Oakleigh Owl News
November 2021
A Message from the Principal
Hello Oakleigh Families,
Happy Fall! It is hard to believe we have reached the end of October and almost the end of the first marking period. I would like to start by thanking the Oakleigh PTA for an amazing Trunk-or-Treat event on October 14th. It is always an amazing event, but this year was by far the best! It was wonderful to see our students at a social event. If was wonderful to see students cheering each other on during musical chairs. The comradery was amazing to watch!
As you know, we continue to practice safety measures in the midst of the pandemic. To ensure that students remain safe, please be sure to send students to school with a mask each day. Wearing a mask is the greatest protection against the virus for elementary school students since they cannot be vaccinated.
The pandemic has impacted all of us in many ways. To better support our families, we now have a food bank. Families can shop weekly for canned goods, some toiletries, and frozen foods. Please look for monthly times on Schoology.
As a reminder at school will be closing three hours early on November 5th for the end of the marking period. Elementary Conference Day is November 24th. Teachers will be sending information at the beginning of the month for you to sign up for an in-person or virtual conference.
Students’ devices and chargers should remain at school unless directed by the teacher to take home or if your child is quarantined. We need the devices for testing. If you have lost or misplaced the charger, please let your child’s teacher know.
If your child is missing a jacket, please have them check the lost and found. We have a collection of coats, hoodies, and jackets that have been left in various places around the school.
As always, thank you for all you are doing to support your child’s education. We could not do this work without you!
Mrs. Metheny
OGE 3's and Pre-K
This month Preschool is learning all about fall! We are learning how apples and pumpkins grow. We are making so many fall crafts to help decorate our classroom and homes. We have been sorting by different attributes and using describing words for apples, leaves, and pumpkins. We also did an apple tasting! We tried 3 different colors of apples to find out which one was our favorite! We then looked at the lifecycle of a pumpkin. You can continue to talk at home about fall and how things change during the fall months.
Kindergarten
This month, in Kindergarten, we are continuing to build our school family and practice using our big voices to communicate and share with our friends😊
In math and reading, we are practicing counting and number order, reciting our alphabet, identifying rhyming words and initial sounds, as well as writing our letters and numbers.
We also enjoyed learning about our 5 senses, tools, and read about and researched animals, their habitats, and how they move.
Everyone is enjoying the beautiful Fall weather and playing outside with their friends!
Please remember to check and empty your child’s folder each night to see their great work and receive any school notices. Happy Fall to everyone!!!
1st Grade
In October, first graders read fiction stories and practiced retelling stories in sequential order. We also looked at elements of fiction, including characters, setting, and events. In math we practiced our addition facts within 10 and began working on subtraction facts. Students have continued to use their number racks and ten-frames to find ways to make 10 and they are becoming more familiar with the 100s chart and number line. This month we also started our first science unit! We have been observing the sun, moon, and stars in order to see if we can recognize any patterns. Please continue to read at home nightly and practice addition and subtraction facts. We look forward to learning new things in November!
2nd Grade
Second grade is working hard on their consistent classroom routines and also learning new stations, like word work!
In Math we are continuing to work on representing our problem-solving strategies using number racks, number lines, and math tools while we are solving addition and subtraction equations. We have also begun work with measuring and comparing numbers.
In Language Arts we are now working on Unit 2 which focuses on nonfiction texts. We are identifying text features and their purpose and the main idea and key details in the text. As we read more about living things, we will choose our topic for our research project!
Thank you, families, for your continued support!
3rd Grade
October has been a busy month for third graders! We wrapped up the first units in both Language Arts and Math and have begun our first Science unit: Mayfly Mayhem.
Students are reading fables, folktales, and myths in Language Arts. They are learning to analyze character traits and identify a character’s motivations through their words and actions. Students will also demonstrate understanding of how finding the key details of a fable leads to understanding the moral or lesson of the story. They will learn to construct a well-organized opinion paragraph and support their opinion with specific reasons. At the conclusion of the unit students will write their very own original fable!
In Math students are learning the foundation the supports the operation of multiplication. They learn multiple ways to show multiplication including repeated addition, arrays, number lines, and pictures. You can help at home by promoting multiplication fact fluency. The goal is for third graders to be masters in multiplication by the end of third grade.
Please remember to check your child’s take-home folder once a week for graded papers and important school events. Also, check in with your child to see if they need replenishment of school supplies. Pencils and crayons may need to be restocked. Thank you for all you do to support your third grader’s success at Oakleigh!
4th Grade
So much learning is happening in fourth grade! In ELA, we will engage in an author study on Kate DiCamillo. The students will interact with a variety of books by this author and compare similar themes within the stories. In math we will learn about multi-digit multiplication and early division. Please have students practice basic multiplication whenever you can. Students have access to First in Math through BCPS, which provides them with fun activities to help them learn their facts. Quick recall of these facts makes multiplication and division with larger numbers much easier. We will study the geography and economics of the United States and look at the lives of indigenous people in America and how they used the resources around them to survive and thrive.
5th Grade
Fifth grade has been working hard this month. In ELA, the students have been reading autobiographies. They also wrote about how different people collaborate to help others. In math, students have continued their number Corner calendar, where they looked at volume of rectangular prisms. The students also have been adding and subtracting fractions by using money and clock models. For science, they had a school-based field trip where the students did a Bio Blitz. The students looked at the biodiversity of our school yard. The 5th grade teachers thank all our wonderful families for their support in keeping our students healthy, safe, and engaged in learning.
FALS
This month in our Fabulous FALS classes, we have been learning all about ecosystems! During this unit we have learned about different habitats, the animals that live there, and different landforms. In math, Mrs. Mullen’s class has been working on counting and beginning addition facts, Mrs. Pappas’ class has been working on data and graphing, and Mrs. Cunningham’s class has been working on subtraction within 20. In science, we have all been learning about pumpkins! We have learned the life cycle of a pumpkin while also completing a variety of pumpkin experiments!
Alert!
Book Fair will be occurring November 15-19th!
Wednesday November 24th is Parent teacher conferences. Please see your child's teacher for information regarding conferences.
Spotlight on Library!
Hello, Oakleigh families!
It’s your friendly neighborhood librarian! I am so thrilled to be back in the classroom with your children. It has been wonderful seeing their smiling faces every day.
I wanted to share some of the important topics we have been discussing thus far, and what will be coming up in the next few months.
Across all grade levels, students are learning about Digital Citizenship – ways that they can be safe online while also having fun and positive interactions with others.
We cover several topics such as:
· balancing media and non-media activities
· cyberbullying
· strong passwords
· keeping games fun and friendly
· reliable vs. unreliable resources
· what information is private and not to be shared
These lessons not only apply to them now but will carry on into the future.
In the next few months, your children will be engaging in the following units of study:
Kindergarten -- fiction books, author studies, nonfiction books
First Grade -- making text connections, tangrams, visualization in stories
Second Grade – community pride, what makes great books great, cultural traditions around the world
Third Grade -- what makes you unique; poetry conventions; research unit on money earning, saving, and spending
Fourth Grade -- how to promote great books, online reading strategies, healthy media habits
Fifth Grade -- Newbery, Coretta Scott King and Schneider Award winning books; historical graphic novels, careers in STEM
One more thing: BOOK FAIR! We will be having a book fair during the week of November 15-19. We will be having evening events where families can come and purchase books. More details are coming soon! Keep an eye out on Schoology!
I look forward to continuing work with your children. Despite the uniqueness of the circumstances, I am proud of each one of them.
Mrs. Varounis
Social Work Corner
October is National Bullying Prevention Month.
More than 1 out of every 5 students report being bullied, according to the National Bullying Prevention Month (NBPM) campaign founded in 2006 by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. This might be happening to someone you know and care about.
"The campaign is held during the month of October and connects communities around the world to help prevent bullying. This past year, a worldwide pandemic and a growing movement for racial equity and social justice have highlighted the need to unite communities for a better future. It is more important than ever to join in creating a world that is kinder, more accepting, and more inclusive.
Take action at school, at home, in your neighborhood, at a local business, or in your workplace to show that you care about kids being safe at school, online, and in the community".
Are you interested in becoming an advocate against bullying? If so, visit Pacer's web site at https://www.pacer.org/bullying/.
Ms. Kersey
Oakleigh Elementary School
Website: https://oakleighes.bcps.org/
Location: 1900 White Oak Avenue, Parkville, MD, USA
Phone: 410-887-5238
Twitter: @ESOakleigh