Tiger Insider
January 2023
December Terrific Tigers
Announcing our December Terrific Tigers representing CARING! This month's deserving students are Azayah Ditch and Paige Meyer (grade 6), Samuel Gates and Bridgett Shoemaker (grade 4), Dominick Dashner and Violet Warner-Prathner (grade 3), Oliver Dreese and Addy Snavley (grade 2), Thoren Shafer and Alexa Gadsby (grade 1) and Amy Kirk and Wes Barickman (kindergarten)! When you see them, please congratulate them on being such positive influences in our school family!
JANUARY'S PAWS-ITIVE CHARACTER TRAIT IS...
KINDNESS
The PAWS-ITIVE Character Trait for the month of December is KINDNESS. Kind people are friendly, generous, and considerate.
Tiger Ticket Tally
WOW! We are really racking up the Tiger Points around here!
Kindergarten - 2,868
Grade 1 - 4,126
Grade 2 - 4,998
Grade 3 - 2,586
Grade 4 - 3,197
Grade 5 - 2,204
Grade 6 - 1,815
FOR A GRAND TOTAL OF 21,794 TIGER TICKETS!
Look At Us ROAR!
As of January 27, 2023, 390 out of out 438 students have received one or fewer behavior referrals for discipline. That means that 89% of our students at Maplewood Elementary were consistently doing the right thing! Our students are making great choices and learning quickly to avoid repeating bad ones.
CALLING ALL FUTURE TIGERS!
We have now opened kindergarten registration for the 2023-2024 school year! We request that if your child is eligible for kindergarten (turning 5 on or before August 31, 2023) that you complete the brief survey linked here. We appreciate your timely response to this matter as it helps us staff accordingly for the following school year. After you fill out the linked survey notifying us of an incoming kindergarten student, we will mail home a registration packet. Please contact us with any questions by calling (814)337-1659 or emailing MESOffice@penncrest.org
Kindergarten Registration/Transition Night
Registration for children entering Kindergarten for the 2023-2024 school year in PENNCREST School District will be held on Thursday, March 23, 2023 in each elementary school. Registration will be from 6-7:30PM, children should be present. Plan on staying the entire time as Title I Transitioning Night activities are scheduled for future Kindergarten students to participate in.
GRADE LEVEL NEWS
KINDERGARTEN
Our science for the season is "WINTER". In reading we are beginning to learn about being detectives in our reading by being good "decoders" and using our reading superpowers! We are working on CVC words using our slider power and saying all the sounds while we blend the sounds together. In math, we are beginning to classify and read data. In writing, we are finishing up our narrative writing and will be introducing "How To" writing. It was so great to see you at conferences!
GRADE 1
In first grade, we are continuing to build a strong foundation for our young students to help them become powerful readers and writers!
In Phonics, students are focusing on reading across words "from tip to tail". In Reading, we are learning more and more about non-fiction books. While reading, students are learning a variety of important strategies to study the text more closely. In writing, students are creating their own non-fiction books!
In math, students are learning more about numbers to 120 by studying number relationships closely on a number chart. They will practice skip counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s. Later in the month, we will move onto place value.
GRADE 2
Second graders are finishing up money in math and will begin to learn about telling time to the nearest five minutes. In reading, we are moving into another nonfiction unit. The grade will work on using nonfiction text features to support their comprehension. In phonics, second grade is finishing up working on building and breaking apart words. We will then spend some time reviewing phonics topics that we have covered so far this year. In writing, we are finishing writing about reading. Students will begin to work on poetry and will learn about various kinds of poems.
GRADE 3
Reading- The students are working on their Character Studies Unit and we are reading the novel Winn Dixie to analyze and discuss the characters.
Writing- The students are working on the persuasive/opinion writing unit. They are learning how to write thesis statements and support their thesis statements with strong reasons and examples.
Math- The students are learning about how to solve the perimeter and area of shapes. They are also continuing to practice their multiplication facts. Keep the kids practicing at home each night.
GRADE 4
Math - We are currently working on learning division and practicing the procedure daily. We have resources to look at that remind us of the steps to follow. We also know how to use our multiplication chart as an additional resource to help us find the right answer. Practice makes perfect!
Reading- students are working on their unit of nonfiction. Students are reading a variety on non-fiction texts and working in groups or partnerships. students are investigating topics about extreme weather.
Writing- working on our new unit
Science -Grade 4 is learning about the Structures and Functions of Plants. We are learning about the parts of plants that help to protect itself, feed itself, and reproduce in the wild. Plants have outer structures such a bark and flower petals which protect them. The leaves take in sunlight, moisture, and Carbon Dioxide. The roots take in water and minerals from the ground. When all of these things are combind the plant manufactures its own food through a process called Photosynthesis. Colors and the sweet scent of flowers attract the "birds and bees" to help the stamen which is the male part of the flower pollinate the pistal which is the female part of the flower. The flower produces seeds to be dispersed by wind and animals.
Social Studies-Grade 4 will be moving into the study of our Homestate of Pennsylvania (Penn's Woods). We will learn about the early history of our country (USA) and how Pennsylvania played a huge roll in the formation of our country. We will start around the time of the French and Indian War all the way to the signing of The Declaration of Independence. In Congress, July 4, 1776 The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America was signed. And because of this Americans believe in "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness".
GRADE 5
*Our readers are in nonfiction now and practicing skills associated with cause and effect, text features, and multiple and complex main ideas within text.
*In science we are learning about Earth’s renewable and nonrenewable resources, as well as the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
*In social studies, we have been learning about early explorers, and will continue on to colonization. The students had fun during STEM day ‘building’ ships. The goal was to have the ship float, sail, and carry 25 “passengers”. Most were very successful!
*In writing, we are working on Journalism pieces, and we are also working on grammar practice. Then we’ll continue on to Literary essays.
* In math we are finishing up multiplication of whole numbers and starting multiplication of decimals using models and a variety of strategies.
GRADE 6
In reading and writing, students will learn about exploration, considering concepts related to people’s drive to journey into the unknown. Students will read a variety of texts and view various media, while discussing and responding to the Essential Question of the unit - “What drives people to explore?”
In social studies, after finishing a unit on Industry and Immigration, students will be learning about the struggle for reform in our country during the Progressive Era. They will learn that changes in the American economy led to problems that Progressives tried to solve, that unfair treatment of African Americans led to social change and that many people worked to gain equal rights, including voting rights for women.
In Math, we are still learning about Algebra Concepts. We are still working equations and will move into inequalities soon. Students will be able to write, solve, and describe inequalities. They will also be able to identify dependent and independent variables and analyze the relations between variables.
In Science, students will continue to investigate the phases of matter and the Periodic Table. They will use Happy Atoms kits to build technical models of atoms and molecules, and then finish up by completing investigative experiments to determine physical and chemical changes of matter.
UPCOMING DATES
Q2 Report Cards
The second nine weeks ends on Thursday, January 26, 2023. Report cards will be available after February 6, 2023.
Snow Make Up Day
Students will be making up our snow day from November 17, 2022 on Friday, February 17, 2023. We will be in session on Friday, February 17!
NO SCHOOL
Students do not have school on Monday, February 20, 2023.
2022-2023 DISTRICT CALENDAR
STAY CONNECTED
Schoology for Parents
We are excited to provide parents/guardians access to Schoology, our new Learning Management System (LMS)! As a parent/guardian, you will find this platform to be an essential source of information, keeping you up to date about your student's grades, attendance, and assignments.
NOTE: Students should have brought home an Access Code which parents/guardians must use in order to link that student to your Schoology account. The code can be used multiple times by each parent/guardian who need access to that student. If you did not receive an access code, please contact your building school secretary.
To create a Schoology account, go to https://app.schoology.com/register.php?type=parent and enter in the Access Code and hit "Continue". Fill in your first name, last name, email/username, and password to create your Schoology account. Check the "By clicking Register, you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use" box and click "Register". You should then be logged into Schoology - to view your student's information, click on your name in the upper right corner and click on your student's name to view their information.
Once you have created your Schoology account and linked your student(s), you will be able to login to Schoology by visiting: https://app.schoology.com/login
School Messenger
Make sure that you are signed up for SchoolMessenger to receive important school updates related to school closures, announcements and important upcoming events. Go to this link and sign up today!
Digital Backpack
Worried that a note from school didn't make it home? Check out our Digital Backpack to see if you've missed any announcements, news or opportunities!
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WEBSITE
Check out our building website for upcoming events, news, information, lunch menu and much, much more!
YOUTUBE
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Our Students ROAR!
We LOVE having the opportunity to help our students succeed and we're very proud of them for repeatedly making the right choices. We hope you are as excited as we are about the great work that the students have been doing. Our recent SWPBiS evaluation confirms what we already know..... MES is PAWS-itively the best!