MARCH
PAWPRINTS
Respect, responsibility, caring
Principal’s Message
March, 2014
Dear PRS Community,
The process of planning for next year's
classrooms will begin in May. This process
involves many hours on behalf of a team of
classroom teachers, special education teachers,
the reading consultant, and the school principal.
This team works together to create classrooms
that are academically and socially well balanced.
One aspect of this planning is parent/guardian
input. By completing a 2014 – 2015 Class
Placement form, parents/guardians may provide
information about their child that they feel
would be relevant concerning consideration for
class placement. Examples may include
academic, behavioral, psychological, or physical
needs. The 2014 – 2015 Class Placement form is
available upon request through either a
visitation or a phone call to your school office.
Parent/guardian input will be considered by the
team as overall decisions are made regarding
next year's classes. Although
parents/guardians may have an individual
teacher preference, no specific teacher's name
should appear on this or any other request.
Parents/guardians of students who are moving
to another school may complete a 2014 – 2015
Class Placement form at either their current
school or their receiving school.
Final class placement decision is the
sole responsibility of the school
principal.
The 2014 – 2015 Class Placement
form will be available on
Wednesday, April 2, 2014.
Please call or visit your school
office to obtain a copy. The Class
Placement form must be returned
no later than Friday, May 2, 2014.
Fondly,
Michelle Dixon, Principal
NOTES FROM KINDERGARTEN
Kindergarten has been a very busy place! In
reading, the students have been reading nonfiction
books and identifying all of the nonfiction book
characteristics! The students have been working on
nonfiction writing and researching facts with their
library books! The books they are producing have 3-5
facts and has many nonfiction characteristics! Their
books are amazing! In math, the
kindergarteners have been making different
combinations of 5-10 apples! It has been an
incredible sight to see the students make different
combinations and work together! They have also been
revisiting some older centers to work with greater
numbers! The growth each student has been is
awesome! Kindergarten rocks!
First Grade News
Readers become experts when they research!! Our
first graders are exploring a topic of interest to
further their understanding and knowledge in order
to teach others. This integrated Science and
Language Arts unit has students asking questions and
finding facts and information from sources such as
their background knowledge, observation, the
internet and various nonfiction texts. Students will
create an informational piece that includes their
topic choice, facts and nonfiction text features!
Second Grade
Second Graders launched their folktales, fairytales
and fables unit by attending a performance titled
Aesop Fables at the University of Hartford’s Lincoln
Theater. During Reading Workshop, second graders
will learn about the characteristics within this genre.
In this unit, the students will learn how to determine
the message, lesson, or moral of story. They will
learn how to recognize character’s point of view by
comparing two versions of the same story. Students
will also have the opportunity to become actors and
actresses through readers’ theater. The reading
lessons from this unit will be integrated into Writing
Workshop. Students will write a fictional story
centered on a moral or lesson. Specific writing
lessons will also include utilizing narrative graphic
organizers before writing, elaborating events,
revising and editing.
Third Grade Scientists
Pet Rocks invaded 3rd grade!!!! Students located a
favorite rock and transformed it by decorating and
even giving them fabulous names and a great
personality! Their “Rock Cycle”, which was sung to
the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat gave the
learners important information about all three
categories of rocks: igneous, metamorphic, and
sedimentary. Thinking like a geologist, using
observational skills and testing, they discovered
specific properties of rocks and minerals. Color,
luster, texture, smell, transparency, hardness, shape
and magnetic attractiveness were all qualities
explored in mineral. Rocks also have weight, color,
size, layering, and texture as properties. They
should be able to answer these 2 essential questions:
1. How do physical changes on Earth affect the
formation of rocks? 2. How do the properties of
rocks and minerals determine how they are used?
Grade 4 Patriots and Loyalists
Fourth grade students have embarked on a new
voyage to the day and time of the American
Revolution. We are learning about what life was like
during this difficult time in history and taking on
different perspectives to help us understand the
causes and effects of the many struggles the people
faced. Students are looking at first and second hand
accounts of the events that led up to the war and
noticing how these accounts vary. Looking forward
we will all be researching Revolutionary leaders and
identifying one who is deserving of the honor of
having a school named after them.
What’s New In Grade 5?
By Olivia Drezek, Serena Devathala, and Emma
Sansom
In the second trimester in grade 5, we have been
learning about many things. Two of them are human
rights and strategies for working with order of
operations and for solving multiplication and division
problems in math. We will teach you much more by
the end of this article.
We have been reading Every Human Has Rights during
our reading workshop. Three of the human rights we
have discussed are, “We all are born free and equal”,
“We have the right to a fair and free world”, and “We
have the right to own our own things”. We have
learned that every human has rights that should not
be violated or taken away by the government or
anyone else. No matter what happens you should be
secure with your human rights.
In math, one of the things that we have been working
on is PEMDAS. You might think that’s a silly word,
but it is actually important in the process of order of
operations. The P in PEMDAS means parentheses.
The E in PEMDAS means exponents. The M in
PEMDAS means multiplication. The D in PEMDAS
means division. The A in PEMDAS means addition.
The S in PEMDAS means subtraction. This is the
order you must go in to solve operations in math. Try
this: (22-12+2) / (9-6) = ______. The answer is 4.
The Number 1 reason kids say they don’t read is
because they can’t find books they like. Giving kids
choice in reading books that interest them is the key
to getting them motivated and engaged; even if the
books are graphic novels, goofy comics, joke books or
ones that would have never interested us as a child.
Believe me, I want to hide in despair when my son
brings home the occasional Captain Underpants but I
smile and think about how proud I am that he’s
excited about reading.
Another thing we have learned in math is how to solve
a multiplication and division problem in different
ways. For multiplication, you can solve the problem
with partial products, the traditional algorithm, or
break down one of the factors into easier to use
numbers, such as 125 X 27, you can do 125 X 10, 125
X 10, and then 125 X 5 and 125 X 2 and then add all
the smaller answers together to get your final
answer. In division, you can use the traditional
algorithm, break down the divisor into easier to use
numbers, or Guess and Check, which involves thinking
about how many of the divisor will go into the
dividend, for example, when you solve 753/15, you can
guess how many times 15 will go into 753 and then
subtract that from 753 until you get your answer.
By spending time partner-reading with your child you
can turn disengagement around. Picture books with
amusing characters and humor are great choices for
turning kids onto reading. You can even try sharing a
book that was the basis for a movie such as Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory. Remember, read the book
first and see the movie as reward!
Now you know about human rights, PEMDAS, and
strategies for multiplication and division. We hope
you learned something new. Thanks!
Helpful Hints from the Intervention Team
Reading Corner
How can I help my child become a better reader?
You may have heard your child’s teacher say over and
over, “The more kids read, the better readers they
become.” However getting our kids to read isn’t
always that easy. The best way I can think of is to
give them books that they will gobble up—to the point
that they’ll beg for a trip to the library!
Don’t forget to borrow books for FREE at the South
Windsor Public Library. The librarians are generous
with their time and enjoy helping us find books for
our readers!
Submitted by: Kelly Burke, Reading Consultant
Manipulatives for Math
When you are helping your child at home with math
manipulatives are a wonderful tool for children of all
grades. The National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics emphasizes the importance of using
manipulatives and visual representations.
Manipulatives allow students to build a solid concrete
understanding of concepts before moving to more
abstract understanding.
In lower elementary grades, students can use
counters to learn and practice basic facts. Along with
a ten frame to build understand of place value and
fluency to 10. Using geometric shapes, both 2-D and
3-D to model shapes and vocabulary are common, such
as faces and edges.
In upper elementary grades, fraction bars or tiles are
used when helping students understand different
concepts about fractions. One concept they help
model is comparing unit fractions with unlike
denominators such as ½ and 1/8. Also they are great
for identifying equivalent fractions.
So when it is time for math don’t be afraid to take
out anything you have around the house, like pennies,
colored paper, or dried beans to help your child
understand their math a little better!
Submitted by:
Julie Ratajczak, Math Interventionist
looking. Grades 3, 4 and 5 enrichment groups are
working on an oil pastel rendering referencing the
work of Mary Cassatt. Square One Art has been
completed by ALL of the student artists at PRS and
the order sheets have been delivered home in your
Friday Folders.
IMPORTANT DATES
March 20
March 25
First Day of Spring!
Professional Development Day
No school for students
March 26 Relay for Life mtng. – permission slip
Required
March 28 Progress reports distributed
April 2, 9, 16 Conferences – Dismissal at 1:15
April 14-17 PTO Book Fair
April 18
Good Friday – no school
April 21-25 Vacation Period
May 7
Gr. 5 Parent meeting with TE counselors
8 AM @ PRS Library
June 24
Last day of school (currently)
Sharon Valley, Bob's Discount Furniture
Outreach Coordinator, presented Michelle
Dixon, a check for $1000.00 for Philip R.
Smith School. We THANK Bob's for the
generous donation which will be used to
purchase books for the class rooms.
We were chosen as this month's recipient
for Connecticut. Bob's donates monthly to
schools in and around the communities in
which they have stores.
Art Musings
Winter is still holding us tightly but Grades K, 1, and
2 artists grew a bouquet of flowers out of paper.
Some of the students had to use scissors on their
collage; some had to rip the collage papers. Both
techniques were challenging for all of the little hands
to create. Grade 3 has just finished up their Native
American ceramic, coiled pottery works and has just
set up their loom with warp yarns. Our grade 4
artists have been working on an op-art piece using
their hand as the main subject and will soon be
painting a beautiful landscape using watercolors.
Grade 5 is finishing up their Van Gogh-like watercolor
painting of a sunflower, floral arrangement and will
soon be working on a Civil War era pottery piece
called “Ugly Face Vessels”. When the vessels are
completed they really come out magical and fun
Music Notes
If you hear your children talking about another Music
teacher: Ms. Grace Rimkunas (sometimes Ms. R) is
our student teacher in Music through May. I will be
with her in the classroom at all times. Last week,
students in the younger grades taught Ms. Rimkunas a
singing game. This week she is teaching them a new
game. Ask your Kindergartener about Doggy Doggy,
your 1st grader about Cut the Cake and your 2nd/3rd
grader about “Dinah.” Ms. Rimkunas is studying Music
Education at UCONN. She is a percussionist, and we
hope to benefit from her expertise in that realm.
Principal
Michelle Dixon
Secretary
Lisa Lovett
Clerk
Carol Scheuing
Nurse
Colleen Heneghan
Main Number
648-5025
Visit our Website
http://www.swindsor.k12.ct.us/Schools/prs/prsmith.h
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