Hello parents and Happy New Year, We are so excited to bring you another Parent University. This event will feature parent speakers who will share their tips and tricks for assisting your scholar at home as well as teachers sharing fun off-screen activities. Please look in your emails for the Signup Genius. We will post the links to join us the day of the event. We look forward to seeing you on January 13, 2021 at 6:00pm.

Michelle (Tolbert) Crosby, Instructional Program Coordinator

Happy New Year!! Welcome back. We hope that you enjoyed the winter break, time with families and are well rested. We are ready to move forward in the new year and continue making ground during this unconventional school year. You may notice changes in how some things are done as we continue to tweak the lessons, materials, and activities. We will spend this first week back reviewing schedules, procedures, and expectations. We will also spend a day or two reviewing the material taught right before break and move on to the next lessons. On Wednesday, there will be small group, however; we will not be assigning independent work. We feel the students need a week to adjust. The STEM Fair Project is due on January 19th. Make sure that if the project is not completed that you continue to work on the projects so they may be completed and submitted on time. As we return for the new year, this is a reminder about appropriate dress during school and when your scholar should eat. Scholars should be dressed in regular clothes during school. Pajamas and costumes are not conducive for creating a learning environment in which students are focused. Students should eat before school and during breaks, not during class time. Please make sure that your scholar uses the restroom before logging on. This will help with time lost at the beginning of class waiting for students to use the bathroom. We are excited to see our scholars back and to see what the rest of the year holds.

The Kindergarten Team

ELA: 2-6 authors purpose Phonics: hard and soft g and c Grammar: contractions Math: Topic 4 Subtraction facts to 20 strategies Science: STEM Fair project/bridges -STEM Fair projects due January 19 Social Studies: We are Americans (symbols) Health: Sanford harmony- Unit 3 communication

First Grade Team

Welcome back and Happy New Year! We are looking forward to a great 2021! This week we will be jumping right back into things. In Reading, we will continue Unit 2: Nature's Wonders. The big question for the unit is "What patterns do we see in nature?" The question of the week is "What migration patterns do we see in some animals?" Throughout the week, we will focus on informational text. The spelling pattern will be Long o: o, oa, and ow. In Math, we will continue Topic 4. This topic covers fluently adding within 100. As a reminder, it is recommended that students practice their basic addition and subtraction facts with flashcards regularly at home. Please also continue to work on your STEAM Fair projects! This project is mandatory and is due January 19! If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher via ClassDojo. Have a terrific weekend and we will see everyone on Monday!

- The Second Grade Team

We want to wish everyone a happy and safe holidays. We are encouraging everyone to take a break, relax, and rejuvenate for the New Year. The first half of the school year had its many challenges for all but also a lot of learning experiences in many aspects. We want to thank you for your flexibility and continuous support as we navigate through these waters together. We hope you fully enjoy this much needed break. Just a friendly reminder to check SchoolMax weekly for your scholar's current standings in their classes. Encourage your scholar to stay on top of their assignments and complete their work in a timely manner. It is very easy to fall behind and we want to ensure that all scholars are successfully. Next week in Math, scholars will begin Topic 3 Fractions. In Science, scholars will begin Weather/ Water Cycle. In Reading, scholars will be analyzing illustrations in a realistic fiction story. In Social Studies, we will begin Chapter 3 Communities Build a Nation. We just want to share with families that Class Dojo is our main communication platform to share information with families quickly. Please check Class Dojo daily for any updates and new information shared. Students should also be working on their STEM Fair Project and Research Paper. Both are due on January 19, 2021. Have an awesome week on purpose!! Upcoming Dates 12/24/2020-1/3/2021 Winter Break 1/19/2021 STEM Fair Project and Research Paper are due

Third Grade Team

STEM Fair is closing in on us. Students should be ready to present January 19th! At this point, scholars should have started parts of their research paper and their slides. Their experiment should be completed during winter break, if they have not been by now and all of their data collected should be collected then as well. Make sure that their data is in metric units. To review these skills look under the X. Units and Measurements of Science IXL: https://www.ixl.com/science/grade-4 ; For Math, we started working on DIVISION skills in Topic 5 Please make sure you review your multiplication skills. https://www.mathsisfun.com/tables.html We have been using this Division song to work on the skills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdWUfpo7KXw We will focus on standard algorithm and partial products to divide.  In Social Studies, we reviewed the basics of how economies work and built our Economics vocabulary. When we return from break, we will explore how the economy affects people's personal lives and what it means to be a part of a global economy. In RELA, we began writing the Background Research and Discussion portions of our STEM Fair Research Papers. We also wrote persuasive winter essays, students got to be creative while persuading the Snowman Builders Committee that they should be hired to be a Snowman Builder. When we return from break, we will begin a poetry text: Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow. Our focus will be on poetic language and elements, and visualizing imagery. Over break, please have your scholars continue their rough drafts Background Research and Discussion portions of our STEM Fair Research Papers. These will be due on January 6th. Scholars will begin writing final drafts on the 7th. All research papers will be due on the 12th.

-Friendly Neighborhood 4th Grade Team

Hello Parents, Happy New Year!! Let's begin this year with a bang! We trust that you all had a restful break and a wonderful time with your families! This week in Science, we will work on the solar system, rotation and revolution, days, years, patterns in the sky, and cause of the seasons. For Math, we will explore volume and for health we will explore ‘Learn something new’. In ELA this week, students will have a full review week of all skills covered in the previous unit before we left for break. We will go over text features, main idea, prefixes, and parts of speech. In Social Studies, students will learn about the key events surrounding the French and Indian War and also how they established their colonies. Thank you! ***REMINDER*** 1. January 16th- Stem Fair e-projects due. 2. 5th grade T-shirts are on sale now! If you would like your child to have a class shirt for the school year they are $9.75 and can be purchased using your MySchoolBucks account. Please fill out the form below to indicate the size your scholar needs. All shirts are in adult sizes. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5TdfQFTFoa-QI8PimwC-jR7Q1jZmEcWpRqwiGYKpfNkcM-w/viewform?usp=sf_link 3. Please continue to check SchoolMax weekly.

Sincerely, 5th Grade Team

The creative arts team hopes that you have enjoyed your winter break with your family and friends. We hope you have rested and enjoyed family time and that you are ready for more learning activities when we return from winter break. We also want to extend to you best wishes and a Happy New Year!!!

Creative Arts Team