4/19/21 Parent "Patriot Post"
Cedar Grove Elementary School
Home of the "Proud Patriots"
The mission of Cedar Grove Elementary is to grow our students into respectful, curious and productive citizens.
The PTO has extended the Yearbook Deadline!
Order One Today...
The yearbook costs $25, is soft covered and with all-color pages. Consider purchasing a yearbook during a year like none other. CLICK here for more information on our Lifetouch Yearbook.
All fifth grade students will be provided a complementary yearbook as a gift from our dedicated PTO! No orders are necessary for any fifth grade student.
Community of Readers - 2,603 Books Read So Far!
Higher Order Thinking = Higher I.Q.
This week I bring to you some information from ReadWriteThink.org on "How to Encourage Higher Order Thinking." Higher order thinking is associated with a higher I.Q.
"A main goal of educators today is to teach students the skills they need to be critical thinkers. Instead of simply memorizing facts and ideas, children need to engage in higher levels of thinking to reach their fullest potential. Practicing Higher Order Thinking (HOT) skills outside of school will give kids and teens the tools that they need to understand, infer, connect, categorize, synthesize, evaluate, and apply the information they know to find solutions to new and existing problems.
Families and out-of-school educators can play a significant role in encouraging higher order thinking with their kids and teens, even when having a casual conversation. Asking open-ended questions that don’t have one “right” answer gives children confidence to respond in creative ways without being afraid of being “wrong.” After reading a book together, a parent might ask their child a question such as: “If you were that character, how would you have persuaded Timothy to turn himself in?” rather than something like “What was the main character’s name in the book?”
Below are more examples of questions to ask your child to spark discussion, make them think critically, and encourage higher order thinking.
When reading a book:
“What do you think might happen next?”
“Does this remind you of anything from your life?”
“Can you tell me about what you read today?”
“Why did he/she act that way?”
When visiting an unfamiliar place:
“How is __________ similar to/different from __________?”
“Can you explain/show me that in another way?”
When making an important decision:
“How would you rank __________?”
“How do you imagine __________ would look?”
“What do you think a solution might be?”
“Why did you decide to choose __________ over __________?”
Try asking children and teens these questions at home and in a variety of educational and non-educational settings. Rather than just having a conversation, you can also ask your child to respond to these questions in writing. Be prepared to respond to your child’s answers with even more thought-provoking questions to continue to encourage higher levels of thinking, also opening up the lines of communication between parent and child!"
Help support healthy reading habits in our students by participating in our "Community of Readers" Initiative. Our goal is to read 15,000 books between March 1st and May 21st. Forward this newsletter link to friends and family to help us reach out goal -- One book at a time!!
Need support in helping your child find the "right" books? CLICK HERE.
To participate in our reading initiative, click on the applicable google link to share your book titles:
- Reading Log -- Google Form for Students
- Reading Log -- Google Form for Cedar Grove Families and Staff
- Reading Log -- Google Form for our "Extended Cedar Grove Family Members" (Community members as well as relatives of our Cedar Grove Families).
Click on our "Community of Readers" flyer for more information!
Parent Advisory Committee
Thanks to those who attended...
Ready 2 Rock Kindergarten
Upcoming Parent Workshop (May 3rd or May 4th)
Ready 2 Rock Kindergarten is a workshop targeting parents of incoming kindergarten students for the 2021-2022 school year.
During this virtual presentation, parents will learn ways to incorporate math into their everyday lives, learn about the phonics program, discuss and learn some multi-sensory strategies in order to strengthen and develop reading skills, and learn ways to ease a child's anxiety about starting school.
Parents will be given notes to the presentation, takeaways will be distributed and parents will be asked to complete a survey at the end of the presentation. During each session, the families who are able to attend the workshop will be entered into a drawing to win a special prize!
(You can attend any of the sessions offered.)
Click on the live link to access the flyer for the virtual Ready 2 Rock Kindergarten event.
Share Your April Photos...
April Photos to Share? Upload Them Here...
To share any fabulous April photos, upload them to APRIL SCHOOL SPIRIT VIDEOS.
April Enrichment Activities Calendar
Revised April Calendar!
Click on the Revised April Enrichment Calendar for the schedule and live links. Initial feedback on our enrichment classes has been positive, and we encourage students to take advantage of these opportunities! If students choose to attend an enrichment class, be sure to attend only at a time that is not previously scheduled with a classroom teacher, ESL teacher, basic skills teacher, G/T teacher or resource room teacher.
RWJ Barnabas Health -- Hope & Healing Workshops
Click on the links for Community Based Virtual Events
No Longer Need your Borrowed Chromebook?
Unused District Chromebooks
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Our Amazing PTO
Available to "Sub" In Our Schools?
20-21 Proud Patriot Calendar
Cedar Grove Elementary
Location: 173 Cedar Grove Road, Toms River, NJ, USA
Phone: 732-505-5830
Twitter: @TRProudPatriots