The TES Times January

January was a very busy and productive month at TES! Our students have been working hard and are making great progress in all areas.

It is with great excitement that I share with you that TES has been recognized as a Kindness Certified School! This month, our staff and students participated in The Great Kindness Challenge where we spent a week focusing on spreading kindness in our community. We are proud of our students as they display kindness each and every day here at TES.

There are some great activities coming up sponsored by the TEF and TPTA so please read on for more information.

Warm regards,

Lisa Moore

Principal

Link to 2024-2025 Tewksbury Public Schools Schedule

Thank you, Leo and Josie Klaussen, and their mother, Heather Pierce, for updating the hay bale for 2024. When we returned from the holiday break, we were delighted to see this!

Please label all of your children's hats, gloves, mittens, scarfs, and warm coats! They will need these to play outside during out beautiful winter weather.

If you are a Tewksbury resident and are the parent or guardian of a child who will turn 5 before October 1, 2024, please register your child for Kindergarten at Tewksbury Elementary School. The registration forms and information are available on our website or through this link:

REGISTRATION DOCUMENT

Please register in person by appointment before March 15th.

To make an appointment, please contact Eileen Callahan, School Secretary, at ecallahan@tewksburyschools.org or 908-832-2594 x2001. Bring the child’s original birth certificate and three proofs of residency in Tewksbury (as outlined in the registration document).

The Universal Child Health form or a physical form from your child's doctor is required prior to the start of school and should be completed as part of the child's five year old check up with his or her primary care physician. That should be provided to the school nurse with a copy of the student’s immunization record stamped and dated by the physician’s office. Here is a link to the Universal Child Health form: Health Care Form Any medical questions, please contact Nancy Morogiello, School Nurse, at nmorogiello@tewksburyschools.org or 908-832-2594 x2011.

This year, TES will be participating in Global School Payday. During Global School Play Day, participants are encouraged to allow students ample time for free play without the use of screens, structured games, or adult direction. The idea is to let children explore their creativity, problem-solving skills, and social interactions in an unstructured and spontaneous environment. TES students will be joining over 1.5 million previous students from over 75 nations in play! We are sure this will be a hit with all.

The first graders collected the most food for the December Police-School Food Drive! As a result, Sargeant AJ Russo hosted a pizza party for them on January 17th!

This photo demonstrates the concept behind our Tiger Den Program. Students from each grade level are in each den (about 12 students) and each den forms a larger pack. We have five packs: Bengals, Cheetas, Jaguars, Leopards, and Pumas. This programs, at its core, is meant to foster friendships and cooperation with students in all grades. A Kindergarten student can connect with a second grader and their relationship will follow along to when they are in first and third...and so on. We believe this will have a positive effect on the Tewksbury community.

As our fourth graders get working on the TES portion of the OTS/TES Yearbook, please know that the yearbooks are on sale from now until May 1st. Please go to ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter code: 9456324. Hard and soft cover books are available. The cover will have original student artwork and name stamping on the cover will be included. These are very special student-designed yearbooks that will be distributed in June 2024.

Preschool has been studying all about pets this month. We have especially enjoyed participating in shared writings about various pet topics. Students have written about what kinds of pets can be indoor pets, how to care for pets and what pets eat for food. Students have even enjoyed directed art lessons. They drew our class pet, Scary, a pretend spider! Students even got to enjoy a nice visit from Brie, a therapy dog, who visits monthly.

Our Kindergarten students are using hands on activities across all subject areas. In this picture students are practicing all the ways to make 5, learning about how animals stay warm in extreme colds by creating a blubber glove and putting it to the test, practicing sight words, and retelling stories.

Happy New Year from Kindergarten. At TES, January is the month when we celebrate the arrival of Winter and our first official snow day. In science, we are learning all about snow and animals in winter. Students enjoyed various interactive activities such as a blubber glove, understanding how animals adapt to the change in weather (hibernation, migration, and adaptation) by pretending to waddle like penguins on our heels to minimize contact to cold and to protect their babies as well as huddling together and rotating to keep each other warm. In Social Studies, we are learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the impact he has made in history as well as participating in our school wide Kindness challenge. In ELA, we have been reading lots of Jan Brett stories to practice making predictions, retelling stories, understanding what it means to infer, and making connections to what we read. Students are also working very hard learning how to write with proper sentence structure and they are officially reading! It is always so exciting to see how far they have come in five short months! In math, we are working on 3-D and flat shapes, counting numbers to 20, practicing friends of 5 and 10, and growing number fluency. We are looking forward to all the fun and exciting activities ahead including our 100th day of school!

The Kindergarten Aspire program has begun, led by Kristen Rinehart-Havens. During this engaging program, our little ones will develop essential literacy skills, explore the magic of storytelling, and participate in various hands-on activities inspired by Eric Carle's iconic works. Students will use their imagination and learn as we nurture young minds in an environment where curiosity and creativity flourish. The "Aspire with Eric Carle" program is the perfect gateway to a lifelong love of reading and discovery for our kindergarten students!

The snow has brought smiles during recess and opportunities for learning in Science class. First graders started learning all about penguins! Students watched a phenomenon and came up with a list of observations and wonderings. Students have been busy exploring these questions and wonderings. For example, students questioned how Emperor Penguins stay warm in Antarctica. We conducted an experiment using snow and all different kinds of gloves to see what would keep our hands dry and warm. We discovered that a combination of blubber gloves and waterproof gloves kept our hands both warm and dry. We then applied this knowledge to what we know about penguins, we discovered that Penguins are able to stay warm and dry because they have a layer of fat and waterproof feathers! In Math, students have been learning about measurement and weight. Students practiced using the vocabulary longer, taller, shorter, heavier, and lighter when comparing 2 objects and using longest, tallest, shortest, heaviest, and lightest when comparing 3 objects or more.

The First Grade Solarbration is planned for March 15th.

With lots to do and lots of weather, this has been a busy January in second grade. We’ve been learning to tell time on an analog clock, learning to count money, and continuing to practice addition and subtraction in math. We’ve moved through our unit on informational writing are looking forward to some poetry next month. In science, we had a lot of fun exploring "Our Changing Earth" with our scientist in residence John Miller from Pearl Observatory. The students learned about how the Earth has changed slowly over time with continents moving incrementally around and seas coming and going. They even got to make their own fossils in class. We also learned about ways that the Earth can change quickly, such as earthquakes and volcanoes. There was lots of fun hands-on learning thanks to the TEF who sponsored Mr. Miller's visit.

One of the core concepts in third grade math is learning about multiplication. Students learned the meaning of multiplication through arrays, skip counting, groups of objects, and other hands-on explorations. We also explored through literature with books like, "Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream," in which the main character learns how using multiplication applies to her everyday life. Students also focused on learning their facts, which builds a solid foundation for future learning. Division, and its relationship to multiplication, will continue to be explored. Similar to learning cursive handwriting, learning multiplication is a third grade rite of passage, and students feel accomplished and successful!

This month the Fourth Graders began writing a second nonfiction article on a topic of their choice. Students used multiple resources and databases to research and take notes on their topic. Students then used their notes to develop 3-4 paragraphs on subtopics of their choice. There was a heavy emphasis on what it means to paraphrase (take notes from a source and put it in their own words). Also this month, students enjoyed the first ever “Pack” meeting, when all the “dens” within each “pack” met for the first time! Students had a blast playing games and getting to know all the members of their “pack.” Perhaps the favorite activity for the fourth grade was viewing the movie “Because of Winn Dixie” after reading the book in class. Students enjoyed comparing and contrasting the movie with the book and were easily able to identify the similarities and differences. We are already looking forward to Valentine’s Day and Global School Play Day in the month of February!

Students in Mrs. Kinzel's third and fourth grade language arts class celebrated their Realistic Fiction writing unit with a Publishing Party this month. Students shared their completed stories with families, staff members, and their peers. Each piece of writing was unique and included story elements like problem, solution, and lesson learned and some even included dialogue. Students have worked so hard on their writing this unit and were so excited to share their hard work.

Basketballs have certainly been bouncing at TES, and we make a lot of noise in the gym and maybe even the neighboring hallways. All students have been working on ball handling and dribbling (dominant and non-dominant hands). Second, third, and fourth graders have also been practicing the bounce pass and chest pass. We are moving on to shooting skills next. Stay tuned!

New books for the New Year! To celebrate our return to school in 2024, we have been highlighting new books in our library collection. Students are loving them! In library special with our younger students, we have been reading and interacting with books related to winter and hibernation. In celebration of The Great Kindness Challenge, we read, A Good Thing Happened Today by Michelle Figuero, and shared our own stories of daily kindness! Our third and fourth grade students have embarked on a creative writing project this month during library special. Based on the book, Ten-Word Tiny Tales by Joseph Coelho, they have been writing their own “ten-word tiny tales”. Students will be sharing their best tales with each other to illustrate. This practice in imaginative writing and artistic expression could be a fun family activity to do at home as well!

We enjoyed a harmonious start to the new year as the beats and melodies fill TES in January! The rhythm is picking up and exciting things are happening in our music world. The students were excited to have their spring concert songs revealed to them. After such a successful winter concert, everyone is incredibly exhilarated to start these songs. It is a very exciting time for our third graders as they gear up to receive our recorders. These talented students will embark on a new musical journey as they learn introductory notes and melodies on their first instruments. After demonstrated success on their first instruments, our fourth graders just got their second instrument of the year. From flutes to trombones, trumpets to clarinets, we are ready to explore harmonious melodies and new horizons together. Stay tuned for more musical updates throughout the year. Let the music play, and let the creativity soar!

We've had a crazy month of ENERO with several missed classes due to weather! Nonetheless, we haven't stopped learning in Spanish. Kindergarteners are practicing expressing their likes and dislikes with some dramatic play and lots of fake food, first graders have been using play money from Guatemala to count out the correct amount for certain grocery items. Second grade has learned the names of places in our school and is starting a small group project in which they pretend to be arquitectos and design a new school. Third grade is finishing up their pet unit by choosing pets from an animal shelter in Mexico and filling out pretend adoption forms. Fourth graders are delving into the world of fashion with their clothing unit, which will culminate in a FEBRERO fashion show!

In the Tech lab, Ms. Rinehart-Havens challenged her classes to really spend the month working on typing. She set a goal for the second graders to focus on learning the home row. They will continue to learn proper finger placement on the QWERTY keyboard. Typing is a valuable skill students will continue to use throughout their school years and beyond. Typing needs to be learned correctly now before incorrect habits start to form. Please continue to have students practice proper finger placement and typing at home by using our Typing Agent program. If you need to learn how to log on please reach out to me.

Our younger students have been busy being authors using the online book writing program called WriteReader. Students can access WriteReader at home. This online book writing program is popular with students in grades K-4. Please look for individual login cards that will be sent home. Fourth grade students are using the Tinkercad program to learn how to design objects to be 3D printed. Eventually fourth graders will create and print unique bubble wands that produce multiple bubbles. In addition, third graders will also use Tinkercad and work through the online tutorial sessions and learn the ins and outs of Tinkercad. We will create an object to print and take home!

February is National Children’s Dental Month. But did you know February 9 is National Toothache Day? OUCH!!!! If you have ever had a toothache the only thing worth celebrating is getting rid of it!

National Toothache Day is an observance designed to draw attention to oral health, especially as it relates to children. Per the CDC, “cavities are the most common chronic disease of childhood, yet cavities are preventable. Children who have poor oral health often miss more school than children who don’t.”

National Toothache Day underscores the importance of proactive dental care practices for youngsters, emphasizing the significance of preventive measures to safeguard their teeth and gums. It serves as a reminder for parents and caregivers to prioritize children's oral health by scheduling regular dental check-ups, promoting consistent brushing and flossing routines, and fostering a nutritious diet that supports strong dental development. So schedule an appointment today and avoid the pain of a toothache!

A new year is a great time to place emphasis on the caring community we strive to have here at TES. For the week of January 22nd, the whole school participated in the worldwide GREAT KINDNESS CHALLENGE. We all worked to complete small activities of kindness and feel the power of our collective efforts. We explored this extraordinary power we each have to enrich the lives of those around us, through our words, actions and behavior.

Please go to the Tewksbury PTA website to register!

John Miller of the Pearl Observatory returned to TES in the Tewksbury Education Foundation sponsored residency, "Our Changing Earth". Students participated in five different activities that centered arround slow and fast changes to Earth's landforms. They enjoyed hands-on activities that included digging for fossils.

The Tewksbury Education Foundation will be sponsoring the upcoming (February) all-school assembly and fourth grade residency presented by Meteorologist John Marshall of CBS Channel 2 NYC. During the assembly, Mr. Marshall will present age appropriate concepts that include the following:

• Why is there weather?
• Explanation of fronts.
• Why are there seasons?
• Types of storms.
• Interaction with live weather station.
• Types of clouds.

• Types of precipitation.
• What is a weather balloon?
• Weather instruments.
• How a forecast is made.
• The water cycle.

Then our fourth graders will become forcasters and present the weather before a green screen just like Mr. Marshall uses at work on Channel 2! Each student will have an opportunity to learn about the inner workings of forecasting the weather news.

Circus Minimus:

In March, the first grade will work with Kevin O'Keefe, the One-Man Circus in-a-Suitcase. Former Big Apple Circus instructor, Kevin O’Keefe, will pull an entire cast of circus characters from one small suitcase. First grade students will learn balance, juggling, partner stunts, and more! The overall theme of their play will be character development and they will discuss kindness, teamwork, and perseverence.

History of the Earth in New Jersey:

In April, scientist John Miller will take the fourth graders on a journey through the history of New Jersey while creating topigraphical maps from 50 million, 100 million, and 150 million years ago.

BJ Ward, Poet Extraordinare:

In May, Mr. Ward will return to TES to work with third graders as they learn to love writing poetry. Each class will learn about poems by master authors and then learn to create their own masterpieces.

Moon, Meteors, and More:

In the Spring, as part of our first grade unit on the moon, John Miller will be back with Star Lab where students will learn about "our place in space".

Native Polinator Plants, Crafts and Hands-On Lessons in the Pollinator Garden:

Before school ends for the year, master gardener, Emily McCollum, Steward of the Gardens, will lead the Kindergarten children through lessons about native polinators in New Jersey. They will also make a craft and go on a fact-finding tour of the polinator garden.

Save the Date and join the Tewksbury Education Foundation down the rabbit hole at our Wonderland-themed Barn Dance on May 18th from 7 to 11pm at LifeCamp in Pottersville! Dance the night away with cocktails, tapas-style food, an enchanting basket auction, and a live auction including student-made items! Accessories and costumes encouraged. All funds raised will go to support TEF-sponsored TES and OTS enrichment programs! Tickets on sale soon at www.tewksburytef.org.

Maschio's Food Services, Inc. is the contracted lunch provider at TES. See the following links for more information about the lunch service provided by Maschio's as well as PaySchools, our point of sale service system. You can find their menu on our school website at the following link:

https://tewksburyschools.nutrislice.com/menu/tewksbury-elementary/lunch