Chestnut Street Parent Newsletter

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!

February is a busy month with many fun events. See below for details!

• February is Black History Month!
• Once again, we are participating in Global School Play Day on Wednesday, February 2nd! Your child can bring a favorite toy to school to play with.
• We will honor P.S. I Love You Day on Thursday, February 10th. Wear purple to show your support.
• We are celebrating the 100th Day of School on Friday, February 11th! Be sure to get creative with your 100th day math projects!
• We administered mid-year assessments this month. You will receive information about your child's reading benchmark and NWEA results with their report card on Friday, February 4th.
• We are working on the Habit of Mind- Managing Impulsivity! See below for details and examples. Please note that we will continue to build students' understanding and development of the Habit of Mind persistence as the year goes on. Continue to support your child as he or she develops the habit of persistence!
• 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.
• PTA meeting on Monday, January 31st at 7:30 PM will be virtual

If you or someone you know has a child who is eligible for PreK or Kindergarten for September 2022, please call Ms. Leto at 516-390-3150 to find out about our upcoming registration.

Eligibility requirements: resident of the WHUFSD AND 4 or 5 by 12/1/2022.

Kindergarten registration will take place the week of February 14th and the UPK lottery and subsequent registration will take place at the beginning of March.

See below for more information!

Our newest Rams joined the #RamFam in the Red Room on Monday, January 31st! See below for more information about UPK for 22-23!

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.

We are pleased to offer our families and staff the "Parents as Partners" webinar series with Educational Consultant and Trainer Dr. Jennifer Bashant. Dr. Bashant is a founding member of Building Better Futures, L.L.C. The focus of Dr. Bashant's work is to provide different opportunities for parents and staff to support their child's/students' success in school as well as one's own well-being through self-care.

Please note in order to access the webinar series, you must register via email at kristen@buildingbetterfuturesllc.com . Upon registration, you will receive the virtual link and password to the workshop session. Even if you are unable to attend a live session, by registering you will automatically receive the link to the recorded session. See detailed information below and on the district website here: https://www.whufsd.com/page/parents-as-partners-webinar-series

• Word Hunt: Look for target words in books or in the newspaper. If using the newspaper, your child can highlight or circle the words that he/she finds.

• Make words using Playdoh.

• Write words in shaving cream or whipped cream on an easy to clean surface.

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

We are beginning our second unit in Reader's Workshop: Super Powers: Reading with Phonics and Sight Word Power. This unit supports children's love of play as they learn "super power" strategies that help them work on fluency. See below for some of the key teaching points that your child will learn over the course of this unit.

See below for more information on the Fountas and Pinnell Text Level Gradient. While you will receive information on your child's reading level, it is not something that is meant to be shared with the students. Reading levels are for teachers to develop differentiated lessons based on students' needs. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child's teacher.

Continue to read your books from the library, the sight word readers, and the guided reading books as well as the books your child borrows from the classroom library!

From now through mid-March we will work on persuasive/opinion writing! Encourage your child to consider their opinions about topics when you are having conversations at home. What is their favorite dinner meal? Why? What TV show do they most enjoy watching? What reasons support their idea? Remember, at this time, students are not expected to spell every word correctly. We do expect them to listen for the sounds they hear and include those. Dog may be spelled as 'dg' and that is alright! Learning vowels takes time- - be patient, your child's letter/sound awareness and spelling skills are growing every day! Remind them to use what they know about letters and sounds and sight words!

See below for some big ideas from our writing unit!

Some of the 'Non-Negotiables' that you can expect from your child's writing include:

• Use more than one color when drawing

• Use real-life, appropriate colors

• Figures have shapes for body

• Sketch matches the “label” (word, letter, etc.)

From the beginning of January through mid-February, we are exploring Collecting, Counting, and Measuring.

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

• What is Addition?

• How do we measure?

• How can we use objects to solve joining and separating problems?

• What is Subtraction?

Students will work on the following skills:

• Understanding Length

• Comparing and ordering quantities

• Understanding, representing, and solving problems involving addition and subtraction

• Counting and representing quantities

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.