SASD 4K Family Newsletter
Grow. Play. Learn.
January 1st, 2024
What does the New Year mean to you? To us, it means fresh starts, the beginning of something new. We had a busy December in the SASD 4K classrooms and we have lots in store for the coming months! Students are learning about the farm and will move into learning about the jungle and desert. They are learning that letters have sounds and sounds make words. They are learning to share and take turns.
Celebrating the New Year on January 1 is a human-created civil event, not a natural, seasonal or astronomical one. And yet nature cooperates to make January 1 a satisfying time to start anew as the days begin to get longer again.
We want to wish you and your family well this 2024!
Erin Conrad, SASD 4K Principal
Sara Jane Lee, SASD 4K Coordinator
Mindy Holverson, SASD 4K Administrative Assistant
4K Calendar
No School Friday the 5th, 19th, and 26th. No School Monday, January 15th (District PD day).
Reports cards will be sent home the first week in February.
*See the full 4K calendar below.
Inclusive Supports
What to watch: Five Moore Minutes: How can we scaffold complexity
What to read: Inclusive Classroom Strategies
What to use: Access Points
INCLEMENT WEATHER
The decision to close, delay or dismiss school due to inclement weather conditions will be reviewed as early in the weather event as possible. The District Administrator will confer with the Supervisor of Transportation and his/her area peers prior to making a decision. The district strives to have decisions communicated out by 6 am to ensure parents/guardians have time to make arrangements for their child(ren) if needed.
This year SASD will be implementing a new practice for snow days by utilizing a 2-hour delay when needed. If a 2-hour delays occurs there will be no AM 4K. Please check the SASD Inclement Weather site for more information.
How to Receive Texts from SASD
If you’d like to receive texts from SASD, use your mobile device to text “Y” or “Yes” to 67587. If this is unsuccessful, most likely your phone number is not accurate in Infinite Campus. Send us an email at info@stoughton.k12.wi.us, and we'll help you out.
OWL Curriculum
January 2nd-5th: Unit 4/Week 3: In the Barnyard
January 8th-12th: Unit 4/Week 4: From the Farm to You
January 15th: No School Monday Martin Luther King Day
January 16th-18th: Unit 5/Week 1: Journey to the Jungle
January 23rd-26th: Unit 5/Week 2: Jungle Animals
Mat Man at Home Challenge
Join our #MatManAtHome Challenge by reusing items at home to build Mat Man. Find creative objects for his head, eyes, arms, legs, and more! Have fun!
For additional activities and online games, visit Mat Man World! Enjoy the Mat Man Song!
If you want to send pictures in for the February newsletter send them to your child's teacher or to sarajane.lee@stoughton.k12.wi.us
MATH
Check out these free Math at Home activities for fun at home. © 2020 The Math Learning Center (“MLC”).
The Pyramid Model
Tucker the Turtle
Click on the links for fun social stories and resources:
Updated Solution Kit: Home Edition
Siri Spider Selects a Solution
NURTURED HEART APPROACH
The Nurtured Heart Approach Vocabulary for the Kids:
Responsible "I can show my greatness by starting right away when it is time to clean up."
Determined "I show my greatness by never giving up, even when it is difficult."
Imaginative "I show my greatness by dreaming of becoming a builder, a parent, a teacher or a superhero."
I am full of Self-Control! “I show my greatness by walking in line, staying in my own space and keeping my hands to myself.”
Heggerty Phonemic Awareness
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
At school your child is engaging in Heggerty Phonological Awareness lessons. Over the next 6 weeks, your child will be learn to break a syllable into two parts. Onset-rime is one way to break a syllable apart. Onset is the first sound in the word and rime is the vowel and everything after. For example, in the word mop, the onset is /m/ and the rime is /op/. Your child will learn to blend (put together) and segment (separate) onset-rime, and this will help students as they learn to read and write words. Continued practice with phonological awareness is so important for your child’s growth in reading.
“Phonemic awareness has been shown to be a very powerful predictor of later reading success. In fact, [phonemic awareness] is a better predictor than more global measures such as IQ or general language proficiency” (Griffith and Olson, 1992). The phonological awareness activities below are oral and auditory language play to continue practicing rhyming, hearing sounds in words, as well as blending and segmenting onset-rime.
When having conversations with your child, consider using some of these activities with words and
language they are familiar with:
★ Say, “when words rhyme, we hear the same middle and final sounds. I will say two words, give me a thumbs up if they rhyme and thumbs down if they don’t.” place, space (thumbs up) pat, hop (thumbs down) dog, hog (thumbs up)
★ Middle Sound Roller Coaster: Have your child make a roller coaster motion with their hands as
they say the sounds in a word. Then have them repeat the middle sound they heard at the top of
the rollercoaster (for an example of this, visit https://bit.ly/3x7Rwx8 to see the “Isolating Medial
Sounds” on our youtube channel)
○ Example words: rAt hIm bUs gEt hOp
★ I spy! Say to your child “I spy something around the room. See if you can guess it!” and then give
them a word broken into the first sound (onset) and the rest of the word (rime). Have them blend
the word together to find what you spy!
○ c - ar → car p - en → pen b - all → ball m - om→ mom
★ Word chop! Say, can you chop these words apart into the first sound and rest of the word?
○ buzz→ b - uzz miss→ m - iss fun → f - un pool → p - ool
★ Songs to enjoy together - listen for rhyming words! (Check out https://mothergooseclub.com/
for more fun nursery rhymes to listen to and enjoy!)
○ Down by the Bay
○ Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
○ Hey Diddle, Diddle
How to Protect Against Cold Season
Healthy Bites: A Wisconsin Guide for Improving Childhood Nutrition
Do you what to know more?
• Watch the webcast about Healthy Bites...Developing and Implementing Nutrition Policies
• Complete the on-line tutorial
• Visit CACFP
Antiracism Project
Stoughton Food Pantry
520 S. 4th Street, Stoughton Hours
The Food Pantry hours are…
9:30am-2:30 pm Monday and Wednesday
9:30am – 2:30 pm and 4pm -6pm on Tuesdays and Thursday
1st Saturday of each month – 9am-11am
Call us today at 608-873-8103 to make an appointment
Need Assistance?
The Department of Children and Families
Resources to help essential workers, providers, and families navigate the child care landscape during the COVID-19 crisis- link
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Provides the latest information, data, and resources- link
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Considerations and guidance for schools and child care- link
Coming Soon 2024-2025 Enrollment
Summer 2024
Winter is here and with that comes thoughts of warmer weather and Summer EXCEL!
Summer EXCEL will be at Sandhill Elementary this year
Summer EXCEL will run for three weeks from June 10th-28th
The schedule for classes will be similar to the last two years of EXCEL
Course descriptions and more details will be coming!!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact jeff.eilbes@stoughton.k12.wi.us.
Contact us!
Kate Ahlgren, Director of Curriculum and Instruction kate.ahlgren@stoughton.k12.wi.us
Sara Jane Lee, 4K Coordinator sarajane.lee@stoughton.k12.wi.us
Mindy Holverson, 4K Administrative Assistant mindy.holverson@stoughton.k12.wi.us
Website: https://www.stoughton.k12.wi.us/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stoughtonschools/