BUBBLES’ BLOG

MAY 2014 NEWS FOR

S. B. BUTLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wed, May 7th Project ACES 10am(All Students Exercise Simultaneously!)

Thurs, May 8th Spring Chorus Concert & Second Grade Play 6:00-7:30pm

Fri, May 9th After-School Bingo 3:30-5:00pm

Mon, May 12th DARE Graduation 6:00pm

Wed, May 14th Welcome to Kindergarten – Media Center 6:30-8:00pm

Thurs, May 15th Math & Science Night 6:30-8:30pm

Tue, May 20th Monthly PTO Meeting – Media Center 6:30-7:30pm

Mon, May 26th Memorial Day – No School

Wed, May 28th Wellness Day for Students

Wed, June 4th Spring Concert / Art Night 6:00-8:30pm

Fri, June 6th End of Year Bash & Basket Raffle 6:00-7:30pm

Thurs, Jun 12th Field Day!

Mon, June 16th Kindergarten Celebration 2:00pm

Wed, June 18th Last Day of School for Students!!!Early Dismissal 1:12pm

Please remember to check the SB Butler website to keep up to date on your student’s classroom, current events and everything happening at school!

http://www.groton.k12.ct.us/site/default.aspx?DomainID=1084

PRINCIPAL’S CORNER – Kindergarten Registration

**Please share the following information with friends/neighbors who have children that plan on attending Kindergarten in the fall.**

The time to register for Kindergarten is Now! Registration opened for the 2014-2015 school year on December 18, 2013, for Groton residents that have a child who will be five years of age on or prior to January 1, 2015. In order to plan for class size and to ensure students are placed in the elementary school where they are districted to attend, all Kindergarten aged students should have been enrolled by April 15 th . Please call 860-572-2197 ASAP to setup your registration appointment. If your child is already enrolled in one of our Groton Public Schools elementary preschool programs and will be five years of age on or prior to January 1, 2015, it is not necessary to register the student for Kindergarten for the 2014-2015 school year. Please contact our Central Registrar Office if you have any questions or need additional information.

Monson LanePrincipal

DROP-OFF LANE

As a reminder to all parents – the drop-off lane is strictly for dropping off students. If you need to park & exit your car, please use the visitor lot. This lane is also considered a fire lane, so parking is not allowed.

Where Angels Play

Mystic, CT is soon to be home to a playground on Williams Beach built by Where Angels Play Foundation and many volunteers (some from as far as Iowa!) The groundbreaking began Thursday, April 24, 2014, (see picture above) and the ribbon cutting took place Sunday (4/27) at 11am. Butler Elementary School and other schools in the Groton Public Schools are lucky enough to pay it forward and help fundraise for the next playground that will be built. Fundraising will begin Monday, May 19 and end Friday, May 23. We will send you more information as we get closer. The foundation’s website is http://www.thesandygroundproject.org/ . Please take a look as this foundation is in charge of some pretty amazing and inspiring work! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email Mrs. Harris at mharris1@groton.k12.ct.us. Thank you! ~ Where Angels Play Committee ~

S.B. Butler Elementary is participating for a third year in the Pennies for Patients fundraising campaign. Collections began on April 21 and end on May 2, 2014.

What is Pennies for Patients? Kids are making BIG change by collecting SMALL change. Pennies for Patients is a service learning, character education and philanthropy program that gives students a unique experience making a difference through teamwork—working together to aid thousands of children and adults in the fight against blood cancers like leukemia.

How it Works: Students collect spare change over a two-week period. The change can come from friends or relatives or even underneath the couch cushions. What's important is that the change is collected. Students feel a sense of pride in the fact that they can help save the lives of children their own age.

In the past 16 years these kids have shown how powerful they can be by raising more than $233 million to fund breakthrough therapies and patient services. Kids learn not only about the impact they can have, but they learn about what "doing good" for others can mean. LLS leads the way in blood cancer research that has brought them to the threshold of cures and therapies that are saving the lives of patients, right now!

If you need more information, please contact Mrs. Burdick at 860-572-5825. Thank you.

Students of the MonthWe are so happy to announce our S.B. Butler

Students of the Month for April!Please congratulate the following students:

Grade K – Maxson Denny & Ashleigh PalmerGrade 1 – Vivienne Henrie & Brooke McLoughlinGrade 2 – Charlie Bergendahl & Isabelle Asciolla

Grade 3 – Ryan Mignosa & Haley Ter BeekGrade 4 – Nathan McCormack & Rita Sefransky

Grade 5 – Michael Carlebach & Ava Crispino

KindergartenMs. Horler & Mrs. Whitten

The Kindergarten classes are as busy as ever!

This month, we will focus on “All About” writing. Each child will choose a topic and do some mini-research to write about their chosen topic. We will learn about pond life in science and wrap up that unit with a field trip to the Nature Center. We will also begin our integrated unit about living in a coastal community. In math, we continue to practice our addition and subtraction to become fluent and we will learn about 3 dimensional shapes.

We hope everyone gets a chance to grab a book and read outside!

First GradeMrs. Celtruda & Mrs. Grigg

In reading, first graders are working on identifying the main idea of a story with supporting details. They are also learning to write summaries of stories. As we are now in the third term, we are looking for the children to write their responses more independently.

We are now on unit 7 in math which explores time, geometry and measurement. Please help your child at home by practicing the time to the hour and half hour.

The children had a fun time at the Mystic Aquarium. They have learned about invertebrates and life cycles, and this field trip was a nice culmination to our science unit. Thanks to all our parents who helped chaperone!

Second GradeMrs. Bailey, Mrs. Cote & Mrs. Westkott

In Math our focus is exploring data using graphs. We are also working on telling time to the minute. In Reading we are working on a unit about how living things grow and change. This goes right along with our new science kits on growing plants. The students are excited to make observations as their plants grow in the classroom.

It was great to see you all during Spring Conferences! The year is wrapping up quickly. Our field trip to Bluff Point will take place in June. We will investigate different soils and plants as well as living things in their habitats.

Third GradeMrs. Gwaltney & Mrs. Zuliani

In Math, we have begun a new unit on Geometry. Our unit is titled “Polygons, Perimeter, and Area.” The students have explored the relationship between perimeter and area. They will solve real word problems involving area, perimeter and unknown side lengths.

Our theme in Writing this month is Special Places. Students will have practice writing main events in narratives pieces and we will also work on writing introductions in expository pieces based on this theme.

In Social Studies, we will focus on Colonial times. The students will learn many differences between life in Colonial times and life today. Many students agreed that they are glad to have been born in a time with so many modern-day conveniences! We are looking forward to the culminating activity, which is a field trip to the Denison Homestead later in the term.

We will begin a new unit on heroes in Reading. We will learn how to take notes on some noteworthy heroes throughout history. This is one of our favorite units!

Fourth GradeMrs. Genovese, Mrs. Hubbard & Mrs.

O’Connell

Last month we discussed different nonfiction text structures and identified them in various articles. In our Lead 21 theme, “America’s Heartland,” we will focus on main idea and details and cause and effect.

In math we will finish our geometry unit. We will then revisit the more difficult skills we encountered this year as well as doing some work on data.

We have begun our motion and design unit in science. In this unit, the students will study the laws of motion and apply those concepts to the design of their vehicles.

Fifth Grade News

Mrs. Holdridge, Mrs. Wilson & Mrs. Burdick

D.A.R.E. graduation will be held on Monday, May 12 th at 6:00 p.m. We hope to see you there to celebrate their accomplishments!

We will be going on our year end trip to the Boston Science Museum on Friday, May 30th. Please be sure to arrive to school by 6:15 a.m. Pick up time will be around 6:00 p.m. We will call you at the number you provide on the permission slip if we are delayed for any reason or in case of an emergency.

We will be visiting Cutler Middle School on Monday, June 2nd. Students will learn about being a middle school student, take a tour of the building, and have a chance to ask questions about transitioning to middle school.

Music Mrs. Martelle,

Mrs. StevensonMr. Schneider

Join us for our: Spring Chorus Concert& 2nd Grade Play

Thursday, May 8th

6:00pm - 2nd grade students will perform “Tales of Temples & Tombs”

6:35pm – 3rd grade student chimers will perform 6:45pm – 4th & 5th grade chorus students will

perform “Music of Today”

We look forward to sharing what promises to be an energetic evening!

Thank you to all the band and orchestra students who took part in our

Spring Recital in April. Our final concert of the year will take place on Wednesday,

June 4 at 6:30 p.m. This will feature all of our 4th and 5th

grade band and orchestra students. We hope you can come out and hear these talented musicians perform!

P. E.Capt. DeMario

Some important health & wellness dates: Mark your

Calendars!

May 3rd – 5th Annual CKMS Kids Fun Run: This is a free event for all elementary children living in Groton. The Fun Run is being held at Catherine Kolnaski Magnet School, 500 Poquonnock Rd., Groton. Check in is at 10 a.m., races begin at 11 a.m. If your child wants to participate, please request a form from Mr. DeMario.

May 7th A.C.E.S. (All Children Exercise Simultaneously) will be happening at S.B. Butler at 10 a.m. This is a school wide event where all students will exercise together for a short period of time.

May 28th Wellness Day: Wellness Day will be replacing Family, Fun and Fitness night. Our goal is to be able to have all our students participate in the wellness event which is why we will be doing it during the school day rather than in the evening.

June 12 Field Day: The most fun day of the year! Volunteers will be needed. More information will be sent home as we get closer to the date.

Literacy InterventionistsMrs. Fridinger & Mrs. Tasca

A Reading Strategy That Works!

During the school year –students new to SBB, students in grades K-2, and any student who appears to be struggling with reading is assessed by a reading teacher or the classroom teacher using the BAS (Benchmark Assessment System) to assess reading progress. The children read short fiction and non-fiction books aloud to a teacher who then initiates a "conversation" in order to assess comprehension.

When a child makes an error as they read, it is our job as reading teachers to try to understand what caused them to make the error and then help them to notice the error, make a correction and continue on. We all do that as we read and are probably not even aware that we do it. We make a mistake and then we fix it so that we continue to understand what the writer is trying to say. Children need to learn to do the same. We would like to share an observation with you.

As we administer the BAS, we notice many students appear to be unaware of mistakes they make as they read. Because the BAS is a test, we record our observations. Children are taught effective reading strategies at every grade level and our goal is for them to internalize those strategies in order to become strategic and proficient readers. With your help at home, we know each child can be successful and would like you to try with your child the easiest and perhaps the most effective strategy of all.

When you read with your child and see they have made an error, first give them the chance to notice the error themselves. This strategy is called "monitoring". We want kids to notice when something they've read DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, DOESN'T SOUND RIGHT, or DOESN'T LOOK RIGHT. You can then read back the sentence to the child the same way they read it with the mistake and all. Ask them, "Did that make sense?” or, ”Did that sound right?” or ”Does that look right?" That should be enough to get them to try the line again and make the necessary correction. The goal? Get the child to be the problem solver. Try it! It works!

Special Education Teachers and Speech-Language Pathologists

Mrs. Salovitz, Mrs. Varga-Knowlton,Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Buttermore &

Miss Kasparek

May is Better Hearing & Speech Month!!!

Each May – Better Hearing & Speech Month (BHSM) provides an opportunity to raise awareness about communication disorders and the role of speech-language pathologists and audiologists in providing life-altering treatment. For 2014, the “Identify the Signs” campaign will be front and center in the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association's public outreach during BHSM. The “Identify the Signs” campaign aims to educate the public about the warning signs of communication disorders. Speech, language, and hearing disorders are treatable and early detection is a major contributor to speedier recoveries, shortened treatment periods, and reduced costs for individuals and society alike.

To learn more visit this website:http://identifythesigns.org/

Health RoomMrs. Grater & Mrs. Donnel

Spring is finally here! Time for all of us to get outside and exercise! Be active and get your family to join you. Go for a walk, play catch, play with your pet.

Establish a routine. Set aside a time each day as activity time; walk, jog, cycle, swim. Adults need 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week; children need 60 minutes most days. Remember you can start off with smaller goals 10- 15 minutes a day and work up to more minutes. Stay positive keep with it!!

Limit TV watching and computer time. Move it!! Give gifts that encourage physical activity—active games, sporting equipment, or makeup games as long as you stay active. Remember – have fun and enjoy the outdoors!!

Art NewsMrs. Norris

In celebration of the new playground constructed by “Where Angels Play” in memory of Grace McDonnell, each student completed a contour drawing of their hand. The drawings were assembled into peace signs representing each grade level at the school, pre-k through 5th grade. These posters where put on display at the opening of the new playground. I am very proud of each and every student creating a symbol of themselves and their discussions on understanding what peace means to them and the world.

As the school year winds down, our anticipated Art Show will be held June 4th before the concert. The students and I will be going through their art work and making decisions on what they will be displaying. We look forward to a wonderful evening. If you are unable to make the event, the artwork will remain up for the next week or so.

Lastly, I would like to thank the staff and families of S.B. Butler for making my time here as the Art Teacher a very special experience. Thank you for your support.

Raising a Moral Child This excerpt was from an article written by Adam Grant which appeared in the New York Times on April 11, 2014.

What does it take to be a good parent? We know some of the tricks for teaching kids to become high achievers. Yet research indicates we are equally if not more concerned about our children becoming kind, compassionate and helpful. Surveys reveal that in the United States, parents from European, Asian, Hispanic and African ethnic groups all place far greater importance on caring than achievement. These patterns hold around the world: When people in 50 countries were asked to report their guiding principles in life, the value that mattered most was not achievement, but caring.

Despite the significance that it holds in our lives, teaching children to care about others is no simple task. In an Israeli study of nearly 600 families, parents who valued kindness and compassion frequently failed to raise children who shared those values.

Genetic twin studies suggest than anywhere from a quarter to more than half of our propensity to be giving and caring is inherited. That leaves a lot of room for nurture, and the evidence on how parents raise kind and compassionate children flies in the face of what many of even the most well-intentioned parents do in praising good behavior, responding to bad behavior, and communicating their values.

By age 2, children experience some moral emotions – feelings triggered by right and wrong. To reinforce caring as the right behavior, research indicates that praise is more effective than rewards. Rewards run the risk of leading children to be kind only when a carrot is offered, whereas praise communicates that sharing is intrinsically worthwhile for its own sake. But what kind of praise should we give when our children show early signs of generosity?

Many parents believe it’s important to compliment the behavior, not the child – that way, the child learns to repeat the behavior. Indeed, I know one couple who are careful to say, “That was such a helpful thing to do,” instead of “You’re a helpful person.”

But is that the right approach? In a clever experiment, the researchers Joan E. Grusec and Erica Redler set out to investigate what happens when we commend generous behavior versus generous character. After 7 and 8 year-olds won marbles and donated some to poor children, the experimenter remarked, “Gee, you shared quite a bit.”

The researchers randomly assigned the children to receive different types of praise. For some of the children, they praised the action: “It was good that you gave some of your marbles to those poor children. Yes, that was a nice and helpful thing to do.” For others, they praised the character behind the action: “I guess you’re the kind of person who likes to help others whenever you can. You, you are a nice and helpful person.”

A couple of weeks later, when faced with more opportunities to give and share , the children were much more generous after their character had been praised than after their actions had been. Praising their character helped them internalize it as part of their identities. The children learned who they were from observing their own actions: I am a helpful person. This dovetails new research led by the psychologist Christopher J. Bryan, who finds that for moral behaviors, nouns work better than verbs. To get 3 to 6 year-olds to help with a task, rather than inviting them “to help,” it was 22 to 29 percent more effective to encourage them to “be a helper.” Cheating was cut in half when instead of, “Please don’t cheat,” participants were told, “Please don’t be a cheater.” When our actions become a reflection of our character, we lean more heavily toward the moral and generous choices. Over time it can become part of us.

Praise in response to good behavior may be half the battle, but our responses to bad behavior have consequences, too. When children cause harm, they typically feel one of two moral emotions: shame or guilt. Despite the common belief that these emotions are interchangeable, research led by the psychologist June Price Tangney reveals that they have very different causes and consequences.

Shame is the feeling that I am a bad person, whereas guilt is the feeling that I have done a bad thing. Shame is a negative judgment about the core self, which is devastating: Shame makes children feel small and worthless, and they respond either by lashing out at the target or escaping the situation altogether. In contrast, guilt is a negative judgment

about an action, which can be repaired by good behavior. When children feel guilt, they tend to experience remorse and regret, empathize with the person they have harmed, and aim to make it right.

In one study spearheaded by psychologist Karen Caplovitz Barrett, parents rated their toddlers’ tendencies to experience shame and guilt at home. The toddlers received a rag doll, and the leg fell off while they were playing with it alone. The shame-prone toddlers avoided the researcher and did not volunteer that they broke the doll. The guilt-prone toddlers were more likely to fix the doll, approach the experimenter, and explain what happened. The ashamed toddlers were avoiders; the guilty toddlers were amenders.

If we want our children to care about others, we need to teach them to feel guilt rather than shame when they misbehave. In a review of research on emotions and moral development, psychologist Nancy Eisenberg suggests that shame emerges when parents express anger, withdraw their love, or try to assert their power through threats of punishment: Children may begin to believe that they are bad people. Fearing this effect, parents fail to exercise discipline at all, which can hinder the development of strong moral standards.

The most effective response to bad behavior is to express disappointment . According to independent reviews by Professor Eisenberg and David R. Shaffer, parents raise caring children by expressing disappointment and explaining why the behavior was wrong, how it affected others, and how they can rectify the situation. This enables children to develop standards for judging their actions, feelings of empathy and responsibility for others, and a sense of moral identity, which are conducive to becoming a helpful person. The beauty of expressing disappointment is that it communicates disapproval of the bad behavior, coupled with high expectations and the potential for improvement: “You’re a good person, even if you did a bad thing, and I know you can do better.”

As powerful as it is to criticize bad behavior and praise good character, raising a generous child involves more than waiting for opportunities to react to the actions of our children. As parents, we want to be proactive in communicating our values to our children. Yet many of us do this the wrong way.

In a classic experiment, the psychologist J. Philippe Rushton gave 140 elementary- and middle-school children tokens for winning a game, which they could keep entirely or donate some to a child in poverty. They first watched a teacher figure play the game either selfishly or generously, and then preach to them the value of taking, giving or neither. The adult’s influence was significant: Actions spoke louder than words. When the adult behaved selfishly, children followed suit. The words didn’t make much difference – children gave fewer tokens after observing the adult’s selfish actions, regardless of whether the adult verbally advocated selfishness or generosity. When the adult acted generously, students gave the same amount whether generosity was preached or not – they donated 85 percent more than the norm in both cases. When the adult preached selfishness, even after the adult acted generously, the students still gave 49 percent more than the norm. Children learn generosity not by listening to what their role models say, but by observing what they do.

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