Washington Oak School

November Newsletter

Believe, Achieve, Succeed

Principally Speaking…

Welcome to Fall and the busy Holiday season, as it approaches so quickly! The children in grades 3, 4 & 5 have completed the NECAP Assessments. We are very proud of all of our students! Results of these assessments will be shared with parents when we receive them.

Our Feinstein Food Drive/other items will begin on November 1^st. Food donated will be boxed to help Washington Oak families and the Coventry Food Bank. Mr. Feinstein visited our school on Thursday, October 30^th during an all school assembly. He donated a Regal Reptile show for our students.

There is no school on Monday, November 3^rd due to Parent/Teacher Conferences. If you have not arranged for a conference, and wish to do so, please send in a note to your child’s teacher. Also on this day will be our book fair in the library. Feel free to stop by to purchase some books for you child or purchase tests for their classroom. Our school also won the summer District Reading Challenge sponsored by Dr. Gordon. Our library will receive $1000 worth of new books.

It is hard to believe, but our first trimester will be ending on Thursday, November 26^th with trimester reports going home on December 9^th.

In closing, we wish to extend to you and your family, a Happy Thanksgiving!

Putting Children First,

Dr. Donna Raptakis, Principal

Dates to Remember

Sunday, November 2 Daylight Savings Time ends

Monday, November 3 No school- Parent Teacher Conferences

Tuesday, November 4 No School- Election Day

Wednesday, November 5 8:15 TEACH meeting in Library

Thursday, November 6 8:20 SBIT meeting in Library

Tuesday, November 11 No School- Veterans Day

Friday, November 14 Regal Reptiles grades 2-5 Cultural Arts

PTA Movie Night

Monday, November 17 “Cool to be Kind” cultural arts grades 1, 2, & 3

Tuesday, November 18 PTA popcorn day

PTA meeting 7p.m. in library

Tuesday, November 25 TEACH Reward and grade 3 Rad Kids Program

Wednesday, November 26 Trimester 1 ends

Thursday & Friday,

November 27 & 28 No school- Thanksgiving break

Book Fair Safari!

The Book Fair Safari is coming to Washington Oak School!

Monday, November 3 – Friday November 7, 2008

Your child’s classroom will be visiting the fair during regular library classes. We will be open from 12 PM – 8 PM during Parent Teacher Conferences on Monday, November 3^rd

Stop in the library and check out the editions of many popular books. We will have quality books, suitable for every interest and reading level.

Please join us for the Book Fair Safari!

Mrs. McDonald

Music News

The music room is rumbling! Mr. Lucini shared his beautiful tuba playing with us as we enjoyed listening to him play some famous melodies. We said goodbye to our student teacher since he will now be teaching at Scituate High School.

The band students are playing together as a band! Congratulations on starting your instrument. The new challenges are to play without pausing and to read the notes without labeling the letter names. Keep practicing every night! Also, mark your calendars for the Thursday, December 11, 2008 holiday concert at 7 p.m. at Washington Oak. Students will be wearing black and white. Boys need black pants and a white shirt. Girls may wear a black skirt or pants with a white shirt or a black dress.

The chorus is halfway through their holiday concert music. Remember you will need to wear black and white. Boys need black pants and a white shirt. Girls may wear a black skirt or pants with a white shirt or a black dress. The concert will be with the band on Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 7 p.m. at Washington Oak. The chorus will also be singing at the State House in Providence on Friday, December 19, 2008 at 12:30 p.m. Permission slips should be going home soon.

Grades K through 5 have been working on rhythm and tonal patterns with Mr. Lucini. This month we will transfer the patterns to instruments. We will also be exploring some Native American music.

All students in grades 3 and 4 should have a recorder at this point. If your child is missing one or has not yet paid for one that they needed to order, please send me a note as soon as possible. We will be playing them every week for the month of November.

Mrs. St. Martin

Art Studio News

Is it November already? Wow, the time is changing fast! And Wow is the theme for this years’ Reflections Art Contest sponsored by the Washington Oak PTA. We will be creating all sorts of Wow paintings in the art studio. Become a member of the PTA and pick your favorite art piece.

The Kid’s Art Faire is coming to Washington Oak. Be ready to support a wonderful art experience for your child. All grades are continuing to explore different media in art. 5^th grade is working to finish their Jacob Lawrence collage; 4^th is busy painting the autumn still-life. 3^rd grade is exploring the world communities with pattern and rhythm in design. Pastel is all the rage in second grade, To rub or not to rub, that is the artist’s dilemma. First grade is working with scissors and glue to create masterpieces of all sizes and shapes. And kindergarten is busy mixing colors for fun and messy art so make sure to wear old clothes on art studio days.

Mrs. Carlu

Gym News

  Thank you parents for the wonderful turnout we had for the hat day. We were able to raise over $311.50 for Dance Dance Revolution!

 This month grades 3-5 will be working on project adventure games to improve teamwork skills while grades k-2 work on throwing and catching to improve their hand eye coordination. Please remember sneakers for P.E. days.

 Mrs. Mc Govern

Reading News

The Reading room is using Raz-kids for grades 2-5. The children have learned how to utilize the site and are enjoying the stories.

We have each made a website and hope we have parent visitors. You will find information and links to other sites there, as well as reading games and links to our e-mails.

The reading room is abuzz with all kinds of reading from Reading Recovery to guided reading.

Our students’ favorite books of the month from grades 3 and 5:

• “Dragon’s Egg” by Sarah Thomas-recommended by Dylan Gardner (gr.3)
• “Summer Basketball” by Mike Lupik-recommended by Lucas Molak (gr.5)
• “Shadows of the Sea” by Joan Hiatt Harlow-recommended by Sofia Lema
• “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl-recommended by Samantha Gufler

Next time we will hear from grades 2 and 4.

Happy Reading!

Mrs. Malachowski

Ms. Wright

From the Health Office

The beautiful season of Fall brings with it the start of the cold and flu season. Flu shots are readily available at pharmacies or call your doctor for more information. You may also go to www.healthri.gov for more information.

To help celebrate the wonderful season of Thanksgiving, visit www.freerice.com. It’s a fun yet challenging vocabulary game. Rice is donated to the United Nations World Food Program for every word you get correct! Great website!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving,

Mrs. Hennessy

Preschool

The preschoolers enjoyed exploring pumpkins during October while learning about the letter Pp.  They had an opportunity to feel the pulp and seeds inside the pumpkin and learn how the pumpkin grows from a seed, ripens and matures. 

The children are enjoying the new scooters, tricycles and climbing toys on our recently enclosed play area.  We are grateful to Cedar Craft Fence Company for their generous donation to help keep our students safe.  We will be going outside daily throughout the fall and early winter, weather permitting.  Please dress your child for the cooler temperatures.  Now that the children are wearing sweaters, jackets and other outerwear, please label them with your child's name.  The young students do not always recognize their own belongings. 

We are looking forward to meeting with families on Conference Day, November 3rd.  Remember that there is no school on Conference Day and Election Day. 

Ms. Joy Marshall

Mrs. Ellen Murray

Kindergarten

The month of October flew by as we began to explore the wondrous season of Fall. We had an exciting visit from the Audubon Society where we learned many owl facts and met a live owl. We also had an informative and fun visit from the fire department. As we move into November we will focus on the theme of Harvest and Thanksgiving. We will be utilizing our social studies curriculum as we learn about Thanksgiving, past and present, and discuss family traditions. We will be learning concepts of print through the shared reading of two wonderful big books. With their repetitive texts, The Monster’s Party, by Joy Cowley, and In A Dark Dark Wood have been favorite stories to share. We are looking forward to discussing your child’s progress at Parent Teacher Conferences! J

Mrs. Schofield and Mrs. Abood

Grade 1

Midtrimester reports have gone home. We look forward to sharing your child’s progress at Parent Conferences on Monday, November 3^rd. Conferences are only 15 minutes. Please arrive on time. Our schedules leave little room for adjustment. Appointments can be made to accommodate an extended conference if necessary.

Science teachers continue to provide hands on explorations in living organisms. Students are having a great time with plantings, guppies, and snails. They have observed the growth and changes of both organisms. We have begun computer classes. They meet once a week in the computer lab. Our students love this! Continue to practice vocabulary words along with nightly reading. We greatly appreciate your help.

Enjoy the Fall chill-

Grade 1 Teachers

Grade 2

Thank you to all the field trip chaperones, you helped make our trip to Pezza and the Recycling Center a great learning experience for all.

Grade two will be completing and presenting a November project commemorating the First Thanksgiving (more information to follow soon).

In Math this month, we will be working on the skills from Unit 3.  We will be working on place value of one, tens and hundreds. Review of coin values and exchanges among coins; also finding coin combinations to buy things and counting up to make change.  Help your child make as many real world connections as possible in this area. Also children should continue to practice their basic facts.

We ask that children are reading at least 20 minutes each night.  Also, a Book It reminder that October forms should be handed in and children should begin filling out their November calendar.  Free pizza slips for all completed calendars!!!

A reminder that as it begins to get colder, children need to have warm clothes to wear as they are going outside for recess.

Grade 2 Teachers

Grade Three

Our weekly “Pod Meetings” have been exciting for students. Students are acknowledged for following the TEACH Values (Tolerance, Enthusiasm, Achievement, Citizenship, Hard Work). Please encourage your child to complete and return homework and also to make good choices each day at school - and at home too, of course! We feel strongly that our classrooms should be positive learning communities that reflect an understanding of the TEACH values.

The Structures of Life Science Kit is a huge hit with the students and they enjoy working with the RIC students. Seeds are sprouting and crayfish are crawling in all our classrooms. We look forward to continuing our observations and data collection as we learn about living things and the life cycle. Students are recording information in their Science Notebooks, which will be sent home after the science unit is completed. Ask your child some questions about crayfish behavior!

Now that state testing is complete we look forward to returning to our regular routines with the children. Guided Reading and Writing are basic components of our literacy program. We do a lot of modeling to teach strategies that good readers and writers use. At home please continue to support enthusiasm about reading and writing by encouraging daily reading and having students write whenever possible (letters, lists, invitations, thank-you notes, etc.)

Regarding mathematics students will be reviewing some addition and subtraction and moving on to multiplication and division. Consistent practice at home can be very beneficial. We do our best to try and make computation and problem solving in the classroom connect to everyday life. Any connections you can make at home (time, money, adding, multiplying, etc.) are very important to show how valuable math is in our daily lives.

Agendas should be coming home on a regular basis, with homework assignments recorded Monday through Thursday. You may use these at any time to communicate with your child’s teacher. In addition, Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place on November 3^rd and we hope to see you then.

Sincerely,

Grade 3 Teachers

Grade 4

We would like to congratulate the 4^th grade on their hard work during NECAP this year. Great Job 4^th graders!! Fourth grade welcomed Rhode Island College students into our classrooms to teach our Rocks and Minerals science kits in October. We are excited to have these students working with us throughout this trimester. We also all enjoyed our field trip to Schartner’s Farm and painting our pumpkins as globes. We want to thank all the volunteers who assisted us in painting and with providing supplies. The pumpkins look awesome!

During the month of October, students in grade four began reading stories in Theme 2 of Signatures and some began literature circles. Students are reminded to continue working on their cereal box book reports. They are due on Monday, November 24.

We would also like to wish Miss Scott well as she starts her next student teaching experience at Oak Haven. She did a great job here with our 4^th grade! Congratulations Miss Scott!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Grade 4 Teachers

Grade 5

Our “Marine Life Protection” presentation from Biomes Marine Biology Center wraps up our unit on Atlantic Marine Biomes.  Students have enjoyed observing the aquarium with a different group of marine life each week. Students learned about echinoderms, crustaceans, mollusks, and fish.

Thank you to the many chaperones who joined us on our fieldtrip to the Mashantucket Pequot Museum. We hope you enjoyed this experience as much as the children. This opportunity is a great compliment to our studies of Native Americans.

Coming soon: A Thanksgiving Family Fun Activity

Reminder: On December 15^th, students will be attending the play, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, at the Trinity Repertory Company Theater.