Castroville Elementary
December/January News
Quote of the month
Anne Frank
Grade Level News
Kindergarten
Welcome back!!! All the Kindergarten Teachers are very excited to start the second semester and hope the children are ready to learn so much more!
Reading/Writing- We will continue to work on blending our letters to make words. We will learn how to build sentences and use punctuation to express our writing.
Math- We will continue to review numbers 0-30 and counting from 0 to 100. We will continue learning about addition and how two parts make a whole.
Science- We will observe and investigate weather and how it changes over seasons. We will also learn about polar animals and their basic needs.
Social Studies- We will be discussing the importance of maps and globes along with learning the history of Martin Luther King Jr.
Responsible Kindergarten Children this month are:
Elizabeth Limon
Taytum Welch
Ziggy Dokes
Navey Lopachin
Kyndall Crisp
First Grade
Academics– What We’re Learning About
Reading/Language Arts/Writing: Students are working on blends within words. We have learned words with long vowels, plurals with CVCe words, contractions, and words with soft c, g, and dge. We are learning to become great storytellers and have learned to use our techniques to write stories. We are enjoying literature from different genres. We are also learning many grammar rules including using past and future tense in verbs.
Math: In math we’ve been learning how to use a hundreds chart as a tool to help us count and add.
Social Studies: We are learning about landforms and bodies of water. We also learned about how others celebrate different holidays.
Science: We learned about forces. We conducted investigations and discovered ways to move objects.
Fun Activities to Highlight-
Special Guests- December brought a special Science guest. We had Mrs. Sherrill come with some cool science experiments to discover light and did a lot of experiments.We even got to blow bubbles and make a mess!
Second Grade
Polar Express Play-A big shout out to the students for a great Polar Express performance. If you would like to order a play DVD, please return the form that was sent home with $5.
Gifted and Talented- All students in 2nd grade will take a GT screener test in the Spring. Testing scores will determine recommendations for GT testing. Your child can also be nominated by a parent or teacher.
What Are We Learning?
Math-Adding and Subtracting 3 Digit Numbers-Math Common Assessment January 9.
Science-Earth and Its Resources
Reading/Language Arts-Fiction/Non-Fiction, Sequencing, Rereading text, Long vowel spelling patterns Reading Common Assessment January 14.
Social Studies-Landforms, Physical Environments and Natural Resources
Third Grade
See you in 2020! We ended the semester spending time together watching our choir’s winter performance, seeing 2nd grade perform The Polar Express play, and enjoying the company of peers and teachers with our class holiday parties. Thank you for your generosity in contributing to the parties! We loved seeing the kids let their guard down and have a great time!
This month we focused on Empathy, which included considering the feelings of others before acting or speaking, using kind words and actions, and showing forgiveness. We are proud to announce our December Students of the Month:
Sittre- Easton Stone
Teague- Addison Arizola
Ortiz- Maci Haby
Pawelek- Callen Boyle
For the month of January, we will be focusing on Perseverance. The traits we will be looking for are: use your resources, show commitment, and ask for help when needed. Never give up!
Mark your calendars! First semester awards ceremony will be on Friday, January 17th, 2020.
Fourth Grade
Fourth grade had lots of amazing activities this month!
We attended the 2nd Grade play The Polar Express and the 5th Grade Choir performance. Both performances were enjoyed by all.
We also participated in the Sock and Blanket drive for the Medina Valley Health and Rehabilitation Center. We collected 151 blankets with 87 of them for men and 64 of them for women. Also, 182 pairs of socks were collected with 56 of them for men, 118 for women and 8 specifically for diabetics. What an excellent job!!!
During this last week before break, 4th grade held its annual Ornament Day, where each class rotated to each teacher and made various Christmas crafts. Students went home with lots of cute ornaments and made lots of fantastic memories.
Students in Ms. Tschirhart’s class and Ms. Livingston’s class also made gingerbread houses and were surprised on the last day before Winter Break with a special little visitor, Jumping Jack, a 7 month old baby kangaroo. That was a very unexpected special treat.
4th grade would like to congratulate Niamh McIntire-Cortez and Kadian Hunt for reading all 20 Bluebonnet books. We are very proud of you. It's not too late for others to join them. The Bluebonnet voting party will be January 30th. You may check with Mrs. Seuferer during your library time or specials if the specials teacher will allow you to come. You need to have at least 5 books read by January 17th to come vote.
4th Grade teachers would like to wish everyone a blessed 2020 New Year.
Fifth Grade
2020 is going to be a wonderful year of learning and new experiences as our students prepare for middle school. We are so proud of our 5th grade Honor Choir for such a wonderful holiday performance before the break. During January, we look forward to the Bluebonnet Voting Party, Semester Awards, and a visit from the middle school counselor to discuss electives and what to expect next year. We would also like to congratulate our homeroom class “Students of the Month.” Keep up the wonderful leadership!
5th Grade January Students of the Month:
Landon Krieger (Mumme HR)
Edward Butcher (Lyle HR)
Reesa Lowell (Summerlin HR)
Donnie Thompson (Tschirhart HR)
Ryan Phillips (Herrera HR)
Mia Villarreal (Rodriguez HR)
Physical Education
We hope all had a restful and relaxing break. We are excited to get back into the swing of things.
All PE classes have started off the new year with different variations of Dodgeball. In the next few weeks we will be teaching basketball skills such as dribbling, passing and shooting. We will incorporate games such as dribble keep away, knock out and bowling basketball where the students will use the knowledge learned and taught to practice and improve their skills.
Be on the lookout for information concerning our KIDS HEART CHALLENGE. Students will receive informational packets on February 10, 2020. They will have 2 weeks to go out and get donations to help the American Heart Association save lives as well as help us earn PE equipment for the gym. On Friday, February 28th we will celebrate with our event . More information to follow at a later date.
Music
The New Year is starting with fun exciting activities in the Music Classroom.
Kindergarten students are currently learning music in a meter of 2 and they're dancing to La Raspa. First Graders focus is developing their listening skills in order to follow the melodic movement of music. Second and Third Grade are exploring the characteristics of Baroque and Classical eras. Over the next weeks Fourth and Fifth Grade students will explore instruments of the orchestra and various orchestral terms.
(Jasmine Hurtado and David Holt are pictured dancing to La Raspa.)
Technology Applications
K-2nd will be using Google Interland to learn about online safety and security as well as Art Vocabulary and Techniques through draw3d.com
Reading News
Reading Comprehension is the process of understanding what you are reading. There are several ways you can help your child with Reading Comprehension.
1. Have your child read aloud.
2. Provide books at the right level. Children will not make progress if they are reading things that difficult.
3. Reread to build fluency. Practice reading like you are talking. Pay attention to punctuation.
4.Talk to your child’s teacher.
5. Supplement your child’s class reading. Have your child read topics that they are studying in class.
6. Talk about what your child is reading.
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” – Joseph Addison
Janet Boehme
Reading Specialist
Math News
Math is :
F: For everyone. Math is not just the study of calculations and procedures but also the study of patterns, visual images, creativity and connections!
U: Understanding patterns is the gateway for new and powerful knowledge to be created.
N: Numbers, and the creativity/ flexibility/and understanding of patterns within numbers, allows us to thrive as mathematicians.
A word from your math specialist!
Victoria Vielma
Student Council
Counselors News
Classroom Guidance Topics
January Goal Setting
February Kindness
We are so excited to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness month in February. Our Kindness Crew is working hard on planning campus wide activities to help promote kindness and compassion throughout our school and community. Stay tuned!
Our school supply closet has begun to dwindle. Throughout the next few months, I will add some "wish list" items to our monthly newsletter. If you are interested in donating any of the items, they can be dropped off in the counseling office. Items will be donated to students who are in need or teachers who may have run out of specific supplies.
We are currently in need of: boxes of crayons/markers, composition notebooks, folders with brads, shorts/pants/shirts for both boys & girls. We no longer need any jacket donations. Thank you for your generosity!
Office News
Construction has continued throughout the break in Building A with several more rooms becoming available to be utilized for students and staff. Construction is still taking place so please be mindful upon entering the building.
Calendar of Events
Jan. 7 - End of 3rd Six-Weeks
Jan. 17 - First Semester Awards
Jan. 20 - Martin Luther King Holiday
Jan. 24 - Student Holiday
Jan. 31 - Bluebonnet Voting grades 3-5
Castroville Contact Information
Email: cesnotify@mvisd.org
Website: www.mvisd.com/ces
Location: 1000 Madrid Street, Castroville, TX, USA
Phone: 830-931-2243
Facebook: facebook.com/CastrovilleMV/
Twitter: @CastrovilleMV