Hillcrest Happenings
August 16h, 2022
September 12, 2022
Message from Principal
This week 1st - 5th grade students will be taking their Beginning Of the Year (BOY) Star Renaissance assessments for Reading and Math. These assessments will allow us to track and monitor your child's literacy growth and math achievement. They will take these assessments throughout the year which allows us to see their growth in reading levels and math skills. Students will be taking the assessments Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
A few reminders:
1. Beginning Sept. 6th, if your child arrives after 7:50am, parents will have to come inside to sign them in. Also if you arrive after 4:00pm to pick up your child, you will have to come inside to sign them out. To show Hillcrest Best, students are here and on time! We have already reduced the number of tardies! Thank you parents!
2. We hope everyone can join us for the PTA Ice Cream Social on Thursday at 6:15! See flyer below for more information.
3. Parents/guardians: You may drop off a lunch from a restaurant/fast food for your child at his/her lunch time. We cannot allow visitors to stay for lunch due to limited seating. We know how special it can be for a child to receive a special lunch so we want to make that available.
Thank you for sharing your children with us. It is going to be a great year at Hillcrest PDS!
Haley Dean, Principal
#elevAte
Arrival Procedures
Dismissal Procedures
Counselor's Corner
Have some fun connecting as a family this month while practicing Respect.
Review Respect as a family! Remember that in our lessons we are teaching that Respect means to see value in people and things and treat them with care. Agree as a family to set aside a certain time each day this week to unplug from devices and plug into family time. It shows Respect to practice being present in the moment without the distractions that can come from technology. Debrief and discuss this challenge afterward and commit to this practice at least 1 day each week!
Prekindergarten
This is our last week for our theme: My School and Me. This week we are focusing on our feelings.
Wonderful Word of the Week: emotions
Letters of the Week: Ll, Oo, Tt
Math: Shape Attributes- we will explore straight/curved lines and open/closed shapes.
Phonological Awareness: Sentence Segmentation
Please send a snack for the beginning of the month. Please remember that we cannot have any snacks that contain peanuts or may contain peanuts.
If you haven’t already, please join your students class on Remind:
Mrs. Martinez: @hpdsmtz
Mrs. Campbell: @4663b9
Please let us know if you have any questions!
Mrs. Martinez - Rachel.Martinez@wacoisd.org
Mrs. Campbell - Rosalie.Campbell@wacoisd.org
Kindergarten
This week in Kindergarten:
Reading Workshop- We will use visual cues and background knowledge to monitor comprehension of stories read aloud.
Word Study- We will recognize spoken alliteration and make alliterations with our names.
Sight Words- I, am, so
Writer’s Workshop- We will edit our writing by adding details and color to our pictures.
Math- We will compose and decompose numbers up to 5.
Social Studies- We will identify authority figures in our community and why they are important.
Science-We will explore interactions between magnets and various materials.
Please check take home folders and return them daily.
Stay connected by adding yourself to our classroom Remind 101.
Rabine (Remind): @rabine22
Whatley (Remind): @whatley22
Whitley (Remind): @24kh7d
1st Grade
Reading: This week we will reading and responding to books about friendship. We will talk about how books can remind us of other stories we’ve read, of things that have happened to us and of things that happen in the world.
Spelling: cut, nut, run, fun, bug, rug, tug (short u words)
High frequency words: down, said, went
Bonus word: respect
Math: We are using many different ways to help the students learn all the parts of 10. Our main focus will be number sense and and understanding addition. Keep on the lookout for a math homework page.
Social Studies: Our Baylor teachers will be focusing on family this week in Social Studies as they work with large and small groups.
Science: We will continue our topic of ENERGY. We will study HEAT energy this week and use a fun experiment to show how heat can change things…(hint: it might involve M&M’s).
Look in your child's blue folder daily for notes and info. Thank you!
2nd Grade
This Week in 2nd Grade:
RLA - [Phonics] We will be learning about words with a long e and i sound spelled with a “y”. [Reading] We will practice using context clues while reading to determine the meaning of unknown words. [Writing] We will be learning about the past, present and future tenses of verbs and practice using them in our writing.
Spelling Words:
*Sight Words
1. happy
2. pretty
3. baby
4. very
5. puppy
6. cry
7. fly
8. try
9. *always
10. *after
11. *again
12. *any
Bonus Word: context
Math - We will learn how to determine if a number is even or odd numbers (up to 40) & review addition strategies.
Science - We are learning about characteristics of different bodies of Water (freshwater or saltwater)
Social Studies - We are continuing to learn about citizenship this week by researching characteristics of a good citizen on MyOn.
Stay Connected! Please add yourself to our messaging platforms:
Holt (Remind): @Holt22-23 or email emily.holt@wacoisd.org
Ronnenberg (Remind): @missronne or email alexandra.ronnenberg@wacoisd.org
Whyburn (Class Dojo): link here or email ashley.lenhardt@wacoisd.org
3rd Grade-Check the QR code for information about the Music Performance.
Well… as your students can tell you, we started September off in a run, not a simple speed walk! We had our first Mathematics district test that showed some great knowledge and also showed some areas for growth. Unfortunately for them, we didn’t stop there, we started right up with the next unit. This week we have two tests called the Star Renaissance test; Reading and Math. These tests give the teachers more details about how ready your students are to take the STAAR test. Please know that we are NOT expecting them to be ready for the STAAR when they take these first Star Ren tests! Our students are also working on their Music Program, and will be bringing home flyers, scripts, and possibly music to practice.
Calendar Events
September 13- Star Renaissance Reading
September 14- Star Renaissance Math
September 27- PTA Meeting and Music Program
What’s going on in the classroom?
Math: We just started a new unit on Addition and Subtraction, but don’t be surprised when you hear about number lines, rounding, and some operations when you ask your students what they did at school. If you want to get extra practice in with your students, we would love for you to work on addition and subtraction fluency. This means asking them addition and subtraction problems that are simple one digit by one digit problems (i.e 2-2, 8+6). The faster they can answer you the better. Schools define fluency as answering in less than 5 seconds. We also ask that they move away from using their fingers. Ask them about Touch Math…
Reading: We are continuing our work on Author’s Purpose and craft. If you’re asking your students about what they’re learning or reading please have them give you text evidence. Have them give you specific examples from their day.
Writing: It’s here! We are going to start the first steps of our Wax Museum Projects!! Here at the beginning, we will just be focused on learning about varieties of people. If you have someone that you’d like us to bring up with the students please let us know!!
Social Studies: Science week…
Science: Natural Resources and how we HAVE TO work together to conserve them!!
4th Grade
This week in 4th grade :
ELAR: Author’s Craft
Math: Adding and subtracting whole numbers and decimals
Science: Reviewing Natural Resources
Social Studies: Thinking like a Geographer and Historian
This week we will have our beginning of the year assessments in Reading and Math. This testing helps us plan instruction for your students. It is important that they show us what they know!
Make sure you have signed up for Remind notifications by texting your class code to 81010.
Mrs. Braswell @gd7662a
Mrs. Hall @bhall4
Ms. Reeves @he9b73
5th Grade
This week we are taking our beginning of year placement tests in Reading and Math.
This week::
Math: We are starting order of operations.
Science: Light energy, reflection and refraction.
Reading: Author’s Purpose
Please read 20 minutes every night!
Please make sure to send a water bottle. We do not have access to water fountains during the day and students get very thirsty! We do have the ability to fill the bottles.
Feel free to contact us through remind or email us!
~The fabulous fifth grade team~
Mrs. Land holly.land@wacoisd.org
Mr. Dossey lenard.dossey@wacoisd.org
Ms. Hardin tracey.hardin@wacoisd.org
Specials
From the Music Room
Here’s a recap of all the great music making students have been doing in class. Ask your child to share something new they’ve learned.
Pre-K - Students have been learning some traditional folk songs and chants. One of our favorites to sing and move to is “No More Pie!”
Kindergarten - Students have been exploring music through learning songs about farm animals. Recently we’ve been singing songs about lambs!
1st Grade - Students identified and practiced many ways to keep the steady beat. We’ve also identified things in our everyday life that keep a beat. Ask your student to name one.
2nd Grade - Students have been practicing known rhythm patterns. We’ve read them, written them and played them.
3rd Grade - These students are preparing for the upcoming PTA program on September 27th. Has your student returned their participation slip?
4th and 5th Graders - Our oldest musicians are reviewing known rhythm patterns and playing barred instruments.
Keep a song in your heart!
Mrs. Hoover, Music Teacher
Showtime Peformance
PTA Membership
The PTA has created a Google Form that allows you to sign up for membership from home. Please click on the link below and fill out the membership form if you are interested in joining the HPDS PTA. If you have already filled out a paper form to join this school year, there is no need to complete this online form.
Thanks!
School Lunch Accounts
4225 Pine Ave
Waco, TX 76710