West Newton Elementary—Parent Newsletter
February 5, 2014
PRINCIPAL’S REFLECTIONS
Dear Parents,
We are gearing up to celebrate Black History Month at West Newton. Each grade level will participate in several activities throughout the month of February to celebrate and recognize all those individuals that have enriched the black culture. Parents, take some time throughout the month to question your children about what they are learning. Also, our Title I promotion/retention meetings have been changed to Feb. 6 at 6pm. It is important that all parents come out to engage in a much needed discussion about the Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) and how your child’s grades and daily productively will impact whether or not they are promoted to the next grade level. Finally, we are trying to get our students excited about going to college at an early age. Therefore, we have created a college board in our cafeteria as well as designated each Friday as college day at West Newton. We ask that our students wear some type of college attire on these days. The best time to begin discussing college is right now. As always parents thank you for your continued support.
Takila Curry, Ed. D.
Principal
Counselor’s Career Corner:
National Mentoring Month:
Career Corner
When it comes to helping your children with college and career decision-making, the first rule for parents is self-awareness. Be aware of how your lifestyle and values expose your children to particular professional activities. For example, if you're a nurse, your children will likely have exposure to medically related vocational opportunities. Similarly, if you coach basketball at a middle school, your children will undoubtedly end up with more gym time and a greater opportunity to have basketball or coaching in their future.
It's also important to be aware of your attitude toward your own profession and others. It's easy to see why the children of a factory worker, rancher or politician might grow up with an aversion toward factory work, ranching or politics,
especially if their parents hate their jobs. Children are, obviously, more likely to follow in their parents' footsteps if parents are happy with their college and career decisions rather than miserable about their life choices.
The second college and career planning rule is financial awareness. Recent federal cuts to college loan programs make this planning even more challenging. Based on estimates obtained from to pay for your child to attend a moderately priced college or university in the year 2023, if you plan to pay for the costs yourself, you would need to save approximately $463 per month for the next 18 years. If your child is eight years old right now and you want to send him or her to a prestigious (and expensive) private college, you'll need to save $1,132 each month for the next 10 years.
Obviously, not many parents of newborns have an extra $463 to set aside each month for college savings, which brings us to
another college and career planning rule. Before the financial reality of college expenses smacks you in the face, sit down and figure out your college financing philosophy and communicate it clearly to your children.
Maria Moore, School Counselor
(770) 385-6472 EXT: 2312
Physical Education
February is American Heart Month. 2nd-5th grade students will participate in Jump Rope for Heart to raise money for the American Heart Association. Students raising at least $15 will come to the Jump Rope for Heart event on Friday, Feb. 28. Please help them to raise money. All money raised will be donated to the American Heart Association to assist children with heart problems. Be on the lookout for the fundraising sheet. Students in grades 1-5 will also begin (in March) the annual fitness assessment called FitnessGram. This is a fitness based test designed to show students if they are in a healthy fitness zone. At the end of the year there will be a “fitness” report card sent home for grades 4-5. Grades 1-3 will
practice the test so they will be ready to participate in 4th grade. Remind your children to practice their push-ups, curl-ups, and play for 1 hour a day. These activities will help them score well on the test. Make sure to check out the West Newton PE Youtube page. We have over 16,000 views! See the
different things your children have been learning in PE.
February is American Heart Month. 2-5 grade students will be participating in Jump Rope for Heart to raise money for the American Heart Association. Students raising at least $15 will come to the Jump Rope for Heart event on Friday, Feb. 28. Please help them to raise money. All money raised will be donated to the American Heart Association to assist children with heart problems. Be on the lookout for the fundraising sheet. Students in grades 1-5 will also begin (in March) the annual fitness assessment called FitnessGram. This is a fitness based test designed to show students if they are in a healthy fitness zone. At the end of the year there will be a “fitness” report card sent home for grades 4-5. Grades 1-3 will practice the test so they will be ready to participate in 4th grade. Remind your children to practice their push-ups, curl-ups, and play for 1 hour a day. These activities will help them score well on the test. Make sure to check out the West Newton PE Youtube page. We have over 16,000 views! See the different things your children have been learning in PE.
Mr. Matthews
Thank you,
Mr. Matthews
ELL
ESOL has started ACCESS testing. We will continue with our testing for the next 3 weeks. Please encourage your child to do their best!!Also, several of our First Grade students are Newton County Drama winners and will attend Literacy Days in Griffin this month. We are very proud of them and wish them the best of luck!
Mrs Hollier and Mrs. Newberry
Art
Art Department-M. Johns
West Newton students are completing their unit on clay techniques. If you ask a 4th or
5th grader they can tell you that scoring clay in ceramics is not the same as scoring a touchdown in football. It is a good way to make sure that pieces of clay stay together. As students finish, we will begin observing Black History Month and studying about African-American visual artists and letting them inspire student work. Small lists of artists who are personal favorites are: Faith Ringgold, Alma Thomas, Romare Bearden, William H Johnson, Elizabeth Catlett, and Jacob Lawrence.
Mrs. Johns
Art Teacher
Pre-K
We are very proud of our Pre-K students. They are making great progress in learning their letters and numbers. Our themes in February will be Fire Prevention, Presidents and The United States of America, and Community Helpers. We will integrate our Language/Literacy and Math lessons into activities involving these themes. February will begin with looking for our shadows for Groundhog Day and will end with lots of rhyming words as we learn about our favorite author---- Dr. Seuss. Parents, please help your child learn his/her birthdate. This must include the month, day, and year of birth.
Pre-K Teachers
Kindergarten
During the month of February, our students will study the letters Vv, Xx, Ee, Zz, and Ww. Please practice blending all short vowel words (kit, bad, hum, pen, jog) at home with your child. We will also focus on summarizing and identifying the main idea and key details in a story. In Math, our students will learn how to problem solve, review adding to 10 and begin subtracting from 10. Please work with your child on identifying all numbers 0-100. Students will continue to be taught to use words from around the room as well as phonics skills to write and read. At home, we ask that you continue to practice sight words and review any skills you feel your child may need extra support with nightly. Please remember to check your child’s folder every night and sign the agenda. We look forward to seeing our student’s continued progress throughout the school year. Thanks for your support!
The Kindergarten Team
First Grade
Parents,
Thank you for all that you do. In First Grade, we are working very hard to help all of our students become strong and fluent readers. By the end of the year, we would like for each student to be able to read 60 words in one minute. Students also need to be able to comprehend what they are reading. Here are a few tips to help your child become a successful reader.
•Practice sight words nightly for 5-10 minutes. Students need to be able to read each sight word in 3 seconds or less.
•If a Dr. Cupp reader is sent home with your child, practice reading these books nightly to reinforce phonics skills.
•The websites starfall.com, readingbear.org, turtlediary.com, and abcya.com are great tools to help assist in building reading skills.
•Allow your child to read their library book to you independently. Encourage them to sound out words he or she does not know while reading. After he or she reads to you, ask them questions about the story elements of what they just read (characters, setting, problem, solution, and sequence of events). Allow your child to write the answers to the questions independently. These will help your child become a stronger writer and more independent.
First Grade Team
Second Grade
2nd Grade
We are having a spectacular second grade year!!!! The second semester has started off with a BANG! We are continuing to be actively engaged in instruction. For the month of February, we will work on many skills in reading. Those skills include reviewing poetry, asking and answering questions, reviewing text features, and reading informational texts, including history/social studies and science. Also in reading do not forget to continue your Oral Reading Fluency passages for 1 minute. In Math we will begin discussing geometry and counting money. In English/Language Arts we will continue learning about the parts of speech, subject/verb agreement, subjects/predicates, and quotation marks. In Social Studies we will begin looking at the famous Georgians Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jimmy Carter and finally in science we will work on seasonal changes. We have a lot of learning to do in the month of February!
Also, don’t forget to turn in money for the in-school field trip we will have on Friday, February 28, 2014. We will have the storyteller, Akbar Imhotep, coming to tell us some wonderful stories. Please send in the dollar and permission slip to your child’s teacher no later than February 14th.Email is the best way to contact your child’s teacher. Please know that we are here to support the students and any questions or concerns you have may be voiced through e-mail or a phone call to the child’s teacher. Please make a note of your child’s teacher’s email address:
Angelina Ejike –
Dianne Johnson –
Scott king-
Felicia Palmer –
April Clinton-
As always, we thank you for the privilege of teaching your children.
Sincerely,
The Second Grade Team
Third Grade
Dear Parents,
Please remember that students should be reading every night .It is important that students continue to practice reading fluency and comprehension outside of school. Spelling test are still given every week and it is the students’ responsibility to study their words. Math fluency is also
critical to students’ success during testing. Please drill and practice basic multiplication and division facts with you student. In preparation for the CRCT we are beginning boot camp for math and reading. Students will practice strategies that they can utilize during the test. Thanks for all that you do!!
Third Grade Team
Dear 3rd Grade Parents,
Continue to work with your student on Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction Strategies (Modeling, Par/Whole Boxes, Open Number Line, Friendly Numbers, and Breaking Apart Place Values). Be sure to check homework folders daily for assignments and communication from teachers. Don’t forget that we have a spelling test every week. Please continue to have your student read daily for at least 20 minutes and review the reading skill for the week with them.
Thanks,
3rd Grade Team
Dear 3rd Grade Parents,
Continue to work with your student on Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction Strategies (Modeling, Par/Whole Boxes, Open Number Line, Friendly Numbers, and Breaking Apart Place Values). Be sure to check homework folders daily for assignments and communication from teachers. Don’t forget that we have a spelling test every week. Please continue to have your student read daily for at least 20 minutes and review the reading skill for the week with them.
Thanks,
3rd Grade Team
Fourth Grade
Fourth grade students are well into the third nine weeks. The CRCT is approaching quickly and we are focusing on addition/subtraction of fractions (still understanding equivalence and learning how to covert to improper fractions) in Math. In Reading we are building our reading skills and using organizers to help comprehend a story. In Science we are studying how simple machines make work easier. We are finishing up our American Revolution Newspaper Project in Social Studies. The students researched and wrote about key events that shaped the American Revolution for their project. We are looking forward to visiting the Atlanta Fox Theater to see “Alvin Ailey Dance Theater” on Thursday, February 13, 2014. Please sign and return permission slips before the due date. Parents come out and visit our COLLEGE FAIR on February 25th from 8:30-10:30. Come see all the different schools that will be represented, and how hard your child worked on their project. Thank you for all your hard work and support!
Fourth Grade Team
Fifth Grade
Wow! It’s unbelievable that we’ve completed over an entire semester of school. Our students have been working extremely hard on mastering all of the required objectives/standards that have been mandated by the state daily. In English Language Arts, students will begin studying the types of plays and begin their third round of novel studies. They will also continue to reinforce and practice the different types of writing. The writing test will be administered to all fifth graders on March 5th. In Mathematics, we will conclude our unit of study on Algebra and begin focusing on Coordinate Geometry and Fraction Operations. We will continue to study the function/ structure of the plant and animal cell in Science. Lastly, we will continue studying World War II and its aftermath in Social Studies. Remember it’s important for students to attend school as much as possible because there is valuable research based instruction taking place daily in fifth grade.
Fifth Grade Team
Special Education
5 Tips for Parents of children with autism:
Learn to be the best advocate you can be for your child. Be informed. Take advantage of all the services that are available to you in your community. You will meet practitioners and providers who can educate you and help you. You will gather great strength from the people you meet.
Don't push your feelings away. Talk about them. You may feel both ambivalent and angry. Those are emotions to be expected. It's OK to feel conflicting emotions. Try to direct your anger towards the disorder and not towards your loved ones. When you find yourself arguing with your spouse over an autism related issue, try to remember that this topic is painful for both of you; and be careful not to get mad at each other when it really is the autism that has you so upset and angry.
Try to have some semblance of an adult life. Be careful to not let autism consume every waking hour of your life. Spend quality time with your typically developing children and your spouse, and refrain from constantly talking about autism. Everyone in your family needs support, and to be happy despite the circumstances.
Appreciate the small victories your child may achieve. Love your child and take great pride in each small accomplishment. Focus on what they can do instead of making comparisons with a typically developing child. Love them for who they are rather than what they should be.
Get involved with the Autism community. Don't underestimate the power of “community”. You may be the captain of your team, but you can't do everything yourself. Make friends with other parents who have children with autism. By meeting other parents you will have the support of families who understand your day to day challenges. Getting involved with autism advocacy is empowering and productive. You will be doing something for yourself as well as your child by being proactive. From www. Autismspeaks