Forest Lake Newsletter
December 2018
“Our students win, when we work as one!”
- Dr. Paul Nehrig - Principal
- Mr. David Sanford - Assistant Principal
Dear Panthers,
Greetings and best wishes to you as we move through the holiday season! This is the final edition of the newsletter for 2018 – the next issue you receive will ring in 2019 and a new semester of learning, growing and fun. As you’ll see in this newsletter, there are lots of great things happening at Forest Lake. We’ve had a busy first half of the school year, and I look forward to continued opportunities for student growth and achievement beginning in January.
Thank you to everyone who has worked together to support our students & teachers as they strive for academic success. Our School Advisory Council (SAC) and Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) are active and growing, providing much-needed input, resources, and help for achieving our school’s mission. If you would like to get involved at Forest Lake as a member of SAC, PTO, as a volunteer, business partner, or mentor, please let us know – we welcome you to join us! I’m grateful to our teachers and families who have collaborated on our new “Panther Parent Parties”, learning ways to support our students’ learning at home. Our support staff works tirelessly to assist our students, families, and teachers and I am thankful for their help. With everyone’s teamwork, our students can and will succeed!
During the winter break, I hope you’ll take time to rest and recharge, enjoying time with family and friends. Parents, please encourage our students to reflect on what they’ve learned, accomplished, and experienced this year, and help them set new goals for the year ahead.
Happy holidays, Panthers, and I look forward to working together with you next year!
Remember – “Our students win, when we work as one!”
The mission of our Forest Lake Elementary community is to provide
a learning environment where all students can achieve academic success.
Sincerely,
Dr. Nehrig
School Advisory Council
Deltona Star Student of the Month - September
Box Tops for Education
PTO NEWS
Happy Holidays, Panther families! PTO has been busy preparing for our December festivities & hope to see everyone at our holiday events.
The Penguin Patch Holiday Shop, where our students can buy gifts for their loved ones, will be open during school hours the week of December 10. Information about when your child will have the opportunity to shop is being sent home this week. On top of being a wonderful experience for the students & volunteers, a portion of the proceeds from the shop comes right back to PTO, which enables us to support our teachers & students throughout the rest of the year. We will need a lot of volunteers to help run the shop - it really is magical to see how excited the kids are to shop for the special people in their lives, and we encourage everyone who is available to join us for a shift or two.
The shop will also be open during our first annual Holiday Movie Night, which is going to be held on Friday, December 14th. Join us for popcorn, candy & a viewing of the 1966 version of Dr. Seuss’ “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.” Students will also be able to make an ornament to take home, commemorating the evening. Look for details in your child’s folder soon!
Finally, Kona Ice will visit our VPK through 2nd graders on Thursday December 13th. We always need volunteers for this ongoing fundraiser; if you’re interested, email us at Panthers1PTO@gmail.com & be sure to follow us on social media!
Instagram: @ForestLakePTO
Twitter @ForestLakePTO
Facebook: Forest Lake Elementary PTO
Grade Level News
KINDERGARTEN
It’s hard to believe we are almost half way through our first year! Parents please remember to check your child’s folder every day and help them to learn their alphabet letters, sounds, and sight words. Reading their SIPPs stories 3 times each night will help them tremendously.
Upcoming events: We will be making gingerbread houses on Tuesday, December 18th. We need approved volunteers to help us. No siblings please. You should have received a letter asking for donations to help us with this fun activity. We are also having a Polar Express Pajama Party on the last day of school before winter break, Wednesday, December 19th. The children may wear pajamas to school, but they must wear regular shoes. No slippers or nightgowns allowed. We will have hot chocolate with marshmallows while we watch The Polar Express and have small celebration in the afternoon.
We will be going on our 2nd field trip on January 18th to Blue Springs to see the manatees. More information and permission slips will be coming home soon.
Thank you for all your support this year, and we look forward to a great rest of the year.
FIRST GRADE
Time flies when you’re busy learning! First grade is so excited to be learning about the different states of matter. We are looking forward to our field trip to The Museum of Arts and Science and learning about holiday traditions around the world. We will be assessing sight word knowledge this month so please make sure that your child has memorized the first 125 words. Contact your child’s teacher if you need a list of the words. Homework is due on Fridays. Please check for corrections, and neatness before your child turns it in. Please continue to read daily and practice the math facts to 20. Have a safe and happy holiday.
SECOND GRADE
It’s unbelievable that we are wrapping up our second quarter! Although the holidays are around the corner, we are still in full academic swing in second grade! Here is what your child is working on:
We are just about finished with IReady testing for reading and math. These scores will be used in comparison to the beginning of the year scores to see areas of growth, strengths, and weaknesses. These scores will help drive instruction and intervention as needed.
Reading/Social Studies: We are studying about immigration and the reasons why people came to America in the past and now.
Writing: We are writing an opinion piece on what type of an unusual house we would like to spend a weekend in.
Math: Place value concepts
Science: Matter and properties
As always, make sure your child reads every night and practices skills taught in class on educational websites such as Razkids, Prodigy, IXL.
Thank you for all that you do! Happy Holidays!
THIRD GRADE
Thank you for everyone who came to our 2nd parent party, it was a huge success. We will being doing more throughout the year. Just FYI, Please make sure that you notify your child’s teacher if you plan on your child being absent the last three days before winter break. We do have subject summatives that are going to be administered during those few days.
I am also pleased to announced that Mrs. Raynor received a book grant from FLE’s SAC and we will be doing a grade wide book study in January after we get back from Winter break. . The book title is “Ugly Cat Pablo and the Missing Brother.”
Make sure to continue to read and getting on IXL during your break time 😊
Thanks,
3rd grade team
FOURTH GRADE
Fourth grade had great attendance at our November parent party learning about fractions! Students and parents worked together on comparing fractions and adding and subtracting fractions. This helped our students wrap up an awesome unit covering the 4th grade fraction standards for this quarter. You can continue helping your child understand fractions by letting them measure, bake and calculate using real world problems. We have also completed a social studies unit learning about the first European explorers to arrive in Florida and the influence each one had on the development of Florida as a colony. Students completed their scientific study of Earth’s features with a summative assessment on rocks, minerals, weathering and erosion. 4th grade began working on the Volusia county Social Studies Fair projects by choosing a topic of interest to go along with the theme “Triumph and Tragedy”. Students have been spending time researching their chosen topic in the classroom and media center as they continue gathering information to begin working on their presentation.
Social Studies Fair projects are due on January 11th, 2019.
Here are the topics we will be covering as we head toward the end of the 2nd semester:
- English Language Arts: Examine the elements of poetry to better understand a poem using poems about snow. Participate in a Poetry Café by reading a selected poem with fluency and expression.
- Social studies: Learn about the significance and history of Saint Augustine, Florida as the oldest permanent European settlement in the United States.
- Math: Solve word problems using multiplicative comparison. Introduce measurement conversions in the English and metric systems.
- Science: Understand the states of matter and how matter can change its state; identify physical and chemical changes in matter. Remember to spend at least 20 minutes a day outside of school reading with or to your child.
FIFTH GRADE
Hello Parents! Thank you so much for an amazing first 2 quarters. We are having a blast in 5th grade and we have learned a lot! We know that you are excited about the upcoming break, but wanted to remind you of resources we have available should you want to have your students review over break. These resources are IXL (look for starred skills), Success Maker, Prodigy, Readworks, and Raz Kids. Students may also read nightly! Starting in January, 5th grade will be selling World’s Finest Chocolate to help offset the end of the year 5th grade field trip and activities! Be on the lookout for Science Fair information and have a great Winter Break!
SPECIAL AREA NEWS
PE
The month of December is our annual “Mile Run” test. We will be having this test during the week from Dec. 10-14. The students will have two chances to get their best score, one chance with Coach Boyle and one with Coach Albano. The scoring rubric is posted on the PE website www.flepe.weebly.com, log on to see what to see what time will equal the amount points your child will earn. After the mile run is over you can check on the website to see the mile run records for this year and years past. When the mile run is finished we will continue with our fitness testing until the winter break and continue after the winter break. Students will be tested on the shuttle run, standing long jump, running long jump, high jump, pull ups, 50 yard dash and 50 yard hurdles.
ART
Greetings from the Art Room! The last month flew by, our students are busy creating their own take on various artists being discussed. I plan to send the 1st semesters art work home before we leave for Christmas break, be on the lookout. I am super proud of our artists at Forest Lake, they work hard and include their own personality in their work, I am excited to see what they create. We are continuing to learn about color and line in kindergarten, 1st grade is creating a snowman from the perspective of a bug. 2nd grade is imagining a city scape inspired by the artist, James Rizzi complete with fun faces. 3rd grade is inspired by a more recent artist, Robin Mead and creating warm and cool beach landscapes. 4th grade is learning about warm and cool colors as well and are making warm and cool zentangle trees. Our 5th graders are up to a challenging task, learning how to draw a still life bowl of fruit. Their artist is Paul Cezanne, they will create a zentangle black and white background with the fruit bowl front in center and in color! Super exciting art happening, and I am very proud of the students here at Forest Lake. Happy Holidays to all my students and your families. See you after break!
Mrs. Larriviere
MUSIC
Our composer of the month for November was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart was a child prodigy and had a special gift for playing and writing music from a very young age. His ability led him to write over 600 pieces of music in his lifetime. Each class listened to and did an activity with his Rondo Alla Turca, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, or Ah! vous dirais-je Maman, also known as the melody of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
The Chorus and Orff Ensemble will perform their Winter Concert on Thursday, December 13th at 6:00 PM in the Cafeteria. This concert is free and open to all families. Students in these groups received information regarding the concert before Thanksgiving Break.
3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students interested in joining these after school groups next semester will receive an application before Winter Break.
MEDIA CENTER NEWS
Even if your child is motivated to read, supporting him/her with a variety of ways and options will keep her momentum going. Here are seven tips from Scholastic to open up the wonderful world of reading for your child.
1. What’s “Just Right”? Children feel confident and competent when they read books that are “just right.” But how do you find a “just right” book? Have your child read the back and front cover, and the first page of the book. If there are more than five words that he cannot pronounce or understand in context, the book may be too challenging. Be supportive about finding a more perfect fit. Choosing the right book will help your little reader feel successful.
2. Map it Out. It’s important to provide your children with a variety of fiction and non-fiction reading. A fun way to do this is to get a map and show her the way from your house to the grocery store or another familiar destination. Have your child write out the directions, street by street, and then read them to you as you walk or drive to the store – like a living GPS!
3. Card Tricks. Do you think effective reading only takes place at libraries and bookstores? Think again! There are reading opportunities everywhere. Go to a greeting card store with your child and read the greeting cards together. Later, vote for the ones whose words convey the best birthday wish or get-well sentiment.
4. Picture This! During your next outing or gathering, take action-packed photos, then have your child create captions to go with each picture. Assemble the pictures and captions in a picture book or album, and add speech and thought bubbles to create a personalized — and probably hysterical — graphic novel.
5. Last Comic Standing. Take time to read comic strips together. Share favorites from your own childhood and have your child put his favorites on the fridge. Read them aloud, and often — repetition is a great way to build reading skills. Soon, he’ll love looking forward to the “Sunday funnies” each week.
6. Become a Fan. Your reader will soon develop a love for particular authors and illustrators. Nurture her fan-ship by helping her write a letter to her favorite author. Many authors have their own websites with contact information. You can also contact the book’s publisher, the mailing address for which can often be found on the back of the title page or on the publisher’s website.
7. Labels of Love. Word recognition and vocabulary are important parts of reading. On a rainy day, get some paper and tape and start labeling everything in your home- from furniture to small knick-knacks. Reading these labels repeatedly will build your child's mental word bank. If your family is bilingual, create labels in both languages.
Happy holidays and happy reading!
Parent Liaison
Dear Parents,
The Parent Center is open and in the front office. We currently have a variety of information, games, and other learning activities to be checked out feel free to stop by. Also, if you need any resources or want to request anything for the upcoming holidays please let me know. I look forward to meeting you and working with you. Forest Lake Elementary is here to help!
Hablo español
Jamie Hagan, Parent Liaison
(386)860-6600
COMMUNITY NEWS
Volunteers and Business Partners
If you need to a volunteer form, please click here for the online application in English or here for Spanish. Schools will no longer have paper applications on site. If you or somebody you know needs to fill out a new online application but do not have access to a computer, there will be a computer available in our Parent Resource room.
Once applicants have been approved or denied, they will receive an email. Applicants may also check in with our front office to check on their status.
School Information
Website: http://myvolusiaschools.org/school/ForestLake
Location: 1600 Doyle Road, Deltona, FL, United States
Phone: 386-575-4166
Newsletter
Please look for our monthly school newsletter on the first Monday of every month. If you know of a parent that did not receive an email for this newsletter and they would like to receive one, please have them send their email address to Mrs. Wagenhauser at vdwagenh@volusia.k12.fl.us . You may also access the newsletter on our school website at http://myvolusiaschools.org/school/ForestLake .