From the Desk of Mrs. Beers
Happy New Year and welcome back! I hope you had an enjoyable and refreshing winter break. We are so happy to have students back in the building. Now that winter has arrived, please see our notes below regarding recess reminders and car rider reminders. Safety is our top priority!
Just a reminder that the protocols for Covid quarantine and isolation have changed. Please see this S'more regarding these changes, should you have any questions.
Our 2nd grading period ends January 13th. Report cards will be released the week after. I will send more information regarding report cards soon!
This month our kindergarten through second grade students will be doing DIBELS, a reading assessment given 3 times each school year. Our third through fifth grade students will be working on middle of the year ClearSight assessments as we measure progress toward grade level standards for math and reading.
Each month we continue to focus on our SOAR guidelines at Elm Road. Safe, Organized, Accountable and Respectful. Students are working hard at SOARing at Elm Road each day as they set goals for themselves and collaborate with their peers.
Best,
Mrs. Beers
Notes from the Office
A reminder to send your child to school with a mask and a backup in their backpack.
Be sure to call your student into the attendance line when they are sick and include their symptoms. Do not use Skyward to count your student as sick.
If your student changes schools please notify their teacher as to their last day and come to the office to withdraw them.
Health Room
1) If your student is 11 they can get their 6th grade shots
2) If your student tests positive for COVID please let the school know as soon as you find out.
3) If your student has any one of the COVID symptoms listed on the PHM website please keep your child home and don't assume that it is not COVID without having it ruled out by a test.
Snowy Weather and Sledding
The Learning Hub
Winter Adventures in Math & Reading
With winter upon us, take advantage of the opportunities to share the love of reading. Or, you can venture into learning new math skills. I have included a few resources for families to access to support learning at home.
The IXL learning platform for math is available to all students K-5 by logging into Clever through the PHM Student Launchpad. The math skills listed are aligned to Indiana Standards. If you want to help boost your child’s math while learning at home, the IXL team has put together a 20 day Winter Adventures Skill Plan. Simply have your child login to their Clever Account-Choose IXL-Click on Skill Plans on the menu bar-then choose the image below. As your child works through the suggested skills for a grade, feedback is given based on their progress. Also, any incorrect response will generate an explicit step by step explanation of how to correctly solve the problem.
Reading aloud to a child helps to foster the love of reading. When a child hears you read, it also supports an understanding of how fluent reading sounds. Readtothem.org offers tips on how to read aloud to your child, how to choose a book, and how to make time to read together. Click here to access the reading tip page. Each reading tip is supported with auditory explanations to help you get started.To help improve your child’s vocabulary, here are some tips while doing everyday activities at home. Click here. A strong vocabulary is a key component in developing reading comprehension.
Hopefully, you will find one of these resources helpful with learning from home this winter.
Academic Interventionist
Car Riders - Winter is Here
We ask you to approach from the south and get in line with the other cars and then exit to the right out of the parking lot. Please do not come from the north and especially do not go around the buses waiting to come into the parking lot.
Please use your turn signal when approaching the school, so the traffic attendant knows that you are turning into the parking lot and can continue to keep the exiting cars moving out of the parking lot.
The students should enter and exit on the sidewalk only and remind them to walk.
Once the buses have left, please follow the attendants instructions to go around the corner to help unload the students in a timely manner.
Library Lines
Happy New Year! Let’s start the year off right with new reading goals such as scheduling Family Reading Time, trips to the Public Library or the bookstores. Challenge every family member to read a certain number of books.
Please encourage your students to keep their books in a safe place, away from pets, younger siblings and water. Books are checked out for two weeks, but most students return them sooner. The students are enjoying choosing books by genre and the dewey decimal system.
December was filled with Holiday stories for most classes as we learn about being kind and giving.
Have fun reading during these cold indoor days!
Mrs. Linda Knapp
574-259-3743
STEM
December was a busy month in the STEM Lab as we played Coding Games, created 3-D and fun decorations to brighten the school. We also played a Code on the Floor game.
In January, some students will be using various robots and beginning Picture Perfect STEM Lessons.
Be creative, curious and try new things!
Mrs. Knapp and Mrs. Fadden
Youth Service Bureau
Happy New Year! In January there is an event called The Great Kindness Challenge, which is January 24th – 28th, 2022. This event is to empower our students to create a culture of kindness within our school, families, and community. I challenge you to come up with a Random Act of Kindness to practice this month. There are several ways to show kindness towards others, such as saying hello and thank you, holding the door for someone, writing a kind note to a friend, and many more.
If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Shell at 259-3743 or email me at ashell@phm.k12.in.us.
What's Happening in Gym
During the month of December all grade levels participated in a bowling unit. We learned proper form and bowling terminology. We integrated math and science into the unit by keeping score and discussing momentum, friction and forces. Also, students were allowed to nominate someone at their lane as a “SOAR” student in PE. It was so neat to listen to the many positive comments our friends had to say about one another! Our bowling unit concluded with a glow bowling day!
The week before our winter vacation we played some holiday games like “Grinch Tag”, “Reindeer Relays” and “Rudolph's Treasures”.
Congratulations to so many k-2 students that demonstrated shoe tying and earned a charm! Please continue to work on tying shoes over the holiday break.
The basketball program for the fourth and fifth grade girls concluded with a basketball scrimmage against some staff members! A good time was had by all!!
During the month of January, we will be playing some throwing and catching games as well as a hockey unit. Please remind your child to bring tennis on gym days even if he/she wears boots to school! (Pack those tennis shoes!)
Happy holidays and stay safe!!!
Debbie Parisi (dparisi@phm.k12.in.us)
Sarah Sime (ssime@phm.k12.in.us)
Music at Elm Road
We are Elm Road Eagles!
Website: elmroad.phmschools.org
Location: 59400 Elm Road, Mishawaka, IN, USA
Phone: 574-259-3743
Twitter: @ElmroadES
