The Woodland Weekly

We hope everyone is enjoying the extra long weekend and have had some bonus time to relax and recharge with family and friends! Today, we want to thank all our Veterans who bravely served our country; you give us yet another reason to be thankful this time of year.

As we head into the next couple of weeks, things will be busy and exciting here at Woodland School. Next week we’ll welcome The NED Show, a fun and engaging assembly focused on resiliency, growth mindset, and perseverance. Our annual Turkey Trot is also right around the corner. This is a beloved Woodland and Powder Mill tradition that brings our students and staff together in the spirit of fun, fitness, and community...and yes, inflatables for the grown-ups! (SHHHHH! It's a fun surprise for the kids!)

As November continues, teachers are wrapping up the trimester and preparing for grades to close, which means lots of celebrating student growth and accomplishments. Report cards will look a little different this year, as we more closely aligned our report card language with both the MA Frameworks and grade level expectations. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your student's teacher or one of us.

And of course, we’ll soon be heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, a time to reflect on all we’re grateful for, including our wonderful students, families, and staff. We wish all of our Woodland families a very happy and restful Thanksgiving! Thank you for your continued support in making our school such a special place to learn and grow.

Warmly,

Emma and Kayla

erood@stgrsd.org

kbrady@stgrsd.org

413-569-6598

https://www.stgrsd.org/community/calendars/s_t_g_r_s_d_calendar_of_events

November 12: First Grade Field Trip

November 13: Kindness Day - Wear a Cardigan

November 13: PTO meeting @ 5:30 PMS

November 14: World Diabetes Day - Wear Blue

November 19: The NED Show (Yo-Yo Sales Begin)

November 20: Turkey Trot (Rain Date Nov. 21)

November 24: Picture Retakes

November 25: Grades Close (Yo-Yo Sales End)

November 26: Half Day, 12:00 Dismissal, No PM Preschool

November 27 & 28: Thanksgiving, NO SCHOOL

December 4: Report Cards

December 5: Winter Craft Night

December 12: Pajama Day

Where did October go?! We've been having so much fun making the cutest fall artwork, the month went by in the blink of an eye!

• Preschool students have been practicing their fine motor skills by making bracelets and color matching with pom-poms.

• Kindergarten students are learning about the primary and secondary colors, and practicing their tracing and cutting skills. They are also using how to use Sharpies properly to outline and add details to their artwork!

• First graders sponge painted papers and used them to make a fun black cat in the autumn leaves.

• Second graders made the CUTEST squirrels, also by sponge painting and creating watercolor backgrounds with fall colors.

Seeing your kiddos excited about their artwork as they take it home makes my heart happy! I hope you and yours enjoy the transition into the holiday season. Feel free to email me any time! sbeebe@stgrsd.org.

❤️ Ms. Beebe

Throughout the last few weeks, Pre-K-2nd grade students learned about bowling. They took a virtual field trip to a bowling alley where they learned about the equipment needed when bowling, how to hold and roll a bowling ball, and how to play the game. They have also practiced these skills in class and played different games like Bean Bag Bowling and Team Bowling in class.

All students at Woodland will be participating in some Thanksgiving Games in the next couple weeks as we lead up to the holiday break.

If you have any questions, please contact me at marchambeault@stgrsd.org

Hello Woodland families,

Have you noticed your students are full of fun fall facts these days? Have they been singing a song about hibernation? If so, that means they've been paying attention in STEM! Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade have been learning about fall leaves and how animals prepare in fall for winter. Kindergarten has learned about hibernation, while 1st and 2nd have also learned about migration, and 2nd grade will also be learning about adaptation soon. Last week we learned about a very helpful animal that hibernates: bats! Did you know bats are the only mammal that can fly?

In preschool we've been having a lot of fun learning about different science concepts. We learned about magnets and then painted with them using metal objects. I've also had fun demonstrating a few different science experiments. ("It's not magic, it's science!") I'm excited for them to see what we'll be doing in the coming weeks!

--Mrs. Brown

Happy November! The computer lab is busy with robots. Students in all grades have been using the Sphero Mini robot to play a round of bowling and even make a path to try to navigate through. All students have had a great time with them and have been very creative in making obstacle courses for their partners to go through.

All grades have also started typing and a course on digital literacy and citizenship on typingclub.com. Second graders are working on finishing up a small research project on their favorite animal.

We have been busy having fun and learning more about technology every day!

Hello families,

We are continuing to have so much fun in music class at Woodland school. Our new Musician of the Month, Stevie Wonder, is "wonderful" and we really enjoy listening to his music.

Pre-K students have been experimenting with using their voices and we're now starting to learn some really fun songs for our Winter Concert. All Pre-K classes celebrated filling their marble jar for the first time with a really fun stuffy day!

In Kindergarten, we are learning about the steady heartbeat of the music and playing follow the leader games. We are exploring our singing voices by singing hello at the beginning of each music class, and we are learning about the instruments of the orchestra.

First graders are wrapping up a unit on rhythm and having fun with music centers. We have used ta and ti-ti on the iPad, in a game, with Lego bricks, and made our own Silly Words cards.

Second grade students have been composing two-note songs and playing them on BoomWhackers and Xylophones. We are really looking forward to our Winter Concert.

Keep finding ways to make music at home!

Mrs. Peirce

kpeirce@stgrsd.org

The NED Show is coming to Woodland Wednesday, November 19! NED is a friendly cartoon character who teaches kids to Never give up, Encourage others, and Do your best. The program uses storytelling, humor, and yo-yo tricks to promote a positive mindset and encourage students to develop resilience and compassion. We participate in the "Pay-It-Forward" model, which means we will sell yo-yo's to fund the program for other schools, just as other schools did for us to make the assembly free. The PTO will sell yo-yo's starting on the day of the event and ending Tuesday, November 25. See below for an order form.

All Woodland students will participate in the annual Turkey Trot on Thursday, November 20th (rain date: Friday, November 21st). This year, all students will run around the track in the morning, including preschool. (The afternoon session will still do the varsity baseball diamond.) Remember to dress students warm as we will be outside for over an hour and a half for this fun event.

This is a huge fundraiser for the PTO, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to our students for field trips, classroom supplies, activities, Field Day supplies, and more! We will have a food truck for spectators (NOT STUDENTS) with items available by donation. If you would like to volunteer, please reach out to the PTO at pawsptoswk@gmail.com or sign up on their Genius link: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/8050948ACA82EAAFD0-59779292-turkey

Volunteers MUST sign up by Thursday, November 13 and will need to do a CORI check at one of the schools. Volunteers will check in at Powder Mill School for a visitor badge the morning of the event. People without a volunteer badge will NOT be allowed on the field, but will be able to watch the event from outside of the fenced in area and get some delicious treats from the food truck.

The Turkey Trot is always a fun event where students show school spirit and have fun running. We hope to see you there!

On Friday, November 14, we recognize World Diabetes Day, a time to raise awareness and show support for those living with diabetes. The day highlights the importance of understanding, healthy lifestyles, and early detection. By wearing blue and learning more about diabetes, we can help build empathy, encourage healthy habits, and support our classmates, families, and community members who manage diabetes every day.

The Pathways Program at SRS is doing a community service project working with the Community Food Pantry in Southwick. They will be collecting specific items each month according to the pantry's needs. This month they are looking for all kinds of canned soups and hygiene products but will gladly accept any donations you provide. The donation bin will be located in the lobby of the main office. Thank you!