Lincoln's May Newsletter
Leading the Pack in Kingsport
We made it!!
Beyond reading this summer, we encourage all families to go out into the community and enjoy many of the fun things that our community has to offer to broaden our lion's experiences. Hikes in nature, visiting the library, gong to the Exchange Place, Bays Mountain among many of the things that Kingsport has to offer. Provide a balance for our kids with activities that are not connected to a video machine. Being outside, participating in parks and recreation, the Y or any other camp could be great fun for all our kids who participate. Helping our students experience different activities that broaden their horizons would be highly recommended this summer. Our kids are ready to soar.
We hope everyone enjoys a great summer where all students are continuing to read, experience new things, and build a strong community for the 2019-2020 school year.
Notes from the Nurse
Grade Level Updates
In kindergarten we are finishing up our study of animal habitats and their life cycles. We are starting our unit on weather and seasons. We will be looking at how the weather changes throughout the year. We will also be looking at how the changing weather affects plants and animals. Students are continuing to work on sight words and word family words. Please help your child review these words at home so that they can become more fluent in their reading. In math, we are still working on addition and subtraction within 10. Students are learning strategies to help them solve story problems, such as drawing a picture and using a number line. Students also are expected to be able to count to 100 by 1s, 5s, and 10s.
First Grade
First graders will continue learning about scientists. We will be focused on the character traits of a scientist. Students will write an informational piece using text evidence to compare and contrast two scientists by their character traits. Again, we will use a graphic organizer to help us plan our writing. Students will continue to write narrative stories in preparations for the writing assessment. For phonics, we are focusing on soft c and g as in city or germ. We will learn about silent letters at the end of words as in comb and fudge. Our language focus will be contractions and homophones. We will continue to practice capitalization and punctuation of sentences. In math, students will describe, identify, and compare attributes of 3-D shapes. We will compose and decompose 3-D shapes. Students will be able to relate 2-D and 3-D shapes. We will continue to extend the counting sequence, understand place value,
and use knowledge of place value to add 10s from any number (ex. 63 + 30 = 93) and subtract 10s from any number (ex. 72- 30=42). They will continue to understand, represent, and solve problems involving addition and subtraction. Students need to practice reading analog clocks to the hour and half hour.
Second Grade
Second graders will be learning about American landmarks and symbols during May. We will take virtual trips to significant places in the United States and create postcards to send that represent the sites we have visited. Students will recognize the significance of each symbol and how it represents our country.
In writing this month we will be focusing on narrative writing. Our writing assessment for the fourth nine weeks is a narrative. Students will also be writing about a trip that they have taken or one that they would want to take.
It is hard to believe that we are in our last month of school. This month students will be assessed on their reading skills using the DRA. The expectation is that students will achieve a DRA of 28 to be considered on grade level and ready for 3rd grade.
In class we are continuing to tell time to the nearest 5 minutes as well as understanding the difference between a.m. and p.m. Have conversations with your child about the difference between a.m. and p.m. as well as practicing using analog and digital clocks.
Students are in their final math investigation. They are expected to solve story problems, develop confidence with solving addition and subtraction within 100, and use representations to model and solve problems with 3 digit numbers. Students continue to engage in math problems and activities and share how they solve problems. At home, you can encourage your child to explain his or her math thinking. Let your child teach you their strategies. This will make them more confident mathematicians!
Third Grade
Wow! It's hard to believe the school year is almost over! We have worked hard in 3rd grade this year and are excited to see the growth in your children as students. As we wind down the year, please continue to encourage your child to read at home, work on their math facts, and put forth their personal best effort each day at school. We will be doing end-of-the-year assessments and activities right through until the last day ~ it is important that everyone continues to be at school on time and with a great attitude! Let's close out this year in a super positive way!!
Fourth Grade
Can you believe we are in the home stretch of 4th grade? In less than 4 weeks, your child will be a 5th grader. We are proud of all of the goals that each student has worked toward and reached this year. We will use each remaining moment to continue to master skills and prepare for 5th.
Math: Our students will extend multiplication and division strategies to work with larger numbers (up to 4 digit by 1 digit and 2 digit by 2 digit). They will use these strategies to solve multi-step story problems and interpret the meaning of a remainder. We will work on creating equations that represent stories including whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. Students will also continue to explore measurement and data including customary versus metric units, line plots, area and perimeter.
Science: We will be studying a variety of topics. Since the adoption of new science standards, some grade level shifts were made. For example, electrical circuits moved to 3rd grade, and your students moved to 4th. This means, they have missed the opportunity to learn this in the transition. We will look at some of these skills so that there are not gaps in learning for future grade levels.
Literacy: We will continue focusing on main idea, cause and effect, problem and solution, compare and contrast, and inferencing. We will look at tall tales as well. Our writing will focus on narratives, opinions, and informational.
Social Studies: We are focusing on the Wild West, the Transcontinental Railroad, and the causes of the Civil War. We are preparing students for 5th grade.
Thank you for your continued support throughout the year. We appreciate your attentiveness with homework and the reading log! Our students would not be able to reach the levels of success that they do without the teamwork that occurs between home and school. We appreciate this partnership with you during the 2018-2019 school year.
Calendar Events You Need To Know for the End of the Year.
May 8 & 9--Scholastic BOGO Book Fair--in Library.
May 10--Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon--invitation only.
May 14--FIELD DAY--more information will be sent home next week!
May 15-RAIN DATE FIELD DAY
May 22-Fifth Grade Promotion 9:00-11:00--Lincoln Auditorium
May 23-Kindergarten Promotion 9:00-10:00--Lincoln Auditorium
May 23--EARLY DISMISSAL-12:15 pm
May 24--NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS--START OF SUMMER VACATION
Safety Reminders for Daily Drop off and Pick up
For the safety of our students, staff, and any visitors it is very important that ALL individuals on our property follow the expected flow of traffic to drop off children.
- All cars either dropping off or picking up students to or from school must drive through the drop off/pick up line and stop at a designated spot before letting the child get out of/into the car. We have an increasing number of children in the morning getting dropped off in the parking lot to walk un-escorted to the cross walk. With a higher volume of cars in the parking lot it is not safe to drop off a child in the parking lot. Please take the extra minute or build it into your routine the time to go through the line and drop off with a safety pat-roller/assigned bay.
- If you are parking your car in a designated space and then walking through the parking lot with your child because you need to go to the office, that should be the only reason that kids are in the parking lot.
- Please stay in the singular line to drop off. We have noted a parent or two who try to create their own line in order to drop off their child faster. This creates a very dangerous situation for the children and cars in the drive way. No one has any reason to create a second line and endanger the safety of others. Please wait in line. Hitting a child is not worth the extra minute you may think you are getting to get to work faster when creating a second line.
- Our final reminder is to be mindful of the music playing in your car and the speed at which your car is going in the drive way. Many of our safety patrol students have talked to the adults out front supervising about how uncomfortable they are when a car pulls up with overt sexual or foul language blaring in the car from a song's lyrics. If you have that kind of music playing in your car, we ask that you pause it while you go through our drop off line. Also, be mindful of your speed. Slow is best.
Thank you to everyone for abiding by our procedures and expectations for pick up and drop off. It really is for everyone's safety.
Making Appointments With Teachers
Please do not swing by your child's classroom for a conversation about a concern or question during arrival. It makes it very difficult for teachers to give your concern the attention that it deserves in addition to keeping confidentiality of your concern.
To make an appointment with your child's teacher you can email the teacher to schedule a time, or see Ms. Kathy in the front office. Let her know the teacher you need to speak with and a number that is best to reach you on. Ms. Kathy will pass that along to the teacher and she/he will be in contact with you within 24 hours.