April 2023 Classroom News
Norman Binkley's Monthly Grade Level Update
Pre-K News
Our PreK children are blossoming anew as we begin our new study on gardening. In this new study children will develop new vocabulary as we do a few hands on experiments using seeds and soils. We are recording our findings in our journals along with our observations during springtime garden walks. In our discovery center we have plants that are edible, plants that have strong smells along with different colors and textures. In math we will be sorting plants and plant features into various categories. Come and see our garden art and creative writing in our PreK hall!
Kindergarten News
Hello awesome kindergarten families! March was magnificent as we continued our module on “America: Then and Now”, learned about flat and solid (2D and 3D) shapes in math, and strengthened our foundational reading and writing skills; students are reading and writing full sentences and short paragraphs, which is amazing! We also had such a fun time on our field trip to Historic Travellers Rest! Students solidified their knowledge of how life in America has changed over time and we hope your students told you all about the trip when they got home! We are working hard to finish the year strong; look below to see everything that we will be learning and doing in April-
ELA
· reading and writing sentences and short paragraphs
· describing how life has changed over time and writing informational pieces
· writing our opinion about a topic
Math
· identify different coins and their values
· counting and creating collections of objects
Social Studies
· describing familiar people and places in our community
· identifying community helpers
· understanding maps and globes
Science
· understanding seasons and types of weather
· describing traits of the Earth
We are quickly approaching the end of this school year and have been working hard to prepare for first grade. Please continue talking with your students about what they are learning and have them show you their different knowledge and skills! Let us know if there are ever any questions or concerns. We are looking forward to an amazing April!
Love,
The Kindergarten Team
1st Grade News
Hello and Happy April!
A few quick notes—Thursday, April 6th and Friday, April 7th will be NO school for students. Enjoy the break
On April 17th, we will take a field trip to the Nashville Children’s Theatre to see Hip Hop Cinderella. Be on the lookout for more communication from your child’s teacher. The cost of the trip is $10 so please send that and the signed permission slip to school as soon as possible.
In ELA we are continuing to learn about the powerful force of the wind and how people respond to it. We are writing about how powerful the wind is, and we are also learning about how to write narratives. It has been fun to hear the students’ creativity in the narratives!
We are continuing to learn about irregular spelling patterns in our phonics. We are learning about all the ways that the /s/ sound can be made. We will be reviewing and preparing for our FastBridge assessment that is coming in May!
In Math, we are wrapping up our unit on measurement and will move back to solving word problems as well as learning about time and money.
We appreciate all you do, and as always, please reach out if we can help you in any way
Warmly,
The 1st grade team
2nd Grade News
Hello 2nd Grade Families!
We are thrilled that Spring has sprung! We are looking forward to longer, sunny days! April is so close to the end of the year, but we still have a lot of school left. Please remind your students to keep trying their best until the last day of school!
ELA: We are continuing to work hard on Module 3 in Wit and Wisdom. We are continuing to learn about Martin Luther King Jr. and Ruby Bridges. This month, we will learn about another Civil Rights hero, Sylvia Mendez and her family. We will have class discussions and write narrative paragraphs about how these heroes responded to injustice.
Math: In Math, we will start Unit 8. Students work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication. We will determine whether a group of objects (up to 20) has an odd or even number of members. We will also learn how to write an equation to express an even number as a sum of two equal addends.
Science: For science, we have begun to learn about the life cycle. We are learning specifically about the life cycle of butterflies and are watching them grow from a tiny caterpillar to a beautiful, Painted Lady butterfly!
Social Studies: Our students will learn about the different cultures and traditions in countries such as China, Mexico, Ireland, and India. We will also learn about American cultures and talk about the traditions we celebrate here!
3rd Grade News
Hello Third grade families! We CANNOT believe we are in April! Time flies when you are having fun! April will be a super busy month for our third graders as we prepare for TN Ready and then take TN Ready at the end of April. During this month of testing and test review, we ask that students get a good night's sleep and come to school rested and prepared to go above and beyond as they show what they know! We will be reviewing what we have learned this year in order to prepare for TN Ready. 🙂
4th grade news
During April in 4th grade we will be focusing on preparing and taking the TN Ready test in math, ELA, and science! We have grown so much this year, and we're so excited to see all of our hard work pay off.
Here are some ways you can support your child to do their best on the test this month:
- Monitor your child's bedtime so that they get enough sleep every night
- Make sure your child eats a good breakfast before school, or gets breakfast in the cafeteria when they get to school each day
- Talk to your child about what they will do to meet their goals this month. Every 4th grader has individual TN Ready goals they can discuss with you at home
- Encourage growth and hard work instead of perfection at home 🙂
If you have any questions as we begin to prepare for TN Ready, feel free to contact your child's teacher! We can't wait to show everything we've learned this year!!
5th grade news
ELA: Students have been loving our Module 3 text entitled, "The River Between Us". This story follows 3 generations of Americans who have a legacy through the Civil War, and intertwines African American and New Orleans culture as diverse characters meet and work together throughout the war. We dove deeper into Civil War history during our field trip to Ft. Negley in downtown Nashville!
This module also focuses on the key factors that led to the American Civil War, primary and secondary sources, informational texts, and points of view. In writing, we will focus on opinion writing by learning the structure and practicing writing opinion paragraphs and essays. In PLT, we are reviewing test-taking strategies, all 3 types of writing, and practicing passage questions to prepare for TN Ready!
Social Studies: We just wrapped up the Cold War, and are now studying the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. We are focused on social and political change that came with new laws seeking equality and justice for all.
Math: As we prepare for TN ready, our Math blocks are buzzing with new learning and review. Our current unit focuses on shapes on the coordinate plane. Students really enjoyed plotting numbered pairs on a coordinate grid. Students also continue to study two-dimensional shapes and their attributes, adding on to content that was learned in the 3rd grade.
Science: Our 5th graders rocked our quarter 3 benchmark in Science. Throughout quarter 3, students learned about plant and animal adaptations and how those adaptations help with the survival of that species. Students also learned that most traits are passed down from parents and that different individuals can have different traits.
Counselor's Corner
In Classroom Counseling, we are fostering Healthy Friendships and brainstorming healthy coping skills. In our Binkley school-wide Huddle this month, we focused on Resilience.
We learned that we can bounce back after overcoming challenges by having a positive attitude, asking for help, working towards goals and using healthy coping skills.
Each Huddle group worked together on different projects on Resiliency!
These photos capture the special time together. As a school community, we were able to think of our own goals and how we can support each other in reaching them.
We are continually blessed by our students!