News From The Nest: Issue #11

Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends!

We had a short but busy week at the Hive this week. Things felt a little glitchy with Tuesday being a stay at home day and everyone trying to find their rhythm again on Wednesday but eventually our Eagles settled into the week and got right to work!

This week first graders wrapped up a reading unit titled Amazing Animals and have been working on bonus letters and the glued sound -all while second graders learned the suffixes -en, -ness, -ful, -less, -ment, -able, -ish. In third grade students took a unit test that in part assessed their understanding of strategies to solve multiplication problems while kindergarteners practiced their skip counting by 2s. 5th graders continued to engage in their book clubs and in 4th grade students continue to work on strategies for multiplying 2 digit numbers. Students participating in Battle of the Books had their 3rd meeting this week as we inch closer and closer to the Battle Day in January!

In this edition of our weekly newsletter you will find information about:

• upcoming dates and celebrations for November
• November Counseling Newsletter
• Math Update
• November Coffee and Conversation Follow Up
• Elm Families First
• Fall Educator-Family Conference Sign Ups
• Multicultural Potluck sign up
• Winter Gear and Holiday Assistance
• Elm Street School Turkey Trot

As a reminder, next week is Family - Educator conferences. If you haven't signed up for a conference yet, please visit the links shared with you in your email or contact the educator you would like to meet with directly.

I hope everyone has a restful and reflective long weekend and we will see all our Eagles back at the Nest on Tuesday!

Jen

At the beginning of each month I will share a calendar of some upcoming Elm events as well as upcoming cultural celebrations and heritage months with hyperlinks to more information if you are interested in learning more. Below is information for the month of November.

If there are cultural celebrations that are important to you and your family that you would like to share with the adult Elm community, please email me so I can be sure to include them in upcoming newsletters. If you have any questions about anything you see on our calendar, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly.

• 10/31 - 11/1 Diwali
• 11/1 Native American Heritage Month begins, All Saints Day, School Photo Make-Up Day
• 11/1 - 2 Day of the Dead
• 11/2 5:00 - 8:30p Diwali Celebration
• 11/5 Election Day, School Closed- Staff Professional Development Day
• 11/8 8:30a Coffee and Conversation- Homework and Executive Functioning
• 11/11 Veterans Day, School Closed
• 11/12 5:00 - 7:00p Family Educator Conferences
• 11/14 5:00 - 7:00p Family Educator Conferences, 6:45p School Committee Meeting
• 11/15 Early Release Day- Family Educator Conferences
• 11/20 6:30p Elm Multicultural Potluck, Transgender Day of Remembrance
• 11/21 7:00p Elm PAC Meeting
• 11/22 Elm K-5 Assembly (Students and Staff Only)
• 11/27 Early Release Day
• 11/28 - 29 School Closed
• 11/28 Thanksgiving, National Day of Mourning

With Family/Educator Conferences coming up next week, many teachers may be sharing information around fact fluency. Fact fluency is not memorizing a list of equations to see how fast a student can complete a paper. Fact fluency incorporates children being able to use efficient strategies to work with their basic facts in multiple ways. Multiplication and division rely on fluency with addition and subtraction. Fractions rely on fluency with multiplication and division. Fact fluency extends to all math concepts throughout the grades.

This year, we are fortunate enough to have the Math Fact Lab program at school so students in grades 1-5 have a systematic approach, filled with visual models to master their math facts. Sessions for Math Fact Lab run anywhere from 8-15 minutes and it is suggested that students complete at least 3 sessions a week. Once students complete a certain number of activities they get a chance to pass a level lifter which will move them on to the next level of facts. Our students are doing an amazing job passing their level lifters to become Math Fact Masters.

There are several other fun ways students can work with their facts to become fluent and efficient mathematicians. Check out this book of math games, Acing Math (One Deck at a Time) that only needs a deck of cards for fun math fact practice. Our Family Math Site has a special section devoted to Fact Fluency where you will find even more resources for fun practice for your child.

End of School Year Fact Fluency Expectations:

Kindergarten: Fluently add & subtract within 5

Grade 1: Fluently add & subtract within 10

Grade 2: Fluently add & subtract within 20

Grade 3: Fluently multiply all products up to 10x10 and related division facts

Grade 4: Fluently multiply all products up to 12x12 and related division facts

Grade 5: Keep practicing all facts for fluency!

This morning we had a great Coffee and Conversation focused on executive functioning and homework and Elm Street School. Folks in attendance had great thoughtful questions and suggestions that our team will take as we develop our comprehensive approach to homework K-5. If you couldn't join us this morning, below are links to the slide deck I shared along with several resources I referenced and provided copies of in person.

Executive Functioning and Homework at Elm slidedeck

Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills from Infancy to Adolescence

Helping Anxious Students Move Forward

Cognitive Connections

DONATE A NEW UNWRAPPED TOY AND/OR A GIFT CARD TO

OUR “ELM FAMILIES FIRST” HOLIDAY GIVING DRIVE

November 12th – December 11th

This year we will be collecting toys and gift cards and winter boots and snow pants for families within our Elm community.

We will collect toys for kids from 0-13 years of age.

SUGGESTED ITEMS:

• TOYS TO LEARN AND GROW

• ARTS &CRAFTS

• BUILDING BLOCKS

• SPORTS EQUIPMENT

• BOOKS

• PUZZLES

• STEM TOYS

We will also collect gift cards to local or online stores.

SUGGESTED STORES:

• LOCAL CLOTHING AND FOOD STORES

• STOP AND SHOP

• BIG Y

• KOHL’S

• TARGET

• WALMART

• AMAZON

Donations will be given to Elm families first. Please drop donations off at the Main Office by December 11th.

We are also collecting winter boots and snow pants in various sizes. If you are interested in purchasing a new pair of winter boots and/or snow pants for a student here at Elm, please reach out to Jen Buller (jbuller@walpole.k12.ma.us).

Thank you in advance for your generosity during this holiday season!

As a reminder Family - Educator Conferences will take place on November 12th between 5:00 - 7:00p, November 14th between 5:00 - 7:00p, and on the Early Release Day on November 15th between 1:00 - 3:00p. All conferences are in person. If families need a virtual conference they should reach out directly to the educator to arrange that option.

Links to individual educator appointment pages were shared in an email on Wednesday with all Elm families. Please check your email for additional information and the links if you haven't signed up already.

Multicultural Potluck Signup and RSVP

Each year we reach out to all of our Elm families to offer assistance with winter gear (coats, hats, mittens, gloves, boots, snow pants) and holiday meals and gifts. If your family is in need of assistance this year because of financial hardship please reach out to myself (jbuller@walpole.k12.ma.us) or a member of our Guidance Team (Jessica Simpson- jsimpson@walpole.k12.ma.us Tori Dore- vwintersdore@walpole.k12.ma.us). Because of the generosity of our community here in Walpole we are able to support all families with need. When contacting us please share the ages and gender identity/expression of anyone living in the home under the age of 18, coat sizes, and the total number of people living in the home. Please know that all information will be kept confidential amongst myself, Mrs. Simpson, and Mrs. Dore.

We will host our annual Elm Street School Turkey Trot on the Early Release Day on Wednesday, November 27th. This event is for students and staff only and will take place during the school day. All students will participate in running laps outside (we will use the gym in case of rain) during their assigned time. We ask students who are able, to bring in a non-perishable item to donate to the Walpole Food Pantry on this day.

Email: jbuller@walpole.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.walpole.k12.ma.us/o/ess
Location: 415 Elm Street, Walpole, MA, USA
Phone: 508.660.7374

Instagram: ElmStSchool