Painted Lady Caterpillars Arrived in First Grade!!

Last week, a special delivery came to each of the first grade classes!  A small cup with 5 Painted Lady caterpillars arrived to both classrooms!  We are so excited to watch the caterpillars continue through each stage of the butterfly life cycle.  We are going to observe the cup each day and record our observations twice a week!  Stay tuned to see pictures of their next stage!

We're Waking Up With NBC Connecticut!

Click on the picture below to see a short clip of our first and second graders waking up Connecticut!

Kindergarten learns the letter O!

Kindergarten had a special visitor today to help them learn about the letter O...

They were very excited to meet Ozzie Octopus!!

The Life Cycle of Mealworms

3rd graders are learning about Structures of Life in Science this trimester. This week, each student got their very own mealworm larvae to observe and study. Students used magnifying glasses and rulers to get a better look and be able to measure their mealworms We will be observing the larva as it metamorphoses into a pupa then beetle.

Noah Webster House

This week, 3rd graders visited the Noah Webster House in West Hartford with their LEARN Writing Buddies. Noah Webster is the author of the first Webster dictionary. Students learned many interesting facts about Noah Webster and also learned a lot about what life was like during the Colonial Times. Did you know it took Noah Webster 26 years to write the first dictionary? The first Webster dictionary had 70,000 words. Noah Webster's family were weavers. We learned about how linen and wool was made into usable thread as well about the daily life of the typical colonial children. We also had a chance to play some games that were popular during Colonial Times including Jacob's Ladder, Maurice, spinning Tops and Button Buzzers.

Smoke Trailer

Today, the 2nd and 3rd graders had the opportunity to learn about what to do in a fire. They expereinced this by "escaping" from a "smoky" room in Middletown Firefighters Smoke Trailer. Students learned to keep calm, stay low and use the fire escape.

Audubon Society

The Audubon Society visited Kindergarten and brought some animals to show us.

The students learned about and even got to pet a dove, a turtle, and a chinchilla.

We had a lot of fun!

North End Pride Day

Check out the pics from North End PRIDE Day, 2012.  There were projects all over the neighborhood including opening up the established Erin St. Community Garden, working in the up and coming Ferry St. Community Garden and general cleaning.

Because we had so many volunteers, we were able to build the amazing Alondra Hernandez Community Garden in one day!  We still have more to plant, but we're well on our way to a new community space.  For those who remember what 20 Portland St. looked like last year (see below for a reminder), this garden is a big change.  The Mayor declared Saturday North End PRIDE Day in the City of Middletown, which was quite an honor for our residents and their hard work.

Thank you to our amazing residents, volunteers, Comcast Cares Volunteers, Macdonough School, the Young Democrats, the Republican Town Committee, Minuteman Press,Ballek's Garden Center, Sherwin-Williams of Cromwell, Stone Depot, Home Depot, Gorilla Graphics, St John's School in Old Saybrook, CT SignCenter and the City of Middletown Public Works Department for all of the help!!  Comcast even gave the North End Action Team and Macdonough School a grant to help support our programs.



*History: When 20 Portland St. was condemned and taken in foreclosure, the city offered the lot for free (and they were going to give $$ to help rehab) to anyone willing to take the lot and rehab the buildings. The houses were in such bad shape that the city couldn't find any takers.  They were a safety concern and were bringing down the quality of life for the people who lived around them.

The city ultimately tore down the properties and issued an RFP (Request for Proposals) for ideas with what to do with the space.  NEAT submitted a proposal along with residents of Portland St. that was approved. So, NEAT now has control over the site and we built a garden this week as a partnership between NEAT and Comcast Cares Day.

IT'S ELECTRIC!

Fourth grade students were visited by Connecticut Light and Power to learn safety tips about electricity.

BE SAFE NOT SORRY!

 

Whisper Phones

Today during reading groups, some first graders used whisper phones! While they read, they used a quiet voice into the "phone." Students were able to hear themselves read and listen to the sounds that are in each word. Using the whisper phones is great for phonemic awareness and the students find it to be fun too!

We’re Waking up with NBC Connecticut!

A film crew from NBC news was at our school today to film our first and second grade students and their teachers outside Macdonough School.  A student announced “We are the Macdonough School Mariners and we’re waking up with NBC Connecticut!” The remainder of the students and staff then let out a big cheer.

The spot will air on Thursday, April 26^th two times between 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. For those who wake up a little bit later, the broadcast will be available all day on www.nbcconnecticut.com. All of our students will have the chance to view the clip during the school day through the use of our interactive white boards.

We are proud to have been selected for this honor and look forward to having our students “wake up” Connecticut!

Keigwin Middle School Band Visits Macdonough School

The Keigwin Middle School Band was at Macdonough for their annual spring concert.  

The band played a variety of songs and introduced the elementary school students to an assortment of instruments (brass, woodwind, percussion, and strings).

Former Macdonough School students who now play in the Keigwin Band received big ovations from students and teachers alike.

Special thanks to Mr. Daddario, Director of the Keigwin School band for making this performance possible.

Macdonough School Selected for NBC Connecticut Honor!

Macdonough School has been selected by NBC news to be featured on its morning news program!

A film crew will be at our school tomorrow to film our first and second grade students and their teachers outside Macdonough School.  One lucky student will announce “We are the Macdonough School Mariners and we’re waking up with NBC Connecticut!”  The remainder of the students and staff will then let out a big cheer.

The spot will air on Thursday, April 26^th two times between 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.  For those who wake up a little bit later, the broadcast will be available all day on www.nbcconnecticut.com.   All of our students will have the chance to view the clip during the school day through the use of our interactive white boards.

We are proud to have been selected for this honor and look forward to having our students “wake up” Connecticut!

Macdonough School Selected for Comcast Cares Day

Every year on Comcast Cares Day, Comcast Corporation bring together tens of thousands of Comcast employees, their families and friends to make a positive impact in neighborhoods across the country. 

On Saturday, April 21, 2012, Comcast will celebrate the 11th anniversary of Comcast Cares Day, which has since grown to become one of the largest single-day corporate volunteer efforts in the country.

This year, Comcast has selected to partner with Macdonough School and the North End Action Team to install a community garden on Portland Street.  Comcast employees together with Macdonough staff and families will transform a vacant lot into a beautiful neighborhood garden. 

Please consider coming down to join the fun!

Lessons in Wind

The weather has been so windy lately! Students in kindergarten have been learning all about weather, so we decided to experiment what objects we could make move by making wind with our breath. We practiced blowing objects to see if the wind could blow them away.

Mr. Nelson runs Boston Marathon!

Today, Mr. Nelson ran and completed the Boston Marathon! His students were very enthusiastic about him participating in the race. They spent the morning tracking his progress and completing math activities comparing his times to last years men's and women's winners. To show support for Mr. Nelson, the students ran or walked a mile outside. Way to go Mr. Nelson for finishing the race!!!!!!

No April Fools for Miss McKenzie!

Congratulations to Miss McKenzie for running in the East Haddam Community Lions Club April Fools 5K Road Race. Miss McKenzie came in 3rd place for the first time in her age group. Woohoo!  

The Easter Bunny Visits Kindergarten

Before school started today, the Easter Bunny visited kindergarten. He left a huge mess of dirt and carrots on the tables and floor, and he left a note for each of the classes. He also filled all of the students' Easter baskets with candy, pencils, and Play-Doh. The students were so surprised when they came in to see how much of a mess the Easter Bunny left. Still, we were so glad that he came to fill our Easter baskets with so many fun things!

Fruit Symmetry

Fourth grade students in Miss Claffey's class practiced their symmetry skills while enjoying a healthy and delicious treat!

"I am actually really starting to like math!" -Isael shouts, while cutting up some pineapple. 

 

                                               

Cody is working hard and making sure his fruit is perfectly symmetrical!