Cardinal Communicator

Dear Memorial Families,

As we approach the winter holiday break, I wanted to take a moment to express our sincere gratitude for your continued support and partnership throughout this school year. We are incredibly proud of the progress our students have made, and we couldn't have achieved this without your active involvement.

Please remember to review important information regarding the upcoming break, including the final day of school on Friday, December 20th, the return date of Monday, January 6th, and any necessary homework assignments to ensure a smooth transition back to class.

During this time, we encourage you to spend quality time with your family, relax, and create lasting memories. While enjoying the holidays, please also consider ways to keep your child engaged with their learning through reading, games, or other educational activities.

On behalf of the entire staff at Memorial, we wish you a safe, joyous, and relaxing holiday season.

Love Mrs. Dinkins

For the month of December, the incentive is a Winter Dance! Scholars need to earn 13 Memorial bucks! They can also spend their Memorial dollars in the store on different items! Scholars earn their Memorial bucks by displaying respect, and responsibility, and being ready to learn in their classrooms, hallways, bathroom, cafeteria, outside areas, buses, offices or clinics, computer labs, or at arrival and dismissal.

Families, you can support this initiative by discussing positive behaviors and what respect looks like and sounds like with your child/children.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD/CHILDREN AT HOME?

Greetings Families! We need your partnership in educating your child! Research shows families play 5 important roles in accelerating their child's education.

Here are 5 ways you can help:

1. Communicate high expectations

2. Monitor your child's performance

3. Support Learning at Home

4. Guide your child's education

5. Advocate for your child

Read more about how you can support these 5 roles within your home below.

One area we can focus on at home this quarter is communicating your expectations for your child!

Please support them with their homework, stay organized and share your expectations. Feel free to reach out to any staff member or administrator if you need support with anything.

Educationally,

Mrs. Wadsworth, Assistant Principal

The family support specialist supports families by providing access to community resources and building connections between family, community, and school. If you need assistance and/or support and do not know where to go, please contact Cassandra Klein, the Family Support Specialist at Memorial school.

Phone: 216-319-0037

Email: Cklein@sayyescleveland.org

Do you need a Winter Coat? Memorial has received winter coats from Operation Warm. If your child is in need of a winter coat, please contact Ms. Klein!

In Pre-K we recently finished up our ELA assessment. We are working on becoming more independent daily. We are finishing up Theme 2-Our Community in PreK On My Way. The topics we covered were our school, where we live, helpers & vehicles at work. We loved learning about vehicles and all of our community helpers. We are working on counting to 20, sorting and measuring objects. In Science we explored if objects would sink or float. We work on writing and letters daily. Each day we learn about different ways to be a good citizen and friend. We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season!

Pre-K has been learning about the helpers in our community. We learned the importance of their work and the different kinds of vehicles our community helpers drive. We had the privilege of being visited by the Firefighters with their Fire truck and Mr. B the librarian from the Cleveland Metropolitan Libraries. We are learning about what it means to be thankful and who we are thankful for. Mrs. KatieK and Ms. WIlliams would like to say from the bottom of our hearts how thankful we are for our class and their families! Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

In room 110, we have been working on initial consonant blends, final consonant blends and contractions! In math, we are working on adding to subtract. In Science, we have been studying the parts of plants. We have been learning about the first Thanksgiving, and what it means to be thankful, in Social Studies. I am thankful for our staff, students and families…Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Our First Graders have been working hard on initial consonant blends and contractions! We have also been learning about how to be a good teammate and how to work with others in groups. We have loved visiting the library and practicing reading every day! In math, we are working on subtraction. Keep up the great work and have a wonderful Thanksgiving first grade!

For the past 3 weeks our groups have been learning about the difference between long and short vowel sounds and learning to read words with long and short vowels, identifying the beginning and ending sounds in words, identifying, reading, and spelling open-syllable words with the long-e vowel sound, using the associative and commutative properties to make ten with three addends, making ten when one addend is 9, and regrouping to add 3-digit numbers. Some students have been learning and practicing reading comprehension strategies including identifying the central Idea, the author’s point of view, monitoring and clarifying, retelling stories, identifying the theme of a story, text organization, story structure, and making inferences. For socio-emotional learning, we have been exploring relationship skills and self-awareness skills while studying stories such as Pepita and the Bully and How to Read a Story. We have also explored the importance of caring and kindness while learning about how dairy farmers care for their cows. We even adopted our very own calf! Her name is Peony. We hope everyone has a happy, safe, and restful Thanksgiving holiday and long weekend!

In ELA IAS k-2 students have been working to learn to blend, isolate, and segment phonemes, recognize sight words,and read sentences in the Start Right Readers! It is so exciting to read! We are also working hard to meet Lexia’s goals.

In Math the students have been working on identifying and sorting two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes.

In Social-Studies they are learning about communities, and in science they are learning that objects and materials can be sorted and described by their properties.

Thank you IAS families for the support you give to your children and us.

The second graders have been hard at work learning about syllables and suffix endings. We have begun our new reading module on fairy tales. The students are doing so well on becoming fluent readers. In Science we are learning about what changes in matter are reversible and are nonreversible. Students will investigate why this happens.

The second graders have been working on adding 3-digit numbers with and without regrouping. The scholars have been applying the different strategies learned to solve the problems, including using picture form, which most students seem to prefer. In Social Studies, we finished our unit on the physical characteristics of our planet. We will now be studying human’s impact on earth.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15JfD93KtcgTcB6ORe3xPzg7pbwHAROOg2BOBRbLxfFA/edit?tab=t.0

In ELA, English and Language Arts classes we are starting our 4th module. In this module we will be using our text to answer the essential question, What makes someone a hero? We will be reading about larger than life heroes and everyday heroes. As you go through your day to day activities see if you can work in our “Big Idea Words” that are fearless, endeavor, confidence and aspire.

As we approach the holiday season please discuss with your child the importance of coming to school on time, and ready to learn. Also, discuss the importance of school rules. Thank you all for your continued support!

Wishing you all a safe and plentiful Thanksgiving break!

Yours in Education,

Mrs. Petro

Our class focused on informational texts. We read An Ocean Learner, Sojourner Truth, and Bison Come Back to the Plains.

Informational texts are meant to inform or explain something to the reader, whether it’s a how-to guide, a scientific report, or a historical account.

One of the most important parts of understanding an informational text is identifying its central idea. The central idea is the main point or key concept the author is trying to communicate: the “big picture”

Along with the central idea, text structure is another key element of informational texts/ Text structure refers to how the information is organized. We discussed the following five (5) types of text structures:

1. Description: This structure gives details about a topic, explaining what something is like.

2. Sequence: Information is presented in a specific order, such as step-by-step instructions.

3. Cause and Effect: The author shows how one event leads to another.

4. Problem and Solution: The text explains a problem and then offers one or more solutions.

5. Compare and Contrast: The author shows how two or more things are alike or different.

Each of these structures helps organize the information in a way that makes it easier for the reader to follow and understand. Knowing how a text is structured can help us make sense of what we read.

This month in Grade 3 and 4 we continue to work on decoding and reading fluently. We are presently working on words with more than one syllable including prefixes and suffixes. Scholars have take-home books and should be reading 20 minutes every night. When they finish a book, they write a review and summary. We are using the RACES method to respond to questions in writing and will be beginning our opinion writing after break. In math we have been working on being distributive doctors so we can break up larger numbers into smaller parts in order to multiply. We will be starting division in grade 4 and continuing multiplication facts to 10 in grade 3. If you need flash cards, please let me know.

Hello!!

In Math, 4th graders are completing multi-digit multiplication. They have been working on multiplying 2-, 3-, and 4- digit numbers by a 1-digit number. Soon we will be moving on to long division. The foundation of both of these skills are multiplication and division fact families. Please spend time, each night, reviewing these facts with your child after they complete homework. Multiplication facts cut-out cards were sent home with students the week of Open House- if you need more, for any reason, please reach out and request another set.

In Social Studies, 4th graders are working on learning about the human characteristics of Ohio and the United States. Students are examining how the physical characteristics of the state played a role in where people settled, what industries thrived, and how communities were built. Students are also doing weekly current events updates with NewsDepth.

In Morning Meetings, 4th graders are exploring the character virtue of generosity. It is the season of giving- so it is the perfect time of year to participate in some generous acts with your child! It can be something big like signing up to volunteer at Volunteer Match (https://www.volunteermatch.org/search/index.jsp), or it can be something small (but mighty!) like taking time to help a family member with a task or writing a kind letter to someone they appreciate.

Happy Mathing!

Mrs. Kline

Greetings from the Pen of Ms. Holton:

I would like to pause and say that I am thankful to have each and every scholar in my 5th Grade classroom this year. The students have been learning a lot. I know that at times, it seems like we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, but trust me, they have a lot of Ah Ha Moments which makes me proud. At our Awards Assembly, 80% of our class received an Award. We are well into the 2nd Quarter and grades have been updated. Please check your child’s grades to make sure they are on the right track.

In Reading, we are learning and reading stories about the Wild West! The students are really interested in this topic and have been learning a lot. Ask your child some questions about the Wild west!!!

In Math, we are working with Division… Some students are struggling because they do not know their facts. I have provided each student with a Steps to Division Chart along with the acronym suggested from another student which is Dancing Monkeys Swipe Bananas!!! I also provided them with a handout with a division problem and each part labeled. They also received 2 multiplication charts- one for home and one for school. Please make sure that your child is practicing his/her facts daily and know them fluently because in order to be successful in math, they must know their facts.

In Science we are completing a Unit on Animals- Invertebrates, Vertebrates, and Mammals. We are beginning a new Unit which is learning about Ecosystems.

In Social Studies, we are learning about Regions and People Of The Western Hemisphere and the Unit is on Geography and we are focusing on Location.

Some students are not completing all homework assignments and spelling homework is not being completed by a lot of students which will bring down their grade because spelling is a part of Language Arts. Students will start receiving detentions for chronically missed homework assignments.

Please make sure that your child is in school on time. Class begins at 7:35. Students are marked tardy after 7:35 and 3 tardies will result in a detention. If your child is assigned a detention and does not serve it, they will be assigned two additional ones and that original one, and if they miss any of those, they will be suspended for one day. Detentions are held Tuesdays- Thursday for 1 hour from 2:05-3:05. Please make sure that your child serves their assigned detention rather than being suspended and missing a day of valuable learning time.

The students in Room 214 are in need of pencils. Please consider donating to the cause. We thank you in advance!!!

Hi there,

December… Let’s stop and think how quickly the school year is going. WOW!! So, heads up! Please be aware that as educators we are responsible for updating our grades every 3 weeks.

11/18 (Update),

12/9 (Update)

1/13 (End of the Quarter)

Please check your child’s grades daily/weekly. We will not be reaching out to you about your child’s progress. As middle schoolers, it’s time for your scholars to be more accountable for their success.

On a lighter note, thank you so much for your support in regard to behavior. We truly appreciate it. It makes teaching much more challenging when we deal with behavior.

ELA- We are finished with the Never Give Up unit, the class is moving on to the Finding Courage unit. Great stories that really get the students thinking.

Social Studies- We are finished studying the Sumerians and moving on to the 4 Empires of Mesopotamia: Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrian, and Neo-Babylonian Empires.

Math-We just finished Module 2 (GCF, LCM, and ordering Rational Numbers on a number line). When we come back from Thanksgiving, we will start Module 3 (working with fractions). Please continue practicing multiplication facts with your child daily. Also, there is homework daily.

Social Emotional – We finished The Bully by Paul Langdon, we discuss the Peaks and Pits of their weekend on Mondays, watch What Would You Do? (Main Idea/Details/How would you feel? (Empathy) and Dhar Mann (Problem/Solution)

Spotlight the Student of the Month

Anaya Johnson Who am I? 201

“I am funny. I make people smile even if they are upset or mad.”

Layla Hall Who I am?201

“Some people say I’m fun to be around and a great role model.”

So, I have a joke for you…. How do trees get on the internet? They LOG IN. LOL

Hello….

I stumbled upon this thought by a random person, and I thought I would share as the Memorial Community approaches the holiday season. “As the days grow shorter and a crisp winter breeze fills the air, the world transforms into a canvas of festive lights and warm cheer, marking the arrival of the enchanting holiday season. It’s a time when hearts a glow with the spirit of giving, and a sense of unity and togetherness permeates the atmosphere.” Moving through Thanksgiving to the winter break, we must support our scholars to continue to work hard and stay positive and focus.

7th and 8th grade ELA scholars continue to become more familiar with the components of Into Literature (Get Ready, Turn and Talk, Variety of Texts, Quick Checks, Assessment Practice, Analyze the Text, Writing Choices and so much more), which now enables our “Daily Agenda” to include “Blended Learning.” “Blended Learning” invites the scholars to collaborate with their peers which is a win-win learning experience for all scholars. I am confident the scholars will excel,

I hope EVERYONE enjoys the Holiday Season!

Ms. Pustai

https://secure.smore.com/n/5ea2n

8th grade is currently picking their high schools. We went on a high school fair to help them decide on their picks.8th grade is moving along very well to the OST exam. We have covered all state standards and will cover them for the second time by Winter break.7th grade is working on basics and state standards daily. Please check over student daily homework. We have simple solution homework every weekend. Parents and guardians please check students grades daily online.

Time is really moving fast!!!!

ELA 6th grade will be studying Unit 3: “Finding Courage” focusing on analyzing character and plot , citing textual evidence and determining the meaning of unknown words.

ELA 7th grade will be studying Unit 3: “The Terror and Wonder of Space” focusing on analyzing mood, analyzing science fiction, analyze author’s purpose and writing a Literary Analysis.

ELA 8th grade will be studying Unit 3:”Places We Call Home” focusing on analyzing plot, characters and themes.

Please make sure your child is reading every night. All reading assignments are on ED. Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for all of your children.

HELLO EVERYONE!

PreK & Kindergarten students have been busy making autumn themed artwork. We made an autumn owl. Did you know that owls are nocturnal? We also celebrated Mickey Mouse’s 96th birthday by making cute Mickey portraits. We will begin Holiday themed lessons for December.

Grades 1 & 2 learned about Indigenous People of America and how they relied on Buffalo for food and shelter. We also learned that a teepee is a type of home. We made paper teepees and added symbols on them. In December, we will work on a Hanukkah themed design for Mrs. Skeabeck’s winter program.

Grades 3 & 4 students just finished making their Skull design to honor the Mexican holiday, The Day of the Dead. In December, we will make a winter design for Mrs. Skeabeck’s holiday program!

Grade 5 & 6 students learned about indigenous people of America and how symbols played an important role in their culture. They are working on the image of a thunderbird. A thunderbird is a symbol of strength and power. We will be painting on real leather.

Grades 7 & 8 grade students have spent a long time creating Aztec Sun Stones using gold paper and radial symmetry designs. They are looking really great!

Art Club students have spent the last week making jewelry. We are going to begin to paint on wooden shapes to use as display for the holidays.

PreK-1 students have been working on locomotor skills and movement and also have been doing fun activities with hula hoops. Grades 2-3 students have been working on fitness and jumping rope with short ropes and long ropes. 4-8 students have continued working on some type of fitness and getting close to finishing our volleyball unit.