Chestnut Street Parent Newsletter

The West Hempstead Union Free School District recognizes the unique value of each student. It is dedicated to the success of each student based on the highest standards of excellence in education. Each student will be challenged to achieve mastery in all subject areas in an educational atmosphere that strives to build positive self-esteem, mutual respect for others, and a life-long quest for learning.

#RamPride #RamFam

Please be sure to revisit this newsletter throughout the month for updates!

• March is Women's History Month!
• Please consider donating to the Movers for Moms drive. See below for more information.
• Spring Photos will take place on Friday, March 25th
• We are continuing to work on the Habit of Mind- Managing Impulsivity! See below for details and examples. Please note that we will continue to build students' understanding and development of the Habit of Mind Persistence as the year goes on. Continue to support your child as he or she develops the habit of persistence!
• If your child will be absent, please call Nurse Angela before 8:30 AM at 516-390-3155
• If there will be a change in your child's afternoon transportation, please write a note or email to the teacher. For last-minute changes, please call the main office before 2:00 PM. 516-390-3150.
• SEPTA meeting Wednesday, March 9th at 7:30 in the Cornwell Avenue STELLAR Room
• PTA meeting Monday, March 28th at 7:30 PM in the George Washington cafeteria

If you or someone you know has a child who is eligible for PreK or Kindergarten for September 2022, please call the main office at 516-390-3150 to find out about our upcoming registration.

Eligibility requirements: resident of the WHUFSD AND 4 or 5 by 12/1/2022.

Kindergarten registration is on going and the UPK lottery and subsequent registration will take place at the beginning of March.

See below for more information!

A wonderful alumna of West Hempstead, Kayla Glicker, has invited us to participate in the Movers for Moms Donation Drive to benefit the Bethany House. A box will be in Chestnut Street during the month of March. If you would like to participate, see the requested items below. You can drop it off or send it with your child. Thank you!

One of our favorite days- celebrating 100 days of learning with creative costumes and projects!

As you talk to your child about their day, consider asking him or her to explain more about what they learned, why it is important for them to know, and how they know they have mastered it. These questions are part of our Visible Learning work.

Egg Hunt: Just in time for spring! You'll need paper (cut into strips), markers, and plastic eggs you can open. Write a sight word on each of the paper strips and place one strip in each egg. Hide the eggs all around your backyard or living room. Have a fun egg hunt with your child. Record one point for each egg found and two points if your child can read the sight word. How many points did your child get? Play again and see if he or she can get more points the next time.

Please be sure to read at home with your child every night in whatever language you are comfortable with.

We are continuing our second unit in Reader's Workshop: Super Powers: Reading with Phonics and Sight Word Power. This unit supports children's love of play as they learn "super power" strategies that help them work on fluency. See below for some of the key teaching points that your child will learn over the course of this unit.

Continue to read your books from the library, the sight word readers, and the guided reading books as well as the books your child borrows from the classroom library!

Our Opinion books will be published this month! From mid-March through May we will work on How To books! Ask your child to help you with tasks like cooking or baking, making the bed, or creating something. Discuss the steps in the process to help your child notice the order of events. Choose activities that have five or fewer steps so that your child can remember from start to finish! Remember, at this time, students are not expected to spell every word correctly. We do expect them to listen for the sounds they hear and include those. Dog may be spelled as 'dg' and that is alright! Learning vowels takes time- - be patient, your child's letter/sound awareness and spelling skills are growing every day! Remind them to use what they know about letters and sounds and sight words!

The 'Non-Negotiables' that you can expect from your child's writing include:

Quarter 1:

• Use more than one color when drawing

• Use real-life, appropriate colors

• Figures have shapes for body

• Sketch matches the “label” (word, letter, etc.)

Quarter 2:

• Realistic visuals (facial expressions, setting, etc.)

• High frequency (sight words in your classroom

• First name

Quarter 3:

• Spacing

• Awareness of capitals at the beginning of sentences

• Awareness of end mark (periods)

Quarter 4:

• Last name

In March, we are exploring 3-D shapes and then we will move into addition!

Students will answer the essential questions below. Be sure to ask your child these questions!

• How do we describe the shapes we find in our environment?

• How are 2 and 3D shapes different?

• How can you represent numbers up to 20?

• How do we add and subtract within a word problem?

Students will work on the following skills:

• Describing, identifying, and comparing 3-D shapes

• Counting and representing quantities

• Composing and decomposing 3-D shapes

• Counting and representing quantities

• Understanding, representing and solving addition and subtraction problems

We are also using ST Math to support deep conceptual understanding via personalized learning. You must use ClassLink to access ST Math. The link is below.

We are pleased to offer our families and staff the "Parents as Partners" webinar series with Educational Consultant and Trainer Dr. Jennifer Bashant. Dr. Bashant is a founding member of Building Better Futures, L.L.C. The focus of Dr. Bashant's work is to provide different opportunities for parents and staff to support their child's/students' success in school as well as one's own well-being through self-care.

Please note in order to access the webinar series, you must register via email at kristen@buildingbetterfuturesllc.com . Upon registration, you will receive the virtual link and password to the workshop session. Even if you are unable to attend a live session, by registering you will automatically receive the link to the recorded session. See detailed information below and on the district website here: https://www.whufsd.com/page/parents-as-partners-webinar-series