Walden Elementary School Cutting Edge - Valley Central School ...

Walden Elementary School Cutting Edge Principal: Veronica Casillo

Assistant Principal: Jane Malley

Principal’s Corner Dear Walden Families, Happy New Year! 2014 is almost here. A special thank you goes out to our teachers, Susan Bennett, Stacia DeSantis, Tara Boss, Eileen Panagiotopoulos, Nancy Phelps, Kathleen Bordone and Kerry Devine for taking part in our Common Core Math Night in November. Our parental response was positive and we are confident that those who attended now have a better understanding of the new curriculum. Special thanks go out to Mrs. Wenda Heaney and Mrs. Kathy Lennon for chairing the successful P.T.O. Craft Fair again this year. Another thank you to our P.T.O. We had another successful Family Fun Night with the viewing of The Polar Express. There were hot chocolate and cookies and candy canes to go around. Grade 5 classrooms once again celebrated by making their annual Gingerbread Houses. The weather has been very snowy recently. I would like to remind our parents that with winter upon us, if the temperature is 20 degrees or higher our students will be going outside for recess. Please have them dress appropriately. On behalf of the entire Walden Elementary School faculty and staff, I would like to wish you and your family a Happy Holidays and a Happy, Healthy New Year. With Warm Regards, Mrs. Veronica Casillo

SCHOOL VISION As members of the Walden Elementary School family, we are valued by others and are valuable to ourselves. As responsible, independent, thoughtful, respectful and creative individuals, we are achieving academic success by participating in a diverse and enriched curriculum. We are striving to develop skills along with an appreciation for learning to enable us to be lifelong learners and contributing members of society so that we can reach our potential.

Hooray! It's New Year's Day Hooray! Hooray! It's New Year's Day! The day we start anew. So this year I've decided to become a kangaroo. Or maybe I will learn to fly, or how to walk through walls, or how to turn invisible, or surf on waterfalls. I'll make myself elastic and I'll teach myself to shrink. I'll turn into a liquid and I'll pour me down the sink. I'll visit other planets and meet aliens galore. I'll travel to the distant past and ride a dinosaur. I've got so many wondrous plans. I'm starting right away. Yes, this will be the best year yet. Hooray! It's New Year's Day! --Kenn Nesbitt

Plan for these Upcoming Events January 1/6 1/8 1/10 1/13 1/14 1/17 1/20 1/22 1/23 1/27 1/28 1/21-2/7 1/30 1/31

School Reopens P.T.O. Meeting P.T.O. Family Fun Night 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. B.O.E. Meeting Grade 1, 2 and Special Education Benchmarks Grade 3 Benchmarks Martin Luther King Day- No School Grade 4 Benchmarks English Language Arts Common Core Evening 6:15-7:30 p.m. P.T.O. Mad Science 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. B.O.E. Meeting Grade 5 Benchmarks NWEA Math Testing K-2 English Language Arts Common Core Evening 6:15-7:30 p.m. (Snow Date) End of 2nd Quarter

The Spirit of Giving Walden Elementary School students worked very hard during November and December collecting canned goods and other food items for the Annual Holiday Youth Ending Hunger Food Drive. This was accomplished through the coordination of the Student Government and their advisors Mrs. Diane Smith and Mrs. Janet Werner. The food items that were collected were donated to local families. Distribution took place on Thursday, December 19th. We sincerely appreciate all the efforts of our children.

Winter is Here! The cold weather has arrived, however whenever possible we will be sending students outside for recess. Please be sure that your child comes to school with a warm coat, mittens or gloves, a hat, and boots when snowy. The District procedure is to go out for recess when the temperature is 20° with the wind chill.

School Closings, Delays and Early Dismissals: Below is a list of radio stations used by the district to report emergency closings of schools: WGNY (1220 AM, 103.1 FM) WHUD (100.7 FM) WBNR (1260 AM, 104.7 FM) WPDH (101.5 FM) WRWD (107.3 FM) WRRV (92.7 FM, 96.9 FM) Please remember that you can also check the district website at: www.vcsd.k12.ny.us

Safety

We will continue to endeavor to keep our building as safe as possible for all our students and staff. Thank you for your cooperation in having your picture identification out when you approach our building.

Health Office Facts Please Note: The Health Office has moved to the bottom floor, Room 16, until further notice. Our phone number remains the same. The winter months have arrived along with colds, coughs, flu and other illnesses. Try the following to optimize your child’s health this season:  Eat 5 – 9 (or more) fruits and vegetables each day.  Eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables each day.  Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue, or the inside of your elbow when you cough or sneeze.  Keep your hands clean. Washing your hands is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of illness/infection.  WATER is the healthiest beverage….even though it isn’t hot outside children still need to stay adequately hydrated. Please remind your child to bring water to school each day.  Keep sick children home.  Dress weather appropriate i.e., coats, gloves and hats.

Lost and Found We have a rather large amount of assorted lost and found articles in our Main Lobby. We have sweatshirts, jackets, gloves, mittens, glasses, and lunch boxes. If your child is missing something, please have them check the lost and found box. Items that are not claimed by Friday, January 17th will be donated to a local charity.

5th Grade Musical

This year, the 5th Grade Musical will be Lewis and Clark, which is based on the Grade 5 Social Studies curriculum about the expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase. The performance will take place on Monday, March 31st. We will have a day time performance at 2:00 p.m. for our students and parents who are unable to attend the evening performances. The evening performance will begin at 7:00 p.m. with doors opening at 6:40 p.m. We will be collecting donations at the door. Half the donations will help defray the cost of props and costumes of future musicals and the other half will go to the Backpack Snack Attack.

The new Common Core State Standards make several important changes to current standards. These changes are called shifts. The chart below shows what these shifts change, what you might see in your child’s backpack and what you can do to help your child. If your child’s assignments do not reflect the shifts, then talk to your child’s teacher. What Can You Do?

What’s shifting?

What to look for in the backpack.

What can you do?

Your child will now read more non-fiction in each grade level.

Look for your children to have more reading assignments based on real-life events, such as biographies, articles and historical stories.

Read non-fiction books with your children. Find ways to make reading fun and exciting.

Look for your children to bring home more fact-based books about the world. For instance, your 1st Grader or Kindergartener might read Clyde Robert Bulla’s A Tree is a Plant. This book lets students read and learn about science.

Know what non-fiction books are grade-level appropriate and make sure your children have access to such books.

Your children will read Challenging texts very closely, so they can make sense of what they read and draw their own conclusions.

Your children will have reading and writing assignments that might ask them to retell or write about key parts of a story or book. For example, your 2nd or 3rd Grader might be asked to read aloud Faith D’Aluisio’s non-fiction book titled What the World Eats and retell facts from the story.

Provide more challenging texts for your children to read. Show them how to dig deeper into difficult pieces.

When it comes to writing or retelling a story, your children will use "evidence" gathered from the text to support what they say.

Look for written assignments that ask your child to draw on concrete examples from the text that serve as evidence. Evidence means examples from the book that your child will use to support a response or conclusion. This is different from the opinion questions that have been used in the past.

Ask your child to provide evidence in everyday discussions and disagreements.

Your children will learn how to write from what they read.

Look for writing assignments that ask your child to make arguments in writing using evidence. For 4th and 5th graders, this might mean reading and writing about The Kid’s Guide to Money, a nonfictional book by Steve Otfinoski.

Encourage writing at home. Write together using evidence and details.

Your child will have an increased academic vocabulary.

Look for assignments that stretch your children’s vocabulary and teach them that “language is power.”

Read often to babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers and children.

Reading more non-fiction texts will help your child learn about the world through reading.

Math Websites for Parents and Students Follow these directions to get to Mrs. Panagiotopoulos’ Math webpage. There you will find helpful math links that are aligned with the Common Core Learning Standards for Math. 1. Go to the Valley Central School District’s website. www.vcsd.k12.ny.us 2. Click on, “Select a School”, near the top of the page. 3. Choose, “Walden Elementary School”. Now you will be at Walden Elementary School’s webpage. 4. Click on, “Teachers”, near the top of the page. 5. Scroll down to, “Math - Panagiotopoulos”, and click. 6. On the left side of the page select, “Math Websites for Parents and Students”. 7. Find the appropriate grade. Here is a direct link: Math Websites for Parents and Students

Where can I find the Valley Central School District’s Elementary Math Curriculum Resource Document? 1. Go to Valley Central School District’s website. www.vcsd.k12.ny.us 2. Click on, “Select a School”, near the top of the page. 3. Choose, “Walden Elementary School”. 4. On the left side of the page under “Shortcuts”, select “Math Resources”. 5. *********Here is a direct link to Math Resources: Math Resources ********* 6. Choose appropriate grade level. Then choose, “Modules”, or “CC Standards”’ or “Resources”. Selecting “Modules” will enable you to select and view the math modules on engageny. Selecting “CC Standards” will enable you to select and view Common Core State Standards for Math for each grade. Selecting “Resources” will enable you to select and view links that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards for Math and the modules for each grade. LANG