Blog Archives

Veterans Day community service project

12/2/2014

Veteran’s Day can easily pass us by, marked only by a day off from school and weekend shopping sales. This year, the students of the Heath Extended Day Program honored Veteran’s day by participating in a community service project.

Working together, students from pre-kindergarten through 6th grade all played a part to provide local veterans with gift bags filled with donated candy and toiletries. The oldest group took on the responsibility of organizing the gift bags, which required counting over 2500 pieces of Halloween candy, shopping for $340 worth of toiletries, and visiting their younger peers to explain the project. The younger groups decorated the gift bags with red, white and blue drawings and messages of thanks. Veterans at the West Roxbury, VA Hospital received 240 gift bags as a result of their efforts and team work.

“Last year Veteran’s Day was just a day to celebrate the veterans, but this year I actually noticed how we can help them recover and truly celebrate the ones we love,” expressed one 4th grader.

In addition to making gift bags, the students also reflected on the veterans within their own community. Students with family members who currently or previously served were encouraged to bring in pictures to be displayed in the school hallway.

After working hard collecting candy, toiletries, and learning about the meaning of Veteran’s Day through sharing stories and books, the students and staff were privileged to hear local veteran Elmon Hendrickson describe his past and ongoing support of military service. He was able to spend some time sharing about his uniform, badges, and experiences, and took many questions from curious students.

Spending the weeks leading up to Veteran’s Day planning and carrying out a hands-on service project left many students feeling proud that they made a difference by honoring those who serve our country. Heath Extended Day is looking forward to making this community service project an annual tradition to mark the importance of Veteran’s Day.

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4/7 news November&December

12/2/2014

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During the month of October...
The 4/7 students were very busy during the month of October participating in science activities and experiments. Earlier in the month Fall experiments included making butter and cheese by hand. Students were able to discover how much hard work is involved in making butter and how unappetizing it is to make your own cheese. As Halloween green nearer the students worked together making bubbling cauldrons, monster eyes and dancing gummy worms. We also made bags of blood and found out some interesting things about plastic bags and toothpicks.

The 4/7 students celebrated Halloween with the HEDP kindergarten classroom! One group of 4/7 students hosted Halloween activities in the 4/7 classroom, while the other group of 4/7 students hosted Halloween games in the kindergarten classroom. We cannot say enough about how wonderful of a job the 4/7 students did working with the kindergarten students! The 4/7 students in the activity group stood up and talked to a group of kindergarten students about the Halloween crafts. They made showed an example of each craft and talked to them about how to complete each one. They took it upon themselves to introduce themselves and assured them, “if you need any help, just ask one of us.” They made themselves available to help the students glue, cut, and tie knots. They encouraged the kindergarten students and kindly told them how good of a job they were doing! They also sat down with them and worked on their own craft while the kindergarten students worked alongside of them. There has been a huge interest from this year’s 4/7 class to help out with the kindergarten students. The 4/7 and Kindergarten teachers are working together closely to provide time for the 4/7 students to help out the kindergarten students. Additionally, we will provide opportunities for 4/7 students to host a variety of events and activities for the kindergarten students.

During the month of November...

The first two weeks of November were dedicated to the Veteran’s Day Service Learning Project. Thank you for extending what your child learned in extended day, by having conversation at home about family members and friends that are veterans and for sending in photos for the HEDP HALL OF HEROS. Additionally, thank you to our 4/7 students, for their Halloween candy donations. Students went to the other HEDP classrooms daily throughout the first week to collect and count candy from the younger extended day students. From all the students in our program, over 2000 pieces of candy were donated for the veterans.

Finally, a huge thank you for toiletry donations and monetary donations from HEDP families so the students could purchase toiletries for veterans at the VA Hospital in West Roxbury. The 4/7 students walked to CVS and spent $300.00 on shaving supplies, personal hygiene items, and oral care. Students were split into three groups and were assigned one of the above groups of items. The carefully and strategically picked out items that they believed would be most beneficial to the veterans while staying within a budget. They returned from their trip to CVS, sorted the items, and put together handmade gift bags filled with toiletries and candy.

Important dates in November...

Tuesday, November 18th- Early Release Day. HEDP second annual 4/7 Thanksgiving family dinner. Students will prepare traditional Thanksgiving dinner dishes and sit down together to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner together!

Wednesday, November 26th- Early Release Day: Noon Dismissal. Pizza and movie day! No school lunch is served on this day. HEDP closes at 4:45 on this day.

Thursday, November 27th and Friday, November 28th- No School

During the month of December...
HEDP will continue its annual participation in Project Bread’s Holiday Spoons Project. Project Bread is the state’s leading anti-hunger organization, dedicated to preventing and alleviating hunger in Massachusetts. Project Bread funds over 400 food pantries, soup kitchens, and food banks all over Massachusetts. The Holiday Spoons Project is a fun meaningful way for children to learn about hunger and help feed hungry children in Massachusetts. Children will use their creativity and imagination to decorate wooden spoons using a wide variety of art materials. In years past, kids depicted cartoon characters, people, animals and more! Students will sell the their creations to friends, families and teachers for $2.00 each. All the money raised will be donated to Project Bread to help in it’s mission to end hunger in Massachusetts. Spoon sales will begin mid-December.

Important dates in December...

Wednesday, December 3rd- Early Release Day. More information about this day to come.

Tuesday, November 9th- Early Release Day. More information about this day to come

Wednesday, December 24th- Friday, January 2nd - No School

Wishing you and your family a very happy holiday season and a wonderful 2015!

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2/3 news November&December

12/1/2014

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We hope all of you had a great October!
We had a SPOOKTACULAR Halloween
and it was so much fun to see all our friends dressed up in costume!!!

We had lots of fun exploring with science, by creating straw rockets and tin foil boats. We got our hands dirty while carving pumpkins and scooping out the inside! The children enjoyed creating crafts and playing many group games…they are doing a fabulous job learning to be a good sport!

This month we will focus on Creative Writing. We will complete a book on personal narratives and descriptive stories. We will end the month sharing things that we are thankful for and cooking some Thanksgiving classics.

Lastly we will be throwing a Birthday Bash on November 20th for our November birthdays.

Please remember:
November 26th is a Noon Dismissal. We will be serving
pizza for lunch and will be collecting a $2 donation. If your child does not want pizza they should arrive to Extended Day with a bagged lunch. We will be closing at 4:45pm on this day.
Thank You.

During the month of December the children will have a chance to be scientists and explore and experiment with different foods. They will be surprised to know what is in the foods they eat! We will also begin to incorporate the children’s goals and accomplish tasks they are interested in learning about.

We have four early release days over these next two months, please keep an eye out for permission slips in the classroom for the fun activities we have planned!

A couple of reminders this month…

* No School on November 11th, 27th & 28th
and
December 24th-31st

Early Dismissal (12:40) on
November 12th, 18th
and
December 3rd, 9th

* November 20th and December 16th Birthday Bash

* Please sign your child out EVERYDAY!

Wish List
Paper Towels
Clorox Wipes
Box of Band-Aids (for a writing project)

Thanks to all the parents who donated wish list items for October, we greatly appreciate it!

HOMEWORK REMINDER:

2/3 has 30 minutes everyday for homework, between 2:50 and 3:20.
This is a quiet and structured part of our day. It is helpful if your child always has their orange homework folder in their backpacks and an appropriate book to read. HEDP has several age-appropriate math games as well as a printed copy of the problem of the week, for those who want it as a math option.

Extended Day teachers are here to encourage, monitor and oversee the homework process. We attend to signs of student success or difficulty related to the task at hand or their motivation and to answer questions. We do not offer 1:1 tutoring or give answers of any kind.

We expect that homework will be reviewed at home to alert you on your child’s understanding. We encourage you to ask your child questions so you can be an integral piece to connect the bridge from school to home. This will also help you understand if your child is challenged by any part of their homework. If so, please advise their classroom teacher. We encourage your child to attempt all options of their homework and enforce expectations, rules and standards for homework behavior.

We appreciate your support and understanding.

Sincerely,
the 2/3 teaching team!

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First grade news November&December!

12/1/2014

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During the first two months of school the first graders have settled into the routine of independently arriving to HEDP and checking in. They then enjoy a snack with their friends. When snack is over the children spend 20 minutes reading and spending time working in their individual sketch pads or on their all about me books. The children are then asked to line up so that they can spend one hour outdoors, if the weather allows. Please dress your child in layers, as this will make your child more comfortable when we are outside. The children then come inside for a short meeting and spend the remainder of the afternoon participating in must do educational activities and making "free choices".

The HEDP First Grade Teachers have been busy preparing activities for the month of November/December that are geared to teach the children how their food choices that can help keep them healthy. While learning about proper nutrition the children will also learn to prepare some savory and nutritious snacks throughout the month. Many of the children have shared that they have an interest in science, therefore the teachers are eager to have the children participate in hands on experiments aimed at teaching them ways to prevent the spread germs and hopefully ways stay healthy during the winter months.

The first graders also gave back to the community by participating in the HEDP "Veteran's Day Drive." The children decorated gift bags, created cards, and made 3D poppies to give to members of our armed forces who are at the West Roxbury V.A. Hospital.

We will also played games that built responsibility, trust, and honesty in the community. The first grade classroom held a Family Style Potluck Dinner to celebrate the HEDP first grade community.

During the month of December the children will be studying the solar system and learning about the winter Solstice. The teachers have planned activities that will allow the children to learn about through singing and dancing, stories, and hands on craft projects.

Early release day permissions slips for the month of December will continue to be handed out, please be sure to complete and return these slips.

Dates to note:
Tuesday, November 11th - Veteran's Day - No School
Wednesday, November 12th - Early Release Day - " A Day at the Carnival"
Tuesday, November 18th- Early Release Day - "Family Style Potluck"
Wednesday, November 26th - Early Release Day - "Movie" HEDP closes at 4:45
Thursday, November 27th - Thanksgiving - No School
Friday, November 28th - No School
Wednesday, December 3rd - Early Release Day - “Outer Space” Tye Dye Socks and and special snack
Tuesday, December 9th - Early Release Day - “MFA Visits”
Wednesday, December 24th - January 2nd - Winter Holiday - No School

In order to make some of the upcoming projects possible the First Grade Class room is hoping for the following donations:
- Lysol wipes
- Tissue boxes
- Plastic table cloths - (white)
- Plastic Hammer (can be returned in January)
- Alien mask or antenna (can be returned in January)
- Cape (can be returned in January)
- Googly eyes/funny glasses (can be returned in January)

Please note:

We share the classroom with KBK and must be considerate of the space. We are not able to leave any "lost and found" items or art work in KBK.
HEDP cleans the classroom out each day to make sure KBK is fully prepared for the morning. Please contact HEDP if your child is missing any items before looking in KBK. Thank you for your cooperation!

Warmly,

Diana and Ellie

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Kindergarten news November&December

12/1/2014

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As we leave November and head into December, we are all thinking about what we are thankful for. So far, we have been thankful for a great start to our school year! We were impressed with the children’s love for our Veteran’s Day community service project and they thoroughly enjoyed working with the older grades to make the community service project a success. Please take a moment to pop by our Hall of Heroes display by the HEDP 2/3 room.

In the past two months, we have experimented with what that "Fall" season has to offer and are now heading into the colder months with many plans in motion. In November we used our senses to observe pumpkins. We made Jack-o’- lantern face creations, baked seeds from the pumpkin we observed, and created art pieces from dried corn. We wrote about what we are thankful for as well as doing a sink or float science experiment at the end of the month. We offer new activities each week to keep our class busy and learning.

In December we will be starting our letters of the week! Each week we will work on a new letter of the alphabet. Our weekly activities will be incorporated into the letter of the week. The children will work on writing them in uppercase and lower case, creating art activities that incorporate letters, baking activities, songs, and learning about how that letter sounds phonemically while learning different words. Some baking activity examples would be applesauce for the letter A and banana bread for the letter B. We are looking forward to incorporating science into our letter weeks with an experiment on blubber for the letter B.

Wish List:
Clorox Wipes
Pump and Soap
Paper towels
Clear Liquid Glue for Slime!
A rolling cart

We thank all those who took the time to purchase items from our last wish list and participated in our Veteran’s Day Service Learning project. Please be on the lookout for an article in the local paper! We are looking forward to another great month!

Warmly,
Angelica, Mackenzie, Christiane & Emily

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