AVAXAT ELEMENTARY Gator Gazette

Transcription

1 AVAXAT ELEMENTARY Gator Gazette December 2015 January 2016 A Message from our Principal Avaxat Parents, During this upcoming holiday season we invite you to attend our Annual Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance on December 16 th at 6:00 PM and our Annual 5 th Grade Holiday Performance on December 17 th at 6:00 PM. Either of these performances can be fun for the whole family and can help boost your holiday spirits. Also, the Avaxat staff has created a gift for all families sure to be hit which can be found on the Avaxat Website or Facebook page. As we approach the end of the first semester I want to thank you all for your support of your child s education by volunteering on the PTA, volunteering in the classroom, attending student programs, completing surveys, allowing students to attend the Later Gator courses, attending the picnics, and attending the PTA Coffee with the Principal meetings, just to name a few. We wish you wellness and positive memories through the month of December. Sincerely, David Ciabattini Principal Learn More, Respect All Valentines for Vets Our kids are creating cards to send to our Veterans on Valentine s Day. They work on the cards at recess and lunch on certain days and we will send the cards off in February. Happy Holidays to all to all of our Veterans and active duty Military personnel! Character Counts Trustworthiness is our character pillar for the month of December. This is a great trait to focus on and we as parents and educators can catch our kids being trustworthy in many ways! Trustworthy students are honest, don t deceive, cheat or steal, are reliable, have the courage to do the right thing, are loyal and build good reputations. Thanks for supporting our Character Counts Program! Have a safe and fun Winter Break! Website: Facebook Page /Avaxat Elementary School Las Brisas Road, Murrieta, CA Phone: (951) Fax (951)

2 December 12/07-12/11 PTA Holiday Boutique 12/10 Winter Band Concert 7:00 in the Avaxat MPR 12/11 Coffee with the Principal 8:30 12/11 PTA Spirit Friday 12/11 Santa Night 6:00-8:00 12/16 Kindergarten Nutcracker Play 6:00 PM MPR 12/17 Fifth Grade Christmas Play 6:00 PM in MPR 12/18 Fifth Grade Christmas Play 9:00 AM in MPR 12/18 Ugly Sweater Day Friday, December 18th is an EARLY OUT DAY Winter Break 12/18-01/11 Students Return Tuesday, January 12, 2016 January 01/18 Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday No School 01/22 Coffee with the Principal 8:30 01/25 Student of the Month 1st Grade 8:30 in the MPR 01/26 Student of the Month 2nd Grade 8:30 in the MPR 01/27 Student of the Month 3rd Grade 8:30 in the MPR 01/28 Student of the Month 4th Grade 8:30 in the MPR 01/29 Student of the Month 5th Grade 8:30 in the MPR 01/29 Hawaiian Day indergarten While it is important to teach the basic skills described in the kindergarten math standards, it is just as important to bring meaning to those skills. Math is not something that happens only at school. Math is the way we make sense of our world. When we clean our room or help empty the dishwasher we are sorting and classifying. When we help set the table we are making many decisions based on our math knowledge. How many plates do we need? How many chairs? Let s count. On which side of the plate do we put the fork? What about the knife? Not a day goes by that we don t use our math knowledge. How many minutes will it take to get to Grandpa s house? What time will it be when we get there? How many more days until my birthday? Count stuff! Count everything. Children need to really own the sequence of numbers used in counting. Listen for opportunities throughout the time you spend with your child to use the language of math. Help bring meaning to the skills your children are acquiring. Go Gators!

3 ST This quarter, first graders are continuing to learn various strategies to achieve an answer. Some of these strategies are as follows: Counting On: Starting with the bigger number, students will count forward to get the sum = = = 8 Doubles: Adding two addends that are the same = = 12 Doubles Plus 1: One addend is greater than the other by one. It is important for students to know their doubles facts first, so that they can add the number first as a double, then simply add one = 8 so = = 12 so = 13 Doubles Minus 1: One addend is lesser than the other number by one. This is the same idea as doubles plus one, except subtracting one instead = 8. Take the sum of 8 and subtract 1. This gives you a difference of 7. Making 10: Being able to know all the ways to make a ten. Here are some examples: = = = = 10 Whole, Part, Part: If 9 is the whole, 6 and 3 could be the parts. Some other strategies are using a number line, a tens frame and a hundreds chart. Although many students can do mental math, they also need to be able to show their work.

4 ND Second graders continue to build upon Math concepts that began in August. Students are practicing California Common Core Domains of Operations and Algebraic Thinking and Number and Operations in Base Ten by learning basic facts and discovering number relationships in order to solve 2-digit addition and subtraction problems. Our second graders will continue to learn and use the Eight Mathematical Practices in order to become proficient Math learners. The Mathematical Practices help students to: 1) make sense of problems and persevere in solving them; 2) reason abstractly and quantitatively; 3) construct viable arguments respectfully; 4) model with mathematics; 5) use appropriate tools strategically; 6) attend to precision; 7) look for and make use of structure; and 8) look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. What does this practice look like in the classroom setting? Second graders are busy using manipulatives such as hundreds, tens, and ones blocks, cubes, and counters, along with hundred charts and number lines to solve addition and subtraction problems. RD Drawing pictures to represent numbers and models in problems is a strategy that helps second graders visualize concepts and quantities. Math Talk is a part of our daily routine, as well as writing to explain and express HOW a math problem can be solved. Realizing that there are different ways to solve one problem becomes more apparent as the students share their mathematical ideas with one another. These engaging activities attempt to foster a life-long love of Mathematics! RD We are using the math program that correlates with the new common core standards called California Go Math. Students worked on number sense in their Chapter 1 books which covered place value identification, rounding, estimating, adding, and subtracting with regrouping. They learned new strategies such as using compatible numbers, friendly numbers, break away (expanded form), groups of ten, and number lines. The program also has technology components to help students see examples of how to do a strategy, practices skills, and to test on skills. Parents as well as students are able to go on the Think Central website to view lessons and assignments that match to the workbooks as well as seeing the other tools that reinforce lesson skills. In October we started Chapter 2 which covers statistics, data recording, and analysis. Although Chapter 3 starts to cover multiplication and division, our team has already introduced multiplication facts for 0,1,2,5,10 facts to all students.

5 TH To develop a solid mathematical foundation, fourth grade students are working to strengthen number sense skills and fact fluency moving from multiplication to division concepts. Students are implementing targeted strategies with a focus on attending to precision to better equip them in solving math tasks. Additionally, each class has built in Universal Access time for students to refresh and apply their knowledge of geometry, measurement, and fraction concepts. Daily lessons provide opportunity to build math vocabulary, participate in guided and independent practice, and investigate real-world math problems. Students can access all math instruction materials and homework online through Thinkcentral.com. All students are encour- TH Fifth grade students have completed lessons in place value, operations, properties and number sense. All classes are currently proceeding into decimal operations. Every day provides opportunity to build math vocabulary, participate in guided and independent practice, and investigate real-world math problems. Increased focus is also being placed on project-based instruction serving to engaging math skills across all subject areas. Students can access all math instruc-tion materials, homework, and assessments online through Thinkcentral.com. As we proceed through the fifth grade math standards, increasing emphasis will be placed on problem solving. Accordingly, all students must be fluent in basic math facts (especially multiplication/division) so their minds can be open to problem solving and not computation struggles. Assist your student as needed, encourage them to try, failure is a natural and healthy part of the learning process! Avaxat Elementary School School Site Council November 17, 2015 Room 2:30 P.M. Agenda: 1. Welcome Approve Minutes 2. Review Proposals-Updates 3. LCAP Four Goals 4. Review Parent Survey Results 5. Other Frequently Used Acronyms: LCAP Local Control Accountability Plan LCFF-Local Control Funding Formula SPSA Single Plan for Student Achievement Future Meeting: December 17, 2015 PTA Upcoming Events December 2015 Friday, 7th-Monday, 11th Holiday Boutique in rm 205 Friday, 11th Coffee with the Principal Friday, 11th Santa Night and Holiday Boutique January 2016 Tuesday, 19th-Friday, 29th Valentine s for Vets Friday 22nd Coffee with the Principal 8:30 February 2016 Wednesday 17th PTA Founders Day Friday 19th Coffee with the Principal Friday 19th Science and Astronomy Night 6:00 P.M.

6 Dear Parents and Students, As your child continues to adjust to a new grade with higher expectations, you might see changes in their attitude, behavior, and emotions. Here are a few tips for helping your child manage their stress: Recognize that a negative attitude or poor behavior choices can be a result of stress. This doesn t mean that your expectations for respectful behavior should change. Acknowledge your child s stress. Let them know you understand that change can be hard. Listen to your child. Let them tell you about their school day, the good parts and the bad parts. Help them identify their feelings. Are they frustrated, mad, sad, confused, overwhelmed? Finding the correct feeling word(s) can help reduce stress. Validate their feelings. Never tell them they shouldn t feel a certain way. Tell your child about the importance of school and doing their best, even when it s hard or they don t want to. Hold firm to your expectations. Try not to take away their stress for them by letting them stay home from school or doing their homework for them. This will not help them in the long run. Talk about stresses they can control vs. stresses they can t. Write them down and get rid of the ones they can t change (rip them up, throw them away, put them in a box). Help your child develop a growth mindset and positive self-talk habits. When they re stressed, they can begin to talk themselves through it I can do this, I am good at this, I ve gotten through this before, or I ll try my best. Ask your child if they can come up with workable solutions to his stressful situations, such as doing homework earlier if doing it later doesn t allow enough time. Your child will feel empowered if they solve the problem. They will be able to draw on that problem solving ability in future stressful situations. School counseling in the classroom... In November, we focused on the Social Skills of Show Concern for Others, MYOB Minding your business and as always KAHFOOTY (ask your child). As students have strong feelings, those strong emotions may take control resulting in some undesirable behaviors at home or at school. It is important for kids to be able to find ways to calm down so he/she is able to make good choices. Each week your children have received instruction through the morning announcements to help support them as they encounter difficult situations. Feel free to check out my website and watch the videos with your children if they have troubles at school. You can access it through the Avaxat website following the morning announcements link. December guidance lessons for 3rd and 4th grade include identifying the feelings of others and how to calm down when we are angry. If you have any questions feel free to call or . Have a blessed Holiday Season! Felipe R Zañartu School Counselor at Avaxat Elementary School x 2198 fzanartu@murrieta.k12.ca.us