Pelham Press

Vol. 19,  No. 10    October 30, 2008

http://www.arps.org./pe/

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Thursday,  October 30                                                                Amherst Trivia Bee, 7 – 9 PM

Friday,  October 31                                                                    Halloween Party, 5:30 PM

Sunday,  November 2                                                                 Daylight Savings Time Ends

Monday,  November 3                                                                 Pelham PTO, 7:00 PM

Thursday,  November 6                                                               Pelham School Committee, 7 PM

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From the Principal:

Several recent events remind us all how very precious our children are and how important it is to appreciate each day with them.  Being a parent is a huge responsibility, and we parents make dozens of decisions every day that affect our children’s health and well being.  It is important for parents to be aware of the environments your children are in when they are away from you.  To keep your child safe, keep the lines of communication open with your children, with their teacher, and with other parents and adults in the community.  If you feel that there is a problem or a situation that is unsafe, ask questions, follow your instinct, and use your best judgment.  You are your child’s guardian, model, and advocate.  We want every parent to feel that their children are in a safe, nurturing, and secure place at Pelham School, a place where children can learn and grow. Please feel free to call me or your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns.             Rena Moore

 

TRICK OR TREAT For UNICEF

wE HAVE COLLECTION BOXES FOR THE “TRICK OR TREAT FOR UNICEF” PROJECT.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE FOR YOUR CHILD TO PARTICIPATE, PLEASE STOP BY THE SCHOOL OFFICE TO PICK ONE UP.  oR, YOU CAN CALL or SEND A NOTE TO THE SCHOOL OFFICE, AND WE WILL PUT ONE IN YOUR CHILD’S BAG.

 

AMHERST TRIVIA BEE

 

Thursday, October 30, 2008, 7:00-9:00pm

Middle School Auditorium

 

What a great family evening out.

 Only $3 admission per audience member.

Baked goods and lots of fun for all ages.

Come join us, the bigger the crowd the more fun!

All proceeds benefit Amherst Education Foundation.

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Tuesday, November 4th – Election Day BAKE SALE

 

Donate a baked good to support the 6th Grade end-of-year trip to Nature’s Classroom - while making voters happy! 

 

Simply bring your donation (home made or store bought) to the library on the day of voting. (You can just drop it off, and 5th and 6th grade representatives will sell the treats.)

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       Lunch Prices Are Going UP!      

 

STARTING NOVEMBER 3,

THE PRICE OF THE SCHOOL LUNCH WILL INCREASE.

$2.50 for a student lunch

($.40 for a reduced price student lunch)

 

Also, Breakfast will no longer be free.

Breakfast will cost $.50 each day.

($.30 for a reduced price breakfast)

 

 

 

 

 

Third Grade News

Meg Gallagher

 

 

  On October 25th, the third grade flew to Mexico City.  Students seemed to highly enjoy the simulation, complete with Captain Hasbrouke, Flight Attendants Hersey and Cummings (our Mt. Holyoke intern), and Professor Gallagher.  The in-flight movie (power point presentation) and snack were a big hit, as well as passports and boarding passes.  This simulation launched our new social studies unit about Mexico.  We will look at the geography, weather, history, culture, and art of Mexico.

  Students have completed their realistic fiction unit in Language Arts, and we have started our Traditional Literature unit this week.  We will be reading numerous folktales from around the world and recording examples from each that correspond with the elements of traditional folktales.  We will then look at four fractured folktales that are spin-offs of The Three Little Pigs.  Students will be writing their own fractured folktale later in the unit.

  This unit also encompasses fables and myths.  We will follow a similar outline for reading these types of traditional stories.

  I have enjoyed sharing the students personal experience stories with so many of you during parent conferences.  Students are now engaged in writing a friendly letter to a character from their realistic fiction novel.  We continue to concentrate on writing mechanics such as complete sentences, paragraphs, capital letters, punctuation, and spelling.

  Our new math unit called Surveys and Line Plots has students involved in collecting, organizing, representing, and describing categorical data.   Survey questions range from asking students where they like to read, to asking adults about the presidential campaign.

  The unit also involves collecting and analyzing data by measuring lengths and distances.  This portion of the unit helps students understand the relationship between feet and inches. They practice combining feet and inches to get a total measurement, and they learn correct notation to write a measurement in feet and inches.

  Remember, the third grade is collecting nonperishable foods for the Survival Center.  Our students made eye catching posters for each classroom in the school, and presented the posters with a short presentation explaining our community service project.  We appreciate any donations you are able to send in.  Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fourth Grade News

 

 

 

We are working hard in fourth grade.  In math, we are studying number sense.  More specifically we are looking at place value and larger numbers.  Students are working on comparing numbers using “greater than” and “less than” symbols, and organizing groups of numbers from least to greatest (and vice versa.)  We are also solving “money problems”.   Our main math unit is data collection and graphing. Students are learning how to make a line plot graph, determine the range and median, and interpret “the shape of the data.

 

Students have been reading a number of books about Native American culture.  We have learned what a typical day in the life of a Wampanoag boy looked like 300 years ago.  In Tapenum's Day, the main character was not chosen to be a warrior and he makes a plan to work hard to achieve his goal.  In People of the Breaking Day, children have been exposed to the way of life for this interesting tribe.  Once we have researched a bit more, students will make decisions about what aspects of this culture they want to focus on, and they will begin organizing a mini report.  For example, a child might want to do a report on trapping.  After they take notes on their subject they will organize their ideas into paragraphs.

 

I was really pleased with the students’ study skills as they took notes for their capitalization quiz.  Children were encouraged to make as many notes as they needed for an open book test.  They all did very well on this assignment.  Our next writing skills unit will be punctuation.

 

Conferences are just about wrapped up, but you should feel free to check in when you wish.  I gave my email address to a number of parents.  Here it is for the rest:  ShawA@arps.org.  It's important for us to keep in touch!

 

Thank You,

Mr. Shaw

 

 

 

 

…UPCOMING PTO EVENTS  

 

 

Friday, October 31st , 5:30 – 7 PM   HALLOWEEN PARTY !!!      

 

The PTO provides free cider and donuts. Pizza is on sale for $1 per slice.

 

Don’t forget your FLASHLIGHT!

After enjoying the games and activities families venture out to trick-or-treat together on the South Valley/Jones/Cadwell loop around the school.

 

 

 

 

 

          Pelham Parent Council/PTO Agenda

Monday, November 3, 2008, 7:00 p.m. -  School Cafeteria

 

Refreshments served followed by …

 

Updates

 

Principal’s Report – Rena

Treasurer’s Report – Diana

School Committee Report

 

Ongoing Business

 

Halloween Party review – Diana

Costumes toy weapons policy -

6th Grade trip/ PTO involvement – Laura/Kathy

Election Day Bake Sale - Sharrie

Coffee Sale - Amy

Gift wrap – Debbie

Arts Project – Linda

MovieNite

Upcoming Event Review

 

New Business

 

Spending goals/plans

 

Shopping Day in Amherst fundraiser

 

Scheduling Amherst Education Fund presentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amherst-Pelham Special Education

Parent Advisory Council

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Creating a Vision Statement for your Child”

 

 

November 19, 2008   6:30 – 8:30 pm

 

Chestnut Hill Community School Auditorium

59 State Street Belchertown, MA

(413) 324-0437

 

 

Our speaker will be Linda Surprenant from the Federation for Children with Special Needs.  She will be providing an overview on how to create a vision statement for your child.  

 

The vision statement required on page one of the Massachusetts IEP is a description that draws a picture of what your child's desired outcomes will be for the future. Your child's vision should address outcomes for the next year, five years, ten years and after graduation. The outcomes addressed in your child's vision should include participation in school and in the community, continuing education after high school, independent living and economic self-sufficiency. Your vision should guide the Team throughout the entire IEP development process in order to create a program that will bring your child closer to that vision in a meaningful way.

 

                       Parents, teachers and paraprofessionals please join us!

 

 

This Workshop is Co Sponsored by the Belchertown PAC and Amherst Pelham SEPAC

Questions call or email Gail at 256-0023 or g.w.hoyle@comcast.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alternative Holiday Gift Fair:

 

      For all of you wanting to give more meaningful gifts this year instead of simply more gifts, here's a chance to make a world of difference with one-stop shopping. It is the first time such an event has been held in this area, although similar events are popular in other parts of the country. 

 

     Setting up shop at the fair will be: Amherst Survival Center, Heifer International, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Collective Copies making available Worker Cooperative Products, Olive Branch Olive Oil, SERRV International, Foundation Honor for Haiti, Habitat for Humanity, Church World Service, United Church of Christ Global Ministries, Hitchcock Center for the Environment and Solentiname—Nicaragua Friendship Group of Western Massachusetts.  Most of the organizations are sending their own representatives to answer your questions and help you shop.

 

     Shoppers will find gift cards for everything from solar stoves to baskets of food for school children along with actual fair trade foods (coffee, tea, chocolate, nuts and more),  beautiful handcrafted items from around the world, holiday cards, books, plus much more.  Light lunch items will be available. 

 

     Where will you find this fabulous event?  In the Parish Hall building of North Congregational Church, UCC, 1195 North Pleasant Street, Amherst from 10-3 on Saturday, November 8.  That's at the corner of North Pleasant and Pine at the stoplight in North Amherst.  For information: Barbara at 253-2929

 

                                                                         

moorer@arps.org

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