Third Marking Period Newsletter
Thomas G Connors Elementary School
A Message from Principal Addi
Dear Connors Families,
We had such an incredible 3rd marking period and we have so much to be proud of! Our Connors family has continued to advance and flourish academically, socially and emotionally, while creating beautiful life long memories filled with magical experiences at school.
Your child's report card is now available for you to view in the OnCourse parent portal. In addition, in your child's backpack is a letter with information regarding the spring K - 2 Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA 3) and directions on how to access your child's spring ELA and Math linkit scores.
I hope you enjoy a recap of so many of our 3rd marking period learning activities and special events! As always, please don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything.
All the best,
Principal Addi
3rd Marking Period Celebrations
100th Day of School
On Wednesday, February 15, we celebrated the 100th day of school! The students participated in several fun classroom activities to mark to occasion. As a school, each student was able to record reasons why they love Connors School or specific reasons why they love their current grade on a heart-shaped sticky note. They then came down to the gym as a class and added their notes to a grade-level 100 banner.
Valentine's Day Friendship Bear Exchange
We had our Friendship Bear Exchange on Valentine's Day to celebrate how much we all care for each other! Each child gave and received a Friendship Bear with a caring card from one of their classmates. Our School Resource Officers, Officer Fesken and Officer Willie, taught our students lessons on friendship. "How can I be a great friend to others?" I want to send out a huge THANK YOU to our Hoboken Police Department and Connors PTO for sponsoring the friendship bears!
Pep Rally
We held our Pep Rally for the second marking period! Students celebrated their second marking period ACCOMPLISHMENTS with awards for characters, academic effort, perfect attendance, and student of the month. Grades 3-5 received Honor Roll Certificates, and Grades K-2 received awards in Art, Mandarin, Physical Education, Music, and Science! Apart from receiving awards, the students also engaged in some fun basketball games and snowman-building challenges!
Black History Month Celebrations!
Across the country, teachers and students celebrated Black History Month to shed light on important African American figures throughout history and the challenges and triumphs they have faced in their quest for equality and justice. As a school community, we celebrate African American visionaries within our classrooms and research the life and legacy of those men and women who have paved the way for change. It is our responsibility to learn and continue to honor the visionaries by living our lives responsibly to continue the quest for equality. As a class, students researched African American Visionaries and decorated their classroom DOORS with information about the Visionary’s life and the impact they have had on society in their quest for equality and justice. Over the past two days, students had a chance to present their research to another class as well as be an audience and hear information about another visionary.
We could not be more proud of Journey Goodwin, Niley Freeman, and Nahla Lisa, who were honored at our district's Black History Month Celebration. Journey read The Hill We Climb, by Amanda Gorman. Click on this link and watch the video, and you will be so impressed! Nahla Lisa and Niley Freeman were honored for their artwork inspired by African American artists. Nahla Lisa studied Jacob Lawrence, an American painter known for painting stories and experiences of African Americans during the civil rights movement. Niley Freeman was inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat, known for his unique drawing styles of important African American figures.
Read Across America
Principal Addi brought in her HENS Marshmallow and Mustache to read "Principal Tate is Running Late" to all of the classes! Officer Fesken, Officer Willy, and Officer Chris came to read to our classes. Various grade levels got together for "Book Buddies" to read to each other!
CONNORS RECREATIONAL BASKETBALL PARADE and LEAGUE
We celebrated our Connors 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Recreational Basketball Teams with a Clap It Out Parade through the hallways of Connors! Our Connors 3rd, 4th & 5th-grade basketball teams all did amazingly well this year! Congratulations to the players and volunteer coaches for a great season! Here is a recap video from the 3rd Grade final game played on 3/15 and our Connors 3rd-5th Grade Basketball Team Parade Video from school today.
CONNORS VOLUNTEER WEEK AT THE HOBOKEN SHELTER
Our first-ever Connors Volunteer Week at The Hoboken Shelter! We are so proud of our students and families for volunteering. The Connors Community is the BEST!
Saint Patrick's Day Fun at Connors!
Congratulations to our Students of the Month!
Grade Level News
Kindergarten News
Readers Workshop:
Kindergarteners are readers! KOALIFIED Kindergarteners have mastered so many skills this marking period. Kindergarteners can identify almost all the letters in the alphabet and their sounds. Students can also identify their sight words, use them by writing delicious, detailed sentences, and read them in books. We are so impressed! During this marking period, Kindergarteners have continued to practice many strategies while reading. Students made predictions while reading and confirmed their predictions. They also determined the problem and solution in a story and sequenced events. Kindergartners could also identify facts and opinions when reading the story Zoo Borns. We cannot believe the third marking period is over, and we are excited to see all the incredible work our KOALIFIED Kindergarteners will produce in the fourth marking period.
Writers Workshop:
This quarter in kindergarten, we continued using our writer's notebook. We wrote text-to-self responses about each big book. We also wrote reading responses about each story in our notebooks. Students continued to learn and perfect their sentence-writing skills! We also completed a BIG writing project this quarter! We wrote a personal narrative about our favorite places in Hoboken. Our writing is going to be turned into a real class book! We started by discussing narrative writing and brainstormed many places in Hoboken! We made a huge class anchor chart filled with Hoboken locations, including parks, restaurants, stores, and more! We each picked three of our TOP favorite places in Hoboken and thought of three details about each. We then worked with our teacher to pick the best location for our writing. We worked really hard filling out a graphic organizer. We wrote about our main idea, story details, and a conclusion on the graphic organizer. Then we used our graphic organizer to write a rough draft. We used our writer's checklist to revise and edit it. We had peer review days when our friends helped us improve our writing! Finally, we had a writing conference with our teacher. After all that, we got to write our final draft and fix all of our corrections while writing. Then once we had a perfect paper, we rewrote our final draft with A PEN on the special book paper! We also drew a picture of our story and colored it with markers. Our teachers mailed our work right before spring break so our writing could turn into an actual real book! We worked our hardest and tried our best! We had an author celebration too! Each student was able to read their story to the class. We are writers and cannot wait to finally become published authors!
Math:
Kindergartners learned so much math during this marking period. Students learned addition, subtraction, using a number line, and how to create a story problem. Kindergartners participated in Math Monsters, Gum-ball Addition, Crayon Addition, Candy Jar Subtraction, and many more! Students learned new center activities such as Build and Remove, Roll and Record 3, and Double Compare.
Social Studies:
Students have been learning about Women’s History Month during Social Studies. We have focused on Hellen Keller and Jane Goodall. We completed an animal project when learning about Jane Goodall. Students choose their favorite animal and presented it to the class. When learning about Hellen Keller, students completed an I won’t give up the project. It was amazing to hear about times in the children's lives when they were brave and didn’t give up. We focused on Betsy Ross and Susan B Anthony. We listened to read-alouds about both women to understand their background and their contributions. Students read and answered questions about both women as well as completed a writing task. Students wrote an interesting fact about each woman and drew pictures to match their writing.
Students completed activities that helped them to build classroom community among their classmates. We focused on what it means to be a good friend. Students listened to a read aloud, “Kindness Makes me Stronger” and discussed nice acts they heard throughout the book. Students then thought of nice things they could do/say to each other in the classroom. We created compli-mats where students went around the room and wrote kind things about their classmates. Afterwards we were able to share these with the class. It was a great bonding experience for our students
Science:
During marking period 3, Kindergarten studied a unit on weather. Students observed and described different kinds of weather and weather patterns over time. We also focused on the four seasons. Next, classes learned about different tools for measuring weather, including thermometers, windsocks, and weather vanes. We also learned all about meteorologists and what their job entails. Students learned about the characteristics and causes of storms and severe weather. All classes also participated in a virtual lesson presented by the Veolia water company. Our guest instructors taught students all about the water cycle.
After wrapping up our unit on weather, students moved on to our PLTW unit, called Animals and Algorithms. The unit is all about computer programming and coding. First, we learned that computers have their own language called coding, which is how people communicate with computers. Coding is how we can create software and apps to help solve problems. Next, students applied their prior knowledge of the needs of living things to play an animal maze game, which required students to program an animal to move to its food, eat the food, and travel to shelter. Kindergarteners used their tablets and an app called ScratchJr, a programming tool that students will use to create their own interactive stories and projects. Kindergarteners are currently working on a project called, The Matching Game, where students are using the design process to design a matching game using ScratchJr. Each student will select animals with different starting letters and program the animals to move to their corresponding letter.
First Grade News
Throughout marking period 3, students worked so hard learning new phonics, grammar, reading, and writing skills. Students have made so much progress since the last marking period. Students have completed their spring assessments, which showed a ton of growth. In phonics, we have covered all long and short vowel sounds. We have learned different spelling patterns and rules. So far, we have covered diphthongs, r-controlled vowels, and digraphs. Students were able to master these skills through guided reading and ELA center activities. Along with new phonics skills each week, students have been reading higher-level texts since they have learned many new high-frequency words and vocabulary words. We love seeing our students applying all the skills and concepts they have learned. During guided reading, students have spent much time on strategies to retell a text by including the characters, setting, beginning, middle, and end. Some students have been writing summaries in their own words. Students have been practicing answering comprehension questions in complete sentences in our Reading and Writing Workbooks. We also focused on non-fiction texts, mainly about objects in the sky, inventions, and sounds. Students have been reading to identify cause-and-effect events and problems, and solutions. First-grade writers have been writing a ton! We started our poetry unit. We focused the theme on Spring. Students took the time to brainstorm vocabulary words on this topic. We had fun writing acrostic poems on bees, butterflies, and flowers.
Math
During the 3rd marking period, first-grade students tested their mathematical skills by completing their third and final LinkIt assessment. Seeing our students' growth since the beginning of the year was terrific. In Math Investigations, first graders worked closely with teachers during guided math groups learning about the following math skills: Solving story problems with three numbers, finding out the missing addend in an equation, using various graphs to answer questions about specific data, and creating data representations by asking survey questions to peers and teachers. Students are currently working on grouping numbers to find out the larger sum. Students look forward to continuing to challenge themselves with the last two units in our math program. We are so proud to see all our students accomplish math skills, preparing them for second grade!
Social Studies
First graders have had many fun learning experiences during this third marking period of Social Studies. We learned so much from our Young Citizens textbooks. We started to know about our state. We discussed what a state is. Then we reviewed the 50 states in America. We listened to some catchy songs and studied maps to learn more. We also learned about symbols and all the unique symbols in New Jersey; We talked about what a government was and the difference between a state and local government. We also talked about what our state was like long ago. We continued to learn and complete activities for Black History Month this marking period. First graders learned about the poet Amanda Gorman. We read the book she wrote called “Change Sings.” We had great discussions in class about ways we change our community and the world to make it a better place for everyone. We also read the book, “I Am Enough,” by Grace Byers. We also started to discuss and learn about many influential women for Women's History Month. Some women we learned about were Jane Goodall, Amelia Earhart, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and so many more. We also talked about the importance of Digital Citizenship. Students talked about ways to stay safe online. The Digital Citizens showed us how to use our heads, legs, feet, arms, gut, and hearts to be safe and responsible online. Then the students learned a catchy song and dance from the digital citizens! It was so much fun! We are excited to learn more next marking period!
Science
In Ms. Stinson's 1st grade PLTW class, we are studying Animal Adaptations. We are currently working on the adaptation "camouflage" As you can see below, we are working with two sets of butterflies, one that blends in and the other that does not. These 1st graders had a lot of fun searching and counting up all of the butterflies! Way to go, guys!
Second Grade News
Reading Workshop:
We have been reading poetry, realistic fiction stories, and expository texts during the third marking period. We focused on summarizing, point of view, rhyme, poetry elements, and learning the theme of a story. Students have been working on their reading fluency with a teacher in a small group and doing individualized reading at their current level. During this marking period, we reviewed synonyms, antonyms, and similes. Students also took their last Linkit! assessment of the year and had their final DRA as well. Students participated in Camp Read A Lot. During Read Across America, the classes transformed into a campsite, and students went "camping" and participated in a whole day event in the classroom where they read and did various ELA activities. Everyone did such a fantastic job!
Writing Workshop
During the third marking period, we have been learning about how to write realistic fiction stories. We started the unit learning about plot structure and used that to help us write our stories. We also added dialogue, descriptive adjectives, thoughts, and feelings to our writing.
POR ELA
This marking period, second grade students continued to review previously taught spelling concepts by participating in the Orton Gillingham 3 part drill. They learned how to read and write words that contain silent letters, R controlled vowels and diphthongs. Students continued to strengthen their reading comprehension skills by listening to a variety of stories from Wonders. Afterwards, they practiced skills such as visualizing, finding text evidence, identifying the author’s purpose and identifying text features. In writing, students practiced writing sentences that start with a capital letter and end with proper punctuation. They also learned how to write a realistic fiction story, free verse poem and opinion essay.
Math
The third marking period was full of fun and learning in second-grade math! Students started the marking period by finishing up unit 3. This unit focused on addition and subtraction with two-digit numbers and story problems. Students could expand their knowledge of the number system by working with place ten via the "Sticker Station" strategies used in the Math Investigations curriculum. Unit 4 focused on categorical and numerical data. Students were able to conduct surveys, display data, and interpret the data by doing various hands-on activities. One of the highlights was surveying other classes to find out how many teeth the students in that class had lost. Students collaborated with their peers to complete the project in a group. After creating their data collection tool and completing their survey, they represented the data on a line plot and interpreted it. They were able to share their findings with their classmates. They had so much fun! Toward the end of the marking period, second graders started unit 5, which focuses on the number system. Students are working on multi-step equations with addition and subtraction within 1,000. Students can use the math fact fluency skills that they have been working on to add and subtract within 1,000 using the standard algorithm. We are looking forward to the rest of the year growing into mathematicians!
POR Math
During this marking period, second grade students reviewed previously taught concepts by completing their review packet for fifteen minutes a day. Students learned all about bar, picture and line graphs. They learned how to collect, represent and analyze data. To reinforce these skills, students had to formulate a question, survey a group of students and then represent their data on a line graph. They enjoyed going to Ms. Schmidt’s class in order to figure out how many teeth students have lost. Students also learned how to add and subtract two digit numbers!
Social Studies
During this marking period in Social Studies, we discussed why changes occur in a neighborhood and were also able to predict changes that can occur in a neighborhood. We could also identify the human and natural features present in neighborhoods to define and recognize these features on a map. We continued learning about maps, specifically how people use maps to build neighborhoods. We were able to analyze maps to make decisions concerning a neighborhood. We also used grid lines in order to identify locations on a map. We also learned about goods and services. We were able to identify wants, needs, and resources in order to recognize that different communities have different resources. Next, we learned how someone could start a business. We discussed supply and demand in order to analyze how shortage and surplus affect supply and demand. We were able to understand this by having a hands-on activity with craft sticks. We were able to identify different workers and the services they provide. To wrap it up, we discussed the ways that people use their income. People can now spend, save, invest, or donate money. We also learned about budgeting money.
Science
Second-grade science classes studied changes to Earth’s surface. The unit began by comparing slow and fast changes. Students learned that slow changes could be caused by weathering, which can include wind, water, and ice. Fast changes can be caused by landslides, floods, or various types of storms. We spent a few days learning about the Grand Canyon and its formation. Classes were especially interested in learning about volcanoes, so we spent time learning about Mt. Vesuvius and the lost city of Pompeii. As a follow-up activity, second graders worked in small groups to build model volcanoes. Second-grade students are wrapping up our Project Lead the Way Unit, called Grids and Games. The unit is all about computer programming and coding. Coding is the language of computers; it is how people can create software and apps to help solve problems. Computer science is everywhere, and it is a way of thinking and problem-solving. Throughout this unit, we have focused on the ways computer science impacts our lives. We also continue to think about how learning from others can help us design or improve a solution to a problem. All classes discussed how to make good decisions when using computers and other forms of technology. As a class, we explored games and activities on hourofcode.com in order to gain inspiration. Students are beginning to use several new vocabulary words related to computer coding. Students are becoming coding experts as they use ScratchJr to create their own interactive stories and projects.
Third Grade News
ELA
Students read our fourth core novel, Real Stories from my Time in the Underground Railroad, by Bonnie Bader, this marking period. This text provided opportunities to analyze both nonfiction informational text and historical fiction text. Students asked and answered questions to build their knowledge of The Underground Railroad and the topic of slavery. Additionally, they used this text to analyze the plot, character perspective, author's purpose, point of view, and main idea. They used text features and context clues to identify the meaning of unknown vocabulary and analyzed illustrations to deepen their understanding. Students continued to expand their knowledge of genre by learning about poetry, specifically about the structures and elements of poetry. They analyzed figurative language, imagery, and word choice across various poems and used these skills to write their poetry. Students also created research simulation writing tasks, literary analysis essays, and narrative writing pieces throughout the third marking period. The students recently began our fifth core novel, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo, and are excited to continue their learning through this text.
POR ELA
This marking period, students enjoyed reading the book, “ Real Stories From My Time: The Underground Railroad.” While reading this core novel, students focused on identifying story elements, determining the author’s purpose, talking about the character’s perspective and finding text evidence to support their answer to comprehension questions. Students reviewed previously taught spelling concepts by participating in the Orton Gillingham 3 part drill and learned how to read and write many words with long vowel sounds and prefixes and suffixes.
Math
Students in the third grade worked on Unit 5 and Unit 6 during the third marking period. Students recalled their multiplication facts to develop multiplying strategies that involved breaking up larger numbers in Unit 5. In Unit 6, we learned all about Fractions! Students first worked on identifying fractions and placing them on number lines. As students progressed through Unit 6, they started to find equivalent fractions and compare inequalities. Students were able to end the marking period by "Unlocking the Spring!"
Social Studies
The third marking period was full of honor and celebration as students participated in Black History Month and Women's History Month! During the month of February, students learned about various black leaders and lives who have shaped our world today. Ms. Schmidt's class honored revolutionary former astronaut and engineer Mae Jemison through the display on their classroom door. Ms. Januse's class highlighted the life of the brave and resilient Rosa Parks, and Ms. Hall's class dedicated their door to the powerfully artistic Maya Angelou. During the month of March, students reflected upon influential women in history who they admire for being change-makers and leaders. Students researched the lives of various influential women, eventually choosing one to highlight in their Women's History Month presentations. While February and March may be over, we will carry this recognition and celebration with us each day!
Science
In Ms. Stinson's PLTW 3rd grade class, we have been learning all about Paleontologists and Fossils. Our culminating project was to create a diorama depicting their chosen fossils and ancient environments. Each student had to create their diorama along with a Google Slides presentation to present to their classmates. I think it is evident that these 3rd graders did an amazing job!!! So proud of you, 3rd grade!!
Fourth Grade News
ELA
During Marking Period 3, 4th Grade Readers completed Unit 3, “That’s the Spirit,” and began Unit 4, “Fact or Fiction.” During Unit 3, students read the core text “What Would She Do?” “From historic world leaders to brilliant scientists, artists, and modern-day pioneers, What Would She Do? shares twenty-five incredible women's stories that educate and empower. Learn about the remarkable achievements and attitudes of feminist trailblazers such as Cleopatra, Amelia Earhart, Malala Yousafzai, Michelle Obama, and other brave women who overcame huge obstacles to accomplish great things. Featuring stunning illustrations from diverse artists, this beautiful book inspires young readers and prepares them to face any challenge by simply asking, "What would she do?" In Unit 4, students are reading the core novel “Jim and Me.” Jim and Me allows students to explore the underlying idea that they should constantly question the world around them but also be willing to question themselves when it comes to making difficult choices that may help others in need. This novel will also discuss topics such as native and indigenous peoples, the role of family, standing up for what is right, and societal choices. Utilizing the Reading Wonders program, readers read a variety of genres in narrative and informational texts focusing on reading comprehension skills such as author’s perspective, point of view, cause and effect, theme, and problem and solution.
Writers’ Workshop
With monthly writing themes driven by the district writing tasks, students continued to refine their narrative and argumentative writing by developing stories and essays that contained an organizational structure with a logical order. In addition, students elaborated on their writing by adding details, definitions, stronger vocabulary words, and additional information. With guidance and support from peers and adults, students further developed and strengthened their writing as needed by evaluating, revising, and editing.
Math
During Marking Period 3, 4th Grade Mathematicians explored the unit “Fractions and Decimals.” This unit focuses on understanding the meaning of fractions and decimals; comparing fractions and decimals, finding equivalents; and using visual models to add, subtract, and multiply fractions. The students worked throughout the unit and participated in activities that had students interpret the meaning of numerators and denominators of a fraction and use hands-on individual materials to compare and order fractions and decimals. They learned to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers and multiply a fraction by a whole number. At the end of the unit, students were able to answer the following essential questions: How can we find fractional parts of a rectangle? How can we identify equivalent fractions? How can we decompose fractions? Students worked on a core activity: putting fractions and decimals on a number line that used various representations. It was a challenging activity, but in the end, it really helped the students to understand the content. They were very proud of their work.
Social Studies
During Marking Period 3, 4th Grade Historians started to explore the unit “American Revolution and the Establishment of the Nation.” Throughout the unit, students will be considering the universal theme of conflict as they analyze the growing tensions over political power and the economy that sparked the movement for independence from Great Britain. Students will then identify colonists' hardships and sacrifices during the many years of war as they fought for freedom. Social justice topics covered in this unit include; social action (protests, boycotts, rebellions), equality, diversity, race, social change, revolution, government, power, and law. Students worked on the growth of the English Colonies before and changes during the Revolutionary War. Students analyzed the governments, society, and economies of the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. They worked in groups as they shared the responsibility of learning and becoming 'experts' on topics. Students used their knowledge and research to create amazing PowerPoint presentations. Students will be presenting these to their peers. We are so proud of the work they have done!
Science
During the 3rd marking period, the fourth grade accomplished quite a bit of educational and fun activities. Students listed and detailed human energy sources and how energy from food is converted to usable energy. The energy in food is stored as potential energy and is released as kinetic energy when converted for uses such as contracting muscles or generating heat. Students were introduced to the analogy of the brain as a computer. They explored the various inputs and outputs of the human body. Students discovered how signals passing from cell to cell allow us to receive stimuli from the outside world, get this information to the brain for processing, and then send out a signal to generate a response. Students were introduced to the nervous system. Students read about the brain's function and another key organ, the spinal cord. Students started building a model brain out of clay and labeled and identified the function of each region. In this activity, students developed an understanding of computing systems. They watched an interactive presentation and explored how computers process input to produce output. In the presentation, students learned that computing systems are similar to human body systems. Students applied this understanding as they played a game to test their own reactions as they processed input and produced output.
Sivo and Arciero All-Stars
It has been a fascinating quarter in Ms. Arciero and Ms. Sivo’s classrooms! Our quarter started celebrating Black History Month; students did an excellent job decorating our classroom doors to teach the rest of the schools about Jesse Jackson Jr. and Rosa Parks! Students celebrated Black Lives Matter Week and participated in different learning activities that sparked wonderful conversations about diversity and empathy. As we moved closer to spring, we also celebrated Women’s History Month; this had us thinking back to our second novel study, What Would She Do? And allowed us to interview some extraordinary women in our lives! Both classes have also been working hard in ELA; Ms. Arciero’s class is reading Jim and Me and doing a great job retelling each chapter's beginning, middle, and end using a baseball diamond to help guide our thoughts! In Ms. Sivo’s class, students have been enjoying Charlotte’s Web and getting to know all the different characters! In math, students have started to challenge themselves when learning about fractions, and they are doing an incredible job! We have been adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions! We have even started converting fractions to mixed numbers! We are so proud of all the challenging work students are doing daily. Finally, we are always celebrating each other’s accomplishments, and we got to celebrate our very own Paraprofessional of the year, Ms. Boyd, at last month’s Board of Education meeting. It was so great to see our students there supporting her. We can’t wait to see what the next quarter has in store for us; keep up the fantastic work!
Fifth Grade News
ELA
This marking period in ELA, we have worked so hard! We started off the marking period with Unit 3 of Reading Wonders and finished reading our core novel, Esperanza Rising. Students dove deep into the novel by discussing and answering questions by using their comprehension strategies, such as summarizing and asking and answering questions regarding theme, author's purpose, and problem and solution, to name a few. We used these same skills to look at nonfiction and fiction texts in our Reading Wonders reading/writing companion. In addition, we worked on the Narrative, RST, and LAT writing tasks for the district assessments and have seen steady growth between the pre and post-tasks. After wrapping up Unit 3 and Esperanza Rising, we dove into Unit 4 of Reading Wonders and our core novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham. Students have become experts with the author's perspective, summarization, visualization, and more! We have started Unit 5 and are excited to continue reading our core novel, Chasing Lincoln's Killer. Finally, we have been hard at work preparing for our Link It assessments. It is a thrilling book to read! We're so proud of everyone's hard work.
Math
During this marking period, the 5th graders started adding decimals, so students used different colors to shade in a hundred grid. This shows if they understand how to represent a decimal. Students did a great job adding their first set of decimals between tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. We also created decimal posters where students had to develop their own hundreds grid to add tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. We then shifted over to subtracting decimals. Students had to read various charts and graphs and, based on the wording, had to determine whether to add or subtract. Students were given racing scores in decimal form and had to choose the fastest and organize to the slowest. We started working on a heart-themed Google Slides Math task for Valentine's Day that reviewed current and past concepts. This allowed students to practice the needed skills for the NJSLA assessment slowly. In this unit, students demonstrated proficiency in ordering decimals from least to most significant, completing decimal models, and adding and subtracting decimals. We then started our unit on fractions, where students learned how to divide fractions by whole numbers and how to divide real numbers by fractions. We also learned how to create models to demonstrate our mathematical equations. Students have also begun reviewing for NJSLA. We determined the deficient strands through data analysis, and students have been working on those strands during ILP and Math. Students also learned about decimals up to the thousandth place value. They learned about equivalency amongst decimals from tenths to hundredths to thousandths. They learned that how you would read a decimal is different based on a grid. Students also compared decimals. We played a game where students were given decimal cards, and they had to order the decimals on the number line. This became tricky as students had to compare numbers in different place values. Students also learned how to multiply decimals and whole numbers. They also learned how to multiply decimal numbers times decimal numbers. Students were asked to solve the cost of items and calculate tips. Students also used this time to review their fractions as well. Every day during Math, Students must solve real-world problems that incorporate previously learned skills to begin our spiral review for the year.
Social Studies
During this marking period, students could begin an industrial revolution invention project. Students could choose from a list of inventions and then had to create a Google Slides presentation on three of the inventions. It allowed students to apply what we have learned, but it also allowed them to use their research skills. Students learned about what life was like for enslaved people. They also learned about the abolitionists and their bravery and determination. Students knew that slavery was throughout the United States, but slowly the North started to realize the errors in their ways; the South did not because they needed them for labor. Students read excerpts from formerly enslaved people and completed map activities to track the Underground Railroad. We extensively covered the Missouri Compromise, and the Louisiana Purchase Students learned how the Missouri Compromise was created to address growing tensions. Students also learned that although this compromise was agreed upon, it did not solve all the tensions, and once again, tensions rose. We watched videos, had group discussions, and practiced creating compromises throughout this lesson. Students learned that although compromises have great intentions, they only solve some of the problems and, in the end, may need modifications. Students also had to analyze two political maps to determine how the United States changed from 1820-1850. Students could also create a comic of President Taylor that depicted his internal thoughts when creating the Compromise of 1850. They also had to develop internal reviews of the North and the South. We also covered Black Lives Matter. We discussed what sparked the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Students learned how the difference in our skin and hair does not change who we are. We also saw some videos and discussed the Black Lives Matter protests. We also studied Barack Obama and decorated our classroom door with facts about the former president to teach other students in the building about him. Different groups of students were given various activities to complete. Some had to do a life-size poster, others had to analyze quotes, and others had to create an "All About Obama." To wrap up Black History Month, the 5th graders went on a building tour to read about each of the influential people throughout Black History. When we arrived back to class, students shared what they had learned. We also completed Desk Maps, where students could use maps to circle the various states where the Underground Railroad took place and add symbols to the map legend.
Science
During this marking period, 5th-grade scientists worked hard to learn about several different topics, such as Earth's Systems, Human Activity on Earth, as well as Robotics. Students studied the four main spheres here on Earth and considered how humans impact each sphere through daily activities. Students worked together in groups to bring attention to environmental issues such as deforestation, endangered animals, and pollution. In groups, students considered how we as humans contributed to these problems and then developed a solution to combat the problem. Students then began robotics and were able to start using vex kits. Students explored the world of robots and analyzed how robots have different functions. Scientists then used their knowledge of the design method to develop prototypes of robotic toys using the vex kits and then created a presentation to share their ideas with the rest of the class!
Music News
K-2
What an amazing third quarter we have had in music class. The kids are having a great time learning so much about music and all the tenets that make up the art form. In the kindergarten grade, we have been learning about the notes, rests, and note values used in Western music. We just began learning about note placement on the treble clef. From whole notes / rests to 16th notes/rests and the treble clef, the students are learning all about the basics of learning how to read music. In the first grade, the students learned all the notes and rest values using the “music math” activity. Along with note values, the students have mastered reading note placement on the treble and bass clefs. These music theory concepts are the building blocks for what is to come next school year. The second grade has moved advanced “Music Math” and having fun doing their music equations. Yes, music is based on time and how it relates to mathematical equations, and the kids are having a great time learning this concept. They have also mastered note placement on the treble and bass clefs. All the instruments in the modern-day orchestra use these clefs, and memorizing these note placements will facilitate performance on the instruments they can play in the fourth grade.
3-5
Third grade is in the process of learning all of the techniques that are used when playing the recorder. The students have mastered the proper fingerings for various notes on the treble clef. Now that they have got the notes under their fingers, they have been playing various songs from the Essential Elements methods book and even some fun YouTube songs for the recorder. The fourth grade has mastered note placement on the treble clef, bass clef, and ledger lines. Knowledge of ledger line note placement has opened their eyes to new instruments that have pitch ranges beyond the two common clefs. They have also started their music history units. The first unit has been the Baroque period of music. Within this unit, the students identify music theory concepts that were common during the time period, famous composers, and the most common instruments used during this time period. During the third quarter, the fifth grade focused most of their music class time on music history units and note placement on the ledger lines. They started with the Baroque period and are moving on to the classical period. Understanding the history of music is extremely important when it comes to understanding the musical concepts and structure of the music they listen to daily. Meanwhile, in the 4th and 5th grades, we throw in some ukulele education. The students love to play the ukulele and look forward to the classes when we can play a little music in the classic Hawaiian style!
Lastly, all grade levels are having a great time singing various songs and getting ready for the Hoboken District Spring Concert. Singing is an important element of music education, especially during these challenging times. It brings joy and happiness to their daily lives here at Thomas G. Connors Elementary School!
Art News
During this marking period in art, we have accomplished so many projects. I am so proud of everyone for working so hard! In February, we all completed works of art to celebrate Black History Month. K-1 created works of art inspired by Reggie Laurent using organic shapes and discussing topics like community. 2-3 Created portraits of themselves or someone important to them in a Jean Michel Basquiat style. These included dynamic lines, symbols, and multiple mediums. 4-5 Designed a cityscape that tells their personal story as Jacob Lawrence does in his artwork "This Is Harlem." Students used geometric shapes to create their city collages.
In March, everyone made a work of art in honor of Women's History Month! K-2 Created landscape portraits based on Claire West paintings, and 3-5 designed Georgia O'Keeffe-inspired artworks based on nature or New York City. Students could use oil pastels and baby oil to create a painterly appearance.
Towards the end of March, students were introduced to our "Only Rain Down the Drain" Hoboken mural project. They learned about storm drains and what they do for the city. We discussed why we must keep our storm drains clean and their environmental impact. When we came up with various solutions to keeping our battery drains clear, we discussed how we could represent them in an image that is clear and easy to read. Students designed mural proposals for this project and were submitted to be selected! The painting will be completed by the end of this week!
We are finishing the marking period with this year's PATH Poster contest. The themes are about summer: Summer Vibes, Summer in a Coco-nutshell, and PATH to Paradise. We discussed the importance of sketching and using icons in our artwork. And we are currently talking about how to work with guidelines given to us as artists and still use our creative freedom when working on a project.
Keep an eye out for the "Through the Window" Emerging Artists Art Walk starting May 1st, where some of our artworks were submitted for display. In between all the projects we completed, students worked tirelessly on paintings, collages, and mixed media art based on artists like Claire West, Henri Matisse, and Paul Cezanne for the art display. All projects show off the skills that have been acquired all year long.
Theater News
During this marking period, the first-grade team had theatre on Fridays! Each week students practiced their choreography for their dance and practiced singing the lyrics to their song. We incorporated the making and use of puppetry in our show as students introduced each song. For some students, this showcase was their first time being on stage. It was a great transition from chilly winter to a cool spring breeze. Songs that were featured include "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" from the popular Disney film Frozen and "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles.
RTI News
Throughout the third marking period, students continued with RTI, which included learning new concepts, red words, phonological awareness games/activities, reading stories/ passages, and comprehension practice. Once again, all RTI sessions began with Orton Gillingham’s Three Part Drill, the multi-sensory review of learned phonetic concepts.
The same routine continued during each RTI session in the third marking period. Students learned a new concept on Mondays using IMSE Orton Gillingham’s Multisensory Experience. The students continued practicing the idea throughout the week in the three-part drill and their reading. On Fridays, students had a spelling practice where they were tested to see if they retained the learned concept of the week.
On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, kindergarten through third-grade students learned new Red Words, and students practiced these words following IMSE’s Multisensory Experience routine. Red words are not phonetic words, along with some high-frequency sight words; these words differ based on each group’s needs. Students reviewed these words throughout the week. Fourth and fifth graders began to learn Greek and Latin roots to help students build their vocabulary.
During the RTI sessions, guided reading was completed with every student. The teacher introduced the book by completing a picture walk with the students and taught some frequently used words. Once the introduction was completed, the students read the book independently, and the teacher whisper-read with each student. While the whisper read, the teacher focused on the child’s fluency and helped each child improve their fluency skills based on their needs. After each student read the book independently, the students and the teacher had a book talk and responded to comprehension questions. Students in first and second grade retold the story to help students recall the events in the order they occurred. Third, fourth, and fifth-grade students responded to multiple-choice questions and practiced test-taking strategies. We will focus on responding to open-ended questions for the final marking period to emphasize foundational writing skills.
Students worked hard to complete their third DRA3 benchmark assessment during this marking period. Way to go!
CTY News
Individualized Learning Pathway - Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
On Mondays - Wednesdays during the Individualized Learning Pathway (ILP) period, students who have qualified to participate in the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) programming engage in a wide array of math course offerings that address their specific strengths and interests. Johns Hopkins CTY believes in researching and advancing ways to identify and nurture academically talented learners. CTY furthers research, guides educators and families and inspires students from diverse communities and backgrounds to pursue their intellectual passions and create the world of tomorrow. This week, we would like to highlight one of the CTY courses offered to our Hoboken students this winter:
CTY - Scratch Programming for Elementary School Students
CTY students begin this course with an introduction to fundamental programming concepts alongside other young CTY students as they learn Scratch, a graphical programming language developed at MIT. Through this course they’ll learn how to create animations, computer games, and interactive projects using Scratch, and put their new skills to use developing a computer game to share with their CTY instructor and classmates. No previous programming skills are required for this course, but students should be comfortable using a computer and browser as well as managing files. We can’t wait to see what amazing projects our CTY students create with the Scratch program!
CTY - Honors Grade 4 Mathematics
Our CTY students tackle lessons typically offered in a full year of honors math curriculum in this intensive course. Honors Grade 4 Mathematics offers a review of Grade 3 topics and prepares students for Grade 5 mathematics. These CTY students get to engage with videos, interactive webpages, graded assessments, and projects. They also develop mathematical reasoning, learn critical thinking skills, and acquire problem-solving techniques to investigate and explore challenging math concepts for Grade 4 and beyond.
CTY - Introduction to Python for Elementary School Students
In this CTY course, students learn the fundamentals of Python, a powerful but easy-to-learn programming language. They will develop their skills by mastering fun, engaging, and age-appropriate assignments that boost creativity, reasoning, and problem-solving. Students will familiarize themselves with variables, operators, control flow constructs, computer graphics, and object-oriented programming concepts such as classes and objects. By the end of this CTY course, students will be able to design, code, and test their own Python programs!
CTY - Honors Grade 5 Mathematics
CTY students tackle a full year of honors mathematics with this Grade 5 curriculum that will set them up for success in Grade 6 honors math. They begin by reviewing concepts such as algebraic variables and expressions, number theory, operations with fractions, data displays, proportional relationships, geometric relationships, integers and the coordinate plane, and probability. This CTY course provides ample practice through homework, videos, notes, and practice problems. Their CTY instructor will be available for learning support and one-on-one review sessions for graded assessments throughout the entire course!
CTY - Elementary School Competitive Mathematics
CTY students will strengthen their analytical and problem-solving skills in this challenging course designed for students with little to no previous math competition experience. Throughout the course, they will learn 12 different problem-solving strategies for becoming more efficient problem solvers and stronger competitors. CTY students will practice these strategies through lessons, sample problems, mini competitions, and videos designed to challenge and motivate them. Timed assessments will also help them build experience for real competitions, and weekly synchronous strategy sessions with a CTY instructor will guide them and their classmates through competition tactics!
CTY - Honors Grade 6 Mathematics
CTY students tackle a full year of honors mathematics with this Grade 6 curriculum that will set them up for success with Honors Pre-Algebra. In this course, CTY students will be introduced to the theory and applications of rational numbers. Modeling and real-world problems are emphasized throughout the course. This CTY course develops problem solving skills through numeric manipulation and visual representation of the topics presented, and provides ample practice through homework, videos, notes, and practice problems.
Johns Hopkins CTY Cryptology: Math and Codes
At the beginning of every unit, CTY Mathematicians get to complete an exciting virtual Scavenger Hunt Adventure that introduces them to the new unit. They need to crack the code to solve the mystery! Only by collecting the ciphers, CTY students are able to unlock the mystery and proceed to the following steps. It is a big challenge, but fear not because there are many clues along the way. Finally, when all the clues are at hand, CTY students are able to use the ciphers to uncover the code and solve the mystery at the end of the unit. In addition, while being on the lookout for the clues, CTY Mathematicians work on the required assignments to fully complete the unit activities.
Johns Hopkins CTY Accelerated Grade 3 Mathematics
Our students are taking CTY Honors Grade 3 Mathematics to a higher level with this accelerated online course! They begin the course by reviewing foundational grade 2 lessons and then gain early exposure to grade 4 concepts through enrichment topics. Each chapter of this CTY course is paired with videos, interactive web pages, and projects to develop the students’ reasoning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills for investigating and exploring grade 3 math skills.
Mini-PGP News
Kindergarten
Penguin Awareness Day
Explorers in Kindergarten have “visited” the habitats of penguins and have become aware that these absolutely adorable flightless seabirds are in danger of extinction due to the current climate change that puts their habitats in great danger. Due to the warming temperatures that penguins which live in the colder areas such as Antarctica are experiencing iceberg melting and sea level rises that have an impact on penguins’ lives. Explorers celebrated a National Penguin Awareness Day to learn more about how important it is to take care of the planet in order to keep the penguins out of the danger zone. Not only Explorers learned about the penguins but they also became more aware of how daily activities affect others including the animals. After learning about penguins, explorers wrote more than one fact that they learned about the animal and created a Penguin Craft.
Kindness Week
Explorers in Kindergarten have been learning, showing, and celebrating a Week Of Kindness! This Thursday and Friday, explorers listened to the read aloud of the book called A Little Spot Of Kindness, talked about the book, brainstormed variety acts of kindness and concluded their kindness explorations with a Spot Of Kindness Craft! So much fun learning about kindness!
Read Across America - Diversity
Explorers in Kindergarten celebrated Read Across America with a focus on the theme of diversity. They listened to the Read Aloud of the book called “What Makes Us Unique”, held a whole group discussion, and made a craft to express themselves. They put the dolls together into a chain to express diversity around the classroom and the world. In addition, they had an extension writing activity where they described themselves and made them unique.
February - Black History Month
Explorers in Kindergarten explored Black History Month during the month of February to celebrate and shed light on their culture, heritage, and the African American figures throughout history who made influential contributions, achievements and overcame challenges they have faced in their quest for equality and justice. As a whole group, in each homeroom, explorers conducted a deep research about one of the African American Visionaries and put together a project to decorate the door on the outside of the classroom. Not only did the explorers explore the history and important work done by the African American Visionaries, but they also gained knowledge about the significance of celebrating the Black History Month!
March - Women’s History Month
In 3rd Marking Period Mini PGP, Explorers in Kindergarten have been celebrating Womens’ History Month by honoring women’s efforts, bravery, goals, dreams, passion, and strength as they faced with challenges and obstacles while paving the way and influencing other women to stand up for what they believed in! Here is the list of women that the students learned about: Amelia Earhart, Serena Williams, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Kamala Harris. To gain knowledge about each individual woman, students completed a variety of projects that enriched their knowledge.
First Grade
Travelers in First Grade celebrated Read Across America with a focus on the theme of diversity. They listened to the Read Aloud of the book called “Whoever You Are”, held a whole group discussion, and made a hand craft with the words or sentences that express unity, diversity, kindness, and uniqueness around the classroom and the world. Then, they connected their hands together around the Earth to express unity and celebrate diversity. It was a great learning experience for the Travelers!
February - Black History Month
Travelers in 1st Grade explored Black History Month during the month of February to celebrate and shed light on their culture, heritage, and the African American figures throughout history who made influential contributions, achievements and overcame challenges they have faced in their quest for equality and justice. As a whole group, in each homeroom, explorers conducted a deep research about one of the African American Visionaries and put together a project to decorate the door on the outside of the classroom. Not only did the explorers explore the history and important work done by the African American Visionaries, but they also gained knowledge about the significance of celebrating the Black History Month!
March - Women’s History Month
In 3rd Marking Period Mini PGP, Travelers in 1st Grade have been celebrating Womens’ History Month by honoring women’s efforts, bravery, goals, dreams, passion, and strength as they faced with challenges and obstacles while paving the way and influencing other women to stand up for what they believed in! Here is the list of women that the travelers learned about: Jane Goodall, Amelia Earhart, Sally Ride, and Princess Diana. To gain knowledge about each individual woman, travelers would complete a project called Leaving a ‘Stamp’ on History. Travelers needed to complete the following components of the project: person’s name, birthday, hometown, contributions, famous for, fun facts, and she deserves to be featured on a U.S. postage stamp because and finish the explanation in their own words.
Second Grade
Write, Create, and Act - Presenting Original Fables
Artists in Second Grade have been working enthusiastically and collaboratively on writing their own scripts for their original fables. They have been using Google Slides to prepare and put together a presentation that had a slide with the title of the play, the characters, the backdrop of the setting, the moral of the fable, and a closing slide. They have worked on using Google Documents and a writing paper to write the scripts. Using the Script Templates and Google Slides, artists were able to show their creativity with the storyline as well as the character development and the moral of the fable. Artists enjoyed the collaborative process when working on the scripts and presentations! Artists were very excited and proud of their original plays which they presented in front of their classmates!
Passport To The World - Oceans and Continents
Artists in Second Grade have finished their presentations and now they are embarking on a new adventure! They are becoming Geographers who will be exploring the world of wonder. Their first task is to study oceans and continents in order to locate them on the World Map. Then, using the new knowledge geographers put a Big Map Craftivity together where they created a map of the world by naming the countries, oceans, and coloring the parts of the craftivity. Next, they sailed across the continent of North America! They have explored the geographic features of North America by gaining knowledge using the Get Epic! and National Geographic to independently identify the key features of North America on the map.
Furthermore, they “dived into” the Great Lakes. They used the text from the book in Get Epic! to find 7 interesting, mind-blowing and new to them facts about the Great Lakes. After recording the 7 facts, Geographers made a Mini Book About The Great Lakes and chose 3 facts to present to the class. Also, they focused on where they are located and what they are surrounded by with a project called Me On The Map. Geographers worked on the project which centers around finding themselves on the map of Earth. They drew a picture and wrote fact(s) about the following: city, county, state, country, and continent along with a cover page. Then, they turned this project into a flip book and shared their final outcomes of the project with their classmates.
Third Grade
STEAM Tank Challenge and Engineering Design Process
Future Engineers in Third Grade have been working on a variety of Engineering Design projects. Some groups are preparing for the STEAM Tank Regionals by improving their presentations, conducting deeper research, surveying students, and creating a prototype. Other groups are either improving their STEAM tank presentations as a practice or focusing on creating a Sports Team Proposal and Managing a Sports Team Project. Moreover, STEAM Tank groups which advanced onto the next round, are applying all of the suggestions and ideas from their virtual sessions with the mentors to further improve their invention/product. They are working on the prototypes and surveys. In addition, the rehearsing process is underway as the groups are preparing to present their improved presentations in the second round of the Challenge in front of the judges. A lot of engineering and designing have continued to take place during the 3rd marking period!
Fourth Grade
Mock Trial Original Case - Creating, Writing, and Presenting a Case
Young lawyers have officially closed the case of Humpty Dumpty and are prepared to take on the next case which they will draft by themselves. They will write their own Sample Case for the Mock Trial to bring to the “court” - Law Fair next year. To begin the process of opening up the case, young lawyers thought of 2 case scenarios for civil cases and 2 scenarios for the criminal cases. Then, they will pick one to draft the Fact section for the Sample Mock Trial to better describe the case and practice their case filing. Finally, students will collect the cases and vote on the best one to work on to completely file the case together with all the other important elements of the case to be ready to submit to the Law Fair!
Young Lawyers in Fourth Grade have prepared to present their original cases in front of their classmates! In order to prepare for the Mock Trial, lawyers are coming up with four questions for each of their four witnesses: two direct and cross examination questions for the plaintiff and two direct and cross examination questions for the defendant. Once questions are made and go together with the witness statements then lawyers in each group are ready to present their cases in a in class mini Mock Trial!
Global Pen Pals
Young Lawyers in Fourth Grade changed their occupation to become The Global Pals! They are participating in an online program called Global Pen Pals where they get to connect with students from around the world and learn about different cultures, life styles, traditions and more. In addition, in each unit, students will get to pick a project to work on and then share it with the global pen pals. This week, they are diving into the activities, after reviewing
the importance of digital citizenship and writing skills to successfully complete the projects. Since then, students have been working on crafting their projects using a variety of creative tools such as Google Slides and Google Documents to present their work with their classmates! Let the adventure continue!
Fifth Grade
Ted Talk Presentations - Sustainability Goals
Future Environmentalists and Sustainable Developers in Fifth Grade have slowly been making their path toward gaining understanding about their important task of creating a successful Ted Talk with a focus on the Sustainable Goals. This week is just the beginning of thinking and understanding about their task of how to create a Ted Talk and what are some of the important elements to include and keep in mind while composing one. Using the Student Led Ted Talk Packet, has a great format of the talk that will help students to put together their first Ted Talk together to present in front of their peers once it is completed, revised, and ready for others to hear! Students are on the way of wrapping up their speeches for the first Ted Talk experience. They organized their ideas and created inspirational speeches about an idea that they strongly want the audience to know and convince to support. In addition, they put Google Slides together with simple images and text that speak for itself to compliment their speech. They have done a great job with putting their original Ted Talk together and presenting it to the audience of their classmates and teachers!
Model UN - Frayer Model Vocabulary
Future Environmentalists and Sustainable Development Leaders have officially transitioned into a new job. They have become Delegates and Diplomates! Upon undertaking a ‘new job opportunity’, students have been learning about Model United Nations, what is it, how to, the purpose of it, and write their own Position Paper as a culminating project of the school year.
Students have been using a Frayer Model and Public Speaking Strategies to learn the important key vocabulary words to prepare them for the simulation of the Model UN and the writing of the position paper.
Mandarin News
During the third marking period in Mandarin class, grade k-1 students continued the zodiac animal unit by learning a song about the 12 zodiac signs. They also learned the Happy Birthday song in Mandarin to honor students’ birthdays. They started the team on colors and fruits with various activities, worksheet color coding, discussing their favorite colors and fruits, games, and a song. Students enjoy singing along and dancing to the color song.
Grade 2 students reviewed animal, color, and fruit units with different activities, games, and songs. They learned various aspects of China, like the poet Libai, Chinese culture, the capital city of China, and Confucius's sayings.
Grade 3 students reviewed the units of sports, leisure activities, pets, and how to express their preferences. They did intensive writing on these contents.
Grade 4-5 students researched and created a collage about Mary Fields to celebrate American Black History Month. In addition to her accomplishments and impact on American life, students added a Chinese zodiac sign in character for Mary Fields. They were very creative in their choices of drawings that showcase the legend of Mary Fields within a 45-minute timeframe. They also undertake the Chinese zodiac animal research project and the Chinese women's history research project. Currently, grade 4-5 students are learning the unit of food, in which they will have a series of topics, for example, Chinese and American breakfast, vegetables, meat, the food pyramid, and restaurant menus.
Physical Education News
I can't believe we have completed our 3rd marking period already! The year is going fast, but our student's growth has been immense. The 3rd marking period was fun; we completed our lifetime fitness unit and have been flourishing in our cooperative games unit to finish off this quarter. Our lifetime fitness unit included activities that taught students how to use fitness as a tool for a healthy lifestyle. We participated in aerobic or strength exercises in every class, and students became familiar with bodyweight movements for fitness. One of our big focuses for the unit was yoga, which students loved and learned so much about. In the second half of the marking period, we began our cooperative games unit, one of my favorites. Students learned about strategizing in different games, and it was so fun to watch their creativity and teamwork come together in those activities. The 3rd marking period was significant, and I'm excited to finish the year strong in the gym! We will continue that unit into the 4th marking period and keep working on becoming excellent teammates.