Language Arts - Manchester Public Schools

Curriculum & Instruction Newsletter
Spring 2012
and the emergency signal flare. Posters were
displayed on a Women's History Month bulletin
board in the front of the school and outside the
Learning Center.
individual of their choice. The students presented
their projects to their classmates so that all students
had the opportunity to learn and appreciate the
contributions that were made to our society.
Third graders at Martin Elementary School have
completed their independent Connecticut projects,
which included research of our great state’s history,
government, geography, influential people, and
interesting facts. They were responsible for
completing a factual packet, decorating a shoebox,
collecting items relating to Connecticut, and
creating a relief map.
In the packet, students were asked to complete
several tasks, including writing a poem about the
Charter Oak and the Red
Robin, as well as composing a
letter to a friend explaining the
reasons one should visit
Connecticut. This task was a
popular source of conversation! Students also
enjoyed learning two “big” words as part of this
presentation: manufacturing and agriculture.
Students displayed their projects in the lobby of the
school and in the classroom. It was evident that the
children worked extremely hard on this long-term
assignment. The projects were very creative and
students learned a great deal!
Bennet Academy
As has become the tradition at Bennet Academy
each year, students from a variety of classes shared
a “Black History Month Moment” by reading about
a famous African American in history and then
sharing a poem or writing excerpt over the public
address system in the morning. Poems by such
African-American writers as Langston Hughes,
Nicki Giovanni, and Maya Angelou were read.
In celebration of Black History Month, Mrs.
Sullivan’s class researched and created a “bottle
buddy” and PowerPoint on the African American
Physical Education
The elementary physical education program,
coordinated by Mike Kolze, has implemented a new
incentive to help motivate the students in grades
four and five to pass all four sections of the
Connecticut Physical Fitness Assessment. Over the
past few years, the department has awarded students
who pass each component with a rubber bracelet
illustrating the area of success. For example,
students that passed the curl-up assessment would
receive a band that said “curl-ups” on it. This year,
students were offered t-shirts that said “Manchester
Fitness Phenom” with a big character heart running
on it. This incentive was well received by the
students in grades four and five and helped to
motivate them to try their hardest to pass the each
area of the assessment.
During February and March, the elementary
physical education programs
incorporated Jump Rope for
Heart into their units of Fitness.
Some schools did Hoops for
Heart. Thank you to all students
who participated and collected
donations; those donations go to help other students
with sick hearts!
7