Friday, November 30, 2012

Studying Antarctica!


Ms. Jukins' second grade class has been learning about Antarctica and has been in contact with a real researcher, who will be traveling to Antarctica to research climate change and ice sheets! We wrote post-cards telling her one or two facts that we learned and asked a question for Miss Gail to answer once she gets there.

We can't wait for Miss Gail to write us back!





Cupcakes with Mrs. Currier

Two lucky students had the chance to enjoy a special cupcake treat with Mrs. Currier. 

The children to a walking field trip to NoRA Cupcake Company!

Students were selected for this special treat for exhibiting SURFS Up behaviors at school (Self-responsibility, Understanding, Respect, Fairness, and Safety).





West End String Quartet

This afternoon third, fourth and fifth grade students had the opportunity to listen to the West End String Quartet from Wesleyan. The Wesleyan students who came played a wide range of string instruments from the bass to the violin. Many of the performers had been playing since they were in elementary school!Students enjoyed the performance!



Wednesday, November 28, 2012

First Grade "Visits" Kenya

First graders took an imaginary trip to Kenya today! We are learning about different countries in social studies. This week we're studying Kenya and the people, food and celebrations there. Stay tuned to see where we'll "travel" to next week!


Christmas in Mexico





The Kindergarten students learn about 'La Posada' a holiday celebrated in Mexico. Children enjoyed 'Three Kings Cake' where there was a prize for the classroom in the middle of the cake. The children also put their shoes outside, which is a tradition done in Mexico. In Mexico the children believe that the 'Three Kings' will leave presents in their shoes.


The children listened to a story called "The Legend of the Poinsettia." In the story the little girl could only offer weeds as a gift. The weeds then in the spirit of 'La Posada' turned in poinsettia. The children in Kindergarten also crafted their own poinsettia

Trick Hoops & Alley-Oops!

 
 Big Jay from the Harlem Wizards vistited Macdonough today! 
He will be playing with the Wizards in a "Trick Hoops & Alley-Oops!" game against teachers from
 Middletown Schools and members of our community. 
The game will be held on Tuesday, December 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Woodrow Wilson Middle School. 
Information about the event will be coming home with your children.
 
 
Big Jay greets Mr. Romeo!


Kenny shows Big Jay some moves!
Richard tries to steal the ball.....


Alexis makes her move...and steals the ball!!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

“Stuff the Nets” Gift Drive to benefit Macdonough School.

Wesleyan University’s Student Athlete Council is sponsoring a “Stuff the Nets Gift Drive” to benefit Macdonough School.  The event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, December 8th from 11am until 6pm in the Freeman Athletic Center at Wesleyan. 

During that time, there will be two hockey nets set up in the lobbies of the Freeman Athletic Center where people can place their donated gifts.  During this time there will be different sporting events going on in the Freeman Athletic Center.  Macdonough students and families are welcome to attend the events free of charge!
 
     1pm – Wrestling Match vs Wilkes University & Rhode Island College

     2pm - Women’s Basketball game vs Little Three Rival- Williams College

     3pm - Women’s Hockey game vs Sacred Heart University

 
Come down to Cheer on the Cardinals!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Hip Hop Dimension

On Friday November 16, fifth graders went to visit our Equal This buddies in Colchester at Jack Jackter Elementary School. While we were there, students got to spend a little more time getting to know their buddies. Each student created a quilt square with information about themselves (name, nationality, hobbies, favorite food, what they would like to change about the world). Teachers then mixed up the quilt squares to make two quilts, one to stay in our buddies classroom and one for our own.

 After finishing our quilts, fifth graders got to see a performance from Poetry In Motion. They talked to us about how hip hop dance started and showed us different hip hop dance moves. After their performance, students got to dance a little themselves. We had a blast!
                                             

Thanksgiving Feast

Kindergarten students ate a delicious turkey feast with the whole school to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

No Turkey Here!



 The Kindergarten classes disguised turkeys at home with parents.  The children do not want their Turkey to be Thanksgiving dinner. 



 

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Second Grade visits NUMBER KIDS Buddies

The second grade classes visited their NUMBER KIDS Buddies in Essex Elementary School.






In addition to enjoying snack time with their new friends, they worked together on solving Tangram puzzles and Hundreds Board games.


Friday, November 16, 2012

Learning About Thanksgiving

The kindergarten classes learned about Thanksgiving and made pilgrim hats.
 

Nat is Back!

Nat visited the kindergarten classes to teach the students about violence prevention.

Readathon

Today, was the last day for the Readathon.  The kindergarten students snacked on popcorn while they listened to a story read by a special guest, Cassandra Day from the Middletown Press.




Number 300!

This represents the 300th post of the year for The Macdonough Blog!  The Macdonough Blog has grown into a valuable communication resource for our learning community.  From its start just five years ago, the number of annual posts have tripled!

From classroom activities to exciting field trips to special days, blog visitors can learn about the wonderful world of Macdonough School. 

More than 50,000 visitors have been to the Macdonough Blog since its inception with more and more coming each day!

We encourage families to check in on the blog frequently to learn about our school.




Thursday, November 15, 2012

Family Math in First Grade

Today, students in first grade invited their families into our classrooms for American Education Week. The children taught them math games focusing on addition and subtraction.These games were played with cards and dice.The first graders enjoyed this learning experience with their families! The children are excited to take the game supplies home so that they can get extra practice with their math facts.






On Time, All Day, Every Day!

Regular attendance at school is important for all students. We know that having children in school on time, all day, every day can make a big difference in their achievement. Of course we all recognize that there are going to be days when students need to be home due to illness, but research shows that making regular school attendance a priority will have a positive impact on student learning.

We’ll be recognizing classrooms with “perfect attendance” at our upcoming SURFS Up Celebration. Thank you for your support of our attendance goal and your support in ensuring that your child is in school On Time, All Day, Every Day!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Readathon

This week is Macdonough is having a Readathon!  Today, the Kindergarten classes enjoyed a story read by a special guest, Officer Derek.



Learning Together

Kindergarten parents were invited to Macdonough to support their child's learning.  Together students and parents worked on an activity that can be used to help practice sight words at home.  The Kindergarten teachers also discussed strategies to help support children's learning at home.




Thursday, November 8, 2012

Macdonough's Turkey Election


Paralleling the nation's Presidential Election, certainly the play on words was not an accident.  5th grade hosted its own "mock" Turkey Election in which students were asked to consider relevant campaigns that would speak to their wants and needs as students. 


  


 Both Candidates' Platforms were designed to include elements that would attract voters as well as elements that would repel voters.  This led to very meaningful discussion about how decisions about candidates are not cut and dry and include quite a bit of "gray area".  Students very quickly recognized that choosing a candidate is not as easy as they thought it might be. 

Campaigning and Advertising

In addition, 5th graders researched and discussed the 4 different types of ads that campaigns use: warm and fuzzy, negative, humorous, and creating fear.  We looked at real life campaign ads and discussed their perceived effectiveness.  In addition, 5th graders in Miss Weindruch's class created their own ads to campaign for Turkey A and Turkey B in which they either promoted themselves or exploited their opponent.  Here are just a few of their ads that attempted to sway student voters:







After a school-wide vote and many classroom discussions about the civic responsibility of voting... the winner of this year's Turkey Election is...




                                        

                                          TURKEY A!!!!!!

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