BUBBLES’ BLOG

APRIL 2017 NEWS

S. B. BUTLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

UPCOMING EVENTS

Mon, Apr 3rd Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness

Tue, Apr 4th Wellness Day

Tue, Apr 4th Getting Ready for K 6:30-7:30pm

Wed, Apr 5th Guest Author David Biedrzycki

Apr 10th – 14th Spring Break – No School

Wed, Apr 19th PTO Meeting – Media Center 6:30-7:30pm

Thurs, Apr 20th Math & Science Night 6:30-8:30pm

Tues, May 2nd Chorus Concert & 2nd Grade Play 6pm

Fri, May 5th Movie Night 6pm

Tue, May 9th Teaching & Learning Initiative 1:12pmEarly Dismissal for Students

Thur, May 25th Field Day!!

Mon, May 29th Memorial Day – No School

Note from the Office:

Teacher emails can be found on the SBB Website – either by selecting the “Staff” option near the top of the page, or the “Staff Directory” option in the blue section by Bubbles.

Groton Public School Buildings will be illuminated in blue lights to raise awareness

for Autism.

Please show your support by wearingblue to school on April 3rd

Purchase an Autism Light Bulbfrom Home Depot

and replace your porch light for the night!

LET’S LIGHT THE TOWN AND SHOW OUR SUPPORT!

PRINCIPAL’S CORNER

Dear S.B. Butler Families,

On Monday March 27, our fifth grade students shared their inventions during the S.B. Butler’s annual Invention Convention. It was so impressive to see the creative ideas and solutions to some daily problems that students incorporated into their inventions. Equally impressive was their ability to talk about their “product” and articulate the purpose. There were certainly many young scientists in the gym on that day! Congratulations to all students and the winners from each classroom.

I look forward to seeing you during the Parent/Teacher conferences this week. The home-to-school connection is truly an important part of your child’s academic experience at S.B. Butler. I would also like to thank the many volunteers that are assisting in the spring book fair. Your time spent setting up/breaking down, organizing, and selling books is greatly appreciated. Lastly, I would like to thank the PTO and all families that contributed to the wonderful snacks and dinner that was provided for staff. Everything was delicious!

This month only our 5th graders will take the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) in Science. The SBAC state testing will begin for students in grades 3-5 at the end of April. The SBAC state testing is aligned with the CT Core Standards, which are designed to prepare S.B. Butler students to succeed in college and the workforce some day!

Lastly, please see the link for the Parent School Climate survey on the S.B. Butler website under “Headlines”, (if you did not take the survey in the gym during conferences). The feedback is very helpful to me and staff when looking to improve/make adjustments to our school’s climate.

In Partnership,

Mr. WheelerPrincipalS.B. Butler Elementary School

Health RoomMrs. Grater & Mrs. O’Connor

Spring is finally here! Time for all of us to get outside and exercise!

Be active and encourage your family to join you. Go for a walk, play catch, play with your pet. Establish a routine. Set aside a time of the day as activity time – walk, jog, cycle, or swim. Adults need 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week and children should get 60 minutes. Remember you can start off with smaller goals 10-15 minutes a day and work up to more minutes. Stay positive keep with it!! The results are worth it for you and your child!!

Limit TV watching and other screen time. Put away all electronic gadgets for 1-2 hours a day to focus on ways to be healthier. Move it!! Give gifts that encourage physical activity – active games, sporting equipment, or even make up games. The goal is to stay active. Promoting healthy habits has added benefits for everyone. Remember to have fun and enjoy the outdoors!!!

KindergartenMrs. Horler & Mrs. Whitten

Spring is always a busy time of year in Kindergarten! We are busy, busy reading tons of books. This month, we will be studying oviparous animals in science and signs of spring. We will be working with number partners in math and continuing to practice addition and subtraction stories. We will also be exploring three-dimensional shapes. In writing, the children have been focusing on informational writing. The children have become experts in writing How-to books and will start to write All-About books this month. We will also wrap up our fairy tale unit with a Fairy Tale Day.

We’re looking forward to a very exciting month!

First Grade

Mrs. Celtruda & Mrs. Grigg

In reading, the first graders are working on giving full complete responses to stories we have read. They are learning to go back into the text to find details or evidence to prove their responses are correct. We continue with character studies, examining content and structure, and making connections, but with a push to use the text to back it up.

In writing, we continue to work on opinion pieces. The children had a lot of fun writing their opinion about their collections from home.

Our field trip to the aquarium is Friday, April 7th. We will be eating lunch at the aquarium so please make sure your child brings their lunch unless you signed up for the bag lunch from the cafeteria. Please check the weather and have your child dress accordingly as we will be walking around outside.

Second GradeMrs. Bailey & Mrs. Westkott

Exploring Insects and Plants will be our focus in science. The experience will help students to develop an understanding of the structure and function of living things; growth and development of plants and animals; and interactions of organisms with their environment.

Second graders are writing opinion letters. They will share ideas about characters by using details from books and retelling important parts

In Math, students are learning to tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest five minutes, using a.m. and p.m. They will also draw picture graphs and bar graphs to represent data and solve problems using information presented in a bar graph.

Third GradeMrs. Gwaltney & Mrs. Zuliani

We can’t believe we are now in the third term of third grade. We are encouraging our students to work independently and strive to do their best each day to prepare them for fourth grade.

In Reading, students have explored how characters are developed in stories. We have examined how character’s journeys reveal problems and solutions in stories. We have used character trait words to make claims about some very interesting characters this term. Ask your child who their favorite character is and have them explain why!

We have moved on to adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers in math. Students are using strategies for regrouping to solve problems accurately. They also are expected to solve and write word problems for larger multi-digit numbers in this unit.

In Writing, we will be writing persuasive pieces. Students will learn to state their opinion, give three supportive details and write a concluding sentence about their opinion.

SBAC testing is coming up real soon for third graders. Make sure your children are well rested and eating a good healthy breakfast on testing days.

April will fly by in third grade. We are looking forward to some warmer weather and more outdoor recess!

Fourth GradeMrs. Genovese & Mrs. O’Connell

In reading, we will be using mentor texts to review comprehension skills.

We will begin our study of geometry in math. Please continue to have your child practice multiplication and division facts for ten minutes each night.

We will be focusing on habitats for our next science unit. The fourth graders will learn about the main habitats of the world and how plants and animals adapt to their unique environments.

Fifth GradeMrs. Burdick & Mrs. Wilson

In reading and writing, we have started our Informational Unit. Students will be reading and learning about the Westward Expansion and using what they learn from their reading to write an Informational piece. In math, we are beginning our unit on multiplying and dividing decimals. This year’s Invention Convention at S.B. Butler was a success! Thank you for all your support at home helping with the invention process. Congratulations to this year’s award recipients: Keegan Celtruda, Maria Horgan, Grace Moriarty, Cisto Mercado, Tessa Cantone, Lauren Podurgiel, and Kaitlynne Boggs Delorge!

Congratulations Winter Readers! Mrs. Fridinger, Mrs. Pombrio and the Literacy Committee

We are pleased to announce that 90 SBB students took the challenge this winter and read up to 15 different genres of books!

All students were given a passport and had to record the titles and authors of each book read. Ms. Wallace – our Passport Officer, would stamp the passport and return it by the end of the day so the student could continue reading until the end of winter, March 20th.

Students in grades K-2 read fiction, non-fiction, award winners, science, biographies, tales, books by famous authors and many more. Kids in grades 3-5 read science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, mystery, folklore, classics, sports, magazine articles, poetry, and a slew of other books!

Of the 90 students, 38 students read the maximum of 15 genres!!! We are all so proud of the students who took the challenge and enjoyed their winter nights at home in the company of a good book! Students will be recognized for their efforts at our next SBB Town Meeting on April 7th.

Special Education Teachers and Speech-Language PathologistsMrs. Salovitz, Mrs. Harris,

Miss Kasparek & Mrs. Stillwell

Spring is finally here! Say “goodbye” to the snow and “hello” to flowers. This is the perfect time of year to start gardening. Planting flowers is a great way to work on speech/language skills and academic skills. When you’re planting you can work on sequencing (first, next, last), following directions, vocabulary (i.e. soil, cultivate, bloom, etc.), and math skills (i.e. more, less, depth, etc.). So, this spring get outside and have fun gardening and learning!

Math NewsMrs. Fleming

April is a great month to take math outside!! As the temperatures rise kids can go outside and use some of their math skills. Solving math problems with sidewalk chalk in the driveway or sidewalk can be lots of fun! Children can track the temperature each day and create a chart or graph to show the fluctuations. There are so many things that appear in

spring that can be counted such as flowers sprouting up through the ground, animals running through your yard, or people out for walks through your neighborhood. It’s also interesting to keep track of the time of the sunrise and sunset each day as we gain more daylight. The possibilities are endless and it’s always great for kids to see how math fits into our lives each day.

Happy Spring!!

Art with Ms. WMs. Whitchelo

Visiting Artist

The artroom has been extremely busy this month! We had visiting artist Eric Sturtevant here for two days. He showed students his drawing process, and helped us create robots!

Fundraiser

The original artworks fundraiser is now underway. All of the proceeds go to the art room and will help to purchase supplies and future artist visits.

Art Show

Lastly amazing volunteers have started to label student’s work for the upcoming Butler Art show. If you are interested in helping to hang artwork please email Sandi Wallace at swallace@groton.k12.ct.us. The art show will open May 2nd and I can’t wait for everyone to see the amazing work we have been doing all year.

As always follow the art room on Instagram at sbbutler_artroom or on Facebook at SBBArtroom.

Media CenterMs. Harper

On Wednesday April 5th, author and illustrator David Biedrzycki will be visiting SB Butler courtesy of the PTO. He is the winner of Georgia State and Illinois State Monarch Book Award. We are looking forward to his presentations!

Music Classes Are Making Lovely Music at SBB!Mrs. Martelle, Mr. Kasle & Mr. Schneider

The Chorus concert will be Tuesday, May 2 at 6:00 p.m. The Orchestra and Band students will hold their concert on Thursday, June 1st at 6:00 p.m.We again will be doing an afterschool enrichment program that will be the musical “Willy Wonka Kids”.  The culminating performances will be Monday, June 5 and Tuesday, June 6 at 6:00 p.m.

PECapt. DeMario

-Thank you to everyone for making Jump Rope for Heart a great success. Almost all students in the building were able to participate, and as a school we raised $2622.00 for The American Heart Association. Awesome job Butler students!! A humongous THANK YOU goes out to Nancy Clang for dealing with all the paperwork, money (think coins!!) and the zoo crew!

Now that the weather is warm, PE classes will be going outside more frequently, so please be sure your child dresses for the weather and for being active outside (sneakers, shorts, and pants … rather than sandals and skirts, etc.)

-Also, Thursday May 25th is Field Day at S.B. Butler. We will be needing volunteers to help out before, during and after the event. If you’re free and want to help out please keep May 25 open. If you have any ideas, thoughts or comments to share with me, please email bdemario@groton.k12.ct.us.

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Teaching Children About Diversity

This article is written by Christopher J. Metzler, Ph.D., one of the world’s leading authorities on issues of diversity and inclusion, and published in PBS Parents.

We are living in an increasingly diverse world, and this is a wonderful gift. Our children attend schools with children who are much different than they are. For example, more children are being raised by single parents, by same sex parents, and in blended families. Many children are non-native English speakers and some are children with disabilities (both physical and mental).

The challenge for parents is ensuring that children learn to accept and respect differences, thus making them more productive adults. But, where do we start? Children don’t come with instructions, but

they do come with open minds. Much of what they learn about respecting differences comes from their parents. That being said, consider the following suggestions:

Start with us. Children listen to what we say as well as watch what we do. So as parents, we must deal with our own diversity deficits, so that we can lead by not just saying but also by doing. For example, one parent tells her children not to judge people by their color. The family lives in a majority white community and the children have very limited interactions with blacks.

However, her children hear her telling friends that the blacks with whom she works are so lazy that she has to do their job and her job. If we are to teach our children to make decisions that are not based on stereotypes, then we must do the same. In this example, the people may in fact have been lazy. However, it is not their blackness that makes them lazy – they are just lazy. “Do as I say but not as I do” does not help children become more accepting of differences.

Get out of our comfort zone. For all the talk about diversity, Americans still segregate ourselves into fairly homogenous communities. Teaching our children to accept differences may require that we use the power of the internet to learn about differences, that we seek out cultural activities that are out of our community and explore the strength and value in diversity. It is not enough to simply visit cultural events, eat ethnic foods and thus learn about differences from a voyeuristic point of view. Instead, we must make a deliberate effort to get out of the familiar and show our children we mean it. Accepting differences should be how we live our lives.

Listen and respond. When children ask about differences, start by listening to the question they are asking and the language they are using. If in asking questions about differences they are using hurtful or stereotypical language, explore with them why such language is hurtful. Explain in an age-appropriate manner why stereotypes don’t tell the whole story and are divisive.

Don’t be blind to differences. Parents often tell me that they want their children to be “difference blind.” This is both unrealistic and misses the point. Children will notice that Jouain has a different sounding name or that Yasmeen always wears a head scarf to school, or that Rajiv eats foods that look and smell different from what they eat. They will have a natural curiosity about this. As parents, we must help them appreciate and learn about those differences, not pretend that they do not exist. The question is not whether differences exist; it is what message we are sending by teaching children to be “blind” to differences. Unless we as parents are willing to help explain to children what seems strange or different to them, we will never be successful in teaching children to understand and appreciate differences.

Avoid political correctness. Parents who teach children to be politically correct when interacting with differences are making the situation worse. Rather than teach children the correct labels or names for people, let’s teach them that differences are only a part of who we are. It is not the total of who we are.

Parents teach children how to brush their teeth, to comb their hair, to be responsible and to be successful. We do so by introducing and reinforcing behavior that helps achieve these goals. We should do the same when it comes to appreciating diversity. It is only then that we can move from tolerance to acceptance.

So, how have you been teaching your child about diversity? Do you think it’s working?

Dr. Nancy Anderson, school psychologist at Butler Elementary School, provides consultation to any parent requiring help for any issues related to their child’s educational achievement. Contact Dr. Anderson at nanderson1@groton.k12.ct.us.