Third Grade Graphs Things Out.

     Today students in Mr. Ferrero's class were busy gathering, organizing, and displaying information. 

       Students thought of questions that they wanted to ask their classmates.  Then they surveyed them.  After that they recorded the answers on a tally table to organize the data. Finally they took this infomation and created bar graphs so that the information was clear and easy to read. 

 

CAUSE Grants for Macdonough School!

Congratulations to the following Macdonough staff members who received 2013 CAUSE (Community and University Services for Education) Grants: 

 

· Sarah Jakiela was awarded $360 for High Interest, Low Reading Level Books. The project will fund children’s books geared toward children in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades with reading disabilities.  The books are written about high interest topics, yet use lower level vocabulary.  Perfect to engage students in the intermediate grades!

 

· Michelle Currier was awarded $230 for Preventing Bullying and Mean Behaviors Through Literature. The project will fund children’s books with messages about the importance of preventing mean behavior in school.  Each of the books will help students to make a connection to SURFS Up Behavior!

 

 

 

Due to the efforts of Mrs. Currier and Miss Jakiela, an additional $500 worth of books are coming to the students at our school!

The National Theatre for Children

Macdonough School has been selected by The National Theatre for Children for a special performance in April called “The Energized Guyz.”  NTC uses professional actors who perform an action-packed adventure combined with high energy comedy to teach students educational messages through a fun experience.      

The Energized Guyz features two actors who play a variety of characters in a 25-minute program. Students learn about energy efficiency while cheering on the play’s hero, an apprentice super hero who needs to stop an evil villain who is wasting all the energy in town. Kindergarten, first, and second grades will view the show at 9:15 a.m.  Third, fourth, and fifth grades will see the show at 10:15 a.m.

Pasta Dinner

Macdonough will be hosting a Pasta Dinner on

Thursday, February 21st from 5:30-7:00. There will be a book giveaway as well as a bike giveaway.

It's an event you don't want to miss!

We hope to see you there!

The Rainforest Comes to Macdonough

Today, Macdonough students enjoyed a presentation about the Rainforest with real live animals that we would see in the Rainforest!

Students learned about saving the rainforest and were introduced to animals such as various kinds of birds, snakes, and even a couple monkeys! Our own teachers, Miss Morello and Miss Claffey were participants and got to hold the snakes and Sadie from first grade was called on to feed a toucan.

Our new FRC Director

Macdonough warmly welcome Mrs. Amy Waterman to her new position as the FRC Director!

Mrs. Waterman recently changed positions from our third grade teacher to the new Family Resource Director here in Middletown.

We are so excited for her!

Macdonough School on WCNX Radio!

Four Macdonough School students will be featured on WCNX radio this week reading the district's school lunch menu.

Congratulations to our fifth grade students! For those who miss the radio broadcast, visit http://www.cnxradio.com/ for the audio clip

NoRA Cupcake Company Field Trip

Three lucky students had the chance to enjoy a special cupcake treat with Mrs.Spaman and took 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). Yummy!

A Night of a Thousand Books

Thank you to everyone who made it to A Night of a Thousand Books last night!

We had such a great time!
A special thank you to our custodians, Antoinette in the cafeteria, and all of our teachers that volunteered for their help!

Click the box below to view a slideshow!
 

This free slideshow made with Smilebox

Valentine's Day Poster Contest

Macdonough has been selected to do a Valentine's Day Poster Concert for Coldstone Creamery in Middletown. Students in all grades colored posters for the contest and the winners are in!
 Congratulations to Victoriano Diaz, Natalia Ortiz, Isabel Briere, Serenity Quinones, Amya Perry, Kayla Davidson, Alana Boirier, Vishwanath Salwan, Chasity Hillard, Onix Rivera, Anija Taylor, and Tara Collins for your beautiful artwork!
We can't wait to see your posters displayed at Coldstone Creamery!

New Recess Equipment for Macdonough School!

Wednesday, Phil Oullette from Eli Cannons, donated new recess equipment such as footballs, soccer balls, and hula hoops to Macdonough!

We are so incredibly thankful for his generous donation and can't wait to use these at recess!

Mr. Romeo presented him with a Macdonough t-shirt and a book to be donated to the library in his name.

Thanks Mr. Oullette!

SURFS Up at Macdonough!

Wednesday, students and families at Macdonough attended the SURFS Up Assembly. Students and families first enjoyed singing along to "Knowledge is Power," and watching a slideshow of all of our friends. We also listened to the third graders sing their own edition of "Macdonough is Made for You and Me", and afterwards we welcomed new students, teachers, and babies to Macdonough. Other students and classes received certificates and books, and won golden awards. Mr. Romeo also read aloud of one of the new books about bullying to the students. We ended the assembly by recognizing our SURFS Up winners.

A special thanks to all of the families that were able to attend our assembly today!

Game Center!

This week in first grade, students have been learning how to read words with the digraphs ch, sh, wh and th.  During center time, Mrs. Walsh's class has the opportunity to play a word game that helps them practice reading words with these letter combinations.

Guest Reader

Sade from first grade was a SURFS Up winner in her class. She choose to read to Mrs. Lenihan's class. We love guest readers.

Mrs. Lenihan's class won the golden owl award for being in school and on time. The children had to be in school and on time for 5 days before getting the golden owl.

Wesleyan Swim Team Visits Macdonough

Members of the Wesleyan University Swim Team visited Macdonough School to work with students in the classroom and play with children at recess!

 

 

CCSU Student Teachers at Macdonough!

We are pleased to welcome our new student teachers from Central Connecticut State University. We are so excited to have you here at Macdonough!

Kelly LePage is student teaching with Michelle Currier. Kelly is from Plainville, CT and her favorite color is yellow. In her spare time she enjoys hiking and riding her motorcycle.

Sarah Larsen is student teaching with John Ferrero in third grade. Sarah is from Meriden, CT and her favorite color is purple. She enjoys being married and a mom to her children. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family, and being crafty.

Sabrina Kania is student teaching with Shalan Paul in second grade. Sabrina is from Berlin, CT and her favorite color is purple and blue. She is a health and fitness enthusiast and is Zumba certified. In her spare time, she loves to read and ride her bike.

Emma Papandrea is student teaching with Teresa Morello in fourth grade. Emma is from Meriden, CT and her favorite color is pink. In her spare time she loves to spend time with her huge family. Her favorite animals are giraffes and she has a collection of giraffes as well.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink

On a field trip to the Trash Museum fourth graders learn what happens to recyclables after they leave their homes.   

Third Grade Creates Some Fun!

This week Ms. Eckerlin’s and Mr. Ferrero’s third grade classes went to the Eli Whitney Museum on a field trip with their writing buddies. While they were there they explored the forces of motion. They set to work building their own pinball machines using wood, nails, elastics, and glue. They had to figure out how to make their game work so the ball travelled through the game and gave the player chances to win.  It was amazing to see how creative the students were when designing their games. Each student got to take home their pinball machine to show off their skills and share the fun with their family.

Donors Choose and Macdonough!

Macdonough has been chosen for many Donors Choose Projects!
Teachers such as Mrs. Walsh, Mrs. Ciccia, Ms. Jukins, Ms. Morello, Mrs. Currier and Ms. Claffey have been granted their projects! These include iPads, phonics games, TIMES for Kids subscriptions, math games, listening centers, and books about bullying.
We are so excited to have all of these new additions in our classrooms!

Fourth Grade Field Trip!

Enjoy pictures from the fourth grade's field trip to the Trash Museum!  Just click on the picture below!

Soro-Bindi African Dance coming to Macdonough School!

Soro-Bindi is coming to Macdonough School in February!

 

Soro-Bindi is an exciting, interactive performance that incorporates traditional Ghanaian dances, songs, stories and explanations of Ghanaian culture. Iddi Saaka and his dance partner will lead the children through various dances such as the Kpanlogo dance and the Bawa harvest dance. Between dances, the students will learn about Ghana through multiple stories. Students will be invited to play traditional Ghanaian instruments and join together at the end for the big circle dance.

Soro-Bindi teaches students about Africa in general and Ghana in particular. The performance encourages students to respect and appreciate different cultures through an exploration of Ghana and its art forms.

New Staff Member at Macdonough!

We are pleased to welcome Mrs. Leisha Eckerlin to Macdonough! Mrs. Eckerlin is our new third grade teacher, taking the place of Mrs. Amy Waterman who is the new FRC Director.

Mrs. Leisha Eckerlin has just recently moved to Connecticut from Colorado after living there for 14 years! In her spare time she enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and cooking.

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!

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.