1-27-12 Savanna

Dear Parents,

            Ah, the smell chlorine in the morning!!!  The children have been so excited to be swimming in the new Yorktown Pool this week.  The reports from Mr. Green and Mr. Corkins have been very complimentary and the kids have been proud to report how they are doing.   I would also like to add a special thanks to Melissa Pittard, Robin Puttock, and Michelle Ledgerwood for helping out with the girl’s locker room.  Please remember that the children will be swimming on both Monday and Tuesday of next week as well, so they will need their suits and towels.

            Even with a shortened week, and a compressed schedule we were able to pack in a lot of good learning.  We began our study of Rome with some reading as well as computer research about this ancient civilization.  In Health we began to learn about germs, diseases, and bacteria. In math we began exploring multiplication and discussed how it is just like skip counting.  In Language Arts this children began to look for relationships between their new Word Master words. Overall, lots of good learning took place this week.

           

Below are a couple of important dates to put on your calendars:

Wednesday January 25-Tuesday January 31- Swimming at Yorktown

Friday January 27- Sock Hop

Wednesday February 8- Report Cards Issued

           

            As always, I appreciate your help and support.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 

 

Savanna

Dear Parents,

            Here we are at the end of the second quarter of school.  It is hard to believe that that the year is about half over.  All the children have shown gains since the beginning of the year that is exciting to see.  It is always around this time of year that the children move from being second graders to truly being third graders.  Their confidence and skill begin to solidify and they start to take off as independent learners. 

            Even with a shortened week, we were able to pack in a lot of good learning.  We continued to work on comprehension skills in Language Arts this week.  Using graphic organizers the children continued to practice collecting information about a story as they read, and then take their notes and write a summary of the story.  In addition to the content in their paragraphs, the children are also working on the mechanics.  Spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and paragraph structure continue to be a focus in all our writing.  The science projects on food chains and food webs were great to see come together.  The children did a nice job collecting their materials at home, and did some good research about animals in their selected bioms.  Watching the children carefully place their animals and draw lines to demonstrate who eats whom was exciting to see. The children also demonstrated their full understanding as they shared their projects with the others in the class.  In math this week we reviewed patterns and began looking at things that come in groups.  This began our unit on multiplication.  The children will be working on learning and cementing their understanding of facts to 12.  I would encourage everyone to have a set of multiplication cards at home to help with daily practice.   

            As you know, the children will be swimming at the new Yorktown pool beginning on Wednesday the 25^th.  Each child will need a suit and towel in a separate bag to take to the pool with them.  Some children do prefer to wear their suits under their clothes as they come to school as we have swimming first thing.  If your child chooses to do this please make sure there is underwear in their bag for them to change into before coming back to school.  As the children will be coming back to school with wet heads, please be sure they have a hat or hood on their coat to cover up for the ride back to Tuckahoe.  We are also in need of a couple more volunteers to help the girls in the locker room.  As I mentioned last week this would entail meeting the bus at the pool at 9:45 to assist the girls in changing and getting onto the pool deck with their towels, and then again from about 10:45 to help them change back into their street clothes and make sure nothing is left behind in the locker room.  If you can help with any part of our swimming week with this please let me know. 

Below are a couple of important dates to put on your calendars:

Friday January 20^th- Last day of 2^nd Quarter

Monday January 23rd- Teacher Work Day- No School for Children

Wednesday January 25-Tuesday January 31- Swimming at Yorktown

Friday January 27- Sock Hop

           

            As always, I appreciate your help and support.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 

 

 Mrs. D.

Savanna

Dear Parents,

            We spent this week wrapping up several units and demonstrating what we have learned.  The children also participated in the first Continental Math League competition, learned about food chains and energy pyramids, and the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King.  We also celebrated all the children who participated in the Reflections contest, and had our monthly fire drill.  Over all it was a busy week.  

            Next week we will begin our Math unit on multiplication.  Your children will be learning their facts from 1-12. To help with this unit, I would like to ask that each child have a set of multiplication flash cards at home to help with the daily review of these facts. On Tuesday the children will have an in-class project on food cycles and food webs.  The information sheet for this is in your child’s binder.  We will also begin our unit on Ancient Rome, and the water cycle.           

I would like to thank everyone for returning the swimming filed trip slips in such a timely manner.  The children are excited for the opportunity to swim in the newly constructed Yorktown pool.  We do need some help with this activity.  We need a couple of parents to meet the bus at Yorktown at 9:45, and then again at 10:45 to assist the girls in changing in the locker room.  This task can be shared between individuals throughout the week.  If you can help with this, please let me know. 

Below are a couple of important dates to put on your calendars:

Monday January 17th- Martin Luther King Holiday- No School

Friday January 20^th- Last day of 2^nd Quarter

Monday January 23rd- Teacher Work Day- No School for Children

Wednesday January 25-Tuesday January 31- Swimming at Yorktown

Friday January 27- Sock Hop

           

            As always, I appreciate your help and support.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 

  

 Mrs. DiNardo

Tuesday Update

Good Afternoon Everyone-

I wanted to let everyone know about, and congratulate Lauren Puttock for her participation award in this year's Reflections Contest on Diversity. Way to go Lauren!

We spent time today organizing all the math papers together to help with review for the Unit 5 test tomorrow.  This Unit covered a lot of information, however the main focus was looking at the relationship between numbers.  There is a brief study guide stapled in your child's assignment notebook detailing the types of relationships that will be on the test.  Hope this helps you all at home.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Mrs. DiNardo

1-6 Savanna

Dear Parents,

I want to begin this newsletter to say thank you all for the very thoughtful gifts, gift cards, notes and yummy treats.  Your thoughtfulness and generosity are very much appreciated.  I hope you and your families had a restful break.  Again, thank you so much for your kindness. 

This week has been spent adjusting to being back to our school routine. We began the week talking about “resolutions” for the coming year.  We took a second look at our class rules and adapted them to reflect our new goals for the remainder of the year.  In Math we continued to look at tables as well as reviewed working with word problems.  In Social Studies we began to wrap up our study of Ancient Greece.  The children will have tests in both Math and Social Studies next week.  Overall, it was a good week of learning. 

With the change in weather this week we received the following message from Mrs. Brown that I want to share with you.

Cold Weather Guidelines

Outdoor experiences for children are important for many reasons—more space, fresh air and exposure to sunlight.  There are times when weather and related conditions limit exposure to outdoor activities.  There are a number of factors that require consideration before a decision is made as to whether students are allowed to play outdoors.  These factors include but are not limited to: temperature, wind chill, frozen ground, sunshine, how prepared the children are (attire-wise) to maintain a comfortable and safe body temperature to play outdoors, what activity the children will be participating in, and the length of time outside.  These same factors are considered when making the decision as to whether students are not allowed to play outdoors, however, typically our students will go outside during the winter months and cold weather unless the weather conditions indicate hypothermic risks. Everyone is encouraged to dress appropriately with seasonal attire. 

I want to thank those of you who have passed basketball schedules on to me.  If your child is playing, and you have not done so please take a moment and email them to me.  So far I have the Gladiators and Mustangs’ games.  It is fun seeing the children in a different setting. 

I hope you and your family enjoys the coming weekend.

Important Upcoming Dates

Monday January 16th- Martin Luther King Holiday- No School

Friday January 20^th- Last day of 2^nd Quarter

Monday January 23rd- Teacher Work Day- No School for Children

Tuesday January 24th-Monday January 30- Swimming at Yorktown (see separate field trip slip and information)

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Mrs. DiNardo

Happy New Year!

I am writing a quick note to remind everyone that the spring enrichment registration begins tomorrow.  There have been several reminds sent through "School Talk" updates and have been shared through PTA notices.

If you would like for your child to participate in any of the classes, please remember to sign up tomorrow, January 6th.

Mrs. D.