"Earth Day Every Day" and other important lessons!

As the expression goes "Time flies when you're having fun!" and we've been having fun and learning each day! We look forward to a busy end of the year with various class field trips and school activities.  Here are some highlights of the great work your students are doing. Please email us or comment below to let us know you've viewed our blog. Also feel free to send along any questions or suggestions!

Congrats to 3rd ,4th and 5th graders who showed great effort during the PARCC in April testing! 

Students earned certificates for their work learning about how to protect the environment and practice the 3 Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)

Students' work on display. 

Students read Through Jane's Eyes 
about Dr. Jane Goodall's conservation work.

5th grader Omar putting his persuasive writing skills to use for the environment by composing a letter to encourage staff and students to reduce their paper use. 

3rd grader,  Yali,  responding to the Dr. Seuss book The Lorax 
and reading what he would do with the last truffala seed. 

4th grader reading The Lorax

2nd graders, Tanmayee and Tarandip, shaping
symbols of the environment.

Spring Updates

Works in progress from the ELL classroom:

4th graders matching government terms
 and definitions. 

5th grader writing a letter to a candidate for State Representative

3rd graders learning about "Growth Mindsets"

1st graders planting a seed 

2nd graders learning how to take care of the Earth for Earth Day, April 22nd. 

1st graders reading The Earth Book

1st graders playing a baseball game for Red Sox Opening Day! 

K students practicing their "Turn and Talk" skills 

Here are some local events for the vacation week ahead:

Free and fun activities for kids at the Burlington Library
http://www.burlington.org/departments/library/children/programs.php

Events this weekend through Tuesday in neighboring Lexington to commemorate Patriot's Day and the start of the American Revolution, (*3rd and 5th grade Social Studies Connection :)
http://www.lexingtonma.gov/patriotsday

The Boston Marathon will on Monday, April 18th. See runners from around the world compete in this historic 26.2 mile race. The marathon can be viewed in many Boston suburbs, as well as at the finish line in downtown Boston. Check the website below for details and course map.
http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon.aspx


**Special note to parents of 3-5th grade students: PARCC  English Language Arts testing will begin Tuesday, April 26th through April 28th (PARCC Math testing May2-5th). Remember:

The keys to success on the test,  

Are a good night's rest

And a healthy breakfast! 

                                                                         ~ From the poets Mrs. Moussa and Mrs. G :)

Spring is in the air...or is it snow?

Hello Families,

Here are some pictures from our  St. Patrick's Day activities and celebration this past Thursday.  Students put on their "poetry" caps to create funny limericks, which are 5 line poems that are popular in Ireland. The limericks will be sent home next week,  but please ask your children about the clever ( &sometimes silly) rhymes they wrote! We also read the traditional Irish folktale Jamie O'Rourke and the Giant Potato by Tomie DePaola and played a game to test students' understanding and recall of the story.

                  

                                              "Laughable Limericks"  by the Memorial ELL Poets

Be on the lookout for a questionnaire we will be sending home next week requesting more information about the special holidays that are important to your family.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the nice weather before the possible snowstorm Sunday night!

Winter Update

3rd graders Yali and Harkiran

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Here are some updates from the ELL classroom this winter. 

• Students finished ACCESS testing at the beginning of February. We were very impressed and proud of their efforts! Scores will be released in June but feel free to contact us if you have any questions. 

We celebrated Chinese New Year by discussing the holiday's symbolism and painting the Chinese characters for "Good Luck" and "Good Fortune" to decorate our door. We also read books to learn about Chinese history and culture. Finally, we played Zodiac Bingo and did a "Chopstick Challenge!"

1st graders, Piyush and Hayato, painting Chinese characters

Tanmayee, 2nd grade, trying out chopsticks

1st graders, Ani, Piyush and Hayato taking the "Chopstick Challenge" 

4th graders, Harbir and Asya, writing Valentine poems

In honor of Valentine's Day, students read some Valentine's Day poems and created their own notes to share with special people in their lives. We also created a poster featuring love in different languages and the various ways to show love. 

2nd grader, Tanmayee, with her Valentine messages for her family 

5th grader, Omar, adding the phrase "I love you"
in Somali

In addition to testing and celebrating holidays,students have continued following their grade level curricula to build their English proficiency. 

  Be sure to ask your children about all the fun lessons they have been doing in the ELL classroom! 

Also check out the many free and fun activities at the Burlington Public library over the vacation week:

http://www.burlington.org/departments/library/children/index.php

K students Neeraj and Ryota sculpting after a read aloud about creativity

Students as teachers- A 1st grade student brought in an Arabic workbook to share with her classmates.  

Holiday Celebrations Around the World

Throughout the month of December, students were busy studying some special holidays and how they are celebrated around the world. 

3rd grade students playing dreidel. 

We started by talking about the Jewish holiday of Chanukah. Students listened to stories and learned about different Chanukah traditions. A third grade student shared his knowledge and even taught students to play the dreidel game.

2nd grade student explaining Kwanzaa display

Next we learned about Kwanzaa, a winter holiday that was started in the United States to honor African American heritage.  We colored kinaras and read Seven Candles for Kwanzaa. We also had a small Kwanzaa display to represent the harvest and the richness of African traditions. 

Fourth grade students with their molded clay lamps

Then we studied Diwali, which is one of India's biggest and most important holidays of the year.  Parents sent in great pictures, links to websites, and articles to help us learn more about this special fall festival. We also made our own clay lamps (sometimes called diyas) which the students molded and painted to take home.

3rd grade students showing their finished Diwali diyas and Christmas Babushka dolls

Finally, we talked about how Christmas is celebrated in different countries, including Russia where one of our students is from. We watched a video and read parts of Merry Christmas Everywhere before coloring in Babushka dolls from Russia. Some older students read The Smallest Gift of Christmas to remind us to be grateful for what we already have, including our families and our homes.

First grade students coloring their "Babushka" dolls

We loved having students share their holiday traditions and learning from one another. Students also realized how much the diverse the holidays have in common, like being with family, giving to charity, and using light as an important symbol. 

We look forward to working with students after the break when we will be learning about New Year's around the world and especially in parts of Asia.
We wish you a safe, happy and relaxing winter break.

*School begins again on Monday, January 4th, 2016!

Giving Thanks at Memorial

Next Thursday, November 26th, many Memorial students and families will be celebrating the national holiday of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a day to gather with family and friends and give thanks.
In preparation for this day, students have been talking about what they are grateful for and the many ways to show their appreciation.

This year, we are glad to be a part of the Memorial community and we are thankful for our students who are so hard working, respectful and kind to one another. It is a pleasure for us to come to work each day and see them grow.

For this blog, we have a "guest blogger" from the 5th grade who shared his thoughts on what he is grateful for this year.

"I am thankful for my parents and my family because I love them.  I am also grateful for the festival of Eid because we all gathered together and prayed.  It was a special time for Muslims and it made me feel happy.   In addition, I appreciated all the food we ate. This year I'd like to express my gratitude for my family, friends and my religion."    ~ Omar Room 232

We hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving! 

 

Hello from the ELL Classroom!

Welcome

Thank you for visiting our blog. This will be a place where you can find monthly postings about the English Language Learning Program at Memorial School. We will include

•  photos
•  examples of student work
• updates on what we are learning
•  information about some school events. 

For more frequent updates about the happenings at Memorial School, please visit Principal Dressler's blog at  http://memorialprincipal.blogspot.com/ (You can also find the link on the right side of this page.)

We hope that this blog is one of the many ways that you will feel connected to Memorial School. If you have any suggestions for information you would like us to include for future blog posts,  please email us and we will appreciate your ideas. Also, please enter your email in the box in the right-hand column and press the "submit" button to receive a notification every time a new blog is posted. Also, if you would like this blog or Principal Dressler's blog translated, you can select another language under the word "translate"  in the right-hand column.

Happy Reading!