R.F. Pettigrew Panther Tracks

December 2023

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PAWS

o Be Positive

o Be Accountable

o Be Wise

o Be Safe

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From the Principal’s Desk

Mr. Kevin Dick

The first half of the 2023-2024 school year is drawing to a close! As I visit classrooms and interact with your children and our teachers, I see strong evidence of learning as students strive toward grade level expectations. Academic lessons have focused on the curriculum standards aligned to the grade level students are assigned. Within each classroom, students vary in experience, ability, and drive to learn, so teachers differentiate instruction to match each learner’s needs with appropriate lessons and activities. At Pettigrew Elementary, social skill instruction is equally important to learning academic skills. We continue to implement the practices of MTSS and PBIS. This approach applies the philosophy that direct teaching of social skills increases students’ test scores, increases students’ ability to get along with peers and adults, and lessens behavior problems. The Social and Academic Learning Study done over a three year period by Dr. Sara Rimm-Kaufman in a Northeast school district showed that students not only did better on math and reading tests and improved their social skills, but other benefits were noted as well. In this district, students felt more positive about school. It was also found that teachers collaborated with each other more in order to improve their teaching. Without a formal research study, I find these benefits to be evident at Pettigrew Elementary as well. According to James P. Krehbiel, an author and contributing writer for www.familyresource.com,

“Education is not merely a process that involves teaching the ‘academics.’ It also includes teaching children social skills which will help make them feel more competent at school, at home, and in the community. Social skills training should be a joint venture involving the schools, parents, community, and behavioral health professionals.”

Our students need to be surrounded by adults who nurture positive social relationships. When they see positive social skills taught and modeled in their classrooms, at home, and in other social settings, they not only have a greater chance at being successful now, but also as they grow up and assume adult responsibilities. Have you visited the website www.BeThere.org ? This site encourages positive parent/guardian involvement in many ways. It offers parenting stories, resources, and encouragement to you as you model the way for your children. Check it out today, register as a user, and bookmark it for quick future reference. It has great advice on how you can support your child’s learning and social development. Thanks for all you do at home to support your child’s development and education. We enjoy the partnership we have with our Pettigrew parents!

Fine Arts Feature

Music

Happy Holiday Season, Pettigrew Families!

This newsletter contains some highlights from both November and December happenings in the vocal music department.

November:

Kindergarten – Walk to steady beat, skip, gallop

Songs – “Pitter Patter” and “Pumpkin Fat”

Playing jingle bells with the Native American song, “Corn Grinding Song”

First Grade – Forte and Piano, song “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt”

Higher and Lower, song “Miss Mary Mack”

Playing hand drums with the Native American Song, “Bear Dance”

Second Grade – Reviewing pitches sol, mi, la, and do. New pitch, re. Song, “Bow, Wow, Wow”

Half notes and half rests

Singing “Tony Chestnut”

Learning about three Native American instruments-Native American flute, drum, and rattle

Third Grade – Reviewing pitches sol, mi, la, do, and re. New pitch, high do. Song, “One Potato, Two Potato”

16th notes – tika-tika

Playing hand drums and shakers with Native American song, “Rabbit Dance”

Fourth Grade – Singing the entire solfege scale (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do)

Singing, “Frere Jacques” in French, playing hand drums and shakers with the Native American song, “The Earth Is Our Mother”

Fifth Grade – Rehearsing for our upcoming musical, “Off Their Rockers” to be performed on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 2 pm and 7 pm. We have been learning melodies and choreography in each fifth grade section. Two small groups of dancers will be performing as well. Come and check out this amazing performance!

December:

Kindergarten – Comparatives (fast-slow, high-low)

Songs – “Hot Dog”-moving from low to high and high to low, “My Aunt Came Back”

Movement-“Seven Jumps”

First Grade – Quarter notes (ta) and Eighth notes (ti-ti) Creating rhythms with partners

Composer-Mozart (several movement activities)

Songs/Movement- “Jump, Jim Joe”

Second Grade – Half notes (ta-a) and Half rests (shh-shh)

Songs – “Tony Chestnut”

Rhythm bingo (reinforcing all notes and rests learned in first and second grade)

Third Grade – Dotted half note (ta-a-a), Whole note (ta-a-a-a), Whole rest (shh-shh-shh-shh)

Rhythm bingo (Level B) reinforcing all rhythms learned in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades

Singing in a round – song: “Little Tommy Tinker”

Fourth Grade – Recorders (Notes B, A, G, Low E, Low D, High D, High C)

Some songs learned: Starlight, Lucy Locket, Doggie Doggie, Country Swing, C & D, Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Fifth Grade – Dotted quarter notes and single eighth notes (practice counting rhythms we have learned with numeric counting)

Singing game “Hot Potato” (uses dotted quarters and single eighth notes)

Composing four beat rhythms with body percussion to accompany the song, “Pumpkin Pie”

Have a blessed holiday season!

Mrs. Wahl, Music 1

Mrs. Monlux, Music 2

Art

We’re doing a lot of exploring and experimenting in the art rooms this month!

Kindergarteners are continuing to explore the primary (red, yellow, and blue) & secondary (orange, green, and violet) colors and will be creating art inspired by American symbols.

1st Graders are finishing up projects where they mixed primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) to make secondary colors (orange, green, and violet) and will create art inspired by the art of ancient civilizations.

2nd Graders are continuing to use warm (red, orange, and yellow) & cool (blue, green, and violet) colors and will be exploring architecture..

3rd Graders are experimenting with a variety of watercolor techniques and will be learning about foreground, middle ground, and background.

4th Graders are continuing to use different color schemes and will be exploring the illusion of depth and space in their artwork.

5th Graders are creating art with a monochromatic (all one color with tints and shades of that color) color scheme and will be creating art inspired by the Impressionists.

We’re excited to see the creative masterpieces our artists make this month!

-Mrs. Meyer and Ms. Selberg