Campus News

Lower Division Newsletter

October 23, 2009

Junior Kindergarten

Language Arts

We will finish our theme on the five

senses and begin a new theme on the
seasons. The students will continue to
work with the –at word family and color
words, adding the color words black
and green to our previously studied
color words of red, blue, yellow, and
purple. We will review our Alpha friends
S, M, P, T, O, X and introduce U. Our
High Frequency Words (HFW) will
continue to be I, see, a, my, and like,
and we will add the word to.
In handwriting (HWT), we will practice
making the letters L, F, E, H, T, I and
introduce U.

Social Studies

We will conclude our discussion of Compassion and look at our next virtue of Thankfulness.
We will also look at the globe and begin to talk about the features we see on a globe.

Science

We will be doing a variety of experiments that focus on our sense of taste. The sense of
sight, touch, and smell will be covered through a variety of activities dealing with pumpkins.

Math

Students will continue to work on the AB and ABC patterns and begin to look at the concept
of weight as we measure pumpkins and students to make comparisons through
observations. Students will begin to learn about graphing and practice one-to-one
correspondence.

Senior Kindergarten

Language Arts

The students are enjoying our fall stories. One of our favorites is: “When Itchy Witchy
Sneezes.” We worked in cooperative groups to make an innovation of the story. Be on the
lookout; it will be coming to your house very soon. The students will continue to work on
decoding skills, identifying main character, and sequencing of events. In our small reading
groups we will focus on blending and segmenting words, comprehension skills, and retelling
the story. Reading each evening before bed will greatly help to improve your child’s reading.
In phonics, the children will practice short vowels /a/, /e/, and /i/ sounds. We will also review
beginning and ending sounds. The children
are learning to expand their ideas when
writing and have also been introduced to
nouns.

Science

The children are learning about the life

cycle of a pumpkin. How are your pumpkin
vines coming? Don’t forget to record your
observations in your science journal. You
should have at least two by now.

Math

Our focus this week in on counting to 20,

counting backwards from 20, identifying
odd and even numbers to 20, making tally
marks to 20, simple addition to 10,
measuring using non–standard units of measure, graphing, and using the concepts of same,
more, and less in our thinking.

Virtues

This month, the virtue is Compassion. Students will read books and discuss the importance
of compassion. A great way to model this at home is to talk about your day. Share your day
at meal time. Everyone goes around the table and tells one thing that made them happy and
one thing they did to make someone else happy.

Grade 1

Language Arts

In the next two weeks our reading strategies will

continue to focus on comparing and contrasting story
elements, answering comprehension questions from
our reading selections, and summarizing. Our phonics
and spelling skills will continue to focus on long vowel
pairs and the diagraphs ch, sh, th, and wh. In writing
we will continue to work on writing complete
sentences, organizing our thoughts, pre writing, and
learning how to write a paragraph.

Social Studies

We will finish the classroom phone book and also

discuss the importance of Veteran’s Day.

Science

Students will create their own daily menu. Everyone’s menu will be compiled into a “Making
Healthy Choices” class menu.

Math
In the next two weeks, students will work on fact families, choosing the appropriate
subtraction strategy, choosing the operation in problem solving, and timed math facts.
Subtraction Clue words: find the difference, subtract, how many are left, minus

Grade 2
Language Arts

Our reading theme, “Nature Walk,” has led to

discussions about what we see and things we
do in nature. We are reading fiction and
nonfiction stories about nature. As we read
these selections we will monitor/clarify,
categorize and classify, draw conclusions, note
details, compare and contrast, and discuss
fact and opinion. Our phonics and spelling
skills focus will be more practice with long
vowels, consonant clusters, and sounds of “g”
and “c”. Our writing focus will be on writing a
complete paragraph and adding details to our
writing. Our grammar will focus on nouns,
verbs, writing complete sentences, and using
exclamations, question marks, and periods.

Social Studies

We will continue to focus on the concept of a community by looking at Native American

tribes. The students are discovering things about Native Americans and communities long
ago as we read The Magic Tree House book, Buffalo Before Breakfast. They are also learning
facts about different tribes to create a fact book.

Science

We are looking at insects. We will discuss how butterflies are insects and investigate our
insects’ and other life cycles. We will continue to visit and work in our butterfly garden with
curiosity and joy!

Math

The children really enjoyed graphing and probability. We are now focusing on place value of
numbers through 100. We will practice identifying the value of the tens and ones digits,
compare two-digit numbers using the symbols >,<, or =, identify even and odd numbers,
skip count by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, and 10’s, and order numbers.The students will continue to
practice problem solving skills and addition and subtraction facts.

Grade 3
Language Arts

We are moving into reading groups and into the genre of fiction. Students will enjoy reading
about Horrible Harry and Cam Jansen while applying their reading comprehension strategies.
Third grade is doing a wonderful job
adding detail to their writing,
including adding very interesting
similes. Recently, we practiced parts
of speech by creating “silly” stories
called Mad Libs. The students
laughed and said they could not
wait to read them to their parents.
Be sure to check in the Home-
School folder.
Beginning next week third grade will
be reading Time For Kids each week
at home as part of a reading
homework assignment. Your child
should find the news interesting and
“readable”. A short comprehension
sheet will be attached. The
assignment will go home on Monday and will need to be returned on Wednesday. This will
give families time to fit this work into their schedule. If your child needs some assistance
with reading, it’s perfectly OK to help. Thank you.

Social Studies

Upon finishing our country hunt using the coordinates of longitude and latitude, we will be
placing major cities in Florida on our Florida maps.

Science

Students will study and take a closer look at the parts of a flower. We will dissect and identify
parts. It is a fascinating study. Within a short period of time, your child should be able to tell
you all about the flower and its parts. After we have completed our study, students will
make a model of a flower as a home project. Rest assured your child will be ready, willing,
and able for this to be their very own project.

Math

While working on adding numbers in the hundreds with regrouping, students are also
learning ways to remember their addition facts. Please help your child practice addition and
subtraction facts with computer games or flashcards. It is very exciting when their
knowledge of the facts helps them do well on timed drills and in general application.

Grade 4
Language Arts

The Pumpkin Patch book reports were a huge success and are now decorating the walls of
our classroom. Don’t stop reading, because a November book project is just around the
corner! We’ve begun our Kate DiCamillo reading groups and are working with establishing a
framework for story elements. Students will review the use of context clues as they
encounter new vocabulary words. Weekly vocabulary lessons continue to reinforce our
knowledge of words with multiple meanings. In writing, we’ve begun writing our short
stories. They are using their creative minds to come up with spooky, adventurous, funny
and mysterious tales. In grammar, we are studying all types of nouns.

Social Studies
We will begin our next chapter that focuses on
the American people. We will discuss culture,
patriotism, and immigration.

Science

To round out our study of land and water, the

students are completing their final activities to
include: planning and constructing a dam,
changing the direction and flow of water with
hills and rocks, and protecting sloped land from
erosion by planting grass. All of these amazing
hands-on activities are done with the use of a
stream table model that the students have made
themselves!

Math

I am so impressed with how hard the students are working to improve their knowledge of
multiplication facts! We will finish Chapter 4 on multiplication and division and complete an
assessment by the middle of next week.

Did You Know….

Second grade completed their butterfly unit with a release of their butterflies. Over two
dozen butterflies successfully emerged from their chrysalises to the
delight of the students. All the butterflies were released into the
butterfly garden and were then observed by all the students.
News from our Technology Teachers:
The following website will take you to a list of sites that have won the Parents’ Choice
Awards. Each link takes you to a page that describes the program and the age range for
which the program is intended.

http://www.parents-choice.org/award.cfm?thePage=website&p_code=p_web

Thank you to Mr. Soriano for giving us a bench outside the third
grade classrooms. Our students love to hang out and chat on those
benches!

Upcoming Events…..
October 26, 2009
Lower Division
Screening Day
(vision, speech,
language,
academic)

October 27, 2009

Students may
wear black and
orange/Halloween
shirts and socks
with school
bottoms
JK to the Pumpkin
Patch
October 28, 2009
SK to the Pumpkin Patch at 9:00 a.m.

October 29, 2009

Pumpkin decorating contest (see details below)
Day of Manners – dress uniforms
Grade 1 to Chili’s – 10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

October 30, 2009

Halloween Festivities (see details below)

November 4, 2009
Open House – 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Grade 1 assembly – dress uniforms – 2:30 p.m.

November 6, 2009
Grade 3 to Sweet Water – regular uniforms – 9:15 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.

November 9, 2009
JK Parent Conference Day

November 10, 2009

SK Parent Conference Day
Grade 1 to Homosassa Springs – regular uniforms – 8:45 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

November 11, 2009

All School Assembly for Veteran’s Day 10:30 – 11:15 a.m. in McCormick Gym – dress
uniforms

November 12, 2009

Grade 1 Parent Conference Day

November 13, 2009

Grade 2 Parent Conference Day
Grade 4 to Plant Museum – dress uniforms – 9:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.

Halloween Festivities:

Tuesday, October 27 - Bring wrapped candy to class for JK and SK trick or treat
 Students may wear black and orange/Halloween shirt with school bottoms
Thursday, October 29 - Students may bring in pumpkins for the pumpkin contest
 Judging will take place on the same day
 All students will bring their pumpkins to the front walkway and place them
in their designated “pumpkin patch”
 Make sure that students take their pumpkins home that same day
Friday, October 30 - Children will arrive in costume
 8:30 a.m. – students will line up for parade
o Fourth grade will start at the top of the hill followed by third grade, then
second, then first, then SK, then JK
o Students will stay with their classes
 8:45 a.m. - parade begins with fourth graders leading the way
 Around 9:10 a.m. - JK and SK trick or treat through the classrooms and offices
 Around 9:40 a.m. Grades 1-4 will gather at the top of the hill starting with fourth
grade
o Grades 1-4 will march across Collier to McCormick Campus for trick or treating
o reconvene at 10:15 a.m. at the flagpole to walk back across the street
  Halloween celebrations take place in the afternoon in classrooms
o Fourth grade will have Monster Mash in the fourth grade room
o Students may go home with their parents once the celebrations have
concluded (if it is before dismissal, you must sign out)
o After care will be provided as usual

Congratulations to
our Dads Softball
Team on their most
recent victory!