TANGLEWOOD
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
The Bulldog Review
DECEMBER 2014
Mr. Andrew Hills, Principal
[email protected]
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, food, and football!
Tanglewood is in full swing both academically and socially. The Home School Association
has had another successful fundraising event with the annual Taste of Tanglewood. The
THSA also continued its push to help as many Adopt-a-Families as possible. Lastly, our
THSA parade float was another outstanding show of Bulldog Pride!
December goes by very fast and we have many exciting events for our students and
families to participate in. For the students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade only,
Breakfast with Santa Claus will be December 12th this year. The big Elf will be here to
visit with good boys and girls and will receive a small gift. More information will be sent
home soon. Our Holiday concert will be December 10th at 7 p.m. and the Holiday Recess
will begin after a full day of school on December 23rd with students returning on January
5, 2015.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and have a wonderful Holiday Season!
Mr. Hills
CHECKOUT OUR SCHOOL’S WEBSITE AT www.sgfcsd.org
60 Tanglewood Drive, South Glens Falls, NY 12803
Phone: 518-793-5631
Important Dates
12/10– Winter Concert, 7pm
12/12– Tanglewood Breakfast with Santa
12/15– Board of Education Meeting, 6:30 pm– Harrison
12/24-1/2/15– Holiday Recess
Thank you to everyone for supporting the library Book Fair. We
received $1,600.00 worth of books for the library.
Come hear the Tanglewood Singers, our 4th and 5th grade
chorus at the Toadflax Holiday celebration, Saturday,
December 6th, at 10:00 am.
Save those Boxtops for
Education!!!!
Tanglewood will have its' annual
Boxtops Contest in late January!
Look for General Mills products
with the Boxtops symbol. Check
the expiration dates! Only valid
Boxtops will count toward class
totals!!!
Fourth Grade News
It is unfathomable to think that we have been
in school for three months. As we look at our fourth
grade students we are proud of how much they have
already grown academically. Many students have
developed incredible leadership skills and have
become role models for our students in younger
grades. We are especially proud of the students who
are demonstrating the Bulldog Pride Core Values
consistently!
Our fourth grades have been deep into math
studying area models, partial products, and arrays.
Students have learned the math behind our standard
algorithms. The children have also experienced how
important it is to know their basic math facts. There
are so many great computer programs and apps to
assist with math fluency, but good old flash cards
are tried and true.
Our classes are both writing realistic fiction
stories. We started the process by capturing small
moments of our lives in our writer’s notebooks.
Each student has selected a small moment to
develop into a rich story. This process involves
studying mentor texts, conferring with peers and
teachers, building story arcs and learning that the
best way to write fiction is to “show, don’t tell.” We
can’t wait to publish our stories in early December!
Learning about the earliest New Yorkers has
been a theme in social studies. Did you know the
sport, lacrosse, came from the Iroquois? Many
students have recognized that names of towns,
counties and cities come from the Native
Americans.
We are all looking forward to the winter
concert in December! The chorus sounds amazing
and the string players have been working extra hard
to learn how to play their new instruments.
Congratulations to all of the committed musicians.
December is a magical time… we look forward
to a busy but exciting month ahead!
Mrs. Mohr's Class has been busy researching The Amazon
Rainforest and exploring the variety of animal and plant species which live in
each of the layers. We have also been studying the natural resources of this
biome and studying some of the tribes who call the rainforest their
home. Several of our books that we will read in class will help us with our
research projects, as well as web-sites. Students will be constructing the four
layers of the rainforest in class with groups and then completing a report on
one species selected.
In math we continue to work on our multiplication facts and are
finding it easier to complete problem solving work when we know them. We
will be finishing up with problem solving activities with measurement and
rounding and then moving onto more work with multiplication.
It’s a Busy Time of Year!
The second-graders ended November by taking a long look at
Thanksgiving and the lives the Pilgrims lived aboard the Mayflower and once
they landed in the New World. We also learned to “Eat A Rainbow” just in
time for our Thanksgiving dinners at home. Thanks to Mrs. Julie Curran
from the Cornell University Cooperative Extension in Saratoga County for
sharing this nutrition program with us.
Looking to December, the month will be flying by as we focus on using
numbers with hundreds, tens, and ones places to solve more complex math
problems. We continue to work toward mastery of our addition and
subtraction facts.
Writer’s workshop, launched earlier in fall, continues with publication of our
first narrative pieces of writing. We’ve been working hard to be productive,
effective writers, and we love it. We’re very proud of our work. We continue
to learn more about reading, from decoding vowel combinations and “bossy
r” sounds to understanding fiction and non-fiction reading and responding to
questions about it in sentences. This includes finding information in the text
to support our answers. There is never a dull moment in second grade!
If you listen carefully, you may hear the sound of second-grade elves at work
on holiday treats for others.
Special thanks to parents who attended our fall conferences. It makes a huge
difference for your child to have your support at this age.
We wish you all peace and joy in the holiday season. We hope you will all
keep reading over the holiday vacation!
Mrs. Barden
Mrs. Girard
Ms. Henzel
Ms. Mahoney
Kindergarten Newsletter
What an adventure Kindergarten continues to be! We are working on the
following skills. Any at home practice will reinforce what we are learning.
Math Skills:
-Writing numbers 0-15 (expected 0-20 by the end of the year)
-Identifying numbers 0-15 in a random order (expected 0-20 by the end of the
year)
-How high can you count? (Students are expected count to 100 by the end of
the year)
-Counting groups of objects to 20 (using an index finger to track)
-Identifying basic shapes and 3D forms
-We are working on the concepts of Length, Weight, and Capacity
Sight Words:
Please continue to review our Kindergarten sight word list. It is a very long
list and any at home practice will be very beneficial for your Kindergartener.
Looking for sight words in books and writing sight words are great practice.
Reading:
-Practice “reading” the pictures
-Use the pictures to help figure out words
-Try to sound out new words
Writing:
-Write simple sentences using our sight words
-When writing unfamiliar words, put the sounds you hear together to make
the word
-Practice writing sentences using spaces and punctuation
-Look at books through the eyes of the author. How can you write like an
author?
Now that they cold weather is here, please be sure that your child is prepared.
We will be going outside as long as it’s not bitterly cold. Once the snow is here
to stay for a while, your child will need snow pants, winter coat, hat, and
gloves. Please practice getting dressed in this “winter gear” so students are as
independent as possible with getting ready.
Be on the lookout for upcoming dates for fun activities from your child’s
teacher. Thank you for your continued support!
Reading Room
We know that this is an exciting time of the year! One great way to get into the holiday spirit is to sit down and read a great
book with your child. Here are some wonderful reading suggestion s.
The Holly Joliday by Megan McDonald is another fun book in this series, with an additional
enjoyable smidge of holiday magic and wonder. The many fans of Judy Moody and Stink will
adore joining the Moody clan for the holidays and will root for Stink's Christmas wish to come
true.
It’s Winter by Linda Glaser begins by evoking the feelings of winter: the joy of catching snowflakes on the tongue, the anticipation of wondering just how much snow will fall, and the
warmth generated by making snow angels and building snowmen. In addition to the fun, there
are descriptions of several creatures' hibernation habits, creatively illustrated in cross sections
showing the insides of underground and underwater hiding places.
Stella the Star Fairy by Daisy Meadows - The holidays have lost their shimmer! Stella the
Star Fairy's magical Christmas ornaments are missing - and Jack Frost's mischievous
goblins are to blame! Without the ornaments, Christmas will lose its special sparkle. If
Rachel and Kirsty don't act fast, the holidays won't be very merry or bright! Can the girls
help? Or will Jack Frost and his goblins find the ornaments first . . . and ruin Christmas for
everyone?
Katie Kazoo Switcheroo- Holly’s Jolly Christmas by Nancy Krulik - kids can get into the
holiday spirit by following Katie’s latest misadventures, first at a Christmas tree farm and
then at a Santa’s Workshop theme park, where she switcheroos into . . . Well, we won’t spoil
the surprise, but here’s a hint: she doesn’t have a red nose but she sure has antlers!
The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clement - For Hart Evans, being the most popular
fifth grader has its advantages: kids look up to him and teachers let him get away with
everything. But during one choir practice, Hart zones out too far, accidentally flinging a
rubber band at his teacher. Mr. Meinert realizes that if Hart is ever going to discover his
musical potential, his punishment must march to a different drummer.
Henry and Mudge in the Sparkle Days by Cynthia Rylant - It is the magical time of year;
winter, when the sparkle days come. Every morning and every night Henry and his lovable,
oversized dog Mudge, look out the window for signs of snow. It's arrival signals the start of
wondrous hours of play, evening walks to enjoy the winter stars and a special fancy-dress
Christmas Eve dinner. Henry and Mudge can barely contain their excitement as they head
out to explore the winter wonderland.
We hope you enjoy these books! Have a wonderful holiday season.
Mrs. Baudy & Mrs. Metivier
The HSA Closet
(News from Tanglewood's
version of the PTA)
2014 - 2015 HSA Meetings
All meetings are at 6:30 pm in the school cafeteria.
Monday January 12, 2015
Monday March 2, 2015
May 4 @ Moreau Elementary with HSA's from other schools
We have many fun events planned
for this school year, but we can't
pull them off without lots of
volunteers. Please feel free to
contact the committee chairpersons
listed below with any questions or
for more information about the
event.
2014 - 2015 HSA Events
It is not too late to sign up to help with any of these events. Please contact the chairperson listed
below.
December 12 - Breakfast with Santa
Contact Brittany Creel - [email protected]
February 6 - Movie night
Contact: Brandy Donbeck - [email protected]
March 2 - 31 - Parents as Reading Partners
Contact: Kiersten DeLisle - [email protected]
March 18 - Ice Cream Social
Contact: Marlanne McCarty - [email protected]
May 15 - Tanglewood Twister
Contact: Jessica Hamm – [email protected]
May 22 - Staff Appreciation luncheon
Contact: Ann Marie Kilmer - [email protected]
June 15 & 16 - Fun Day/t-shirts
Contact: Erin Gamache - [email protected]
June 24 - Fifth grade moving up ceremony
Contact Tammy Dean – [email protected]