Fisher School "Wake Up" Call

The video below, was recently recently submitted by music teacher Mr. Holmes to the Channel 5 morning news for their morning Wake Up Shout Out! Watch for it to air soon!

Fisher Elementary School in Walpole, MA (located midway between Boston and Providence on the route 95 corridor) provides instruction from Kindergarten through Grade Five to almost 450 students.  At Fisher, we sing, dance, play instruments and learn to read and write music as an important part of our school's education, and have FUN while doing it!  Here, Ms. Wadland's Grade Five class is performing a percussion piece and reading a 4-part score.  This is how WE wake up at Fisher School!

Elm Street School's Fifth Grade Living Wax Museum

Every year fifth graders participate in a Biography Project in which they research a famous person and give a presentation about that individual’s life and accomplishments.

This year, Elm Street School’s fifth grade teachers (Mrs. Holcomb, Mrs. Farley, and Ms. Reaney) planned an added feature which was quite motivating for the students.  The students dressed as their character and created a small display, including a “button”.  The students pretended to be wax figurines of their biography subject and stood “frozen” by their display.  Other students and teachers visited.  When the “button” was pushed, the figurine came to life and described the project.  At the close, they once again “froze”.  The presentations were very informative and a good time was had by all!

 

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Boston Globe Scholastic Art Show Winners

Walpole Public Schools had another great showing in the Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards with 41students winning honors.  All Massachusetts art teachers teaching students in one of the art mediums may submit a quota of up to 20 individual art works by students in Grades 7 - 12.  Individual works and portfolios are judged on the state level and 7 Walpole students were selected as Gold Key winners and will continue on to national judging.  Other students received Silver Keys and Honorable Mentions on the state-level.

Exhibit of Gold and Silver Key Award Winning Individual Entries - Monday, February 11 - Friday, April 19, 2013 - State Transportation Building, 10 Park Plaza.

No Name Calling Week at Fisher School

Fisher School celebrated "No Name Calling Week" with a variety of activities this week.  All students and staff were reminded about the power of our words.  We can  help others with kind words or "scar" others with hurtful words.  We used the "THINK" acronym before we spoke- Is it true?, Is it helpful?, Is it inspiring?, Is it necessary?, and Is it kind?   

 

Our activities included:

Monday, January 21— Martin Luther King Day- Please reflect on MLK's message of nonviolence to solve problems.

Tuesday, January 22 — "Put a cap on name-calling." Students will be allowed to wear hats to support the fight against name-calling and bullying. Also, in homerooms, students will sign the pledge against name-calling.

Wednesday, January 23 — "Hands are for helping, not harassment," Stop Bullying and Cyber-bullying. Students will use sticky notes to write down a random act of kindness, positive comments or compliments and post it in the showcase in the front hall. 

Thursday, January 24 — "Remember, what you say, you can't take it back." Backwards Day.  Students will wear shirts backwards today.

Friday, January 25 — "Sports Day" – We are all on the same team against name-calling. Students will wear their favorite sports jersey, shirt, etc.

Our goal is that we realize the impact of what we say and that we will think before we speak. We have made some great strides this week towards achieving this goal.

Colleen Duggan

Principal, Fisher School

 

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Geography Bee Finalists at Fisher School

The National Geographic Society developed the National Geography Bee in 1989 in response to

concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States. At

Fisher School, fifth graders traditionally participate in this event.

Nine finalists in this year's annual event include: Ebenezer Paul, Jenna MacDonald, Aayush Mathur, Ethan McGuire, Ted Harrington. Daniel Colbert, Sam Jankey, Lily Stevenson, and Lila MacKinnon.  We congratulate all of the finalists and our runner up this year- Lily Stevenson and our 2013 Geography Bee Champion- Ted Harrington!

 

Colleen Duggan

Principal, Fisher School

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Boyden Fourth Graders Cross "the Pond" Using Technology

"Picture a large can. Just before you kick it, your toe pops out of the front of your shoe to "peek" at the can. Can = Kansas. Toe + peek = Topeka. The capital city and state is Topeka, Kansas!" This mnemonic device paired with a hand drawn picture was used to help instruct students in the United Kingdom who were studying the states and capitals of the USA.

Right before the holiday break, Mrs. Carroll's grade 4 classroom connected via Skype with Mrs. Stone's class across "the Pond" just outside London, England (Tasis The American School in England). Each class was placed in three groups. Using 2 iPads and a laptop, the classes were able to connect simultaneously through Skype (through 3 different accounts). Each student in Mrs. Carroll's class shared a state and capital with their overseas counterparts. Visuals that further depicted the statement were displayed. Mrs. Stone's students took notes and asked questions about the state and capital.

This month the learning/sharing will be reversed as the American students in the UK will teach the Boyden students the remaining states & capitals using the same format.

A third connection is planned where the students in the UK will shared geographical information about Great Britain such as borders, climate, bodies of water, resources, landforms, major cities, famous people, attractions and animals found in nature.

Using video conferencing tools in our schools with programs such as Skype or Google Hangouts changes the way our students learn and helps them become Global Learners.

Mrs. Nancy Carroll
Grade 4
Boyden School

Classroom Blog: http://mrscarroll310.blogspot.com Classroom Website: http://www.walpole.k12.ma.us/teachers/home.php?id=69&view=t
My Blog: Teaching is Elementary http://teachingiselementary.blogspot.com

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Middle Schools Students Glogging!

Last spring the two middle schools were awarded a grant from the Walpole Technology and Innovation Foundation that enabled them to purchase a subscription to Glogster EDU.  "Glogster EDU is the leading global education platform for the creative expression of knowledge and skills in the classroom and beyond.  We empower educators and students with the technology to create GLOGS - online multimedia posters - with text, photos, videos, graphics, sounds, drawings, data attachments and more". Students and teachers have enjoyed using this new tool. Still not sure what a glog is?  Below is a glog about Glogster - check it out!