The West Hempstead Union Free School District recognizes the unique value of each student. It is dedicated to the success of each student based on the highest standards of excellence in education. Each student will be challenged to achieve mastery in all subject areas in an educational atmosphere that strives to build positive self-esteem, mutual respect for others, and a life-long quest for learning.

#RamPride #RamFam

Please be sure to revisit this newsletter throughout the month for updates!

• Please complete the Digital Equity Survey below by November 19, 2021!
• Book exchange has begun in STELLAR class! Be on the lookout for your child's library book selection. Be sure to read it with them each night. It must be returned the following week when they have STELLAR class. Enjoy!
• Shared reading books started coming home this week, too! These are paper books that you can keep. These books are aligned with our sight words. Be sure to read those with your child and encourage them to read the books to you!
• If your child will be absent, please call Nurse Angela before 8:30 AM at 516-390-3155
• If there will be a change in your child's afternoon transportation, please write a note or email to the teacher. For last-minute changes, please call Ms. Leto before 2:00 PM. 516-390-3150.
• If your child rides the bus, please ask them to tell you about out first bus drill that will take place on Thursday, October 7th.
• Mrs. Birnbaum and Ms. Hill will be pushing into every class on Friday, October 8th for the Persistence lesson as part of our Social/Emotional Learning around Habits of Mind! There is an activity coming home for you to do with your child and return to school.
• We have A LOT of exciting events coming up in October including:
• Picture Day, Tuesday October 12th
• Fire Prevention Day is Thursday, October 21st. The West Hempstead Fire Department will be here to review fire prevention and safety tips with our students.
• Homecoming is Saturday, October 23rd! Wear your Chestnut Street shirt (or black and gold) and march in the parade with us!
• PTA meeting Monday, October 25th at 7:30 PM at George Washington.
• Our Fall Festival will be Wednesday, October 27th. Please send your child to school with a shopping bag with a handle to bring home their pumpkin from the pumpkin patch!
• Costume parade Friday, October 29th at 9:15 am on the Chestnut Street Field. (Weather permitting.) Parents are invited to view the parade if it is held outside. If we hold it in the building, we will not allow spectators. Thank you! You can send your child to school in costume. Please send a change of clothes with your child or they can wear their clothes under the costume.
• Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated from Monday, October 25th - Friday, October 29th.
• TeacherReacher is the program we use to sign up for Parent-Teacher Conferences that will be held on Monday, November 1st both during the day (8:30-2:30) and in the evening (5:30-9:00). Information will be forthcoming about how to register with TeacherReacher. Please be on the lookout. You will receive an email with instructions as well as a flyer sent home in your child's backpack. I will also update this newsletter with the information. TeacherReacher will be open to schedule your PTC appointment from Monday, October 18th- Wednesday, October 27th.

Kayla Glicker, a West Hempstead graduate, has invited us to support Last Hope Animal Rescue through Movers for Mutts! There will be a labeled box in the Chestnut Street lobby for the donations. This donation drive will run from Tuesday, October 12th- Monday, November 1st. You can bring donations when you come for Parent-Teacher Conferences if you'd like! We thank you in advance for your generosity!

Please see the information below regarding signing up for TeacherReacher in order to schedule your Parent-Teacher Conference appointment. Thank you!

As you talk to your child about their day, consider asking him or her to explain more about what they learned, why it is important for them to know, and how they know they have mastered it. These questions are part of our Visible Learning work.

• Paper Plate Toss: Write sight words on paper plates. Use a coin to toss on the plate and ask your child to read the word that the coin lands on.

• Tic –Tac-Toe: Write words in the tic-tac-toe spaces. Take turns selecting a space to read. If read correctly, an X or O is placed on the space until someone wins.

Please be sure to read at home with your child every night in whatever language you are comfortable with.

We will continue our We Are Readers Unit and Interactive Read Alouds will model and reinforce good reading habits, concepts of print, and academic vocabulary development.

Guided Reading groups will begin and your child will come home with books to read with you. Please be sure to practice reading those books with your child and then return them to school.

The paper books from Reading A-Z from our weekly Sight Word study can remain in your home. Practice reading and rereading those as well!

Use RazKids to find a digital library of age-appropriate books for your child to read at home!

We will continue the Oral Storytelling Unit. Students will learn how to tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end! It's not time to put pen to paper yet, but the art of storytelling will be developed through this unit as the foundation for writing.

From mid-October through December we will officially launch Writer's Workshop and begin our List/Label Unit! Students will begin to put pencil to paper and use their knowledge of letter sounds to begin to label illustrations! Please be patient with your child! Encourage them to listen for the beginning sound of the word they want to write. They are not expected to spell words correctly. Phonemic awareness is the goal- matching letters to their sounds.

From mid-October through the end of November we are exploring Counting Quantities, Comparing Lengths, and Measurement.

Students will answer the essential questions below. Be sure to ask your child these questions!

• What is counting and how can it be used?
• How do we measure things?
• Why do we measure things?

Students will work on the following skills:

• Counting and representing quantities
• Comparing and ordering quantities
• Understanding length

We are also using ST Math to support deep conceptual understanding via personalized learning. You must use ClassLink to access ST Math. The link is below.