SLE's New School Homeless/Newcomer Specialist
Hi, My name is Ashley Torres. I am the school Homeless/ Newcomer Specialist. I work closely with students who face homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless. I also work closely with students who are new to our country. I support students/ families in need.
I also support in the front office with Kathy, and Juleysis. My goal is to help as many families as possible achieve stability, feel welcomed in their new country, and access the resources they need to succeed.
Look at what we're learning in 1st gradeđ
SEL: The first graders are working on understanding and talking about their Emotions. We talk about how to manage âbig feelingsâ and how our actions affect others. Children are given the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings during a community circle at least three times per week.
Math: The children are working on learning strategies for solving addition and subtraction equations and number stories. They are being exposed to the strategy of READ, DRAW, WRITE. They are working on reading a number story, drawing a picture to show their understanding, and then writing an equation to match.
Skills: During Skills, the first grade children are working on blending sounds to read words and segmenting sounds to write words. They are also learning a lot about tricky words - the words you âjust need to knowâ. They are learning strategies for reading grade-level texts as well as answering comprehension questions about their reading.
Listening and Learning: Our CKLA Knowledge block focused on Fables during the month of September. The children learned the characteristics of a fable as well as learning life lessons through the âmoralâ of the story. Now, the children are learning all about the human body. Each day they learn about a body system with the help of our main character, Dr. Wellbody!
There is so much learning happening in first grade! We are so proud of all of our first graders!
Look at what we're learning in 2nd Gradeđ
Skills: This month students are reading Bedtime Tales. Students are practicing learning long vowel sounds and reading with more fluency. The students are challenged to think about the moral (lesson) in the story.
Math: In math, students are practicing writing 3-digit numbers in many forms- expanded form, word form, unit form, and standard form. Students will gain place value knowledge. Next steps will include adding and subtracting using a variety of strategies.
Writing: Writing has been so much fun! Students are sharing personal stories about times they were happy, sad, and proud! The students are working hard.
SEL: Reminders- please send students with appropriate clothing for the weather. Sweatshirts should be uniform colors- white, gray, and navy. If you need assistance getting winter clothing for your child, please contact the teacher. Additionally, there will be no Halloween celebrations in 2nd grade at SLE.
Look at what we're learning in 3rd gradeđ
ELA:
In ELA, 3rd grade is working hard on learning about animals. We are investigating the five different groups of vertebrates, and how scientists classify these animals. While we read about them, we are practicing our reading skills like fluency, context clues, and finding the main idea of passages. We are also working on building our writing skills, starting with writing strong sentences as well as improving our informational writing skills.
Math:
In math, we have built our multiplication and division skills. Students should keep practicing their fact fluency, we will be doing more multiplication and division soon! Help your student by asking them quick math facts like 3x3. Right now, we are working on understanding place value, along with rounding, addition, and multiplication.
Look at what we're learning in 4th Gradeđ
ELA: We have just dived into our new unit, The Middle Ages. The fourth graders are also working on informative writing, ask your child what they have been writing about! A big push this year is reading for fluency and improving sentence structure in writing. As always, continue to have your child read for at least 20 minutes at home each night!
Look at what we're learning in 5th Gradeđ
Math: In math, we Spent the first part of September learning about the coordinate grid system and then applying our new knowledge to the board game âBattleship!â. After that, students learned about the Powers of Ten in connection with place value concepts and worked on multiplying and dividing larger whole numbers. In our next module, we will build on prior math knowledge to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators. Students will also interpret a fraction as the result of dividing the numerator by the denominator and interpret data in line plots.
ELA: In ELA, we started the year with our Personal Narratives unit. We wrote many narratives about ourselves, including a surprise that we had and about the worst meal ever! We also read many stories about others, including narratives by Rosa Parks and Richard Blanco. We will be moving on to the Early American Civilizations unit in which we will study about the Maya, Aztec, and Inca peoples. We ask that our students read as much as possible at home- always!!!
Science: In science, we spent the first month learning about matter and how to identify matter based on its properties. We also learned that matter is conserved in chemical reactions; Atoms are never created or destroyed. Students learned about gravity and its connection to an object's mass. We are currently learning that patterns on Earth are caused by Earthâs orbit around the sun and the moonâs orbit around Earth. In the next few weeks, students will be learning about the Earthâs layers, the rock cycle, weathering and erosion.
Look at what we're learning in the ILP and PA classroomsđ
ILP1/PA1 has been reading "Peter Rabbit" and learning about food groups, such as distinguishing between food and non-food items, veggies versus non-veggies, and engaging in sorting activities.
ILP2 has been learning about fairy tales and using writing journals to respond to reading. Additionally, they have been learning about place value for numbers within 100 and studying the planets in our solar system.
PA2 has been reading the book "Bounce" and learning about proper nouns and verbs, as well as how to identify them in sentences. They have also been differentiating between sentences and fragments. In math, they have been graphing, learning about lines of symmetry, using tally charts and pictographs, counting money, telling time using an analog clock, and skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s.
Look at what we're learning in specialsđ
PACCK- Hi SLEE Community! The first month of PACCK was amazing. Students and I went over the importance of Teamwork. The students were able to work together to accomplish their goals. Through the games we played, students were encouraged to build new relationships with each other. Some of the games played this month were, âWho Let the Dogs Out?â âThe Fish Gameâ and âImpostorâ. Students have had a great start to the year and I am looking forward to another great month.
Gym- Hello SLEE families! In Gym students are playing games that reinforce important character traits. Students will be playing âcommunity tagâ, â turn back tagâ, and âdoctor dodgeballâ. These games will reinforce a sense of community, citizenship, and leadership. These games will allow the studentsâ at SLEE to continue to build a strong community.
Art- Hello SLEE families! In Art, 2nd-5th grade has been creating projects that focus on line as an element of art. 2nd and 3rd graders are drawing line trees inspired by Gustav Klimtâs Tree of Life, and 4th and 5th graders are making zentangles. 1st grade is learning about shape through the artwork of Paul Klee, and creating their own âshape citiesâ.
Science- Hello families! In Science, we are finishing up units on the water cycle. We learned about evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collections. We even learned how to make it rain in class! Coming up next, we will be learning about what sound is- what creates it, how it travels, and how it interacts with different materials. Other students will be learning about states of matter (solids, liquids, and gases) and properties of matter such as texture, absorbency, and flexibility. Please remember to send your child to science with a signed permission slip for a chance for them to interact with our class pets! Thank you :) -Miss Candela
Music- The music class is focusing these weeks on a few different subjects.
We work on issues of rhythm and movement, using hands and drums. Ragtime music of Scott Joplin is a great helper in this activity.
We focus on the life and music of great composer Johann Sebastian Bach, listening to his music and learning about organ and harpsichord. We practice on the keyboards imitating the sound of these instruments to get to know them better.
With grades 4 and 5 we also discuss the questions of time periods, centuries and styles.
The songs include "Autumn Leaves", "Firefly", "Loyal, Brave and True", and "Tingalayo".
Theater- Hello Families! In Theatre, weâve been preparing for our Holiday Show Sing-along. Our show will be livestreamed December 19th for families to enjoy. More information will be provided closer to the date of our show!
Student Support Team Messages
- AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS ARE STARTING SOON. WE ARE EXCITED TO BOND WITH OUR KIDS IN DIFFERENT PROGRAMS AND SETTINGS THROUGHOUT OUR SCHOOL.
- PLEASE REMEMBER TO WEAR SCHOOL UNIFORM EACH DAY- WE WILL BE AROUND WITH LOVE NOTES!
- KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK IN ALL OF YOUR CLASSES. WE ARE SO PROUD.