Kindergarteners had an exciting week at Wallace School. We had a lot of fun celebrating “Week of Kindness”. We enjoyed dressing up each day and learning about the ways that we show kindness to ourselves and others. The children also really loved visiting the “Pop Up Library” at Wallace this week. Kindergarteners were able to take out books. Some kids even got their first library card. Many thanks to the Hoboken Public Library.

In social studies, the classes had a tasty time working on a class book of favorite food they traditionally eat during a holiday. We listed a lot of foods that they eat during various holidays before working on their own page of the book. It was so interesting to hear about all the different holidays they celebrate as well as the treats eaten during their celebrations.

In Math and ELA, the classes worked on completing the Link It! assessments for math and ELA, and on the DRA3 reading assessments. When we were not working on the assessments, in ELA the kindergarten classes began “Unit 5: Wonders of Nature”. We focused this week on answering the question “What do living things need to grow?” as we read the anchor text, “My Garden” by Kevin Henkes. Our letter of the week was “Hh” and the sight word was “and”. During Math periods we reviewed ways to make six, practiced story problems and learned about 3 D shapes.

ELA-this week in ELA our essential question was: How Do Plants Change As They Grow? We listened to several stories about plants and worked in small groups learning about corn, strawberries, yuca and trees. We learned how to make nouns plural, what synonyms are and examples of them, present-tense verbs, and how to correct sentences by identifying the mistakes. Our spelling words this week were long i words and how the magic e (also known as silent e) makes the vowel say its name.

Math-We are in chapter 4 of our math curriculum and in this chapter we are learning all about measurement. We are telling time to the hour, continuing with story problems and learning how to measure length with three types of fish: perch, mackerel and alewife. We all had the chance to measure a different size fish and decide if it is a keeper or not.

ILP/Social Studies- During ILP, we are working on classworks and iXL for our individualized learning pathways. In Social Studies, we learned all about the Lunar New Year and celebrated in our classrooms with crafts and treats.

In English Language Arts, the second graders continued to discuss and learn about things they

see in the sky. They also read fictional texts, Starry Night and Mr. Putter and Tabby See The

Stars, and learned to identify the plot and the sequence of events. They are also continuing to

work on expanding their vocabulary, improving their fluency and comprehension, and writing in

literacy centers.

Our second grade mathematicians are continuing to learn about place value, as well as, adding

and subtracting 2-digit numbers. Students learned to use addition and subtraction to find the

missing number in various equations. They also worked on solving and writing their own

addition and subtraction number stories.

In Science, the students are learning to identify the different features of a map and are creating a map of a playground using a compass rose and forming a map key.

What a great week of learning for our 2nd graders!

Third graders enjoyed Kindness Week at Wallace. Students created labels with encouraging messages that were dropped off at a local coffee shop. We are sure customers enjoyed the positive messages on their coffee cups!

In ELA, scholars continued reading the beloved novel Charlotte's Web. They also practiced using the comprehension skill of comparing and contrasting. Students compared and contrasted different characters from the novel in order to show their similarities and differences. Students also reviewed the the skill of main idea and details. In writing, students worked on opinion writing and learned how to use reasons to support their opinions.

In Math, mathematicians are practicing addition and subtraction with larger numbers. They are adding and subtracting 3-digit and 2-digit numbers. They also played a game called Close to 100 where they created 2 2-digit numbers that equal 100. Students also practiced their multiplication facts with the daily use of minute math.

In Social Studies. students learned about the four different regions of New Jersey. They learned where these regions are found in New Jersey and also learned about the characteristics of each region.

In Language Arts, our Readers and Writers are currently providing relevant details to support a claim by engaging with the anchor text through guided practice to complete an anchor chart. They are also engaged in understanding the elements of a opening, body, and closing paragraphs by discussing/analyzing its features and engaging in guided practice

In Social Studies, our historians are engaged in understanding the significance of the battle of Fort Sumter by closely analyzing informational text and viewing video on subject to summarize the event and its significance to the Civil War.

Our youngest wildcats explored high and low sounds through movement activities using silk scarves and identifying the qualities of sounds we hear in music and nature. We also explored the world of lines and spaces, the home where our music notes live. Students played a friendly game of Staff Champion and competed to see which team could correctly identify the most line and space notes! We of course added up all of our scores to see what we got as a class and we were all so proud to see how many points we scored as a big happy music family.

Our oldest wildcats continued exploring melodic music with our set of table top handbells. Forget about one boomwhacker, try THREE handbells to be responsible for. Talk about serious hand, eye, and ear coordination!

All of our musical Wildcats are truly growing into their musical shoes. Have a great weekend Wildcat families and let’s continue to ROAR next week!

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!

Dear Wallace Families,

This week, Wallace students and staff participated in The Great Kindness Challenge! This challenge allowed students to perform many acts of kindness throughout the week and strengthen our Wildcat community. Each class was given a checklist that consisted of different acts of kindness they can complete throughout the week and month. As a class and team, students worked together to check off as many acts of kindness as they could. I am very proud of our Wildcats for working so hard to spread kindness and consideration for others throughout our building and the Hoboken community.

This week the Hoboken Library came to visit Wallace! It was a very successful first Pop-Up Library and allowed students to check out and borrow the books of their choosing. As a reminder, students will be required to return the books in March when the Hoboken Library returns or to any Hoboken Library branch. If you still need a library card please fill out this Google Form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ud4K1uPqTi1cI-9a_1f5qIazV7Ap0ROfgtwAgFM1Qzw/prefill

As always, please feel free to click Here and log in to MOVE THIS WORLD and explore all of its resources and lessons at home with our Wallace Family account.

Username:WallaceWildcat

Password: movethisword

Feel free to contact me at: frank.cagiao@hoboken.k12.nj.us

As always, please be sure to find some time to relax and enjoy the weekend. Until next time… Martin Shannon, Principal