Little Lancers Lowdown
“Where Learners are Grown with Pride!”
Dear Little Elba Lancer Families,
March is one of my favorite months, especially since it is a month in school when we focus a little more on reading. March is designated as National Reading Month - a month to motivate Americans of all ages to read every day. Reading is fun and has many benefits, regardless of your age. As I mentioned when I first began in this position, literacy is my passion - from learning about reading research and supporting teachers with professional development to finding my own good books to enjoy - literacy is one item that drives me daily! As I continue to support our teachers and students this year, I'm so impressed with what we have accomplished and focused on, especially in terms of literacy!
During the week of March 13th, we will celebrate with a week of reading, where students are invited to dress up each day that week, as well as complete reading logs! On Wednesday, March 15th the Elementary Student Council will be hosting a fundraising Read-a-thon, from 2:30-3:10 pm. Students interested in participating should fill out the permission slip that is sent home.
Over the past few months, we have seen an increase in referrals regarding respect. We have completed some reteaching with individual students and as a whole class during Character Education, however, we would greatly appreciate your support in talking with your child(ren) about ways to appropriately talk to both their peers and adults. Thank you so much for your continued partnership and support as we develop the best Lancer Leaders. Below you will see the Lancer Leader Expectations for your review.
Elba Elementary continues to celebrate our collective successes this school year and you will notice below just a small snapshot of what is happening here in the Elementary. As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns!
With Lancer Pride,
Jessica Cramer
Elementary Principal
As I mentioned last month, I was able to read to each classroom on February 1st. After reading the book, I challenged each student to choose one word that would help them be their best for the rest of the year. This bulletin board displays the words that were chosen! Great job Little Elba Lancers!
Congratulations to our February Lancer Leaders! These students demonstrated being respectful, responsible, and safe and were nominated! Keep up the good work!
Just a few pictures from our Gold Star Cafeteria pizza party! Congratulations to Mrs. P’s fourth grade and Mrs. Gillard’s and Mrs. Krajna’s second grade classrooms for being Lancer Leaders in the cafeteria!
UPK
Our Little Elba Lancers continue to grow each month. They are learning new letters and sounds, learning about Groundhog's Day and pets! During February, Valentine's Day and the In-School Snow Day were celebrated too! They were definitely busy!
Kindergarten
This was a very busy month with activities and learning in kindergarten. Between the 100th day of school and Valentine's day, our littles also participated in the In-School Snow day!
Our Kindergartners continued to learn more sounds! They also practiced more writing and phonemic awareness skills. They are building more and more words and learning so much. They are becoming little readers, especially in improving their fluency.
In music, our kindergartners learned how to keep a steady beat with rhythm sticks. Mr. Hirsch is definitely worked hard to engage our kindergarteners!
First Grade
First graders learned how to throw and aim in PE this month! I may have had to duck and cover when watching! We have some great athletes in the mix!
First graders also celebrated the 100th day of school and created 100th day projects! Our
#LittleElbaLancers are definitely 100 days smarter!!!
Second Grade
Our second graders worked in goal clubs this month. They chose to work in a group to help improve an area of their reading (using notes, increasing fluency, etc.) You could see them really working hard on becoming better readers! In phonics, they worked on learning word endings, including "-ing", "-es", and all of the sounds "-ed" makes at the end of a word.
Third Grade
Third graders continued learning about biographies. Mrs. Maher's and Mrs. Damasiewicz's students worked hard to read books about several famous people! Students continued reading and looked for evidence in their biographies to support a character trait! Each student chose a famous person and completed some research to find out all about their person. In March, third graders will transform into their famous person!
Check out these third graders and their STEM creations! They worked extra hard in library for Mrs. Bush for 4 classes and earned this STEM day!
Third graders also continued their learning of fractions this month. You could even see them working with Mr. Hirsch to practice the Elba Alma Mater song!
Fourth Grade
Fourth graders in Mrs. P’s room engaged in some productive struggle in math class this month engaging with fractions! You could see them work through some real life fractions and problem solve!
I was also invited to spend some time with fourth grade when their guest showed them all about different animals.
Fifth Grade
Miss Kreutter’s fifth graders engaged in some meaningful conversations when reading - including evaluating characters and discussing dialogue! Students also learned about precepts (a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought). Students wrapped up the book Wonder this month too!
Fifth graders in math class with Miss Mackee had a Beach day before President's Day Recess! They solved beach and trip-themed multi-step word problems. What a great way to head into break!
Fifth graders also discussed how acts of kindness and how our Little Elba Lancers can have a huge impact on Random Acts of Kindness Day. Students wrote on 4 hearts to an adult at school, an adult at home, a friend/classmate, and themselves. You could see students delivering their hearts throughout the day!
Our 5th graders continue to learn the ukulele in music with Ms. Hoffert! They focused on learning some new chords in February.
Sixth Grade
Our biggest Little Elba Lancers continued learning about equations, including writing and solving them. Miss Brewer also had students learn how to show the solutions to inequalities. Just look at the great work they produced. Their brains were working hard this month learning more and more complex math.
Members of Student Council also helped to plan the Elementary Reading Week. Be sure to check out the information below!
Dates to Remember
3.9.23 - Boston Walk-a-thon
3.10.23 - Superintendent's Conference Day - No School
3.10.23 - 3.12.23 - Musical
3.13.23 - Social Media Awareness
3.13.23 - BOE Meeting
3.13.23 - 3.17.23 - Reading Week
3.15.23 - Read-a-thon (afterschool)
3.15.23 - Page Turners Competition
3.20.23 - BEST meeting
3.24.23-3.25-.23 - All County @ Elba
3.30.23 - Tully's Boston Fundraiser
4.3.23 - 4.10.23 - Spring Recess
Please see the flyer for more information on the Social Media Awareness Event presented by SRO Deputy Young.
Attendance
If your child will be absent from school or tardy, please contact the Health Office at 585-757-9967 ext. 1240. You can leave a message any time of day or night. A written excuse must be sent when the child returns from an absence.
Parent Drop Off/Pick Up
A few reminders:
- Please do not exit your vehicle as it holds up the line of other drop-offs.
- If you need to help your child out of the car, please park in the parking lots and walk them up.
- Do not drive around other vehicles dropping their students off.
- Please encourage your child to get out of the vehicle themselves and go right onto the sidewalk.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
