Principal’s Message

Fall has officially arrived and daylight savings ended on November 3rd at 2 a.m. Mr. Gratton and I could not have been more pleased to have had such a successful and smooth first quarter in the 2013/2014 school year. At James Mastricola Elementary School we are committed to engag-ing our students daily in a 90 minute balanced literacy block to in-clude both reading and writing. As parents, you will continue to hear a lot about our Response to Intervention (RtI) approach and the ‘Power Half Hour’. In Mathematics, we will continue to provide a bal-anced math instructional block including an additional fifteen minutes of math facts fluency practice and instruction daily. Using a variety of formative assessments in both reading and math, the individual needs of each learner will be addressed through interventions, exten-sions and additional doses of specific skills instruction. Members of our PBIS Universal Team (leadership team that pro-motes positive behavior at JMES) performed at our first assembly in September. The school-wide skit was based upon the book, Have you Filled Your Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. It was chosen to raise awareness that the choices we make throughout the day affect everyone around us, even ourselves. As always, our goal is to rein-force The Big 3 and to instill in our students that they are responsible at all times for what they say and for what they do. On September 17th the JMES community assembled around the flag pole in observance of Constitution Day. Children dressed in red, white and blue and were led in song by Mr. Saunders. Our Social Studies Facilitator, Mrs. Adams, shared some of the history and importance of the Constitution and all it represents.

Assistant Principal’s Did You Know? …on September 17th & 19th, Mastricola held our annual Open Houses and had tremendous attendance?

…on September 20th, the 4th graders traveled to the State House in Con-cord?

…on September 24th, the 1st graders attended a field trip to Currier Apple Orchards in Merrimack? The kids received fresh apples and apple cider. Yum!

…on September 25th, Walking Wednesdays kicked off with over 100 students and teachers walking their way across America? As of October 23rd, Team Mastricola has walked from Portsmouth, NH to Cooperstown, NY. California here we come!

…on October 4th, the PATT hosted our annual Ice Cream Social & Cake Walk? A fun time was had by all of the Mastricola families and Jackson Rosa and Alex Cayot both won new bikes!

…on October 9th, the 2nd graders had their field trip to Peabody Mills in Am-herst?

…on October 18th, Mastricola completed their 4th Emergency Evacuation Drill this year with the help of the Merrimack Fire Department? The firemen were VERY impressed with how respectful, responsible and safe Mastricola is during our drills! …Everyone at Mastricola wishes our extended Mastricola family members a respectful, responsible and safe fall season! Best wishes,

Jay Gratton Assistant Principal

November 2013

PATT President’s Message

The Parents and Teachers Together (PATT) would like to welcome all students and their families to another great year at JMES! The goal of the PATT is to provide the students and faculty with as much support as possible. Our monthly meetings are open to everyone, but if you can’t make a meeting you can keep up to date on PATT happenings on our website http://www.merrimack.k12.nh.us/webpages/mespatt/index.cfm Although it’s still early in the year, the PATT has already organized a Welcome Back Breakfast for the Teachers, an Ice Cream Social, School Picture Day and our annual Catalog Fundraiser. Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers that have made these events possible. As

always, the PATT greatly appreciates all the support we receive from the JMES Community.

Thank you,

Judy Lawton

PATT President

Continued on page 6

http://www.merrimack.k12.nh.us/webpages/mespatt/index.cfm

Preschool

FALL HAPPENINGS IN PRESCHOOL

Preschool spent the season learning about all the chang-

es that are happening in fall. We started out by going on

our annual trip to Currier Orchards to learn about how

apples grow. We read lots of books about apples and all

did some cooking in our classrooms.

We observed the trees and leaves as they changed col-

ors on the playground! We did leaf rubbings, and paint-

ings, and collected and talked about the leaves we found.

All the children enjoyed ending the month with our annual

Halloween costume parade through our end of the build-

ing! Mrs. Carter, Mr. Gratton, and Mrs. Wyman were es-

pecially excited to watch all the children pass by in their

costumes.

Kindergarten

Question: What is your favorite part of the Kindergarten day?

Answers:

Doing S’Cool Moves in the gym.

Writing Workshop!

Recess!

Playing with toys.

Being the Lucky Duck!

Playing on the slide.

Coloring the Fundations letter pictures.

When we use our clipboards.

Being the Star-of-the-Week!

Saying the pledge with Mrs. Barry.

Playing in the Kitchen and the Blocks.

Eating snack!

First Grade Our first graders are settling into the daily routines of J.M.E.S. Teaching the procedures in our day help us all to be great students with great work habits. That is our goal in first grade. We have had very busy days. All the children are involved in our new Lucy Calkins Writing Program. Writing about the “small moments” of life happen everyday. It is a wonderful process to witness. “Just right” reading and Everyday Math are also experienced daily. We went on a field trip to Currier Orchards. We learned about the life cycle of apples and the harvesting process. The weather has been beautiful this fall, but the cold air is arriving. Please remember to have your child dressed appropri-

ately for the cold days ahead!

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Mrs. Bolduc

Mrs. Traut

Mrs. Bonin Mrs. Healey

Ms. Deese Mrs. Lysy

Mrs. Chouinard

Mrs. Perron

Mrs. Sette

Second Grade

Second grade students have been very busy! On Octo-ber 9th classes visited Peabody Mills in Amherst, New Hampshire. Students explored plant/animal relationships. They took a nature walk, had the chance to identify pond creatures using classification charts, and observed live reptiles.

In math, second graders have been hard at work practic-ing fact triangles to build math fact fluency. Don’t forget to review fact triangles for 3 minutes each night.

Everyone in second grade is looking forward to being sworn in as a postmaster for Mastricola’s Wee Deliver program, and eagerly awaits a turn to help deliver the mail!

Third Grade

The third grade is off to a great start! We are working on the common core standards in the area of literacy. Mrs. Wyman has visited each third grade classroom to intro-duce dictionary skills by using interactive activities. The children are very excited this year about our writing work-shop. They did a wonderful job decorating their writer’s notebooks and are in the process of writing a narrative story.

We have completed Unit 1 and Unit 2 in Everyday Math, with a review of skills and routines. Map skills are being introduced through the use of Map Champ Atlas. We are learning out-of-this-world facts about the solar system. You can check out some interactive solar system web-sites. Ask your child how to visit our school website.

Third graders have been busy showing they are respon-sible learners. We also continue to focus on the “Big 3” at our school. Please ask your child about how they are “filling each other’s buckets.” Remember you can be bucket filler at home and at school. Have you filled someone’s bucket today? Home school communication is vital to your child’s success. Please continue signing your child’s Classroom Connection.

Fourth Grade

Fourth graders are working hard and we look forward to discussing your child’s progress with you during conferences! In

social studies, we combined our unit on government with a visit to Concord where we toured the State House. Even

though we didn’t get to meet Governor Hassan, we did sit in her official Executive Council chairs.

In science, fourth graders are becoming geologists examining rocks found around us as well as closely investigating the

different layers of the mock rocks. In addition, the students are concentrating on writing small moments that occur daily

as part of our new writing curriculum. We are intensely developing our characters and collecting moments that will ulti-

mately be turned into a narrative story. In math. we have moved from polygons to place value to multiplication. Studying

math facts each night continues to be important! Finally, reading is taking place throughout the day. We are connecting

what we read to various themes and summarizing the main ideas using evidence from the text.

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Mrs. Champigny Mrs. Fournier

Mrs. Condon

Mrs. Adams Mrs. Cordeiro

Mrs. Bradford Mrs. Wheeler/Mrs. Johnston

Mrs. Hitchcock Mrs. Romero

Mrs. Ortega Mrs. Theriault

Technology Corner

First graders are exploring great websites such as Star-fall and ABCya. They’re working on mouse skills and learning to use the keyboard. They’re also learning how to log on to Big Universe and Brain Pop Jr. so they can explore these great resources.

Second graders were introduced to basic keyboarding activities. They’ve also been working on “About Me” drawings using KidPix.

Third graders have been working on “All About Me” slideshows in PowerPoint. They’re enjoying sharing their presentations with classmates. They’re also using Type to Learn to work on keyboarding skills.

Fourth graders are participating in the “Merrimack Mon-sters Project” with students from RFS and TFS. They’re drawing monster pictures, then creating written descrip-tions which other students will use to attempt to draw the same monster. Students are also working on keyboard-ing skills using Type to Learn.

Math Corner A “Math Fact” is a math problem that a child needs to “just know.” For example, 5+8 is an addition ”Math Fact”, and 9-4 is a subtraction “Math Fact”. Children need a lot of practice with math facts so that they can progress from using various counting strategies to having instant recall and mastery of basic facts. Children have been memoriz-ing math facts for over one hundred years. Most of us have vivid memories of flashcards, timed drills, or mil-lions of worksheets loaded with Math Facts. Is mastery of Math Facts really necessary? Some believe that with calculators or computers at our fingertips, committing math facts to memory might be old school. Math facts ARE important for children to learn without the aid of electronics. Math Facts form the building blocks for higher-level math concepts such as adding and subtract-ing larger numbers, telling time, counting money, and measuring. Additionally, long multiplication and division are concepts that are significantly easier for a child to learn once he/she has mastered basic math facts. JMES students in grades 1-4 have an allocated math fact prac-tice time each day. Students practice facts and complete one-minute timings daily. Once per week, students com-plete two-minute fact timings. Help your child develop “Fact Power” by practicing basic facts each day. Not only will it help them solve more complex math problems quickly, it will ex-pand their number sense as well.

Literacy Corner What is a guided reading level? Your child may have come home and happily told you that he is a level E reader! Or maybe she couldn’t wait to tell you about the level L book she read in class today. Are you wondering what this letter means? When all MES students begin school in the fall, they are assessed and assigned a guided reading level based on word-knowledge, comprehension and fluency. These levels range from A to Z with A being the lowest and Z being the highest text level. This system was developed by two renowned teaching specialists, Gay Su Pinnell and Irene C. Fountas. You may hear your child’s teacher refer to this level as your child’s Fountas and Pinnell level. This leveling allows the teacher to work close-ly with each student to help them become better readers by introducing them to increasingly more difficult books. These lev-els increase based on a variety of items including: genre type, content, theme, and sentence complexity. A child moves through the levels when they are accurately able to read the words and demonstrate a proficient level of comprehension. We encourage children to read a variety of books and would not want to allow them to read only one level of text. Therefore, teachers work with students with bands of text, text at, above, and below their guided reading level for various instructional purposes and pure enjoyment! Happy reading!

Mrs. Beaudry, ETI Mrs. Romero Math Facilitator

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Mrs. Romein

Language Arts Coordinator

In the art room we began the new school year with a self portrait project. The kids were excited to know that they were to draw themselves as a king, queen, prince or princess. All were quite surprised to see they would be observing their reflection from mir-rors. With each group, I ran through an introduction to portrait fundamentals. The learning goals and objectives for each group were different. First and second graders learned all art begins with simple lines and simple shapes. Their lesson focused on the basic shapes of the head, neck and eyes and placement of the shapes as well as the expression within the face. Grade three focused on trying to capture the likeness of themselves in their portrait. They were given drawing guidelines for the proper placement of all the features of the face. They were asked to keenly observe their own unique features. During this project, the students learned a very important skill they often do not develop at the elementary level: creating various flesh tones which were essential to the portraits. Using simple colored pencils, the kids learned to blend colors into the appropriate skin tone. The kids were asked to look closely at the shadows and high lights in their face, neck and hair and why those shadows were present. Grade four had a more in depth study of their face focusing on building a detailed, accurate expression of them-selves. They were asked to compare contrast and identify characteristics that make them unique. The concept of proportion was discussed at length and how proportion plays an important role in getting their drawing to capture

Social Studies Corner

Students have been very busy in computer class during the first quarter. First graders are practicing using the mouse by drawing shapes, making patterns, etc. They are also learning to use the keyboard.

Second graders drew a scarecrow on the computer and typed a paragraph describing their scarecrow. They learned how to bold, underline, and change the color of the words.

Third graders researched from a website to get facts about the solar system and are currently creating a movie about space.

The fourth graders are participating in the Merrimack Mon-sters Project with students from RFS and TFS. To find out more about this, visit the school website and click on technol-ogy education.

Third and Fourth graders are also using a typing program called Typing Web to learn how to type. This is something that they can use at home. There are also a lot of other resources for students to use at home; Big Universe, Brain Pop, Every-day Math Online. Check out the school website for more in-formation.

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Social Studies Corner

JMES kicked off our school year in Social Studies with the Constitution Day assembly. All grade levels gathered around the flagpole. We sang patriotic songs and listened to the history of Constitution Day. Constitution Day is celebrated on the 17th of September each year. This was the day the Consti-tution was signed in Philadelphia in 1787. Children also enjoyed learning about the Preamble. The Pre-amble helps us learn the purpose of the Constitu-tion. Grade levels have been busy learning about gov-ernment and geography. First grade students visit-ed Currier Orchard where they learned about a lo-cal business. Fourth grade students visited the State House to learn about the three branches of government and early New Hampshire history.

Science Corner

We are off to a great start this year! Each grade level has been very busy delving into their science curriculum.

First grade started off the year studying apples, pump-kins, and the life cycle of spiders. They even visited Cur-rier Orchards right here in Merrimack!

Second grade has been busy learning about phases of the moon. The children are completing fun experiments during class.

Our third graders have been studying the solar system and they will soon be visiting the McAuliffe-Shepard Dis-covery Center to learn about constellations.

And lastly, our fourth graders will soon be wrapping up a unit on rocks and minerals. They have enjoyed learning about the different types of rocks and the properties. We look forward to a fun year with lots of learning and exper-imenting!

Continued on Page 8

Mrs. Cordeiro

Science Facilitator

Mrs. Adams

Social Studies Facilitator

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In the Art Room…

Physical Education

The first and second grades have been working on basic

Spatial Awareness (personal space, tagging, fleeing and

dodging) as well as Locomotor Movements (walking, run-

ning, skipping, galloping, etc.). They are now moving

into their first activity unit “Target Games”, beginning with

4-Square.

Third and fourth grades began with Fitness Testing to get

a baseline fitness level, which will be reassessed in the

spring to chart improvement. They then participated in a

Bowling unit as their “Target Game”. They are currently

moving into a “Running and Striking Games” unit, start-

ing with Kickball. Both groups are currently doing recess

type activities to help with playground and social skills.

The students and staff are participating in “Walking

Wednesdays” to try to cumulatively “walk across Ameri-

ca”. This will continue as long as the weather permits

then we will transition into the Jump Rope Club for 2nd

through 4th graders for the winter months.

Music

Music at MES is in full swing with each grade singing, dancing, and playing instruments. Music classes are focusing on ideas and concepts from our Merrimack School District Arts Curriculum, which you can view in the District Filing Cabinet on the Merrimack School Dis-trict website.

In addition to our new curriculum the 3rd and 4th grade chorus is up and running with over 80 members this year. Our Annual Winter Concert, featuring the 1st grade and our chorus will take place in December. Keep an eye out for more information to come.

We are looking forward to a great year in music here at MES.

Mr. Croteau PE Teacher

Mr. Saunders

Music Teacher

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It’s hard to believe, but Halloween has come and gone and the colder days are upon us, so please be sure that children come to school dressed in layers to deal with the changing temperatures throughout the day. Recess is a part of the school day and we do go outside when the combined temperature and wind chill is 20 degrees or above. Once again, the Mastricola Parent and Teachers Together (PATT) volunteer program received the Blue Ribbon Award for the 29 th consecutive year. This is quite an accomplishment for our school that represents thousands of volunteer hours on behalf of JMES students and staff. JMES also received five Gold Circle Awards for our business partnerships with: Merrimack Police and Fire Departments, Merrimack Post Office, Granite State Fit Kids and Southern NH University. On November 7th we hosted the Principal Story Hour for our preschoolers, kindergarteners, and 1st and 2nd graders. It was a great turn out and wonderful fun! This event also officially kicked off one of our major fundraisers, the Scholastic Book Fair, which is sponsored by the PATT. We hope you had an oppor-tunity to visit during parent/teacher conferences! I look forward to seeing you all at future events at JMES. I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy this special day with family and loved ones! Best regards, Emilie Carter

Principal’s Message… (cont’d)

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Guidance Office “The Power of Choice”

One of the great perks of setting limits with children is being able to determine the ‘choices’ kids have. When children begin to push the boundaries, they are attempting to gain some control in their lives and, it is important to help them do so safely. That said, let me ex-

plain the power of choice.

At the ripe old age of seven, children begin the journey towards in-creased personal power. They do this by refusing to complete tasks they did when they were six, they will try to bargain for changes in their routine or they will flat out have a meltdown when asked to com-

plete a task. As adults, we need to be ready!

Choice empowers a child, even though either choice satisfies the adult! “You may wear your coat to school or carry it.” “You may clean your room now or in 10 minutes – I will set the timer.” (this is especially effective when ‘ in 10 minutes’ means missing the start of their favorite TV show). “Do your homework now or after dinner –when you would have had video game time.” Each of these is an

example of choice without choice. Giving a child the opportuni-ty to choose helps them feel in control of their world, thus allow-ing the boundaries to stretch naturally. Making either choice acceptable, allows you to maintain a sense of control while

leading your child in a positive direction.

Library News To celebrate the reading our students did this summer Mrs. Wyman and Mrs. Romein gave a party for all the stu-dents who completed the summer reading challenge. The library bulletin board showed all the places we read this summer from Slovakia to our beds. One winner for each grade level won a gift card from Barnes & Noble.

Every week Mrs. Wyman posts Almanac and Geography questions for the students to look up and answer. Our pur-pose is to increase the students’ comfort in using refer-ence books, to expand their geographical knowledge and to provide enrichment for the whole school. Each answer is timed and dated. The first student in each grade level who finds the correct answer gets to pick from the prize box as well as another winner drawn from all the correct answers. All those who get the right answer are published in the morning bulletin at school. Ask your kids if they have tried to do the library questions.

Mrs. Wyman

Librarian Mrs. Hoover Guidance

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Good health and learning go together. Please review the Parent Handbook for specific instructions regarding health issues. To help your child stay healthy, all students in the Merrimack School District have access to ser-vices provided by a staff of professional school nurses. Services include, but are not limited to:

First Aid for School Incurred Injuries: Please be sure you have completed and returned your child’s emer-gency card (in duplicate) for us to contact you or an alternative person for any emergency situation.

First Aid for Sick Children During School Hours: Please review the Handbook sent home at the beginning of the year for any necessary information regarding health issues.

Recommendations for the Sick Child At Home: Please notify the school if your child is home due to illness for the day. Please inform the school if your child has a contagious illness. If you child is vomiting during the night, please keep him/her home for a minimum of 24 hours. Also, a child should be fever free (without medica-tion) for 24 hours before returning to school.

Thank you from the School Nurse, Linda S. Freeman, RN

Nurse’s Corner

their likeness. We discussed the basic components of the wide range of expressions that can be observed in the face. Through observation they were asked to observe size and spatial relationships within the face. When adding color to their portrait they were asked to use shading and highlights to further create the form and structure of their face. Evidence of this wonderful first project is on display in the halls of JMES outside the doors of the APR. Each student created an original artwork that reflects their unique and personal artistic style. The kids gained confidence as their work progressed and I could sense great satisfaction coming from the classes as their portraits shaped up. I am most certain you will be impressed with their work. When viewing their portrait please take time to ask your child: “What is a portrait? “How did they make their portrait?” ”What were some important things they learned while doing their portrait?

Mrs. Bosiak

Art Teacher

In the Art Room… (cont’d)

Student Council News

Hello, everyone! We hope that you’ve been enjoying

school so far. Time whizzed by so fast! The student

Council would like you to know some of the events we

will be having for the rest of the year!

One event we will be sponsoring; the coat drive. For

the coat drive, students will be able to bring in used

coats, scarves, hats, mittens, blankets and other thing

kids might need for the winter. The coat drive is going

on now through December 21.

The other event we will be sponsoring over the rest of

the year will be the school store! The school store

sells items from a range of prices; the prices go from

25¢ all the way to $2.50. The school store is open for

the rest of the year every Friday from 8:00-8:30 am

during morning recess. So come visit us when you

can!

Wellness Wednesdays...

The students began the year with the “Step into Sep-

tember” theme where classes could get extra recess

and PE time. The entire third grade chose to do an af-

ternoon of PE (2 classes one day, and the other 2 on

another), while other classes had extra recess.

The students (and staff) have been participating in the

“Walking Wednesdays” every Wednesday morning, and

will continue to do so as long as the weather holds. We

are attempting to walk across America and are charting

our progress on a large map outside the Gymnasium.

This activity will resume in the spring, and during the

winter months Mr. Croteau will be running the Jump

Rope club for interested students in grades 2 - 4.

The November Nibbles activity began October 23rd and

will run for 4 weeks exposing the students to fruits and

vegetables that they might not normally see or try.

Wellness Committee MES Student Council

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