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Campus News

Lower Division NewsletterSeptember 25, 2009

Junior Kindergarten

Language Arts

We will review family, neighbors, and community. Then wewill start our new theme, My Five Senses.The focus willbe on discovering our senses through hands-on activitiesand exploration. We will use our senses to observe andlearn, as well as expand knowledge of our own body andenvironment. We will also discuss bones and skeletons.

We will read Mice Squeak, We Speak, Polar Bear, PolarBear, What do you Hear?, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Whatdo you see?, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Body Book,Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and The Listening Walk.

We will meet our new Alpha friends for the letters S, M,P, and T. Our High Frequency Words (HFW) will continueto be I, see, a, my, and like. We will also go overthe color words red, blue, and yellow.

In handwriting (HWT),we will practice making the letters L, F, H, and E.

Social Studies

We will learn how to take turns in conversation and connect actions and consequences.

Science

We will continue to discuss external and internal body parts.

Math

We will review counting by ones to ten and higher, compare numbers of objects, learnposition words, and demonstrate one to one correspondence as we arrange and comparesets. We will focus on drawing and recognizing circle and square (including their labels). Thechildren will also review number words zero and one, and add the number word two.We willthen start introducing simple patterns, and teach students how to describe, produce, predict,and extend patterns. We will also work on number recognition of one through five with touchpoints.

Senior Kindergarten

Language Arts

The students will be reading a book called, The Scarecrow . We will be going over the maincharacters, setting, and beginning , middle, and end. The children will practice retelling thestory in their own words. They will continue to review beginning sounds, ending sounds,

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rhyming words, and sight words. Please go over all the sight words in your take home folderevery night. Students will begin to locate and identify letters and words all around the room.Classes will continue to work on the following word families: -at, -an, -am, and -all. Studentswill review long and short vowel patterns for the letter Aa and be introduced to the letter Ee.In handwriting the students will continue to focus on pencil grip, letter formation, andspacing. The children are really working hard with their lower case letters. In our journals we

are working on writing a simple sentence, for example, I can.Science

The children loved our presentation on Germainethe Germ. We learned all about how to wash ourhands and count by 10s and 5s. We arefinishing up our unit on apples. Our next unit willbe all about fall and the many things thathappen in the fall.

Math

Calendar math will focus on number sense to 20,nonstandard units of measurement, months,days of the week, odd/even numbers, ABB/ABCpatterns, number sense, problem solving skills,and seasonal glyphs. We have finished our bookon shapes. Be on the lookout for it to come to your house really soon. The students willbegin writing their numbers to 15.

Virtues

Students will continue to role play Goodness and show awareness of the feelings of others.

Grade 1Language Arts

In the next two weeks our readingstrategies will continue to focus onsummarizing what we have read,identifying story elements, such asmain character, setting, beginning,middle, and end, and sequencingevents. Our phonics and spellingskills will focus on long vowel reviewand the magic e. Our writing will

continue to focus on writingcomplete sentences, applying theappropriate use of capitals andpunctuation, organizing ourthoughts, pre writing, and learninghow to write a paragraph.Social Studies

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We will begin to learn about community helpers. In this unit, children will learn their homeaddress, area code, phone number, and zip code. We kindly ask that you send thisinformation on an index card with your child by Wednesday, September 30th in their HWfolder. Students will have the opportunity to make a diorama of a specific communityhelper. More information will come home shortly.

Science

We will begin our unit on health and nutrition. Students will become familiar with the foodpyramid.

Math

We will count to add facts to 10, use a number line and count on to add, use doubles to adddoubles plus one, and employ different strategies to add.

Addition Clue words: in all, sum,add, plus

Subtraction Clue words: find thedifference, subtract, how manyare left, minus

Grade 2

Language ArtsAs we finish our theme of SillyStories in reading, we will comparethe stories then focus on poetry. Wewill then begin our next theme,Nature Walk. As we read theseselections we will monitor/clarify,compare and contrast, sequenceevents, understand poetry, visualize, and discuss fantasy and realism. Our phonics andspelling skills focus will be more practice with short and long vowels. Our writing focus willbe developing a character sketch, adding details, writing dates, and writing a journalresponse. Our grammar focus will review naming parts of sentences, identifying action partsof sentences, correcting run-on sentences, and using capital letters, periods, and questionmarks correctly.Social StudiesWe will continue to focus on the concept of a community and focus on a few NativeAmerican tribes. The kids will thoroughly enjoy learning about Native Americans andcommunities long ago as we read The Magic Tree House book, Buffalo Before Breakfast.

Science

We have enjoyed learning about caterpillars. Last week we were excited to observe thateach caterpillar transformed into a chrysalis. Anytime now, they will emerge as a beautifulPainted Lady butterfly. We will continue to learn more about The Life Cycle of Butterflies.We are finishing our class reading of The Magic School Bus, Butterfly Battle. What an

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adventure! It certainly makes us want to explore the changes in our Second Grade ButterflyGarden.

Math

We will begin to focus on data, graphing, and probability while reviewing addition and

subtraction. The children will be taking surveys, as well as reading and making pictographs,bar graphs, line graphs, and coordinates on a grid. They will continue to practice problemsolving skills by choosing a strategy to solve problems. Please practice basic addition andsubtraction math facts for quick computation.

Grade 3

Language Arts

With a focus on non-fiction material, students continue to practice verbalizing theirunderstanding of passages while their partner listens. They each take turns as reader andlistener. Using a tally sheet, listeners keep track of the type of information retold by thereader. This process teaches students to think about what they have just read and the

message or events needed to be included for an effective retelling.

Third grade is learning about similes, those wonderfulphrases that compare two things using the words like oras. This class is as sharp as a tack when it comes tousing similes in their own writing. Students will belearning about how to write a paragraph by organizingfacts according to whether they relate to the topic ofthe paragraph. This is a great activity for focusing themind on relevant information and is very useful forreading comprehension as well.

Social Studies

To become more aware of the location of variouscountries of the world, third grade is going on a countryscavenger hunt. Using degrees of longitude andlatitude students will find and mark certain countriesand bodies of water on their world map.

Science

Our garden is looking great! Plants are in, mulch is down, and seeds should be sproutingany day now. Inside lessons will be focused on the variety and needs of seeds and parts ofa plant. Students will also be observing and recording the growth of their Wisconsin FastSeed Plant.

A special thanks to Mr. Calderazzo for the climbing frames and the hay!

Math

We just completed a successful place value unit and moved right into comparing androunding numbers. Students are becoming real rounding machines! Our next focus ofstudy will be addition which will include properties of addition and adding numbers into thethousands without and with regrouping. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE practice basic facts usingflash cards or computers on a daily basis. Quick recall of facts gives students a definiteadvantage!

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Grade 4

Congratulations to our newly elected Giraffe Club officers! I want to commend each of thecandidates for their hard work in campaigning for the positions. As I listened to each of thespeeches, I was proud of the goodness for which each of them stood. They were eager to be

appointed not for the prestige of the position, or the thrill of winning, but to have theopportunity to DO THE GOOD.

Language Arts

In reading, we are looking at different ways that we comprehend the text. This includescomparing and contrasting, examining cause and effect, locating specific details, sequencingevents and summarizing. We are enjoying our new anthology unit which focuses onAmerican stories and tales of our heritage. In grammar, students will learn aboutimperatives and conjunctions. Conjunction, junctionwhats your function? After studentsfinish editing their narrative essays, our next writing endeavor will be a short story. This isexciting because they can use their imaginations! Im anxious to see what their creativeminds conjure up.

Social Studies

The students enjoyed making clay representations of landforms around the United States. Inour study of climate, students will discover what factors influence and define our weather.

They may even discover why much of the United States is enjoying a nice, cool fall season,and Florida is still registering temperatures in the 90s!

Science

Our scientists are still busy with their investigations of land and water. Next week, they willutilize their stream tables to explore runoff and erosion. Although the activities provide thehands-on science exploration, applying the principles of understanding to the outside worldis our goal. Take a moment to inquire about the impact such incidences have on ourenvironment.

Math

The students are working hard on the complexities of adding and subtracting largernumbers. Theyve already learned several strategies that allow them to work with certainnumbers mentally. We have a very positive math attitude and approach everything with acan-do philosophy. It is always a pleasure to hear a student verbalize their own strategy for

working out a problem.

Did You Know.

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Fourth graders have been doing an awesome job as our safety patrol. Way to go!

Upcoming Events..

September 28, 2009No school Yom Kippur

September 30, 2009Grade 4 hosts assembly at 2:30 in their classroom dress uniforms

October 2, 2009JK and SK bake a birthday cake with seniors

October 6, 2009Open House Parents are invited to bring friends and show them what were all about! Ashort student presentation will begin at 9:00 on the Wendlek Campus and will be followed by

tours and Q & A.Recycled Uniform Sale before and after school at the School Spirit Shop beside theMcCormick Gym

October 8, 2009First quarterends

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Founders Day assembly McCormick Gym 9:30 a.m. (dress uniforms)

October 9, 2009No classes Teachers Professional Day

October 12, 2009

No school Founders Day

October 13, 2009ERB Testing for Grades 3 and 4 9:00 11:30 a.m.

October 14, 2009ERB Testing for Grades 3 and 4 9:00 11:30 a.m.

October 15, 2009ERB Testing for Grades 3 and 4 9:00 11:30 a.m.

October 16, 2009ERB Testing for Grade 4 9:00 11:30 a.m.Report cards go home in home school envelopesLD production 6:00 7:30 p.m. McCormick Gym (please watch for announcementsregarding that day)