Information for parents

1. Daily updated information about the coronavirus

CDC information about coronavirus updated daily

2. How to help children during this stressful time, this site gives coping skills for parents both in English and Spanish

Coping with the Covid-19 from National ChildTraumatic Stress Network

Coping with Covid-19 (in Spanish)

3. What to say to our children about Covid-19 by National Association of School Psychologist in English and Spanish

Talking to children about covid 19 

4. PBS kids (Public Broadcasting Service) for parents offers talking points about the coronavirus with videos and activities 

How to talk to your kids about Coronavirus 

5. Hand washing How to and why by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Hand washing pdf by CDC

Hand washing video by CDC

How to use hand sanitizer video by CDC

The science behind hand washing by CDC - in English

The science behind hand washing by CDC in Spanish

The science behind hand sanitizers by CDC - in English

The science behind hand sanitizers by CDC in Spanish

And just for fun, when the ABC or the happy birthday songs are too boring

parody songs for 20 second hand washing video

6. What to do if you are sick? A great site by the CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/steps-when-sick.html

7. “Social distancing” is a term used to describe infection control actions taken by public health officials to stop or slow down the spread of a highly contagious disease.

Social distancing - poster like presentation what social distancing means

Friday, January 17th, West Parish had our PBIS Kick-Off Assembly where we celebrated the work of our school community in demonstrating Respect, Responsibility, and Safety throughout the school common areas. At this assembly, we taught Assembly expectations and kicked off the Hallway Expectations challenge.  Classes earn “fish” for demonstrating hallway expectations when walking through the building, the class with the most fish on each floor at the end of the week, earn the trophy! The class with the most trophies at the end of the month earns a whole class reward.   

Third Graders worked with Maritime Gloucester this week.  They learned how changes in a habitat affect the survival of living things. Students discussed possible natural changes and human-caused changes. They were able to observe fish while learning about what resources the fish need to survive. To end the lesson, students participated in a game to show how many resources are needed for a certain amount of fish to survive.

Jan Brett Celebration

On December 19th West Parish first graders had a Jan Brett Celebration!  Everyone had a great time. Parent volunteers and teachers facilitated 9 stations across the three classrooms. 

#1—Mitten Cookie—The kids decorated a delicious mitten cookie.

#2—Festive Pattern Block—The kids got a mitten pattern block outline and filled in the shape with hexagons, trapezoids, rhombus, and triangles.

#3—Do you want to make a snowman?—Everyone enjoyed experimenting with fake Science snow!  It was so cool to see the snow grow out of just a small bit of powder.  We challenged them to see if they could make a snowman out of it.

#4—Mitten Math—The kids matched up mittens with number bonds, tens and ones and related addition and subtraction number sentences.

#5—Ornaments—To preview our measurement unit, the students measured their height and cut a ribbon to go in their ornament.

#6—Gingerbread Smell Test—The kids put their nose to the test!  They had to decide which ingredients had a scent.

#7—Mitten Bingo—The kids played an exciting game of bingo using our sight words.

#8—Holiday Expanders—Continuing our work with written expression, the kids selected a holiday barebone sentence and then chose a starter word for their where expander. 

#9—Pinecone Birdfeeder—Going along with the book Annie and the Wild Animals, the kids made birdfeeders out of pinecones to hang on a tree in your neighborhood to help animals that do not hibernate or migrate for the winter.