August 18, 2023
Preschool
Preschool has been hard at play this week with a focus on favorites. Turns out that ice cream is high on the list, which we might have predicted but we couldn’t have guessed that band-aids would also snag top billing. It looks like we may have some future doctors in our midst!
Kindergarten
Wow! What an AMAZING 2nd week of Kindergarten! We are getting into full swing with most of our subjects. Please take a sneak peek at the photos from this week in kindergarten.
1st grade
This week first graders in Mrs. Fultz and Mrs. Garman’s rooms learned how to partner read with their shared reading book. They practiced sitting side by side and chorally reading together. Our book was so much fun to read because it was about a girl who lost her shoe.
2nd grade
2nd graders have had a great start to the school year. We have been learning all about our classrooms, our classmates, expectations, and so much more. We are so excited to welcome Amy Rawlings to second grade this year. This week we started to slowly dive into our new math curriculum, learned how to shop for books and the routines and expectations during reading time. Ask your child about Fluency & Fitness. Mrs. Baughman’s class loves this! We are looking forward to a great year in second grade!
3rd grade
Mrs. Stiles’ third graders are working very hard this week! In reading, we’re working on reader’s workshop expectations. We’ve learned all the procedures for independent reading time. We are studying geography in our new social studies curriculum. We have had a great start to the new school year!!!
Mrs. Ely’s class has been busy making new friends and learning new routines! Our favorite part of this week was getting to check out books from our classroom library! We are excited to be starting Social Studies too!
4th grade
Fourth Grade has had a great start to the school year! This week we started a Reader’s Theater script about a snake loose in Helmsburg Elementary, and it has brought us lots of laughs. Mrs. Bruner and Ms. Annie are two of the main characters.
We are also learning about the Fab 4 Reading Strategies: Predict, Clarify, Question, and Summarize. We are practicing with a whole class story.
In Social Studies we are learning about different types of maps. We played a Blooket in teams to review what we’ve learned.
We are settling in nicely, and we’re excited for the new year.
5th grade
Fifth Grade Students at Helmsburg have hit the ground running! We have accomplished so much already by putting routines in place and building stamina! Both classes are AMAZING, and we are so excited about this year! In Math, we are reviewing our multiplication tables in creative ways – like finding patterns and singing our facts. We have also taken the IReady Math and Reading assessments so we can make specific growth goals for the year. Students reviewed proper and common nouns and types of sentences, and learned three prefixes as part of their Morphology study. Social Studies is all about geography this week. Students made picture flashcards to help with new vocabulary and played “Battleship” using lines of latitude and longitude.
Science
Scientist of the Week: Daniel Billingsley
This week in science, student in grades 3rd, 4th, and 5th worked in teams to complete a stem challenge. This challenge was called Spaghetti Tower. Students had 18 minutes to build a tower that could support a marshmallow. The goal was to build the tallest tower using spaghetti noodles, string and tape. We followed the steps of the scientific method to ask a question, form a hypothesis, complete the challenge, analyze the results and form a conclusion. Not only were they super creative, but worked so well together to plan and build their towers. They did an amazing job!
PE
In PE this week we’ve had a lot of fun! We’ve played lots of tag games, monster ball, cone relays, and frisbee toss. Every day we try to find a fun and exciting way to move our bodies!
Art
This week in Art class we have been learning about warm and cool colors on the color week.
Speech with Mrs. Williams
I love being back at school and seeing all of my students, but there are a couple of things about summer I really miss. Sleeping in! And not having to fix my hair everyday! That is why I LOVE these two “back to school” books! Not only are they funny, but they are great books to read to work on story retelling skills!
