Lincoln School Newsletter

Here is what we’re learning in Spanish class this month:

Kindergarten: We’re learning about “Las personas en la escuela” (people at school), including la profesora (teacher) and los estudiantes (students), using songs and games.

1st Grade: The students are practicing sentence structure by reading about las frutas (fruits) and writing sentences like "Yo tengo una manzana, una banana y una fresa."

2nd Grade: We are building reading comprehension with seasonal activities, like actividades de invierno (winter activities), and discussing traditions.

3rd Grade: We have begun “Los países y las fiestas” (countries and festivals), starting with Colombia’s Festival de las Flores. Students are exploring culture, geography, and traditions.

Thank you for supporting your child’s Spanish learning!

February is National Children’s Dental Health Month!

Cavities, also known as caries or tooth decay, are the most common chronic disease of childhood, yet cavities are preventable. Untreated cavities can cause pain, infections, and can lead to problems eating, speaking, and learning.

Tips to Protect and Maintain Healthy Teeth:

• Brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste.
• Eat fruits and vegetables for snacks rather than candies and cookies.
• Drink water at mealtime rather than juice or soda.
• Visit your dentist regularly.

¡Hola! Spanish students in the 6th Grade worked with the verb, ser-to be. They conjugated the verb in the present tense and also wrote sentences describing themselves using the verb ser. The students also reviewed the differences between ser (to be) and estar (to be). The 5th Graders are working on nationalities for Spanish speaking countries. They are writing the nationalities down in feminine and masculine form and identifying the flags for the 21 Spanish speaking countries. In 4th Grade, the students are working on the different clothes they would take on vacation based on the weather of their travel destination, by making a list and writing sentences with clothes and weather.

In PT and OT, we have been celebrating and learning about winter events! We colored groundhogs, laced up some footballs and hearts, and matched Valentine’s icons in OT. In PT, we ran like football players and zig zagged on the scooter to find the hearts! It's always a fun time in OT and PT!

In Grades 4-6, we started playing "Touchdown Frenzy," which is a game about throwing and catching the football to their teammates. It helps students work on their skills while encouraging each other in a game setting. In Health, we are talking about emotions and stress, and how to cope in a healthy way.

Kindergarten through Second Grade Enrichment classes learned all about shadows this week! Kindergarten and 1st Grade students heard My Shadow, by Robert Louis Stevenson, and had so much fun creating shadows with flashlights. Grade 2 students answered the question “Could a statue’s shadow move?" They learned about how light can create shadows, and we made models of a gnome to show how the statue's shadow can be moved by moving our light sources! Third Grade G&T students are onto a new unit in which they will design and build a tiny house, studying area, perimeter, and geometry in the process. Fourth Grade G&T students continue to design and create learning themed board games. The students in Fifth Grade G&T have been tackling our “Picture Books for All'' unit. However, last week Grade 5 students enjoyed building and exploring for Global Play Day! Finally, the Sixth Grade G&T students continue studying mythical creatures. They are creating Google Slide presentations to teach about their chosen creatures. The students have designed and built a model of a trap that will contain their creature without causing them any harm.

The students in the academic intervention program are working hard and are making steady progress in developing both Language Arts and Math skills. Some of the Language Arts skills the students are focused on are phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension. Reading each night will help with fluency and comprehension.

This past month in Speech, we have been using holiday themed activities to target our students' goals. Our students enjoyed learning about Valentine’s Day, President’s Day and Black History Month. Our Preschool and younger students have been using Valentine’s Day themed sensory bins to target using longer sentences, requesting objects, following directions, using correct pronouns, having conversations, describing, and taking turns. Our older students have been using books to work on reading comprehension, increasing vocabulary, problem solving, answering WH questions, sequencing, describing, and working on their speech sounds. Two books our students enjoyed reading this month were There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose and Duck For President. We look forward to continuing to work on increasing our students' speech and language abilities!

The students in Mr. Alkhazov's class and the 6th Graders are working on a project for Arabic History Month, occurring in April. Mrs. Awadallah, our 6th Grade Math teacher, translated students' names using Arabic letters. The students are learning about henna patterns and using them to make a border. Each square will be connected to make a large quilt. Mrs. Awadallah will be reading the story The Arabic Quilt with students. It is already looking beautiful and will be a brilliant display!

We have had an exciting few weeks in 6th Grade Resource ELA! Our focus has been on nonfiction texts, where students recently took a test on identifying different text features, such as headings, captions, and diagrams, and their purposes. This is an important skill as these features help readers better understand the information in the text. The students worked hard on recognizing how text features support comprehension and are using this knowledge to strengthen their reading skills. In Writing, the 6th Grade students have just finished presenting the informational essays they worked on, sharing their findings on various topics and influential people. They did an excellent job teaching their classmates about their topics through clear, researched writing. Next, we are diving into our Black History Month research project. The students will choose an important figure from Black history, conduct research, and write an informational piece about who they are and the impact they have had. This project will not only celebrate Black history, but also continue to develop our informative writing skills. In 3rd and 4th Grade, the students recently finished their opinion writing unit, where they answered the questions: Should school start later? Why or why not? They had a great time forming and defending their opinions, using reasons and examples to support their arguments. It was exciting to see them build on their ideas and construct well thought out responses! We are moving into our next writing project, a research report for Black History Month! The students will be selecting a historical figure, gathering information, and writing about their contributions and impact. This project will help them practice research skills while learning about important individuals in history. Our 1st and 2nd Grade students have been making progress in reading and writing! The students have been focusing on letter blends and decoding new words to strengthen their reading skills. It has been exciting to see their confidence grow as they recognize s-blends and familiar sight words during guided reading. We have started our opinion writing unit! To help students organize their thoughts, we created an anchor chart using the OREO method:

• O – State your Opinion

• R – Give a Reason

• E – Provide an Example

• O – Restate your Opinion

The students are working hard in Math class. They are continuing to build upon their foundational skills and develop number sense. We are learning through many activities including puzzles, card games, and computer games. The students have been actively participating in all of the activities. In 2nd Grade, the students are continuing to work on their addition and subtraction facts. They are working hard on solving word problems by drawing pictures and using other strategies. The students have learned all about odd and even numbers as well as counting by two. They are also learning how to make arrays and count equal groups. The 3rd and 4th Graders are busy working on their multiplication and division. Our 3rd Graders are working on their basic facts through 12 by using games, the computer, and puzzles. Our 4th Graders are learning long division and are using many strategies to be successful. They are practicing word problems and how to determine the operation used to solve them. The 5th Grade students have begun a unit on decimals. They are learning how to read and write decimals to the thousandths. The students are learning by using computer games, IXL, and worksheets. Our 6th Graders are working on Algebraic Expressions. They have learned how to solve problems using the order of operations. The students are able to use the distributive property to make equal expressions. They can solve problems with exponents and are working on their problem solving skills.

Our ESL students have been making exciting progress in class. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been focusing on several key areas to build a strong foundation in English. Here’s a look at what we’ve been working on:

Letters and Vocabulary - The Kindergarten students have been learning both individual letters and common vocabulary words to help expand their language skills. We are focusing on recognizing letters, their sounds, and how they form words.

Short Vowel Sounds - We’ve been working on the sounds of short vowels (a, e, i, o, u) to improve pronunciation and reading fluency. Recognizing these sounds in words helps students become more confident in their reading and speaking.

Writing Skills - We’ve also been practicing writing skills, including sentence structure and forming simple sentences. The goal is to help students express themselves clearly through writing, and building their vocabulary and their understanding of grammar.

We will begin NJ ACCESS testing next week. This is a state mandated test that all ESL students must take. Each ESL student will be tested in the domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. We will start testing on February 18th. A healthy breakfast and a good night’s sleep will ensure that your child will do their best. Thank you for your cooperation.