Dance Party: Success!

On Thursday, December 3rd, we had our first Dance Party of 2020-2021!  It was a blast. I didn't get photos during the event as I was too busy bopping to the beat and admiring everyone's happy faces- so many I haven't seen in far too long. 

Art Teacher Anthony Reynolds was the fantastic DJ for the event - and he kept everyone up and moving!  Thanks to Mr. McGonegal for always keeping our tech on track!

Want to send a big shout out to our 5th grade group of Party Starters! I did get a photo of this helpful group. Thanks to Dylan, Theo, Ewan, Faisal and Maliha!  They were huge morale boosters and amazingly encouraging voices to all the other students on the Dance Floor!  

Please look for a few more of these fun evenings to come in 2021!  As Theo so aptly summed it up, "there is a lot of negativity right now, and we have to appreciate the things that bring us joy - like this Dance Party!"

Flu Vaccines - Reminder

As a reminder, all children in grades K-12 (remote or in-person) are required to receive the influenza vaccine by December 31, 2020, for the 2020-2021 influenza season unless they have a medical or religious exemption. Please submit all necessary documentation to Nurse Joanne  as soon as possible. If you have already done, please disregard this reminder. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Sincerely,
Nurse Joanne ([email protected] / [email protected])                          

Music Corner 
By Mx. Irvin
December’s Secret Song is REVEALED!?

Title: John’s Kopanitza
Composer: Mel Fitzhugh
Country: United States
(Virginia, then Massachusetts)
Date: 2016 
Link for Full Google Slides >>

Library Corner 
By Amanda Bock 

All students in grades 1-5 are now able to borrow books from our school library! Ask your child if they remember how to request a book.  (Younger students will use SeeSaw and older students will use our library catalog, Destiny.)

Now that we are all remote, students and caregivers will receive an email to let you know that your requests are available to be picked up at Haggerty. Those emails will usually go out on Thursday afternoons.  Please wait for a confirmation email from Amanda before coming to pick up books.  Library books can be picked up and returned in the main entrance, upstairs on Cushing St. when the front doors are open: 6AM - 2:15PM.  We are working on offering an evening pick-up time. Stay tuned!

All returned books are quarantined for at least 1 week before being checked out again.

Math Coach Corner
By Nili Pearlmutter, Haggerty Math Coach

Helping Your Child with Story Problems
In math, children solve lots of story problems. This helps students make sense of abstract ideas and see how math is connected to the real world.  Our new curriculum uses a special routine, called “3 Reads,” to help students understand story problems. You can try this at home if your child is stuck on a story problem. Here is how it works.

We start by taking the question off and just look at the “story” part of the problem.  Here is a very simple example:

Marlena was walking 3 dogs.  Each dog had 2 ears.  
We read the story 3 times and each time we ask a different question.  
First Read: What is this story about? For the question above, students might say, “Someone walking dogs.”  
Second Read: What are the quantities in this story? We teach the students that quantities are things you can count in a story.  We make a chart.  

Third Read: What mathematical questions could we ask? When the story is more complex, students come up with lots of different questions. After students come up with questions, we either reveal the question they will be working on (which they usually came up with) or let them choose which question(s) they want to solve.  For the problem above, we worked on the question: How many ears are on all the dogs?

There is more information about this routine on the SFUSD website.  

Nili (AKA Ms. Pearlmutter)
[email protected]

Race Matters Book Group

Race Matters: Courageous Conversations is joining with VLUS, Tobin, Graham and Parks to host a virtual book club/discussion group for white families to read and discuss Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad. 

There will be monthly meetings starting on January 6th from 6:30-8pm. 
Keep an eye out for more details soon!?

The Nature Fix

By Kathleen Fitzgerald, Haggerty parent

In a usual year, as we approach the darkest day in the calendar, I often like to think about our cousins in the southern hemisphere, and how a slight tilt of the planet means that our longest night is actually their longest day, and our winter, their summer. It still stuns me that the Earth is at its closest to the sun as we enter January, when cold and snow often begin in earnest in New England, and night lingers long into the morning (then comes rushing back during the afternoon before many of us are ready for it.) It’s no wonder ancient people in northern climes aligned their ceremonies of light, their temples, and even their burial chambers with this precise solar moment: a seasonal representation of hope as days slowly started to brighten again. Some began to call it “solstice” in the first part of the 13th century, although many cultures and peoples had already celebrated the occasion for millennia. From the Latin “sol” (sun) and “sistere” (to stand still), it was the pause, the tipping point, as their world turned from the darkness back towards the light. 

For many reasons, this year feels darker than almost any I can remember. That may be why I find myself looking forward to the solstice and a little outdoor ritual my daughter and I began practicing with friends some years ago when she was in preschool. It’s a simple one, but lovely. We decorate a recycled glass or plastic jar with whatever we have on hand - tissue, glitter, stickers, paint – pop in a (battery operated) candle, attach a string, and meet with friends at a designated spot in the city at sunset. From there, we lead our own small lantern parade through a park or streetscape, stopping to look at stars or the moon if they’ve risen, swap stories, and to quietly relish the promise that this darkness, too, shall pass.

If any Haggerty families would like to join us this December 21st for a safe, socially-distanced evening walk through a local park, feel free to email me at [email protected]. Don’t forget to bring a lantern, a flashlight, or another illuminated device to welcome the return of the sun!

Winter and Outdoor Time

As we head into the colder months, please be sure to send your child to school with a coat, hat, and gloves or mittens. When there is snow on the ground, please be sure your child comes to school with boots. If you need help getting winter clothing for your child please let Lissa know what you need and the size.

Students will continue to go outside daily for both recess and PE throughout the winter months. If it is raining outside or below 22 degrees, students will remain inside - but otherwise we plan on lots of fresh air this winter, so please make sure your child is dressed warmly in the coming months!?

Coach’s Corner
From the Literacy Coach & Remote Grade 3 Classroom

Mystery Guests In Remote 214
Over the last two months, our Grade 3 Remote classroom has been having a lot of fun inviting Mystery Guests to our google meet. On Thursday mornings, the students receive a set of mystery clues. At the end of the meeting, the Mystery Guest pops into our google meet. We only guessed the guest correctly one time so far. Our Mystery Guests have been Ms.Maria, our amazing school clerk, Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, the Mayor of Cambridge, and Ms. Campbell, our awesome principal?

During the mystery visit from Mayor Siddiqui, students learned about the process for becoming a Mayor in Cambridge. Mayor Siddiqui told the children about growing up in Cambridge and attending Cambridge public schools. She stayed for over 30 minutes and answered so many of the students' questions. She also shared about her life as a Mayor during COVID, explaining that she meets with lots of other local Mayors to share ideas and strategies for supporting the residents of each city. After the visit, each student wrote the Mayor a letter seeking change and improvements in making Cambridge an even better place to live. Many students want the Mayor to aid and support homeless people. Many students also advocated to have more trees in the city. We hope to have the Mayor back for another visit to update us on her efforts. If you’re a staff member interested in being a Mystery guest, please get in touch with any of the grade 3 remote team. Here are a few of the letters students wrote to Mayor Siddiqui?

Dear Mayor Siddiqui,
Hi, I think we should change Cambridge because I see a lot of pollution in lakes and ponds. We should change that because in lakes and ponds animals habitats will be ruined.

Dear Mayor Siddiqui,
Thank you for staying at our google meet for a good amount of time!!! Read the res of the letter for my changes that I want to do to help. I want to change that there should be more food and there should be more schools for the homeless people, and there should be more shelters and more houses for the poor. We could have a place where we give the poor lunch every Sunday 12:00 - 1:00. Hope you like my suggestions!!

Dear Mayor Siddiqui, I will like homeless people to have the things they need like a shelter to sleep, food to eat, and a blanket and some more things every thing they need.

Playground Use After School

Some families of students learning in person like to linger on the playground after school so children have a chance to play together. Some remote families might come after school to meet friends.
Please reinforce the same expectations we use during the school day when students are play.  Please remind them to keep on their masks and stay socially-distanced.  

We appreciate your help!  We know everyone wants time with friends, just want to keep everyone safe. Thank you!

Mental Health & General Health Resources

Food, Nutrition & Home Gardening:

• December Harvest of the Month (Carrots!)
  Find fun facts, learn about farming and harvesting, try science experiments, cook delicious recipes and read books all about carrots this month! Learn more >>
  Here is a small taste of the fun you'll find in the newsletter:
  
  • Carrot Root Experiments: All you need are a few carrots and some food coloring to learn all about how these root veggies operate from home! Learn more >>
    
  • Carrots From Farm to Fork: Watch this 4-minute video to learn how farmers grow the carrots we love so much! Watch here >>

• Recipe of the week
  Enjoy this creamy and delicious Carrot Hummus for a change-up to a classic that kids will love! Use as a dip for veggies and whole-grain crackers, or as a spread like mayonnaise! View Recipe >>

Mental & Emotional Wellness:

• Children Are Drawing for Anxiety
  This article explains how drawings of COVID-19 can help children manage their anxiety. It’s a good idea, in general, to get your child to draw or paint whatever they’re worried about, coronavirus or not. Child clinical psychologist Lucy Russell said it can help them find the words for something they find hard to describe, or ask about. Read here >>
  

Healthy Snack of the Week

Here's Cambridge in Motion's Healthy Snack of the Week: 

Carrot & Broccoli Salad: Shredded carrots and chopped broccoli florets mixed with 1-2 tablespoons of Italian dressing.

Haggerty Events & Reminders

In Our District & Community