Mustang Roundup
November 2018
Palmetto's Finest Site Visit
Principal's Pen
Please see the upcoming dates below.
Saturday, November 3: Fall Carnival from 10 am to 1 pm
Tuesday, November 6: Election Day (No School for students and staff)
Thursday, November 8: Ms. Sadzakov, Mrs. Tomlin, Kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th grade Lunch and Learn (see schedule below)
Friday, November 9: 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade Lunch and Learn (see schedule below)
Monday, November 12: Veteran's Day Parade at 9 am (WEAR RED, WHITE, and BLUE; Please join us as we honor our veterans.)
Tuesday, November 13: SIC Meeting at 5 pm
Tuesday, November 13: SIC Meeting at 6 pm
Friday, November 16: Make-up Pictures
Wednesday, November 21-Friday, November 23: Thanksgiving Break
November Lunch and Learn Times
10:00 - 10:30 Classroom Visit
10:30 - 11:00 Lunch
KINDERGARTEN - NOVEMBER 8th
10:25 - 10:55 Classroom Visit
10:55 - 11:25 Lunch
SECOND GRADE - NOVEMBER 8th
11:30 - 12:00 Classroom Visit
12:00 - 12:30 Lunch
FOURTH GRADE - NOVEMBER 8th
12:10 - 12:40 Classroom Visit
12:40 - 1:10 Lunch
FIRST GRADE - NOVEMBER 9th
10:45 -11:15 Classroom Visit
11:15 -11:45 Lunch
THIRD GRADE - NOVEMBER 9th
11:40 -12:10 Classroom Visit
12:10 - 12:40 Lunch
FIFTH GRADE - NOVEMBER 9th
12:20 - 12:50 Classroom Visit
12:50 - 1:20 Lunch
Ms. Sadzakov
During October, we learned about wood animals. We read the story about those animals, colored pictures of our favorite wood animals, and practiced the vocabulary on the communication board. We completed a variety of tasks and worked on meeting our IEP goals.
We had a lot of fun during Specials’ time. We made group projects in Art and played different musical instruments during Music. While in P.E. we ran, danced and laughed a lot. Everyone made pumpkins and a scarecrow to help decorate the bulletin board in front of our classroom. We added their funny pumpkins that were created in Art class on our bulletin board. They look so silly with hair, eyes, a nose, and a mouth.
This month, everyone enjoyed the lunch with their grandparents! Also, our class welcomed a new student. She is a second-grader, and her name is Laymona. We are all looking forward to getting to know her better.
Mrs. Tomlin
Mrs. Tomlin’s class has been learning about life science through our Unique curriculum. We have talked about animal habitats and life cycles. We completed a frog life cycle activity and have recently discovered that we have a frog that likes to visit our door that leads to the playground! We also used the month of September to become experts on the layout of our school building. Our scavenger hunt was a complete success! Need directions around our school? Ask our class! Our class had a spooky good time making decorations for Halloween! Ghosts, bats, and cats oh my! We will continue to study the changing seasons as they come and look forward to learning about weather patterns, climate, clouds, and precipitation. Our class enjoyed Red Ribbon Week and we even discussed how “We’ve Got Better Things To Do Than Drugs!”
During November, we will be focusing on geography through our Unique curriculum. We will discuss maps, their functions, and how to use them to our advantage. We will also learn about Daylight Saving Time, Election Day, Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving! We will explore these topics through interactive stories, arts and crafts, experiments, and many more fun activities. Our class is excited about learning new things as the year progresses!
Kindergarten
Wow! The school year is flying by. As we are enjoying the cooler temperatures and looking for signs of fall, remember to put clothing in your child’s “change of clothing” bag to reflect the change in the seasons. This will save you an unnecessary trip to school should your child need to change clothes.
We enjoyed meeting with you during parent/teacher conferences. Conferences provide another way to make a connection between school and home and build relationships with you.
During the month of November we will be completing a Wood and Paper Unit in Science and beginning “Long Ago and Today” in Social Studies as we prepare for Thanksgiving. We will also celebrate Thanksgiving with some special activities in the classroom.
Please continue reading with your child each day and complete the reading log in the homework folder. Reviewing the High Frequency Words daily will help your child become a more confident reader and writer.
November is a busy month as we anticipate our first Club Friday meeting, Lunch and Learn, Election Day and Thanksgiving Holiday. At this special time of the year, we reflect on our many blessings. Our students and their families are counted twice!!!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
First Grade
Burrrrr! It’s getting cold outside but inside our students have warmed up to the routines and procedures of being first graders! It is hard to believe that first quarter is complete and we are headed straight ahead for new knowledge in all subject areas in second quarter. Let’s get started!
In Language Arts, we have written Small Moment narratives where the student focuses on a story using sequence words and stays very specific on explaining a small moment or even that happened in their life. They are very proud of their work, as are we. In the coming weeks we will be switching gears in writing however. Our focus will be on non-fiction informational books, where the student becomes the teacher! The students really enjoy this style of writing, as they have the opportunity to teach others all about a topic in which they are the "experts". They will also learn how to do research and use facts to build on their books.
As they grow as writers, they are equally growing as readers. Guided reading books are progressively becoming more complex. Your child is receiving both genres of fiction and non-fiction within their reading level. Your child’s teacher also administers a running record routinely to see if they are ready to advance to the next level. Please continue to have your child read these books to you every night. This will help them become more confident readers, improve their reading accuracy, and increase their ability to comprehend the text.
In math we just finished learning about the strategies that can be used to solve addition equations. These strategies include number lines, drawing pictures, counting-on from the biggest number, using fingers, and using manipulatives or math tools. Ask your child to demonstrate some of these techniques with a simple addition equation no larger than a sum of 20. (For example: 6+13= ) As we continue this quarter, we will be introducing more complex properties of addition. We will also continue with our problematic tasks (story problems) while focusing on the following: 1. What do we know? 2. What do we need to know? and 3. What is not important? They will be able to assess what number is needed to solve these problems depending on the missing addend.
Our first science unit proved exciting for our students. They loved learning about lights and shadows. We will begin with social studies this quarter, with a focus on government officials such as mayor and president.
And finally, our first field trip will be this quarter! More details to follow!!!
Second Grade
This month in science we have been learning about force, balance, and motion. The students will observe the effects of applying pushes and pulls to various objects. In social studies the students will be expected to identify the basic functions of government, recognize different types of laws, and identify the roles of leaders and officials in government. Math lessons this month include extended practice with place value. The students are expected to represent numbers in standard form, expanded form, and multiple base-ten models. In addition to place value we will begin our unit on measurement and data. The students will be expected to collect, organize, and represent data. They will also be expected to draw conclusions from t-charts, object graphs, picture graphs, and bar graphs. In reading, the students are receiving small group instruction for comprehension strategies. The 2nd grade teachers are also addressing these reading skills along with Jacob’s ladder to guide deeper discussions. The written portion of Jacob’s ladder will continue to be modeled so that students can continue to improve their understanding and be able to apply these skills independently. It’s amazing to reflect on the educational growth thus far that the students have made since the first day of school.
Third Grade
In math, we just concluded our unit on adding and subtracting fluently to 1,000 using our knowledge of place value. We will revisit this skill throughout the year. In order for our students to be successful, they need to be able to add and subtract up to 20 quickly and be able to use addition and subtraction strategies accurately and efficiently. Addition with regrouping and subtraction with zeros can be difficult skills to master, but practice makes perfect!
We have started our unit on multiplication. The students should begin to have multiplicative thinking! This means being able to recognize groups of objects instead of “seeing” the objects individually. They are learning that multiplication can be modeled using repeated addition. They are also learning how to make arrays.
Our students are making improvements as writers. We have enjoyed reading their “small moment” pieces in our first unit on personal narratives. Throughout the writing process this year, we will continue to work on writing for validity. Writers are reminded of the procedures used daily in all types of writing. These procedures are: beginning each sentence with a capital letter, stretching out words when spelling unfamiliar words, using dictionaries as a resource, using neat, legible handwriting, and placing appropriate punctuation at the end of all complete thoughts. While writing, students need to remember that it is important to have a good beginning, middle, and end to their story.
Reading continues to be a priority! Students are working on their stamina and practicing “nose in book” reading, which means strengthening our ability to read texts for extended periods of time without distraction. Students should be reading at home daily!
We continue to work on becoming Model Mustangs! We recite our school pledge, The Model Mustang Way, daily as part of our morning announcements. The faculty and staff at Mount Holly understand that we must teach life skills as well as academic skills in order to better prepare our students for real world experiences. Our team has already witnessed a change in students’ manners and overall levels of respect.
The third grade team applauds those of you who took the time out of your busy schedule to have a face-to-face conference with your child’s teacher. Family involvement is a vital component in every child’s academic success!
Fourth Grade
Fourth Grade has geared up for the challenges of the second nine weeks! Fall Conferences are complete and students are steadily working through the Curriculum.
In Language Arts, students have finished their study of Theme and Summary and have moved on to Informational Text Structure. In Guided Reading, students will continue to work on Jacob’s Ladder and questioning techniques moving along the Depth of Knowledge Wheel to enhance their learning. Fountas and Pinnell testing has begun and students’ reading levels will be assessed for future placement in reading groups.
In Math, students have moved on from multiplication to division. From the Box and Lattice Method in multiplication to new problem solving strategies for inverse operations. Students will learn about and use new methods to master division.
What’s the weather? Our scientists have moved on to our Weather Unit. Encourage your child to investigate the world of weather around them. They can watch the weather on the news, live stream it online, and experience it personally in their day to day routine.
In Social Studies, we are going to War!!! The French and Indian War, that is. Students have moved from Colonization to the Big Three competing nations and how their actions shaped the United States and World as we know it.
We are looking forward to having our students in the school play, Alice in Wonderland! Congratulations to all cast and crew! We are also looking forward to the November Lunch and Learn, as it is an opportunity for us to showcase what your students are doing in the classroom. A final note about RTI in the morning. After Thanksgiving break, the focus will shift from Math to Word Study. More information to follow!
Art
A fine group of student artists proudly represented Mount Holly Elementary in an Annual Elementary Student Art exhibit at the Center for the Arts, on Main Street, in Downtown Rock Hill. The work went on display on October 15 and will stay on display through November 12. Congratulations to the following students for their recognition of a job well done:
Amelia Bowman
Blake Reed
Leah Crockett
Sabrina Sistar
Jayla Jackson
Rylie Steele
Gabby Blackwell
Braden Penland
Reid Adkins
Zykerriah Heggins
Jaylen Ramirez
Connor Carpenter
Cherish Duncan
Gabe Campbell
Brooklin Hanson
Micah Jamerson
Media Center
Music
Fourth grade students will begin learning how to play the recorder starting in a few short weeks. A letter about purchasing recorders should have come home with students already. Please make sure that you read it and send money in with your child. They will need to have a recorder in music class each week.
Auditions for our spring musical will be held the week of November 5-9 for our 4th and 5th grade students. If your child signed up to audition, please make sure they know when the audition is. The date and times are on the bulletin board outside of my classroom. All auditions will be held during school.
Guidance
October was a busy month for the Mighty Mustangs! October is always the month in which we celebrate Red Ribbon Week and make the pledge to be healthy and drug free! This year for Red Ribbon Week we focused on raising money for the Susan G. Komen foundation. Between the donations to this foundation and the ribbon sales conducted by Student Ambassadors, we were able to give over $400 to the Susan G. Komen foundation. Our giving will continue through the month of November as 4th and 5th grade students participate in Holiday Mail for Heroes. This initiative, sponsored by the Red Cross, allows students to create cards for the men and women who have served our country over the years. Also, look for information in the communication folder about an upcoming Food Drive that our Student Ambassadors will be sponsoring. I am so proud of our Mustangs and their generosity towards others.
Kaci Kawakami
School Counselor
803.985.1668
Physical Education
As you start thinking about the upcoming Thanksgiving Day, you may want to consider using a few of these Thanksgiving food planning tips:
* Take time to plan your meal - Planning ahead can save time and be less stressful.
* Simplify your menu – Less thanksgiving dishes and desserts means less to prepare and less to clean up!
* Make a shopping list - Download our printable thanksgiving shopping list guide.
* Shop early - Look for bargains on nonperishable foods.
* Make it a potluck – Save time and have family and friends help with some of their favorite healthy side dishes.
* Prepare some foods in advance - Appetizers and desserts can be prepared in advance, reducing your "to do" list closer to the holiday.
* Reduce your “To Do” list – Prioritize to create time for rest, fun and being active.
This information comes from http://www.nourishinteractive.com/healthy-living/free-nutrition-articles/26-tips-healthy-eating-foods-kids-cooking
Instructional Specialist
Help Develop Writing and Spelling at Home
Writing is a terrific way for children to express their thoughts, creativity, and uniqueness. It is also a fundamental way in which children learn to organize ideas. Learning to write well also helps children to be better readers.
When engaging in writing, young children often mirror what they see around them – adults and older children writing lists, notes, text messaging. They are observing the way writing is used in our everyday lives.
Writing at home
Here are some suggestions that engage your child in the writing process:
· Have your child write instructions for taking care of the family pet.
· Write a letter or thank you note to a relative. Talk through what your child wants to say before writing begins.
· Make a shopping list before going to the grocery store.
· Write an online review of a book or an item you recently purchased (or a recipe you tried.
· Start keeping a personal diary, a household guestbook, or a baby book for a younger sibling.
Writer’s strike
If your child avoids writing, use materials and tools that support both the thinking process and the physical act of writing:
· Use wide lined paper, which helps kids line up and space their letters.
· Use a whiteboard, which allows them to easily erase and try again.
· Use a keyboard, which also allows kids to easily edit.
Source: ReadingRockets.org