 | | | McAlister Intermediate School | June 2016 | | 260 Mountain Road | Suffield, CT 06078 | 860-668-3830 | https://www.suffield.org | | |  | | | | | | | | Upcoming Events: Wednesday, June 1 Grade 3 Step Up Day Math Olympiads Breakfast
7:45 a.m. Thursday, June 2 Civil War Day Friday, June 3 Student Council Meeting
7:30 a.m. Appreciation Assembly
2:15 p.m. Monday, June 6 Suffield BOE Meeting
6:30 p.m.
SMS LMC Tuesday, June 7 Job Corps Breakfast
7:45 a.m. NCCC Support Groups
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
SHS Room 221, Pampered Palace, and LMC Thursday, June 9 McAlister Field Day
(Tue. June 14th Rain Date) Friday, June 10 Student Council Meeting
7:30 a.m. Thursday, June 16 Early Release
Last Day of School
1:00 p.m. Monday, June 20 Suffield BOE Meeting
6:30 p.m.
SMS LMC
 2015 - 2016 District Calendar 2016 - 2017 District Calendar McAlister Menus McAlister Family Handbook | |  | A Message From The Principal | | Dear McAlister Families, It is amazing to think that the end of the school year is upon us--it seems like just weeks ago we were welcoming students to the first day of the year! We have had a year full of learning and growing together and would like to thank everyone for their support and kindness  throughout the year. Whether it is volunteering to chaperone a field trip, attending one of our many school events, collaborating on an important issue, or being on a school committee, your efforts in partnering with us to provide our children with a rich school experience is truly appreciated. The tenets of the McAlister Way--being kind, respectful, responsible, and safe extend to our entire school community! At this time we are happy to congratulate Mrs. Denise Raymond as McAlister’s school representative for Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Raymond is one of our Physical Education teachers and is a well known as a physical fitness leader in our school. She has brought many amazing programs to McAlister such as Unified Sports, Bike and Walk to School Day, Jump Rope for Heart, and so on! She has also worked to write many grants for our school and the community at large. Mrs. Raymond is always looking for ways to encourage active and healthy lifestyles in our students and we are so very appreciative of her efforts. We congratulate Mrs. Raymond as McAlister’s school representative for Teacher of the Year. As always, as the year winds down, we have many fun and meaningful activities for our students. The following are important reminders for our families: June 1--Step Up Day for Incoming Grade 3 Students
June 2--Grade Five Civil War Day
June 3--Appreciation Assembly
June 7 and 8--Grade Three Fire Safety Program
June 9--Field Day (raindate June 14)  We look forward to these last few weeks of the school year as we celebrate our progress, the relationships that we have built over the last ten months, and our entire school community! We hope the summer months bring you rest, relaxation, and joyous family occasions.
Sincerely, 
Karen E. Carpenter-Snow | Grade 3 Curriculum Highlight by Mrs. Halzack | |  Third graders will wind up the academic year with some very exciting learning! In math, students will complete a unit of study on fractions and will then turn their attention to strengthening their computational fluency in addition and subtraction. Lessons will focus on such skills as estimating answers to addition  and subtraction problems with 3 digit numbers, solving addition and subtraction problems with 3-digit numbers, and solving addition and subtraction word problems with more than one step. In reading, students will continue to strengthen their reading comprehension skills through “close reading” lessons. During these lessons, students work with the same piece of text over three days, doing a careful and purposeful rereading of the text each day. During the first reading, students focus on getting the main idea or “the gist” of  the article. In subsequent readings, students “dig a little deeper” into the text, examining topics such as the author’s purpose, word choice, or point of view. On the third reading of the text, students focus on “putting it all together” by making inferences about the text and finding evidence in the text to support their ideas. In reading workshop, students will be  working in book clubs and reading a variety of fiction texts. In science, students will continue to work on a unit of study on rocks and minerals. Students will conclude this unit by examining different mineral specimens and using properties such as color, luster, and hardness to identify the minerals. In addition to all of these engaging learning opportunities, third graders are looking forward to hosting second graders from Spaulding on June 1st for Step-up Day. We will also have a visit from the Suffield Fire Department on June 7th and 8th when our Suffield firefighters will present a very important program to third graders on fire safety. June is shaping up to be a very busy month!
| | | | | | | | | | | Grade 4 Curriculum Highlight by Mr. Kaulins | | |  It's hard to believe that 170 or so days ago we met our fourth graders for the first time. The looks on their faces will be forever burned in our memories; the way that they were splashed with looks of worry, excitement and eagerness. As we prepare to finish putting the final brushstrokes on our year together, we can't help but reflect. What stands out aren't the faculty meetings, the colorful bulletin boards or the meticulously drawn anchor charts. What stands out are the students who have a genuine thirst for reading. It's the students who now know that they can persevere through a challenging problem, and above all, it's the students who know that they can succeed!
  While it's always bittersweet to bid farewell to our students, we take extreme pride in knowing that they're poised for continued success in the next year. As we fill our Final weeks growing strategies for multiplication and division, breathing life into believable characters, and learning an author's unique craft moves, we'll also take this final opportunity to show our students that there is nothing but limitless potential and opportunities ahead of them. As Dr. Seuss wrote, "You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights! You'll join the high fliers who soar to great heights."
| | Grade 5 Curriculum Highlights by Mrs. Larson | | | Fifth grade is wrapping up many units in June! We eagerly await Field Day, the arrival of our fifth grade T-Shirts, and receiving our first-ever 5th grade yearbooks! In social studies, classes will be discussing what happens after the Civil War, especially since we will be beginning the month with our exciting Civil War Day on June 2! Our science units will continue with the study of our senses, including the senses of hearing and seeing. In math, we will continue to work with decimals, as students learn to add and subtract them. Classes will also revisit some geometry lessons, and explore coordinate graphing. Finally, our final units in ELA will have us wrapping up our debates as we move to explore drama and poetry! From figurative language to readers' theater scripts - June will have us reading and writing about poetry and drama! | | Book Fair and Numeracy Night | | | 
O ur first-ever Numeracy Night was a big hit! We welcomed many families and were happy to see our teachers and families working and learning together around mathematics. We were also thrilled with the turnout at our Book Fair and Class Baskets—thank you all for making this entire evening a great success. | | Bike and Walk to School Day | | |  Almost 300 students participated in last month’s Bike and Walk to School Day. This is a great way to start our school day—with some physical activity. We appreciate the dozens and dozens of parent and teacher volunteers, as without their partnership, this day would not have been possible.
| | The Spanish Classroom Newsletter – By Senora Nunes | | |  We have enjoyed working together this past school year. It has been a happy time. Throughout the year, we learned, we had fun, we grew, and we improved together!
 On Thursday, May 12, a group of Suffield High School Spanish students visited McAlister Intermediate School to share stories they had written in Spanish. Students visited many third, fourth and fifth grade classrooms and were accompanied by Amanda Ndaw, Steve Shultis (SHS Spanish Teachers) and Patty Nunes (MIS Spanish Teacher).
 The “Storytime” experience was the final sequence in learning to use the past tense in Spanish. The high school students learned the different past tenses and how to differentiate their use. To put it into practice, they brainstormed, drafted, revised and illustrated children’s stories in Spanish. What came next simply made sense: read their stories to children, in particular, young students studying the Spanish language.
This trip has taken place approximately 10 times in the past 13 years and everyone involved continuously praises the activity. The younger students not only learn new words, but they realize what one can do when he or she continues their study of a language. The older students are able to practice their reading and pronunciation and find purpose in having written their stories. What a great way to engage students in their language learning! | | Cinco de Mayo and Children’s Day – By Senora Nunes | | |   We had an assembly on May 13th to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and Children’s Day. A group called Sirius Coyote performed music and stories from South America and the Caribbean. We heard sounds of the Rain Forest and ancient music played on instruments that Sirius Coyote made themselves. We are always so appreciative of the PTO’s support with this special day.
| | Spanish Curriculum – By Senora Nunes | | | Third grade students are learning vocabulary related to pets and farm animals by reviewing flashcards. Fourth grade students are learning vocabulary related to clothing by talking about the clothes that they are wearing. Fifth grade students worked on community maps. For their final grade, the class split up into groups of three and created their own maps that included “the park (el parque)”, “the school (la escuela)”, “the zoo (el zoológico)”, “the movie theater (el cine)”, “the store (la tienda)” and “the
house (la casa)”. They then took turns presenting them to the other students. The audience asked the
presenters questions in Spanish about their maps, where they are going, and when. Presenters had to point to the map and answer the questions in Spanish. As always, I’m happy to see our students advance to the next grade. I’m looking forward to seeing all of the 3rd and 4th graders next school year. However, I will miss the fifth grade students as they transition to the Middle School. We all worked very hard for the past three years, and I feel we are still on a roll with Spanish! I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. | | | | Suffield Public Schools
350 Mountain Road, Suffield, CT 06078
Phone: 860-668-3800 (Central Office)
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