March Madness

Coleytown is celebrating March Madness with a Tournament of Books!  Eight picture books are in competition for the honor of winning, "Coleytown's Favorite Picture Book of 2020."

Classrooms have been reading these picture books throughout the week.  During Community Time, some classes rotated through their grade level teachers to hear different stories.  In addition, many classrooms have been watching the authors read their stories online. 

Families might want to read some of these amazing titles at home.  Our Elite Eight consists of:

After the Fall by Dan Santat
Just Ask by Sonya Sotomayor
Saturday by Oge Mora
The Brilliant Deep by Kate Messner
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
Mixed: A Colorful Story by Arree Chung
Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o
Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller

Check out some photos from the classes enjoying these amazing picture books!

Caught Reading Wishtree!

Coleytown staff members have been reading Wishtree!  They are reading in school, at home with their families, at the gym...Have YOU been reading Wishtree?  If so, email a picture to Mrs. Sirowich!

Mrs. Boyle reading to her daughter.

Mrs. Brown's puppy is captivated by the story.

Look at the smiles from Mrs. Carothers and her daughter.  They love the book!

Mrs. Miraballes loves to read to her dog, too.

Mrs. Crosby and her son read before bedtime.

Mrs. Deecken loves the book so much she is reading at the gym!

Mrs. Hawkins and her children read every night.

Mrs. Lehman's family reads after dinner.

Ms. McShane is reading to a special friend!

Mrs. Youd's children think the book is the best!

Mrs. Sirowich loves to read to her boys!

One Book, One School

Today we had a Town Hall Meeting to kick off Read Across America and our One Book, One School initiative at Coleytown!

Mrs. Perry started the meeting by explaining the background of Read Across America Day.  We watched a video of students and staff answering the question, "Why do you read?"  Some answers were:

I read to learn new information.
I read to go places I wouldn't be able to go to in real life.
I read to have fun.
I read to relax.
I read to talk about books with my friends.
I read to learn about others and about myself.

The Student Leadership Council facilitated a game in which students tried to guess book titles from quotes.  I was very impressed at how quickly the CES students knew the different books. We are definitely a community of readers!

The finale was the introduction of our book for 2020...Wishtree by Katherine Applegate! 

To learn more information about this event, click on the link to the website for One Book, One School.  This link has the calendar, recordings from celebrity readers, and trivia and games for the family.  You can also access this link by going to the CES Homepage, Students, Library Media Center page.

We are looking forward to this school wide reading adventure.

Happy reading CES!

Staples Youth Concert: "Music of China"

In preparation for the upcoming youth Concert “Global Musical Odyssey: "Music of China,” the Music and Art department at Coleytown Elementary have been offering various experiences to students to learn about the Art and Music of China.

Recently, a fifth grade class was able to hear from guest speaker, Professor Ive Covaci, about the history of Chinese art.  Professor Covaci currently teaches classes in Asian Art at Fairfield University and is on the Westport Public Schools Art Collections Committee (WestPAC).  WestPAC has curated an exhibit from our town collection of Chinese art and photography that has traveled throughout the schools. Currently, the work is on display at Coleytown Elementary.  Professor Covaci shared some background information about Chinese calligraphy and art and was able to give a walk through of the work on display. Students were also able to explore the process of using a Chinese calligraphy brush to copy Chinese characters.  

From Professor Covaci:

It was wonderful to be able to combine looking at images of Chinese calligraphy and paintings on the screen in the classroom, using the brushes and "ink" to get a feel for the medium, and then walking out into the CES - WestPAC "learning gallery" hallway to look and talk about the artworks on display in person. 

I was delighted by how carefully the kids observed the art and how comfortable they were putting their observations into words. I was also impressed by their curiosity, their enthusiasm for art, and their willingness to share their prior experiences with, and knowledge about, Chinese culture. I hope this session will complement their other learning experiences around Chinese art, culture, and music this year, and that they'll revisit the works while the display is at CES for the remainder of the month.

The music classes have been learning the song “Jasmine Flower” so they can sing with the Staples chorus.  They have learned about different cultural dances and played some traditional games. In Band, students will learn the melody of Jasmine flower on their instruments.  They have also seen videos of the Shen Yun dancers and the music used in these dances. 

The Staples Youth Concerts are February 4th (5th grade) and February 6th (3rd and 4th grade).  Be sure to ask your children about these special events!