Inside this issue:

Where in NES am I? Preschool Info

2

News from our Classrooms

3-8

PTA News 8

Recycling 9

Important Dates & Contact Info

12

Upcoming Events & Flyers

13-14

Announcements 10-11

February 4, 2011 Volume 1, Issue 11

The N.E.S. Newt-paper Newbury Elementary School Newsletter

What an amazing stretch of snowy wintry weather! It has certainly made finding our academic stride and rhythm more of a challenge but we will get there. On that note I wanted to share that as a school staff we will be undergoing an evaluation of our past and current homework practices to ensure that tasks assigned to students while at home are purposeful, rigorous, and engaging and provide a meaningful extension of the learning be-gun in school that day. While we do not simply equate amount with rigor, we will be adhering to school committee policy and generalized guidelines that will give target ranges for expected completions time of homework at each grade level. Each student is unique and with that in mind our collective homework practices require differentia-tion just as our classroom instructional practices do. We value homework that meets the criteria above while seeking to provide ap-propriate levels of challenge and opportunities for critical thinking for each student. Homework should be challenging and engaging but not overwhelmingly frustrating. As we move forward, you will find that your child's homework reflects our commitment to rigor, engage-ment, purpose, differentiation, and critical thinking skills. We welcome your input and encourage you to keep your child's teacher informed about his/her experiences with homework that help the teacher in planning future amounts and assignments.

Michael Tracy, Principal

Page 2 Volume 1, Issue 11

Where in NES am I???

Look at the picture to the right—Can you find where I am in NES? Keep your eyes open to spot me—and check the next newslet-ter for the answer!

Preliminary applications are available for next year’s program. Children must be three years old before September 1, 2011 and live in Newbury or Byfield in order to apply. Spaces are limited. The Preschool provides child-centered developmen-tally appropriate preschool classes for young children ages three to five. The preschool program is fully accredited by the National Association for the Edu-cation of Young Children. Classes meet two, three, or four half days each week. Tuition is based on the number of days/week. Financial assistance based on income is available for those who qualify.

NES Preschool Information

Thank you to the PTA for the Smartboard in the 5th grade! We had the opportunity to Skype with Cindy Fitzgibbon of Fox25 News to discuss our current unit in science, Weather and Climate. Stu-dents were able to ask Cindy weather and climate questions, and answered some of the questions Ms. Fitzgibbons asked them! Our “Weather Q & A on Skype” session may have been recorded on WFXT and shown on Fox25 News or myfoxboston.com. Let us know if you see us!

News from our Classrooms

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 11

Grade 5

Students have been practicing how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions. They have also iden-tified key words that help choose an operation to solve problems involving fractions. For example, ask your sixth grader to help you solve this: There were 3 dozen muffins. ¾ of them were blueberry. How many muffins were blueberry flavored and how many were not?

Many students are involved in the creation of arts and technol-

ogy integrated projects to be shared at Family Math Night on March 3rd. Here are just a few projects underway: • Rebecca Cagney, Skyla Lewis, and Dana Rybicki have conducted

a consumer report to find out the difference in quality, taste, and value of different pizza brands, including one homemade pizza. Using the formula for area of a circle, they were able to determine the cost per square bite of each pizza. Comparisons of each are presented in a Power Point presentation.

• Ryan Cooper and Chris Pedrone are researching the history of prime numbers and how to they relate to other mathematical concepts and ideas. They are in the process of graphing the coordinates of relatively prime numbers

and are discovering some beautifully intricate and complex patterns. • Maggie Gilbert and Izzy St. Arnault are learning about hyperbolic space and are creating crocheted coral reef structures that demonstrate inward curvature. Each structure is crocheted using different ratios of stitches be-tween rows. They are creating a video to demonstrate this process.

As we now transition into a Geometry unit, students will ex-plore both 2D and 3D geometry concepts. There will be many hands-on investigative opportunities for students to explore how geometry makes up the world around us.

6th grade Math

Physical Education classes finished the year 2010 with a unit of Jug-gling Scarves. In the younger grades this activity provided great track-ing practice and the older children began to juggle in a criss-cross pat-tern. A chalk talk also explained how the ability to cross the midline of the body connects the right hemisphere of the brain to the left. This connection creates whole brain integration and increases the ability to think and learn. Grades 3-6 progressed to a 6 minute jog/walk assess-ment as well right before the holiday break. Teamwork, balance and the thrill of rolling down the gym floor on scooters to-ward foam bowling pins are part of the traditional after holiday break activity- "Human Bowling." This was an all grades activity. Correct pushup technique was re-

viewed and in grades 1-6 a peer assessment was done. By assess-ing a friend's pushup children are essentially "learning by teach-ing." The formative teacher assessment takes place the following class. Currently grades 3-6 are in a mini basketball unit. The fit-ness jog/walk time has increased to 7 minutes. Grades K-2 are tak-ing on playground ball challenges and taking time to work on the basic basketball skills of dribbling and correct shooting technique with foam balls, mini hoops and lowered regulation hoops.

News from our Classrooms

Page 4 Volume 1, Issue 11

Physical Education

NES has 18 sixth grade science students participating in the Triton Middle School Science and En-gineering Fair! Students meet after school each week for three months as they work on their re-search and experiment design. The science fair experience helps students to develop their inquiry and organizational skills as they progress from finding a testable question for their project, re-searching the topic, conducting an experiment, and sharing their final projects on display boards. This is the second year of the Middle School Science Fair for Triton and the first year that 6th graders are meeting in their own elementary schools to be coached. Teacher Nancy Nicholson is coaching the participants from NES. All of the students will showcase their work at the Triton Science Fair at the beginning of April. Winners will have the opportunity to advance to the Regional Massachusetts Mid-dle School Science & Engineering Fair on April 30, 2011. Best wishes to all participants. NES is proud to have so many of our students joining with other student scientists from our district!

6th Grade Scientists and the Middle School Science Fair

In spite of the snow and the days spent at home we are producing lots of art. The sixth grade students have learned how to use a ruler to make a grid. They are now filling the grid with tessellations just like the artist M.C. Escher. Children in fifth grade are drawing self-portraits with pencil. It’s hard, slow work but they are awe-some! Fourth graders have fashioned winter scenes by tearing paper (they didn’t really need to use their imaginations for that). Learning about human pro-portions was the focus of this unit. Children in the third grade have been unleashing their creativity and making a huge mess of the art room. They are painting with warm, cool and neu-tral colors using a variety of techniques. The pa-pers that they make will be cut up and used to build collages. Back in their classes they will write a story or poem to go with the pictures they make just like the artist/author Eric Carle. Second graders learned about printmaking and ra-dial symmetry while making fanciful turtles. The students in first grade are having fun learning about portraits while creating one of a clown. The drawings they made are being painted with water-colors now. Large, symmetrical stuffed fish have been on the menu for Kindergartners. Fortunately they will hang from the ceiling and NOT be eaten. **PLEASE DONATE: If you have any small cos-metic mirrors you can donate for use in our 5th grade self-portraits, it would be appreciated!

News from our Classrooms

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 11

Art News

Tessellation

Winter collage

Radial Symmetry

In December all classes sing Christmas carols, Hanukkah songs and winter songs during music class. After winter vacation: Grade 6 – We learned sign language for Auld Lang Syne and then learned about triads and chords. The students sang the song while playing the accompaniment (chords) with three mallets on various Orff instru-ments. We also played a Chinese street percussion piece where every child had either a drum (gathering drum, conga drum, tubano, etc.), or a metal instrument (cymbal, triangle, bell tree, tambourine, etc.). The boys and girls took turns on various instruments. This was a great review for reading rhythms and incor-porating a multicultural rhythmic activity.

Grade 5 – The students learned the Troika dance from Russia. They also did a unit with Orff instruments playing and singing a song called Rhythm Rondo. They learned about a variety of sixteenth note combinations, sang, played Orff instruments and learned about rondo form.

Grade 4 – We had fun with the hand clapping game “Double, Double, This, This”, adding hand drums and other unpitched percussion instruments. We also learned an English Folk song, “The Tree in the Wood”. Everyone sang, some children played Orff instruments and some children were the “actors”. Grade 3 – We have kept up with our recorder playing, and most children have now earned their white, yellow, orange and red belts. Remember, they can come see me before school on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday mornings if they would like some extra help or if they still need to earn these belts. I will be starting the “bead” program soon. The children can play a “non belt” song to earn a bead. These beads can be added to their belts.

Grades K,1 and 2 – We continue to use Beanie Babies for our tone drills which help us to match pitch when we sing. We also have been singing a variety of songs, playing movement and singing games on the rug, and playing listening games. First and Second grades have also been bringing stories “alive” by adding song, music and sound effects to a Robert Munsch book. In first grade we are using “Thomas’ Snowsuit” and in second grade the story is “Mortimer”. The children are enjoying the integration of music and litera-ture.

News from our Classrooms

Page 6 Volume 1, Issue 11

Music Department News

Sixth graders continue to explore the world by specific regions. The students researched the ge-ography of Southwest Asia and North Africa and prepared group projects on Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, Egypt and the Nile River, and how three of the world's major religions developed in this region. They are all devel-oping their presentation skills and enjoy learning from their peers. Map skills continue to be a focus, and our student cartographers are turning out some impressive products! Next stop… Africa!

6th grade Social Studies

Page 7 Volume 1, Issue 11

News from our Classrooms

If You’ll Be My Valentine by Cynthia Rylant. HarperCollins, 2005. This rhyming picture book features a little boy making handmade cards for his family and pets. The Biggest Valentine Ever by Steven Kroll. Scholastic, Inc. 2006. Clayton and Desmond, two little mice, argue over a valentine they are making for their teacher. They discover that if they cooperate instead of fighting, they can produce “the biggest valentine ever!”

The Day it Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond. HarperCollins, 1983. One day, it rains hearts—and Cornelia Augusta begins to catch them. She fills the pockets of her raincoat with hearts and takes them home. When she begins to make valentines out of them, each one is different. She strings several hearts together as a collar for the dog. She makes a valentine heart with a cotton ball tail for the rabbit, and a holey Swiss cheese valentine for the mouse. Even though it never rains hearts again, Cornelia Augusta always finds a way to make cards for her friends. Valentine Mice! by Bethany Roberts. Clarion Books, 1997. This rhyming picture book shows cute little mice delivering valentines by the sled-full on a snowy winter day. They stop at each woodland creature’s house to leave a card. When one little mouse gets stuck in a snow drift, his friends launch a search. Everyone works together to dig him out before giving a valentine hug! Happy Reading! Mrs. O’Brien and Mrs. Valentine

The NES Elementary Advanced Band and NES Select Choir will be performing at the Triton Regional School District Arts Festival on March 15th. Here, the students will have the opportunity to share music with other elementary schools in addition to performing with the Middle School and High School students. They will also hear performances by the Triton Percussion Ensemble and this spring's musical! This event will last the whole school day. Students must remember to bring a bag lunch on this day instead of buying cafeteria lunch. All instrumental students please remember to bring in your instruments to school and practice at home! A lot of students have not been remembering this due to the snow days or holidays. Don't forget to fill out your practice charts and get them signed. If you would like the MP3s of our next concert's music, please email Mr. Carubia at kcarubia@trsd.net

Band & Choir

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with books!

Page 8 Volume 1, Issue 11

PTA News

Don’t miss the 2nd Annual Pub Quiz Night Fundraiser, March 12, 2011 at 7:00 pm at the Governor’s Academy, Phillips House. Team registration forms and information on this fun event were sent home with students this week. Come and enjoy your picnic din-ner and socialize with friends while testing your knowledge on the Quiz. Each member of the winning team will receive gift bags val-ued at more than $100. There will also be a chance to win an iPad or many other great prizes during the night. $200 for a table of 8 includes complimentary champagne and hors d’oeurves reception. Please contact Wendy Wood at wendywood17@comcast.net to reserve your table today!

Please consider attending the Newbury Financial Task Force meeting on Thursday February 10th at 7pm in the Newbury Town Library. The Task Force is comprised of Town Officials, members of the Finance Committee and School Committee members. At the meeting they will be discussing the state of the town’s finances and how this will affect the town and school budgets. If you would like to hear where your town and school district stand financially,

this is the Meeting to attend. We hope to see you there.

The 6th grade ELA class recently completed writing their own myths. We are also working on submitting Peace Poems to the annual Peace Poetry contest at Northern Essex Community Col-lege. Over the past couple of years, students at NES have been highly represented in NECC Po-etry book. In addition, students are working on writing a poem focusing on Martin Luther King Jr. Our next writing assignment is researching a topic of interest to complete a narrative story with non-fiction elements. Students research a topic of choice and use their research to write a creative story. Students are reading books from a recommended reading list to complete reading recommendation forms and independent essays. The forms are posted on the bulletin boards outside the 6th grade classrooms. The titles include: Becoming Naomi Leon, Al Capone Does My Shirts, Pictures of Hollis Woods, Young Man and the Sea, The Liberation of Gabriel King, The Conch Bearer, A Single Shard, Weedflower The Red Pyramid, Ghost of Spirit Bea, The Chronicles of Narnia, The

6th grade ELA

Page 9 Volume 1, Issue 11

We are pleased to announce that we have received another donation towards a new dishwasher for our cafeteria. Mr. and Mrs. William Deane, grandparents of 6th graders - Will and Derek True, donated $50. Thank you for your generous dona-tion, Mr. and Mrs. Deane! We wanted to fill you in on NES's Juice Pouch Brigade if you were not already famil-iar. Many of you may realize that we recycle your children's juice pouches (including Capri Sun and Honestly Kids) at school. They are collected in a barrel in the cafeteria as well as some class-rooms. The bagful is then taken by one of our Recycling Committee members, the pouches are drained, rinsed, and banded together, then shipped to Terracycle who pays us $.02 per pouch. The PTA initiated this program and then generously turned it over to our committee so that the proceeds go directly towards our dishwasher fund-raising efforts. Terracycle then turns the pouches into usable products like handbags and pencil cases. Please see their website for more information at www.terracycle.net. Understand that these pouches are NOT ABLE TO BE RECYCLED WITH REGULAR RECYCLING. They can only be turned into something else. We cannot place them in our single-stream recycling bins nor can they be put into your home recycling. We have collected thousands this year alone. Keep in mind, however, that regular juice boxes (cardboard square kind) CAN be recycled. As another alternative you can always pur-chase large bottles of juice and pour them into reusable drink containers. This is not only the most earth friendly option but the least expensive. The process regarding the juice pouches is time consuming and we need your help. If you would be willing to take a bag to clean and count, we'd be happy to drop it off to you and pick it up when you're ready. There is no rush or time limit. Without this program in place and your assistance, we will no longer be able to recycle these and they will end up in the regular dump-ster. The children have worked hard to recycle this year and have made so much progress with recycling that we would not like that to happen. Please contact Sally Milliken at milldoo@comcast.net or Tammy Cotter at tammycotter@comcast.net to volunteer or for more information about the NES Recycling Com-mittee. Thank you. Recycling tip of the week: Old Sneakers Do you know that you can recycle your old sneakers? You can drop up to 10 pairs per person, per visit, to the Converse Store located at 115A Main Street, North Andover, MA. This program is in cooperation with Nike and is fully described at converse.com/reuseashoe. The basic process is that after the shoes are dropped off, they are transported to one of two facilities, lo-cated in Memphis, Tennessee and Meerhout, Belgium, where each shoe is cut into three slices—rubber out-sole, foam midsole and fiber upper. These slices are then fed through grinders and purified. The result is three high-quality Nike Grind materials ready to be put back in the game: • Nike Grind Rubber – made from the shoe’s outsole and used in track surfaces, interlocking gym flooring tiles and playground surfaces.

• Nike Grind Foam – made from the shoe’s midsole and used as cushion for outdoor basketball and tennis courts. • Nike Grind Fiber – made from the shoe’s fabric upper and used in the creation of cushioning pads for facilities like indoor synthetic courts and wood courts. To create these surfaces, Converse partners with Nike and top-quality surfacing companies, providing them with Nike Grind material and working together to develop innovative sports surfaces.

Recycling Committee

Page 10 Volume 1, Issue 11

ANNOUNCEMENTS

We are wrapping up the fourth annual Valentine's Day Greeting Card Drive to benefit the senior citizens in the Newbury-Byfield area. As you may remember, there are 1,100 senior citizens in this community, a large portion of which are considered “shut-ins” or are in assisted living situations. As a community service, we are delighting these seniors again with some Valentine cheer from Newbury’s younger population. The Newbury Council on Aging will han-dle the addressing and mailing of these envelopes. We anticipate sending out over 500

cards and we've had a wonderful amount of positive feed-back from the community from our Holiday Card Drive. Thanks to NES families for sending in stamps for this ef-fort!

Please join us on Thursday, March 3rd from 5:30-7:00 P.M. for Family Math and Literacy Night. There will be games, contests, and activities for the entire family to enjoy. In addition, sixth grade students will be showcasing math projects in the auditorium. "Meal Deals", including a hot dog, chips, drink, and a brownie will be available for $5.00. The pro-ceeds from the “Meal Deals” will benefit the 2011-2012 6th grade environmental camp.

Family Math & Literacy Night

Valentine’s Day Card Drive

Page 11 Volume 1, Issue 11

In February, The Newbury Town Library is collaborating with Cradles to Crayons, a Massachusetts children's services agency, and the Boston Bruins in hosting a drive to collect pajamas for children in need throughout the state. Newbury Elementary School and Triton Regional High School stu-dents are also involved in some library events planned during the month. Participants in the Newbury Town Library Story Hour program kicked off the donation drive by wearing their pajamas to the library and bringing in pajamas for other children. Cradles to Crayons is an innovative non-profit organization, located in Brighton that equips homeless and in-need children with basic essentials. A program of Irish music will be offered in the meeting room of the library on Friday night, February 11, at 8 p.m. Fiddle player Brendan Bulger and bodhran player Eoin McQuinn will be performing. The program is free to the public as it is supported by a grant from the Newbury Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Attendees who bring pajamas to donate or make a donation to the Friends of the Newbury Town Library will be entered in a raffle for a gift certificate to the Port Tavern in Newburyport.

On Friday, February 18, members of the Triton Regional track team will visit Newbury Ele-mentary School and visit the classrooms to read to the younger students to promote the pa-jama drive. Newbury Elementary School is registered to be eligible to win prizes from the Bruins to enter a competition among other elementary schools to collect pajamas. It will be Pajama Day at NES that day and the guest readers will be wearing their pajamas also. Younger grades will hear the book "Winter is the Warmest Season" by Lauren Stringer and older grades will read "Testing the Ice" by Sharon Robinson. NES Principal Michael Tracy, Assistant Principal Heather Leonard, Triton Principal Kevin McLaughlin and Triton staff members Andrea Sargent, Kathy Norton, Janice Kovach and Joe Colbert have all been essential in helping this event come to fruition. There will be a collec-

tion hamper for the pajamas in the lobby of Newbury Elementary School during the month of February. A special event is planned for February school vacation. A pajama movie program will be held on Wednesday, February 23 at 4 p.m. to watch "The Tooth Fairy". It is the story of a minor league hockey player (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) who is sentenced to serve as a tooth fairy to make amends for treating children badly. The movie is rated PG and runs for 101 minutes. (Please note children under the age of 8 years-old may not be left unattended at the library.) An entourage from the Boston Bruins-Ice Girls and the mascot Blades-will visit the library before the movie is shown. Children who bring pajamas to the library that day to donate to Cradles to Crayons will get a raffle ticket to be eligible to win prizes from the Bruins and team staff will hold some impromptu trivia contests. Moviegoers are invited to wear pajamas or Bruins clothing. A special bin will be provided for NES students to donate their pajamas at this event and they will count towards the school totals. The Newbury Town Library will be accepting donations of children's pajamas (sizes infant to boy's or girl's XL) from the public all month. The library is located at Zero Lunt Street in Byfield. Call the library at 978-465-0539 and ask for children's librarian, Laurie Collins, with any questions. Also check the web site www.newburylibrary.org for information about the library catalogue and all programming, including museum passes.

Cradles to Crayons with the Newbury Town Library

Newbury Elementary Triton Regional School

District 63 Hanover Street Newbury 01951

Phone: (978) 465-5353

Fax: (978) 463-3070

E-mail: mtracy@trsd.net

hleonard@trsd.net

PTA Officers President Maureen Heffernan, maureen.heffernan@comcast.net Co-VP Michelle Walsh,mwalsh9@msn.com Co-VP Patty Olson, patricianeil@comcast.net Treasurer Wendy Wood, wendywood17@comcast.net Secretary Betsy Carter, betsycarter21@gmail.com School Committee

Dina Sullivan, Chair, dsullivan@trsd.net Deborah Choate, Vice Chair, dchoate@trsd.net Suzanne Densmore, Secretary,suzannedensmore@trsd.net Lane Bourn, lbourn@trsd.net Linda Litcofsky, llitcofsky@trsd.net Holly Janvrin, hjanvrin@trsd.net Mary Murphy, mmurphy@trsd.net Paul Lees, plees@trsd.net Robin Williams, rwilliams@trsd.net

February 2/11—HALF DAY 2/11—Ski Program 12-6 P.M. 2/12—Task Force Meeting in Auditorium

9:30 A.M. 2/14—100th day of school! Valentine’s

Day 2/15—Grade 1, classroom event: Habitat

Walk 2/15—Grade 2, classroom event: Mu-

seum of Science Presentation 2/15—PAC meeting, 6:30 P.M. 2/17—Parent/Child Book Club, 6:30 P.M. 2/18—Newbury Library Pajama Project

*ALL SCHOOL PAJAMA DAY 2/18—NES Ski Program 2/21—2/25 VACATION

Upcoming Events

We’re on the Web! www.trsd.net/newbury

School Community The NES Newt-paper is published on a bi-weekly basis. If you would like to submit something to be included in the NES Newt-paper, please email your information to hleonard@trsd.net by the Tuesday be-fore the newsletter is published.

Plus Coupons for:10% off at :

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15% off PARTIDGE IN A BEAR TREE, VALERIE’S GALLERY, & JL COOMBS

PLEASE FILL OUT THE ORDER FORM BELOW AND RETURN TO SCHOOL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please give me _______ coupon book(s) at $25 each to be sent home with my child

in their TAKE HOME folder. I have enclosed a check/cash for $___________

(PLEASE MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO NES PTA)

STUDENT NAME: _____________________ GRADE/TEACHER: _____________________

BUY YOUR NEWBURY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUPON BOOK TODAY!

Filled with great coupons for local shops you love and patronize – this book has been cus-tom designed to save you hundreds of dollars – all while helping the children at NES! -

Books cost $25 and all proceeds go directly to the NES PTA

$5.00 off purchase of $50 at Valentines Free large thin crust Pizza when you buy a large thin crust pizza at Rowley House of Pizza $10 off a purchase of $30 or more at A SHORE THING $10 off a $35 oil change at state street MOBIL $40 off a $139.95 car detailing at FRASER AUTOMOTIVE 20% off TAMARA handbags Free $3.00 cupcake when you buy one cupcake at EAT CAKE Save $2.00 on a $20.00 purchase at GRAND TRUNK Save $5,00 on any $20 order from UPPER CRUST 15% off any catered party from 2 – 100 people GOT THYME PERSONAL CHEF Half price beverage at SOUFFLES