Autism Spectrum Disorders - Define Autism - Parenting.com

Autism Spectrum Disorders - Define Autism - Parenting.com
Wonderful pictures and information about families who have a child with autism.  We have the honor of welcoming families such as these to Birch Meadow in the fall!

MCAS breakfast

This month we celebrated student learning with MCAS testing in grades 3, 4, and 5.  Thanks to the PTO, the students started their first MCAS session with a wonderful breakfast.  The chicken bacon was a big hit.  See additional pictures on our shutterfly site.

Intercultural Pot Luck

Thank you to the parents and teachers that helped celebrate diversity at our Intercultural Celebration.  The event featured dancing, singing, sports, and great food.  The celebration brought together the wonderful Birch Meadow Community as we celebrated our diversity.  See additional pictures on our shutterfly site.

Grade 1 teaches us about cooperation

Thank you to our first graders for sharing this book about cooperation.
Being Cooperative!

Mrs. Erb's Art Page: Birch Meadow Open House

Mrs. Erb's Art Page: Birch Meadow Open House
Wonderful Blog post from Mrs. Erb previewing student work for our open house in May.

About PARCC | PARCC

About PARCC | PARCC
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortium of 22 states plus the U.S. Virgin Islands working together to develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English and math anchored in what it takes to be ready for college and careers. These new K-12 assessments will build a pathway to college and career readiness by the end of high school, mark students’ progress toward this goal from 3rd grade up, and provide teachers with timely information to inform instruction and provide student support. The PARCC assessments will be ready for states to administer during the 2014-15 school year.

Read Across America videos

Thank you to the students of Birch Meadow who participated in our Read Across America program last month.  Mrs. Warshauer and a wonderful group of volunteers made the event a success.  Here is the WIKI with pictures, power point presentation, and program details.
Here is the final speech from Mr. Sprung.
Here is the final dance done by the staff.

Giving and Receiving Compliments

This past month we focused our energy on the Open Circle theme of Giving and Receiving Compliments.  I am proud of the work our third grade students did introducing the theme and creating this bulletin board below which highlighted positive student behavior.  Follow this link to a parent letter describing our Open Circle program.

Students should remember the three rules about giving compliments
1. Be specific
2. Be true
3. Be positive

Read Across America - Howdy Partner!

http://2013raa-readingroundup.wikispaces.com/INTRODUCTION

Don't forget to continue reading for Read Across America.  Reading logs can be found on-line.

RMLD award ceremony

An award ceremony was recently held at the Reading Municipal Light Department for the 14 winners of the Annual RMLD T-shirt Contest. A first, second and third place winner from each town and two honorable mentions from Reading were selected in the contest that encourages third and fourth graders to be more energy conscious and aware of their own impact on the environment.

Reading winners included (front row, left to right) Kate Witham, 2^nd place, Killam School;  Samantha Simpson, Honorable Mention, Birch Meadow School; Kate Shankland, 3^rd place, Barrows School; Samantha Brabeck, 1^st place, Wood End School; and Smritha Srinivasan,  Honorable Mention – Joshua Eaton School. Joining in the congratulations are teachers, administrators and representatives from the Reading Municipal Light Department.

 

The Principal Rule: Safety First | Edutopia

The Principal Rule: Safety First | Edutopia - Three types of safety all students should feel at school.

Interactive Whiteboard Teacher Tools | DreamBox Learning®

Interactive Whiteboard Teacher Tools | DreamBox Learning®
These activities can be used on a SMARTboard or computer.

Don’t Blame Autism for Newtown - NYTimes.com

Don’t Blame Autism for Newtown - NYTimes.com - This article describes the misperceptions about autism and that it is not a mental illness. 

What we can continue to learn from Dawn Hochsprung

What we can continue to learn from Dawn Hochsprung - I blog post from George Couros honoring Dawn Hochsprung.

Success After High School - YouTube

Success After High School - YouTube
Congratulations to Coolidge Middle School highlighted in this video from the DESE about Student Success after High School.

Festival of Trees

Thank you to Patti Beckman and the Birch Meadow student council for putting together a wonderful tree for the REF Festival of Trees fundraiser.  The tree theme was ice cream.  Gift certificates and decorations were a part of this wonderful Birch Meadow tree.  Thank you to the parents who supported the student council efforts.

A Note From the School Psychologist (Blog)

A Note From the School Psychologist (Blog)
Our school psychologist, Dr. Robyn Sullivan, has started a blog on her EDLINE page.  Please click on the link above to see her latest blog posting.

Birch Meadow supports Coats for Kids

Birch Meadow is supporting Anton's Coats for Kids program this winter.  Please donate new or gently used Coats which helps provide warmth to those in need.

https://www.antons.com/cfk/

Rotary delivers thesaurus to Grade 3 students

Thank you to the Reading Rotary who provided a thesaurus to each of our third grade students.  This reference is a wonderful support to the students in Reading.

Common Core Information for parents

Supporting your child with instructional standards by grade level in the area of mathematics.

Supporting your child with instructional standards by grade level in the area of English Language Arts.