Recess Rocks Video

The Recess Rocks official video featuring SteveSongs has been released!  Click on the image below to be directed to the Recess Rocks website.  The video was filmed at Macdonough School and features a brand new Recess Rocks theme song.

If you look closely, you may see some friends from Macdonough School...

Family Resource Center Boutique!

43rd Tradition Run at Hubbard Park

  

Four Macdonough teachers braved the chilly weather on Sunday, January 29th to participate in a 5k in Meriden. The race started at the old zoo area of Hubbard Park, running 3.1 miles to Castle Craig. There was a 700 foot elevation gain, with 500 feet in the last mile. The teachers received a certificate and patch for completing the race! Way to go, Mr. Romeo, Miss Antonucci, Miss Claffey and Miss Lavoie!

Story Tubes in the FRC

Introducing the Stars of the Kindergarten class!

Introducing the Stars of the First Grade class!

StoryTubes is a 2-minute video project of "my favorite book"! This lunch/recess group is a unique opportunity for kids to promote their favorite books via short videos…and for kids to learn about new titles by watching them. While the program does include a contest component, with prizes donated by national publishers and others, the goal of the program is to harness kids’ excitement for books and share it on the Internet.

CAUSE Grants for Macdonough School!

Congratulations to the following Macdonough staff members who received 2012 CAUSE (Community and University Services for Education) Grants: 

·         Elisabeth Grossman was awarded $470.20 for Listen and Learn: Parents and Children Sharing Books.  The project will fund children’s books and related cd’s so that families can enjoy books together.

·         Kelly Lenihan and Angela Spaman were awarded $318.94 for Puppets and Books: A Terrific Combination for Beginning Readers.  The project will fund children’s books and associated puppets so that children can act out the read aloud stories with characters.

·         Buster Nelson was awarded $426.25 for College Application: A Macdonough Trip to Yale University.  The project will fund the cost of a bus so that fourth and fifth graders can take a field trip to Yale.

Due to the efforts of these amazing Macdonough teachers, an additional $1,215.39 worth of materials and services is coming to the students at our school!

Family Resource Center goes to Kid City!!

Macdonough Students to Compete in Kids Lit Quiz at CCSU

The Kids Lit Quiz is holding the first of its nationwide competitions at Central Connecticut State University on Friday, February 3rd from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with 21 teams representing five districts (New Britain, Plainville, Middletown, Simsbury, and West Hartford).
The Kids Lit Quiz promotes wide reading and tests knowledge of children's literature. 

Miss Sarah Claffey has coordinated the participation of Macdonough School students for the event.

Pancakes With My Principal

Three students took a field trip to O'Rourke's Diner to have pancakes with the principal. 

They were treated to a delicious pancake breakfast.  The group also met Mayor Drew, saw important people including Firefighter Al and Wesleyan Basketball Coach Reilly, spent time with Miss Maley (a former Macdonough teacher), and Brian O'Rourke (the owner of the diner). 

It was a fun morning!

Students were selected for exhibiting SURFS up behavior (Self-responsibility, Understanding, Respect, Fairness, and Safety).

Macdonough School Honored by Middletown Youth Services Bureau

The Middletown Youth Services Bureau, as part of its efforts to promote the 40 Developmental Assets in Middletown, has selected several organizations as Asset Builders of the Year.  Macdonough School has been announced as one of the award winners!  

Developmental Assets represent 40 common sense building blocks that all young people need to grow up healthy and successful. Each asset represents a relationship, opportunity or value that we as a community can help ensure all young people receive.   “An asset builder can be many things, but most importantly they are a person or group that is improving the lives of young people in our community.”

Raising Readers Kids Club

Raising Readers Parent Club is a SIX week program that teaches you how to support your children’s literacy development through a love of stories, books, friendship and fun and is open to all families who have children in grades PreK-2nd in Macdonough school.

Call the Family Resource Center for more information! 860-638-3742

Raising Readers Kids Club learns about literacy in the electronic age by playing educational computer games

Kindergarten counts to 20!!

Watch kindergarten jump and jive, making numbers come alive!!!

Charlie the Chicken

Today kindergarteners from Miss Grossman's class had a special guest come visit. Kyle Amtmanis, a student from Middletown High School's Vo-Ag department, came in to talk to students about chickens. Students were introduced to Charlie the Chicken (a stuffed animal) to learn different parts of a chicken. Kyle also brought in pictures to show where they lived, what they ate and the difference between a hen and a rooster. At the end of Kyle's lesson, students had the opportunity to eat hard boiled eggs from the chickens that Kyle raises in his back yard!

DonorsChoose.org at Macdonough School

DonorsChoose is a simple way to fulfill needs and foster innovation in our public schools. Teachers post projects and donors fund those that are of interest.  It's that easy!

Many of the Macdonough teachers have projects posted on the Donors Choose website.  Everything from books to technology to classroom materials.

Want to learn more? Click here!

Kindergarten is special!

Kindergarteners are special in many different ways!

Paws and Reading a HUGE success!!!!!

Logan and Juno meet for the first time!!





















Logan and Juno read stories and played games!!






















Juno Meets another Macdonough friend!!

Take Your Family to School Week

Please join us as we celebrate Take Your Family to School Week during the week of February 13th!

Our teachers have planned activities to welcome you into their classroom and into our school. Review the list below for the dates of each grade level activity (and be on the lookout for specific information in your child’s Friday Folder). We look forward to seeing many Macdonough families during this special week!

Tuesday, February 14th
· Kindergarten: Learning with Love at 2:00 p.m.

Wednesday, February 15th
· Grade 1 - Shared Reading at 10:00 a.m.
· Grade 2 - Pop in for Popcorn Reading at 10:00 a.m.
· Grade 3 – Pot Luck and Poetry at 2:00 p.m.

Thursday, February 16th
· Grade 4 – Smoothies and Stories at 9:30 a.m.
· Grade 5 – Pajamas and Hot Cocoa Literacy Time at 10:00 a.m.

In addition, families are invited to two “all school” celebrations (one during the school day and one in the evening).

Wednesday, February 15th
· SURFS Up Celebration at 9:15 a.m.
Thursday, February 16th
· Storyteller for Families at 6:00 p.m.

Bread Day at Macdonough School

Thanks to a generous donation from a local business, dozens of loaves of bread are delivered to Macdonough School each Monday afternoon.

Families are welcome to take a loaf of bread, package of muffins or bagels, or other related product. The bread is free to all Macdonough families as well as neighbors of our school.

This program is supported through the efforts of our Family Resource Center and our friends from Wesleyan University.

4th Graders are Investigating Fractions!



4th Graders are learning about fractions, decimals, and equivalent fractions using ice cream models and fraction quilts! Students are learning about parts of a whole using different colors represent different flavors in ice cream models. Students are also looking at fractional parts and examining equivalent fractions.

Kenny is using an ice cream model to learn about fractional parts and decimals! Deziar and D'Andrew are working on their fraction quilts and also learning about equivalent fractions!



Michael is done with his ice cream model and is putting a cherry on top!

Briana finished her fraction quilt and next she will be finding out what the equivalent fractions are in her quilt! 

Congratulations to Ms. Morello's 4th Graders for Perfect Attendance!

Ms. Morello's 4th grade class had perfect attendance for the month of January for having 98% attendance and timeliness! As a reward, they received the popcorn machine for the month of January and will be having popcorn once a week until the next Surfs Up Assembly. They also had a popcorn and movie party! Students are super excited and proud of themselves!

Here are Chante, John, Sean, and Dallas enjoying the popcorn from the Popcorn Party!

Give Kids a Smile Day

The Community Health Center has selected Macdonough School’s kindergarten classes to participate in this year’s Give Kids a Smile Day.

Representatives from CHC will visit with our students to discuss dental hygiene and conduct some fun activities.

The event will take place on Friday, February 3rd.

Student-Teachers Begin the Semester at Macdonough!

We are delighted to welcome a group of student-teachers from Central Connecticut State University to Macdonough School this semester.

• Miss Jamie Narducci will be working in kindergarten with Mrs. Spaman
• Miss Audrey Aresco will be working with Miss Claffey in fourth grade.
• Miss Jessica Ross will be working in third grade with Mrs. Waterman. 
• Miss Felicia Johnson will be working with Mrs. Paul in fifth grade.

Macdonough Third Grade Visits The Connecticut Historical Society

This week we went on a field trip to the Connecticut Historical Society and met up with our writing buddies through the LEARN program. There we heard about how Native Americans lived hundreds of years ago. We learned about their houses, clothing, and games that they played. We also learned about the first European settlers; their houses, how they dressed, chores, and games that children played. Some students modeled clothing that they may have worn if they were one of the first settlers in our state. A hands on project taught our class about community and the mapping skills. It was a great day of learning and fun!

4th Grade Field Trip to the Trash Museum





As part of the BioBuddies program, the 4th Graders went to the Trash Museum in Hartford today! They learned about the importance of the four R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recyle, Recover, and Rethink! They also learned about the history of trash management and the consequences of not managing trash properly for the environment. They also learned innovative uses for trash such as using plastic to make rugs!

Here are students in the Trash Castle spying for objects which have been reused and reclyed!

Here is a part of the process of trash reclying carried out in the museum!

Students pretended to be aluminum cans and weighed themselves to see how much energy could be obtained from reclying the cans!

Students learned about the process of waste management in Connecticut!



4th Graders Dissect Owl Pellets!

  



As part of our BioBuddies program, Mrs. Stewart came into Ms. Claffey and Ms. Morello's 4th grade class. Students dissected owl pellets and examined bones from voles,birds, worms, and other animals!

Dallas, India, and D'Andrew are having fun with their owl pellets!

    

Jenna and Deziar are surprised at what's inside their pellet!

 

Here are Mariah and Chante removing the bones from their pellet!

   

Here is Anthony matching the bones from the owl pellet to a diagram of a vole!

Read Around Macdonough Family Literacy Night

Students and their families attended Read Around Macdonough Night on Thursday. Students brought their families to enjoy stories read by teachers and parents in various classrooms. Families were guided to each room by blue chicken feet that our friend "Mr. Chicken" left throughout the day. To help tie the blue chicken theme into the night, children had the opportunity to create their very own blue chicken and enjoy some healthy blue snacks. Families ended their night in the gym with a presentation by Deborah Freedman, author of Scribble and Blue Chicken. Ms. Freedman was kind enough to autograph her books and donated Scribble to our school library! Be sure to check it out!! A very big thanks to our wonderful PTA and Family Resource Center for their help in making this night a success!!

Macdonough 5th grade girls enjoy a Girls' Night Out

Last night at Woodrow Wilson, Macdonough girls enjoyed a Girls' Night Out with their moms to learn, ecxercise, create and play together!

SURFS Up at Macdonough School

Teaching behavioral expectations and rewarding students for following them is the focus for our school-wide positive behavioral support program. Through the acronym SURFS, students and staff have a common understanding of expectations for behavior in a variety of settings.

S=Self-Responsibility

U=Understanding

R=Respect

F=Fairness

S=Safety

We believe that introducing, modeling, and reinforcing positive social behavior is an important of a student’s educational experience.

Please join us in helping to instill these important character traits in your children - at school and at home!

Lit & Laundry "Up and WASHING!"

Come read or play games with your children while doing your laundry! All Macdonough families are welcome to use the NEW laundry machines and detergent in the Family Resource Center!

Please call the FRC to register for a time 860-638-3742

Wesleyan Basketball Team Visits Macdonough

Macdonough students enjoyed recess with their friends from the Wesleyan Men's Basketball Team!!

New Train Table in the FRC

The FRC wants to thank Mr. Ferrero for the wonderful new addition to the FRC!!

Pancakes with My Principal

Thanks to an incredible partnership with O'Rourke's Diner, a new program has begun at Macdonough School. 

Each month, a few few students will be taking a walking field trip to the iconic North End landmark to have breakfast with the school principal. 

Students will be selected for exhibiting SURFS up behavior (Self-responsibility, Understanding, Respect, Fairness, and Safety).

The first field trip will take place on Thursday, January 26th!

Macdonough Students Celebrate MLK

A celebration of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., was held Monday at the First Church of Christ on Court Street.

The 19th annual event featured music and dancing in honor the civil rights leader's birthday. As part of the celebration, Macdonough School students Kendalyn, Haley, and Lauren read their entries into the "Letters to Dr. King" contest.  The girls were announced as city-wide winners of the essay contest!

The event was sponsored by the Scholarship Committee of Greater Middletown which provides scholarships to deserving students.

Second Grade Studies U.S. Presidents

Second grade students have been studying about our presidents in Social Studies. In math we have been working on ordinal numbers. At the January SURFS assembly they combined their knowledge and read the name of each president in the order of their service.

Kindergarten Guest Reader

Kindergarten students had a guest reader come visit their classroom this afternoon. Dortha Willetts, a writer from the Middletown Chronicle, came in to read a story to the students about winter. Students learned about what different animals do when winter begins.

Storytellers Coming to Macdonough School!

Thanks to a partnership with the Middlesex YMCA, Macdonough School is proud to present a family literacy event on Thursday, February 16th at 6:00 p.m.  Eshu and Motoko will present Stories from Asia and Africa.

Eshu and Motoko shine up a storytelling event wherever they appear. Though diverse in style and culture, they blend and tell as one. Absolutely charming, they bring humor, a sense of drama, a talent for singing, and present a seamless performance.

Snowballs

"Do you think birds know when it's going to snow?" This line is from the story Snowballs. The kindergarten children listened to this story and brought home a snow person of their own to decorate with items found around their home with their families. Some used noodles, raisins, yarn and markers. They are on display in main hallway.