Kindergarten News  - March

It’s a good thing March is the month with the greatest number of school days…the kindergartners are busy and getting busier!  We’re very much looking forward to celebrating Dr. Suess’ birthday on March 3rd with a special school-wide reading of Green Eggs and Ham.  We’ve gotten quite good at identifying and producing rhyming words in his honor!  Our celebration of literacy will continue with a fun and relaxing evening on March 6th at “Brewster Loves to Read” night.  We’ll be wearing our pajamas, robes, and slippers as we enjoy some good books and yummy snacks.

The middle of March brings with it one of the kindergartners’ favorite projects of the year: constructing “Leprechaun Catchers.”  If you’ve wandered through the kindergarten wing in Marches gone by, there’s no doubt you remember the creative contraptions designed by our kindergartners and their families in hopes of catching “Lucky the Leprechaun” to learn the secret of finding gold at the end of the rainbow.

Kindergartners will be getting an introduction to the literary genre of fables toward the end of this month as we prepare to take in a theatrical production of “The Ant and the Grasshopper” on the stage of Hartford’s Bushnell Theater on March 31st with our second grade Book Buddies.  We’ll be familiarizing ourselves with some popular fables through read-alouds and related activities with our Book Buddies.  For those of you who may not know the story of the ant and the grasshopper, your kindergartner will surely fill you in on the lesson the animals learned about the value of hard work and making good choices.  The moral of this fable nicely illustrates our Core Ethical Value of Responsibility.

As the month winds down, we’ll be meeting with kindergarten parents to share March progress reports and samples of student work.  Please look at your calendars well in advance for March 26th and March 27th as our kindergarten schedule will be different than usual to accommodate our conference schedules.  Specifically, kindergartners in the A.M. session will attend school on March 26th from 8:50-12:00 and will not attend school at all on March 27th.  Kindergartners in the P.M. session will not attend school at all on March 26th, but will attend school on March 27th from 8:50-12:00.  We look forward to seeing you at the end of the month if not before!

The Kindergarten Team

First Grade News - March

First graders have been working on their Journal Journey projects. Students have received postcards from all over the world, which are posted in the main hallway for all to see. Classes have worked on map skills by locating the origins of these postcards and discussing a little bit about each place.

All classes will start to study families in the next few weeks. Classes will talk about traditions, values and customs. Also, students will compare various family units-how they are the same and how they are different in various places around the world.

In science, students will start to examine light and shadows. They will be doing hands-on experiments to help them explore these concepts. Some classes will also explore magnets and their characteristics.

Finally, all first grade classes will continue monthly nature walks on the Wolf Tree Trail. We will be examining the changes that have taken place with the coming of Spring.

As always, first graders at Brewster School continue to experience lots of hands-on, fun activities as we move into the second half of the school year.

The First Grade Team

Second Grade News - May

Happy May! We are so looking forward to seeing the sun in 2nd grade at Brewster School. Hopefully, as we record the weather in our Meteorologist’s Journals we will show lots of sunny spring days and warm temperatures!

This month proves to be very busy again! On Friday, May 2nd we celebrated “Cinco de Mayo”! This exciting event culminates our study of other cultures with a special emphasis on Mexico. We have been learning Spanish words and phrases and have learned about the history, climate, and culture of Mexico. On May 2nd, we enjoyed special snacks, games, and a performance by “Fiesta del Norte”. Thanks to the many volunteers that made this event possible!

We are also busy working on our Science Experiment Projects. Each 2nd grader researches and presents an experiment to his/her class. The students learn a lot about the scientific process and gain confidence in their presentation skills.

On Wednesday, May 14th the 2nd graders will present our annual performance. We have been working very hard learning songs and our speaking parts for this day. The performance teaches about the birth of our nation. Performances will be at 2:00 and 6:00. We look forward to parents and families joining us.

In addition to all this, our art teacher, Mrs. Beames, is busy preparing for the Art Show and . . . we have the Dance Festival to prepare for on May 29th. Wow!

Second graders – get plenty of sunshine and rest, and get ready for lots more “reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic” as we wrap up 2nd grade!

The Second Grade Team