Stony Creek
Current
Monthly Newsletter to our School Community
June 2016
New Date: Field Day June 6th!
Show your school spirit - wear your RED or BLUE!
At Stony Creek Elementary School Field Day, every student
in the school participates in a number of outdoor activities
designed to allow students to work together in a friendly
competition in games and physical activities. The students will
be outdoors for their activities as outlined in the schedule below.
The students have been placed on the red team or the blue team
to allow for all students the opportunity to participate. On Field
Day, all students are invited to the school wide barbecue where
hot dogs and hamburgers are grilled outside and students enjoy a
picnic lunch with their class.
Field Day and our school wide barbecue are scheduled for June
6th. Mr. Sandor has already published the RED and BLUE team
lists for all classes. All staff and parents are reminded to wear
their SCHOOL COLORS on this day. Please note the times as
indicated in the schedule below.
8:45 a.m.
9:00-11:30 11:15-11:45 11:45-12:15 12:00-2:30 2:45 p.m.
Celebration of the Arts
Stony Creek Elementary School conducted the first
Celebration of the Arts. On May 12, the school was open
for review of all the students’ art pieces that had been put on
display in the hallways of SCE. Parents, family and friends
arrived to view the wonderful art pieces on display. In
addition to the Art Show, the SCE chorus performed in the
cafetorium. This year’s performance of We Haz Jazz was
well attended. The 4th and 5th grade students in the chorus
were dedicated to providing an excitingly entertaining and
interestingly educational evening.
Opening Ceremonies & Flag Salute
Grades K-2 Field Day Events
Grades 3-4 Barbecue Lunch (grade 5 at WMS)
Grades K-2 Barbecue Lunch
Grades 3-5 Field Day Events
Fifth Grade VS. Staff, Capture the Flag
Student Placement Parent Input Forms
(Current Grades K-4)
Thanks to our parents for providing us with some valuable
input regarding their children’s placement for the 2016-2017
school year. This input will be considered among the many other
factors when forming well-balanced learning classrooms for the
upcoming school year. Thank you!
Dates to Remember
•
•
•
•
May 26th: 5th Grade Showcase – 1:45 – 2:45 pm
May 31st: Field Trip to Wissahickon Environmental Center
June 1st: Field Trip to Philadelphia
June 10th: 5th Grade Farewell Ceremony
From the Health Center
Art Department
A few reminders as the school year comes to a close:
• Parents of current second grade students, if your
child will be seeing the dentist, please have a dental
form completed by the dentist (forms available on the
district website). All third graders are required to have
a dental exam.
• Parents of current fifth grade students, please have
your child’s doctor complete a physical exam form
(located on the district website). All sixth grade
students are required to have a physical exam.
• Any medication or extra clothing will be sent home
with your student during the last week of school.
We recently hosted our art show here at Stony Creek and with
the help of our parent volunteers, it was a huge success! Faculty
and students enjoyed seeing the hallway covered in artwork
throughout the week and we had a great turn out of parents
after school for the opening and closing night shows. For the
remainder of the year, students are engaged in new projects and
working hard. First graders are exploring the idea of “Seeing
Sound” like artist Wassily Kandinsky, and are trying their hand
at translating music into visual art. Fourth grade is researching
various types of “Op-Art” or optical illusion and using drawing
techniques to trick the eye into seeing 3D forms on 2D surfaces.
We are enjoying the rest of this school year in the art room and
continuing to learn and grow!
Dress for Learning!
With the warmer spring weather upon us, parents are
encouraged to monitor their children’s dress for school.
This is the time of year when we begin to see some of our
girls wearing tops off their shoulder(s), tank tops, and
spaghetti straps. Occasionally, a student will wear a t-shirt
that has an inappropriate message or image. These are not
appropriate for school. Let’s keep the focus on learning!
Music Department News
Bands: The beginning and advanced bands made their
final preparations for the spring concert on May 19th.
Following the concert the groups will be working on sight
reading new music and additional preparations for the 5th
grade promotion ceremony. The small group lessons will
be introduced to new notes and/or concepts throughout
the remainder of the school year.
General Music classes: Throughout the year, all grades
have been working hard and accomplishing goals within
music class. Some include learning about cultural music
ensembles, learning many different kinds of dances and
song selections, as well as the culture influence of music
in America and folklore. At the end of the year, grades
K, 1, 2, 3, and 5 will put on a showcase to display a bit of
what was accomplished throughout music class this year.
Each grade level performs in an entire grade-level song
selection performance or performances, as well as dance
selections. Grade 3 will be performing selections on their
recorders, as that has been the main accomplishment in
music the second half of the year. Be on the lookout for
information about the showcase performance dates and
times for each grade. I hope your student’s experience
in music with me was a positive one! It has been quite
a wonderful journey for me in my first year of teaching
at Stony Creek! Thank you for your support in music
education!
Kindergarten
On Tuesday, June 7th we invite all Kindergarten parents and
families to Kinderfest 2016! There will be singing and dancing
from all students, so get those cameras ready! Following the
performances, back in the classrooms the students will share
their special memories of Kindergarten. As the year comes to a
close, we will end our journey through the countries and begin
our “Rainbow, Light and Color” science unit. The children
will explore the ins and outs of color. During Kid Writing, the
students will explore all three writing genres and incorporate
good writing techniques throughout their writing pieces. The
Kindergarteners will use their measurement tool belts as they
explore different forms of measurement in our final Math unit.
Our Kindergartners have worked hard this year and continue to
grow as learners!
1st Grade
It’s been a fabulous year for all first grade students. They’ve
learned so much! It will be very important for the students
to practice reading, writing, and math skills at home over the
summer. In the last week of school, look for a summer packet
filled with lots of ideas to prepare for second grade. We suggest
working on 1-2 activities each day this summer as well as reading
a book. Make it a part of your child’s daily routine this summer.
The students are enjoying learning all about insects and were
very excited to visit the Insectarium on May 23rd! We have also
been working on writing informative stories. Be sure your child
practices writing narrative, opinion, and informative stories this
summer. First graders are looking forward to the First Grade
Fanfare on June 8th. We hope to see you there! Have a wonderful
summer and best of luck next year!
2nd Grade
4th Grade
Second grade students have been very involved in science
and social studies lessons this spring! Social Studies and
the Wonders reading program introduced biographies as
a genre. Students read biographies about heroes that were
familiar and some that were new to them. Next, students
worked in the library with Mrs. Stokes to learn how to
use a biography book series and the Pebble Go and World
Book online programs to gather dash facts. Each child was
assigned a person to research. They looked for important
dates, facts and fun facts. Finally they had to conclude
what makes their person a hero. Parents can see the poster
projects created by the students at the Celebration in June.
In Science, second graders have been observing plants in
various environments. Pepper or bean plants have been
studied with and without water and with and without light.
Students have carefully measured and drawn these plants
and made conclusions about what they have observed. As
this plant life study was going on, 5 Painted Lady caterpillars
arrived for each class to study. Students observed, predicted,
wondered, and studied these creatures as they grew, made
Js, formed chrysalises, emerged as butterflies, and were set
free. What a great experience for all!
Fourth grade has been very busy and will continue to be busy
through the months of May and June! In math, fourth grade
is working on completing Unit 8, which continues the focus
on fractions and decimals. In English Language Arts, fourth
grade has started unit 6 in Wonders, and most recently has been
enjoying the genre of historical fiction. In science, fourth graders
are loving our work with our Nature’s Recyclers Unit, which has
been enhanced by a grant from Stony Creek’s PTO as we study
our “Life in a Rotting Log” kits. We will finish up our fourth grade
study of social studies with a virtual road trip across the country
called “See the USA,” planned by the students. Thank you for your
continued support in all of our endeavors!
3rd Grade
It’s hard to believe we are fast approaching the end of
third grade! This has been a year of growth, discovery,
and independence. In science, we have recently completed
biome research projects, which our students are eager to
share at the Third Grade Showcase on Monday, June 6th
from 9:00-10:00 am in the Cafetorium. In our Wonders
curriculum, we are wrapping up historical fiction as
we focus on the story’s theme. We have also been busy
continuing our work with extended facts and open-ended
math responses. Third grade will soon begin a Social Studies
unit with a focus on the history of Whitpain Township. We
are looking forward to our upcoming field trip on Thursday,
June 2nd to Pennsbury Manor. Please remember to bring a
bag lunch with no glass or soda. Thank you for all of your
support throughout this year!
SC Showcase Schedule
Toward the end of each school year, each grade level
hosts a special event to highlight and celebrate the fine
works of our students. We certainly hope that parents can
attend this special event and join with us as we celebrate
your child’s work. The schedule is as listed below (starting
times are set; ending times are approximate). Be sure to
put the date on your calendar. We do not want you to
miss what promises to be a celebratory moment in your
child’s school year.
5th Grade
5th Grade is winding down the year and we are looking forward
to all of the exciting events that are planned for our 5th Graders.
In Language Arts, we are completing our last unit of Wonders,
with the Big Idea being “How are we all connected” which is
directly connected to their lives as they prepare for middle
school. We are completing Unit 8 in math, which focuses on
“Real World Context” and the students are really enjoying it.
The “Human Body In Motion” is our last unit of Science and the
students will be learning about the different systems of the body.
Lastly, the 5th graders finished up their Poetry Slam and had an
amazing experience on voting for the best poem from each of the
three 5th grade classes. Those three winners read their poems
aloud on the morning announcements.
Grade
Level
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
Assistant Principals for the day!
Event
Date
KinderFest Tues June 7
Fanfare
Wed June 8
Celebration Wed June 8
EXPO
Mon June 6
Finale
Thur June 9
Thur May
Showcase
29
9:15-10:15
9:15-10:15
1:30-2:30
9:00-10:00
9:15-10:15
Program Begins
Where?
Cafetorium
Cafetorium
Cafetorium
Cafetorium
Cafetorium
1:45-2:45
Cafetorium
Times