Elementary Curriculum Newsletter
MARCH 2020
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Building Number Sense
Date: April 28
Time: 4:15 - 5:45 pm
Location: Alpine Elementary (1590 Alpine Dr, Columbus, OH 43229)
We want our students to have Number Sense and be flexible with numbers, but how do we do that? This workshop will look at routines that can be used to help students build number sense. We will explore visualizing, comparing, and thinking flexibility about numbers to help students look at the world in terms of quantity and numbers.
Sign up on the PDS System #38105
Would you like to have someone to plan lessons with or discuss learning intentions for your students?
If you would be interested in meeting other teachers at your grade level, please fill out the Google Form below.
After the responses are collected, Heather Allen will send an email to the interested teachers.
CENSUS ACTIVITIES
K-2: How Does Our Class Compare?
Students will collect, organize, and compare data about the number of girls and the number of boys in their classroom who play sports, take lessons, and participate in clubs. Then students will compare these classroom data with U.S. Census Bureau data for girls and boys across the United States.
Teachers may choose to adapt this activity for different data if other categories are more applicable to their students. (Math)
3-5: Using Fractions to Compare Amusements Parks By States
Students will predict how many amusement parks are in their state. They will then analyze census data on the numbers of amusement parks in all 50 states in 2016.
(Data in this activity do not include the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico.)
Then students will write numbers as fractions and create a visual model of the data. (Math)
K-5: St. Patrick’s Day Fun Facts
St. Patrick's Day is a celebration of all things Irish! To commemorate, the U.S. Census Bureau shares facts and figures associated with this festive day. Teachers can view the teaching guide for ideas on how to incorporate St. Patrick's Day Fun Facts in the classroom.
Click here for a link to a Census Google Drive Folder for the activities we have shared or will share this year.
Columbus City Schools wants every family to count in the 2020 U.S. Census!
Think about it: a Columbus kindergartener counted in the 2020 Census this spring will be starting high school when the next census comes around in 2030. That’s 10 years of school supplies, teachers, office visits, bus rides, school lunches, afterschool care, and so much more.
We have the power to shape our future and the future of all students by encouraging every family in our city to be counted in the 2020 Census.
More than $130 million in federal funding each year comes back to our District, based in large part on Census data. And hundreds of millions more in federal dollars are invested back into our neighborhoods and community through the city, county, and state. All based on Census number. That’s why we need every person counted, so Columbus gets its fair share.
March 2 - 6 is National Census in Schools Week, and Columbus City Schools is celebrating by reaching out to our students, families, and staff with the message “Everyone Counts!” During this week, you will receive a “Columbus Counts Census 2020” button - provided by the Columbus Complete Count Committee and the City of Columbus - to help spark interest and show our support for the upcoming Census.
CENSUS DAY IS APRIL 1. This year it’s easier than ever to respond to the Census. Information from the Census Bureau will be coming to homes later this month. Families can respond in 13 different languages, and they can complete it online, by phone, or by mail.
Everyone living in a student’s home needs to be counted. That includes parents and grandparents, children and newborn babies, citizens and non-citizens, relatives and non-relatives, and even those staying temporarily.
Responses to the Census are safe and secure. The 2020 Census does not ask whether anyone in a home is a U.S. citizen. The law requires the Census Bureau to keep information confidential. Responses cannot be used against a family in any way.
Take a moment this week to encourage our students to help their families shape the future of Columbus by taking the Census… because Everyone Counts!
And if you need more information, contact our Department of Engagement at 614-365-8868 or visit www.2020Census.gov.
Mystery Science is a science supplemental resource for grades K-5.
Columbus City Schools has been given a free district-wide membership to MYSTERY SCIENCE.
Please use this link to register correctly CCS MYSTERY SCIENCE
Once you get your account, go to your name in the right-hand corner and click SETTINGS.
Click to turn on the ANCHOR LAYER.
If you have any questions or problems, please email Heather Allen hallen704@columbus.k12.oh.us
Do you have the STUDIES WEEKLY supplemental social studies resource?
Studies Weekly writers have added enhancements and features specific to Ohio!
If you own the resource, please check out the Studies Weekly Smores Newsletter to learn about the product updates
5th grade teachers
To our 5th Grade teachers
Don’t forget about the special Free COSI Family Membership for all of our District’s 5th Graders and their families. Attached is flyer on how they can sign up. Thanks to a generous donation from the Robert Weiler family, COSI is offering 1,000 free family memberships just to our 5th graders. But to get the membership, our students’ families must go online, call, or visit COSI. The deadline is March 15th. If you have an opportunity to speak to your students’ families, please encourage them to take advantage of this incredible offer.
Award Winning Books
Three of the books you received have won awards this year!
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander & Kadir Nelson
2020 Newberry Honor Book
2020 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner
Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry
What is Given from the Heart by Patricia C. McKissack
MUSIC in our Schools Month
What is Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM)?
For more than 30 years, March has been officially designated by the National Association for Music Education for the observance of Music In Our Schools Month, the time of year when music education becomes the focus of schools across the nation.
The purpose of MIOSM is to raise awareness of the importance of music education for all children – and to remind citizens that school is where all children should have access to music. MIOSM is an opportunity for music teachers to bring their music programs to the attention of the school and the community, and to display the benefits that school music brings to students of all ages.
Lesson Plans from the National Association for Music Education
March 2 - National Read Across America Day
Happy 116th birthday Dr. Seuss
- Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Seuss Geisel on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachuttes
- He attended Dartmouth from 1921-1925, where he was a contributor and editor of the college's humour magazine, The Jack-O-Lantern.
- He wasn't really a doctor
- An honorary doctorate was granted to him by his alma mater, Dartmouth, in 1956
- He wrote "Green Eggs & Ham" on a dare
- He produced cartoons for the Army during WWII
- The Grinch movie was a flop at first
- He thought children's books were too boring
- He was the first person to use the word "Nerd"
- He tried writing for grown-ups, too
- He started out in advertising
- He had imaginary children
- He had a large collection of hats
March 12 - Girl Scouts Day
Girl Scouts’ birthday, March 12, commemorates the day in 1912 when Juliette Gordon Low officially registered the organization's first 18 girl members in Savannah, Georgia.
Juliette Gordon Low organized enrichment programs, service projects, and outdoor activities and adventures.
- The organization’s original name was the Girl Guides of America
- By 1920 there were close to 70,000 members
- By 1930 there were over 200,000 members
- In 2005 there were over 3.7 million members
Motto “Be Prepared”
Slogan “Do a Good Turn Daily”
“Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.”
March 17 - St. Patrick's Day
The holiday has evolved into a celebration of Irish culture with parades, special foods, music, dancing, drinking and a whole lot of green.
- Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick’s Day dish. In 2009, roughly 26.1 billion pounds of beef and 2.3 billion pounds of cabbage were produced in the United States.
- Irish soda bread gets its name and distinctive character from the use of baking soda rather than yeast as a leavening agent.
- The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place in the United States on March 17, 1762, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City.
- There are 32.3 million U.S. residents with Irish ancestry, according to a 2016 census. This number is about seven times the population of Ireland itself.
- Irish is the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, ranking behind German.
- Shamrocks are the national flower/emblem of Ireland.
- The color of St. Patrick’s Day was originally blue. It’s thought that the shift to green happened because of Ireland’s nickname “The Emerald Isle,” the green in the Irish flag and the shamrock, or clover. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn as early as the 17th century.
Fiona's Luck by Teresa Bateman
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover by Lucille Colandro
Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka by Tomie dePaola
March 19 - Spring Equinox
The spring equinox marks the change of the seasons and as the northern hemisphere begins to tilt towards the sun, our days start to get longer and our nights shorter. In the northern hemisphere, we enjoy the arrival of spring and the promise of warmer days. To our friends in the southern hemisphere, however, this marks the changing of their seasons to autumn.
In the northern hemisphere, the March equinox is traditionally celebrated as a time of rebirth with many different cultures celebrating spring holidays and festivals such as Easter and Passover around the time of the equinox.