Lincoln's March Newsletter
Leading The Pack In Kingsport
Principal's Post
- Being On Time and present is Important! We are watching our attendance numbers and are feeling the hurt from having weeks of illness in the building. I feel confident that as a school we are on the mend and getting healthier every day. Please make sure that your child is here everyday (unless they really are sick--fever/throwing up/contagious) to have a great day at school. Students must be in their classroom at 8:15--not getting out of the car out front. Testing is happening in April, and being in the daily habit of being here on time now will help next month! Thanks for your support in having students here and on time every time!
- Please be courteous and lower the music in your cars during drop off and pick up. We all love a good jam in the morning to start off our day, however we've had a few cars come up for morning arrival with music at a very loud volume and some with lyrics that are not appropriate for elementary school ears. If you could please lower the volume of any music you may be playing to a very quiet level when you are in our pick up and drop off lines every day it would be appreciated.
- Reading with your child is so very important! We are increasing our number of students who are on grade level with their reading (see further down in the news letter) and we still need your help to continue this growth. Just like with a sport or skill, they only way you get better at something is by practicing. Please help your child practice reading by having them read 20 min a night or reading too them (K students). If we are going to ensure that our Lincoln Lions are ready for the challenges that we put before them at school, we need to make sure that they are reading. Books, magazines, plays, cereal boxes, newspapers--anything that interest them! Read! Read! Read!
- Reminders for visitors at lunch--per policy we cannot have any outside food from a restaurant (Pals/Subway/Chef's) in our cafeteria. In addition, due to space we don't have separate tables for parents to eat with their students (we are working on that), that means that parents are sitting with the class. Please be aware of expectations for visitors when having lunch in the cafeteria. We encourage you to have conversation with your child, and students sitting near you and your child if they are chatting with you, about movies, books, favorite colors, or any other conversation topics that follow those kinds of topics. We cannot permit parents to use the lunch time to ask students, other than their child, about incidents that may have happened at school where the parent is interrogating another child/children, talking about other students poorly, or inquiring about other students in the class. This is not permitted and could result in us not allowing the parent to have lunch with their child in the cafeteria. We know our students love having guests visit them for lunch. We are acting in good faith that all guests are here to have quality time with their child and not for some other purpose. Thank you in advance for living up to our "good faith" in all of our visitors. Finally, if you come for lunch with your child you need to be in the cafeteria and then when lunch is over exit the building. Please do not wander to your child's classroom for an impromptu conference with the teacher. Our teachers need to eat too! They are all happy to meet and talk with you are scheduled times. Thanks for respecting their lunch time so they can have energy for the afternoon.
Thank you so much for all that you do to ensure that our Lion's are the "Best In Town" and ready each day for a great day of learning!
Corona virus information from KCS.
In conjunction with the Sullivan County Health Department, KCS has a section of our website regarding the current Corona virus situation. KCS will continue to connect with the SCHD and monitor CDC information as the situation evolves. Our site also has a link to the CDC website that contains a variety of information (symptoms, statistics, updates, etc.).
https://www.k12k.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=346090&type=d&pREC_ID=1844831&tota11y=true
Instrument Selection for Sevier Middle School
Does your 5th grader want to plan an instrument at Sevier? Open enrollment for Sevier band and orchestra is live and ready to take your applications. Open enrollment ends on March 31.
This is the first and most important step for the continuation of the instrumental opportunities at Sevier, and ultimately DB. Thank you so much for your help.
Link to the form: https://forms.gle/AwGiBrhbKdTB14HB7
If you have further questions you can reach out to Mr. Mullins at Sevier.
Hunter Mullins
Director of Bands
John Sevier Middle School
Exciting News About Our Reading Scores
The data below is connected to our student's developmental reading achievement. This is a process we use to determine a child's reading level to help us plan instruction, and ensure that your child is getting the correct reading material in front of them in class and at home. We are pleased with our improvements and are continuing to work to increase students reading on grade level.
Total Average Proficient(On grade level) Students Grades K-5:
- This year in late February---63%
- Last year in late February--57%
- An increase of 6%
Total Average Proficient (On grade level) Students Grades K-3:
- This year in late February--64%
- Last year in late February--56.7%
- An increase of 7.3%
Total Average Proficient (On grade level) Students Grades 4 & 5:
- This year in late February--61%
- Last year in late February--58%
- An increase of 3%
We appreciate all your help at home to promote reading, going to the library, reading with your students, talking about books, and just sharing a love of reading! We are making strides and want to thank you for your help in our gains!
Grade Level Updates
Literacy:
Our unit focuses on understanding book characters by looking at their traits. We will also begin to practice retelling stories using transitional words (first, next, then, last). Please continue working with your child to read their sight words. The more familiar students are with these words, the more they will be able to read and write! Also, please continue reading 20 minutes a night with your child and be sure to sign the reading log located in your child’s folder.
Math:
We are working on counting larger quantities, so students must be able to identify and write numbers up to 20 to be successful at this. We are also adding and subtracting numbers within 10. Please practice counting with your child at home. Students need to be able to count to 100 by 1s, 5s, and 10s.
First Grade
First graders will discover character traits through the words and actions of the main characters in the text. They will explore character motivation and how characters interact with one another. Also, students will expand their prior learning in the fall about plants by studying the external structures and functions of a plant. They will be able to explain the plant functions help the plant grow and how the plant’s parts and structures interact with its surroundings during its life cycle in order to survive. As we are learning about plant parts and structures, we will compare and contrast texts, use various text features, find evidence in text, and make connections between texts. Students will write an informational piece using text evidence to describe and explain the plants parts and the functions of the parts. Again, we will use a graphic organizer to help us plan our writing.
For phonics, we are focusing on r-controlled vowel patterns. Our language focus will be placement of commas in a sentence and dates. Students will learn to make compound sentences and use conjunctions. We will continue to practice capitalization and punctuation of sentences.
In math, students will collect, represent, and interpret data. They will continue to understand, represent, and solve problems involving addition and subtraction. Counting by 10s from any number (ex. 24 + 20 = 44) and knowing that 20 is 2 tens, 50 is 5 tens, etc. Students need to practice reading analog clocks to the hour and half hour.
Second Grade
Second graders will study the works of Patricia Polacco and how her characters respond to challenges. Students will explore how authors use sensory language to help readers better understand the feelings of characters. We will also be studying how characters develop as a result of challenges that they face. We will be making connections to personal challenges that we face and how those challenges shape us into the people that we are today.
Our writing focus will shift to narratives. In March we will be writing stories about personal experiences and work on adding rich language and details.
Students are continuing their investigation of measuring lengths and distances as well as solving story problems. Students will work with a variety of measurement units. Nonstandard units of measurement will include shoe-lengths, craft sticks, and paper clips. Standard units will be the traditional inches, feet, yards, centimeters and meters. Students should be able to recognize that when they are measuring the same length, larger unit will yield smaller counts. They will also be expected to estimate and measure length in inches, feet, centimeters, and meters.
Towards the middle of the month, we will be beginning a new investigation that will lay the foundation for future work with multiplication. Students will explore even and odd numbers and work with equal groups.
Second graders are still working with counting money and finding coin equivalencies. They will also be introduced to telling time to the nearest five minutes on an analog clock.
Third Grade
Literacy and Social Studies
This month in literacy we will continue working on determining the main idea and supporting details of passages we read. The students are doing a wonderful job with this, and we are so proud of the effort the give every day. We are wrapping up our unit on manmade disasters and will be moving into the next one soon. We will also continue to work on our writing ~ composing a paragraph in response to a prompt.
Don't forget to mark your student's reading log each night! Reading is the best way to become a better reader!
Math
This month the focus is addition, subtraction, and the number system 2. Students are solving problems involving measurement of liquid volume and mass. Adding and subtracting fluently is important during this month. Students are also describing, analyzing, and comparing strategies for adding and subtracting whole numbers.
Students are doing spiral reviews in class and on homework.
Science
In science, students are finishing magnets and energy in systems. They will be moving into the learning of circuits and energy transfer.
Fourth Grade
Social Studies: We will be continuing our studies of the Civil War and the major battles that happened. We'll discuss Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. We'll also be discussing the effects of President Lincoln's assassination. Then, we'll talk about what happened next in our country. This time is known as "Reconstruction." We will discover how Presidents Lincoln and Johnson viewed Reconstruction differently, as well as examining the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution.
Literacy: We are working hard to prepare for TN Ready testing! We are reviewing a variety of skills, like homophones. We are also looking at opinion writing and ways to improve by using text evidence. We will also be introducing Greek Mythology later in the month, after we finish reading literature about people of the Civil War. Be sure you're reading 20 minutes each night!
Science: 4th graders have A LOT left to learn in science this year! Please utilize the Discovery Education Techbook for studying and learning. The website access this is kcs.discoveryeducation.com. Students should use the same usernames and passwords they use at school. In March, students should read and watch the videos in Concept 2 regarding waves. There are 4 topics: waves, reflection, refraction, and information transfer. Students are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the following goals: explain patterns of amplitude, direction, and wavelength in wave models; describe how light sources (light spectrum) and the bending of light (prisms and lenses) determines what we see with our eyes; Investigate how technology such as computers and cell phones can use waves to enhance our senses.
Math: During math class, students will finish up a measurement unit within the next 2 weeks. Some things to continue exploring in the world around you are: types of angles; using area and perimeter formulas; measuring and estimating real world lengths, liquid volumes, and weights/masses in metric and customary units. We will use a new measurement tool called a protractor to measure angles. As this unit ends, we will jump into analyzing patterns. Again, please use the many technology sources to support success with current topics as well as prepare for 5th grade! Some websites that we use often include Study Island, Splash Math, and Freckle. Your children know their login information for these sites.
Nutrition Nuggets
STREAMWORKS Summer Camp with KCS
PTO
March Dates To Know
- KCS Job Fair--4:00 to 6:00pm--D-B High School
March 17
- PTO meeting--6:00-7:00pm--Lincoln Library
March 23-27
- SPRING BREAK--Any where you want to be...but Lincoln!
March 31
- Kindergarten Screenings for incoming Lincoln Zoned Students 7:30am-7:30pm--School office.