Thank You:

• PTF for hosting the author day with Micheal Chabon.

Halloween Parade

On Thursday, October 29th at 2:30, students will line up on the sidewalk, socially distanced, all the way around the school. Parents, friends, neighbors, and members of the community will drive by the students. We will not be able to walk to the General Store this year, however, Blossom, from the Brooklin Candy Company and Jenna, from the General Store,  are exploring safe ways they can hand out candy and treats to the students.

Camp Out

The 7th and 8th-grade students will be having campout on the soccer field. Mrs. Bebell and Ms. Russell have an afternoon, evening, and morning itinerary filled with kickball, star gazing, and night hikes.  A permission slip will be coming home shortly.

Curriculum Updates

Art 3/4 – Last I wrote: “In the coming weeks, students will begin a bookmark project to celebrate a culture of their choosing with Ms. Thoner in ELA.  It will involve maps, information, illustrations, and cultural patterns and symbols.” Well, I got a little ahead of the game—my apologies.

Last week, we started examining different forms of lettering by writing BROOKLIN in a block font. We used rulers to measure and plot the eight-letter across a 12” page and did some math to figure out centering. We will continue with different fonts this week.

Art 5/6 – This week we will polish off our maps with the labeling of political and geographical locations. This week, we will delve into art pouring forth from the ancient civilizations being examined in Ms. Bebell’s Super Studies class. We will explore different themes and mediums for weeks to come.

Art 7/8 – This past week we examined voting rights posters from history in complement to their work with Ms. Bebell in Super Studies. Students began this week to reproduce one of these posters from the past and will finish them this week. Next week, they will design their own poster to convey their own message about voting and civic duty.

ELA 3/4 – Mrs. Thoner:  This week students worked on free writing and independent reading while some students completed the end of unit assessment started last week.  They also listened to Thank You Mr. Falker, by Patricia Pollaco read aloud.  This next week their work will be centered around that book.  The focus is on reading comprehension and on being able to identify they main character, setting, and basic events of the story.  They will use graphic organizers to take notes, then write a paragraph about the book. The ELA class has two sessions and during the second session students are grouped differently.  Ms. Marin takes some students for extended reading and vocabulary, while I keep some to work on meanings of prefixes and suffixes, vowel combinations, vocabulary, etc., with the goal of helping them become more fluent in reading, writing, and spelling.

ELA 5/6 – Mrs. Thoner: This week students wrapped up their work on the literary analysis of Eight Days: A Story of Haiti. and started on a new packet based on the story “Save Bella!”.  Students also meet with Ellen Booream each Wednesday, via zoom to engage in writing workshops which prepare them to write and develop their individual stories throughout the year.  The ELA class has two sessions and during the second session students are grouped differently.  Ms. Blake takes some students for extended reading and vocabulary, while I keep some to work on meanings of prefixes and suffixes, vowel combinations, vocabulary, etc., with the goal of helping them become more fluent in reading, writing, and spelling.

ELA 7/8 – Mrs. Thoner:  This week the 7/8 class continued their study of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.  Students also meet with Ellen Booream each Wednesday, via zoom to engage in writing workshops which prepare them to write and develop their individual stories throughout the year. The ELA class has two sessions and during the second session students are grouped differently.  Ms. Blake takes some students for extended reading and vocabulary, while I keep some to work on meanings of prefixes and suffixes, vowel combinations, vocabulary, etc., with the goal of helping them become more fluent in reading, writing, and spelling.

3/4 Super Studies- This week, the students explored electrical currents by using a Makey Makey (see makeymakey.com for information about this great tool!) to turn the whole class into a musical instrument. They also wrapped up their introductory unit on different types of energy. The students were so excited to begin using the new iPads this week, and started by doing some introductory computer programming activities on Kodable. They also tried some analog programming activities by taking turns pretending to be robots and writing lines of code to command their “robots” to stack paper cups in certain patterns.

5/6 Super Studies- This week, the students did a short engineering project. They had to design earthquake proof structures out of spaghetti and marshmallows, and then we tested them by shaking the structures to see how they handled those forces. The students were so excited to start using their new iPads this week too! They used them to create models of earthquake-resistant structures on a programming app called Scratch.

7/8 Super Studies -This week, the 7/8 students continued exploring how they can participate in the democratic process, even though they haven’t reached voting age yet. They were delighted to start using the new iPads that just arrived, and one of the first things they did in class with them was play a voting simulation game by iCivics. iCivics.org has many great resources for students to learn about government, civic engagement, and elections, and we will be using them throughout the year.

3-8 Math- 3rd grade math – We continue to work on understanding multiplication using different models.

4th grade math – We are working on understanding rounding to any place value and manipulating rounded numbers.

5th grade math – We continue to work on rounding with decimals and place value.

6th grade math –  We continue to work with ratios in tables and diagrams and understanding the value of ratios.

7th grade math –  We continue to work with Ratios and finding proportional relationships.

8th grade math –  We continue to work with scientific notation and manipulating numbers in scientific notation.

PTF News:

 

• Thank you to Becky and Robert Courtot, Rene Neuner, Ellen Landrum and Wilder, Tanya Prime, Jon Spivak, and  Ed and Lisa Depasquel for getting the school’s large outdoor classroom repaired and secured after last week’s storm.
• Brooklin School PTF is considering a children’s warm clothing swap. This event would be held outside. We are hoping the kids can be outside as much as possible this year but that can be cold and outdoor gear is $$$$. Hang on to your children’s outdoor gear that they have outgrown and in preparation, you could get it washed and ready to go. We will choose a date soon and send out the details.
• The next PTF meeting is outdoors, October 27th @ 3:15. We already have so many new members this year and we are hoping even more of you will join us!

Community News

GSA Parent Evening

A reminder to 7th & 8th Grade Parents:   The Zoom Info Evening invitations are due back to  GSA by November 6th. The two dates are:  November 18th at 6:00 pm  &  December 2nd at 6:00pm.  Please email or call Christie A. Snow c.snow@georgestevens.org (207-374-2820) if you have any questions.

Christmas Angels

Christmas Angels are gearing up for their 32nd season. The program provides gifts of warm clothing to children in need who reside full time in Blue Hill, Brooklin, Brooksville, Castine, Deer Isle, Penobscot, Sedgwick, Stonington and Surry. The Christmas Angels Program, coordinated by the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill, depends on the generosity of individuals, clubs and businesses. Last year, 109 children were served from 47 families across the Blue Hill Peninsula. This year’s poster angel design is by Nathan Dauk, selected from an art contest held by the Church in 2015.   To receive assistance from the Program, pick up a request form from your school office, Tree of Life Food Pantry or the Island Food Pantry, and at the Church. Early sign-up is highly appreciated. Request forms must be received by November 20th. For further assistance, contact Linda Elder at 266–5184.    If you would like to be an Angel, contact Ruth Miller at 266-4174. Each Angel will be provided a detailed list of a child’s clothing wishes, including age (newborn-18 years old), size and any specific needs; up to 3 items per child. Distribution of gifts will be in early December.    Financial donations are always welcomed and appreciated. Checks made out to First Congregational Church of Blue Hill, with the notation “Christmas Angels”, can be mailed to PO Box 444, Blue Hill, ME 04614.

October

10/16               8:30 pm                                   Rosanna’s Readers

10-12                                       Boat Building

12:00                                       Dismissal

10/23               12:00                                       Dismissal

TBA                                        Camp Out

10/27               3:15 pm                                   PTF Meeting

10/29               2:30 pm                                   Halloween Parade

10/30                                       NO SCHOOL—Teacher Workshop

11-2 pm                       Parent/Family Social with Principal and Staff

 

 

November

11/1                             Daylight Savings Time Ends(set clocks back one hour)

11/6                 12:00                                       Dismissal

11/10               6:00pm                                    School Board Meeting

11/11                           Holiday—No School

 

December

12/8                 6:00pm                                    School Board Meeting