Brilliant Bear Bulletin
Baltz Elementary School * December 2018 * Volume 3
BALTZ
Believing
Achieving
Learning and
Team Building with
Zeal (Great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective)
School News
* A number of our 4th and 5th grade students have been working hard in chorus, band, and strings in order to prepare for our winter concert. The winter concert is on Tuesday, December 18th at 6:30pm in our gym. Please come out to support our students and to enjoy some fun holiday music!
* Our annual Reindeer Games PBS event will take place on Friday, December 21st. Students can pay 30 Bear Bucks to participate in a number of fun games and activities.
* Please remember to send students to school prepared for cold-weather recess. We try to get students outside to exercise and burn energy as often as possible. Winter coats, hats, and gloves are a must to to stay warm!
* All students at Baltz will be able to receive a brand new winter coat from Operation Warm. The coats have just arrived! More info will be coming home soon about the date for distribution. Stay warm and if you were thinking of buying your children new coats, please wait!
We wish you all a very happy and joyous holiday season! Enjoy the time with family and friends!
From the Nurse's Office
A Closer Look at Close Reading
Part II - Promoting Close Reading at Home
Although close reading is a fairly new initiative, the thought processes required for close reading are processes that teachers have been working for years to foster in their students. However, in a world where automation and technological advances give us access to more and more information, but require us to think less and less, it is difficult for students to make critical thinking a habit. Parents can promote critical thinking simply by encouraging their students to think more, and that can be as easy as asking questions. Here are some examples of ways that you can encourage your child to think critically in everyday situations:
At the supermarket, ask your child to read and reread (a key component in close reading) labels of two similar products, decide which one you should buy, and explain why.
At the playground, ask your student to choose a piece of equipment that could be improved with a modification. Have him or her explain the benefit in detail, then describe the steps that would need to be taken to make the modification.
At home, ask your child to create a chore schedule for the family. Have him or her explain choices of chores that are included or not included on the schedule, choices of who is assigned each chore, and which days chores are done.
Whenever possible, ask your child questions that require more than yes or no answers. If your child answers a question with, “I don’t know,” ask what he or she thinks, then ask why he or she thinks so. Every opportunity to engage your child in a way that requires him or her to reason and explain is beneficial. If students get in the habit of thinking critically in everyday situations, it will be easier for them to achieve the depth of thought required for close reading of academic text.
Visit these sites for more information about close reading and more suggestions for promoting critical thinking at home:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj6bc5pgMoU
- The Reading Specialist Team
Unified Arts/Specials
Winter abounds in the library as we explore the sentence stem, "On chilly days, I like to bundle up and..." We will look to animals in the winter and cozy winter stories.
This month, our Baltz 4th grade students are learning about Native American culture. In order to support their general education classes, some of the Unified Arts Team have focused their lessons around Native American culture as well. In music class, students have learned how to sing and play a Native American song titled “Bear Dance”. Not only does this song have Native American lyrics, but it also incorporates Native American drumming techniques and woodwind instruments. Alongside the song, students listened to a Native American legend of how Bears came into existence and how the song is sung to honor bears. Additionally, in music class, 4th grade students will be learning how different types of Native American drums are made and will be introduced to other Native American songs.
In Art class, each 4th grade class has focused on a different Native American tribe, which will influence the artwork they create. Some of the artwork the students have focused on are buffalo hide stories, dream catchers, thunderbird shields and totem poles. Students learned that the tribes that formed all over North America were influenced by the natural recourses they had at their disposal. Native Americans had a very strong respect for nature and used picture symbols called hieroglyphics. The second project in the unit will be on the Hopi Native American Tribe and the students will learn about how they created many things out of clay. The students will create a pot using the hand building process of coiling.
During the third marking period, we will host a Native American night were all the student's artwork and class work will be displayed. The music teacher, Miss Cossolini, will also lead the students in a performance of Native American music, which they learned for this unit. It will be a very special presentation so make sure to keep the date open when the flyer comes home!
Kindergarten
Kindergarten has been busy reading stories and learning about animals and their habitats. For math we continue to work on the numbers 1-10. We are doing addition and subtraction story problems, and we are exploring the + 1 /- 1 relationship between numbers. We are disappointed that we missed our field trip to explore trees, but look forward to a field trip in the winter and spring! We enjoyed meeting with all our families during conference time last month and we hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!
First Grade
Fabulous First Grade
First graders are continuing to build on skills learned every day. In Reading, we are talking and reading about communities. We are learning how to read words with long vowels too. In Math, we are finding unknown partners through addition and subtraction. We are also solving more challenging story problems. First graders are also busy learning grammar skills and working on narrative writing. In Social Studies, we are learning all about economics. We are excited to be going on our first field trip in December to The Grand Opera House!
For updates on what is happening in the first grade classrooms, follow the first grade teachers' twitter accounts:
Miss Trate- twitter.com/MissTrate
Miss Cherico- twitter.com/MissCherico
Miss Flowers- twitter.com/Miss_Flowers109
Mrs. Whiteside- twitter.com/MrsEWhiteside
Second Grade
2nd graders at Baltz Elementary continue to work very hard! We are really into the swing of things and really progressing towards all the 2nd grade goals. In math, we are now adding double digit numbers using different strategies. All the practice with the basic facts with sums up to 20 continue to be really important; adding fluently up to 20 helps us add the double digit numbers with more success. In addition to the regular math homework, continuing to practice math facts with flash cards, computer games etc. would be a great use of any extra time at home.
We continue to work hard at our “word work” daily with the goal of improving spelling, writing and reading skills. All 2nd grade students have an opportunity to work in small, focused groups to help improve reading skills. They could be working on phonics strategies, comprehension skills, fluency…or a combination. We are trying to give each student what they need at their level. Some students are completing centers independently while other students are in the small group. The goal is to become fluent readers AND comprehend what is read. All 2nd grader should be reading at home on a daily basis!
Please follow us on Twitter!
Ms. Fuentes: https://twitter.com/missfuentes_213
Mrs. Klink: https://twitter.com/Klink215
Mrs. Mauchin: https://twitter.com/mrsmauchin
Mrs. Simmons: https://twitter.com/AndreaOReilly6
Third Grade
We’re fast approaching the end of the year and it feels like Winter is already upon us! We have already learned so much in the last few months, but we there is so much more to come. As the upcoming months bring on new challenges of state testing and new materials, please know we are here to support your child as much as we can. Please make sure your student is practicing their multiplication facts each week. Knowing these facts will help your child understand and have an easier time with the rest of the math units. Also, please have your child read nightly. This will help to build fluency, add on to vocabulary, as well as foster a love for books.
Remember! Even though it is cold, our students still need to get out some energy! We will still be going outside to recess as long as the FEELS LIKE temperature is above 32 degrees. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for outside play. This includes hats, gloves, and coats, not sweatshirts.
In class we will be finishing up our work with multiplication and division before Winter Break. We’ve been working on these skills since the beginning of the year and will be moving on to a unit on measurement when we come back. In Reading we are continuing to work on new skills each week including drawing conclusions and cause and effect. Something else exciting will be happening in writing in the next few months, we’ll be starting to learn how to write in cursive! This is brand new for the students and the teachers this year as we have not taught cursive in the past few years. We would like to thank you for your continued support this school year and wish everyone Happy Holidays!
Mr. Glanden, Mrs. Ellis, Mrs. Carr, Mrs. Zuniga, Mrs. Staropoli
Fourth Grade
4th graders are our names and multiplication is our game! We dove into our multiplication unit the past two weeks and we have been LOVING it! We have graduated from just practicing one digit facts to 1 by 2 digit, 2 by 2 digit, and 1 by 3 digit problems. We use a strategy called an area model to break up our numbers which makes the process so simple and straightforward. Even though we are no longer just working with fact fluency, it is important students are consistently practicing their multiplication facts to make the larger problems easier to solve.
We are beginning a new module this month in ReadyGen and our first story is Skeletons. This will pair wonderfully with our Structures of Life unit where we analyze crayfish and their body structure. The students have been loving the stories in our new reading curriculum and we often see them grab the stories for independent reading!
Lastly, here are some friendly reminders:
Students should be reading and practicing their basic multiplication and division facts nightly.
Sweatshirts and sweaters should be solid color and not have hoods.
Please make sure your child has a book bag and winter coat every day. If your child needs either of these items please contact their teacher and we can get one for you.
Doors open at 8:25am and dismissal begins at 3:50pm
We thank you for your continued support, and if you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.
Sincerely,
Ms. Toto, Mrs. Harmeson, Ms. Personti, and Ms. Ruiz
Fifth Grade
Dear Families,
We hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. The holiday season is upon us. We know it is a very busy time of year for families. Please help us keep the children on track by reminding them to manage their time at home, making sure they are keeping up with assignments and tests, and contacting us with questions and concerns.
In all of the classes students have been working hard in every subject. We have a strong focus on solving word problems and explaining their thinking in sentences. This can be a challenge at times. You can help your child by reminding them of the steps to solving a problem-- understand, plan, solve, check. In addition, have them explain, step-by-step, how they solved the problem before they write.
Reading is thinking! Please continue to encourage your student to read at home for 20 or more minutes at night. It is important that they think about what they are reading, such as asking questions and making connections and predictions. In doing this they will learn to discuss what they are thinking. The goal is for them to move beyond just reading the words and learn how to savor a book. Your continued support is appreciated.
Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season.
Sincerely,
The Fifth Grade Team
Ms. Hattley, Mrs. Loughrey, Mrs. Munoz, and Mrs. WatkinsFollow Us Online!
Email: amy.oneill@redclay.k12.de.us
Website: https://de01903704.schoolwires.net/baltz
Location: 1500 Spruce Avenue, Wilmington, DE, USA
Phone: 302-992-5560
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaltzBears/
Twitter: @baltzbears