We have begun the jam packed month of December! Polar Express day was a fun, pajama and story filled day at the school. Look below at some photos from students sporting holiday pj's around the school. |
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Our specialists led this month's community meeting, starting off with a new greeting. Students in each grade level did a cheer and then rose and waved hands in excitement when it was their "turn" to wave! We sang the "Forestdale Song" that students are becoming much more familiar with. Please see link below for the song/video and lyrics.
Each specialist chose two favored activities in their special classroom, and these images were compiled into a group "This or That" activity. Students chose from two pictures at a time, demonstrating their favorite by either putting hands on their head or hands on their lap. choices included listen to music or perform music, jump rope or hula hoop, snuggle with a book or read outdoors, studying the sweet gum tree or seed pod, and playing with robots or iPads. Mrs. Tufteroo ended our meeting with a sing along of holiday songs!
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Students in art are observing and learning how to draw self portraits. All students have a mirror on an easel, some reference pages of head, mouth and eye shapes and a pencil for sketching. I'm continually impressed with seeing how students "see" themselves and are able to recreate what they observe. |
Students enter the classroom between 8:45 and 9:00 and have routine, morning tasks to take care of. After putting away backpacks, folders, taking down their chair, they now have time to eat breakfast or work at an independent/social table activity. Some classrooms set out different activities at tables for students to play with while chatting, and starting their day in a social way. Playdough, building materials such as legos, magnetiles, and linking toys are some of the materials seen in classrooms that help students play to start their day. |
Part of the Responsible Classroom routine is giving students an opportunity to greet each other at the start of the day. In doing so, students learn the names of each of their classmates, and every student is given a welcoming greeting to the school day. Here students are learning a new "double this, double that" hand clapping game to greet a classmate. Other greetings include singing, waving hello, passing an item and saying good morning - and so many other, creative ways. |
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Morning meeting activities also include a morning message and an activity. The photos below show a kindergarten student helping to write the message for the day. Once written, the students will read the message together. In Mrs. Flynn's second grade, the students look to edit and fill in what is missing in the morning message. This is a great way to put current phonics skills into practice. Whole groups practice reading together once fully edited and filled in.
in Mrs. Tompkins/Mrs. Weiner's second grade class, students read the menu for the day so students know in advance what their meal choices are. Lastly, in the Responsible Classroom morning meeting, students do some form of group activity. Here you see Ms. Cavanaugh's first grade class moving their bodies to a "go noodle". Why the group activity? This is an opportunity to boos social skills, build community, increase engagement and practice communication skills.
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Second graders have some guest visitors staying with them for the next few months. Some tiny (think quarter sized) baby diamond back terrapins are wintering in the 2nd grade wing at Forestdale. Each classroom has a chance to host these growing turtles with a neighboring class. Students are responsible for caring for these threatened animals that will be returned to the Sandwich salt marshes in the spring. Students spend the year learning about the turtle's habitats, eating habits, and watching them grow and develop. Having seen this project for a few years, I can attest that each turtle that comes to stay at Forestdale comes with its' own personality! It is fun watching these cherished creatures grow and develop over the winter in their safe, indoor habitat. As an interesting side note, Mr. Dintino is the resident long weekend and vacation turtle feeder, making sure that these little creatures are well fed and taken care of even when students are not in school. |
Independent reading is a favored time of day in the classroom. Even our littlest learners enjoy picture walks or read aloud with books they can't yet read. As a lifelong educator, it warms my heart to see students finding joy in books daily here at Forestdale. This student pictured is a big fan of "Piggy" books, and enjoys reading this book with lot of excitement and expression, making this solo reading session enjoyable for the observer as well. Enjoy the photos! |
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December:
- MENU CHANGE - Baked Ziti
- 8 - report cards go home digitally at 4:00 pm.
- 9 - PTA ZOOM meeting
- MENU CHANGE - Chicken Tenders
- 17 - Nutcracker performance - gym
- 22 - Chorus Concert - 6:30 MPR
- 23 - Jingle Jog 10:00 am, bus loop
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Forestdale OKS is a free before-school program inspired by Reebok's science-based BOKS programming. BOKS is an acronym for BUILD OUR KIDS' SUCCESS and we build that success through movement, music and play! The program incorporates functional movements and team building activities that help kickstart our day.
The winter session of Forestdale BOKS is open to students in grades K, 1 & 2. Forestdale BOKS takes place in the Forestdale Gymnasium. The winter session starts 1/5/26 and runs until 3/5/26. There will be a Monday/Wednesday session and a Tuesday/Thursday session. Drop off is located at the same exterior doors used for parent pickup located by the Gymnasium. The Gymnasium will be open for drop off between 7:55 am and 8:05 am. Students will be dismissed to their classrooms or to the cafeteria for breakfast at 8:45 am.
Forestdale BOKS is a popular program! For the safety of our participants we must cap each session group at 50 participants. To sign up your child for this program, please use the QR code provided. If the preferred days are not available, your child's name will be added to a waitlist. We understand that plans change, but please let us know if your child will not be participating, so we can accommodate other students on the waitlist.
Parents/Guardians that have registered a participant will receive a welcome message via email on December 19th. If you have any questions, please reach out to BOKS coordinator, Abby Tarantino at atarantino@sandwich.k12.ma.us
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