Monday, April 8, 2019

Music in our Schools Month

“Music is a language that doesn’t speak in particular words. It speaks in emotions, and if it’s in the bones, it’s in the bones.” ― Keith Richards

Coleytown celebrated Music in our Schools Month throughout March. Students, staff, and parents shared their musical talents in our general music classes, chorus rehearsals, and orchestra and band lessons. It is inspiring to see the amazing musicians that we have at CES!

We ended the month with a special Town Hall Meeting about music and the Mood Meter. We discussed how music can affect our feelings/emotions/mood in many ways. This is due to the rhythms and tones we hear in the music. For example, when we listen to a slow rhythm, our heart begins to sync with it. A slow heartbeat tells our brain that something sad is occurring. A very fast rhythm can signify something exciting or joyful! We then played a game about music and our feelings that included musicians from CES.

Students, or groups of students, played a song in front of the crowd. Students and staff listened to the song and thought about where it put them on the Mood Meter. Ms. Ogilvy then asked for volunteers to put a post it on the Mood Meter and explain why the song put them in that quadrant. Students labeled their feelings and explained why a piece of music caused them to have these feelings. For example, “Ode to Joy” put a student in the yellow, because it made him feel happy. The Rocky theme song made Nurse Pappas want to get up and exercise! She was in the yellow because she had high energy and was very excited. A slow piano piece put us all in the blue. It was fascinating to see how music can really impact feelings and moods.

Thank you to Ms. Ogilvy, Mr. Andrews, and Mrs. Maisonpierre for facilitating this Town Hall Meeting. We are so fortunate to have this musical staff at CES.

Enjoy some pictures below from our Town Hall Meeting!









Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Book Fair

The CES PTA book fair is in the library media center all week. Buddy classes have been visiting the book fair to make wish lists. Come visit this amazing event while you are at CES for conferences.

Friday, March 1, 2019

One Book, Two Schools


March 1, 2019

Dear Coleytown Elementary School Families,

We are excited to start a whole school event at Coleytown Elementary School! In March, we will kick off a “One Book, Two Schools” experience. Every family will receive a copy of the same book- Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White- to read at home over the next few weeks. We aim to build a community of readers and have fun doing it. Students, parents, teachers, administrators, and all other staff will be participating.

This year, we are partnering with the James J. Curiale School in Bridgeport for this reading experience. After the CES community has finished reading Charlotte’s Web, we will collect the books from families and staff members and share them with this school. The students at CES and at James. J. Curiale will participate in some shared reading activities together.

Today we had a special whole school meeting introducing the program and the book. After the meeting, the youngest child in every family received a copy of Charlotte’s Web. Included with the book is a tailored reading schedule to follow at home. For your reading pleasure, Coleytown celebrity readers have recorded chapters of the book. Please click on the link for information about how to access the calendar and celebrity readings. This link takes you directly to the website for One Book, Two Schools.

Reading professionals recommend reading aloud content that is beyond a child’s own reading level. We also believe that you should continue reading aloud with older children, even when they are able to read on their own. We have selected a title that can be followed, understood and enjoyed by younger students, but still captivate and stimulate older children. You will want to make sure your family keeps up so that we can talk about Charlotte’s Web as a community.

We look forward to the school-wide reading of this exciting adventure!

Sincerely,

The One Book, Two Schools Committee


Friday, February 15, 2019

Kindergarten Heart Hop

All you need is love...and a Kindergarten Heart Hop!  Enjoy some photos from our special Kindergarten event on Valentine's Day. 












Sunday, February 10, 2019

Valentines for Veterans

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” -AESOP

On Friday, the entire CES community created valentines as part of CT’s Valentines for Veterans initiative. Buddy classes met to design and create original cards that will be shared with veterans at Home for the Brave in Bridgeport and other service organizations. Special thanks to all of the parents who donated supplies for this event. The students truly enjoyed the stickers, glitter, pipe cleaners, and other supplies that helped make the cards so creative. Also, thank you to Mrs. Paprotna for delivering the valentines to the state office.

Take a look at the pictures below to see the joy in the children as they made the cards and wrote heartfelt messages to the veterans.

Four huge boxes of cards to deliver!