

* TELEPHONE : 781.393.2177

* FAX : 781.393.2187

* NURSE : 781.393.2175

* ABSENCE LINE: 781.393.3503

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April 1 Fairy Tale Ball at the Medford Public Library http://medfordlibrary.org/childrens April 2 Early Release Day, 1:30pm April 8 Building Bridges, MHS, Library 6:30pm-8:30pm. For incoming Kindergarten families. (AND May 1st at the Columbus, 7:00pm- 8:00pm.) April 9 Early Release Day, 1:30pm April 14 School Council Meeting, 7:00pm, Columbus Conference Room April 15 Art & Music Celebration, 5:30pm-7:30pm April 16 Early Release Day, 1:30pm April 17 Spirit Day - Boston Strong Day - Wear blue & yellow, or Boston Strong gear to school April 18 NO SCHOOL - Good Friday April 20-25 NO SCHOOL - Spring Break April 28 School Resumes April 30 Early Release Day, 1:30pm

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BOOK REVIEWS

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ably noticed that your

child has a little more home-work each year. And now, with the weather getting warmer, you may be coming

your child get a handle on the workload with a daily plan.

1. DISCUSS - Begin each af-ternoon or evening by asking what homework has been as-signed. You can set a positive

loved writing in my journal

2. PLAN - Ask your child in which order they would like to do their work. You might suggest that the hardest sub-ject be started first or that the longest assignment gets the first attention, saving the easi-er ones for after dinner. Or perhaps your child might pre-fer to get simpler assignments out of the way so that there will be fewer tasks ahead.

Have your child try each way to see which is best for him or her.

3. REVIEW - Look over

together. You might compli-ment your child on some-thing done particularly well. Then, if you discover careless errors, have your child dou-ble-check the work - but avoid telling your child the answers. The teacher needs to know what your child was able to do by him or herself.

with these games that illustrate teamwork in action.

Lower the Yardstick. Together, hold a yardstick horizontally so that everyone has one finger un-derneath. Then, lower the yard-stick to the ground - but if any-

to start over. See how many tries

Work Together. Whether your child is doing a group project or playing Hacky Sack, a team effort

Teamwork Activities

Three Steps to Homework Success

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Q & A Q: We recently moved to an area where people speak several different languages and our child has a lot of questions. How should we answer them?

your child learn about respecting differences.

Explain that in many parts of the U.S., people speak different languages, eat different foods, and wear different clothing than your family does. At the same time, they do many of the same things (play at the park, watch movies, etc.)

To ensure understanding, ask your child to name one classmate who speaks English and one who speaks another language Have him tell you something he has in common with each child (skateboarding, wear-ing sneakers) and one thing that they do not share (number of siblings, holidays). Your child will discov-er that language is just one of the many things that people may or may not have in common.

it takes to get the yardstick to the floor.

Family Ball Pass. Sit in a circle with your feet out toward the center. Pass a ball around the circle - using only your FEET. How many times can

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