Teacher Margaret's "View From My Window" - December 5th

Dear Westfield Friends,

We are happily back at school. Tuesday saw the Lower School students constructing a giant kindness puzzle. Small groups of students, led by the Fifth Graders, drew and wrote about kindness on puzzle pieces. The Fourth Grade put those pieces together and discovered they made a giant heart. The heart is hanging on my bulletin board - reminding kids that when we work together, we create beauty. Middle School students devoted their Meeting for Business to planning their major fundraiser for their winter dance. Our Preschool Two and Three friends, led by Teacher Eddie, played and sang with their parents and grandparents in our annual Preschool Music Fest.

In their classrooms, First Grade students are busy learning about the mathematical expressions “greater than” and “less than”. Teacher Fozia helped them remember that the symbol looks like a crocodile mouth about to eat and that it always wants to eat the larger number! In the art studio, students are studying collage. Younger students take inspiration from Eric Carle while older students start with monochromatic studies in their sketchbooks before moving on to multi-media collages including objects from home. In 8th grade, students are working on linear equations – solving, simplifying, converting from standard to slope-intercept form, and graphing.

Our Preschool friends are busy working with the shapes and sounds of letters. Today they used various sizes of buttons to place upon large capital letters. 

In 5th grade Science students are deep into studying Earth’s many spheres. For their study of the Hydrosphere they began with the question, "Is there enough water?"

Our afternoons now include rehearsal for all 5th through 8th-grade students as they prepare for our March production of the musical “Honk”.

Beginning next week along with all the usual rich programming, we will decorate the buildings for the holidays. We will lean into preparing our winter concert. We will reflect on our December Query “What lessons can I learn from the changing of the seasons about growth and letting go?” 

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Fund for Westfield. I am overwhelmed by your outpouring of support. 

I look forward to seeing you at our Cookies and Crafts event this Saturday.

Warmly,

Margaret Haviland

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Announcements:

• December 5 ~ WFS Family Council Meeting - all welcome - Teacher Andrea will speak about the Spanish Program
• December 6 ~ Open House - Prek-8th grades - invite friends whose children would benefit from WFS
• December 7 ~ Craft, Cookie, Clothing Exchange - fun for everyone
• December 20 ~ Winter Concert - in person and live stream