Armadillo News
Nathan Adams Elementary School
Welcome to Week 38
Our Mission and Vision
Our vision is to create an exceptional learning environmentthat produces remarkable students who are prepared to be successful and equipped to compete in a global society.
Our mission is to prepare all students to achieve the highest standard of intellectual, physical, and social growth.
Farewell Message from Dr. Renaud
To our students, wherever you future leads you, I will be cheering for you. I am looking forward to updates from your lives and seeing where your education leads.
I am on my next journey to an international school that is three times the size of Nathan Adams. I will cherish the memories well and wish each of you in the Nathan Adams family a peaceful journey filled with friends and family.
Congratulations on making it through another successful year, follow your passions, continue to support each other, and best of luck in your future.
Farewell!
Dr. Renaud
5th Graders Create a Children's Book about a Mathematical Standard
5th Graders Develop Stories
5th Grade Authors
5th Graders Use the Writing Process
Pre-Kinder Workshop
Joyful Ending: The Last Week of School
Although we hope that our students’ learning won’t stop just because school does, it’s good to help them reach a sense of closure during the last week of the year. A good ending leaves students with feelings of pride in their growth, a strong sense of themselves as capable learners, and excitement about the learning communities they’ll build during the next school year.
Here’s a handful of quick, fun, and easily do-able ways to achieve a good ending.
Read together
Look for read-alouds that pull children in with great stories while launching them into remembering their year of learning—both academic and social. (See box below suggested titles; also see Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year, American Library Association (ALA) Notable Children’s Books of the Year, and the International Literacy Association Choices Reading Lists.)
- Tell Me the Day Backwards, Albert Lamb, illustrator David McPhail (preK–1)
- Amos and Boris, William Steig, author and illustrator (K–3)
- Previously, Allan Ahlberg, illustrator Bruce Ingman (2 and up)
- The Kite That Bridged Two Nations: Homan Walsh and the First Niagara Suspension Bridge, Alexis O’Neill, illustrator Terry Widener (3–6)
After reading the book aloud, ask a question to build a bridge between the book and children’s memories of their year. For example, after reading Tell Me the Day Backwards, challenge students to share aloud or write about what they can do in math now, what they could do at the middle of the year, and where they were when the year began.
Welcome the Next Class
Sharing information with the incoming class lets students help others while also prompting reflection on their year together.
- Invite students to write to next year’s class (“Dear New Fourth Graders”) about the learning they can look forward to in various subjects. They can write individual or small-group letters or one whole-class letter.
- Create a class information book, PowerPoint, or video for the newcomers (“Tips for First Grade,” What’s Great About Third Grade,” or “Things You’ll Learn in Fifth Grade”). Each student can create a page or slide with two or three tips for you to assemble into a single book or presentation. Or students can each make their own small booklet or brief presentation.
- Save this information to share with your students next year at the beginning of the school year.
Look Ahead to Next Year
Moving up to a higher grade often engenders mixed feelings. Thinking in a positive way about the next school year can ease anxieties while building students’ sense of excitement about what’s ahead.Hold brief meetings at which students can share questions and concerns about next year. (Likely questions: “Who’ll be my next teacher?” “Can I come back to visit you next year?”) Students could also write down their questions; answer two or three of their questions.
Keep the Learning Going During the Summer
- Share your own reading list.
- Have each student make a summer learning journal in which to list the books they read, keep a diary of their summer activities, write poems or stories, work math problems, record science wonderings or nature observations, or note things they’d like to learn more about.
- Send each student home with a list of writing prompts.
- Stage an early classroom cleaning and gather books that are ready to retire along with any extra crayons, pencils, erasers, blank paper, and other supplies you won’t need next year. Send a book or two and a selection of supplies home with each student.
Talk about Summer Safety
Explain summer fun safety- staying home alone, don't swim unsupervised, listen to the adult in charge to stay safe.
Have a great week!
Check Out the Spring ACP Data-% Passing School/Feeder/District
This Weeks Highlights
NO SCHOOL-Memorial Day
Tuesday-
1st Grade Awards- 9:00
4th Grade Awards- 1:00
Pre-K and Kinder Field Day 8:30-11;00
1st and 2nd Field Day-12:00-2:30
Wednesday-
PK Awards- 9:00
2nd Grade Awards-1:00
3rd, 4th, and 5th Field Day 8:30-12:00
Thursday-
3rd Grade Awards-9:00
5th Grade Awards-1:00
Friday-
TEACHER WORK DAY
Kudos Go To...
Myers, Agbebaku, Holguin for a great workshop preparing parents for Kindergarten.
Nathan Adams Elementary School
Email: drenaud@dallasisd.org
Website: www.dallasisd.org/nathanadams
Location: 12600 Welch Road, Dallas, TX, United States
Phone: 972.794.2600
Twitter: @dorarenaud