Central Primary School
January Newsletter
A Note from the Office...
Please remember that winter is upon us and we will have students go outside for recess if weather is permitting and the real feel temperature is at 20 degrees or higher. It is helpful if students have winter gear such as hats, gloves, and scarves in their bookbag if needed.
Important January Dates to Remember:
- Report cards available via Skyward: Friday, January 7th
- School Board Meeting: Thursday, January 13th 7:00 p.m.
- No School, Marting Luther King Jr. Day: Monday, January 17th
Please remember to keep your students home if they are exhibiting any COVID related symtoms. See the Central School District COVID-19 Guidelines below.
PTO Update- Mrs. Brielle Meinders, PTO President
Social Emotional Learning Corner- Miss Gail Massa, School Counselor, Mrs. Maggie Bagley, School Social Worker & Mrs. Alayna Miller, School Psychologist
This month, our Trojan Code that we are focusing on as a school community is Joy. Spreading joy does not only increase happiness in others, but it is proven to have beneficial effects on your happiness, as well! Use this “31 Days of Spreading Joy” Family Challenge to help spread joy within your family and outside community.
https://parents-together.org/31-days-of-spreading-joy-family-challenge/
Interventionist Corner- Mrs. Kris Mertens, Math Intervention & Mrs. Breanna Guse, Reading Intervention
Our 2nd round of STAR Benchmark testing was completed prior to Winter break. Data results will be sent home soon. We have been impressed with the overall growth of the students at CPS.
Math Activity for Fun
Build it Big or Build it Small-Place Value activity:
Kids each need a dice and some scratch paper or a whiteboard. Tell the kids whether they are trying to make a larger or a smaller number. I usually start big but after 5 minutes, switch it to small for variety. Kids make dashes on their paper/whiteboard to indicate the place value of the number.
So, if your child is in Kindergarten I would work with 2-lines for the tens and ones. 1st grade could work on tens and ones and work their way up to hundreds. 2nd grade can work with 3 lines to represent ones, tens, and hundreds. Finally, 3rd graders can work with 4-digit numbers.
Kids take turns rolling dice the same number of times as Place Values. Each time a person rolls, he/she must think logically to place the number shown on the dice, in the boxes
For example, if you are working on a large number and roll a six, it would go on the largest place value space but if you were working on making a small number, it would go on the smallest place value space. Once kids have placed a number, it can not be moved. The person with the highest (or lowest, depending upon the game's goal) wins a point.
Reading Tips
What should I ask my student when he or she is reading?
One of the most common questions I have been asked by parents is what kinds of questions to ask their child after they read. There are all kinds of questions that you can ask, but here is a list of some possibilities:
What was your favorite part of the story and why?
What do you think would happen if the story kept going?
Why do you think the character chose to do that?
How did that make the character feel?
What happened in the story?
Who was your favorite character and why?
What was the problem in the story? How did the problem get solved?
What did you learn about ___________? (This is a great question for nonfiction text!)
Any way that you can get your child talking about the story is great!
A Music Note-Mrs. Kathryn Cunningham
I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break! I’m so excited to be back to school and make music with all the CPS students. Here is what we will be learning in January.
Kindergarten- Kindergarten finished their unit on singing before our winter break. They are starting a new unit on patterns of 2, 3, and 4 in music.
First grade - Students have been working on reading pitches sol and mi on the music staff and we are adding more pitches. We are learning to read the pitch la and start writing melodies using these 3 pitches.
Second grade- Students are finishing their unit on melody. We are focusing on melodic phrases (musical sentences). They will then begin a new unit on the Baroque Period in music.
Third grade- I have ordered their recorders and I am waiting for them to arrive. I know they are excited to get started and so am I! Once they are distributed, the recorders need to live in your student’s backpack so they always have them for music class. Before break we finished our unit on note and rest values, and we just began a new unit on dynamics.
Mark Your Calendars!! This year our grade-level concerts will be held outside. We are planning on certain days, but will have a few rain dates, if needed. More information will be sent home at a later date, but here are the dates and times to mark down:
Kindergarten- May 5, 2022 at 5:30 pm
1st Grade- May 5, 2022 at 7:00 pm
2nd Grade- May 12, 2022 at 5:30 pm
3rd Grade- May 12, 2022 at 7:00 pm
I’m looking forward to this month of learning and don’t forget to check the Music Google Classroom for more supplemental activities.
-Mrs. Cunningham
Art Corner- Ms. Lacey Gleason
Welcome back!
Kindergarteners are currently working on snow bears and drawing with different kinds of lines! As we continue to learn about lines and color our pictures are getting more and more detailed.
First graders are studying one of Canada's most famous artists… who is not even Canadian. Shh… He is actually English; I'm talking about artist Ted Harrison. We are creating works of art using his colorful and playful style.
Second graders are learning all about worm’s perspective and drawing what they would see if they were a worm. They recently completed their fun and color wheel cockatoos and those are now hanging in the hallways at school!
Our Third graders are working on watercolor winter trees. The students are learning watercolor techniques such as wet on wet and all about the Northern lights.
PE- Mr. Chris Dalberg
STEM- Mr. Robert Deatherage
Contact Us
Email: ejohnson@central51.net
Website: www.central51.net
Location: 1400 Newcastle Road, Washington, IL, USA
Phone: 309-444-3580