Kindergarten is ready for Mother Nature to make up her mind about Spring!!
Spring break is here! (March 29- April 7) Please continue to read with your child and practice “tricky” words and sound out words over the break! We also ask that you encourage your child to start writing in a journal at home! They love being authors and illustrators!
We have 2 visits planned for the Potomac Audubon Society (Cool Springs). They will be coming to our classrooms to visit on April 24 and then we will be taking a bus to visit their learning site on April 25 (it’s 2 miles from the school). More information to come. They will be doing hands on lessons/activities about our 5 senses!
Kindergarten teachers have some fun Spring crafts planned for the month of April! Our reading themes for the month of April are Plants and Taking Care of the Earth!
Please review and practice skills at home that your child is learning in his/her classroom. Some skills that we will be covering throughout April are: addition and subtraction, making the number 10 (ex. 1 and 9, 3 and 7), 2-digit numbers, reviewing digraphs (ch, sh, th) and the letter Qq sound /kw/, the -ng sound like in ring, sing, song, hung, sang, bring, etc. and writing simple stories with an illustration. We will start focusing on double consonants that make one sound. (ex. bell, buzz, jazz, grass, miss swimming, jogging) We will continue to review rhyming, segmenting and blending words with 4-5 sounds. The children will be adding a lot of words to their “tricky” word list and will continue to read their picture readers and sound out readers (Kit, Seth, and Sam). Writing continues to be a key skill that will be practiced from now till the end of the school year!
“Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression!” -Dr. Haim Ginott
Thank you for playing an active part in your child’s education! :)
The Kindergarten Team
Spring has sprung!
With that being said, please make sure your child layers well during this ever changing season. First graders are more available to learn if they can get their wiggles out and socialize with their classmates.
We are continuing to work on skills Unit 4. The focus is on:
● Reading and spelling patterns “er,” “ar,” and “or”
● Identifying contractions and using them correctly
● Identifying nouns, adjectives, and verbs (past, present, and future tense)
● Reading, writing, and spelling 2 syllable words
● Reviewing diagraphs, both vowel and consonant
● Weekly spelling tests
● Adding a few final tricky words
Our new CKLA Knowledge unit is all about animals and their habitats... The students will learn about the various habitats that animals inhabit.
In math, we will focus on adding 2 digit numbers, comparing 2 digit numbers, telling time to the hour and half hour, measuring the length of objects, and identifying fractional parts of a whole.
If you are able, we are still in need of Kleenex for the classroom. (store brands are fine)
As always, thank you for your continued support,
The FIRST GRADE TEAM
Spring is here and we are super excited for the warmer weather and the longer days! It is so hard to believe that the end of our year is almost here! We still have so many fun things to look forward to as we wrap up second grade, including the father-daughter dance, a super hero project, a fun run, and a FREE field trip!! For our field trip, we will be going to Blandy Experimental Farm on April 26th to study insects. This field trip is the perfect destination as we will be concluding the two CKLA Knowledge units on “Cycles of Nature” and “Insects”. We will be sending more detailed information home soon. Please continue to check your child’s purple folder and agenda daily for all the important updates, events, and homework. When we return from Spring Break, we will really be focusing on getting ready for 3rd grade. Please continue help your child to complete homework, practice important skills, and read daily at home. We hope everyone has a wonderful Spring Break!!!
It's hard to believe that we are in the last nine weeks of school. Where did time go? Thank you to the students for participating in the ARTS Family Night. Thank to you to the parents and guardians for supporting your children during this special time.
This is the time of year where students start "giving up", but they need to be working just as hard as they did during the first three nine weeks. They need to continue to study multiplication facts, spelling words and reading every night. We are excited for them to finish strong this year.
Please keep up with the calendar in the newsletter so that you know when we are celebrating some special end of the year activities.
We want to thank all of you for a special year!
The 3rd Grade Team
The fourth-grade teachers would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the parents who volunteered to chaperone our upcoming trip to Cool Springs on April 26, 2024. Those who have been selected have already been notified. Be on the look out for information soon for our May trip to Fort Fredrick in Big Pool, Maryland.
We are in need of items for the fourth grades quarter auction basket. Our theme for the basket is spring outdoor fun. Feel free to send in any new item that you choose but if you want an idea please see our sign up genius below. Items are due by April 15, 2024. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094FABAD2BABFBC43-48753163-fourth
Your contributions will make this PTO event even more enjoyable for everyone.
We are truly thankful for the continuous support and partnership with all our families.
Thank you for being such an important part of our learning community.
We are coming down the home stretch, and the end of elementary school in becoming a reality for many of our fifth graders. This generally brings on many emotions during the last few weeks of school.
With that being said, we still have a lot on our "to do" list. In math, we will shift our focus from fractions to geometry and working with the coordinate grid. We will also be spiraling back to many of the concepts that we have previously covered in preparation for the WVGSA Math Test.
In science, we will complete our unit on the Hydrosphere with the design and construction of a rainwater collection system. We will then move on to Earth’s Other Systems – the Geosphere, the Atmosphere, and the Biosphere.
In social studies, we will finish our unit on the Civil War with episodes 4 and 5 in our simulation and reconstruction. We will then focus on Amendments 13, 14, and 15 to the U.S. Constitution. Ending the month with a mock trial with all students having a part to play to develop an understanding of the judicial system.
In ELA, we are beginning Unit 8 on Native Americans. Each class will work in groups to complete a project on a given region of the United States. Please be looking for a parent letter with all information/instructions to come home after Spring Break.
Lastly, please work to get your first half field trip money in by April 10th. Please reach out to your child’s homeroom teacher if you have any questions.
Thank you,
The 5th Grade Team
Healthy Choice Ambassador News:
Healthy Tip: You should sleep 6 to 8 hours per day. This will help your body to replenish itself and gives your body time to rebuild its cells. Lack of sleep make you feel tired and affect your eating habits. Adequate sleep is essential for your overall health and well-being. Even more for our bright young minds of tomorrow.
The Gym:
The weather outside is starting to change and become warmer and will get nicer as we end our year. Please remember to wear shoes on your designated Physical Education day. This is a requirement for participation due to safety issues. 3rd, 4th and 5th grade have begun our fitness units. The unit will cover the Fitnessgram State Assessments for 4th and 5th grade and practice for the 3rd grade students. Tests include the Pacer test, flexed arm hang, sit and reach, trunk lift, shoulder stretch, Push ups and curl up tests. Younger grades are starting to develop soccer skills such as kicking, dribbling and shooting at a goal.
Oh my goodness! This community is amazing. Our Book Fair was a success and I have YOU to thank. The students had a great time shopping on their own and learned lots of invaluable skills. I am excited to close out the Book Fair and purchase new books for our library! My goal continues to be updating our collection and your support means so much.
This month we will do some author studies and work on our problem-solving skills. For anyone that wishes to be a surprise guest reader, I know I have some students who would be super excited for a visit! Please reach out through Canvas or my email, alison.p.moody@k12.wv.us
Again, thanks so much for an amazing March. A special shout out to the volunteers who made the book fair experience so much smoother, we all appreciate you so much!
💜 Mrs. Moody
A big “Thank you!” to everyone who supported our Original Artworks Fundraiser. We made over $900, which will be used for those extra fun art supplies like model magic, centers, ceramics supplies and more.
We loved seeing so many Second and Third graders showing off their incredible art work and fun performances at our Arts Night. We have so many talented students in so many areas.
In April: 5th grade will be glazing their 3D pottery. I am hoping to get them to practice some stitching skills as well! Maybe they will be able to fix their own clothes for you 😊.
Fourth grade is also finishing up a 3D artwork and then moving starting the “Agriculture in WV” poster contest. I will get them started in art class during April but may ask students to finish at home, so watch for that to come home.
Third grade will be building 3D landscapes/landscape architects. Lots of cutting, gluing, and construction.
Second grade will be working with model magic to create a 3D bird in its environment. Keep an eye out for birds and note their colors, textures, and characteristics. We touched on John James Audubon and how he had to carefully draw all the details, and patterns so that people could identify birds across America.
Kindergarten and First grade will be reading the book “Sky Color” and experimenting more with watercolor paint. Take time this Spring to notice all the different colors of the sky and how the colors blend together.
Mrs. Fiolek
Kindergarten and First Grade will be practicing and applying all of the music skills they learned this year.
Second grade and Third Grade – Thank you to everyone who came out and participated in our music performance. Second grade and third grade will be practicing and applying all of the music skills they learned this year.
Fourth Grade has been doing a fantastic job developing their music literacy skills by playing the recorder. We have already had 2 recorder belt tests and will be doing our third test soon.
Fifth Grade is studying the instruments of the orchestra. Students who play orchestra instruments are encouraged to demonstrate for their class. We will be continuing our recorder and ukulele studies after we complete this unit.
Spring Chorus Concert --Save the date—May 8th at 7:00 pm.
PTO (Parent Teacher Organization)
We invite you to attend our public meetings on the second Tuesday of each month. Our next meeting is on April 9th at 7 pm, in the SJES cafeteria. We will be focusing on our biggest fundraiser, the quarter auction!
Quarter Auction
April 19, 5:30 p.m.
Save the date for this exciting event! The Quarter Auction is a public event open to all adults (note, children may not attend or participate). Tickets are $10 a piece and will go on sale soon! If interested in volunteering, please contact us. We do need adult volunteers to help; this is one of our biggest school fundraisers for the year.
Apparel
SJES apparel/spirit wear can be personalized and purchased at www.Zeroinsports.com/sjes.
Contacts:
President: Karisma Neely; Vice President: April Davis; Secretary: Jessica McIntosh; Treasurer: Amber Fuller
Contact us at SJESPTO@gmail.com or on Facebook at South Jefferson Elementary PTO
WVGSA Testing Dates
April 11th: Any Writing Make Ups
April 16th: Fifth Grade ELA
April 17th: Fourth Grade ELA
April 18th: Third Grade ELA
April 23rd: Fifth Grade Math
April 24th: Fourth Grade Math
April 25th: Third Grade Math
April 30th: Fifth Grade Science
