R E E D S F E R R Y

Tigger Times

April 2018

A note from the Principals Mrs. Yarlott and Mrs. Schneider

We are finally seeing signs of spring;

flowers are blooming, the weather is warming up and the days are getting

longer! Thank you to those parents who attended parent-teacher conferences. The

teachers always look forward to sharing student progress. There are many upcoming and exciting events happening at

Reeds Ferry School, including Bedtime Story Hour for first grade students and

parents, Visiting Author for kindergarten through fourth grade students and the Art

Show/Ice Cream social! Welcome to our new PFA President,

Brittany Gagnon. With the financial support of our Parent-Faculty Association,

Reeds Ferry students in kindergarten through fourth grade will be treated with a

visit in May from local author, Cynthia Lord! Thank you, parents, for supporting this annual event.

Meet Cynthia Lord

Cynthia’s life as a writer began at age four, writing silly song lyrics in collaboration with her older sister.

Cynthia had great ideas, but she couldn’t actually write, so her sister had to do all the writing!

Throughout her childhood, Cynthia enjoyed songs, music, art and literature. She remembers the first pencil and paper writing she ever did on the

envelope of a birthday card for her grandfather, Ed.

Cynthia grew up next to a lake in rural New

Hampshire. She always enjoyed writing for fun, and in high school, she began writing her own fiction

stories. Cynthia’s teachers encouraged her to take writing courses in college and during that time she published several short stories.

In 2007, Cynthia Lord published her first children’s novel, Rules. Since then she has written several

children’s books including, Hot Rod Hamster, A

Handful of Stars, and the Shelter Pet Squad series.

You can learn more about Cynthia Lord by visiting her website: www.cynthialord.com

Cynthia Lord utilizes animal characters in the Early Reader books that young learners can relate to. In her novels, themes such as friendships and

relationships emerge as children learn to navigate the intricacies of making and maintaining sustainable

friendships and relationships at school.

Reading at home is an essential component of

student’s literacy success! More tips for parents to keep reading alive and interesting at home in this issue of the Tigger Times!

2

Reading Tips for Parents Keep reading lively and interesting with these 7 tips — and learn new ways to support and open up this

new wonderful world to your child.

By Anne Schwartzberg Even if your child is motivated to read, supporting her with a variety of ways and options will keep her

momentum going. Here are 7 tips to open up the wonderful world of reading for your child.

Reading Tip for Parents: What’s “Just Right”? Children feel confident and competent when they read books that are “just right.” But how do you find a “just right” book? Have your child

read the back and front cover, and first page of the book. If there are more than five words that he cannot pronounce or understand in context, the book may be too challenging. Be supportive

about finding a more perfect fit. Choosing the right book will help your little reader feel successful.

Reading Tip for Parents: Map it Out It’s important to provide your child with a variety of fiction and non-fiction reading. A fun way to do this is to get a map and show her the way from your

house to the grocery store or another familiar destination. Have your child write out the directions, street by street, and then read them to you as you walk or drive to the store – like a

living GPS!

Reading Tip for Parents: Card Tricks Do you think effective reading only takes place at libraries

and book stores? Think again! There are reading opportunities everywhere. Go to a greeting card store with your child and read the greeting cards together. Later, vote for the ones whose words

convey the best birthday wish or get-well sentiment.

Reading Tip for Parents: Picture This! During your next outing or gathering, take action-packed photos, then have your child create captions to go with each picture. Assemble the

pictures and captions in a picture book or album, and add speech and thought bubbles to create a personalized – and probably hysterical -- graphic novel.

Reading Tip for Parents: Last Comic Standing Take time to read comic strips together. Share favorites from your own childhood and have your child put his favorites on the fridge. Read them

aloud, and often -- repetition is a great way to build reading skills. Soon, he’ll love looking forward to the “Sunday funnies” each week.

Reading Tip for Parents: Become a Fan Your reader will soon develop a love for particular

authors and illustrators. Nurture her fan-ship by helping her write a letter to her favorite author. Many authors have their own websites with contact information. You can also contact the book’s publisher, the mailing address for which can often be found on the back of the title page or on the

publisher’s web site.

Reading Tip for Parents: Labels of Love Word recognition and vocabulary are important parts of reading. On a rainy day, get some paper and tape and start labeling everything in your home --

from furniture to small knick-knacks. Reading these labels repeatedly will build your child’s mental word bank. If your family is bilingual, create labels in both languages.

[TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT]

REEDS FERRY TIGGER TIMES APRIL 2018

When you think of spring, what do you think? Do you remember the saying March comes in like a lion,

and out like a lamb? Or, what about April shower bring May flowers? Both of these saying started as short

poems back in the 19th Century. While one may recall the sayings handed down by generations,

poetry itself is often forgotten. April celebrates Poetry.

The Academy of American Poets established National Poetry Month in 1996. Its goals are to encourage the reading of poems, assist teachers in bringing poetry into classrooms, and increase the attention given to poetry (for more information visit https://www.poets.org/national-poetry-

month/national-poetry-month-faq).

In the library, we have many books written by popular and favorite poets such as Shel Silverstein, Bruce Lansky, and Ken Nesbitt. If you don’t have a poetry book at home, try this fun website:

http://www.poetry4kids.com/. It has a variety of poems and games designed for children. Another entertaining and child friendly site is http://www.gigglepoetry.com/. Poetry can be fun and engaging! Give it a try!

Eureka!

By Jack Prelutsky

Eureka! At last I’ve succeeded, my experiment’s finally done.

I’ve made an incredible creature,

the only one under the sun.

There’s never been anything like it,

part puppy, part kitten, part mouse –

and now I must learn how to stop it from chasing itself through the house.

Keep A Poem In Your Pocket By Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Keep a poem in your pocket

And a picture in your head And you'll never feel lonely

At night when you're in bed.

The little poem will sing to you

The little picture bring to you A dozen dreams to dance to you

At night when you're in bed.

So - - Keep a picture in your pocket

And a poem in your head

And you'll never feel lonely At night when you're in bed.

[TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT]

The Kindergarten children had a wonderful visit this month from the Merrimack Police

Department! The police officers read some of our favorite spring books out loud to the children, and they told us some very important things about their job. One of our favorite things Officer

Milligan taught us is, "My job as a police officer is to help others, not hurt others." We are very grateful to all of the police officers who work for the Merrimack Police Department, keeping Merrimack safe and helping people every single day. Thank you MPD for making time to visit Room 1, 3 and 5 at Reeds Ferry School!

[TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT]

During the month of March, we learned about states of matter. As of the time of writing this, first

grade classes were beginning to go to the SEE Science Center to learn more about the states of matter. They also got to explore various other science activities (electricity, bubbles, forces and

motion, etc.) on their field trip.

This month we will work on plant life cycles.

First grade is looking forward to Bed Time Story Hour on April 18th. More information will be sent home soon. We wish you a happy spring! Have a wonderful April vacation!

[TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT]

Second graders have been working hard on writing all about books. To show they are experts, each

of the students has chosen a topic they know a lot about. In order to help their readers learn more about their subject, students are learning how to make a table of contents, organize their chapters, and

use a variety of text features. Once they have completed this unit, second graders will work on writing opinion pieces about their favorite books.

In reading, students have continued to use different comprehension strategies to help them understand a text. In the Making Meaning program we have been focusing on wondering with non-

fiction books. Students have been reading and wondering using different books about insects. In the upcoming weeks, we will focus more on making connections and using text features in non-fiction

texts.

We have also been focusing on Africa this month. Students have learned about the climate, landforms, landmarks, people and animals of the continent. Second graders will each be researching a different animal from Africa and learning about its predator and prey. Each class will then create a

giant African food chain. Students will be able to have a better understanding how the transfer of energy works and which animals are at the top and bottom of the food chain.

[TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT]

The Third Graders have begun Topic 12 in math, which focuses on understanding that fractions are numbers that can represent a portion of a whole or a point on the number line. Topic 13 will

follow and will focus on using models and number sense to understand fraction equivalence and comparison. We would like to remind all Third Graders that it is important to continue practicing

your math facts for 5 to 10 minutes each night.

In Making Meaning, we have focused on using text features, including the back cover summary, table of contents, labeled diagrams, photographs, captions, etc., to assist us in better understanding the information in expository (nonfiction) texts. We continue to utilize reading community

discussions within the classroom, along with our response journals, to strengthen our reading comprehension.

In writing, we are beginning a Persuasive/Opinion Writing Unit, in which Third Graders will find

topics they feel passionately about, state their opinion, support their claims with evidence, and be prepared to respond to counterclaims.

Lastly, the Third Graders are starting reading to begin learning about the Solar System. We are looking forward to our upcoming field trip in April to the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.

[TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT]

In reading, students have been focusing on the history of New Hampshire and various other non-fiction, informative texts.

Students are continuing their study of fractions. Unit 9 focused on the adding and subtracting of both fractions and mixed numbers with common denominators. Doubling or

halving recipes at home is a fantastic way to practice equivalent fractions!

Students have demonstrated their growth in persuasive writing with their post-prompts and have moved onto the final writing genre of the year, informative writing. Students will select a topic from US history (or NH more specifically) to research and write about.

A few odd and ends:

We will be starting our science unit on the various forms of energy in the upcoming

weeks.

Chorus may have ended, but students are continuing on with their recorders.

Please note that the field trip to the Acton Discovery Museum was moved to May

21st.

The Fire Muster is April 13th at JMUES at 8:45. Don’t forget to send in your

permission slip!

[TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT]

President: Brittany Gagnon

ReedsPFAPresident@Gmail.com

Vice-President: Jennifer Szela ReedsPFAVicePresident@Gmail

Secretary: John Doubleday

ReedsPFASecretary@Gmail.com

Treasurer: Melissa Hebert ReedsPFATreasurer@Gmail.com

Board Member at Large: Shannon Rand ReedsPFABoardMemberAtLarge@Gmail.com

Volunteer Coordinators:

Angela Peterson

Jennifer Barr ReedsPFAVolunteerCoordinator@Gmail.com

Tigger Times Newspaper Editor: Karen Bruce

Reeds Ferry School

15 Lyons Road Merrimack, NH 03054

Phone: (603) 424-6215

Fax:

(603) 424-6238

On the Web: http://www.merrimack.k12.nh.us/Reedsferry.cfm

The PFA (Parent Faculty Association) is a volunteer organization dedicated to the support and

enrichment of education at Reeds Ferry Elementary School. Our goal is to provide enrichment to

both the faculty and students by establishing the means to offer additional programs, field trips and

materials to the school. All faculty, staff and parents of students at RFS are members of the PFA

and are always welcome at the general meetings. It is with the continuing support of our members

that we are able to offer all of the enrichment programs. It is the unselfish giving of time and effort

by our many volunteers that have allowed our children the benefit of these extra resources. Please

help us continue our goal by actively supporting the PFA in any way you can.

We are always looking for volunteers to help make the many programs and activities at Reeds Ferry a success! Check the Volunteer Page on our website often for the latest opportunities or contact our

volunteer coordinators with any questions or comments about volunteer opportunities at Reeds Ferry.

Reeds Ferry Needs……

Wipes of all kinds!! ALL our Reeds Ferry classrooms are in need of: anti-bacterial HAND

WIPES, Baby Wipes, and Clorox Disinfecting Wipes (or any brand for wiping down surfaces).

ATTENTION VOLUNTEERS: Don’t forget to record your volunteer hours and send in with your child.

[TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT] [TYPE TEXT]

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5

6 7

8 9 10 11 3rd Gr. Field Trip

12 -3rd Gr. Field Trip

-Art Club

13

14

15 16 17 18 -PFA Meeting

-1st Gr. Bedtime Story Hour

19 Art Club

20 21

22 23 Spring Recess

24 Spring Recess

25 Spring Recess

26 Spring Recess

27 Spring Recess

28

29 30

Please save the date of Thursday, June 14th, from 5-7pm for our annual Family Fun Night. More information will be sent out in late May.