Dear Woodland Families,

We hope you had a restful and healthy vacation! Now that we are back at school, we want to remind you that recess will take place outside unless the temperature (or "feels like" temperature) is below 20 degrees. Kids need to get fresh air, play with friends from other classes, and burn off some energy! We kindly request that you send your child to school with a jacket, hat, and mittens or gloves on colder days to help them stay warm during outdoor recess. Snow pants and boots are recommended for snowy days, which we DO hope we get so we can build some snowmen! Please clearly label all items with your child's name/initials so we can get them back to you if they are misplaced.

Also, a reminder that teachers’ work hours are from 8:40-3:40, so emails or phone calls made outside of the school day or after a teacher's prep block may not be answered until the following day. Work-life balance is important to physical and mental health, and we want to keep our teachers healthy!

Finally, we will have an assembly next Friday to award the Most Responsible Class with the CARES trophy, and to introduce the next expectation: Exhibiting Effort. Exhibiting Effort includes:

• working through tough tasks

• staying focused

• managing frustration

• producing quality work

• paying attention, and

• practicing

Acknowledging and praising children for hard work and perseverance rather than innate ability teaches them to work toward a goal and builds their confidence.

As always, thank you for your partnership and cooperation. We hope 2025 treats you well!

Warm regards,

Emma and Kayla

January 14 - School Council @ 4:15

January 15 - PTO Meeting @ 5:30 PMS

January 20 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - NO School

January 24 - Staff Collaboration - 1/2 Day, Dismissal @ 12:00

January 25 - Thunderbirds Game - @ 7:00 pm

February 13 - Game Night - @ 5:30

February 17-21 Winter Break

During the month of January, preschoolers will learn about Families and Homes. They will continue to explore family and animal homes. The children enjoy showing off their Heggerty skills (rhyming, beginning sounds, blending words, isolating medial sounds, segmenting words, adding and deleting words). Every day, the children are looking at letter cards in alphabetical order. They are reciting each letter name and sound. We say,” Letter is ____, Sound is ______.” They will continue to practice numbers 1-10 and showing what numbers 1-5 look like using objects and on the rekenreks. Preschoolers will continue to practice showing numbers 1-10 on their rekenreks. The children are developing friendships and learning how to cooperate with others.

Science and Social Studies:

We begin our next Unit of Animals and Habitats. In the first portion of the unit, the students will engage in play and exploration activities that allow them to learn and study aquatic habitats. Students will learn about the life cycles of frogs and fish, as well as create their own representations of aquatic life and habitats in Blocks center and Dramatic Play. At the discovery table kindergarteners will investigate how fish move in water.

ELA:

After we wind down our current Unit, "Happy, Healthy Me." we move to a new topic, "I can Do It." Our upcoming unit will have read alouds and vocabulary focus on the central topic question, "What does it mean to try hard?" Students will meet characters that despite their different abilities, with a little hard work, patience, and perseverance, they too can achieve their goals. Phonics work will consist of focusing on letters Qu, Ww, Vv, Zz, review of short vowels and begin to study long vowels a and i.

Math:

Students are starting a new unit where they are introduced to addition as the counting of the total number of objects in two (2) groups. They are introduced to subtraction as taking away a number of objects from a group and counting the number of remaining objects. The language “add,” “put together,” “subtract,” and “take away” is used. Students will also begin work on representing and solving story problems.

First graders are off to a great start in the new year! We are making our resolutions for 2025, and we are reviewing our Woodland CARES. We are really working on showing what is expected of us as first graders!

As readers and writers, we continue to practice blending and segmenting our sounds. We have moved into our long vowel patterns with VCe, like in name and kite. We are also learning to tell, create, and write folktales! We are tying in our science thinking, too, as we read and explore all about light. We are looking closely at text features and understanding the differences between fiction and nonfiction.

We are continuing to build our math fluency in addition and subtraction through 20, as we wrap up this unit. Soon, we will begin our work in base ten and learn that numbers are composed of tens and ones.

Second graders returned to school after their long break ready to work! ELA Module 6, Weather Wise, will begin next week. During this module, students will learn about different kinds of weather, how weather impacts us, and how the weather changes from season to season. Students will also write a poem about a type of weather of their choosing.

In math, students are working on Unit 4, Addition and Subtraction on the Number Line. In this unit, students learn about the structure of a number line and use it to represent

numbers within 100. They also relate addition and subtraction to length and represent the operations on the number line diagram. They will develop their understanding of a hundred as a unit and explore comparing and ordering 3-digit numbers. Later this month, second graders will begin Unit 5, Numbers to 1,000.

Second grade classrooms will soon wrap up a social studies unit on geography. Areas of focus include the names and locations of the continents and oceans. The next unit will be a science unit on weathering and erosion. Students will explore different types of landforms, and how forces such as wind and water can affect materials on Earth. This unit will include some hands-on investigations that will allow students to see weathering and erosion firsthand, and explore ways to prevent it

Woodland School is excited to announce that enrollment for kindergarten for the 2025-2026 academic year is now open. Families with children who will be five years old on or before September 1, 2025, are encouraged to register their child by May 1, 2025. Early registration ensures eligibility for the Kindergarten Screenings, scheduled to take place on May 29 and 30, 2025.

How to Enroll To begin the enrollment process and learn more about the requirements, you can tap the picture above or visit the Woodland School enrollment page at:

https://www.stgrsd.org/community/enrollment

The enrollment page includes detailed information about necessary documentation and the steps to complete the registration process. Families are encouraged to complete all required forms promptly to secure their spot in this exciting program.

Don’t miss this important milestone in your child’s education! For questions or assistance with enrollment, please contact Woodland School at 413-569-6598 or WES_Office@stgrsd.org.

We look forward to welcoming your family to Woodland School and partnering with you in your child’s educational journey.

If you know families with kindergarten-aged children, please spread the word about this important opportunity!

Join us on Saturday, January 25th at 7:05 for a fun night out watching hockey! Powder Mill Band students will be performing and many students will be invited on the ice to wave the flag for the opening ceremony. Come join the fun!

Woodland School needs substitutes for the 24-25 school year. Being a substitute offers great flexibility, because you can choose the days you want to work! When teachers are absent, they leave the substitute a detailed lesson plan to follow. Interested? Have questions? Give us a call at 413-569-6598 or apply online: https://www.stgrsd.org/departments/human_resources/employment_opportunities.