Mustang Roundup
October 2018
Principal's Pen
I cannot believe that we are going into our second full month of school! We have some exciting events taking place at our school. Below you will find some important reminders and upcoming information.
Our Fall Fundraiser ends on Friday, September 28. We hope to meet our goal of $25,000 in order to provide educational materials and other learning experiences to our teachers and students. Mrs. Jackson and I will host a special event for ALL of our students if we meet our goal. Thank you!
Our Grandparents' Day Lunch on Friday, September 28. *Please send a picture of your child with his/her grandparents for our display by Thursday, September 27.* Friday is Mustang Pride Day. Please have your child wear his/her Mustang gear or Maroon and Gold.
See altered lunch times below:
*Please be sure family members bring their license or a government issued ID to sign in for lunch.*
Upcoming Dates:
Monday, October 1: Book Fair Ends
Tuesday, October 2: School Improvement Council Meeting @ 5:00 pm & PTO Meeting @ 6:00 pm
Tuesday, October 9: PTO Spirit Night-Chic-fil-A (Dave Lyle) @ 5:00 - 8:00 pm
Friday, October 12: Fall Picture Day (information to follow)
Friday, October 19: College Spirit Day (Wear College Gear to Support a College of your Choice)
Monday, October 22: No school for students
Tuesday, October 23 - Friday, October 25: Red Ribbon Week (information to follow)
Thursday, October 25: Fall Ball @ 2:30 - 4:00 pm & Fundraiser Pickup @ 2:30 - 6:00 pm
Friday, October 26: Walk at School (information to below)
Children First,
Dr. Barnes
From our School Nurse
Flu season is upon us. Please consider receiving the flu vaccine to protect yourself, family members, and others. Don’t forget to vaccinate your children also!
Lions Club Vision Screening: A letter with more information on their visit for October 3 will be in your student’s folder. If your student wears eye glasses, please be sure they have them on this day. Thank you!
Ms. Sadzakov
The first few weeks are behind us, and we have really learned so much about each other! Through songs and dance movements, we learned about the main parts of our body and our five senses, through songs and dance movements. Also, we touched soft and rough objects, smelled pleasant scents, tasted sweet honey, listened to the shakers, and looked at a variety of things. We realized that we could not see with our eyes closed! Students left their hand prints on the board in front of our classroom. Each day we took a morning walk right after our specials. This is a very important part of our daily schedule. The class listened to the story about their teachers and practiced their vocabulary on the communication board. After recess and quiet time, everyone worked hard on their individualized goals.
Mrs. Tomlin
Mrs. Tomlin’s class has enjoyed getting to know our new friends that have joined our class. We have also been hard at work learning the rules of our school and our classroom! At the beginning of school until the beginning of September, we learned about going back to school through our Unique curriculum. We went on a scavenger hunt around the school building to learn where our daily specials would take place, the location of the cafeteria, and the playground. We also learned about Labor Day, Constitution Day, the fall season, and the change of fall leaves. We have taken several sightseeing walks to observe the trees. We will continue to take our walks to watch the leaves change colors and fall to the ground. We will participate in a leaf gathering activity later in October to use for many fun classroom projects!
During October, we look forward to learning about life science with our Unique curriculum. We will be discussing animals and their natural habitats as well as animal life cycles. We will also learn about Columbus Day, United Nations Day, Make a Difference Day, and Halloween to name a few! Students will learn about these different topics through coloring activities, read aloud stories, science experiments, and cooking activities. We are looking forward to diving into more learning as the school year progresses!
Kindergarten
We want to thank our kindergarten parents for a great start to the school year! We are learning about many topics in school right now! We have begun reading groups in ELA. We are working on concepts about a book and looking at the pictures for meaning. In math, we are learning flat (2D) shapes, counting to 20 and writing numbers to 10, and working on recognizing simple repeating patterns.
The kindergarten classes are going on a Field Study to Curtin Farms on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018. Please be on the look out for more information.
All kindergarten classes will participate in Trick-or-Treating on Wednesday, October 31st. Please dress your child in his/her costume (no “scary/monster” costumes, please) and send a change of clothes for your child. We will need candy for this activity. Please send in 1 bag of individually wrapped candy by Wednesday, October 24th. Thank you for your support!
Please remember to place an extra change of clothes for your child in a bag in the case of an accident. As the weather begins to cool, you may want to change the clothes in the bag for cooler weather.
Please remember to read with your child every night, fill in the reading log, complete all written homework, and review the alphabet chart and high frequency words.
First Grade
We are off to a great start in First Grade! We have many fun and exciting things happening in our classrooms. Our team has greatly enjoyed getting to know your kids and building relationships with them. We have worked hard to establish our expectations, routines and procedures in our classrooms. With that said, we cannot believe we are more than half way through the first nine weeks.
Here are our happenings in our classrooms:
We have laid the foundation for Reading Workshop. Students have learned how to pick just-right books, how to pick a reading spot and quietly read to build their stamina and distinguishing good reading habits from negative reading habits.
We have launched the Writing Workshop by examining different types of books to see different writing styles. We have created lists of where we see writing and a list of topics that we can write about. We are now working on small moment stories in our narrative writing unit. Students are writing stories based off personal experiences. Boy, our First Graders sure do have many experiences to write about!
In Math Workshop we have worked on Geometry with identifying shapes and attributes of shapes. We have worked on fractions in which students have to recognize and divide shapes into halves and fourths. We have worked on horizontal and vertical graphing with various topics. As a class we created graphs and students had to read and interpret the data.
Our First Graders have also learned about patterns and how we see patterns in our everyday lives. We are currently working on Measurement. Students are learning how to put items in order from shortest to longest and how to measure items in non-standard units. We will soon move on to word problems, in which students will have to read a word problem and decide if they are adding or subtracting. RTI (Response to Intervention) has begun for the year and students are grouped based upon their Fall MAP scores. This helps us focus on the specific needs of your children. RTI is from 7:55 to 8:30 daily.
In Social Studies, we have worked on rules at home and school along with the laws in the community. We have learned about Community Helpers and Transportation and Communication in the past versus today. We are learning how to read maps and how to use a map scale. We are also learning about children from other countries.
We soon will start our Science unit for this nine-weeks, which will be Lights and Shadows. Students will learn that we need light to see and how shadows are formed. We have many hands-on activities that students will do to enhance their understanding of lights and shadows.
Things to do at home: Please make sure your child is reading their guided reading book nightly. Also, make sure you are signing their reading log and behavior calendar nightly.
Work with your students on the Kindergarten and First Grade sight words. You can play games with these words to help students learn how to spell them. Students need to know to spell all 43 Kindergarten sight words at this time and know how to spell all 116 1st Grade sight words at the end of the year.
Lastly, please work with your child on how to tie their shoes at home and how to write their last names.
Second Grade
We are excitedly getting better acquainted with our new second grade group of students. They are adjusting well to our high expectations and are settling into new routines. We have learned about our local regions, our communities, and how our communities have changed over time in Social Studies. We have just recently begun learning about matter in Science. The students will engage in hands-on activities that allow them to investigate various properties of solids and liquids. Math lessons include fact fluency, the identification of even and odd numbers, and place value. Students should be able to compute addition and subtraction facts through twenty in their heads without the use of fingers or drawings. Students should be able to identify odd and even numbers by using various strategies to support their answer. Students should be able to read, write, and represent numbers through 999 using base-ten models, standard form, and expanded form. Language arts writing units include narrative writing from real life experiences and editing skills. Reading strategies and deeper comprehension are one of our goals for small group guided reading groups. We encourage the students to identify the story elements, such as: character(s), setting, and plot as they read fictional stories.
Thank you for your continued support and help in completing homework assignments. We are off to a great start!
Third Grade
Third grade is off to a great start!
We have jumped right into learning about our Palmetto State, its regions and river systems, and major cities. We will also begin to learn about Native Americans, the first people to live in South Carolina, and the European explorers. We will study the conflict and cooperation between these groups as South Carolina was settled.
Our students have been crafting true stories about “small moments” in their lives as we work through our first writing unit on narrative writing. We are really getting to know each other through these writings. Students have been encouraged to have a clear beginning, middle, and ending, to include dialogue, and to have a strong lead to be sure the reader is engaged.
As our reading skills focus, we have been comparing and contrasting texts and analyzing point of view through the use of trade books. Students are also learning how to choose "just right" books for independent reading on their own levels. Reading at home each day is extremely important!
Students are having a blast as we all discover "What's the Matter?” Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space. The students are learning that matter is all around them! They are enjoying being able to sort all types of matter into one of the three major states: solids, liquids, and gases. Students will apply their knowledge of these three states to learning how matter can change, or be changed, from one state to another! Be sure to have your child find out “What’s the Matter?” around your home!
In Math, we are finding our "place" through learning about place value, as well as rounding to the nearest ten or hundred. Students have been able to practice telling time and finding elapsed time on digital and analog clocks in their RTI groups. We find that having "number sense" makes a lot of sense!
Your help is needed! Please remember to initial your students’ reading log and agenda if required by his/her teacher. Thank you for all you do to support your child’s education!
Fourth Grade
Fourth graders completed their swimming lessons and water safety course during the last week of September.
In Language Arts, students will begin working on Point of View-or in other words, who is telling the story. Of course, we will continue to develop reading skills with your children in their guided reading groups. Around the middle of the month our focus will shift in reading from “literary texts” to that of reading “informational texts.” The study of vocabulary will focus on classical roots utilizing the book- “Vocabulary from Classical Roots”.
In math, students are working on finding sums and differences in real-world problems. The concept of factors and multiples will be introduced. As students work to determine the factors of a number they will be able to identify if a number is prime or composite.
Our scientists will wrap up their study of plants and animals and shift their learning to weather and climate. This would be an ideal time to watch or listen to the weather forecast with them and check the accuracy of the forecast.
Social Studies will focus on Early Explorers from the countries of Spain, France, the Netherlands, and England. Specific explorers will be highlighted as students are exposed to the competition for wealth (land) between nations.
Fifth Grade
We would like to thank Outbreak Church, parents, students, and all of our Mount Holly Family for supporting the Fish Fry Fundraiser on September 22. We served 485 meals. Thank you to Outbreak Church for supporting this event by organizing the caterer and drinks, donating the facility and providing so many wonderful volunteers to prepare and serve the delicious food. Student volunteers helped with cleaning tables, refilling drinks, bagging take-out orders and filling up the food trays when needed. The bake sale was a success as well, and we thank the parents who donated baked goods and/or worked the table for their time. Thank you as well for all the families that donated drinks for the event. These efforts will support many students’ attendance to Washington, D.C.
In our classrooms, we have been doing a lot of learning. In social studies, we will be finishing up our study on the Reconstruction Period in the next week or two and will soon be moving West. Science “matters” as we learn more about Mixtures and Solutions and their properties. Math has focused on perimeter, area, and volume, and we will soon start to revisit place value and how it applies to powers of 10. In English Language Arts, we will begin working on inferencing and quoting text as well as narrative writing. Students will also be writing our essays for the Fire Essay Contest.
Instructional Specialist
Homework Tips
Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to do homework.
Avoid having your child do homework with the television on or in places with other distractions, such as people coming and going.
Make sure the materials your child needs, such as paper, pencils and a dictionary, are available.
Ask your child if special materials will be needed for some projects and get them in advance.
Help your child with time management. Establish a set time each day for doing homework.
Don‘t let your child leave homework until just before bedtime. Think about using a weekend morning or afternoon for working on big projects, especially if the project involves getting together with classmates.
Be positive about homework. Tell your child how important school is. The attitude you express about homework will be the attitude your child acquires.
When your child asks for help, provide guidance, not answers. Giving answers means your child will not learn the material. Too much help teaches your child that when the going gets rough, someone will do the work for him or her.
Source: U.S. Department of Education
Guidance
I cannot believe it is already October! Classroom guidance this year started with lessons educating students on why I work at their school and how they could come see me if they need anything. After learning about a school counselor’s job, we jumped right into learning about school success skills. These lessons spanned from kindergarten to fifth, and we discussed various topics such as good listening skills, staying on task, perseverance, organization skills and study habits. My hope is that our students will utilize these skills and strategies for the entire year to help them do their very best in school and accomplish a lot of great things!
Mark your calendars for Red Ribbon Week, which will be October 23rd – October 26th. Red Ribbon Week is an initiative to educate students on making healthy choices and staying drug free. We will celebrate with dress up days, contests, prizes, and a fundraising event for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Look out for more information in the communication folders in the coming weeks!
This year is off to a great start and I look forward to even more fun and exciting things ahead. If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kaci Kawakami
School Counselor
Email: kkawakami@rhmail.org
Office: 803.985.1668
Art
Mount Holly welcomes Ms. Tia Drew in her internship with Ms. Ham and her students in the Art program. Ms. Drew is a Winthrop student in the Art Education program and aspires to be an Art teacher. What an awesome opportunity it is for her and for Mt. Holly during this experience. She will be at Mount Holly each Friday this semester.
Mount Holly art work will be on display at the Center for the Arts in downtown Rock Hill as part of the Annual Fall Elementary Art exhibit. The exhibit will run from mid-October through mid-November. Specific dates and exhibit artists will be announced once they have been confirmed.
Please keep in mind of possible recyclables you might donate to the Art classroom. These include, but are not limited to, magazines, phone books, old crayons, plastic lids, coffee cans, and baby wipe containers.
Media Center
The fall book fair has arrived at Mount Holly. It will run from September 24th through October 1st. The book fair is open to all during school hours. If you can’t make it in to the book fair then visit our online book fair which runs till October 2nd. All books ordered online will be delivered to the school. To access our online book fair go to http://www.scholastic.com/bf/mthollyelementaryschool1
Also beggining this October the library will be running the Book It Reader program. Where students can win a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut for reading. They can win one coupon per month. The contest runs from October through March.
Music
Well the Music Room is definitely alive! From our new Kindergartners to the oldest 5th grader, we have been making music. In kindergarten and first grade we are studying all about steady beats and how important they are to music. We have listened to , danced to and made steady beats. In second grade, we are learning more about Orff instruments and having the opportunity to play them. If you aren’t familiar with what “Orff” instruments are, they are the xylophones, metallophones and glockenspiels. Still don’t know? Ask your child. Third through fifth grade have been also playing Orff instruments.
Fourth and fifth graders that want to audition for a part in our spring musical will have the opportunity to begin signing up for auditions the first week of October. ALL auditions will be during school hours. Practices, however, are after school and some weekends. This is a very exciting time around the music room. It’s all abuzz about what part to audition for. I encourage you to encourage your child to be a part of this great opportunity. Be on the look out for a letter coming home in the next few days with all the information.
If you have talents that you’d like to share with us, please let me know. I’d love for our students to see parents using their talents, as well. In order to make our musical a success, we will need painters, seamstresses, builders, and who knows what else. If you’d like to be a volunteer for something, please just let me know.
Physical Education
Please join us for our International Walk to School Day on Friday, October 26 during your child’s special area class time. We will use this day as a means to celebrate our health and enjoyment of exercise!
Special Area Schedule:
8:35-9:20- 4th Grade
9:30-10:15- 5th Grade
10:20-11:05- 3rd Grade
11:10-11:55- 2nd Grade
12:30-1:15- Kindergarten
1:30-2:15- 1st Grade
In other PE news, 2nd – 5th Graders will be discussing My Plate, which is a great visual of a healthy meal. The kids are usually surprised to learn that the two largest portions of their plates should be vegetables and grains! Kindergarten and 1st Graders will be discussing healthy and unhealthy foods and working on moving our bodies in general space with our magic personal space bubbles!