February Ses March 2009 Newsletter

SES

Sidney Elementary School Newsletter

15 Pearl Street East

“Be active with good character” Responsibility-Respect-TrustworthinessFairness-Caring

February - March 2009

Reflections from Mr. Green Spring time is almost here and hopefully warm weather will be right around the corner. The students have continued to do a great job at SES! The staff and students have been focused on the character traits of trustworthiness and are moving on to fairness for March and April. Our third, fourth and fifth grade students completed the NYS math test during the first week of March. The students gave their best effort and I am extremely proud of them! We have very exciting events and programs coming to SES over the course of the next few months. On March 23rd the rainforest program will do two day time performances along with an evening program. The Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble will perform on April 3rd and Chocolate Wars will make an appearance on April 28th. As always, I appreciate the positive home-school connection that we have built! Early Kindergarten February might have been a cold and dreary month, but it was a healthy month in Early Kindergarten! First we learned how to keep ourselves healthy by exercising every day and making good food choices. We now know that some foods are GO Foods which we can eat almost anytime, some are SLOW Foods which we can eat sometimes, and some are WHOA Foods which we should eat only once in a while. Our motto is “We Go for Go Foods!” Next we learned to keep our teeth healthy and happy, we need to brush twice a day, floss, see our dentist and stay away from sugary foods. Then two great presidents helped us keep our minds healthy. George Washington, father of our country, taught us to always tell the truth while Honest Abe Lincoln showed us that honesty is always the best policy. We loved making stove pipe hats with beards. Everyone thought we were miniature presidents! Now that March is here we are having fun using our magnets and simple machines. And last, but not least, we are doing a great job learning the letters of the alphabet and counting to ten.

Sidney NY 13838

SES to Hold Open Kindergarten Registration Registration for all Sidney Central School District students eligible to enter kindergarten in September 2009 will be held the weeks of Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 20 and Monday, March 23 through Friday, March 27 from 9:00 to 2:00 p.m. The registration will take place in the district Registrar’s office located in the Middle School. Parents will need to present their child’s birth certificate, immunization records and proof of residency as well as fill out paperwork during registration. They will also have an opportunity to sign their child up for a kindergarten screening. To be eligible for kindergarten, a child must be five years old on or before December 1, 2009. A child who turns six years old any time during the school year must attend school at the start of September 2009. It is important that all district kindergarten entrants for the September 2009 school year register at this time. If you have any questions about registration, please call Jill Brazee or Mary Miley at 563-2135 extension 4200 or 4202. SES Taking Names for Universal Pre-K Slots Sidney Elementary School is now taking names of children for their Universal Pre-Kindergarten program in the fall. Children that reside in the Sidney Central School District and who will be four years old before December 1, 2009 are eligible. The class will be determined by a lottery drawing at a later date. Please call Jill Brazee or Mary Miley in the main office at 563-2135 extension 4200 or 4202 to add your child’s name to the Universal Pre-K list.

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Universal Pre-K

First Grade

The UPK Class has completed a unit on winter. During this unit we experimented with ice cubes melting and freezing. The students made great scientists. We read The Hat and The Mitten and made a wintery hat to wear and a mitten with all the animals from the story. The students did a nice job recreating the story using animals they colored.

The first grade has enjoyed learning about dental health, the groundhog seeing his shadow, President’s Day and of course sharing our Valentines. We ended February celebrating the 100th day of school! We can not believe we have been in school 100 days already. We celebrated by doing activities that have 100 involved with them.

Last week we met in the evening to work on a quilt we are making for Ms. Jenkins. Nine families came to the quilting party. We will be putting the quilt together and presenting it soon to Ms. Jenkins. In the month of March, we will be learning about spring weather. We will be starting a mobile of all the types of spring weather. We are also learning to say / sing the alphabet, recognize letters and numbers, and we have been practicing writing our name. Most of all we are looking forward to seeing the signs of spring! Kindergarten February was a very busy month in kindergarten! We celebrated the 100th day of school. The kindergarten students made a 100 inch snake, crowns, necklaces and counted out 100 pieces of various snacks. The children spent the day counting by ones, fives and tens. The SES PTO donated 100 books to the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children. Thank you so much again for your generosity! During the month of March we will continue to learn new sight words and letters. The children are making great progress with their 100 Book Challenge steps toward 400. Thank you again for taking the time to read with your child at home every night. The family projects have been very creative and we appreciate the time spent on completing them. We look forward to meeting with you on March 20 or March 27 at parent-teacher conferences to discuss your child’s progress!

We are moving right into March by learning about night and the solar system. This is going to be so interesting to learn about! The middle of March will bring us to weather and St. Patrick’s day. To continue with learning about “go foods”, we will end March by talking about nutrition and how to nurture our healthy hearts. We are looking forward to the flowers blooming and the sun shining!

Second Grade During the month of February, the children learned about Washington and Lincoln. One interesting fact was that George Washington’s teeth were made out of ivory and gold. This led to discussions about healthy dental habits to honor dental health month. The children have been working on learning how to add and subtract double digit numbers with regrouping. We encourage the students to think like mathematicians when solving word problems. They have learned key words to help them to decode the problems. In March, the second graders will begin an exciting science unit on interactions. This will involve a variety of hands-on activities for the children to do. We continue to strive for our goal of 400 steps by the end of May in the 100 Book Challenge reading program. Please make sure your child is bringing boots to school daily as the playground is very muddy. We look forward to meeting with you during parent/teacher conferences this month.

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Third Grade

Fifth Grade

Third grade has been focusing on preparation for the New York State math tests. Now that they are over, we can continue on with the memorization of our multiplication facts. As we start to wrap up our Native American unit, we are reviewing our key vocabulary such as culture, traditions, resources, etc. As always, support at home with the 100 Book Challenge program is greatly appreciated. We are looking forward to meeting with you at parent -teacher conferences the afternoons of March 20 or March 27. Our next large units of study will be fairy tales and the solar system.

In reading class student are finishing up their novels with a theme of Black History. They will be completing a writing project on freedom.

Fourth Grade Our fourth grade students have been working extremely hard preparing for the NYS math test. We are very proud of their efforts and congratulate them on a job well done. The last NYS test will be the science exam in April. Our students have just completed their unit on Colonial America in New York where they made quilt blocks, candles, bonnets and tricorne hats. In science, our students are beginning a major unit on current and static electricity where they will make a complete circuit four different ways with one light bulb, one battery and one piece of copper wire. Students are also starting a unit on identifying and using parts of speech and quotation marks in language arts. Finally, our Cool Characters continue to be excellent examples of our five pillars of character education for the entire elementary school!

Fifth graders are learning about “Mystery Matter” in their science inquiry classroom. They will be performing various tests on know substances to compare to an unknown substance so they can identify it. Our fifth graders spent a day in Schenectady at Proctor’s Theater on march 4. They participated in an interactive CSI presentation. This performance was a perfect fit to the science unit they have begun. We have survived the NYS Math test that was given the first week in march. D.A.R.E. is coming to a close. Students have learned much about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. They have also learned ways to stay healthy. D.A.R.E. graduation will be Tuesday, March 24 from 8:30 - 10:00 a.m. in the High School auditorium. While Mrs. Barnes was home recuperating from her surgery, she kept in contact with her class through a webcam. Students presented their biography reports to her through the webcam. Mrs. Barnes was also able to just “call in” and see and speak to the students throughout the day. From March 16 through May 8, Ms. Strub, a student teacher from SUNY Oneonta will be working with Mrs. Barnes’ class. Upcoming Events Friday, March 20 & Friday, March 27 11:00 a.m. Students dismissed for half day parentteacher conferences Tuesday, April 7 7:00 p.m. K-12 Select Art Exhibit HS community room Friday, April 10 - Friday, April 17 No School — Spring Recess Monday, April 20 6:30 p.m. SES PTO meeting SES LMC

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Music

Art

New York State United Teachers asked music educators to submit student compositions to be used as hold music for callers at NYSUT headquarters. Songs had to be completely original, four minutes or less, and could feature either individual or group performances. A variety of music was received by NYSUT including instrumentals, vocals and rock bands.

SES art students have brand new easels to enjoy this year, thanks to the generosity of the SES PTO and the efforts of High School students in Mr. Waltz’s Basic Agri-Science classes. The art room only had five easels at the start of the school year, and was granted enough funds to buy five additional new easels. Art teacher, Ms. Neal contacted Mr. Waltz at the high school with the idea for possibly using it as a project in one of his classes, and the suggestion became a reality. Mr. Waltz’s students applied design techniques, mathematics, shop safety and woodworking skills taught in the basic Agri-Science class to their easel projects which gave them an opportunity to apply academics to a real life situation. The students in Mr. Waltz’s class really enjoyed the project and they were glad that their work will benefit current and future elementary art students. The best part is that they were able to build twice as many easels than could have been purchased for the money.

SES fifth grader, Will Schwartz, will have one of his original student compositions featured by NYSUT. His piece, “Dragon of the Full Moon” was somewhat an experimentation in sound. “I liked how it sounded as I was putting it together. I thought it would be a good thing in a song to have the main melody come back. So I wrote it that way” he stated. Will had fun creating the piece and has followed up with a second composition titled, “B.C.”. You can hear Will’s composition by visiting www.NYSUT.org and click on “student songs”.

Will Schwartz (right) with the French horn.

Keep the Main Office Informed Please remember to keep the main office informed of any new home phone numbers, new work numbers, new cell phone numbers or changes in address. It is imperative that we have this information when an emergency arises with your child. Thank you!

Mrs. Fisher’s fourth grade class had the opportunity to express their creative talents in both art and poetry writing. Each wrote a cinquain about winter or snow. A cinquain (pronounced sin-kain) from cinq, the French word for five, is a five line form of writing. At the same time, the class worked with Ms. Neal in art class creating watercolor illustrations for their cinquains. They learned to use the salt technique to create the illusion of snow or frost in their designs. The students enjoyed both exercises and the results were wonderful!

Taylor Barnes (left) used the salt technique to create the illusion of snow in her illustration.