Hartford Marathon

FROM THE MIDDLETOWN PRESS

Students and staff at the Macdonough School have been logging miles to prepare for the big race.
For the seventh year, the school will send a team of students and staff to run in the Hartford Marathon on Oct. 11.

About two dozen members of the school community will run a half-marathon, a 13.1-mile race, led by fourth-grade teacher Sarah Claffey.

Student runners will enter and exit the course at designated mile markers to run alongside Claffey for one or more miles in the race. All the students will later come together at mile 13 to cross the finish line as a team, passing under the Historic Soldiers and Sailors Arch to receive a medal for their accomplishments.

A Presentation and a Letter From the Mayor

After 2 Macdonough fifth grade students sent a letter to the mayor giving their reasons why our community should have a poet laureate 2 things happened.  First, they were asked to speak at the Arts Commission meeting and second, they received a letter from the mayor.

As a result of their idea and the letter they wrote the art commission is looking at the possibility of having a poet laureate in our community!

Fourth Grade Farmer's Market Field Trip

     Miss Kolman's students learned about being smart consumers and eating healthy on their field trip to the Middletown Farmers Market.

      They each had a budget and needed to shop and decide what fruits and vegetables they would purchase.





      They had a great time choosing from the wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables.  Learning and eating healthy is fun at Macdonough!

 

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

 

Fourth grade students in Miss Claffey's class visited the North End Farmers Market. They were able to get a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables to bring home and share with their family members. Students made selections including raspberries, grapes, gooseberries, tomatoes, eggplant, and onions.

Gingerbread Man in Kindergarten

Today the kindergarten read the book The Gingerbread Man. We made a gingerbread man cookie and when we went downstairs to the kitchen he was gone. The children had a lot of fun searching the school for him. Ask your child where did they find him in the end.

A Lesson from Kobe the Robot

Kobe the robot visited our fourth and fifth grade students to help them learn.  Kobe is from the Community Health Center and he brought along his helper Aldon Hynes.   Together they showed how Kobe works and told us about the language that robots use, coding.  Students learned how coding is the language used to program, create websites, build apps, control robots and so much more.  They saw how they could learn how to code on code.org.

This presentation was part of our new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)  program and the purpose was to introduce students to new technologies and coding.

Mr. Hynes is the social media specialist at the Community Health Center.  He also runs the APP Lab at CHC where people can learn about coding 3D printing and so much more.

Thank you Kobe and Mr. Hynes for helping our students learn about this important technology and language!

Reading Starts Early at Macdonough

Thanks to the Lit & Laundry program offered on Fridays through the Family Resource Center. You can bring in a load of laundry to do and spend time reading with your young child. Call the FRC to schedule an appointment at 860.638.3742.

First Grade Geometry

Mrs. Ciccia's students enjoy playing a game with their math partner.  This game was a fun way for them to discuss the different shapes and their attributes!

Apples in the Kindergarten

Today the kindergarten kids read a story about Johnny Appleseed and tasted green, yellow and red apples.  The children also graphed their favorite apple they ate. Yummy!

Ice Cream Cones in Kindergarten

Today the kindergarten students were treated to ice cream cones.  Did you know that on September 22nd Italio Marchinony filed for the patent on the first pastry cone.  The children are also learning about 3D shapes and ate a 3D shape cone. 

Guest Reader In First Grade

Mrs. Ciccia's class had a special guest reader visit their class. 

They enjoyed listening to Mr. Romeo read to them!!

First and Fifth Grade team up for Book Buddies!

Today we had our first meet and greet with our 5th Grade Book Buddies from Mrs. Ellis' class! We were paired up and chose some of our favorite books to read. During this time we get to read to each other, make predictions, ask questions, and practice great reading strategies!

Guest Reader in Kindergarten

Today 4th grader Richard came down to kindergarten to read a story.  We love guest readers.

Tweet Tweet

Fifth graders in Mrs. Ellis' class have been "tweeting" in their classroom at the end of each day about. Rather that using an online twitter forum, students are tweeting on sentence strips on the classroom twitter board. Every day 3 students "tweet" about what they learned that day using an @ symbol and then their name so we know who is tweeting and using the hashtag #whatIlearnedtoday.

 

Macdonough Parents in Action

Parents in Action meet every Thursday from 9:00 to 11:00 in the Family Resource Center. PIA is a group of parent leaders who volunteer in the school to make a difference in their children’s school life, academically and socially. They spend time assisting teachers with classroom tasks, plan family activities and participate on committees that support the school improvement plan. Additionally on the last Thursday of each month, the Family Funds Macdonough subgroup of the PTA meets during PIA to discuss fundraising for our school. Join us!

Do not hesitate to call us in the FRC at 860.638.3742 if you have any questions or suggestions.

Little Red Hen

Today the kindergarten students heard the story The Little Red Hen. The hen asked her friends in the story to help her make bread, but they all said no. Today the students got to help make bread and share it at snack time. Yummy!

Friday is Bread Day at Macdonough!

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

 

This program is supported through the efforts of our friends from Wesleyan University

Connecticut's Run for the Fallen

Members of the Macdonough School Running Club participated in the fourth annual Run for the Fallen CT, held Saturday in Middletown.

The event is held to honor all servicemen and women who have lost their lives during their service in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Box Tops for Education at Macdonough

Help Macdonough School earn money by clipping Box Tops from your favorite products. This is one of the easiest way to earn, because we buy these products daily! All you have to do is Clip, Turn-In and Save!

Another great way to earn Box Top points is by registering online. Once you register through Box Tops for Education Website, you have the opportunity to receive coupons and promotions on Box Top products that you can use at the local grocery store.

You'll also get: Macdonough's complete Box Tops earnings details, money-saving coupons for Box Tops brands, over 100 recipes using Box Tops products, and exclusive chances to win Bonus Box Tops. Best of all, membership in http://www.boxtops4education.com/ is absolutely FREE!

Macdonough Students Take Action!

After reading an article about cities and towns that have poet laureates, 2 of our fifth grade STEM students took action.  They decided having a poet laureate would be an asset for our community.  So they decided to write a letter to Mayor Drew.  Together they brainstormed, organized, typed, and edited and revised.  When they finished they mailed off their persuasive letter to the Mayor.  If the mayor decides to create the position of poet laureate, we have 2 Macdonough students to thank.  Way to go!

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program is Back!

Macdonough School was awarded a 2014-15 grant from the Connecticut State Department of Education in conjunction with United States Department of Agriculture to continue the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.

The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) provides the Macdonough School learning community with a variety of free fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the school year. It is an effective and creative way of introducing fresh fruits and vegetables as healthy snack options.

The goal of the Macdonough School FFVP is to:

• Create healthier school environments by providing healthier food choices.

• Expand the variety of fruits and vegetables children experience.

• Increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption.

• Make a difference in children’s diets to impact their present and future health.

The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program is coordinated by Mrs. Michelle Currier, a reading teacher at Macdonough School.