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Message from the Principals

Dear South Families,

We hope this message finds you well! As December unfolds with its many activities, we’d like to take a moment to share some exciting and important dates with you.


First, parent-teacher conferences are just around the corner. Teachers sent out emails with sign up information last week. These meetings provide a valuable opportunity to discuss your child’s progress and address any questions or goals you may have together. If you haven’t signed up yet, please do so soon—we look forward to connecting with you.


We’re also thrilled to announce a fun-filled Gingerbread House Night sponsored by the PTO, as well as a holiday spirit week before vacation. In keeping with our tradition of giving....we will once again have our Toy Drive! This season of helping others is the perfect time to come together as a community and assist those in need. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated and make a meaningful impact for children. There are boxes in the front foyer to place the toys.


As winter approaches, please remember to dress your child/ren in layers. Classroom and outdoor temperatures can range from hot to cold throughout the day. During this month, our classrooms will be embracing the spirit of the season by learning about holidays and traditions from different cultures. These activities provide a wonderful way for students to learn about and appreciate the richness of diversity in our community. If any of you want to come in and share your own cultural experiences from the holiday, please contact your child's teacher and/or let us know.


Finally, a quick housekeeping note: our lost and found is filling up quickly! Please encourage your child to check for any missing items before the end of the month. We will be donating anything that is left in Lost and Found on Friday, 12/20.


Thank you for your continued partnership and support—it’s what makes our South Elementary School community so special!


Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season! Aloha, Steph Brown and Rebecca Hurley

Mark Your Calendars

Monday, 12/2-Thursday, 12/12-Cricket Council Toy Drive

Tuesday, 12/3-Thursday, 12/5-Scholastic Book Fair

Wednesday, 12/4-Pie Fundraiser Forms Due

Thursday, 12/5-NO SCHOOL for Students-Parent Teacher Conferences-12:30-7PM

Thursday, 12/5-Somerset Papa Gino's & D"Angelo's South Night, PTO earns 20% of sales from 4-9PM *Mention this fundraise in person or enter code 19 online.

Wednesday, 12/18-PTO Pie Pick Ups @ Library from 3:30-6PM

Monday, 12/9-Beautifying Committee @ 3:30PM

Wednesday, 12/11-Faculty Meeting @ 8AM in Jackie's Room, #8

Monday, 12/16-Holiday Breakfast for Staff from the PTO starting @ 8AM

Monday, 12/16-Spirit Week, Day #1: MistleTOES-Holiday Socks Day

Tuesday, 12/17-Gingerbread House Night with the PTO-5:45-7:30PM

Tuesday, 12/17-Spirit Week, Day #2: Festive Sweater/Shirt Day

Wednesday, 12/18-PTO Pie Pick Ups @ Library from 3:30-6PM

Wednesday, 12/18-Spirit Week, Day #3: Winter Wonderland Day: Wear Blue, White and Silver

Thursday, 12/19-Spirit Week, Day #4: Holiday Treetopper Day: Wear holiday hats, headbands, etc.

Friday, 12/20-Spirit Week, Day #5: PJ Day: Wear Holiday Themed or colored PJ's

Monday, 12/23-Friday, 1/3/25-NO SCHOOL-Holiday Break

Monday, 1/6-Welcome Back to School! Happy 2025!

From Our Amazing PTO!

Fun Run!

Thank you for all the support and donations during the Fun Run!

Funds from the Fun Run are used to provide transportation for all of the field trips booked for the 2024-2025 school year.

Your support is greatly appreciated!

The Fun Run raised: $12,371


In-School Scholastic Book Fair!

December 3rd-5th

Students will attend the book fair with their classes.

Book Fair will be open during Parent/Teacher Conferences

We are still looking for volunteers.

Use the QR code or link below for Sign-Up Genius to volunteer!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4DAEA929A5FFC34-53059277-december#/


Papa Gino’s Night:

Thursday, December 5, 2024

4:00PM-9:00PM

Somerset location

Online orders use code 19 at the payment screen.

Walk-in or phone orders: Mention this fundraiser when you place your order.

South Elementary School PTO will earn 20% of all qualifying sales.


Gingerbread House Decorating Night!

Tuesday, December 17th: Doors Open at 5:45PM

South School Cafe:

Hot Cocoa and Special Appearance-Santa!

$15 per gingerbread house kit (includes built house, icing and candies

Reserve your spot by 12/13 on Give Butter using the link or QR Code.

https://givebutter.com/gingerbreadhouseevent

Reservation required for admittance. Limited quantities.

This is not a drop off event. Children must be chaperoned.


Pie Fundraiser!

Pie Forms are due back 12/5

Pie Pick Up: South School

December 18th

3:30PM-6:30PM

*Pies not picked up will be donated*


Holiday Spirit Week!

Week of December 16th-20th

Monday: Mistletoes-Holiday Socks

Tuesday: Festive Sweater/Shirt

Wednesday: Winter Wonderland: Blue, White, and Silver

Thursday: Holiday Treetopper (hats, headbands etc)

Friday: Pajama Day


Chuck E. Cheese Fundraiser Night!

Monday, December 30th

3:00PM-9:00PM

412 State Road, North Dartmouth

20% donation of all event sales will be donated to South School.


All inquiries about any of the above events can be made to:

somersetsouthelementarypto@gmail.com


Why Do You Need Sleep?

Every creature needs to rest. Giraffes, little babies, elephants, dogs, cats, kids, koala bears, grandparents, moms, dads, and hippos in the jungle - they all sleep! Just like eating, sleep is necessary for survival.

Sleep gives your body a rest and allows it to prepare for the next day. It's like giving your body a mini-vacation. Sleep also gives your brain a chance to sort things out. Scientists aren't exactly sure what kinds of organizing your brain does while you sleep, but they think that sleep may be the time when the brain sorts and stores information, replaces chemicals, and solves problems.

The amount of sleep a person needs depends a lot on his or her age. Babies sleep a lot - about 14 to 15 hours a day! But many older people only need about 7 or 8 hours of sleep each night. Most kids between the ages of 5 and 12 years old are somewhere in between, needing 10 to 11 hours of sleep.

Skipping one night's sleep makes a person cranky and clumsy. After missing two nights of sleep, a person will have problems thinking and doing things; his or her brain and body can't do their normal tasks nearly as well. Eventually, it becomes impossible for the brain to give its directions to the rest of the body without sleep - the brain needs to spend time in bed and catch its ZZZs!

A good night’s sleep will help you be prepared to learn in school and for any other activities planned for the day.

Information obtained from kidshealth.org


This is an exciting, but exhausting, time of year. There is so much to do, so many places to go and excitement for so many. Keeping in mind that many also stress over money and feel so much pain, sadness if they have experienced loss. Many people experience great bouts of loneliness at this time of year. Please remember that we are all important and reach out to others if you can. Be a little extra patient in that long line, check in on your neighbors. Take time to take care of yourself too. Check below for some ideas!


https://breatheforchange.com/resources/supercharge-your-school-year/


Calming and Meditation Ideas


CHECK BELOW FOR SPECIAL HOLIDAYS AND DECEMBER AWARENESS DAYS.


https://jodidurgin.com/december/


REMEMBER WE ARE ALL SPECIAL, UNIQUE AND WORTHY. WE DON’T ALL HAVE TO BELIEVE IN THE SAME THING OR CELEBRATE THE SAME WAY TO BE UNITED AND KIND TO EACH OTHER. WE WISH YOU ALL A SEASON FILLED WITH JOY AND HOLIDAY SPIRIT.


AT HOME IDEAS

GRATITUDE JOURNAL


Create a gratitude Jar and put in something you are thankful for daily until the end of the year then read it all together.


Think of something you are thankful for before you step out of bed in the morning and it can help brighten your day.


Books:

A Little Thanksgiving Spot 🙏🏽 Thanksgiving for Kids Read Aloud

A Little Thankful SPOT | Learning Gratitude! | Thanksgiving Read Aloud for Kids


If you have any questions for the counselors and need resources, food or help with toys for the Holidays please let us know.


With Gratitude,

Mrs. Huard, LMHC

School Adjustment Counselor

Parent Resources

December Lunch Menu: please click HERE.


Click HERE for December Read Aloud Books for Elementary Students


Click HERE for a 100s Chart to help count to 100, add, subtract, and notice number patterns.


Click HERE for an Alphabet Linking Chart to help your child match sounds and letters when writing/reading.


Click HERE for Multiplication Charts to practice math facts or use for a reference.


Somerset Public Schools, SY' 24-25 Calendar: please click HERE

KINDERGARTEN

Although November was a short month, we packed in a lot of learning! We continue to learn more letters and sounds and are using the vowel sounds to begin reading and creating CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. We are learning beginning reading strategies such as look at the picture and point to the words using high frequency readers and will begin to transfer this knowledge into leveled and decodable readers. In math, we will be exploring, writing, and comparing the numbers 6-10. We have completed our Earth Science Unit where we learned about weather and seasonal changes as well as how sunlight affects our earth. We ended this month by learning how the first Thanksgiving was celebrated and shared things we are thankful for. We have begun sharing different versions of The Gingerbread Man and our December family project will focus on making gingerbread people and creating stories for them. We look forward to meeting with families at conferences and sharing all of your child’s achievements!

GRADE 1

Although November is a short month, the first graders packed a lot of learning into 15 short days! We completed our introduction to short vowels and are now using what we know about short vowels to help us read and write words with initial and final blends. We are working on writing stories with a beginning, middle, and end and at the same time learning how to summarize a story by telling the beginning, middle, and end. As mathematicians, we have been building our addition strategies (using doubles, the commutative property of addition, and fact families) to become more fluent with our facts. We have also become quite the family, cheering each other on...celebrating each other's successes and helping each other through the tough stuff. We e are incredibly grateful for each other and are looking forward to more fun together! We hope you all have a wonderful time with your families during our Thanksgiving Break and we hope you'll all have time to reflect on what makes you the happiest.

GRADE 2

Can you believe that it is already December… Where has this first trimester gone? We hope everyone had a restful Thanksgiving break! Over the past month in reading, we have looked closely at characters' feelings, motivations and intentions. Our interactive read alouds have had us exploring the natural world of bugs and insects and narrative nonfiction books. In phonics, we have been learning predictable vowel teams such as igh, oa, oe and ee. Our new focus is going to be on vowel teams ai, ay, oi, and oy. In writing, we have been working on adding elaborate details to our narrative stories. We learned to describe story critical characters, objects and settings. We will be working on adding entertaining beginnings to our narrative stories. In math, we have been working on Unit 3: Addition & Subtraction Within 100. We have been using number lines to help solve 2-digit addition and subtraction problems. Next, we will focus on posing and solving contextual problems involving 2-digit addition and subtraction. Our science mysteries this month focused on what's strong enough to make a canyon. We also worked on an at home disguise a turkey project to go along with an in class writing activity. We look forward to meeting with all of you on December 5, for our Parent Teacher Conferences.

GRADE 3


Dear Families,

The holidays are around the corner but our classroom is busy with learning! We have enjoyed some exciting events and look forward to more as we enjoy the earned Boosterthon activities. Math work continues with basic multiplication facts but also a renewed focus on multi digit addition and subtraction. Students have shown rounding and estimating to be a strength. The writing growth has been spectacular! Students are showing great stamina in writing more lengthy pieces and giggle with delight as we share our modeled narratives. We are ending our study of Early Settlers of Massachusetts and will move into our next science unit on Forces, Magnets and Motion. Our workshop model allows great exposure to different genres and texts during reading. We are fortunate to have Lexia back, please check with your student to be sure they are completing their prescribed units each week. We look forward to seeing you at the Parent Teacher Conference scheduled for December 5.


Sincerely,

The Third Grade Team


Grade 4

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are thankful to teach your child each day!


In 4th grade reading, we have continued to work on nonfiction. Our focus is on biographies and memoirs. We learned that biographies and memoirs are about someone's life, but a biography is written by someone else and a memoir is written about the author's life. Each student chose a biography to read. We learned where the person lived and what were the major accomplishments. In writing, we wrote an expert piece. Students enjoyed sharing their knowledge to others. In phonics, we continue to build our understanding of syllables and morphemes. In Social Studies we are continuing our study of Native Americans around the United States.


4th grade has been busy in Math with learning about different multiplication strategies such as Ratio Tables and Area Models. They have also been using manipulatives like base ten blocks and linear pieces to compute the area of rectangular figures. In Number Corner, they have been focusing on elapsed time and liquid volume.

In Science, they are finishing up the unit on Electricity and are moving onto Sounds, Waves, and Communication. This upcoming unit really peaks their interest because they will have the opportunity to create their own ways to communicate through codes and through the old fashioned paper cup and string!!

Grade 5

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are thankful to teach your child each day!


In 5th grade reading, we have continued to work on nonfiction. Our focus is on biographies and memoirs. We learned that biographies and memoirs are about someone's life, but a biography is written by someone else and a memoir is written about the author's life. Each student chose a biography to read. We learned where the person lived and what were the major accomplishments. In writing, we wrote an expert piece. Students enjoyed sharing their knowledge to others. In phonics, we continue to build our understanding of syllables and morphemes. In Social Studies we are continuing our study of the reasons for the Revolutionary War.


Grade 5 has been hard at work working on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. They have been able to use various models such as clock and money models to assist in their understanding of fractions and how they are represented. In Number Corner, we worked on figures on a coordinate plane, and their relationship with the previous figure, and converting meters into decimeters and kilometers.


We have had a lot of fun in Science learning about day and night patterns, the night sky and constellations, and the moon phases! They enjoyed carving the moon phases into oreo cream, but I think they liked eating the phases better!

Our next unit will keep us in outer space as we look more into the stars and planets.

Stephanie Brown
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