February-2019-Pre-K-2-House-Newsletter.Pdf

Home , Second grade

Peru Elementary School 116 Pleasant Street, PO Box 68, Peru, NY 12972 www.perucsd.org/elementary Telephone: (518)643-6100 Fax: (518)643-6126 Email: [email protected]

UPCOMING EVENTS

MARCH 5 Kindergarten Cap & Gown Pictures and Spring Picture Day PERU ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MARCH 6 Grades 1 & 2 Spring Picture Day PRIMARY2ND TRIMESTER NEWSLETTER (MAR ‘19) MARCH 13 Spring Picture Make-up Day Michelle Rawson, Principal for PreK-5 Dear Families, MARCH 17 We have been very busy at the Primary St. Patrick’s Day: Wear Green School. Students have been working MARCH 20 very hard meeting their grade-level 1st Day of Spring: Wear spring goals. Specifi cally, students are earning colors and a hat their Math Fact Master Principal’s MARCH 22 Award Medals for demonstrating No School mastery with their grade-level addition MARCH 29 and subtraction facts! Students from PTO’s Kid’s Night Out K-2 are working on their math facts as outlined in the included chart. Anyone APRIL 10 Wellness Committee Meeting mastering their grade-level math facts and earning both their medals will be challenged with the math fl uencies in the APRIL 12 grade level above them. You can help your child by practicing with him/her daily. PreK Lottery Application Deadline Students have been working hard in their classrooms using a building initiative APRIL 12 - 15 for writing in response to literature using RADDC. Each grade level has a little No School: Spring Recess PreK Application Deadline diff erent set of expectations of RADDC, which is developmentally appropriate. R stands for restate, as in restate the question; A stands for answer the question; D

Conࢼ nued on Pg 3 Conࢼ nued on Pg 2 DEAR FAMILIES (Conࢼ nued from Pg 1) stands for the detail you add to the writing from the text; C stands for the concluding sentence. Kindergarten models RAD in shared writing experiences, 1st grade uses the RADD, and 2nd grade uses the full RADDC. Each D stands for the number of details expected in their writing pieces. The students’ work is displayed throughout the halls and it is pretty spectacular to see the level of detail they use in the writing pieces.

Also, to improve student’s reading fl uency, students should be reading every night at home from their favorite books. Legos, playdoh, stickers, popsicle sticks, foil, string, plastic, One important key to improving reading fl uency is continued wikisticks, markers, a variety of arts and crafts supplies. We practice in reading something your child fi nds enjoyable to would also welcome any storage containers. Teachers will be read. If you are struggling to fi nd a book or series that your able to use this area or take materials from this space to use child would like, reach out to your child’s teacher or to Mrs. within their classrooms during STEM activities. Weiss, our librarian at [email protected] for assistance. We are excited to announce the rollout of 6 IPads and 5 We have had opportunities throughout this school year to OSMOSs in each of the 2nd grade classrooms. The teachers practice our emergency procedures. If parents arrive at the are excited that they are able to encourage experimenting, building and you see fl ashing blue emergency strobe lights, exploring, creating and collaborating with Osmo. This which are located on the sides of the building, the school is in a technology addition supports our goal of enhancing student lockdown. Please go back to your car until the strobes turn off . learning opportunities through the use of technology. Over These lights signify that the entire district is in lockdown and the next couple years, K and 1 classrooms will have updated no one will be able to let you in the building. Promethean boards installed improving the interactive Teachers have been working hard at creating STEM (Science, displays in each of those classrooms. Also, each classroom will Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) opportunities receive a small group set of 6 IPads for their classrooms. These within their classrooms and across grade levels. These STEM IPads will be a welcome addition to teachers as they enhance opportunities start with a question and allow students to plan, the learning experiences for their students using these tools. create, and trial their solutions to an identifi ed problem. Once Thank you for all your support as we partner together to complete, teachers provide students with time to share out provide the best opportunities for students in exploring and with their fellow classmates. These opportunities for your child learning in a safe environment. As we continue to challenge will continue to expand. students, celebrate their successes and accomplishments at Furthermore, we are working on creating a makerspace room home. My door is always open and I am happy to meet with within the primary building. A makerspace is a collaborative you if you have any questions, concerns, or comments. workspace inside the school for making, learning, exploring, Warmly, and sharing high tech to no tech tools. If you have any materials that you would like to donate to this area, please let me know by calling or emailing using the contact information Michelle Rawson, PreK – Grade 2 Principal above. Items that you would fi nd in a makerspace room, include but are not limited to, straws, buttons, pipe cleaners,

All of our students have been doing an awesome job in PE this year and we APRIL 30 - MAY 2 have seen great improvements in physical skills, cognitive understanding, Kindergarten Screening and excellent behavior. This year we have started using a spiral curriculum, MAY 14 - 16 which means that we do a new unit every single week. However, we revisit PreK Screening each unit 2-3 times throughout the year so that all skills are being worked on. MAY 21 We try to incorporate a challenge of the Annual Budget Vote week for each unit that is appropriate for MAY 27 each grade level and the students really No School: Memorial Day love trying their best so that they can be recognized. Going into the 3rd trimester, MAY 31 IMPORTANT: we will continue to provide a wide variety PreK-2 Field Day (Rain Date: June 3) Families who are of activities in hopes that every student can experience a change in JUNE 12 fi nd something that he or she can build a income can apply anytime 2nd Grade Flag Day Celebration 6:00-7:30 passion for. We encourage all families to for free and reduce-priced stay active outside of school as we want meal benefits for their kids JUNE 18 in our schools. Please call to keep building a healthy community. 1st Grade’s Pete the Cat 518-643-6026 or email Performance As always, if you have any questions or [email protected] to learn concerns, feel free to call us at 643-6122 more. JUNE 19 - 21 Kindergarten Graduation (Mr. K) or 643-6123 (Mr. Wheatley).

JUNE 26 NURSE’S OFFICE UPDATE Last Day of School from Kathleen Bedard, RN

Guidelines for families on when your child is too sick to attend school

• Temperature of 100, return to school after fever free for 24 hours without Board of Education Meetings fever reducing medication 2nd Tuesday of Every Month at • Vomiting or diarrhea. Return after 24 hours and tolerating food/fl uids 7:00pm in the Community Room • Rash • Strep throat, return 24 hours after antibiotics started • Persistent cough

REPORT CARDS Handwashing is important in helping to prevent the spread of illness and covering your cough and sneeze.

DISTRIBUTION DATES If your child is absent from school please be sure to call the health offi ce and 2ND TRIMESTER: to send a note in the blue folders when they return to school. March 21, 2019 Please update the main offi ce with KATHLEEN BEDARD, RN 3RD TRIMESTER: new phone numbers to reach parents, HEALTH OFFICE June 25, 2019 Peru Elementary School (K-2) in case of emergency, this is very 518-643-6106 important. FROM PRE-KINDERGARTEN

Ms. Becca’s Pre-K class spent December studying Transportation. We transformed our dramatic play area into an airport and our block area into a train station! We traveled the world to learn about holidays and customs. We have been loving our snowy January weather! It has helped us with our Winter Animal study. Everyday brings a new adventure in our make-believe Adirondack forest and Ranger station! Early literacy skills are developing daily, as we read and perform stories such as Owl Babies, The Mitten, and The Three Bears! Pre-K days are packed with countless sensory experiences. Experimenting with ice and snow, cooking and tasting porridge, tracking animals in the snow, and making snow playdough to name a few!

Mrs. Howie’s room has been busy these past few months exploring the new wintery world around them. We have learned about winter traditions celebrated by other kids in our class as well as kids within our world. We are working hard to understand winter weather through exploration and observations of ice and snow (including learning the diff erence between solids and liquids). Our class has been so excited to work on literacy skills through some new stories including The Mitten and The Three Bears. These stories have helped us to learn and act out about winter animals and how they live. It has been thrilling to see the students’ imagination run wild in our dramatic play and block areas as we build dens, trees, and caves for our animal friends. We are so thrilled to begin learning even more about some jobs that work with animals and help our community. FROM KINDERGARTEN

Trimester 2 fl ew right by in Kindergarten!! The children made their fi rst stage debut during our holiday sing along. We also learned all about community helpers in one of our reading units. We held our fi rst career day. Parents of our students came in and shared what they do, tools they use to do their jobs and if they wear uniforms. We had a wide variety of diff erent jobs and the students and teachers enjoyed so much learning about them.

At the end of January fi rst grade was very fortunate to attend an assembly of the Bridge Arts Ensemble of amazing musicians. The ensemble went through diff erent music vocabulary, such as dynamics, range, articulation, melody, tempo, and lyrics. The ensemble sang popular songs from Mary Poppins and even Baby Shark! It was a great performance that the students thoroughly enjoyed. Mr. Hathaway and the National Science Honor Society were able to work with some fi rst graders on using microscopes. The children learned about living and nonliving things.

Trooper Jen Fleishman came to all the fi rst grade classrooms to do presentations on safety. The children were given homework to fi nd 3 ‘safe side adults’ – in other words adults that students can trust and feel comfortable talking to at home or here at school. Be sure to ask your child what he/she learned!

In December, the Second Graders hosted their annual Trim- A-Tree extravaganza. At this event, the students invite a family member in to spend a special afternoon sharing family traditions and creating holiday ornaments. The classrooms were all a buzz as the children LOVE to be the hosts and hostesses for our special guests.

Math fact fl uency is a ‘building goal’ here at Peru Primary. All the students are practicing math facts daily to build their math fl uency. Second Graders are working on mastery in both addition and subtraction. The expectation at this grade level is to know all the The writing process is happening in grade 2. The facts in addition and subtraction within sums of 20 students have worked very hard researching and as according to the New York State Common Core gathering information, using a computer-based Learning Standards. The goal is for each student to program, on an animal of their choice. With the achieve fact fl uency (automaticity within 3 seconds). information that they gathered, the students used the When students show consistency in mastering either writing process framework to plan, edit, revise, and the addition facts or subtraction facts they receive a publish their work. The reports are hanging proudly in Math Masters Medal, which is awarded to them in the our Second Grade hallway. classroom by Mrs. Rawson! FROM THE LIBRARY

Chill out with a good We’ve enjoyed some new Makerspace activities such book is the theme as the Marble Maze. Students work together using of the season! The magnetic pieces to create a maze, then start a marble primary library at the top and see if it reaches its destination at the continues to be bottom. If it doesn’t, they need to rethink the process a warm, safe and and make changes to the maze until it works. It’s inviting place for students to enjoy. We have been been a real hit, and it’s exciting to see the students learning a lot about books, authors, and how the trying to figure out how to make the maze work! All library can help the students become lifelong readers the students have learned about the Three Apples and learners. PreK and kindergarten students are Book Award, and we’ve begun reading some of the becoming experts in telling the difference between books on the list together. If students read a book fiction and nonfiction. We have been focusing on fun from the list on their own, they can fill out an apple series like the Bear books by Karma Wilson and the to hang in the library. We hope to have an orchard Old Lady who Swallowed series by Lucille Colandro. of apples by April, when the students will vote for Kindergarten and first grade students have been their favorite book. Watch for the results in May! learning how to “read” pictures in a book that go Things to look forward to as the year progresses -- along with the story and how they add a lot to the learning more about ebooks and audiobooks, new story if you look closely. The next time you read books which continue to arrive, and new Makerspace with your child, take time to read the pictures. First activities such as a giant book of mazes and some grade is learning more about how the books have a coding activities! What a great place for kids to hang “home” in the library and the importance of using out to explore wonderful books and experience fun shelf markers when looking for books on the shelf. learning experiences! Second grade continues to learn about how books are arranged on STEP AWAY FOR SAFETY the shelf and Trooper Jennifer Fleishman has been visiting the importance Kindergarten and 1st grade classes to present Step of ABC order in Away For Safety. Step Away For Safety focuses on the library. They personal safety and discusses ways for our students really enjoyed to keep themselves safe. The content is tailored to an activity using the age of the students and utilizes real life scenarios Mrs. Lodge’s for examples. Step Library where Away For Safety they had to teaches children to arrange books on a “shelf” in ABC order. If you Google trust their instincts, Mrs. Lodge’s Library, your child can continue to to be aware of their practice on their own! All of the students are learning surroundings, and the importance of looking at the whole book, not just to identify their safe the story. It’s amazing what you can see when you adults at home and look more closely at a book! in the community.