Cheetah Pride Press 🍂

Families,

I can hardly believe that October ends next week! We’ll be ending the month with a Cheetah Pride assembly and a spirit day. Everyone is invited to wear black and orange on Friday.

Next month is full of events, including Veteran’s Day, a professional day for teachers, parent/teacher conferences, the Scholastic Book Fair, and the Thanksgiving break. Please be sure to review these upcoming dates.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Joey & Andrea

Mrs. Evans' class was collaborating while finding details on key terms during their Wit and Wisdom lesson!

We have just learned that our calf’s name is Samantha, and that she lives at Mountain Dairy in Storrs, CT. We’ve included a little information about our Host Farm; and we will continue to provide updates on Samanta as we receive them. Stay tuned….

The Garden Club has been busy harvesting vegetables this fall. There was an abundance of tomatoes that were enjoyed in Memorial School lunches, and mint that served as a garnish in school lunches as well. Garden Club members figured out harvesting potatoes was not an easy task! They had to dig quite deep to find them. Lastly, we decorated gourds from the garden.

Some of our preschool students enjoyed building with giant blocks during a rainy recess.

A PAWsitive office referral is submitted when a staff member recognizes a student who is going above and beyond to exemplify one of our three school rules - taking care of others, taking care of self, & taking care of things.

10/29 - Picture Retake Day

10/27 - Board of Ed. Meeting, 6:30 pm

10/31 - Cheetah Pride Assembly/Spirit Day

11/4 - Election Day - PD Day - No School

11/6 - PTO Sponsored Pasta Dinner

11/10 - Board of Ed. Meeting, 6:30 pm

11/11 Veterans Day - No School

11/12 Lions Club Vision Screening

11/17 - 11/21 Scholastic Book Fair

11/19 & 11/20 Parent Conferences/Early Dismissal

How beautiful it has been, watching the Autumn leaves change, turning our world around us into a rainbow of colors! In the art room, we have spent the month of October exploring the beauty of the Fall, and spent time appreciating this wonderful season in so many fun and exciting ways! We have read books inspired by the fall time, and viewed the outside world around us. Here is what each grade level has learned about and created this month!

Prek: Students in Preschool have been learning to DIP, DRIP, WIPE THE TIP when practicing painting! We learned about the parts of a paint brush and how to take care of it (it needs a “happy hair do!”). We then explored the shapes of leaves, and how unique different tree’s leaves are shaped! We also observed different leaves in an array of BEAUTIFUL fall colors! We listened to the song “autumn leaves are falling down” and danced and sang, pretending we were leaves falling from a tree. Our leaf paintings came out so beautiful and colorful while we practiced taking care of paint, our brushes, and of our paintings.

K: Students in Kindergarten went on a LEAF HUNT, and we walked around the edges of Memorial School’s playground, in search of beautiful fall leaves. We noticed that the leaves come in different shapes, sizes and even surprising colors! We looked closely at the leaves we found and then brought them back to the art room for closer observation. When we returned to art with our leaves, the students learned how to look for a leaf’s SHAPE. Then we sketched leaf shapes to create an Autumn Leaves inspired work of art. To complete our Leaves, we learned how to DIP, DRIP, WIPE THE TIP, and practiced taking care of a paintbrush and its “happy hair-do” !! Students did careful painting and even added different color combinations to create their gorgeous leaf paintings, inspired by the changing seasons! (Books we read for Inspiration: Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert, and Leaf Trouble by Johnathan Emmett.

Kindergarten students are currently working on a fun and interdisciplinary art lesson, while learning about SYMMETRY! We are also learning the process of stamping and making copies (also known as printmaking) in order to create our symmetrical designs. Students are shocked and amazed when they press paint into a folded paper, creating a copy that ends up on both sides of the fold. It truly is amazing to see it instantly appear, and we are creating SYMMETRICAL PUMPKINS! What fun it is to try a new process of art making, and who knew MATH and ART can come together in such a beautiful and exciting way! (Book we read: Spookly the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano)

Grade 1:Students in first grade have been hard at work, learning all about BRANCHES. We went outside to look closely at the branches of a tree, and even noticed that they criss-cross, they are wider and thicker by the trunk, and how they change and turn thinner as they get further away from the tree trunk. Students even discovered that some branches go into two or three different directions. We called that part of a branch a FORK, which is perfect for a foot to step into when climbing, or a bird to build their nest in. When we went back to the art room, we started to learn about LINES. The branches we saw had many different types of lines, some bumpy, some curvy, some twisty and turny, like a loop-dee-loop. We then sketched branches to look more realistic by turning those lines into long branch shapes. To make our work look even more realistic, we learned how to OVERLAP. Branches on real trees overlap, and cross in front of and behind one another. We learned that on paper, we can make it look like we could climb right into our tree, creating the illusion of a SPACE on a flat paper. Overlapping is a strategy artists use to make SPACE in their work of art. This makes our work look more 3D and more realistic. To finish our beautiful branch inspired art, we finally learned how to use watercolors to apply and create WARM (reds, oranges, and yellows) and COOL(greens, blues, and purples) colors. These colors don’t have a physical temperature we can feel, but instead, a visual temperature we can SEE. We used cool colors OR warm colors for our sky, and then the OPPOSITE for the branches. We learned that we can take a warm or cool color to mix with brown, and create either a warm brown, or a cool brown. Intentionally choosing and planning colors is something an artist can do, rather than just picking any random color they would like. We had a blast solving this problem, and creating visual contrast with warm and cool colors. We can’t wait to take our branch paintings home! P.S. Thank you to all of the families who snapped a photo of their child while they climbed a tree (while supervised, of course) and sent those photos to me. Your child was able to get a first hand view of branches overlapping and surrounding their view. What an amazing sight to see! (Paintings we observed for inspiration: Surprised! By Henri Rousseau, and The Tree of Crows by Casper David Frederich.

Grade 2: Students in Second grade have been hard at work exploring ARCHITECTURE! We learned that an architect is a type of artist, who designs blueprints to create the shape, size, and look of a building. We discussed what types of buildings there are, and appreciated the fact that an ARCHITECT is the person who designed that building. Even Memorial School was designed by an Architect! We then saw examples of architecture styles, including Victorian and Gothic architecture. We learned about how they are different and unique types of styles of architecture for specific reasons that we can actually see. Then we looked closely at both Victorian and Gothic homes that are in East Hampton and in Connecticut. We learned that these styles of architecture were inspired by England and France from hundreds of years ago. We looked at the Notre Dame Cathedral, located in Paris, France, and explored the iconic Gargoyles of 12th century Gothic architecture. To pull all of the buildings we have seen together, we began designing our very own Gothic inspired or Victorian inspired “spooky” houses. Each house was designed by the 2nd graders, with certain details that the different architectural styles portray. Of course, we added our own spooky elements to our designs, and really brought our “spooky houses” to life! Lastly we added color, with specific watercolor techniques that help with that ‘spooky’ vibe, including WASH, BACKWASH, and SPLATTER. To finish the fun of this unit, we did a trivia challenge of “spooky houses” you find in children's movies, and the students did so well recognizing the houses and what movie they were from. We had a blast! (Buildings we studied:East Hampton, CT Victorian House built by Harry Strong in 1898, and Thompson, CT Gothic Revival William Mason House built by William Mason in 1845. Book we read: Hardly Haunted by Jessie Sima.

Grade 3: Students in 3rd grade are in FULL swing with CHOICE ART! We have learned how to organize our work space, explore and maneuver around the studio space to select and gather supplies. We are learning how to analyze the quality and craftsmanship of our art, and are practicing scoring our own works of art while using a self-assessment rubic. We began our first works of art while making our own decisions! We are learning how to synthesize our own ideas to make art plans and sketches, and bring those ideas into the world. Our first true “choice art” masterpieces are under way, and we are thrilled to be working independently while creating our most authentic works of art. Being able to create our own learning paths in art class can be tricky, so we also are learning how to be the best problem solvers, and how to persevere in the art studio! Students in 3rd grade currently are exploring building cardboard sculptures, clay sculptures, printmaking abstract art, sewing fashion designs, painting still life’s, designing landscapes through photography and digital art platforms, and MORE! It is so exciting to see how endless the possibilities are in a “choice art” classroom!

ARTIST of the MONTH:

Congratulations to the following students for being selected as the “artist of the month”. These students were recognized during art class for their amazing behavior, for showing cheetah pride, and for their hard work and effort while working on their beautiful masterpieces, during every art class!

PreK: Anthony Flannery and Sofie DeNovellis

Kindergarten: Connor Halibozek and Holly Royce

First Grade: Alaina Williams and Domenic Ciacchero

Second Grade: Emmersyn St. George and Lorenzo Rall

Third Grade: Adeline Niderno and Bobby Connor

When considering the number of absences your student has accrued, keep in mind that a student must be present for 195 minutes in order for the day to count! When bringing your student in late, or signing them out early if they have not been in school for a 195 minutes the day will be recorded as an absence.

Memorial School Attendance email:

memorial_attendance@easthamptonct.org * there is an _ between memorial and attendance!

Please Review This Important Information Below.

Students, parents, and community members have access to an anonymous tip line on the front page of the school district website to report self-concerns, mental health concerns of a friend, or concerns of violence. Simply click here or view on the website: https://www.easthamptonps.org/.

Email: jbauer@easthamptonct.org
Website: https://www.easthamptonps.org/o/memorial-school
Location: 20 Smith Street, East Hampton, CT, USA
Phone: 860-365-4020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ehmemorialschool