Newsletter Date Volume 1, Issue 1

Newsletter Title

Volume 30, Issue 6 March 24, 2016 Sheehan Elementary School, Westwood, Massachusetts

The

Core 4 Chronicle

~ Respect & Not Neglect ~ Voice the Right Choice ~ Listen, Learn, Try, Ask Why ~ School Wide Pride ~

Important Dates Message from the Principal

NO SCHOOL Friday, March 25th

Early Release-

NO LUNCH

Wednesday,

March 30th

Principal’s

Coffee with

Dr. Antonucci 9:00 AM –Sheehan

Library

Friday, April 1st

Bingo Night in the

Sheehan Cafeteria

6:00 - 7:30 PM

Friday, April 1st

School Store Friday, April 8th

Spring Vacation-

NO SCHOOL

Monday, April 18th to

Friday April 22nd

School Resumes Monday, April 26th

Early Release-

NO LUNCH

Wednesday,

April 27th

Dear Sheehan Families,

It was a wonderful week at the Sheehan and

we are all hoping that Spring weather will

arrive soon!

Please look inside to read about all of our

happenings this week.

Happy Easter,

Mrs. Evans

Classroom Connections

The 2016 Sheehan STEM Festival was a huge success with 58 teams and 128 students from Grades 2-5 participating in an evening featuring tremendous creativity and ingenuity across science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. Attendees were wowed by projects that included everything from hover crafts, optical illusions, force in motion to how to make a lava lamp and the very popular candy experiment. There was even a Rube Goldberg machine…and in true New England spirit - an examination of “Deflate Gate”! We were fortunate to have Top Secret Science at the event to conduct hands-on experiments with kids.

Classroom Connections

Mrs. Cusick’s 4th Grade Class writes an informative Newsletter called the Westwood Den. They have been kind enough to share their articles with me so I can include a few of them in our Core 4 Chronicle.

Interested in seeing last month’s issue in color? Want to share it with a family member in a distant home? Mrs. Comer has graciously added it to our Sheehan home page and can be found at:

https://sites.google.com/a/westwood.k12.ma.us/sheehan-4th-grade-newspaper/

Presidential Election by: Katie T. & DeDe

Do you think you know who our next president will be? Maybe Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. We are going to give you one reason to vote or maybe not vote for them. First is Hillary Clinton. You should vote for her because she has great ideas for education. We think you should vote for Donald Trump because he wants to protect the U.S, but he wants to ban Muslims from entering the United States. The choice is yours, so think carefully!

Classroom Connections

We recently celebrated the 100th Day of School. Kindergarten and First Grade students dressed

as 100 year olds and completed math activities as well as other creative projects involving 100.

Please look at all of our handsome Centenarians!

Mrs. Cusick challenged her students to a STEM (Science - Technology- Engineering- Math) activity. "Given 100 marshmallows and 100 toothpicks build the tallest freestanding structure possble." Working in small groups and pairs, students collaborated to develop amazing works! First prize was received by Elliott, Alex and Owen with a tower of 14". Congratulations to Greydon , Joseph, Michael and Joey our second prize winners. Both groups had a tower measuring 13 1/2". In third place, Katie and Maren were able to build a tower of 12" in height.

Classroom Connections

Our own Sheehan Irish Step Dancers entertained our students on Saint Patrick’s Day. The show was an educational and exciting view of Irish culture through music and dance. Our Sheehan performers were Sheehan students Grace and Mairead Hebard, Julia Hall, and Francesca Gennari.

Classroom Connections

Third graders study habitats and animal adaptations in depth each Spring. The Trailside Museum visits provide an exciting opportunity for our third grade students to come face to face with the animals that live in Massachusetts and understand what adaptations allow these animals to live and thrive in their environment.

Classroom Connections

Letters About Literature Writing Contest

In December, 4C participated in the Letters About Literature reading and writing contest. Students were asked to read a book, poem, or speech and write to the author (living or dead) about how the book affected them personally. Letters are judged on both state and national levels. Tens of thousands of students from across the country enter Letters About Literature each year. Once again, Massachusetts ranked in the top five states of the nation with nearly 3,000 letters written by students from across the Commonwealth. I am pleased to announce that eight students were recognized for their exemplary submissions, making it to the semi-finalist round.

Congratulations to:

Katie T. Joseph S. Michael S. Dahlia L. Charlie H. Greydon G. Isabelle H. Alex B.

Classroom Connections

In 4B we are raising money for cancer research at Children's Hospital. We decided to have a raffle. The prize is a free registration fee for the fall season for Westwood Youth Soccer. If you win, you could save $100! If you would like to buy raffle tickets, please come to room 202 (Mrs. Blair's Room), or fill out a form (extra forms are located on the table outside the office). Forms are due April 8th. Sign up now! 1 ticket = $3 2 tickets = $5 An arm length of tickets = $10 By Ava Walter Click here for a raffle form.

Grade 2 students are currently "reading to learn" about hearing and visual disabilities. This week our Sheehan 2nd Graders were treated to a visit from Jaimi Lard, a Perkins School for the Blind spokesperson. She spoke with our students about her life being born deaf and blind. Please ask your child about this amazing presentation.

Classroom Connections

The 4th Grade Band will be presenting a Spring Concert at Westwood High

School in early June. Preparing for a concert takes a lot of practice and

coordination, especially since the arrangements the band will be playing in the concert feature separate parts for each instrument group that often need to be

pieced together through careful rehearsal.

This week, the band began working on music from their Spring Concert for the

first time! Parents were invited to the Sheehan to see how their children

approach working on a new piece of music together and to hear how a new band arrangement sounds in it’s very early stages. Mrs. Evans narrated the concert.

Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Yennior and Mrs. Labedz for this informative and

enjoyable presentation.

Classroom Connections

Mrs. Yennior invited parents of First Grade students to attend a

music class in order for them to see and hear how their

children are progressing! Parents enjoyed a sing-a-long and

Participated with some folk dancing.

Classroom Connections

The Culture of Good is a cultural movement, launched in 2013, of TCC

doing good in its local communities where Verizon stores are located.

Store managers, Farah Farah and George LeBlanc from the new Verizon

store at University Ave. , came to the Sheehan this week to award 10

teachers a box full of school supplies for their classroom! We would like

to thank Verizon for reaching out to our dedicated teachers and recognizing their hard work and dedication. Click on the link for more

information.

http://tccrocks.com/culture-of-good/

Classroom Connections

Physical Education Update We finished our gymnastic unit this week in physical education. Kindergarten stu-dents worked to learn a variety of rolls and gymnastic travels. They also worked to use different relationships (over, under, through, and next to) on the equip-ment. Students in grades 1-5 worked to create gymnastic sentences (routines) with a beginning, middle and end. They used a variety of rolls, gymnastic travels, balances and connecting moves on and off of equipment. Difficulty of skills used and length of sentences changed based on grade level. Click on the link below to watch videos of sentences in grades 1-5. https://sites.google.com/a/westwood.k12.ma.us/sheehan-physical-education/ Miss Cook

Classroom Connections

Recently, the Kindergarten, First, and Second grade classes had the pleasure of

welcoming entertaining author and illustrator Marty Kelley. He taught the children

the important lesson of knowing it’s okay to fail through his thoughtful and

humorous approach. He provided a step-by-step explanation of his book-making

process. The children were completely engaged as he hilariously demonstrated

how he “failed spectacularly” numerous times while writing and illustrating his

many books. They even got a sneak peak of his latest, soon-to-be-released

book, “Albert’s Almost Amazing Adventure.”

Thanks to the Sheehan PTA for sponsoring this wonderful event.

Classroom Connections

Mrs. Stoll (Michael ‘s Mom) approached Mrs. Cusick with an opportunity to take part in a Skype abroad. To build background and tap prior lessons of the continents and countries of our world, Mrs. Comer and Mrs. Cusick helped to re-familiarize students with necessary information. The students then used similar strategies, used during our USA Mystery Skype's, to collaborate and discover that our friend was residing in Dubai! Once identified, cultural, language, and climate related information included some of the details shared. This wonderful experience was certainly special, and one to be appreciated, to continue to show students the many different diversities of this wonderful world! We learned: * Dubai has a population of 8 million with 90 different languages spoken. It is multicultural. * Dubai is mainly desert and a fairly new city containing the tallest building in the world (Burj Khalifa, which rises 828 meters (2,717 ft) and contains 209 floors) and currently building the tallest Ferris wheel! * Due to the heat in the summer months, many indoor activities occur in malls including skiing, snowboarding) . The beach and parks are also popular options. Horseback riding is a very popular activity! * It is currently Winter with a temperature of 25-28*C and Summer typically occurs from May through October, often reaching temperatures over 100* * Popular employment there includes teachers, retail, and oil related work.

Sheehan Community News

Jake Minsky, a 5th grader, and his brother Josh, a former Sheehan student, performed in the current Walpole Children’s Theater production of The Prince and the Pauper.

Sheehan Community News

Gavin Swartz will be debuting as Nigel, in Broadway's Tony Award winning Musical, Matilda, on March 4th. He misses his friends from the Sheehan. He will be living in New York City through the summer. http://us.matildathemusical.com/cast-creative/cast/

Classroom Connections

February/March 2016 Library Newsletter

It’s been a fun month in February!

Kindergartners studied Lois Ehlert’s books, her attachment to nature, her use of shapes

and collage to express her artistic view of life. We tried our hand at making animals out of

geometric shapes. See the slideshow on the Library Website. https://sites.google.com/a/

westwood.k12.ma.us/the-sheehan-library/kindergarten

One of the highlights was when our first graders evaluated and judged the 2015 picture

book contenders for the Caldecott award. 1L and 1W voted for Finding Winnie the True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick and 1C voted for It’s Only Stanley by Jon Agee. They described their reasons and thought about the form, the

feeling it gave them and how well the pictures fit the story. Beautiful stories - check

them out!

https://sites.google.com/a/westwood.k12.ma.us/the-sheehan-library/home/1st-grade

5th graders are busy reading their MCBA selections. Read 5 and decide! We had 2 book

clubs to read Legend of the Ghost Dog and Counting by 7s. See the poster that marks

student progress across 3 classes! 5D seems to be pulling out all the stops! Voting is the

week March 15.

Keep on Reading and thinking about your reading!!

Mrs. Tenreiro

Classroom Connections

PARCC/MCAS Testing Dates Notes: These dates are district wide. Monday, May 2nd - Grade 4 ELA

Tuesday, May 3rd - Grade 4 ELA

Wednesday, May 4th - Grade 4 ELA

Thursday, May 5th - Grade 3 ELA

Friday, May 6th - Grade 3 ELA

Monday, May 9th - Grade 3 ELA

Tuesday, May 10th - Grade 5 Science and Technology MCAS

Wednesday, May 11th - Grade 5 Science and Technology MCAS

Thursday, May 12th - Grade 4 Math

Friday, May 13th - Grade 4 Math

Monday, May 16th - Grade 5 ELA

Tuesday, May 17th - Grade 5 ELA

Wednesday, May 18th - Grade 5 ELA

Thursday, May 19th - Grade 3 Math

Friday, May 20th - Grade 3 Math

Tuesday, May 31st - Grade 5 Math

Wednesday, June 1st - Grade 5 Math

Make Up Testing - Thursday, June 2nd and Friday, June 3rd As always, please visit our school website for all dates and events.

Dear Parents, My name is Eileen Erwin and I’m the Administrative Assistant at the Sheehan School. If you have questions about anything at all, please do not hesitate to contact me at eerwin@westwood.k12.ma.us or 781-326-7500 x7120. Kindergarten Registration is in full swing! If your child will be attending Kindergarten in the Fall, and you have not yet registered, please call the office as soon as possible. Please see below some important dates to list on your calendar.

Field Trip Dates: Wednesday, 5/4 –3P Fisher School Thursday, 5/19– Grade 1 Aquarium Grade 5 - Blue Hills Friday, 6/3– 3F Fisher School Monday, 6/6 –Grade 5 -Freedom Trail Thursday, 6/9 –3C Fisher School Grade 5 - MFA Wednesday, 6/15 - Grade 3 Plimoth Plantation Monday, 6/20 –Grade 2 Franklin Park Zoo

IMPORTANT DATES! Sheehan Field Day will be Thursday, June 16th. Sheehan Field Day rain date - Friday, June 17th. The Fifth Grade Moving Up Ceremony is Monday, June 20th. The last day of school will be Tuesday, June 21st. The first day of school for the 2016-2017 school year will be Wednesday, August 31st!

The Sheehan website is updated weekly with all the important news of the week and future happenings. Please click here to view.

If you need this document translated, please call the Westwood Public Schools’ Student Services Department at 781 326-7500 x1345 or email your

request to mmartin@westwood.k12.ma.us Thank you. 如果您需要翻译本文档，请致电Westwood 的公立学校的学生服务部在 781 326-7500 x1345或

_子邮件您的要求mmartin@westwood.k12.ma.us 谢_你。

x1345 1077-623 187ىالةجاحب اذا ذ يفةيبالطالتامدخال' دووتسيوةماعالسرادمالةرادإىلعالصتاالىجري ، ةمجرتمالةقيثوال كل.بلطل اركشتنك mmartin@westwood.k12.ma.usكبصاخالينورتكالالديربالىلعوأ Есливамнуженэтотдокументпереводится, пожалуйста, позвонитеВествудгосударственныхшколах"СтуденческиеслужбыДепартаментапо 781 326-7500 x1345или поэлектроннойпочтезапроснаmmartin@westwood.k12.ma.us Спасибо.

Notes from the Office