Monday Message 3/2

Good Morning Lowell Families,

The students at the Lowell School learned a lot about perseverance over the past week.  On Tuesday we had an assembly and students listened to the story, The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires.  In this story the girl struggles with engineering a design that she sees perfectly in her mind.  She continues to work until she is successful.  On Thursday students put their own engineering skills to the test during Buddy Activity time.  Students used marshmallows and toothpicks to try to build towers.  The students had to persevere and problem-solve the best way to use these challenging building materials. 

Perseverance is an important character trait for students to develop.  It is important for students to learn to stick with challenging work.  Check out the following article on the importance of developing perseverance in students: How to Foster Grit, Tenacity and Perseverance: An Educator’s Guide.  As busy as life can be, it can be difficult to find opportunities to help your children develop perseverance.  It is important to think about times when you can slow down and let children figure things out for themselves.  This might mean several failures before achieving success.  It is important to celebrate the effort not just the end result. 

This Week:

PARCC-  This year students in Watertown are participating in the PARCC assessments instead of the MCAS assessments for ELA and Mathematics.  This week students in grades 3, 4, and 5 will be participating in PARCC practice tests.  The PARCC practice sessions are an opportunity for students to see what the experience of taking PARCC will be like.  On Friday, March 6^th at 8:30 AM there will be a parent coffee for parents in grades 3, 4, and 5 to learn more about the PARCC exams. 

Next Week:

PTO Meeting: There will be a PTO meeting on Tuesday, March 10^th  @ 7:00 PM.   Please attend to learn more about how you can support the classrooms at the Lowell School.  We appreciate the involvement of parents at the Lowell School.  If you have not had an opportunity to volunteer this year, please make an effort to attend the meeting and get involved. 

Bandarama:  On Wednesday, March 11^th from 7:00 – 8:30 PM is Bandarama at Watertown High School.  This event is a chance to celebrate and enjoy the musical programs in Watertown. 

Have a great week!

Ms. Donovan