Uncategorized

Open House – Spread the Word, Share the Stories!

Thank you to everyone who has been in touch during the past few weeks to share your BCD stories – now let’s spread the word! A great time to do that is during our Winter Open House, next Thursday, January 14, from 9 – 11 am.

online pharmacy buy phenergan with best prices today in the USA

Do you know a family that you’d like to introduce to BCD? Did a friend, colleague or neighbor show interest in the school recently? Or do you have someone in mind who you think would be a great fit? If so, please let them know about our Open House.

The event will begin with a small gathering, followed by a tour of the campus, including visits into classrooms, the art studios, and more. We will then gather again over coffee and baked goodies so that prospective parents can talk with current parents, hear a few BCD stories and ask their questions.

Registration is easy. Simply send an email to me at admissions@berkshirecountryday.org and let me know the names of the parents who will be attending (this is an adults-only event), the names and current grades of their children, and contact information (phone and email). Or if you prefer, call me at 413.637.0755, x116.

Please take a moment to think of a family you’d like to invite to learn more about our BCD family.
Help us spread the word and share the stories!

Thank you!
Lucie

Open-House-Flyer-Jan-14-2015-FORWEB

 

By |2019-01-10T12:38:46-05:00January 8th, 2016|

Grade Five December Adventures

Fifth Grade has had a busy month. Here are some of the highlights:

 

History: We have “wrapped” up our study on Egypt with the 3rd annual Senet tournament. Students created their own Senet boards and learned to play this ancient pastime. Senet was one of the games found in Tut’s tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter. And speaking of Tut, students engaged in a collaborative learning experience this month as they learned more about the excavation of Tut’s tomb by researching an aspect of his discovery and creating an informational poster. For a teaching component, the class shared the posters with the 4th grade and engaged in a Q&A session about studying Egypt.

 

English and Writer’s Workshop:  Good readers make good writers!! This month, our English and Writer’s Workshop periods were somewhat fluid. In WW, we began by investigating compare and contrast models of organization. After writing a group essay comparing cats and dogs, students developed their own essays on a variety of topics. The writing process was scaffolded through the use of graphic organizers and bullet point lists. Students crafted transitions and topic sentences, and provided feedback through a peer edit. As we neared the end of Where the Red Fern Grows

online pharmacy amitriptyline buy with best prices today in the USA

, the class began to organize our highlighted and annotated sections around the theme of the dogs, Little Ann and Old Dan. This time, students learned to use index cards as a way to organize examples with page numbers to support their statements and ideas to compare and contrast the dogs. They drafted their papers and learned to summarize, as well as to quote from the book, citing page numbers. Lastly, they added in transition words to make the writing flow and connect all the ideas together.

PTR: The December round of PTR projects was fantastic! Students may begin reading for the next showcase which will be at the end of January. Book selections will be officially due when we return to school, but you can start reading now!

Advisory: This week, we watched a short documentary, The Gnomist, (which you can see on Youtube) and had a discussion of the possible themes of this film. It was refreshing to hear the students realize how each person can play a part, no matter how small, in making the world brighter. Please watch this and discuss with your family. Thanks to Cynthia Wade for bringing it to my attention. What a wonderful story, especially this time of year.

Happy holidays to all of Grade Five!!! Each day I wake up excited to spend the day with these kids, wondering what they will write, what they will create, and how we will manage to fit it all in! Thank you to all the parents for making this year so special. Thanks to the class parents who make all of our holiday events so easy! Enjoy the vacation, and no, you don’t have to sign the planner over break!

Happy Reading!

Fondly,

Jilly

 

By |2016-10-25T15:02:21-04:00December 17th, 2015|

“Kindness in giving…”

“Kindness in giving creates love.” ― Lao Tzu

If the above quote is to be believed, over the past few weeks our incredible BCD community created a LOT of love!

Students, parents, faculty, and friends selected one of 130 tags from the adorable gingerbread house boards specially created by our own Student Council.(Kudos here to Sarah Pitcher-Hoffman, our faculty sponsor extraordinaire.)  Each tag presented the name of an unmet friend from the greater Berkshire community (facilitated by the Department of Children and Family Services) who was in need of help to make a holiday dream come true. Most items on the kids’ wish lists looked familiar (Frozen Dolls or Minecraft paraphernalia), but some tag-selectors were surprised to see more practical wishes (snow pants or a warm jacket or a pair of jeans). This made for many teachable moments about service and giving and wants and needs.

Flash forward a week and a half, and I am overwhelmed by the “kindness in giving” demonstrated by our community. As they proudly carried their gifts onto campus, students told me how they had shopped carefully to select just the right item. Joy of service was palpable as the pile of presents rose higher and higher and higher.  (Big thanks here to PA co-chairs, Elizabeth Powell and Terri Sash for receiving and recording the gifts and to Melissa Kruse for coordinating all those that found their way into the main office.)

Representatives from DCF needed to make two separate trips to get all the gifts transported up to the main Pittsfield office where social workers will get them and then  distribute them to the children in the families with whom they work. In a message meant to be shared with our entire school community, Lindsay LeClair, one of our DCF liaisons, said, “Thank you all so much for all the gifts. We cannot thank you enough for you generosity. We appreciate everything you have done and we look forward to working with you all next year!!! Happy Holidays!!”

I am thriIMG_1902lled and thankful to have been able to have been part of this special school-wide project. As I prepare for the winter break, the image to the left is one I will carry home with me. It should remind each of us about the things that matter and how it is up to each of us to “create love.”

I wish you all the most joyous of holidays (whatever, whenever, and wherever you celebrate) filled with all the things you love most. See you in 2016!

Susan (aka Dr. G.)

online pharmacy buy cipro no insurance with best prices today in the USA
By |2019-01-10T11:53:01-05:00December 17th, 2015|

PreK Explorations

Dear Families,

The past few weeks have been filled with exciting exploration and discovery. We have made play-doh, gak, and oobleck, as well as had three fun color mix labs. There has also been a lot of building in the block area, not just little structures but HUGE (or you might hear your children say “tremendous”) structures. We have had some big events: we welcomed Will as well as Mrs. Oakes into our class, had Friendship Lunch with the TK/K, Thanksgiving Soup with the entire school, celebrated Jetty’s 4th birthday, and attended the Book Fair. I have also learned that the PreK class is incredibly flexible and understanding. They took on the challenge of being displaced from our room for a day (because of the skunk) with enthusiasm and a sense of maturity. I am so proud of them.

We have mixed, mashed and squished three wonderful creations – oobleck, gak, and play dough. Gak was by far the class favorite. I hope you all got to play with the gak your children brought home!

For all who asked, here is the recipe:

-two 4 oz. bottles of Elmer’s Glue

– 1 tsp. Borax (found in the laundry detergent section of the store, or ask me for a small bag)

– Water

– Cup

– 1/2 cup measuring cup

– Bowl

– Food Coloring

Begin by emptying the two bottles of glue into a bowl. Then fill bottles with warm water and shake. Empty them into your bowl. Then add some food coloring (I did three to four drops). Add 1/2 cup warm water to your cup. Add 1 tsp. borax to the water and mix until borax dissolves. Then pour this into your glue bowl. Start stirring and you will notice how it starts becoming stringy. Keep mixing by using your hands and squishing around. You will notice after a few minutes that it has become pretty gelatinous and wonderful. Keep playing with it and it will become the perfect gooey consistency.

In the color labs we conducted the children mixed colors in three ways (more to come!). First they were presented with jars of colored water (primary colors), empty jars and pipettes on the light table. They spend the morning mixing colors and sharing excitement when they made a color with friends. Next we put out a tray of baking soda and jars filled with colored vinegar. The children used the pipettes to put the colored vinegar on the baking soda. The fizzy, bubbly reaction of the two substances was mesmerizing to watch. The last color lab we conducted was using whole milk, food coloring and a drop of dish soap. First we filled a tray with whole milk, then we put drops of food coloring in the milk, then a drop of soap in the middle (the fat molecules in the whole milk move away from the drop of soap). The food coloring swirled and danced around in the tray in a very magical way. PreK was so excited to see this reaction… “Look I see a lollipop,” “I see outer space,” “That is the earth,” “I see a mushroom,” “Look, they are dancing,” “I see a jellyfish,” “I see a whale!”

Please enjoy the slide shows posted below.

Love,
Vicky and Kate

Dates to remember:

Wednesday, December 16
8:15-9AM- Head’s Chat for PreK in the Library
1:30- PreK’s Holiday Party!

Friday, December 18
Dismissal at 3, no PM

November pictures:

December pictures:

By |2020-01-14T11:28:45-05:00December 13th, 2015|
Go to Top