The 4th and 5th Grade Chorus and Orff Ensemble have been working hard at learning their music for the December 11th concert at Bancroft Elementary School. They took a break from rehearsing to sing with the New Garden Chorus at the Toughkenamon Tree Lighting on December 1st. They have been doing a wonderful job getting our community and school into the holiday spirit.
The ELD Team is Excited About Their New Textbook Series
English Learners in the English Language Development (ELD) program have received a new textbook series this year published by National Geographic. The program, Reach, actively engages and immerses students in content learning while building language, vocabulary, reading, and writing proficiency. Students are very excited about their new materials!
Mrs. Kaitlin Fuhr’s Class Writes Personal Narratives
In D5, Mrs. Kaitlin Fuhr’s class celebrated the completion of their Personal Narratives. The student’s spent time creating a story based on their own lives and experiences. The stories ranged from family traditions and vacations to shocking events. After all of the stories were complete, it was time to celebrate! The students went around and read each other’s narrative and wrote a positive comment on each other’s “Note to the Author” sheet. These kind words were the highlight of their day. By reading these stories, the student’s discovered brand new things about their classmates. They are ready to take on their next writing piece.
Mrs. Lauren Hess’ Class Learns About the 4-Square Strategy
Mrs. Lauren Hess’ class has been building grit and exploring different strategies and tools to help solve word problems. One strategy they have been using is the 4-Square Strategy. This strategy helps break apart the word problem so that the student focuses solely on the important information. The students have also been learning to use other tools such as connecting cubes, paper strips, and bar models to represent the situations described in word problems.
Reading Olympics Begins at Bancroft
Reading Olympics is well underway at Bancroft Elementary School. We have formed two fifth grade teams who are reading 45 books selected by the Chester County Intermediate Unit. Students meet each week with Mr. David Livergood, the school’s library media specialist, to practice answering various types of questions about the selected books. Students read the selected books independently at home and in school. In May 2019, students will compete with other schools throughout southern Chester County to earn ribbons of achievement. Over the past seven years, Bancroft Elementary School’s Reading Olympic teams have all earned blue ribbons—the highest award—every year!
Students Practice Mindfulness
In D6, Miss Lauren Williams’ class practices mindfulness during Morning Meeting using fun, engaging, and mindful greetings, activities, and sharing. During a recent greeting, the students played “Mindful Hands.” Each student made-up a hand signal to greet the class and then each classmate repeated the hand signal back. This required the students to have their eyes on the greeter and to pay close attention to each and every movement.
Another way they incorporated movement was to play “Full Motion.” In this activity, the students go around the circle, adding a new movement until everyone can’t remain in sync. This activity energizes their bodies and tests their ability to focus on multiple movements at once.
Lastly, the students shared positive affirmations to practice self-love and self-appreciation. Some of the class’ favorites are “I am kind,” “I am unique,” and “I can do hard things.”
Incorporating mindfulness into the Morning Meeting sets the tone for a productive and positive day!
We Are Thankful
Every year, the Life Skills class at Bancroft Elementary School prepares soup and dessert to serve to the staff in order to express their gratitude. This year the annual Thanksgiving Feast was even more special; Mrs. Sara Simasek’s Special Friends Club helped get ready for the festivities. On the morning of the feast, the Special Friends Club gathered to set up the tables and decorate. The students made signs to welcome guests and enjoyed each other’s company. These students are thankful for friendship!
Mrs. Laurie Myers’ Class Learns About Landforms
Students in Mrs. Laurie Myers’ fourth grade class are working on a Landforms Project. The students are using their notes to create a flip-book that depicts prominent landforms important to Pennsylvania and describes how they are formed. This is a cross-curricular project that ties in Pennsylvania geography (social studies) with identifying various Earth structures (science).
Special Friends Club
Just like the traditional Girl Scout song “Make new friends and keep the old,” Bancroft Elementary School’s Special Friends Club enjoys getting together with returning members and getting to know new friends. This week the students gathered in Mrs. Sara Simasek’s room to share greetings, an activity, and a craft. They added leaves of friendship and thankfulness to a Special Friends Tree.
Mrs. Simasek told the students that friendship is like a tree because when the roots are strong the tree is healthy. The Special Friends Club is rooted in mutual respect and kindness. The students enjoy spending time together not only during Special Friends Club meetings, but also during recess, lunch, and other social opportunities. As the song lyrics say: “A circle is round, it has no end, that’s how long I want to be your friend!”
