Happy Thanksgiving!!

Wishing all of the Cove Community a Very Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am Sincerely Honored and Thankful to be the Principal of the Cove School!

~Lisa Oliver

Cove Kindergarten

 The Kindergarten classes have been hard at work!!! We have learned just about all of our letter-keyword-sounds through the Wilson Fundations Program. They have demonstrated a great ability to apply these skills to their reading and writing – VERY EXCITING!!!

Just as the 1^st grade has, we have also finished our first unit of Reading Street. The kids really seem to enjoy the books!!

We have also started seeing our 5^th grade book buddies once a month. Two of the 5^th grade classes and the kindergarten classes come together to read books and complete activities related to literacy.  It has been so fun to watch them all bond and cooperate together.

Although it hasn’t been fun to lose an hour of our daytime light, it was a great experience for the kids to physically see with their eyes what the time change results in! We have also been documenting what the season changes look like – especially with the plants and the trees.

Voting, Thanksgiving and community helpers have been the main focus of our social studies this month. It’s hard to believe that we are going to be learning about all the different winter celebrations and how people and animals need to prepare themselves for the cold winter months!!! Didn’t we just start school? We can’t be almost December already!! J  Keep a lookout for information about our Kindergarten celebration of Winter Warmth which will be held Thursday, December 20^th at 1.

The Kindergarten students have been experimenting with various supplies to enhance their understanding of numbers 0-19 (including the use of tens frames, dominoes, 1:1 correspondence activities, etc.). We have also experimented with pan balances and weight, higher/lower numbers, shapes, estimation. We have even started exploring addition.

            Phew! We have been busy!!!! Now, it’s time to take some rest and be thankful that we have such great kids in our classrooms.

 We hope you have a restful Thanksgiving!!

Fine Arts: The First Thanksgiving

The Third Grade Pilgrims have been very busy in Art and Music class this month. Mrs. Lally (Cove art teacher) and Mrs. McDonough (Cove music teacher) created an integrated unit studying “The First Thanksgiving” through music, drama and art projects. Highlights included performance of a mini musical entitled “Pilgrims,” making original pilgrim costumes, acting out the Mayflower trip and the creation of replicas of the original Mayflower sailing boat. Below are pictures of the children performing and singing in costume as well as students posing with the “Mayflower creations.” 

Ms. DeCourcy’s , Ms. Kelley’s and Ms MacPherson’s classes performing the mini musical “Pilgrims.”

Ms. Foley’s, Ms. MacPherson’s and Mrs. Sweeney’s class posing with their Mayflower replicas.

November Preschool News

We are in the middle of our FRIENDS unit. The children are talking about friendship, how to be a good friend, and different ways to resolve conflicts with friends. Through the Story Time books, the children are hearing about the importance of being truthful, helping friends, enjoying special times together, and getting along. Our first book was “The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza)” by Philemon Sturges; this story was linked to our theme by showing that friends often ask one another for help. In “Matthew and Tilly” by Rebecca C. Jones, we heard how friends sometimes get angry with each other, but good friends make up. In “Dandelion” by Don Freeman, the children learned that when we are among friends we can just be ourselves because friends like us just the way we are. Our last book will be “Hooray, a Piñata!” by Elisa Kleven, ; this story shows that friends care about each other’s feelings and try to help each other solve their problems.

In the spirit of working together and solving problems, we have turned out Dramatic Play areas into Pizza Shops and Grocery Stores. The children have had lots of fun taking orders, making pizza, and working the cash register. They explored pizza dough, painted pizzas, made a classroom Friendship Book, and shopped at their classroom grocery store. At home, parents can show children their shopping lists and name the items they will be buying. Families can also help their children understand that written words have meaning by reading store signs, street signs, and discussing what they mean. It has been an exciting month for us and we look forward to more exciting times.

Cove Preschool Teachers and Paraprofessionals

First Grade News

First grade students are almost finished with their first Reading Street unit, and they are looking forward to beginning a new unit on communities after Thanksgiving.  During literacy time, the children have been busy learning to read sentences with fluency, and to write sentences correctly. They have also been working hard to improve their ability to read and spell sight words,  short vowel words, and words containing digraphs such as th, ch and sh.  

Many math activities in first grade have focused on identifying and counting collections of coins, telling time to the hour, and practicing skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s.

Although we have been busy learning about the history of Thanksgiving and discussing the many things that we are thankful for, first grade teachers want to remind parents that the December  holidays will be here soon! Please look for more information regarding a special holiday performance in the coming weeks!  

Happy Thanksgiving!  -The First Grade Team

Cove Veggie Bar is Open!

Veggie Bar Options

Students may enjoy veggies as a side (included with the purchase of a school lunch

Vegetables can be purchased as a school lunch, served with lettuce, protein, grain and dairy

A third option is to purchase veggies as a side via a la carte for $0.75

Fifth Grade Student Council

The Cove School Student Council is off to a fantastic start! Our Council is comprised of almost 50 students from all three classes. The students have been busy volunteering at school-wide events and getting ready for our first Community Meeting, which will be held on Friday November 16. The theme of our meeting is promoting a “culture of excellence” at Cove. The students have been working on creating posters and a presentation that will define this concept for their fellow students. 

 Each month we will continue to recognize our Star Students. Star Students are chosen by their classroom teachers because of their demonstration of traits which exemplify a “culture of excellence”.

 The Student Council is also sponsoring a Thanksgiving food drive to benefit Beverly Bootstraps. You may drop your donations off in the lobby until Monday November, 19. Thank you for all of your help and support!