Funded by the PTO: Overview of 2010-11 CASC Programming

UNDERWOOD CREATIVE ARTS AND SCIENCES - 2010-2011 PROGRAMS: Our all school performance last fall was a musical treat from Epic Brass, a virtuoso group of brass players who led the kids on a foot stomping romp through five centuries of music, combining serious artistic interpretation with light-hearted entertainment.  Kids learned about the different qualities of several brass instruments, including the tuba, horn, trombone, and several different kinds of trumpets.
 
CASC also sponsored three or four programs specific for each grade.  Many of these were old favorites that the teachers ask for every year to complement the curriculum.  Others were new and different!
 
New Program Highlights:
 
Meg Tabasco, from the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, joined kindergarten through third grades last year to teach about our water system and how it works.  Meg tailored each program for the grade, from “The Day the Water Stopped” for kindergarteners and first graders, to a hands-on “Building the System” workshop with the second and third graders.
 
We also invited the wonderful recorder ensemble “Eine Kleine Konsort” to give a concert for the third graders, in conjunction with their recorder studies.  Prior to the visit, students prepared “Ode to Joy” with Mr. O’Neil, and then performed it with the ensemble.  Every third grader participated fully.  They sounded wonderful and all were very proud of themselves.  Their preparation and enthusiasm garnered high praise from ensemble members.  It was really a wonderful and inspiring experience for all!
 
Another new third grade program was a workshop with wildlife author/illustrator Gordon Morrison.  Gordon first talked to the kids about the writing process, including his adventures in the New England wilderness finding inspiration for his books.  Later in the day, he came to the classroom to do a hands-on workshop with each class, teaching kids how to draw trees and birds from life, by starting each figure as a series of geometrical shapes.
 
Here are some other highlights from the year:
 
Kindergarten: 
“Dueling Dragons” with Nan Rumpf.  Nan guided the children as they decorated costumes and sets, as well as two huge dragon puppets, all based on a Chinese folk tale that their teacher read with them beforehand.  Parent volunteers got to join in the puppet-making fun, and then watched the kids act out the folk tale with the costumes and sets that they had created. Other programs enjoyed by the kindergarteners were Bubbles from the Science Discovery Museum, and Mother Goose from Characters Educational Theatre.
 
First Grade:
First graders learned all about bees from beekeeper Birgit de Weerd,  They also had a visit from cellist Sandy Keifer, who taught them all about this beautiful instrument and the many sounds that it can make.  She and the children made up a story together, which Ms. Keifer and the cello “told”.  First graders also learned all about local wildlife from Mass Audubon Society’s Audubon Ark, and got to watch the way these animals behave in their own habitat – a pond set up in the classroom!
 
Second Grade:
Joe and Vida Galeota brought the kids straight into the village in Ghana where Vida grew up and Joe lived for many years.  Students went through a typical day, including morning chores, the market place, school and family activities in the evening.  Joe, who is a professor at Berklee College of Music, brought a number of Ghanian instruments, which he taught the children about and let them try.  Other second grade programs included Mexican storytelling, and a workshop by Potato Hill Poetry, which was new this year.
 
Third Grade:
Third graders had a real adventure with Dan Cripps, who presented Native American Perspectives.  Last year was Dan’s first visit to Underwood, and he was a huge hit, leading the kids through the process of building a real tipi in the gym, inside which they then gathered for a lesson about Native American culture.  As described above, we also had two new programs for third grade this year, the Eine Kleine Konsort recorder ensemble, and author/illustrator Gordon Morrison.
 
Fourth Grade:
Mitali Perkins, author of Monsoon Summer, came with her family to the US from Calcutta, India at a young age.  With warmth and great wisdom, she taught the children what it is like to grow up Between two Cultures.  Using slides and anecdotes, she talked about her efforts to balance the cultural differences she experienced, touched on the discrimination and bullying that she sometimes encountered, and related how writing helped her through.  Fourth graders also learned from scientist Dan Perlman all about how and why the earth moves in Plate Tectonics, and got a really fun lesson in math while folding paper with world renowned origami master Michael LaFosse, presenting Origamido.  This will be Michael’s second visit to Underwood fourth grade.  The teachers last year were thrilled with the way he made geometry principles so accessible and memorable!
 
Fifth Grade:
History comes to life every year with a visit from Bay Colony Educators, who arrive in period dress to teach kids about family life in 1750’s colonial America.  As do many CASC programs, Bay colony relates directly to the curriculum.  Fifth Graders were also visited by some glorious living creatures in Eyes on Owls, and learned about Simple Machines from Henry Massar, who showed students how many of the tools we use every day are actually combinations of different simple machines.
 
None of these programs would be possible without your contributions to the Underwood PTO.  Thank you!!!
 
Thanks also to the CASC committee members who work so hard to bring these programs to your children: Meredith Andrews, James Bryant, Cathy Connolly, Sara Ellison, Cybill Goldberg, Rebecca Hoitash, Sami O’Reilly and Doug Simpson.