Also online @ Prescott Web Page From our PTO Presidents………….
October 2015
Volume 8 Issue 1 The school year is off to a flying start. We had a great turnout at our first few events, the Back to School Bbq and the Ice Cream Social. In addition to giving us the opportunity to meet so many wonderful Prescott families, both events helped raise some of the necessary funds to pay for enrichment programs, field trip buses and other school supplies and services. Thank you to all of the amazing volunteers that helped to make the nights such a great success. Our next big event is the annual Halloween party on October 30th from 6­8pm. Students are invited to wear their costumes, dance to the music provided by the dj, and do arts and crafts. And back by popular demand, we will also have our scary and not­so scary haunted rooms. The cost is $5 per child. Mark your calendars now. You don't want to miss it! Please keep an eye out for future sign up genius emails. We are always in need of volunteers! You determine the level of involvement. You can sign up to work an hour or two at events like the Halloween party or join a committee to plan one of the events such as our Parents' Night Out later in the year. If you have any questions about the PTO, please feel free to email us. Please support our fall fundraiser, the MCM pies. cookie dough and pastry sale. It is due back to school week of October 19th with delivery before Thanksgiving! This fundraiser helps to provide enrichment programs and field trip buses for our students keeping the costs of field trips down. Thanks for your support!!! Thanks to Shaw’s Supermarket on Nahatan Street that made a donation of $400.00 to our school as part of their community give back program. Upcoming Events… October 15th PTO Meeting 7pm
October 16th School Store Open
October 20th Star Gazing at
Prescott
October 28th Salem Field Trip 5th
Grade
October 30th Prescott Halloween
Party
Thursday, December 3rd, All
School Field Trip (Shrek the
Musical)
December 8th Holiday School Store
December 10th Enrichment
Program Laser Light Show
October 2015
Don’t forget Lending Telescope Online
Dear Parents/Guardians,
It is hard to believe the month of September has come and gone. It has been a busy and productive first weeks of
school. With the launch of our new math program teachers have been busy getting it up and running. Already students
have been given a baseline assessment to determine skills that need to be addressed and probably have already taken
their first unit math test. Jill Milton our math coordinator will be coming to PTO on October 15th to talk about the
new program and the online resources available to families.
I am happy to announce that we will be having a “Star Gazing” night at the Prescott. Mr. Haffey and Mrs. Lockwood
our district wide science teachers will be hosting, bringing telescopes with them and teaching students and parents
how to use the telescope located at the Prescott. This telescope is available for all families to borrow here:
http://sites.norwood.k12.ma.us/sci/Reserve%20A%20Telescope.htm​
.
The month of September was used to recognize all our students who participated in Summer Math and Reading
programs. Overall I was pleased with our school’s participation in these programs. It was interesting to note as grade
level increased so did participation in summer academics. With that being done we have opened the Math Fact Hall of
Fame a program that celebrates fluency with math facts. Teachers are aware of the criterion for each grade and
when the teacher feels the student has met that proficiency they are sent to me for the final test of fact fluency.
This has been popular at the Prescott and students strive to get into the Math Fact Hall of Fame. Some
accommodations can be made for students with special circumstances.
Boks is up and running for a 4th year at Prescott. Students come to school at 7:30 am and participate in games and
physical fitness activities under the leadership of parents. This year Lauren Mourad and Paula Flanagan have taken on
the leader role with parents supporting them as assistants. Students may enjoy breakfast after at our new breakfast
program at Prescott. Last week we had 77 students enjoy “Waffle Bar Wednesday”!
We had a lot of fun during our Wellness Week at the Prescott. It kicked off with a performance by Ball in the House,
followed the next day by our all school “Exercise Dance Party” and then on Thursday with our Walk to School Day. It
was nice to see so many parents participate in the walk. I have posted videos and slide shows of these events on the
PTO Events page on our web page.
Picture day went well, thanks to all the parents that helped organize and supervise our students. Don’t forget on
re-take day sibling photos can be taken. More details to follow.
Please try to support our MCM fall fundraiser of cookie dough, pastry and pies. This helps to support enrichment
programs in our school.
Any questions please feel free to contact me.
October 2015
Welcome back! The library is in full swing. Students have been learning about Digital Citizenship, learning and reviewing what bullying and cyberbullying means to them, and learning what our new ​
Responsible Use Agreement​
really means. A grade 3 class did the first of what I hope are many Google Hangouts with another class at the Cleveland school. They did a great job of listening and taking turns when speaking. Grade 2 will be starting to explore our Grolier database and learning about how to research and answer “I wonder” questions. Grade 4 and 5 will be exploring our Destiny catalog and learning (or reviewing) to write reviews for books they either liked or didn’t like and back up their opinions. Grade 1 will soon start learning about computers and how to use a mouse. All grades continue to use picture books to learn about literary concepts and explore how different authors and illustrators use words and images to convey information. Our Makerspace is up and running. Right now it has legos, tangrams, and origami activities. Upcoming activities include: Split Screen videos, paper circuits, and Bristlebots. The library is looking for volunteers to help shelve books. Volunteers can come in at anytime during the day. If you are interested, please email Mrs. Miller. We are also looking for more legos ­ if anyone has some extra ones floating around the house, please send them in. October 2015
by Maria Brewer & Regina Sisk
The very popular Boston based a capella group Ball in the House kicked off this month’s anti­bullying campaign with an exciting performance at the Prescott! The guys spoke about using their voices as different instruments and the importance of teamwork in forming beautiful harmonies. They also stressed the value of following an interest in music education and not to be dissuaded by peers who bully and might say singing or playing instruments isn’t “cool". They demonstrated and discussed some history of a capella music including Gregorian hymns, madrigals, spirituals, barbershop quartets and doo­wop style etc. The children went wild upon hearing some of their favorite modern tunes by Michael Jackson, Nick Jonas & Bruno Mars! It was an educational, uplifting show that left everyone singing! Ask your child about their favorite part of the show! Abigail helps with sound mixing!
Bradi & Patrick have beat boxing skills!
Ball in the House and other programs are
supported in part by a grant from the
Norwood Cultural Council, a local agency
which is supported by the Massachusetts
Cultural Council, a state agency.
October 2015
The kids (& staff) loved Uptown Funk!
Congratulations to Paul Burgoyne who recently retired from the Prescott after 12 years. He will be finishing his time with the Norwood Public Schools at the Savage Center and will officially retire in December. Welcome to Kevin Ogryzek who will be replacing Paul as our head custodian. Kevin has worked at several schools in Norwood and we are very happy to have him. Halloween party update!!! We still need adult volunteers. Please sign up @ http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0d4caaa82ba6fa7­halloween2 Also looking for any Halloween costumes you may want to get rid of. Please drop off at school and thanks!!! First Grade is off to a great start! In literacy, we have been getting to know ourselves as
readers. Students have been getting in the routine of Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop.
Students learned how to pick “Just-Right” books, which are leveled books that students can
read on their own. We use the five finger rule, meaning if there are 5 or more words you can’t
read that book is too hard. You can try this at home too! We have been getting into the routine
with our new math program. All first grade classes are wrapping up Topic 1 soon and starting
Topic 2, which is adding fluently within 10. Students are starting to be entered into the Math
Fact Hall of Fame. This is when Mrs.Killion quizzes students on a certain set of math facts. If
students answer with accuracy and efficiency, they are entered into the Math Fact Hall of
October 2015
Fame. They earn a math bracelet and get their pictures hung in the hallway near the gym.
Students can work on addition facts to 10 to get ready for this round. Room Parents have been
choosen by the PTO. Please be on the lookout for communication from these parents to plan
parties for our classrooms throughout the year. The Halloween Parade will be on Friday,
October 30th. More information to come on this spooktacular event.
~Ms.Connolly, Mrs.ElBach, & Ms.Bouley
The PACS K­2 Class has been working hard this school year. We have been learning using our curriculum with the themes of writing, apples, Fall, letters and friendship. We have been making lots of recipes with apples: apple sauce, apple cake and Amish friendship bread. So far Amish friendship bread was our favorite. Here are some pictures of us at walk to school day, working hard and cooking! Mrs. Bell and Mrs. Pagliuca’s class have had a very busy start! We, like the other grade levels, have kicked
off our new math program, Pearson Envision 2.0. In Topic 1 we worked on strategies when adding and
subtracting numbers. Students learned about double facts and how to use these facts to find our near
doubles. Near doubles would be facts like 3+4 or 5+6. Students can use a doubles fact that they know and
add one or subtract one from the sum. For example, if 3+3=6, then 3+4 would be one more than the sum of
3+3 (7). Another strategy would be starting with the larger number when combining the two addends.
Students were given their Pearson login information so that they can play math games on the website at home
or watch videos that help teach some of these lessons. We highly recommend this site to help at home.
There is also an app through Pearson called Bouncepages where you can actually scan the homework with your
phone and it takes you straight to the video that was shown that day in class. Each video students watch in
class is about 2-4 minutes and directly teaches them the objective of the lesson. Topic 2 is kicking off on
arrays and repeated addition. If anyone needs their login info for Pearsonrealize.com, please contact your
teacher.
October 2015
In reading we have been talking about Readers’ Workshop and have modeled that a lesson is made up of a
focus lesson and then breaking off into independent reading spots with our new book sacks! The first
thematic unit is about community. We read ​
Throw Your Tooth on the Roof​
and have learned interesting
traditions around the world for losing a tooth. Throughout this community unit, students will also learn about
essential careers that exist in most communities. Students are taught the many diverse cultures around the
world, including clothing and food. They will conclude the unit with a project that represents their own
culture. Stay tuned for more info on this presentation.
Halloween is fast approaching. If your child plans on bringing in a costume for our parade and party, they
should bring it in a separate bag to school. Students should not be coming to school dressed in items of their
costume that would be distracting. These items can be taken out prior to the parade that day. Please do not
send plastic (or metal) weapons or gadgets to school as they may get lost or be inappropriately handled during
the day. Room parents will be contacted regarding the plans for these events. Thank you for all your help!
Grade 3 Prescott Press-October 2015
The third grade has been busy! We have launched our new math program Envisions and
completed topic 1 “Equal groups” we will continue to think about the concepts of
multiplication and division through the month of October.
In writing we are trying to use “Show don’t tell Sentences” to make our writing more
interesting for the reader.
Our first book report will be due at the beginning of November. Students should be choosing
a mystery chapter book to complete this report.
We are continuing to work on Geography and Map Skills in Social Studies. We followed
directions and used a compass rose to create maps of imaginary towns. It was a lot of fun
to plan, discuss, and create with our classmates.
October 2015
In Science Mrs. Lockwood has helped us to learn about Forces and Simple Machines. We
have explored gears, built levers, and learned about the engineering design process by
designing a glider. We have transitioned well into a new science routine which includes
writing in a science journal and will also include science tests!
The fourth graders recently finished reading and discussing the book ​
Stone Fox​
. We then watched the movie and compared the two. Here are the students comparisons between the Stone Fox book and movie... Stone Fox Book vs. Movie by Trevor Brown The book Stone Fox and the movie Stone Fox are alike in many ways. In both versions Little Willy refuses to let somebody else take care of grandfather when he gets sick. also grandfather starts to use hand signals in the middle of each version so that Willy can communicate with him! Lastly, in both the book of Stone Fox and the movie Stone Fox has five white Samoyeds. The movie of Stone Fox had a lot of differences with the book of Stone Fox. In the book Little Willy’s dog is named Searchlight, in the movie she is named Morgan! Also in the book there’s a $50 fee to enter the race and a $500 prize for the winner, but in the movie there’s only a $10 fee to enter the race and a $150 prize for the winner. And last but not least in the movie of Stone Fox Little Willy and grandfather are ranchers while in the book they’re only potato farmers. My opinion is that the book Stone Fox is better than the movie. I think this because the book has more feeling and suspense which to me makes it the best! Stone Fox Book vs. Movie by Kaylie Delamere The book Stone Fox and the movie Stone Fox are alike because they have the same characters. In both the book and movie there is Grandfather, Doc Smith, Stone Fox, and Little Willy. In both book October 2015
and movie Little Willy goes to the shop and finds the poster for the National Dog Sled Race. He then enters with one dog in both the movie and book. The book Stone Fox and the movie Stone Fox have a lot of differences. One is in the book they are potato farmers and in the movie they own their own ranch. In the book Little Willy pulled potatoes for a harvest. On the other hand in the movie they owned cows not potatoe. In the book Little Willy walks Searchlight to the finish line. On the other hand Little Willy walks Morgan home and gets a new little puppy. The dogs names were different. In the book the dog’s name is Searchlight. In the movie the dog’s name was Morgan. In the book for the National Dog Sled race the award was $500. In the movie for the National Dog Sled Race the award is $150. I liked the book Stone Fox better than the movie Stone Fox. I liked the book better than the movie because it had more details and it was more interesting. I thought it was interesting because in the book it gave more description. In the movie it wasn’t that interesting. When you read the book you can make pictures in your mind. When you watch the movie you see what is happening in real life. That is why I personally the book Stone Fox way better than the movie Stone Fox. Stone Fox Book vs Movie by Tim Mohan My class watched and read Stone Fox I will tell you some of the ways Stone Fox the movie is the same as Stone Fox the book. MMMM, Grandfather was playing the harmonica not only in the movie but in the book too. Grandfather and little Willy have the same signals in the movie and the book. Little Willy keeps practicing and practicing for the dogsled race in the book and the movie because he is determined to win the money so he can pay the taxes. I think the movie and the book were very different. Most importantly, in the movie little Willy’s dog is named Morgan and in the book the dog’s name is Searchlight. During the race in the movie little Willy does fall thru the ice and in the book little Willy does not fall thru the ice. Lastly the owner of the general store's name in the book is Lester and in the movie it is Mr. John. I think the book was better because there was more action. I also liked the book better because Stone Fox took out his rifle, drew a line and bellowed, “anyone who crosses this line I shoot.” This shows he is a caring person because this helps little Willy win the race. Stone Fox book vs movie by Joy Xu­Allan The movie and book Stone Fox are both wonderful, but there are some obvious differences that make fans of the book mad, though they still have many similarities. Fourth graders read the book and then watched the movie, and we believe there are some things that are different and alike. The book and the movie Stone Fox are alike in many ways. Both the book and the movie take place before our time. You can tell because there are no electronics or automobiles mentioned or seen in both the movie and the book. In both the movie and the book have the same big event that the story revolves around. Grandfather will not wake up. Though this is sad, the story just wouldn’t be the same if little Willy entered a dog sled race just to get more money. And we can never forget the beloved dog that helps the main character all throughout the story. In both the book and the movie, it is quite obvious that Willy’s best friend is his dog. In both the movie and the book we see that little Willy crosses the pond and October 2015
gains a good lead. He could make it across the pond because he was light, he had a light sled and only one dog. This brings us to how little Willy lost his lead toward the end. Grandfather was awake during the race in both stories. This made little Willy very excited and that cost him his lead. He lost his lead to Stone Fox and came neck to neck with him. These are just a few ways that the book and movie are alike. There are many ways that the book and the movie Stone Fox are alike, but there are also many ways they are different. I think it would be most appropriate to start with the one difference that makes many book lovers the maddest. They changed the name of one of our favorite characters! Searchlight! And to a name like Morgan I must say. How could they do that? But, though many people do not like this difference it’s not the only one. There’s an age difference between our two Willy’s. The one in the book is ten years old, on the other hand the Willy in our movie is twelve. That’s definitely something that slipped through editing. Something else I mourn the loss of? My favorite part of the book. The movie is missing many scenes from the book, but the one I’m most angry about is the scene where Searchlight plows the field so Willy doesn’t have to use his college money to rent a horse (and must I say, the money came in handy). Something else that didn’t show up in the movie was one of the funniest scenes. Mr.Snyder the tax collector being afraid of the dog. It made many people laugh that he closed two doors just in case. We all remember when he took out a gun and acted like a scaredy cat. There are the many differences between the movie and the book. So, which is better, the movie or the book? Though many people say one, and others say another, I believe that the one that is better is the book. The book has many scenes that both show how much Willy loves his dog and how much his dog loves him. There are also many better phrases and characters that were left out of the movie. And of course, the dog has a better name. The fourth graders also did an amazing job creating some advertising posters for the National Dogsled Races. They used the fictional information from ​
Stone Fox​
to promote this great story to others at the Prescott School. These posters are proudly displayed on the bulletin boards in the cafe and outside our main office. October 2015
The students in the 5th Grade worked extremely hard on their Personal Timelines for Social Studies with Mr. Marshalsea. The products are amazing! This project is given to the 5th graders to not only support their knowledge of what a timeline is, but also to show who they are and what their life has been like up to now. Please make sure you come to the Gym and see the display of their awesome creations! Here is a sampling of the timelines the 5th graders created. They are displayed in the gym if you are in the building and want to take a look! October 2015
Writer’s Workshop
The students have been working on writing personal narratives with Mrs. Belanger in Writer’s Workshop. One fun activity we did a few weeks ago was the students wrote letters to themselves from their “Future Self”! They got to make up what their lives would look like in 10 or 20 years and write about it. They had a lot of fun with it! Below are a few to check out. October 2015
Dear 10 year old self, Hi! I’m you in the future. I am 21 years old, and today I graduated college! Just so you know, you're going to be a teacher for 1st grade and a Patriots cheerleader(go patriots). Today was so much fun I was a little bit nervous.I graduated BC. My cap and gown was red and gold. My cap was so cool it had a sparkly background and gems all over it.There are pictures of me and my friend of us on prom.There is a picture of me at my first day of college and of me when I was cheering for the Boston eagles football team(go Eagles). I had a great time at college my roommate was Anna.She is so nice she majored in computer science.She is so nice. Allison,Sean,Mom and Dad came to my graduation,it was so hot out.Today was the best day of my life. By Brianne Fitzgerald October 2015
October 16, 2035 Dear 11 year old self, Happy Birthday. Today you are turning 11 and I am turning 31. I am here to tell you that if you don´t accept the scholarship to Notre Dame you will miss out on being the first school to win national championships in two sports in one year. And guess what? You would be the captain of both teams. Even though you are thinking about going to Minnesota to play hockey, Go to Notre Dame play hockey and baseball. Just don't second guess yourself. And here´s another good thing about accepting the scholarship, if you do you will get picked no.1 overall in both the MLB and NHL draft. And I don't want to spoil it all but you end up playing in both leagues. You will be better than Wayne Gretzky and Barry Bonds. But your careers are cut short after you suffered a terrible knee injury. You will get 25 dogs. You will get awards for giving back to your community. You receive the Nobel Peace Prize for building over 100 hundred homeless shelters. I hope that I didn't ruin your life but I just couldn't wait to tell you how great your life is going to be. At Least I didn't spoil your life from 31 on for you. From Your Future Self, 31 year old Brendan by Brendan Clifford Boks is up and running for the 2015 school year. We have been practicing our running skills and keeping our times! October 2015