The third graders in Ms. Dee's and Ms. Reardon's class did such a great job on their Google Draw trees project that they decided to have students show what they learned about the water cycle in the same format. They are very cool. Check them out here.

Third Grade Water Cycle Project

Newton Serves the Williams library

I would like to give a big shout out to all the Newton Serves volunteers who came by the Williams library today. We had former students, current students and parents, and Newton Serves volunteers who sorted, cleaned, and organized our library. It was a huge help to me because there is always work to do in a busy school library, and little time to focus on these kinds of tasks.  Thank you to all who stopped by and made  the day a success.

Book Swap at Williams-Get into the spirit of giving

Williams School

2 for 1 Book swap

Let’s make a gift of reading for others

Need some fresh reading material? This is your chance to

Donate books to a needy school library and take a book home that you have not read. This is how it works:

Bring in 2 books from home that you have read.  Take 1 that you have not read home.

Location: In the hallway next to the Williams Library

Time: Drop-off books Monday April 29^th – Wednesday May 1st

Choose your book from the donated titles on Thursday May 2^nd and Friday May 3^rd.

Procedure: For every 2 books you bring to the library, you receive 1 Swap Ticket. Each ticket is good for one book. Be sure to bring your swap ticket on Thursday and Friday so you can choose a book.

Guidelines for book donation and swap:

K  Choose books that are gently used

K  Choose books that are appealing & appropriate for K-5 readers-no board books, pop-up books, toddler books, sticker books, coloring books, or adult books.

K  Check with your parents before you bring in your used books

K  Questions?????? See Mrs. Kosmo

Fables by the Second Grade

Our second grade classes studied fables in Library class. First the students learned what a fable is and we read some fables online using Tom Lynch's book "Fables from Aesop."

Tom Lynch's Fables from Aesop

We also read The contest between the sun and the wind, retold by Heather Forest.

Then students worked in pairs. They read a fable and decided on a moral. Then they illustrated their fable using KidPix. Take a look at their work!!

Mr. Joyce's class

Mrs. Osiecki's class

42- Connect your reading with the new hit biographical movie about Jackie Robinson

Are you planning to take your Williams student to the movies this vacation week? The new movie about the life of the Brooklyn Dodgers and baseball's first African-American player, Jackie Robinson, is a hot choice. He not only changed the games he played in, he also changed lives and was an inspirational leader.  You can find lots of books about Robinson in our library. Check one out.

From our biography section:

A picture book of Jackie Robinson by David Adler Promises to keep : how Jackie Robinson changed America Let's meet Jackie Robinson by Helen Frost Stealing home : Jackie Robinson, against the odds by Sharon Robinson Teammates by Peter Golenbock When Jackie and Hank met by Cathy Goldberg Fishman From our fiction and picture book section: In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Lord Jackie and me : a baseball card adventure by Dan Gutman Luke goes to bat by Rachel Isadora Play ball, Jackie! by Stephen Krensky Other titles of interest: Shadow ball : a history of the Negro leagues by Geoffrey Ward Negro leagues : all-Black baseball by Emily Brooks Fair ball! : 14 great stars from baseball's Negro leagues by Jonah Winter My favorite is Teammates. The scene that describes the moment when Robinson is being mercilessly taunted in Cincinnati is powerful and poignant. His teammate Pee Wee Reese makes a courageous move by going over to Robinson's position and putting his arm around Robinson in a show of support and anti-racism. You can learn more about Pee Wee Reese at: Pee Wee Reese Quotes

Ebooks have arrived!!

The Williams Library now has ebooks available from our card catalog, which can be accessed at home. Our ebooks are mostly nonfiction titles with an emphasis on subjects studied in our curriculum units. Currently we have 28 ebooks available for students. We will be adding more titles to our ebook collection. Please go to our catalog and read one with your child.

Here are two of our students enjoying an ebook together.

 At our March all school meeting we read an ebook to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Community Book drive beginning soon at Williams

Please watch for this letter coming to your home in the Williams Weekly on April 10th.

Dear Williams Community,

We are pleased to announce a special fundraiser to assist two very needy Massachusetts schools. The schools are located in Worcester and Springfield. We plan to provide each school with 26 books each for their libraries. This drive is part of the ongoing effort to honor and remember the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Tragedy.

            Since the December 14^th event occurred, organizations and individuals from all over the country have reached out to the Sandy Hook School families and the Newtown, CT community in many ways.   Our goal is to take action in a way that strengthens education for all.    We hope to continue and extend the Williams tradition of helping others by giving the gift of reading to fellow students and educators in Massachusetts.

You can contribute to this initiative by purchasing a book.  Please see the instructions below to help. The cost is $16 per book. Our goal is to donate 26 books to each of the 2 selected schools. If we exceed our goal, we will expand our giving on a wider scale by helping a third or possibly even a fourth school in need.  In addition, we are initiating our first book swap to create enthusiasm for reading at Williams, and to add books to the libraries of other needy schools. We plan to send out a flyer soon that will explain this literacy event in detail.

As always, thank you for your support and we look forward to the Williams School community coming together for this worthy cause!

Sincerely,

Robert Beaudet, Principal

Christine Lacey, PTO president

Nancy Sweatt, PTO co-president

Sarah White, PTO co-president

Michael Lorant, PTO co-president

Cheryl Kosmo, Library teacher

To honor a victim of the Sandy Hook tragedy, please:

1. Send a check payable to the Williams PTO for $16.00 per book, in an envelope addressed to "Schools in need book fundraiser," via your child's folder.

2. Teachers will collect the checks and get them to Ms. Kosmo.

3. You will get a confirmation email from Ms. Kosmo that we have received your check.

Thank you for supporting this worthy initiative!

Fourth graders creating slideshows on ipads using Explain Everything App

Thanks to the Williams PTO we have been able to purchase some excellent creativity apps for our ipads. One of these apps is called Explain Everything. Students can show their learning by creating slideshows that allow them to type, record, use pictures and videos, and draw. It is easy to use and allows students to export their projects in a variety of formats for sharing.

Watch for them soon on this blog and the Williams School website. The subject of our projects is the Underground Railroad. Learn all about it from Grade 4!!