Volume 3 November 3rd, 2022

The First Branch Newsletter  

A bi-weekly newsletter from Principal Janet Cash and Associate Principal Kate Liptak featuring photos, stories, and updates from the Chelsea and Tunbridge schools.

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A new school year has begun! Follow us on Facebook for daily photos, updates, and announcements. 

Upcoming Dates to Note:


November 8 - Tunbridge Picture Day

November 10 - NO SCHOOL, In-Service Day

November 11 - NO SCHOOL, Veterans Day


Greetings First Branch Families!


We hope that all of our First Branch families had an enjoyable Halloween experience and are ready for winter to hit. 


We know that it has been unseasonably warm and we know that winter is coming so please be sure to check and make sure that your student’s have what they need for the colder weather.  Please reach out to our school nurses or administrative assistants if you are in need of any cold weather gear.  


A few updates from the past few weeks… 


In Chelsea we have launched our pebble system where students are earning rewards based on pro social behavior that align with our R.O.A.D agreements.  R.O.A.D. stands for Ready, Open, Allied and Determined and are being deliberately taught in our town hall sessions as well as in advisory.  When students are shown upholding one of these agreements they are rewarded with a pebble to fill our jars and when the jars are full we earn a celebration.  On October 28th our entire middle school earned a celebration and voted on a whole-school game of capture the flag.  


Also on October 28th we had our advisory scarecrow display set up on the North Common.  Amy Bogardus and the 7th grade health class spearheaded this event and worked with our advisors, students, town officials, and school personnel to make this event a success.  Amy and her classes also planned our dance on Friday, October 28th.  Fun was had by all!


Our Tunbridge campus has been moving and grooving with their R.O.A.D. agreements.  Students met as a whole-school community on Friday, October 28th and read “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak.  We then challenged students to create their own wild things using surprise materials.  These will be on display in our downstairs hallway.  


Thank you to all that reached out with an offer to donate gourds for our school celebration on November 4th.  We are happy to say that we have all that we need.




Sincerely,


Janet Cash, Principal


Kate Liptak, Associate Principal


2nd Grade News

Ms. Caitlyn’s Second Grade



In Second Grade we have been exploring strategies for addition and subtraction using number racks, number lines and strings as well as strategies for solving one step story problems and are beginning a unit on place value and measurement. Students are practicing accurate counting strategies (making groups of tens when counting large quantities) through hands-on investigations.



In Literacy we continue to work on foundational concepts like letter-sound correspondence, sounding out and blending words with digraphs and consonant blends. It is so exciting to see students developing and using strategies for reading and spelling words. Both Second Grade classes work collaboratively multiple times a week in a writing workshop which has been focused on developing a writing community and introducing writing conventions. 


This year our school is working hard to acknowledge positive behaviors. We do this by giving students stickers when we see them following the class agreements for being Ready, Open-minded, Allied and Determined (R.O.A.D.). Last week students met a class goal and we celebrated with a student-voted hot cocoa celebration in the woods. Lastly, in our outdoor classroom students continue to explore nature and build community through games and play weekly.








Ms. DePaul’s Second Grade 


In second grade we have been working with our students on the terms “ready” and “allied.” We have been focusing on embracing these moments with each other and working towards classroom obtainable ready and allied goals. To celebrate these accomplishments both second grade classes joined together in an outdoor classroom for a special exploration event. 

On Thursdays, Ms. DePaul’s class has been working with Ms. Eliza. During this time students demonstrate types of math strategies learned in previous math lessons. This past week students created arrays with items collected within their outdoor space. Students have also been learning how to read a thermometer and what some realistic guesses for the temperature of that day would be. Outdoor exploration also includes time where students can work together to create structures or invent outdoor themed games and activities that are student lead. 


The past two weeks both second grade classes have been discovering how they are writers. Students created a heart map that they will be keeping in their writing journals. This will inspire them to write about things, people, and places they love. Students shared what they added to their heart map and why they added them. We are very excited to start to write about these in upcoming lessons! 

Math News 

Miss Cavanaugh's Class 



In math this past month, studente have been working on multiplication and division through finding the area of models, learning certain multiplication strategies, and getting to be hands-on with building creations. One of our favorite creations we made is pictured, and it’s called “A Layer A Day”. Students have been building 5 x 6 pieces, and adding a new layer to our creation each day. We then multiply the 5 x 6 area with how many layers we have, to determine how many blocks there are all together. Pictured is also the chart that goes along with the tower. 

Students have noticed amazing math patterns through this activity. Another highlight this month has been learning about helpful multiplication strategies. Yes, math is different now in these ways, but there is a reason: the process of using these longer strategies instead of the standard algorithm helps students understand the process of why the math works, and that’s more important than getting to the correct answer. Ask your child about using these strategies: Partial Products, Remove 1 group, Double and Halving, and Associative/Commutative Property. They are truly making amazing progress and it’s a joy to watch their math brains grow!

Mrs. Allen's Class 


The second half of the day at the middle school starts with clubs and then E&I, (enrichment and intervention). I am the new Math Interventionist (Mrs. Allen) and meet with students during this time frame. A couple of the students have shown the initiative to come in during their club time to receive extra help, this has given them confidence in their math skills. My goal for students this year is to realize that we learn more from our mistakes than from already knowing the answer. This is one of my favorite quotes that prove this point.


“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

5th & 6th Grade Math with Mrs. Colby


In 5th grade math we just finished our first unit which focused on multiplying and dividing using area models, as well as writing and evaluating numerical expressions.  Students were able to build models using unifix cubes to determine volume and surface area.  Students also explored and learned about several different multiplication strategies.  Students will still be exposed to the standard multiplication algorithm but learning and working with other strategies help the understanding of “why”.  Ask your student to show you multiple ways to find the product of 25 * 32.   








In 6th grade math we just completed our Prime Time unit. Prime Time focused on factors and multiples of whole numbers. Students worked on prime factorization, divisibility rules, finding the greatest common factor and the least common multiple. We also extended writing the factorization of numbers using exponents and explored the distributive property. Many of these tasks were embedded in story problems. We had a lot of fun with the Locker Problem. Ask your student what is the first locker that student number 8 and student number 15 would both touch. You could also ask which students would touch locker number 72.  


I am excited to see the growth of the 5th and 6th grade students as we continue to explore and dig deeper into the math content!

Art News 

Art in Tunbridge 



Grades K-4 have been using artistic ways to think about and influence ideas about friends and superheroes. Students have spent time observing, drawing, painting and sculpting and we are creating a gallery of our work in the hallway and now are beginning to build objects that superheroes and friends use in a sculpture unit.

 


Art in Chelsea 



Middle school students use studio time to create elaborate project based learning directives with elements of writing, building, sewing, drawing, and painting. All projects are focused on contemporary artists, problem-solving, concept mapping, the elements of belonging and equity while at the same time being fantastical and approachable from many different angles. This trimester, students chose between Fantasy Creatures: Cute or Cruel or Food Delights: How contemporary artists use food as a way to look at the world around us. 

Thank you for reading the First Branch Newsletter!