March 10, 2023

Preschool

Our preschoolers enjoyed some extra pampering this week and loved hanging out with Mrs. Bruner at our slushie party!

Of course we’re getting ready for spring break but not before hanging our shamrocks and learning all about leprechauns. We’ve made the cute little green guys part of our study on fact versus fiction and we’ve even written a book about all of the silly things leprechauns like to do! The kids love that they got to ‘write’ the sentences in the story as they’re becoming masters at writing! Go Tigers!

Kindergarten

In OG,

We are learning about the letter Xx.
We are learning how to blend and segment words with the letter X.
We are reading, spelling and writing words with the letter Xx.
We are learning the red words: or, by, look
We use Mindplay on our chromebooks to extend and review what we have been learning during our OG lessons.

In Math, Reading, and Writing

We celebrated the end of our current units!

1st grade

This week we have been doing a lot!

In reader’s workshop, we created a chart of all of the reading strategies we have learned so far this year. Students put tally marks next to the strategies that they used while reading. We reflected on the strategies to better understand ourselves as readers. Finally, we made a recording of ourselves reading a just right book using the Seesaw app.

In math, we are learning about place value with tens and ones. Students used base ten blocks to build numbers and write their values. They also learned how to draw a visual model of the tens and ones. Last, we learned how to write a 2 digit number in expanded form. We played a fun game with 10 sided dice to create our numbers.

In writing, we chose our favorite Dr. Seuss book that we read last week for Read Across America. First graders learned how to write a structured paragraph for their book review. We learned how to write an opinion statement, give 3 reasons, and write a concluding sentence. We will make a recording of our writing once it is published.

For St. Patrick’s Day, we have been learning about leprechauns. We read several books and created a booklet about them and how to build a leprechaun trap. We listed facts we have learned. We read books and watched videos about leprechaun traps. The kids created a materials list they wanted to use to build their own leprechaun trap. We sketched out a plan for what it would look like and how it was going to work. Finally, we wrote about what we would do if we caught a leprechaun.

In social studies, we have been learning about map skills. This week we learned about the cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. We did the Go Noodle brain break Never Eat Soggy Waffles to help us remember each of the directions on a compass rose. Last, we created a compass rose with labels for each direction.

2nd grade

Second grade celebrated Read Across America this week. We dived into some amazing authors like Dav Pilkey, Dr. Suess, Cynthia Rylant, and many more. In math, we are working with fractions. We are talking about parts, wholes, and equivalent fractions. In reading our skills of the week were the central message and moral of a story. We used the book “The Quickest Kid in Clarksville” as our anchor text. We learned all about Wilma Rudolph and about other women in America that are famous for their athletic abilities. In phonics we worked on a difficult skill called the schwa sound. It is when you have unaccented vowel sounds in words that sound like other vowels.

3rd grade

This week, in math, third grade students are designing a zoo through an area and perimeter project. In writing, we are finishing up our informational reports.

We got an update on our cow, Darcy. She’s almost 6 months old and weighs 304 pounds. Darcy will also be a big sister soon! We will be writing letters to the host farm too thank them for letting us adopt their cow for the school year.

In social studies, we are getting ready to conduct interviews with different people around our school system. We are excited to learn about all the careers that make up an elementary school.

4th grade

Mrs. Joy’s class played a fraction review game this week. They played a game called Trashketball. They answered fraction questions, and with every correct answer, the team got to take a shot from the 3 point line, 2 point line, or 1 point line. We had so much fun!

This week in Mrs. Middleton’s class we are learning about how readers make connections to non-fiction texts. One way we can make connections is to create a KWL chart. Students chose a book and thought about what they already Know about the topic. Then, they formulated questions they Want to know about the topic. After they read the book, they wrote what they Learned from the book.

5th grade

On Thursday, the 5th graders dazzled in their BizTown interviews! They have been preparing for weeks by practicing interview skills, and learning how to write applications and resumes. They made sure to dress for success, and present themselves professionally. We are so proud of them! When we return from break, they will receive their job assignments and we will continue to prepare for our trip in April!

We enjoyed a hint of the spring weather early this week, and got outside to enjoy lunch together. We are also monitoring the tower garden daily, and have been so excited to see that many of their plants are already sprouting!

Science

Scientist of the Week: Shemar Calan-Bustamante

This week in science, 5th grade students developed models of the ocean and sky to explain how water cycles from the Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back again. Students compared how the temperature of the ocean and the temperature of the sky affect evaporation and condensation.

Fourth grade students used their heat spinners to experiment with a heat source and discovered how heat energy can make the spinner move in different ways.

Speech and Language with Mrs. Williams

Wordless movies and books are a great way to work on many language skills. We can work on perspective taking by identifying the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and motivations. We can also create our own dialogue which works on expressive language and grammar skills.

5th grade Ambassadors

We are collecting pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House through the entire month of March! Please keep sending those to us! THANK YOU!

Counselor’s Corner

Over the past month, we have been tracking student attendance throughout the building. Each week, the classroom with 100% attendance for the week earns a popcorn party and the class with the highest percentage for the month earns a slushie party!

Despite the illnesses that have hit our building, we have had one class earn a popcorn party for having 100% attendance every day for a week. Although there are sometimes extenuating circumstances and health issues that impact a student’s ability to come to school, we wanted to take the opportunity to reinforce the importance of school attendance through the “Attendance Matters” initiative.

Each day, we pull an attendance report and display it for students to see how their class is doing compared to the rest of the building. Statistics show that over the course of one school year, students with 80% attendance will have missed a total of seven and a half weeks of school and ONE WHOLE YEAR over a five year span. In other words: miss a day, miss a lot! We are here to help students and their families with this process in any way possible. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!

PE with Mrs. Doss

We have been busy in PE this week! Our kindergartners got to get outside and do some yoga with Mrs. Doss in the sunshine! Mrs. Joy’s class played some knockout and tried to beat Mrs. Doss! Then 3rd, 4th and 5th grades started their March Madness basketball tournament! We will finish up the tournament after spring break!

Beable and the World of Work

First graders now have jobs that align with RIASEC themes. After participating in a classroom job, students have the opportunity to reflect on the job and how it fits with their RIASEC themes.