|
NEWTON NEWS
February 19, 2026
| | |
Friday, February 20
Early Dismissal
12:00PM
February 23 - March 3
No School
Winter Break
March 10
PTA Meeting
7:00PM
March 20
Early Dismissal
12:00PM
March 26
Art & Soul
5:30PM at WRV High School
| |
Artist in Residence
Many special thanks to Chef Jewelz from Jamaican Jewelz of Bellows Falls, VT for spending time with students this week as they learned about Jamaican cuisine and culture! The kids have had a blast making and trying out new foods! Also, many thanks to our PTA for funding this amazing Artist in Residence experience!
| | | |
Kindergarten
Ms. Teachout
We had a wonderful time celebrating Valentine's Day and the hundredth day of school last week.
Special thanks to Knox’s Grammie for volunteering to help with our valentine mailbox sewing project. Special thanks to first grade for hosting a fun paint by number project and to second grade for hosting an awesome scavenger hunt. We found 100 chips in 6 different locations. We counted them all and made sets of ten. At the end there was a real treasure box!
These fun events provide opportunities for us to have fun, build community and access academics all at the same time. 100 - ten sets of ten! We counted sets of ten all day in so many ways. Valentines provide the opportunity to read and write our friends’ names, and to match the name on our valentine to the name on the mailbox. In kindergarten we are always searching for ways to use the skills we are learning in fun and authentic ways.
| | | |
|
Second Grade
Ms. Panella
In reading groups, second graders are finishing up their first chapter books. Two groups are reading, The Boxcar Children, another group is reading, The Littles, and the last group is reading, Stone Fox. They are doing a great job reading aloud, discussing the stories, answering comprehension questions after each chapter, and learning how to write summaries.
We also just finished our whole class read-aloud book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Chinese-American author Grace Lin. It very quickly became everyone's favorite ‘Best Book Ever!’ On a journey to try and change her family’s fortune, Minli befriends a dragon, learns the secret to happiness, and discovers that sometimes fulfilling others’ wishes instead of our own can lead to unforeseen treasures.
| | |
Third & Fourth Grade ELA and Social Studies
Ms. Cayer
The third and fourth graders are spending some time together learning about argument/opinion writing. With a special guest, Joey Hawkins, they are reading three different pieces of text and learning how to write an argument/opinion piece of writing. Both grades have worked in groups reading and discussing how the characters in our texts are complicated, and how they have shown kindness and unkindness. This has been such a great experience for all of us in the third and fourth grades!
| |
|
Middle School Math
Mr. Pooler
Fifth grade has been making the small things count...They have been adding and subtracting fractions and decimals. We will wrap our partial units module this week just in time for the much needed February vacation. When we come back in March we will be focusing on multiplying and dividing decimals!
| | |
Middle School English
Ms. Simone
Sixth and 8th graders have started work on a "halfway essay" on the first halves of their respective texts. These are short essays focusing on the main character's growth and change up to this point.
Seventh grade read a scholarly essay about identity in Treasure Island, supplementing our discussions about Jim's character and how it's been both challenged and shaped by the other characters in the book.
Fifth grade recently did an investigation of alternatives to the verb "said" that are used in our book, Pollyanna. There were so many! They then sorted them into four different categories--we will use these lists later this year when we work on narrative and poetry writing.
| |
| |
|
Middle School Social Studies
Mr. Breen
Fifth and 6th grade social studies took our trip to the statehouse. The kids did a great job passing a (fictional) law that would create a statewide bike network. They also participated in a mock trial in the state Supreme Court. We'll be moving into US government for our next set of lessons to go with this trip.
Seventh and 8th grade are in the midst of working on their Parthenon Marbles argumentative essays. The kids will be participating in a debate in front of the school board as a way of demonstrating their knowledge outside of their writing task.
| | |
Spanish
Profe Katie
Kindergarten is beginning a thematic unit about basic manners (los buenos modales). We are focused on a mini-book about a mouse who keeps wanting more cheese on his sandwich (¡más queso, por favor!) and we are learning some food vocabulary along the way!
Grades 1-3 are continuing our focus on fruit vocabulary, but now incorporating “me gustan” (I like them), “no me gustan” (I don’t like them) and “no sé” (I don’t know). Check out these fun videos that focus on “¿te gusta(n)?” (Do you like?) and “me gusta(n)”.
4th grade has similarly been focusing on “me gusta(n)” (I like), “le gusta(n)” (he/she/they (sing.) likes). We’re interpreting short narratives, practicing expressing our own ideas, and interpreting some informational texts as well.
Fifth and 6th grade Spanish 1a students are beginning a new unit, where our target vocabulary is as follows: hay (there is/there are), va (goes), and no puede (cannot). We will be writing original stories, interpreting other stories, and doing communicative activities to target these structures in the next few weeks!
Seventh and 8th Spanish 1c students are focusing on a thematic unit about Latin(o/e) food, including the influence of Latin flavors in the North American diet, and some key dishes across Latin America (including Central, South, and the Caribbean). This ties in wonderfully with our Artist-in-Residence Chef Jewelz!
Our Costa Rica trip is in less than 2 months! Please consider donating to help cover our trip expenses at the Omella link at the top of the page. Thank you so much!!
| | |
|
Art
Ms. Butters
Newton School artists have been viewing and discussing famous works of art from around the world. Students in grades K–4 have been exploring how artists use the Elements of Art — line, shape, space, value, form, texture, and color — to create meaning in their work.
Middle school artists are looking carefully and critically at a different famous painting each week. They share their ideas in class discussions and respond in writing in their art journals. Ask your child to tell you about a painting they’ve explored in art class!
The New York Times offers a weekly online feature called the Ten-Minute Challenge, a calm, creative activity that invites viewers to observe a work of art for 10 minutes and notice details, colors, shapes, and feelings. It is appropriate for all ages!
Here is what each class has been working on:
Kindergarten
Students explored the work of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian and designed and painted Mondrian-inspired hearts.
First Grade
Students compared the abstract works of Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky and Spanish artist Joan Miró. After painting paper with bright neon colors, they cut out planets to create mixed-media space collages featuring rocket ships and silver stars.
Second Grade
Students viewed and compared Pez Dispenser and Grillo by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Inspired by his bold and expressive style, they created mixed-media dinosaurs. Next, second graders are practicing observational drawing by
| | | |
designing cover art for their ELA Cinderella stories.
Third Grade
After viewing Circus #3 by American artist Jim Dine (Vermont), students used tissue paper to collage wooden heart valentines to bring home.
Fourth Grade
Students compared The Winter Fox by Swedish artist Bruno Liljefors and Foxes by German artist Franz Marc. After closely studying photographs of red foxes, they created detailed “Red Fox in Winter” paintings.
Fifth Grade
Students discussed the imaginative animal paintings of Mexican artist Indie Maverick, whose work features animals dressed in human attire in a playful and creative style. Students drew Indie Maverick–inspired animals wearing winter hats and patterned sweaters, adding texture and detail with Sharpies and colored pencils.
Sixth Grade
Students explored the work of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, known for portraits with elongated necks and expressive faces. Sixth graders created painted self-portraits inspired by his distinctive style. Next up: working in clay!
Seventh Grade
Students viewed and discussed Paris Through the Window by Russian/Belarusian artist Marc Chagall before completing surrealist self-portraits in the style and materials of their choice. Up next: winged hearts in clay.
Eighth Grade
Students also studied Paris Through the Window by Marc Chagall before creating coil clay hearts that they will finish with metallic paint.
I am truly enjoying the opportunity to work with your remarkable young artists. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or thoughts about the art program at Newton.
| | |
Library
Mr. Herrick
Save the date: The Spring Book Fair, hosted by The Yankee Bookshop, will be held for ONE DAY only on April 1 from 12:00-6:30. We receive 20% of all proceeds so that we can buy books for the library. Last year we earned $730 from our sale in order to buy new books! There will be books for students and a selection of fiction and nonfiction for adults. More details to follow!
In grades K-4 we continue to look at the Red Clover books. Each time we read a Red Clover book we write a reflection following the book, looking for connections and asking questions. Our most recent books were Ursula Upside Down by Cory R. Tabor and The Last Stand by Antwon Eady. Following the story, students have time to browse and check out books.
In grades 5-6 we have just completed our second book report. Our first book report was a book talk. For this last round, students have honed their skills for writing summaries of their books by focusing on beginning, middle and end. Students also began investigating themes, character traits and problems that characters are trying to solve.
In Pathways (grades 5-8) students have been working on a semester long independent research project based o their own interests. We started by brainstorming, narrowed our topics down to three interests and eventually chose one topic to focus on. Grades 5-7 will have an option to dig deeper into their research by creating prototypes of a project they are interested in. 8th graders are making a capstone project which they will present in May. Discussion topic over the dinner table: Ask your middle schooler what they are researching. What is their essential question?
| |
| | | |
