Grundy Ave Elementary
~ February Newsletter 2018 ~
Dear Grundy Learning community;
Grundy is planning an exciting event for the beginning of March, called Readers Are Leaders day. Leaders from our community will be coming to Grundy to tell a little about themselves, read a book to a class and answer questions from the students about their jobs. This event goes along with the district’s initiative of instilling leadership in our students through the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and our requirements for our Civics curriculum. We have confirmations from our Superintendent Dr. Graham, Ed Romaine Town Supervisor, a police officer, animal therapy dogs, a sense, a children's librarian from Sachem Public Library, and many more. It should be a fun and informative day.
The 5th grade Grundy Spelling Bee was held on January 29th and the winner was Gavin Flynn and runner up Mariah Burton. The winning word was SYNTHETIC! and the kids were terrific! The district championship will be held February 7th at 4:00 at Chippewa Elementary School. World Read Aloud Day is February 1st where all of Grundy will spend some time reading aloud some great books. Make some time to read to your children as well. Random Acts of Kindness Day is February 17th. Let's choose kindness and make a difference! Kindergarten registration begins on 2/1. Information can be found on the website.
If you have not signed up for our email list for important information from the district, PTA and Grundy, please call the school and do so. Grundy is now “Green” and no hard copies of any notices will be sent home. All information can also be found on our website by going to www.sachem.edu and clicking on the schools tab and then finding Grundy.
The PTA has many exciting activities happening! The winter Box Tops contest is still going on so send those Box Tops in! The Father/Daughter Dance is on 2/12 at Villa Lombardi's. The next Family Connect Night is February 7th. No HW! So spend some time doing some fun things with your family. Send us some pictures! Stay warm, spring is not too far away!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Amato
Kindergarten News...
Kindergarten started off 2018 celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr & enjoying the “Teddy Bear Clinic. In conjunction with our nonfiction reading and writing unit, students learned about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Students read stories and worked together to identify facts about Dr. King. Students created crafts & wrote sentences about their dreams to make the world a better place.
Registered nurses from Stony Brook University Hospital’s Trauma Center visited the kindergarten classes for the “Teddy Bear Clinic.” The nurses provided education on bike and car safety. In addition, students dressed like doctors and nurses and gave their patients (stuffed animals J) first-aid care. Thank you to all the parent volunteers for your help. The students learned a lot of valuable information.
We are looking forward to the 100th day of school next month!
First Grade News...
Our new year has brought many exciting learning opportunities for our first graders! In ELA, we had a special visit from Lyle Cogan this month. Ms. Cogan helped our students to act out several Eric Carle stories reinforcing the use of good character traits. In science, we are learning about the Earth and all of its important features. In social studies, we learned about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We learned about his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Our first graders shared their own dreams to make our world a better place. We had an awesome time on our first out-of-school field trip this year when we went to see the play called the Elephant and Piggy Show. The students had a great time watching some of their favorite book characters come to life on stage in a fun and exciting way! We had a great time in January! We look forward to more fun and learning in February!
Second Grade News....
Second grade had a wonderful month bringing in the New Year! We were all excited to start 2018 off “write”. The students have been working hard on learning cursive writing. It has been amazing to watch each student take pride in taking their time to write neater. In writer’s workshop, we have been writing wonderful personal narratives. We have been listening to many memorable stories to help us think like a writer! Learning about Martin Luther King Jr., and Ruby Bridges helped us appreciate what we have today and reminded us to treat everyone fairly. We also enjoyed learning about the world around us and creating “Me on the Map” projects. In Spelling, we had so much fun building contraction words using elbow macaroni. In Math, we all enjoyed learning a subtraction regrouping song. Reading The Book of Mistakes inspired all of us to learn and grow from our mistakes. At recess, we really enjoy playing with our new board games! Thanks to the PTA for their generous holiday gift to the second grade teachers! It has been a great start to 2018!
Third Grade News...
The third grade classes have had a busy month! We have been learning about division by using manipulatives and pictures to model division stories and problems. We continue to work toward mastering our multiplication facts and have had some fun multiplication competitions against the other classes. We’ve also finished our Social Studies unit on the United States of America in which we learned about many of our national symbols including the Statue of Liberty, the Bald Eagle, the Liberty Bell and Mount Rushmore. Next we will be moving on to learn about China. We have also been reading and discussing books by Patricia Polacco. We have learned so much about this amazing author and illustrator. The children also had the opportunity to meet with a very special community helper, our local crossing guard, Mrs. Campo. Mrs. Campo spoke to the children about safety and told them about her job. The children were able to ask Mrs. Campo questions about her job and her role in our community. We’re looking forward to see what February has in store for us!
Fourth Grade News...
The 4th graders have been learning how to solve long division problems. This is a challenging concept and requires a lot of practice. Please continue to have your child review his/her multiplication facts, as this makes the process of long division easier. Math Antics (YouTube), has some great instructional videos to help your child if he/she is having difficulty with any homework assignments.
On Friday, January 26th, the 4th graders participated in a Native American program entitled “Journeys.” On this day, the students learned about Native American traditions, including games, stories, music and dance. They also explored a “hands-on” museum in which many Native American artifacts were displayed. To conclude the program, each student created his/her own clay pot. A fun day was had by all!
Thank you to all the families who participated in creating a longhouse to display in our hallways. We received so many compliments on the creativity and originality of each longhouse. Great Job!
Fifth Grade News....
It has been a very eventful month in 5th grade. Our classes visited the Federal Courthouse in Islip for a behind the scenes tour. Judge Bianco took us to the judge’s chambers where we learned about the judicial system. It was followed by a visit to the holding cells and then we even held a mock trial in an actual courtroom. We can’t wait to put this experience to use when we start the Trial of Goldilocks next month.
The annual fifth grade spelling bee was held on January 29th. We would like to congratulate all the finalists that got to represent their class on stage. After eight tense rounds in the finals, Gavin F and Mariah B emerged as this year’s 5th grade champions. We wish them the best of luck as they move on to the District Spelling Bee on February 7th.
We continue to be busy in the classroom as well. Our latest nonfiction writing unit is biography and each student got to choose a contemporary or historical role model. We look forward to doing research to learn more about the lives of these inspirational figures.
A story for Random Acts of Kindness....
News from the gym...
Grades K thru 2 are primarily focusing on basic basketball skills (dribbling, passing, and shooting). Over the next few weeks classes will be applying these basketball skills in fun lead up games.
Grades 3 thru 5 have also started a basketball unit. Not only have we practiced the fundamental skills, students have been learning more advanced concepts such as on & off the ball defense, triple threat position, and some basic game strategy. Classes will be moving towards an in-class 3 vs 3 basketball tournament later on in the unit.
News from the Nurse....
DID YOU KNOW FEBRUARY IS NATIONAL HEART DISEASE MONTH
Cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the U.S. According to the National Education Program (NCEP) guidelines, 50% of people who have a heart attack have normal cholesterol.
Here are some very interesting facts about heart disease…
1. We only need 10 minutes of brisk exercise a day to reduce heart attack risk by nearly 50%. Thirty minutes cuts the risk by 75%
2. There is a 50% reduction in heart attack risk 1 year after a smoker quits the habit.
3. Spending more than 4 hours a day in front of a computer or television can double ones’s risk of a heart attack.
4. While genetics plays a role, one international study found that 90% of the risks associated with heart disease are within our control (blood pressure, physical activity, smoking, diet). Small changes can make a big difference in your heart health!
5. Best way to survive a heart attack is recognize the symptoms, call 911, and chew (not swallow) an aspirin while waiting.
6. Recognize the symptoms: Over 70% of women have flu-like symptoms and NO chest pain at all! Others can feel chest pressure, squeezing or tightening that can radiate down the left arm, jaw or between the shoulders. Many people have nausea, indigestion, lightheadedness, sweating, shortness of breath and exhaustion.
7. Stress is considered an underlying factor in 70% of heart disease. Research shows that 1 single episode of anger increases the risk of a heart attack by 230%.
8. Best time to get to the hospital after the onset of heart attack symptoms is 1 hour. The typical time is 3-4 hours. The more time it takes, the more heart muscle dies.
9. Cardiovascular disease starts in your teens and 20’s.
News from the Resource Room...
Students in Resource Room used their problem solving skills to build a catapult to hurl a ping pong ball. The students were studying force, inertia and tension. Using materials like, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, binder clips, plastic spoon and piper cleaners. The story behind their creating was a Snowman needed more snowballs to help build other snowman. Fourth grade students worked together to build a device that could catapult a (snowball) ping pong ball the farthest. Students then had 3 trials and were able to make adjustments in order to increase their distance. Overall winner was 89 feet! Learning is fun with S.T.E.A.M.!
News from the Music room....
Congratulations to the fabulous musicians that sang at the Seawolves game! You were wonderful and it was fun being in the audience with you!
This month our talented musicians will be participating in Sachem’s Elementary Music Festival. Congratulations to Ariana Morales, Sophia D’Elena, Ryan Rosario, Krish Rajan, Michaela Bergs, Ailish Bergs, Brooke Capuano, Gianna Erbis, Brianna Gabrielli, Nadine Scharff, Madison Parchen, Aidan Musicaro, Joseph Marotta, Sarah Golden, Mia Trepiccione, Jenna Marchese, Aidan Cisco, Joseph Johnson, Dominic Torquato, Jonathan Blatt, Sean Barker, Thomas Giannotti, Hailey Zambriski, Lilliana Kubacki, Ella Fleischman, Sahir Nafi, Gavin Flynn, Madison Fenster, and Javier Mcintosh on being selected to perform with the best musicians of our district!
Also, congratulations to Aidan Musicaro on being selected to sing in the Suffolk County Music Teacher’s Education Association All County Chorus! Aidan will be singing with the best musicians of Suffolk County and Grundy is incredibly proud of you.
News from the Art room...
The Fifth Grade is currently working on two exciting projects that are encouraging them to use their imagination and creativity. The first is a project based on “3 Rules”. Each class developed three rules focusing on the elements of art. The classes then swapped rules with another class and had to develop a piece of art based on the three rules they receive. The students are currently developing their work, and can’t wait to display what they created!
Also, the fifth graders are diving into some graphic design on computer using pixel art. Pixel art is where an image is created using little boxes, just like Minecraft. The students are creating a Lego Self-Portrait. They are in the developing stages, and can’t wait to delve into creating their images in the computer lab.
News from the Speech Department...
This month in Speech and Language the 4th and 5th graders are learning all about inferencing. We have learned a special equation (Clues from the text + What I already know = Inference!) This has helped us to interpret information, answer story specific questions and make predictions.
This is Jake using our inference equation to find a deeper meaning in the text provided.
News from the Reading Room....
Our reading students have access to i-ready at home. Please encourage your child to utilize this valuable website at home. It hones in on specific weaknesses and motivates learners with engaging, interactive lessons that are tailored for each grade level.
Grundy Ave School
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Email: lamato@sachem.edu
Website: www.sachem.edu/grundy
Location: 950 Grundy Avenue, Holbrook, NY, United States
Phone: 631-471-1820
Facebook: Facebook.com/GrundyAvenueElementarySchool
Twitter: @GrundyAve