Campus News 11-20-09

Campus News Lower Division Newsletter November 20, 2009

Junior Kindergarten Language Arts We will begin our theme on animals. Children will talk about stuffed animals, their pets, and what it takes to care for pets. We will learn about their new Alpha friends, F and A. In handwriting (HWT), we will learn the letters, Gg and Qq. Children will focus on the correct formation of the letters in their names and proper pencil grip. Our High Frequency Words will be is and here. The children will begin to learn how to identify the beginning, middle, and end of the story. They will also begin to put together their high frequency words to make sentences. Moreover, the classes will work on the –an family of words. Social Studies We will introduce the meaning of faith, our next virtue. Children will draw a picture of having faith in something. Science Students will learn different animal sounds and work with different textures of animal skins. They will draw their pets and work on details to make their drawing tell us about their pets. Math Students will sort, graph, and create patterns using animals. The classes will make a graph of the different pets.

Senior Kindergarten Language Arts The children will review the story elements of character, setting, events, and problems through the story,

T’was the Night Before Thanksgiving. They will continue working on blending sounds together to make words, rhyming words, and cvc patterns. They will review the vowels a, e, i, o and be introduced to u. We will review the digraphs th, ch, and sh. Handwriting practice will focus on the letters Mm, Pp, and Qq. Students continue to write in their journals daily. They are brainstorming ideas and working on spacing, capitals, and periods. Social Studies Students will discuss and act out the story of the First Thanksgiving. The children will also be going over their phone numbers and address. Please practice shoe tying at home. The children will be assessed on all these skills in the next few weeks. Math

Students will continue to work on complex patterns, numbers to 40, identifying odd and even numbers, graphing, tally marks, probability, problem solving, and addition to 12. They will be introduced to the term symmetry. In Munchie Math they will count, sort, and graph using same, more, and less in their thinking. Having a set of flash cards is a great way to reinforce addition facts at home. Virtues The children will sing a song called, “Things I am Thankful For…” to discuss the virtue of thankfulness.

Grade 1 Language Arts In the next two weeks our reading strategies will focus on the main idea, summarizing the reading selection, making predictions, and differentiating between fiction and non – fiction. Our phonics and spelling will focus on the bossy r, qu- words, two syllable words, and compound words. Our writing will focus on writing fiction and non - fiction stories. Social Studies Students will continue to learn the history of Thanksgiving, Pilgrims, and the Wampanoag Indians. In class, students are listening to the biography of Squanto. Math In the next two weeks, students will work on sorting and classifying different objects and identifying and comparing plane/solid shapes.

Math vocabulary: face, edge, corner, side, circle, rectangle, triangle, square

Grade 2 Language Arts We will begin our next theme, “Around Town: Neighborhood and Community.” As we read our first selections we will summarize, categorize, classify, and make judgments. Our phonics and spelling skills focus will be th, wh, sh, or ch and base words and endings – er and –est. We continue to practice writing a complete paragraph. Many children are being encouraged to develop their sentences by adding more details. Our grammar will review nouns and verbs and begin adjectives. Social Studies Our communities theme has been intriguing for the children as they think about life as a pioneer, Native American, or Pilgrim. We will begin learning about America’s first colonies by reading The Magic Tree House book, Revolutionary War on Wednesday. Science We are excited to be going on a field trip to Home Depot to learn more about plants for our butterfly garden. We have discovered the names of the different plants in our garden by doing research in Technology class. We were also able to explore what plants might attract butterflies from an interactive web site. Our “sprucing up” the garden project will lead us into an inquiry about soils as we begin our

second science unit on soils. We will discuss what soil is and where dead plants go, as well as investigate sand, clay, and humus. Math We are now exploring the math world of geometry. We will continue to focus on plane shapes by identifying congruent shapes, symmetry, sides, flips, and turns of plane shapes. We will then focus on solid shapes by identifying solid shapes, faces, edges and vertices of solid shapes. The children continue to develop their problem solving and math fact skills through weekly practice.

Grade 3 Language Arts As we progress in our chapter books, students will focus on responding to comprehension questions with thoughtful, complete answers. They are also learning to pay attention to the details of spelling, grammar, and punctuation with special consideration for Word Wall Words. Once the words have been practiced and put on the wall, students are responsible for spelling them correctly in their writing. Third grade has written some amazing fictional narratives. They are imaginative, funny, and have surprising twists in the plot. Each student will now become an author and create stories with all of the story elements: main characters, setting, problem, and solution. We are eager to see what their limitless imaginations will think of next! Social Studies As we conclude our map activities, we will begin a study of the Tocobaga Indians. They are a group of aboriginal Indians who were living in the Tampa Bay area when the Europeans first arrived and had been here for thousands of years. Science Bravo to all for their flower projects! It was wonderful to see knowledge revealed in such a creative way. We encourage everyone to stop in and see the colorful display. In addition, we have had great success in the garden and have harvested Chinese cabbage, green beans, cucumbers, and a beautiful head of broccoli. There is definitely great excitement as students get to harvest their vegetables. Sometimes it is hard to get them to leave the garden and eat their lunch. We hope your child is sharing many interesting facts about the honeybee. Our next lessons will focus on the construction and use of the hive. Math Third grade will soon be into the exciting operation of multiplication. Students love the challenge, but are sometimes reluctant to spend the time needed to memorize the facts. We cannot stress enough the importance of daily practice. We will be assigning drill sheets to help ensure practice takes place. There are also many websites with engaging games to help make learning the facts fun. Borrowing from Mrs. Jorski’s idea, we will be doing a mixed fact drill each Friday. Students will have one minute to answer all questions. The scores will be recorded from week to week to note improvement. Any student who gets all of the facts correctly within the allotted minute will earn a trip to Starbuck’s with their teacher to celebrate!

Grade 4 I enjoyed meeting with so many of you during our conference day. Thank you for the wonderful support you provide; it makes a world of difference!

Language Arts We continue to enjoy our Kate DiCamillo reading group novels. We’ve learned enough about the different characters that we will begin choosing 2 to contrast in the form of a diamante poem. Next week, students will share their Turkey book projects aloud. These will make perfect decorations in the room for our Thanksgiving party! We will wrap up verbs next week and assess before the Thanksgiving break. Next, we will be studying adjectives. This should help the students with becoming more descriptive in their writing. Social Studies We continue to learn about our country’s government and economy. Students will begin an in-class brochure project on the three branches of our government. Science I know you’ve been hearing all about our class specimens and you’re probably really excited about adopting one at the end of our unit! Right? We are holding off on inviting a third group of creatures until after the break. Until then, we will continue to investigate, compare, contrast, and learn more about the habits of guppies and hermit crabs. Math Wow, we conquered Algebra! I was so impressed with the test scores. Next, we will be revisiting multiplication. We will begin examining patterns, estimating larger products, and end the chapter with multiplying greater numbers. Keep working on those facts at home!

Library Spotlight Reminder: Please send in your book order form for Jane Wood's books. She will be visiting in January and will have the autographed books for your child. If you are in need of another order form, let your child's teacher know and we will send it home.

Did You Know…. Academy at the Lakes joined Dillard’s and Bobbi Brown in a holiday fashion show in conjunction with Bobbi Brown’s Dress for Success Campaign. Students in JK though 12, teachers, staff members, and parents all came together for a good cause.

JK Visited the Pumpkin Patch

Thank You You did a gobblin' great job! Thank you Academy families for helping to fill up the Helping Hands food bank. Our Giraffe Club officers visited them last week and even got to give out some food. Thank you for sharing and "sticking out your neck" for others. The Giraffe Club

Upcoming Events….. November 23, 2009 SK to Wesley Chapel – dress uniforms Grade 2 to Home Depot – regular uniforms – 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. November 24, 2009 All School Thanksgiving Assembly – dress uniforms – 9:30 a.m. in McCormick Gym November 25 – 27, 2009 No School – Thanksgiving Holiday December 3, 2009 SK has in-house field trip – Timeless Tales – 1:00 p.m. Winter Concert – 7:00 p.m. in McCormick Gym December 4, 2009 Grade 3 to Crystal Springs – regular uniforms December 7 – 10, 2009 Scholastic Book Fair