image of orange dahlias against a white background with text of AES updates, September 24, 2023

Hello Assawompset Families! 

We had a great week at Assawompset and today we introduced JIJI to our school!  Jiji is our ST Math mascot!  All students were greeted by JiJi the penguin.  We then had a school wide Kick Off to introduce our new ST Math game based instructional platform that will support our math instruction.  WE are very excited to begin working with JiJi.  Stay tuned for updates and enjoy the following pictures!  

Today’s Presentation:  (includes a video of what ST math is all about too!). St Math

AES is currently offering assistance to our families through our Backpack Program and Gifts to Give Program.  The Backpack Program provides families non-perishable food items (pasta, snacks, tuna, etc.) each Friday throughout the school year to assist those with the high cost of groceries.  We currently have space for a few more families.  Additionally, Gifts to Give offers holiday assistance (gifts for all children in the family) for families who would benefit from that extra support.  Please email me at jmckenna@freelake.org if you are interested in these programs.  Please note that Gifts to Give is requesting that all gift information be sent to them the first week of October.  I look forward to working with our AES families!

Please see the below flyer for the After the Bell fall workshops:

AftertheBell-fall23.pdf

Due to the frequent us of Clorox Wipes, Paper Towels and Soft Tissues, we are asking for any donations to be delivered to the school office.  We then distribute them as teacher’s need to replenish their supply.  Your support is GREATLY appreciated!  (Items can also be taken right from you car if you drop off your child!).  :) 

            A note from the AES PTO Board: 

As we embark on the 23-24 school year, the AES PTO Board is ready to kick off an exciting year full of fun events for our community, supporting teachers, and providing enriching field trips and assemblies for the children of AES. To do so, we need your help. Contact us at assawompset.pto@gmail.com for more information. 

Upcoming events: 

October PTO meeting: October 10th 7-8 pm Lakeville Public Library

Staff appreciation: first one is slated for October. 

Trunk or Treat- October 28th  time TBD

Fun Run- November 2nd (Rain date Nov. 3rd)

Be sure to check us out at AES PTO on Facebook, @assawompsetpto on Instagram and our  AES PTO website  

PTO meeting minutes: September AES PTO meeting minutes

                      

Important Dates:

October 6th - 1st HALF day for students

October 24th - Fall Picture Day

Open House - TBD (End of October - early November)

ART

Kindergarten students had a discussion about how to properly use and take care of glue sticks. We glued six strips onto the paper, then made a different kind of line on each one.

Grade one students “took a line for a walk”, discussing what kind of lines we could make.

Grade two students practiced coloring in all one direction, with markers. We used the side, not the tip of the marker. It’s challenging!

Grade three students began a second project on Yayoi Kusama. They used Ms. T.’s large hole punches to make dots, then cut out a large flower. Many of us still need to work on our scissor skills!

MUSIC

K: This week we worked on remembering when to play unpitched percussion instruments and when to wait our turn. 

1st: This week in 1st grade, the children learned a fun song where we passed a stuffed fish around the circle to the beat while singing. The children also used unpitched percussion instruments. 

2nd: The second graders worked on keeping the beat and moved around the room exploring different tempos. We used movements to show toe changes in tempo as well as used unpitched percussion instruments. 

3rd: This week we worked on tempo with a song as we moved around the room showing the differences. The children also used unpitched percussion instruments. 

LIBRARY

This week in kindergarten and first grade, we are working on how to use the library. Students are focusing on how to put the books back on the shelves the correct way with the spine facing out. Students in 2nd and 3rd grades are learning about call numbers and the different sections of the library. We will continue to focus on call numbers and call number order.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

This week in PE we are continuing our soccer unit. Students are doing a great job practicing dribbling, passing, and trapping the ball. 

KINDERGARTEN

This week in Kindergarten, we’ve been practicing our rhyming skills by reading Wonders Big Book of Rhymes. Our essential question for this week is: “What makes everyone special?” and we were able to have many discussions about how our differences make us unique! We read Animals in the Park: An ABC Book and have been practicing letter recognition. Our classes learned about the letter Tt and how to read the word “I.”

In Math, we are excited to officially meet JiJi, the penguin mascot for ST Math! Our classes have been so excited to meet her and begin to play math games with her on the computer.  We’ve been practicing counting and making sure that we count objects ‘just right.’ 

GRADE 1

We started our Wonders reading program this week! Students were asked the question, “Who am I?” Our genre this week was nursery rhymes. We discussed the comprehension skill of characters, the important characteristics of nursery rhymes and compared the two texts we read. In math, we focused on adding and subtracting on a number line and looked for patterns in the 100’s chart. We had a great kick-off assembly to our ST Math program that we will be using this year. We even had Gigi the penguin visit us on Friday. Be sure to ask your child all about Gigi and how Gigi helps him/her with ST Math

GRADE 2

Another beautiful week of second grade in the books! Our second grade learners have been working so hard in order to get into a routine! My oh my, is it paying off! In mathematics this week, learners continued to explore fact families alongside odd and even numbers while utilizing math manipulatives. What makes a number odd or even? What would it look like? In ELA, learners are diving into their first week of Wonders – questioning how families around the world could be similar but different? In social studies, learners are discussing the three types of communities. What would each community look and sound like? What constitutes a community? As a grade-level, we’re looking forward to continuing these curriculum-driven conversations! Stay tuned!

GRADE 3

In grade 3 we are learning about how multiplication and division are related. We are beginning to talk about multiplication and division fact families and will soon work on learning multiplication facts up to 10 x 10.

In reading we are learning about culture and community, and how everyone can contribute to their community. We’ve discussed the different communities we belong to: our classroom; AES; our families; Lakeville; Massachusetts, and the entire USA! The children have enjoyed talking about other communities they belong to, and what they do to participate in that community.

In social studies we are learning about the New England states. We will be able to identify them on a map of the US, and will also know the capitals. We are also looking at the different regions of Massachusetts and what is unique about each area.

Counselor’s Corner - a Note From Mrs. McKenna about the Holiday Assistance Program.

Holiday Assistance 2023

Thank you and have a great day!

Bethany Pineault, Principal