Oakleigh Owl News
June 2022
Message from the Principal
Hello OES families,
Happy June! It is hard to believe the end to this school year is around the corner. We started the year in an unusual fashion with masks, seating charts, and quarantining due to COVID exposure. We are ending in a more typical fashion, and it feels so good to be back to some sense of normal. We have many exciting activities coming up in the next two weeks. We have our 4th and 5th grade concerts this week as well as field day. Some of our 5th graders will be visiting Pine Grove Middle School. We will also have our 5th grade Farewell and class picnics. Class picnics will be taking place for most grade levels during the last week of school. It feels wonderful to bring these events back and bring our school community together to finish the school year.
This past week was a difficult one as the news of what unfolded in Texas came out. Please know that the safety of your children is of the utmost importance to us. We will continue to review our safety procedures and practice for events such as fires or intruders. We will have one more “intruder scenario” drill planned before the end of the school year as well as a fire drill. We will be sure notify students in advance that these are drills to help reduce anxiety. Please talk to your students about the importance of the drills and they are designed to keep us prepared and safe.
Report cards will be provided on the last day of school, except 5th graders who will receive theirs at the farewell ceremony. If you child is not present on the last day of school, the report card can be accessed through the Focus portal.
If you are looking for before and after school care for the fall, Hot Spots, our child care provider at Oakleigh, is expanding their program and will have additional openings. Please go to our school website for more information.
I would like to thank all of you for an amazing school year! We could not accomplish what we did without your continued support and partnership. I feel fortunate to have the support of such a wonderful school community. Have a restful and relaxing summer.
-Mrs. Metheny
Summer Reading News!
Summer break does not have to be a break from learning! Here are a few activities to keep the learning AND the fun going throughout the summer!
- Take a walk. Write about or draw the things you see that show summer is here.
- Start a summer scrapbook. Include souvenirs of any trips you take, photos, ticket stubs, and projects you work on during the summer.
- Work up an appetite by reading a story about food. Make and eat the food you read about.
- If you are going on a family vacation this summer, read about your trip. Mark your travel route on a map.
Please visit Reading Rockets to read more suggestions for integrating reading and writing skills into your child’s summer routine. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/10-weeks-summer-reading-adventures-you-and-your-kids
IGE 3
Pre-K
K
This month, Kindergarten continues to grow in their reading skills, practicing blending CVC words , compound words, and words with initial consonant blends.
...and, of course, always adding new sight words!
We read and discussed how we can help at home, work together as a team, and be good citizens:)
In math, we are computing addition and subtraction problems to 10 and talking about different ways to solve the same problem. We are also drawing our thinking and solving problems up to 20 on the number line!
First Grade
First grade is working on sharpening their writing skills in preparation for second grade. In math students are counting coins and learning their value, telling time to the hour and the half hour and using input/output charts in math.
Second Grade
Second grade has been working on finishing the year strong! In Math we have been working on adding and subtracting three-digit numbers. We have been using our place value picture strategy to show our work and represent our thinking. We are also learning about representing data in math using different types of charts including tally charts, pictographs, and bar charts. We have enjoyed creating our own data charts by voting on our favorite things and representing the data in different ways! In Language Arts we have been reading Charlotte's Web whole group. We have worked on identifying story elements and answering comprehension questions about the text. Over the summer we encourage students to keep practicing math facts, sight words, and reading to family members! Keep up the great work Second graders!
Third Grade
We are so excited for our third graders to finish out the year strong! We have learned so much this quarter. We were able to plan and create safe cars for our passenger Eggbert in Science. In Math, we focused on learning fractions and began diving deep into the math behind bridges. Students were even given opportunities to design and build their own model bridges. In Language Arts we began learning about and writing many different types of poems. The third-grade teachers are so proud of all the work our students have put in this year and all they have learned! We wish you well in fourth grade and hope you have an amazing summer!
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
FALS
The FALS classes spent some time in May learning about butterflies. We watched out plants grow and drew the stages of our butterflies. Mrs. Pappas' and Mrs. Cunningham's class have been continuing to reading novels as the students have been really enjoying it!
In math, classes have completed their fractions units. We have begun working on a math review to finish up the school year.
We look forward to a fun summer and will see some of you in ESY!
Spotlight on Special Areas!
Gym:
Hello Oakleigh Fam
During the Kids Heart Challenge, Oakleigh raised over $2,500 dollars! We've had a rope jumping unit and Movement Ed Equipment unit since March. The students really enjoyed climbing the equipment, swinging on the rope, and using the climbing wall. Field day is on Friday, June 3rd. A paper flyer will be coming home Tuesday, May 31st. This will be Oakleigh's first field day since 2019. We are very excited.
-Mr. Asher and Mr. Martin
Music:
As we wrap up another wonderful year in Mr. Moon's Vocal Music Room I want to look back at some of the wonderful things we did. We participated in drum circles, dance circles, improvising games, singing activities, worked on learning the National Anthem, sang African American Spirituals, played partner games, read and performed rhythms, sang solos, worked on creating high-quality vocal music, and most importantly of all: made music together. It was a blast!
Have a musical summer!
-Mr. Moon
Library:
Hello, Oakleigh families!
Your friendly neighborhood librarian here! What a year it has been! Thank you for all of your support this year. It is a pleasure to be part of the Oakleigh community.
Below is a yearly wrap-up of what we accomplished this school year.
Kindergarten -- Digital Citizenship, author studies, fiction books, nonfiction books
First Grade -- Digital Citizenship, making text connections, tangrams, visualization in stories
Second Grade – Digital Citizenship, what makes great books great, cultural traditions around the world
Third Grade -- Digital Citizenship, what makes you unique; poetry conventions
Fourth Grade -- Digital Citizenship, how to promote great books, online reading strategies, healthy media habits, book genres
Fifth Grade – Digital Citizenship; Newbery, Coretta Scott King and Schneider Award winning books; budgeting & planning
We also held two extremely successful and amazing Book Fairs, which helped fund the expansion of classroom libraries as well as the school library! Thank you for continuing to support and promote a love of reading among our students.
A few announcements/reminders:
● Please continue encouraging your child to read at home! 20 minutes a day will strengthen reading skills and expand vocabulary!
● I know our scholars love their library books, but they must be returned to the library ASAP!
● Please see the advertisement on the next page for information about Baltimore County Public Library’s Summer Reading Challenge for 2022!
Have a wonderful summer, and best of luck to our rising 6th graders!
Mrs. Varounis
Art:
IN THE ART ROOM – JUNE 2022
Spring is the ultimate season to be artfully inspired by nature.
Kindergarten continued exploring symmetry this quarter by drawing some fabulous bugs - did you know, except for sea sponges, all animals are symmetrical?
We made spring flowers to practice those cutting and gluing skills, and to try layering for contrast and depth.
Then, after many months of drawing, painting, and collaging, we finally went 3-dimensional with modeling clay dinosaurs. More sculpture to follow – watch this space.
First grade completed their paper weaving projects. Some classes made flowers in a vase, others made owls – we will revisit weaving because it’s fun and so good for hand-eye coordination.
Spring cannot go by without celebrating cherry blossoms. I love how students engage with materials, and tissue paper requires careful handling – so lovely.
And finally, something OUT of this world – a SPACE project to explore depth, contrast, and how to use chalk pastels to go stratospheric with color!
Finally, we’re making stacked cardboard sculptures this week – if you need a new desk toy, this is it. This class was so proud, they all jumped in for the photo op!
Second grade began the quarter with ‘Storied Castles’. They used a simple stamp printing technique with metallic paint on sponges to create their castles, then added details and a title to make their ‘story’. Then things got MESSY – paper mâché AND clay. We made paper mâché nests from strips of scrap paper, then created colorful clay birds to go inside.
Third grade studied movement and contrast this quarter. They made abstract collages inspired by artist Reggie Laurent, and relief sculptures inspired by Charles McGee. In the past few weeks, we’ve been weaving on decorated paper plates. This has been a challenge and a joy – so many students have surprised themselves and excelled at this. I’m so proud of their achievements.
Fourth grade made wonderful kinetic art – art that moves! They drew, cut, painted and attached cardboard pieces with brads so that they moved independently, as joints. The challenge is to make a stop motion animation - you have the app on your chromebooks, so why not give it a go over the Summer?
Next was a clay pinch pot creature – so many possibilities, and these are some of the weird and wonderful results!
Fifth grade revisited radial symmetry through a printmaking project. They made decorative paper with floating chalk printing, then created their radial print on top. A quick printing project using CDs paid homage to the cherry blossoms. What could be better than painting and printing combined?
Most recently, 5th graders have been working on an Original Character Zine – zines are short, self-published magazines, about anything. We’ve looked at how comic artists often use basic shapes to draw figures and suggest characteristics – think Gru from ‘Despicable Me’, he’s one large triangle! Students have taken this on enthusiastically – some took it a step further and created a short story – the graphic novel awaits… Middle school also awaits – carry on expressing yourselves!
-Ms. Rose
Social Worker's Corner
I believe I can speak for almost everyone reading this…it has been a year!!!
The last day of school is approaching very quickly. Let’s remember to take care of ourselves over the summer by doing things for ourselves which cost almost nothing. Like taking a nice bath, listening to your favorite music, setting boundaries for yourself doing WHAT YOU need to do to maintain your mental health and being safe. See the picture entitled "Taking Care of Yourself"
Farewell to our 5th graders, we wish you well in middle school remember the coping strategies used during the school year!!!
Make it an awesome summer everyone!
Mrs. Kersey
Wednesday, June 1- 4th Grade Concert
Friday, June 3 – Field day (rain date June 9th)
Friday, June 10 – 5th grade Farewell (rain date, June 13th)
Wednesday, June 15- Half Day 12:35 Dismissal
Thursday, June 16- Last Day of School, Half Day 12:35 Dismissal