What's Happening at School Street School?
Dear School Street School Families,
I was so excited to see the snow yesterday morning cover the ground and hear my own children outside, laughing and playing. Snow days are special days for children, times to make memories that last a lifetime. In such uncertain times, I hope you and your children found some fun and normalcy in yesterday's break from the screen!
Last week, Mr. Presuto sent a Parent Survey asking parents to share their thoughts about returning to school or remaining virtual starting January 19,. 2021. If you have not completed the survey, please take a moment to look it over and submit a response.
Yesterday, you received your child's assigned cohort. Every student, regardless of whether a decision is made to be an in person learner or a full time remote learner, has been assigned a cohort.
Although this holiday season is unlike any other, I wish you moments of peace amidst the difficulties, connections with family and friends even if they can’t be in person, the warmth of memories from holidays past, and wonderful glimpses of the joy that still lives under the surface.
Fondly,
Alison Schessler
Kindergarten News
This week clever mathematicians used drawings as a tool to determine answers to addition word problems. Now is a great time to challenge your kindergartner with some more original problems. We also learned that in addition the order of the addends doesn't affect the sum. For example 5 + 2 is the same as 2 + 5.
We are now finished with unit one of Fundations. Your children should now be able to accurately write all lowercase letters, and more importantly, be able to identify their corresponding sounds. Learners will be assessed and results will guide future lessons. (We will begin Fundations unit two in the new year.)
We also started a new social studies unit this week-----all about jobs! We hope you enjoyed the video Mrs. Bulkeley created which included several of the SSS staff explaining their roles and responsibilities! Special thanks to Mrs. Bulkeley and to all participants! During writing we learned how to incorporate speech bubbles to indicate dialogue and during Reader's Workshop we hunted for punctuation marks and activated our "Pattern Power!"
Looking for ideas for last minute stocking stuffers? A new box of crayons, Play-Doh, kid sized scissors, glitter glue, Post-its, stickers, educational flash cards and mini staplers are all useful and fun!
Have a joyful weekend!!!
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
First Grade News
This week our first graders jumped into our new nonfiction reading unit! We discussed what a nonfiction book looks and sounds like, and compared the genre to fiction. The children are excited to learn about many of their favorite topics including sharks, weather, the United States, and many more! In math, we continued to explore the relationships between addition and subtraction facts. By knowing their fact families, they can become more proficient and solve these problems in a SNAP! In writing, we learned that introductions and conclusions can make our how-to writing much stronger by drawing our readers in and tying it up with a pretty bow on top! Last, in social studies, we’ve been studying many holidays people celebrate. This week we learned about Hanukkah, Diwali, and Eid. Next week we will finish this mini-unit by learning about Kwanzaa and Christmas traditions around the world. We have learned that there are many overlapping themes to all of these holidays, including spending time with family and eating yummy foods! We hope you all enjoyed the snow day off with your families and took some time away from the screens!
Second Grade News
This week the second grade students have been traveling the continent to learn about different cultures and traditions. We have been learning so many interesting things on how different holidays are celebrated, yet many of our traditions are borrowed from all over the world. We are continuing to work on 2-digit addition with regrouping. It is rewarding to see how the children are learning and understanding this difficult skill. It is encouraged to have them continue to practice their math facts to also help with this concept. In reading we are working on using our Fundations skills to solve tricky words, and learning ways to make our reading sound powerful by choosing the right voice to read in. In writing, we shared our non-fiction stories with our classmates, and we are gathering ideas to write a how-to book. We couldn’t be more proud of our second graders as they learn and grow, and as always we thank you for your continued support.
