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Need this newsletter translated? Please contact the Bilingual/World Languages Department at 617.349.6468. Questions about the G&P newsletter? Please contact Lauren Morse.
A Note from Principal Tony Byers
You will have your first family conference with your child’s teacher in November. Recently, Debra Gadsden-Holiday, our Early Reading Interventionist and long-time first and second grade teacher, and Lauren Morse, our Family Liaison, presented at a Coffee Talk on partnering with your child’s teacher. They shared tips on how to get the most out of your 20-minute conference.
Learn more >>
Friends of Graham & Parks
Greetings fellow families! First of all, thank you to those families who kicked off this year’s fundraising by donating to our first Annual Appeal letter. Every year we aim to raise more than $25,000, all of which goes to pay for field trips and other educational enrichment.
Calling all bakers and cooks! The Election Day Bake sale on Nov. 5th is right around the corner and we need treats to sell — homemade or otherwise! The sale raises money for the 5th grader's overnight trip to Thompson Island. If you don’t bake, we still need volunteers to help at the sale, which runs from 6:30AM to 8PM in the gym. To volunteer sign-up at this link – http://bit.ly/36wzBl2 – or text Matt Goldstein at 415.215.2396 with your name and when you can help. Baked items can be dropped off in the lobby beginning on the morning of Monday, Nov 4th.
Please also mark your calendars for the Movie Night on December 6th, which will also support the 5th grade trip.
We have some very exciting news: we’re putting together a G&P team to run a Ragnar’s Relay! Next May, twelve G&P parents will run a 200-mile relay race to raise money for our school. We want to give a shout-out to our team captain Caryn Mohan, who is still looking for a few runners and two drivers. For more information about Ragnar’s and Friend’s activities in general, check out Friends’ new Facebook page.
Mix It Up Day
Mix It Up Day at Lunch is defined by Teaching Tolerance as "a simple call to action for all grade levels to take a new seat in the cafeteria. By taking a risk, students can cross the lines of division in a safe, supported environment, meet new people and help build an inclusive and welcoming school community. Mix It Up Day at Lunch is an international campaign that encourages students to identify, question and cross social boundaries. "
Mix It Up Day at lunch is a tradition at Graham and Parks and it happened this year on Tuesday, October 22nd during lunch time. Grade levels decide how they want to mix up on that day. Some classes have lunch partners while other classes have recess partners from other classes.
For National Mix It Up Day, students in 1st grade had a mini-lesson about how to make a new friend and how students can communicate using gestures and their face even when they do not speak the same language. Students got to practice these skills at lunch, when they were all mixed up across the 3 classes and had lunch with a new friend.
Second graders were encouraged to get out of their comfort zone and connect with someone new during recess and lunch. A student from each class was paired up with a new friend and they spent the whole time at recess and lunch together. It was such a successful time that they asked to do it again next week!
Learn more >>
Math and Maker Night
 Math & Maker Night 2019 was a blast! It was lovely to see so many families working together on pattern puzzles, drawing curves with straight lines, and making 3D pumpkins! Thank you to all who turned out, and a HUGE thank you to our staff and family volunteers that helped make the night a success.
Music Notes
 By Debbie Sullivan, Music Teacher
On October 3rd the International Potluck and Dance Festival took place. It was inspiring to see families from all over the world dancing together as one community! After the dancing, foods from around the globe were shared while vibrant conversations took place in many languages. This event is truly a highlight at Graham and Parks! Many thanks to all who volunteered to help out!
At school, students have been settling into music class routines. Unison and solo singing, rounds, games, and dance were all part of the October curriculum. Grade 3 and 4 will begin to work on repertoire for their concert which takes place on Friday, January 31 at 8:45am.
Most Grade 5 students have had the opportunity to take the instrument of their choice home. Please remind them that if they bring their instrument home they must remember to bring it back to school on Monday and Wednesday mornings!
In the Garden!
 Classes have been busy the past week with our annual CitySprouts cider pressing! Many of you may have seen us in action turning our fresh apples (from Kimball Fruit Farm) into delicious cider. After cider season, students will finish any final harvesting before first frost and begin "putting the garden to bed" for the winter.
Physical Education Update
By Madelyn Regan and Susan Harris, Physical Education Teachers
 This year, the annual Graham and Parks Turkey Trot will be held on Wednesday, November 27th!
–Special Start: 8:45-9AM
–JK/K-1st: 9:00-9:25AM
–2nd-3rd: 9:30-9:55AM
–4th-5th: 10:00-10:25AM
Parents/families are invited to come watch and cheer on their child while we run around the inside of the school. If you are able to join us the cheering/viewing area will be in the lobby.
If you have any questions please let us know. This is one of the many events that we do to promote exercise and the outstanding benefits that come from it. Students that exercise on a regular basis do better in school, have more self esteem, less stress, and are much happier and focused.
PHOTO ABOVE: In PE we’ve been working on Cooperation and incorporating literacy by playing
Rock, Paper, Scissors Around the World. The students learned about the continents.
Art News
 By Liana Trail, Art Teacher
Graham and Parks artists are busy creating fabulous work. Kindergarteners are learning to draw, cut and identify shapes. First graders are designing personalized castles. Students in second grade are creating imaginative solar systems with Cray-Pas and watercolors. Third graders are learning about mosaic art around Cambridge and are assembling their own emoji mosaics. Students in fourth grade are drawing portraits of their role models using different fonts and descriptive words. Fifth grade classes studied assemblage art and are practicing basic woodworking techniques to build self-portrait boxes.
Library News
 By Ann Niederkorn, Librarian
Things are hopping in the library! JK-1st grade students have been enjoying lots of fun read-alouds and finding books to borrow. Second graders are starting on a big landforms glossary project (stay tuned for details!) Third graders are beginning to learn about library navigation and organization and 4th/5th graders are being introduced to MCBA (MA Children's Book Award) this week.
Learn more >>
G&P Steering Committee: Get Involved!
By Christian Henry, Parent Rep on the Steering Committee and Secretary
When parents and teachers meet, it's usually about what's going on for one student or in one classroom. The G&P Steering Committee is a gathering of parents, teachers, and administrators which meets the 2nd Thursday of each month to advance the mission of the entire school community. All are welcome. What's the value of showing up? In my view, making a school run effectively and improving it is a slow step-by-step process. Until it isn't, and then it's fast, confusing, and sometimes upsetting. It's too late during a disruption to start building the connections among us that allow difficult conversations to translate into understanding and action. And whether it's engaging in Building Equity Bridges, seeing how family engagement at G&P can be informed by the best practices shared within the EL Education network, or celebrating the successes of the Cambridge Dyslexia and Struggling Reader Working Group, each of those is more meaningful when we've taken the time to ask who is involved, what does it take, and why is it important. You are invited to contribute to building community and strengthening our school. The October minutes of the Steering Committee outline the areas we think deserve our collective focus. Raise your voice and reach out! Please join us on Thursday November 14th at 5:30pm in the library upstairs.
Here are the notes from the October Meeting.
G&P Student Field Trips!
TOP LEFT & RIGHT: 1st graders went on a field trip to Elm Bank Reservation in Wellesley to continue our study of plants and animals in our community. Students sketched plants and gardens and enjoyed a beautiful fall day among trees.
BOTTOM LEFT & RIGHT: Second graders spent the day at Castle Island looking for different landforms and bodies of water. They showed what they know by building some in the sand!
Movement Breaks the All School Morning Meeting!
 By Karen Haglund, G&P School Adjust Counselor
At this month's All School Morning Meeting on October 16th, we talked about and practiced movement breaks. Last year at this same time we spoke about the human brain and how it is like a snowflake, each one is unique and no two are exactly the same.
This year we talked about how people are beautifully diverse and made the connection to how our brains are beautifully diverse too! Last year we highlighted for students how everyone learns differently because no two brains are alike. We mentioned that students may have heard people talk about learning differences like ADHD, Autism, and Dyslexia-- and how in fact, October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. We tried continuing our conversation from last year by reminding and reteaching about how some of us learn best visually; this means learning best by seeing. Some of us learn best auditorily; this means learning best by hearing. And many of us learn best kinesthetically; which means learning best by doing with your hands and bodies. But actually most of us learn best when we get information all three ways! We named how some of us may already know how our brain learns best, and some of us are still learning.
When we introduced movement breaks, we explained how this is a helpful strategy that works for ALL different brains and how many teachers already use this strategy in their classrooms. Movement breaks are quick activities that enable all students to move their bodies and help teachers to engage learners in physical ways. Many teachers believe that quick movement breaks help students stay focused on learning—they can even increase learning. By using movement breaks at the right time, we can help students increase their attention and stay on task. We normalized some reasons why people may need a movement break. We may find ourselves feeling tired, frustrated, nervous, or distracted during our learning and a movement break can help us "wake up" our brains or help them calm down, depending on what we need. We invited students to notice when they are distracted, or not doing what the group is doing. When they notice this, they can then tell a teacher how they are feeling and to talk to that teacher about the possibility of using a movement break to help get their brain back in the group and focused. While it is true that some of us need more movement breaks than others in order to stay focused, it is also true that ALL people need movement sometimes!
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