Campus News 10-23-09

Campus News Lower Division Newsletter October 23, 2009 Junior Kindergarten Language Arts We will finish our theme on the five senses and begin a new theme on the seasons. The students will continue to work with the –at word family and color words, adding the color words black and green to our previously studied color words of red, blue, yellow, and purple. We will review our Alpha friends S, M, P, T, O, X and introduce U. Our High Frequency Words (HFW) will continue to be I, see, a, my, and like, and we will add the word to. In handwriting (HWT), we will practice making the letters L, F, E, H, T, I and introduce U. Social Studies We will conclude our discussion of Compassion and look at our next virtue of Thankfulness. We will also look at the globe and begin to talk about the features we see on a globe. Science We will be doing a variety of experiments that focus on our sense of taste. The sense of sight, touch, and smell will be covered through a variety of activities dealing with pumpkins. Math Students will continue to work on the AB and ABC patterns and begin to look at the concept of weight as we measure pumpkins and students to make comparisons through observations. Students will begin to learn about graphing and practice one-to-one correspondence.

Senior Kindergarten Language Arts The students are enjoying our fall stories. One of our favorites is: “When Itchy Witchy Sneezes.” We worked in cooperative groups to make an innovation of the story. Be on the lookout; it will be coming to your house very soon. The students will continue to work on decoding skills, identifying main character, and sequencing of events. In our small reading groups we will focus on blending and segmenting words, comprehension skills, and retelling the story. Reading each evening before bed will greatly help to improve your child’s reading. In phonics, the children will practice short vowels /a/, /e/, and /i/ sounds. We will also review

beginning and ending sounds. The children are learning to expand their ideas when writing and have also been introduced to nouns. Science The children are learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin. How are your pumpkin vines coming? Don’t forget to record your observations in your science journal. You should have at least two by now. Math Our focus this week in on counting to 20, counting backwards from 20, identifying odd and even numbers to 20, making tally marks to 20, simple addition to 10, measuring using non–standard units of measure, graphing, and using the concepts of same, more, and less in our thinking. Virtues This month, the virtue is Compassion. Students will read books and discuss the importance of compassion. A great way to model this at home is to talk about your day. Share your day at meal time. Everyone goes around the table and tells one thing that made them happy and one thing they did to make someone else happy.

Grade 1 Language Arts In the next two weeks our reading strategies will continue to focus on comparing and contrasting story elements, answering comprehension questions from our reading selections, and summarizing. Our phonics and spelling skills will continue to focus on long vowel pairs and the diagraphs ch, sh, th, and wh. In writing we will continue to work on writing complete sentences, organizing our thoughts, pre writing, and learning how to write a paragraph. Social Studies We will finish the classroom phone book and also discuss the importance of Veteran’s Day. Science Students will create their own daily menu. Everyone’s menu will be compiled into a “Making Healthy Choices” class menu. Math

In the next two weeks, students will work on fact families, choosing the appropriate subtraction strategy, choosing the operation in problem solving, and timed math facts. Subtraction Clue words: find the difference, subtract, how many are left, minus

Grade 2 Language Arts Our reading theme, “Nature Walk,” has led to discussions about what we see and things we do in nature. We are reading fiction and nonfiction stories about nature. As we read these selections we will monitor/clarify, categorize and classify, draw conclusions, note details, compare and contrast, and discuss fact and opinion. Our phonics and spelling skills focus will be more practice with long vowels, consonant clusters, and sounds of “g” and “c”. Our writing focus will be on writing a complete paragraph and adding details to our writing. Our grammar will focus on nouns, verbs, writing complete sentences, and using exclamations, question marks, and periods. Social Studies We will continue to focus on the concept of a community by looking at Native American tribes. The students are discovering things about Native Americans and communities long ago as we read The Magic Tree House book, Buffalo Before Breakfast. They are also learning facts about different tribes to create a fact book. Science We are looking at insects. We will discuss how butterflies are insects and investigate our insects’ and other life cycles. We will continue to visit and work in our butterfly garden with curiosity and joy! Math The children really enjoyed graphing and probability. We are now focusing on place value of numbers through 100. We will practice identifying the value of the tens and ones digits, compare two-digit numbers using the symbols >,<, or =, identify even and odd numbers, skip count by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, and 10’s, and order numbers.The students will continue to practice problem solving skills and addition and subtraction facts.

Grade 3 Language Arts We are moving into reading groups and into the genre of fiction. Students will enjoy reading about Horrible Harry and Cam Jansen while applying their reading comprehension strategies.

Third grade is doing a wonderful job adding detail to their writing, including adding very interesting similes. Recently, we practiced parts of speech by creating “silly” stories called Mad Libs. The students laughed and said they could not wait to read them to their parents. Be sure to check in the HomeSchool folder. Beginning next week third grade will be reading Time For Kids each week at home as part of a reading homework assignment. Your child should find the news interesting and “readable”. A short comprehension sheet will be attached. The assignment will go home on Monday and will need to be returned on Wednesday. This will give families time to fit this work into their schedule. If your child needs some assistance with reading, it’s perfectly OK to help. Thank you. Social Studies Upon finishing our country hunt using the coordinates of longitude and latitude, we will be placing major cities in Florida on our Florida maps. Science Students will study and take a closer look at the parts of a flower. We will dissect and identify parts. It is a fascinating study. Within a short period of time, your child should be able to tell you all about the flower and its parts. After we have completed our study, students will make a model of a flower as a home project. Rest assured your child will be ready, willing, and able for this to be their very own project. Math While working on adding numbers in the hundreds with regrouping, students are also learning ways to remember their addition facts. Please help your child practice addition and subtraction facts with computer games or flashcards. It is very exciting when their knowledge of the facts helps them do well on timed drills and in general application.

Grade 4 Language Arts The Pumpkin Patch book reports were a huge success and are now decorating the walls of our classroom. Don’t stop reading, because a November book project is just around the corner! We’ve begun our Kate DiCamillo reading groups and are working with establishing a framework for story elements. Students will review the use of context clues as they encounter new vocabulary words. Weekly vocabulary lessons continue to reinforce our knowledge of words with multiple meanings. In writing, we’ve begun writing our short stories. They are using their creative minds to come up with spooky, adventurous, funny and mysterious tales. In grammar, we are studying all types of nouns. Social Studies

We will begin our next chapter that focuses on the American people. We will discuss culture, patriotism, and immigration. Science To round out our study of land and water, the students are completing their final activities to include: planning and constructing a dam, changing the direction and flow of water with hills and rocks, and protecting sloped land from erosion by planting grass. All of these amazing hands-on activities are done with the use of a stream table model that the students have made themselves! Math I am so impressed with how hard the students are working to improve their knowledge of multiplication facts! We will finish Chapter 4 on multiplication and division and complete an assessment by the middle of next week.

Did You Know…. Second grade completed their butterfly unit with a release of their butterflies. Over two dozen butterflies successfully emerged from their chrysalises to the delight of the students. All the butterflies were released into the butterfly garden and were then observed by all the students.

News from our Technology

Teachers:

The following website will take you to a list of sites that have won the Parents’ Choice Awards. Each link takes you to a page that describes the program and the age range for which the program is intended. http://www.parents-choice.org/award.cfm?thePage=website&p_code=p_web

Thank you to Mr. Soriano for giving us a bench outside the third grade classrooms. Our students love to hang out and chat on those benches! Upcoming Events….. October 26, 2009 Lower Division Screening Day (vision, speech, language, academic) October 27, 2009 Students may wear black and orange/Halloween shirts and socks with school bottoms JK to the Pumpkin Patch

October 28, 2009 SK to the Pumpkin Patch at 9:00 a.m. October 29, 2009 Pumpkin decorating contest (see details below) Day of Manners – dress uniforms Grade 1 to Chili’s – 10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. October 30, 2009 Halloween Festivities (see details below) November 4, 2009 Open House – 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Grade 1 assembly – dress uniforms – 2:30 p.m. November 6, 2009 Grade 3 to Sweet Water – regular uniforms – 9:15 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. November 9, 2009 JK Parent Conference Day November 10, 2009 SK Parent Conference Day Grade 1 to Homosassa Springs – regular uniforms – 8:45 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. November 11, 2009 All School Assembly for Veteran’s Day 10:30 – 11:15 a.m. in McCormick Gym – dress uniforms November 12, 2009 Grade 1 Parent Conference Day November 13, 2009 Grade 2 Parent Conference Day Grade 4 to Plant Museum – dress uniforms – 9:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.

Halloween Festivities: Tuesday, October 27 - Bring wrapped candy to class for JK and SK trick or treat  Students may wear black and orange/Halloween shirt with school bottoms Thursday, October 29 - Students may bring in pumpkins for the pumpkin contest  Judging will take place on the same day  All students will bring their pumpkins to the front walkway and place them in their designated “pumpkin patch”  Make sure that students take their pumpkins home that same day Friday, October 30 - Children will arrive in costume  8:30 a.m. – students will line up for parade o Fourth grade will start at the top of the hill followed by third grade, then second, then first, then SK, then JK o Students will stay with their classes  8:45 a.m. - parade begins with fourth graders leading the way  Around 9:10 a.m. - JK and SK trick or treat through the classrooms and offices  Around 9:40 a.m. Grades 1-4 will gather at the top of the hill starting with fourth grade o Grades 1-4 will march across Collier to McCormick Campus for trick or treating o reconvene at 10:15 a.m. at the flagpole to walk back across the street

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Halloween celebrations take place in the afternoon in classrooms o Fourth grade will have Monster Mash in the fourth grade room o Students may go home with their parents once the celebrations have concluded (if it is before dismissal, you must sign out) o After care will be provided as usual

Congratulations to our Dads Softball Team on their most recent victory!