October 22, 2026

Kindergarten

Ms. Teachout

On Tuesday mornings, Ms. Butters joins the kindergarten classroom to share a puppet play. It is amazing to see how differently the children respond to watching the puppets compared to hearing a story read aloud. 

This week we heard a story about a little ghost. We made ghost puppets out of white yarn and googly eyes. It is a simple story about a ghost who lives in an old house. Your child's ghost puppet went home in their folder on Tuesday. Ask them to have a try at telling you the story!

My favorite part about the puppet plays is the way they inspire creative story telling during play. In this picture the children are building block homes for their ghosts.

Third Grade

Ms. Panella

Third graders have been doing lots of writing! This week they began a paragraph or essay on ‘How animals stay cool.’ They are independently reading the text, taking notes, creating a thesis statement from the focusing question, creating a planner, and writing a first and second draft. It’s hard work and they’re doing a great job!

In EL we’ve finished up the first Unit of ‘The Power of Reading’ and completed the assessment on regular and irregular verbs, concrete and abstract nouns, and determining the central message of a story. In our Biblioburro lesson, Profe Katie has been guiding the class through the parts of a narrative, totally in Spanish, as we discuss the story. Next we’ll write a whole-class narrative in Spanish in preparation for writing individual ones.

Finally, third graders have finished their first redesign of their rockets and built their new proto-types which we’ll launch next week!

Fourth Grade

Ms. Cayer and Mr. Walker

The 4th graders have been hard at work collaborating on math tasks and writing assignments. It’s great to see how well they cooperate and work toward achieving their goals. 

Also, Saturday is the first annual Cornhole Tournament! Please join us for this fun-filled event, which also features lots of prizes and food for sale. 

Middle School Math

Scot "Shrek" Pooler

Hello middle school families, Thursday, October 29th is the Newton Halloween feast. So to get in the spirit of Halloween the middle school students and staff are encouraged to dress up in their Halloween costumes. The next day, October 30th, grades 5 and 8 will be going to Hulbert, and won't be able to partake in the dress up fun that day. If you are stuck with what to dress up as, Mr. Pooler, Mr. Josh and others are dressing up as characters from Shrek.

Middle School Science

Ms. Hardy

It’s all about rockets and space in middle school science! We have designed, built, and launched our 2 liter bottle rockets. This week, we are redesigning, rebuilding and relaunching, trying to improve. Next week we will continue studying the Sun, Moon and Earth interactions. Coming up is our star party! 

Elementary Spanish

Profe Katie

¡Saludos, familias! 

Kindergarteners have been practicing tracing and writing words as we learn daytime and nighttime nature words, and say "Good morning" and "Goodnight" to them!

Phrases to practice:

- Buenos días/Buenas tardes/Buenas noches (Good morning/Good afternoon/Goodnight)

- Gracias/De nada (Thank you/You’re welcome)

First, Second, Third, and Fourth graders have been practicing the verb "ve" (sees) as we learn geography words and describe what our main character, Olivia, sees as she flies in her hot air balloon above the Earth.

Phrases to practice:

- ve (sees) / yo veo… (I see…)

- un bosque (a forest)

- unas montañas (mountains)

- el mar (the sea)

- mi / tu / su (my / your / their)

In particular, the Third Grade has been doing their Biblioburro unit all in Spanish, and made a story map about the book! 

Phrases to practice:

- hay… (there is/there are…)

- vive en… (lives in…)

- se llama ___ (is called ___)

- tiene (has)

- dice (says)

- va / vamos (goes / we go)

Middle School Spanish

Profe Katie

¡Saludos, familias! 

Fifth graders have been beginning to interpret short stories about people going and seeing different places, people, and things. 

Phrases to practice:

Camina a… (walks to…)

Corre a… (runs to…)

Ve… (Sees…)

Sixth and Seventh graders just wrote some short stories in partners, describing a story's characters, setting, time of day, events, and dialogue. Ask your child about theirs! We also have been listening to the song, "Toc Toc" by Macaco, whose chorus features the phrase "abre la puerta". Check out the music video!

Phrases to practice:

"Son las ____" (It's ____ o'clock)

abre la puerta (Open the door)

nunca cierra (never closes)

Eighth graders have been talking about corn! We're watching Episode 2 of Sobremesa, a show for Spanish learners. We are diving into corn and its importance in the Spanish-speaking world; more specifically, el elote (commonly referred to as street corn!). 

Phrases to practice:

La calle (the street)

La comida (food)

¿En qué consiste? (What does is consist of?)

¿Dónde puedo encontrar…? (Where can I find…?

¿Como se prepara? (How is it prepared?)

Art

Ms. Butters

Hurray for Fall Art Projects! Newton Artists are fully immersed in drawing!

Kindergarten: Owls! (inspired by Waddell’s "Owl Babies" and the Letter O)

1st & 2nd Grade: Cats! (featuring folk art trees and warm fall colors)

3rd Grade: Pumpkins (with swirly vines in the patch)

4th Grade: Pumpkins (with dots inspired by Yayoi Kusama)

5th Grade: Pumpkins in the Moonlight (inspired by Vincent van Gogh)

6th Grade: Pumpkins in Charcoal

7th Grade: Misty Forest in Charcoal

8th Grade: Foggy Forest in Charcoal