Orchard Hills Updates
December 2016
Prevo's Points
Orchard Families,
The end of first semester is quickly approaching. Hard to believe it is December already. The month of December will bring a lot of excitement for kids. Our hope is that we can find ways to enjoy this time of year while still focusing on learning for all of our kids.
Over the past couple of months, and moving forward for a couple of more months, our faculty has been considering the question, "Why does Willard Orchard Hills exist?" We have and will continue to have dialogue about this essential question as we seek to have a very clear sense of our purpose as a school. We hope that this clear sense of purpose will help to guide our efforts and decisions in the years to come. No doubt there will be some amazing dialogue and thoughts from our teachers and staff. As we come to consensus around key ideas I will be sharing those with you. Please stay tuned!!
We will have class parties and our December Tiger Pride Assembly on Wednesday 21st. Parties will be from 9:00--10:00 with the Tiger Pride Assembly immediately following from approximately 10:05--10:35. Students will be dismissed for the day at 12:30.
Looking forward to a great month,
Dr. Prevo
Grade Level Updates
Kindergarten News
Veteran's Day Assembly
1st Grade Happenings
We have been keeping very busy in first grade! We are becoming experts on distinguishing between fiction and non-fiction books in reading and at comparing and contrasting books on a like topic. In writing, we have been practicing putting our knowledge to work by writing non-fiction books. In math, we are learning how to add multiple addends together to find a sum, as well as to determine unknown addends. We are looking forward to learning about maps in social studies over the next few weeks.
2nd Grade News
2nd Grade has been learning and growing. We are using what we know to expand our minds and increase our depth of knowledge. Specifically, here's what we are studying in each subject area.
MATH- math strategies, new and old, to compute addition within 20 and deep thinking, 2-step problem-solving. Next up, subtraction!!
READING-we are applying strategies we know to help us decode words and word meaning
WRITING-non-ficiton, informational books We are writing chapter books to teach our friends and family about something. These will include a Table of Contents and cover page. We are excited!!
SCIENCE- scientific process and steps of the scientific method to perform experiments. The catapult experiment we did in class was especially intriguing for their minds.
SOCIAL STUDIES- studying & comparing Native American tribes
How can you help at home? READ, READ, READ! Practicing reading at home will enhance your student's success in EVERY subject!! Thanks for supporting your second grader and for giving us the opportunity to pour into them throughout the day.
3rd Grade PAWS Award Winners
Art Club during Tiger Pride
Veteran's Day Breakfast
3rd Grade
Writing - Students have started a unit on Informational Writing. They will be working on this type of writing for the rest of the quarter. The students will get to show all that they know about some great nonfiction topics.
Math - Third graders have been working hard at learning our multiplication and division facts. We are beginning to apply these concepts to find the area of shapes using square units.
Social Studies - We have been learning about the three branches of government. In the next few weeks we will begin to talk about our state and local governments.
Technology - Students have been enjoying publishing some of their writing using our classroom Chromebooks, as well as, using Chromebooks to practice their math facts during our Math Daily 3.
4th Grade Update
4th Grade had a great time at our Children’s Literature Festival. We enjoyed hearing the authors speak and learning about how they get their ideas and create their books. Our hope is that our 4th grade students will be inspired to try some new ideas in their own writing.
In Reading we will continue to focus on non-fiction texts. We will continue finding the main idea, supporting details and writing a summary. We will also be looking at text features. In Math Topic 6 and Topic 7 are shorter units of study. In Topic 6 we will be interpreting comparisons for addition, multiplication and division problems. We will be finding the hidden question and work on solving those multi-step word problems. Topic 7 is finding factors and multiples. We expect to have both Topics completed before we head to Christmas break.
A big part of Writing and Social Studies for December will be spent on our Famous Missourian Projects. We wanted to remind you of our “Save the Date” on December 20th. Students will be showcasing their Famous Missourian that afternoon from 2:40 – 3:20. We hope you can come by and see the final product of your student’s hard work.
Our 4th grade musical will be on December 8th at 7:00 PM. We hope to see you there!
November Attendance Data
Calendar of Events
December 8-- 4th Grade Musical
December 13-- WOHE PTO Meeting
December 21-- Classroom Parties 9:00--10:00 a.m.
December 21-- December Tiger Pride Assembly 10:05--10:35 a.m.
December 21-- Half Day for Students. Dismissal at 12:30 p.m.
Willard Orchard Hills Elementary
Email: garrettprevo@willardschools.net
Website: www.willardschools.net/Domain/15
Location: 4595 W Farm Rd 140, Springfield, MO, United States
Phone: 417-869-0600
Facebook: facebook.com/WillardOrchardHills
Twitter: @WOHETIGERS