Parent Newsletter
Talk to your child
about attendance
and why it matters
It’s just one day, Mom,”
your child says as he begs
you to let him stay home
from school. “Missing one
day won’t hurt, will it?”
In fact, it will and here’s why:
• Students today are expected to
learn more than students in the past.
Since each day’s learning builds on
what was done the day before, if
your child misses a day he has
missed an important building block.
• Going to school regularly teaches
your child important habits. He
learns about responsibility and
dependability. He learns how to
manage his time. These are things
he’ll need to know as an adult.
So what can you do? You can:
• Help your child get organized. Kids
are often late to school because
they’re looking for a lost sneaker or
misplaced homework. Take five
minutes every night to get ready and
organized for the next day.
• Know school rules. What is the
school policy on absences? Be sure
you call the school if your child is
going to be absent for any reason.
• Make school the top priority.
Letting your child stay home from
school because he’s not ready for a
test sends the wrong message.
Source: “School Attendance: It Matters More Than You May
Think,”Mohonasen School District, www.mohonasen.org/
03parents/MSParent/Attendance.htm.
Show your child how to manage
time with calendars, color, clocks
The project is due tomorrow
and she hasn’t started.
Her spelling test is on
Friday, but she left the list
at school.
Kids don’t always have a good idea
of the passage of time. To help your
child get a better understading of time,
use the three C’s: a calendar, colorcoding
and a clock.
• Calendar. This month, buy a big
calendar for your child’s room. Each
day, have your child draw a little
picture about that day. (The dog
threw up; it rained.) Look back over
those pictures and ask questions.
“How many days ago did it rain?”
This helps your child begin to get a
sense about the passage of time.
• Color-coding. If soccer practice is
always in yellow and music lessons
are in blue, your child will know
what to expect.
• Clock. Use the clock to reinforce
routines. “Homework time starts in
15 minutes.”
Source: Drew and Cynthia Johnson, Homework Heroes:
Grades 3-5: It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s Done!, ISBN: 0-743-
22258-X (Kaplan, a Division of Simon & Schuster,
1-800-223-2336, www.simonsays.com).
Notes from Student Council
Student Council members stayed busy during the month of December encouraging the student body to donate to the Good Neighbors program. The response to our food drive brought in 1,600 food items. A total of 140 gifts were also donated by Bel Air students. We greatly appreciate your generosity, and know that it helped make the holidays brighter for many families. Thank you!
Our Student Council will now be selecting the next project to begin working on. At the present time we are looking at raising funds to help build a new animal shelter in Norfolk and “Pennies for Patients” in which we would be working with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We are giving careful thought to both projects and will be picking one for our main focus.
Happy Birthday to the following Student Council members:
Alex Prauner Dec. 1st
Kaylani Pekny Dec. 9th
Taylor Uhlir Dec. 16th
Fifth Grade News from Mrs. Pieper’s Class
Fifth graders are amazed that half the school year is over. Fifth graders moved into their new classrooms the middle of November. We all seem to be adjusting well. We’ve been very busy throughout the year. Students have written about what our day consists of and the different types of things we have been studying.
Every morning we do something called Grammar Grabbers. We correct two incorrect sentences on the overhead. We each have a Grammar Grabber notebook to correctly write the sentences. After the class finishes, we take turns correcting them together.
In spelling, after we have our pretest, we pick our own words to learn for the week. If we miss any words on our pretest, they are used on our posttest. The words we miss on our Friday test we have to use for our next week’s test to make sure we know how to spell them. We use the same routine every week. We have partners to give us our spelling test. Every Thursday we have spelling dictation. Mrs. Pieper reads sentences aloud and we write them down correctly.
We journal about things that have happened and what we want to share with Mrs. Pieper in our journals. Each student has a certain day to hand in. Mrs. Pieper reads it and writes us back.
By: Jacob Hjorth and Aleeyah Kucera
In reading, we have read three books so far this year. They are Bridge to Terabithia, Number the Stars, and Whipping Boy. We do comprehension questions and vocabulary over chapters in the book we are reading. After we get done with the book, we take a test over the book. Mrs. Pieper reads aloud at the end of each day from a class book we’ve selected. One of our favorite books was Goblins in the Castle. Currently, we are reading Summer of the Monkeys.
In A.R., we have our own reading level we are at. There are labels on library books so we know what level they are at. A.R. stands for Accelerated Reader. When we finish a book we take an accelerator reader quiz. If you don’t pass the quiz, you don’t get the points. You can only take a quiz on a book once. Everyone works toward completing their set goal for the month.
By: Heide Hintz, Lauren Herrod, and Caleb Schmidt
At the beginning of the year, we worked on some basic facts, place value into the hundred billions place, and decimals. Then we moved on into multiplication. Currently, we have been working on division. We have been dividing larger numbers and some that have zeros. Later in the year, we will work with fractions (adding, subtracting, and multiplying).
In Accelerated Math, we continue to work on math concepts that go along with our regular math class. Everyone has a folder where they keep their scan cards and printed materials. We work at our own pace. After completing five objectives, we take a test to see if we have mastered them. Then students continue on to other objectives. We scan the scan cards to get our results. The fifth grade A.M. has 186 objectives!
By: Aarron Wells, Ben Sukup, and Tylena Stahly
Writing is a very exciting subject. This school year we’ve written three essays on things we are thankful for, how to eat an Oreo, and our three favorite things. Currently, we are in the process of writing an “All About Me” book. It will have four chapters. They are family, hobbies/sports, favorites, and our past/future. We are also making illustrations. We also continue to use power outlines to plan what we write. We color code our writing by using pink, green, blue, and yellow highlighters. This helps us plan and organize our writing.
By: Alex Prauner, Seth Brown, and Lonna Andrews
In computer, we are doing a variety of things. We use Microsoft Word to type reports and projects. We’ll be using the Internet to find research later in the year. Ultra Keys reinforces our typing skills. Math Facts is a program we will be using to practice and reinforce our basic math facts. We usually go to computer twice a week.
In music, we have been very busy learning about notes, tones, and pitches. We had a music football game that was fun to play. We’ve been learning lots of new songs. Mrs. Sovereign is our new music teacher.
In P.E. we are playing volleyball. We’ve also played games and continue to do exercises. We have a question every Friday and if you get it right you get a jump rope. We’ve also been practicing running the mile. Mrs. Huber is our new P.E. teacher.
By: Brice Hattery, Erica Dover, and Bailee Porter
This is what we have been doing in S.S. At the beginning of the year, we started out with the geography of the U.S. We have our own books and we read them together. Our book covers the history of the U.S. Fifth graders made explorer maps. We have also been learning about the Thirteen Colonies and the Revolutionary War. We will learn the states and capitols second semester.
By: McKenzie Stelling, Jordan Gerber, and Samson Mercier
In science, we switch classrooms. Our first chapter was about the human body. We learned the names of the bones and how the nervous system works. Currently, we are starting about energy, work and machines. Mrs. Schmidt teaches our science class.
By: Morgan Loberg and Mitch Dudley
Looking forward to a fun filled second semester!
Mrs. Pieper
and the fifth
graders
.
Best wishes from Mrs. Dodson’s third grade class for the New Year
!
Third graders have a lot of exciting and fun activities to look forward to in the month of January!
The students start their day doing Grammar Grabbers and enjoying their breakfast. Next, it is on to Direct Instruction in reading where students are reading to learn about different places in the world, different times – from the age of dinosaurs to the present, different planets, different important events, and different activities. Many stories begin with an information passage where students learn rules and facts and apply them to stories about the North Pole, diving deep in the ocean, migrating with a flock of geese, traveling through outer space and training animals. A strong foundation of information and skill is gained when a combination of information passages and engaging stories transforms science rules and historical facts into experiences that set the stage for content-area reading.
In math, we have learned about graphs, place value, time money, adding and subtracting whole numbers, and have just begun multiplication. Students will soon be starting Accelerated Math and MathFacts in a Flash.
We just finished Life Cycle of Animals and are watching the mealworms go through the process of metamorphosizing into beetles. Ask your child what are the four stages of a complete metamorphosis and the three stages of incomplete metamorphosis. Next, we will learn about the Life Cycle of Plants.
In social studies, we learned about land environments. We found out where the everglades, canyonlands, rocky mountain, and outer banks were located in the United States. We also learned about Native Americans and the different ways they lived using the resources around them.
Third graders are excited to learn all their lower case cursive. We will be starting the upper case letters soon.
Students have been busy setting goals, reading, and taking quizzes in Accelerated Reader. Jim Trelease shares in his book, Hey! Listen to This, that “The greatest goal in education is for children to love to read. Once that is accomplished, the learning will follow, naturally and unforced.”
Parents, thank you for your support and for all you do to encourage your child’s success at school.
Mrs. Dodson
News from
Physical Education:
First, I must THANK-YOU all for being so very welcoming! I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching your children, and am looking forward to a busy year ahead. With our new gymnasium now complete, we will especially enjoy the space throughout the Winter months. Feel free to stop by and take a look. It is AWESOME!
The students have been working very hard to get in shape. We have been walking/jogging outside and jumping rope inside. Many students surprised themselves, as jogging a mile wasn’t as hard as they thought!
Grades 4-5 completed their "practice" "President’s Test," so now we have individual base scores to beat. We also spent time this Fall passing and receiving footballs, punting and running plays. We just started a Volleyball unit, and are busy "bumping" and "setting."
Grades K-2 are having fun learning how to jump rope in a variety of ways, and why working out each day should be a habit like brushing your teeth. We have also learned many fun games as practice toward good sportsmanship and teamwork.
It was GREAT to meet so many of you at Parent-Teacher Conferences and the Open House in the Fall. I would like to invite you to watch your child’s Physical Education Class anytime, as we work together to improve your child’s health and fitness.
Mrs. Huber
Notes and Quotes
From the Reading Coaches
Betty Anderson
Trisha Andreasen
Increase memory skills to decrease forgetfulness
Remembering school-related matters is vital to your child becoming responsible and succeeding in school. Research says that adults give responsible children more positive attention. So teachers may view your child more favorably if she is responsible about her schoolwork.
Try these strategies to improve your child’s memory:
• Make check-off lists for what to bring to school and what to bring home from school.
• Have a specific place for school materials—books, projects, supplies.
• Keep a regular after-school schedule. Have your child follow the same routine every day.
• Use physical reminders. A loose rubber band around your child’s finger could help her remember to bring home a certain book.
• Teach your child memory “tricks.” Make an acronym for taking what she needs to school, such as HELP— Homework, Extra shoes, Lunch, Pens.
• Let your child suffer consequences. If she’s late returning a library book, don’t pay the fee for her. Take it out of her allowance or savings.
Source: Jerry Wyckoff and Barbara Unell, How To Discipline
Your Six to Twelve Year Old … Without Losing Your Mind,
ISBN: 0-385-26047-4 (Doubleday, Random House, 1-800-
733-3000, www.doubleday.com).
Are you finding
time to spend
with your family?
From the minute the alarm rings in the morning until you collapse at night, it seems you’re on the go. And you’re not the only one in the family who rushes from one thing to the next. Today, kids also live whirlwind lives. Are you making the time your family needs to be together? Answer yes or no to each of the statements below:
___1. We eat dinner together most nights of the week. Studies show that kids who eat dinner regularly with their families do better in school.
___2. I have set limits on the number of activities my kids can take part in. We try not to spend every afternoon in the car.
___3. We stick to a bedtime routine. I spend at least five minutes talking with each child before “lights out.”
___4. I set aside some one-on-one time with each child each week.
___5. We designate certain times as “no TV” times. We realize that the television can cause separation even when we are all are under one roof.
How are you doing?
Mostly yes answers means you’re finding
ways to make family time a priority.
For no answers, check the quiz for
Try five simple strategies to cut
down on your child’s screen time
Studies show that kids’ brains are more active when they are asleep than when they are watching
TV. Since their brains are still growing, these statistics are even more alarming.
Here are five ways to cut down on the amount of time your child spends in front of the television or computer screen:
1. Set limits that work for your family. Many families limit TV to one hour a day, or to after homework.
2. Turn off the TV during mealtime. Spend time at the table talking to each other about your day.
3. Set limits on your own TV time. Get in the habit of reading more than watching television.
Sometimes, kids watch a lot of TV just because their parents do.
4. Don’t let your child have a TV in his room. That leads to more time in front of the TV and makes it harder for you to monitor what he watches.
5. Teach your child to use the TV guide. Help him plan the programs he really wants to see. Keep the set off the rest of the time.
Source: Stacy DeBroff, The Mom Book Goes to School: Insider
Tips to Ensure Your Child Thrives in Elementary and Middle
School, ISBN: 0-743-25754-5 (Free Press, a Simon &
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