Astronaut News
Andersen Elementary - February 2020
MESSAGE FROM OUR PRINCIPAL MRS. KINGHORN
Dear Andersen Families,
This is my favorite time of year! The sun is shining, the weather is perfect to be outside, and our students are really taking off. It is exciting to visit classrooms to hear students discussing how to solve complex math problems, collaborate with each other to complete science fair projects, and see the amazing writing our students are producing. With more than half of the school year over it is wonderful to see how far our students have grown academically, socially and emotionally.
This year we implemented our Second Step Social, Emotional, Cognitive, Learning curriculum. This program helps our students develop skills such as empathy, problem solving, and conflict resolution. Each teacher takes time throughout the week to dive into these lessons that promote listening, respect and how to deal with distractions around us. We encourage you to talk to you child about what they are learning in Second Step.
We hope all of our families are able to join us during our spring conferences February 12th and 13th. This time is set aside for teachers and families to come together to ensure each child is progressing academically, socially and emotionally. Teachers will have work samples, assessment data and look forward to sitting down and meeting with all families.
Finally, we hope you will mark your calendar for the exciting family events coming up in February. Join us Friday, February 7th for a winter family fun night here at the school. PTO will have food trucks on site along with snow! The second annual Chandler Innovation Fair is taking place Saturday, February 22nd at Hamilton High School starting at 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. This family fun event will have hands on STEM activities for kids of all ages along with student projects on display and robotics competitions.
Thank you for your continued support of Andersen Elementary. We look forward to seeing you at some of our upcoming events. Enjoy the beautiful Arizona weather!
MESSAGE FROM OUR DEAN MR. BROWN
This month, our school wide theme for Second Step is skills for learning: listening, focusing attention, using self-talk to stay on-task, and being assertive when asking for help with a learning task. In our morning announcements, we’ll be reminding students of these skills, which help students be successful learners.
You’ll be receiving Home Links describing why these skills are important and including fun activities to do with your child to practice them. We hope you enjoy them!
ATTENDANCE REMINDER
Welcome back from Winter Break!
This is just a friendly reminder that the tardy bell rings @ 8:10 a.m.
Please make sure your child arrives on campus BEFORE this bell, in order to make it to class ON TIME! Thank you!
ALL absences should be called into the attendance line by 9:00 a.m.
The phone number is 480-812-6003.
EVENTS THIS MONTH
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN CLASSROOMS THIS MONTH
Preschool
February will be a busy month with parent teacher conferences and Valentines Day. Please keep an eye out for information about both of those days. In the classroom we will be working on the theme "Growing Up Healthy" talking about our senses, eating well, and staying safe. We will continue with learning to write our lowercase letters before we transition to uppercase letters. In Math we will be learning about 2D and 3D shapes. Science we will finish up water and start learning about plants. We are more than half way to Kinder. Keep up the great work!
Kindergarten
During the month of February Kindergarten is focusing on nonsense verses real words and reading our words and sentences with fluency. We are using our sounds to spell words and write descriptive sentences. In math we are continuing our investigations into the teen numbers. We are also starting to learn about subtraction.
1st Grade
Reading: In ELA we will be learning about compound words. Our phonics skill is short e spelled ea. Our comprehension skill will be Cause and Effect. We will continue focusing on Narrative writing- Personal. We will also learn about prepositions and prepositional phrases.
Math: We will be finishing Chapter 6 which is 2-digit addition and subtraction. This is where our work will start to get harder.
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
3rd grade is remaining focused on mathematics, reading and writing in preparation for the AZ Merit state testing. Parents, you can help your student by doing the following:
- Have them read every night
- Ask questions about what they are reading
- Practice counting money
- Work on the Homework Word Problems
- Practice telling time on digital and analog clocks
Our 3rd grade team is very thankful for all the parent support.
4th Grade
Fourth grade ELA is focusing on information text, text features and text structure. Students continue to work on multiple paragraph writing. In addition, our social studies focus is on ancient Native Americans and early Spanish explorers.
Math: 4th grade is extending their knowledge of decimal fractions to be able to compare, order, add, and subtract decimals. Additionally, we are focusing on problem solving, using the RACED strategy. Science: we will be beginning our next Project Lead the Way unit on collisions. We will be learning about different types of energy and what happens in a collision.
5th Grade
In fifth grade social studies we will be learning about the civil war and in science potential energy and kinetic energy. The focus in math this month will be adding and subtracting fractions. In writing we are doing a variety of Expository and Persuasive writing that includes reasoning, details, and elaborations to support our point of view and opinions. In reading we will be working on figurative language in the novel we will be reading.
SPED
We are excited that we are going to be working with skip counting, number & letter formations, and some common site words such as I, A, Can, In.
Mrs. Bojanowski's class:
The kids continue to do an amazing job in their reading, writing, and math groups. They are doing a great job at being good friends to each other. They will be beginning their ocean unit and will be starting to research an ocean animal and writing a research paper and creating a habitat for their animal.
Ms. Albertini"s class:
We will be learning abut Black History month in remembrance of important people and events.
HEALTH OFFICE NEWS
Have you checked out the Health Office page on our website? Please click here for Andersen Health Office Page!
This is a great place to find links to the Health Protocol, answers to questions regarding immunizations, articles about common diseases, when not to send your kiddos to school, and much more.
Do you have a student turning 11 years old this month? There is required immunizations needed once a student turns 11 years old (TDaP/Meningococcal) . Please schedule your child for their 11 year old Well Child check and submit an updated immunization card/letter to the Health Office.
If your child has borrowed clothes from the health office, please wash and return them as soon as possible! We are running very low on clothes for students to change into when needed. Thank you!
IT IS THE FLU SEASON!!! Please click here for school protocol to see when to send your student to school and when should they stay at home. Thank you!
PTO: FEBRUARY WINTER WONDERLAND
BOX TOPS
Student Lighthouse Team
The Student Lighthouse Team would like to introduce you to our new Welcome Committee! These amazing leaders have committed to helping bring smiles and welcomes to Andersen Astronauts who are arriving at school, by greeting students at parent drop off. They are opening doors, saying 'Good Morning', and 'Have a nice Day' to their peers as they come to school each day. Great job Andersen Leaders!
Suggestion Box
We would love to hear how we can make Andersen even a better place. That is why we have suggestion forms and a mail box right by the school office.
Please fill out the suggestion form and drop it in the mail box, to let us know what and how we can improve. We appreciate you and want to hear from you! Thank you!
Andersen Elementary
Email: contactandersen@cusd80.com
Website: https://www.cusd80.com/Andersen
Phone: (480) 812-6000
Twitter: @AndersenElemen1