KES 2025 January Newsletter ⛄

We hope that you had a wonderful time with family and friends over break and are ready for the start of a wonderful new year!

NEURODIVERSITY

Teaching elementary students about neurodiversity is important because it helps them understand that everyone learns and thinks differently. It promotes empathy, acceptance, and inclusivity towards peers who may have neurological differences like autism, ADHD, or dyslexia. It also combats stigma associated with these conditions by framing them as natural variations in the human brain.

By celebrating neurodiversity, we can create a safe and accepting environment for these individuals. This can help them feel more comfortable being themselves and expressing their thoughts and ideas without fear of judgment.

Our Clinicians, Dr. Rebecca Zampolin and Jessica Fulton, will be pushing into classrooms this month to further discuss Neurodiversity with our students.

As part of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) framework, we will engage in our annual presentation on Diversity in Families. Families provide us with an important part of our identity. While all families offer us a sense of belonging, support and love, families can look very different.

On Good Morning KES, our 5th grade reporters will discuss the many different types of families to which our students belong. We will share a video that includes examples of many family systems including traditional families, single parent families, stepfamilies, same sex families, adopted families, extended families, and more. Afterwards, classes will have the opportunity to create a class family book by creating drawings and writing about what makes their family special.

The PTO is supporting a special event on January 13 for our students to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, featuring five professional dancers, will perform dances that highlight the ancient art of Chinese dance with dazzling costumes and fantastic props. The dances introduce students to the elegance and beauty of Chinese culture underscoring the impact these dances and the artistic culture of China has had on the world as the students gear up for the Lunar New Year 2025. The students will see the agility and courage of the Chinese warrior, the skill and excitement of Peking Opera acrobatics, and variety of fold dances which express the character of the various nationalities within China. Our goal at KES is to expose the students to the arts across cultures, and highlight how the rich traditions and contributions those cultures have made are all around us. This program is a great way for our students to become excited to learn more about Asian culture.

COMPACT is starting a book club for KES adults and staff!!! We’re launching in January with “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The author is an Indigenous woman, botanist, and single mother who beautifully weaves lessons about the cycles of life into the every day experiences of parenting. Shop local or request it at our Katonah Library. Meeting date, time and location TBD. Please email COMPACT parent, Nic Sciarrillo to let her know of your interest in receiving additional information. Nicole@speakeasysocial.com

Before we left for break, we did see an increase in student and adult sickness. New York State reminds us to stay home when sick, stay up-to-date on vaccines, wash hands often with soap and water, cough and sneeze in your elbows.

As the chilly weather approaches, please be sure your child comes to school in clothing that is appropriate for outdoor play.

If the temperature, including the wind chill, is below forty degrees, students should wear the following:

• Warm coats
• Long pants

On snowy days in order to play in the snow (including sledding) students will also need:

• Snow pants
• Boots
• Hats
• Gloves

All students will be going out for recess so please make sure that your children are dressed appropriately.

If the temperature, including the wind chill, falls below twenty degrees, the students will stay inside for recess. Dr. Louis A. Corsaro, the school district physician, has advised us in these matters.

We conducted all necessary drills in 2024 and will continue our safety drills in 2025. Specifically, you will be notified when we conduct our required lockdown and evacuation drills.

Each month, we will be providing curriculum highlights from each grade level. Please know that these are snapshots and do not reflect all the curriculum and learning in the classroom.

Students in kindergarten will continue to strengthen their conventional reading skills through decoding CVC words and adding to their knowledge of high frequency words. Kindergarteners will build their reading “powers” as they share and celebrate with new stories and partnerships. In their writerly life, children will begin writing to teach others. They will work through the writing cycle to plan, illustrate, write, and share “How To” books. Craftmanship is a priority as children write with their reader in mind. In math, kindergartners will be exploring how objects may be classified depending on specific attributes. Students will practice naming and comparing categories as well as work together to explain their mathematical thinking. As we continue through the month, children will begin to expand their knowledge of addition in a variety of ways. In social studies, students will continue to learn about their identities, families, and traditions.

Students in first grade will begin 2025 by exploring nonfiction texts in both reading and writing workshop. Using text sets, students will discover that curious readers read multiple texts to learn more about a topic. Students will continue to learn strategies to decode longer words (part by part), while reading through blends, digraphs, phonograms, and suffix endings to become more efficient in their decoding of genre specific vocabulary. In writing, students will write about the topic they know about the most, themselves, as each student will write their own identity book. While writing this book, we will incorporate lessons from our Social Studies family unit. After completing the identity book, students will write nonfiction topic books about their experiences in the classroom. In math, students will add three numbers and explore the importance of the equal sign. In science, students will take on the role of light and sound engineers as we begin our exploration of light and sound.

Students in second grade are looking forward to kicking off a lot of new learning in 2024! In writing, we will be learning how to write strong opinions. Our opinions will be focused on awesome things in our lives like books, fun places and special people! As writers, we will learn to support our opinions with evidence and examples. We'll also be focused on strengthening our reading by adding to our reading strategies tool belt. We know lots of different ways to sound out new words. Our word work will continue to focus on syllable types. Understanding how and why words are spelled the way they are will help support our young readers and writers. The students are excited to apply their latest reading strategies as they tackle longer books. Addition and subtraction of double digits will continue to be the focus in math. In science, we will be exploring how the earth’s surface changes. Looking at different landforms will help strengthen our understanding of how and why the surface of the earth looks the way it does. We will also extend our learning about landforms into social studies as we explore how landforms affect how people in different communities live, work and play.

Students in third grade return to fiction reading for a close study of characters. Students will study the big lessons the characters are learning, and they will look closely at how these lessons are a part of the theme or message of the story. They will come to see that as characters grow and change, and how the problems those characters encounter in the story, evolve. In writing, students will be continuing Writing Series Fiction Unit by learning from professional writers using mentor texts as guides. Students will focus on revising their stories and bringing out the true heart of their characters, developing deeper and more authentic fictional narratives. In math, students will learn to apply the Communicative and Associative properties of addition. They will develop mental math strategies like partial sums and regrouping to add and subtract whole numbers within 1,000. These skills will help students build computational fluency, strengthen their number sense, and gain confidence in manipulating numbers. Third-grade students will explore global cultures through a Cultural Crest Discovery project. Students will investigate their assigned country and transform their discoveries into a visually compelling crest. These projects will be presented to families in February. In Science, students will begin Environments and Survival unit. They will learn that Scientists study how different animals and plants survive in their homes by looking at their special features.

Students in fourth grade will continue a cross-curricular reading and social studies unit, Reading All About Indigenous Americans and will be utilizing research skills including note-taking, synthesizing, and all we have learned about the structures of nonfiction texts to create presentations to share our learning with others. This unit will be taught alongside the writing unit, Boxes & Bullets, in which students will be constructing personal essays, followed by argument essays on student-selected topics concerning issues of sustainability. In math, students will be developing their understanding of multiplication by exploring factors and multiples, as well as prime and composite numbers. Later in the month, in social studies students will embark upon a unit learning about European explorers.

Students in fifth grade will be wrapping up their reading unit on non-fiction text complexity with a study of narrative non-fiction. They will then discuss Mexico, immigration, and the Great Depression as they read the historical fiction novel Esperanza Rising. In writing, students will expand their expository skills and focus on writing literary essays. Division with decimal divisors and dividends, as well as problem solving, will be the focus in math. In science, fifth graders will take on the role of food scientists as they study the properties of matter. In social studies, students will study European exploration of the Western Hemisphere.

As per our Response to Intervention District Plan mandated by New York State, benchmarks, or screenings, will begin in mid-January for students in grades K-5. The assessments are administered as a whole group and individually, depending on the grade and subject area. The results of the AIMSweb screening, along with other school data (Running Record, Topic Assessments, etc.) will be reviewed by the KES RTI Team (Principal, School Psychologist, Interventionists, Classroom Teachers). If your child qualifies for services, changes level of services, or exits services based on the criteria outlined across the district, you will receive a parent communication mid-February.

This month, we're excited to welcome a new book order filled with the latest releases, student favorites, and requested titles! All students will have the opportunity to explore our new books and check them out to enjoy at home.

In January, we'll be focusing on non-fiction. Our primary students (K-2) will dive into winter-themed topics, learning about hibernating animals and other aspects of winter through books and research.

Students in grades 3-5 will explore the theme of activism, learning about current activists and how they are making a difference in the world. Through research and collaboration, they will create technology-based projects that reflect their learning and ideas.

We look forward to an exciting month of reading, learning, and creativity!

In Kindergarten, students will continue to demonstrate proper mallet technique while learning to play various songs including “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” on the Bell sets. Students will be performing in small groups to help reinforce playing music as an ensemble. Students will continue to differentiate and explore vocal qualities (speak/sing/whisper/shout) through song and dramatic play. Additionally, students will reinforce the concept of Beat and show that they can maintain a steady beat while singing and playing non-pitched instruments(rhythm sticks, hand drum, maraca). Lastly, students will explore and experiment with singing loud and quiet.

In First Grade, students will continue to explore the basics of music through fun and interactive activities. They will learn how to read simple music notation and play melodies on Orff instruments like xylophones, reinforcing their understanding of pitch and rhythm. Students will also develop part independence by performing in small ensembles, practicing listening and interacting with others while maintaining their own musical part. They will experiment with dynamics, playing music at different volumes. Lastly, students will perform multicultural songs to celebrate Lunar New Year, deepening their understanding of cultural traditions through music.

In Second Grade, students will demonstrate their knowledge of proper mallet technique by playing various songs on Orff instruments. Students will learn to maintain a steady beat while playing a simple broken bordun (using two mallets to play an alternating pattern between two notes) on an Orff instrument. Additionally, students will learn the “Do” and “Re” scale tones and the hand signals that correspond to each. Lastly, students will practice and prepare songs for their upcoming Special Persons Day.

In Third Grade, students will continue to refine their recorder skills, focusing on proper hand placement, breathing, and tone production. They will practice basic recorder exercises to improve breath control and note transitions. Students are encouraged to practice with their recorders at home to help solidify the skills they learn in school. As part of their Country Crest performance, students will work on their multicultural song repertoire, adding movement and expression to their performances. Additionally, students will continue to explore the concept of dynamics, practicing how to change volume and create more expressive performances.

In Fourth Grade, students will begin to learn the basics of playing the Ukulele. Starting with understanding the function of the instrument (what instrument family it belongs to), how sound is produced on the instrument and proper playing technique and posture. Students will be playing together in small and large groups. Additionally, students will begin to prepare for the Fourth grade play “Of Mice and Mozart” by learning and practicing the songs in class.

In Fifth Grade, students will begin to learn the basics of playing the Guitar. Building off their prior knowledge and learning of Ukulele last year, students will explore the similarities and differences between the two instruments. Students will learn proper playing technique on the guitar and play in small and large groups. Additionally, students will play in 2- and 3-part harmony on the guitar, developing and strengthening their part dominate playing. Lastly, students will experience 5/4 time signature.

To start off the month of January, students in PE class will be participating in a variety of winter/snow themed activities. We have a lot of fun activities planned which include snowman tag, ski jump tag, snowball mania, snowman takedown and build a snowman. Towards the end of the month, all students will work on their frisbee throwing skills. Students will have many opportunities to practice throwing frisbees while participating in games such as frisbee frenzy, another one bites the dust and 10 pin knock-down.

DASA seeks to ensure a safe and supportive environment for all students, free of discrimination, intimidation, harassment, taunting and bullying. If you are aware of an incident or have a concern, please contact one of us listed below. You will be asked to complete the BOE Incident Reporting Form (see "button" below for attachment).

Cristy Harris, Principal and KES Dignity Act Coordinator 763-7700 or charris@klschools.org

Kweon Stambaugh, Assistant Principal (designee) 763-7705 or kstambaugh@klschools.org

Jessica Fulton, Social Worker (designee) 763-7669 or jfulton@klschools.org.