Boyden Weekly Update

March 28, 2024

Dear Boyden Families,

2024 MCAS testing began this week and we are very proud of our Grade 4 and 5 students' hard work! They approached the tests very seriously and gave their best effort. Next week, Grade 4 will finish up Tuesday and Grade 3 will begin two days of ELA MCAS testing on April 3rd. For a complete schedule of MCAS testing for this year, please refer to the dates published further down in this newsletter. Please remind your children to keep working hard!

Reminder: No school tomorrow Friday. March 28th

Have a nice weekend!

Brendan

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Solar Eclipse

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will occur across our region. While this is a rare and exciting phenomenon, we want to share some important safety information with you since the event will occur before and during our dismissal time. Since looking directly at the sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing is unsafe, we encourage parents to review NASA’s Eclipse Safety Guidelines and How to Safely View the Total Solar Eclipse information with their children.

At Boyden, we will take precautions to keep all our students safe. We will refer to the MA

Department of Education information and suggestions to safely enjoy this event. Simialr to dismissal each day students will remain inside until thier bus or car arrives. Students will also be reminded to not look up at the sun during dismissal.

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Town Wide Writing Contest

The Walpole Cultural Council is pleased to announce the return of Walpole Writes, a town-wide writing contest open to all residents of Walpole (as well as non-resident students of Walpole schools).

First, second, and third-place winners will be selected and publicly announced in 5 age groups and 2 categories.The age groups are: elementary school (grades K-2), elementary school (grades 3-5), middle school, high school, and adult. The categories are short story and poem. Writers may choose to write about any topic.

The contest is open through April 26 and winners will be announced in May. To submit an entry, writers must complete an entry form with their entry uploaded by April 26. The entry form can be found here: https://bit.ly/WalpoleWrites24

Winners will be recognized at a celebration at the Walpole Public Library on Thursday, June 20. The Walpole Cultural Council will create a publication of winning entries. Walpole Writes is sponsored by Dedham Savings Bank and Sharon Credit Union.

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ST Math and Number Sense

Your students are probably buzzing about March Mathness, our Math version of the NCAA March Madness tournament. Classes have been competing against each other to see whose class can solve the most ST Math puzzles and move on in the bracket. All classes, even if knocked out, are still in the tournament to the very end as there are Wild Card entries where teams can get back in and Honorable Mentions at the end, along with lots of other positive recognition for all the students have accomplished.

You might be wondering why we emphasize puzzle progress in ST Math. Well, it is a lot more than just solving puzzles. ST Math provides a great opportunity for students to grow their problem solving skills, resolve and persevere through productive struggle, and most importantly, strengthen their Number Sense. There is no reading involved with ST Math which means no directions. Students need to problem solve to figure out what JiJi is trying to get them to do in order for JiJi to cross the screen. The puzzles become progressively more difficult as students need to use what they learned in the last puzzle to be successful in the next. Each level helps them cross the bridge in order to get to the next mountain. This continuum allows students to build connections and fosters growth around Number Sense.

What exactly is number sense, you might be asking? Number sense is a person’s ability to compose and decompose numbers, compute mentally using a variety of strategies, make reasonable estimates, reason with numbers, and understand quantities and the magnitude of numbers. It begins with learning to count and seeing the patterns in our number system and grows to being able to look at a more complex problem and find the most efficient way to solve it based on the numbers. ST Math is just one way students work on their Number Sense. The activities students do in Number Corner everyday also help strengthen this skill. Below are some links with quick activities to help build number sense at home in your daily activities.

Quick Number Sense activities for in the car, while waiting to pick up a sibling, cooking dinner or waiting for a meal at a restaurant.
12 Activities to Build Number Sense
What is Number Sense

We are looking forward to a great end to our March Mathness Tournament and love the excitement and energy the students are bringing to their classrooms around it. Just as a frame of reference, the puzzle progress goal for the end of March for all students is 64%. Our goal this year is for all students to reach at least 80% completion by June and March Mathness is helping so many students take positive steps toward reaching that goal!