Math Olympiad

 This week, I had the privilege of acting as substitute for Mrs. Beaulieu in Math Olympiad.  What an exciting time!  I was amazed  by the complexity of the problems and the "out of the box" thinking  of our 5th graders. 

All of the solutions required multiple steps and students needed to bring together logical thinking, computation, and a high level of creativity in order to find the solutions.  None of the problems were straight computation (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division).

But the most impressive part of working with our Math Olympians was watching students work together and discuss their thinking.  We hear all the time about how collaboration, cooperation, and creativity are the most important tools our 21st century learners will need - our 5th graders are well on their way to having these essential citizenship skills.

Guest Post: D.A.R.E.

This post was contributed by Teresa & Thomas S.

This year in Room 209, we have been working on a wrap-up of all the things we learned in D.A.R.E. over the past 5 years. 

This is a summary of an interview with Officer Sheppard, a D.A.R.E. Officer:
He said that D.A.R.E is important because you can build something big from it.  Officer Sheppard also said that he wanted to be a D.A.R.E. officer because it is easier to teach kids to make wise decisions. 

This year the 5th graders will be having a D.A.R.E. graduation, focusing on the subjects that they have learned.  Stay tuned for more information on the D.A.R.E. graduation!

Music and Technology - Call it Love!

It seems that technology has become integrated into every aspect of school life - appropriate, as it has become part of our everyday lives outside of school, as well.  Next week, Room 209 will use MuseScore, an online music composition and notation program as part of Music class.  You can check it out here: MuseScore  Thank you Mrs. Agati, Mrs. Rzasa, and Mr. Callahan!

Guest Post: Art

Clay Coil Pots

This post was contributed by Thomas, Kailey, James, and Meghan.

Miss Fallon

In room 209 we have been working on clay coil pots in Art class. Ms. Fallon was kind enough to let us interview her before art class! We learned a lot about Ms. Fallon. Some of those interesting facts are that she spent a year in Italy as a painter and a student! Also she made her favorite sculpture of a life size papier-mâché model of a lion! Do you know another art teacher that can do that? Ms Fallon learned all different techniques and all of them helped her to do much more on other projects. One of the last things that we want to say is that her favorite kinds of paints to work with are: Paint Acrylic, Gouache paint.

We would like to thank Ms Fallon for all the hard work she put into our projects!

From room 209

Thomas, Kailey, James, Meghan

Snow, Snow, and More Snow!

Pine Glen in Snow

It seems that the weather is the topic on everyone's mind these days.  Snow days, delayed openings, and early releases have made for an exciting but confusing January.

Concerns about the missed sessions of our skating program and what will happen about the end of the school year have come up repeatedly.

The Scholars' Garden

A notice is going home today regarding the skating program.  The two sessions missed will be made up next Thursday and Friday, February 10th and 11th.  Please send back the permission form at the bottom of the notice so that your child may attend these sessions.

The Play Structure

We are in no immediate danger of attending school in July.  Nor are there any plans currently for reducing the February or April vacations.  Superintendent Eric Conti has discussed this on his blog here.

Path between the back doors

The Patch recently posted an article, The Making of a Snow Day, which describes how the Superintendent comes to a decision regarding school closings.  Please understand that individual schools do not make decisions regarding school schedules and/or closings.

I hope this addresses some of the concerns parents and students have had this week.