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Important Dates
March 10 -
1st Grade Pancake Breakfast,
9 am
March 10 -
Principal's Coffee,
10 am
March 17 - Kindergarten Concert Parent Performance,
8:45 am
March 21 - Parent/Teacher Conference -
No School for Students
March 28-30 - NYSELA Grades 3 & 4
April 4 - Evening Parent/Teacher Conferences,
5-8 pm
April 6 - 1st Grade Parent Performance,
8:45 am
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CET Newsletter March 3,
2017
http://www.chufsd.org/schools/carrie_e_tompkins_es
Message from the Principal,
Mrs.
Kelly Maloney
Dear CET Families,
It is hard to believe that we have only been back one week from the Winter Break.
As usual,
we all jumped right back into teaching and learning! Thanks to the collaborative efforts of our PE teachers,
Mr.
Duchin and Ms.
Leslie,
and our music teacher,
Ms.
Peters,
students in second,
third,
and fourth grade were introduced to Drumming for Fitness this week! Drumming for Fitness combines dancing,
drumming,
and a cardio workout.
Students are learning choreographed routines based on the musical form of some of their favorite songs like “Ghost Busters” and “Fireworks”.
Drumming for Fitness is a three week unit; music classes are pushing into PE providing students with three days of this unique fun-filled brain and body workout! Thank you to our CET PTA who purchased the 75 yoga balls and for Home Depot for donating 75 five-gallon buckets! I will be tweeting video clips of students Drumming for Fitness so be sure to follow us on Twitter at #CETElementary!
Second graders showed off their writing skills at their Fractured Fairy Tale publishing party this week.
Using the structure of the
Three Little Pigs
,
each student wrote their own fairy tale.
They had to come up with the characters,
setting,
and solution.
I am always impressed with their ideas.
Some of the titles were
The Three Little Dishes and the Big Bad Dishwasher,
The Three Red Pandas and the Big Bad Dragon
,
and
The Three Little Chocolates and The Big Bad Box
.
This unit of study showcases the creative side of our students!
Fourth grade students have been busy writing persuasive essays.
After reading
The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate,
students were asked to pick a side,
for or against zoos.
Using information from articles to support their position,
each student wrote an essay.
Many of their typed essays are hanging outside the fourth grade classrooms.
Take a moment to check them out next time you are in the building.
Our third grade students will be following the 2017 Iditarod Sled Dog Race which begins this Saturday.
Each student will select a musher that they will follow.
If you are interested in following the Iditarod,
log on to
www.iditarod.com
.
The race lasts for 9-14 days.
Our PTA Principal’s Coffee on March 10 will be on the New York State tests that are administered to students in grades 3-8 in the area of English Language Arts and Mathematics.
Our focus will be on the third and fourth grade tests.
Enjoy the weekend.
Warmly,
Kelly |
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News from the Assistant Principal,
Mrs.
Kerri Bianchi
A Close look at the NYS ELA Exam This year the 3
rd
and 4
th
grade NYS ELA (English Language Arts) tests will be administered from Tuesday,
March 28
th
-Thursday,
March 30
th
. The tests will take place each morning over the 3 days. Day 1 is comprised of 24 multiple choice questions based on 4 reading passages,
Day 2 consists of 7 multiple choice questions,
2 short response questions and 1 extended response question,
Day 3 will be a combination of 5 short response questions and 1 extended response question. The 2016-2017 ELA test is untimed again this year. Below are some of the skills that students have acquired in order to successfully answer questions.
In answering short responses,
students need to…
- Read the question carefully and in their minds,
rephrase the question and put it in their own words what the question is asking them.
- Know how to give specific and relevant examples and a lot of details from text.
- Identify the genre and think about possible questions.
For example if the text is informational,
look for the main idea,
argument and supporting details.
If the text is narrative,
pay attention to characters,
setting and plot.
- Make sure their response matches the question.
Look for clues to help answer the question,
if the question is inferential.
- Identify the question and determine what they need to do to answer it.
Students should restate the prompt and need to answer the question with text based details.
In answering extended responses,
students need to…
- Clearly introduce a topic
- Develop the topic with relevant details throughout the essay
- Group related information together
- Connect ideas with linking words and phrases
- Make inferences based on evidence from the text
- Provide concluding statements
- Demonstrate grade appropriate command of conventions
Parents can help their child succeed by providing time for your child to read every day (increase the volume of their reading),
reading Time for Kids or any other age appropriate articles. Give your child time to think out loud about these articles.
Provide discussion time and encourage your child to read all different types of genres.
Read aloud short stories,
letters,
interviews non-fiction articles.
The reading strategies your child is learning can be applied to most genres. Actual sample questions from last year’s test can be found on www.EngageNY.org |
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News From Lauren Fitzgerald,
School Psychologist
Assertiveness Skills for Children It’s important to teach kids assertive communication skills when interacting with adults and peers.
The term assertive is usually understood by children as early as 3
rd
or 4
th
grade.
However,
skills such as saying no in a meaningful manner and fairness can and should be taught at an even earlier age.
Assertive communication involves recognizing and standing up for one’s own rights,
while at the same time recognizing and respecting the rights of others.
It is viewed as the healthiest form of communication when compared to acting either passive or aggressive. There are effective ways to teach your children how to be assertive.
These include:
- Modeling assertive behavior
- Using real life situations to teach children how to interact in an assertive manner
- Role-play real and fictional situations with your children to display the difference between assertive,
aggressive,
and passive responses
Assertive communication helps your children to better deal with conflict situations.
Teaching these communication techniques now will better prepare your child for adulthood. |
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News from Kaylynn Hayes,
School Nurse With spring fast approaching that means one thing for the school nurse,
seasonal allergies. According to WebMD,
as many as 40 percent of U.S.
children suffer from seasonal allergies. As soon as pollen counts begin to rise,
the symptoms will begin to appear. Symptoms such as sneezing,
itching nose,
eyes and/or throat,
nasal congestion,
clear runny nose and coughing are all associated with allergies among other illnesses. Since seasonal allergies share many symptoms with other illnesses it is always best to seek professional guidance from your family practitioner prior to treating you child for allergies.
Allergy avoidance is a good first step. Showering and changing clothing after being outdoors and changing pillowcases on a daily basis is also extremely helpful keeping pollen off their body/face. After speaking to your doctor,
any over the counter antihistamines,
eye drops,
nasal sprays,
or prescription medication are to be given at home,
prior to coming to school,
or before bed as directed. For allergy medications that are given on an “as needed basis” such as eye drops that provide relief for itching eyes (after recess for instance) are allowed to be kept at school.
Please remember that all medications,
whether they are over the counter or prescription must be ordered by a physician. The school form is located on the school nurse's website (available from the CET home page) and this form must be filled out by the doctor and signed by both doctor and parent. When sending in medications to school,
all medications must be in their original container.
If it is a prescription,
the pharmacy label must be attached. No medication should ever be given to a student to drop off at the nurse’s office. All medications have to be dropped off and picked up by a parent or guardian. It is highly suggested that you give the nurse's office its own supply to be kept at school for the duration of the administration period. Buy two of the over the counter medications or ask the doctor to write the prescription for two,
one to be kept at school (should your insurance allow it).
In the past,
I have always had children with seasonal allergies,
during their exacerbations,
come to the nurse’s office and wash their hands and face. This helps get some of the pollen off and reduces the chance of red irritated and itchy eyes. It would be at this time,
after recess and the washing of hands and face that I could administer any as needed eye drops you have provided to further help in reducing the chance of a reaction. Sunglasses during recess are also helpful in keeping airborne pollen out of the children’s eyes.
We all know children learn the best when they are comfortable. So let us plan early for a successful spring allergy season by getting all the medication and forms filled out early. I am here to make school comfortable for your child.
With all the correct steps,
we can work together to stop seasonal allergies from disrupting your child’s education.
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CET PTA Please join us on Wednesday,
March 8th at 9:30 am in the Project's Room for our next PTA meeting. We will talking about upcoming PTA events such as Dance Party,
the Basket Fundraiser and a new exciting event happening in June...CET has Talent! The next Principal's Coffee will be on Friday,
March 10th at 10:00 am in the Project's Room. Please join us to learn more about the NYS Assessments.
The PTA's Parents as Reading Partners committee is happy to announce that best-selling author,
Sarah Pennypacker,
is able to reschedule her presentation (cancelled due to snow) to students in grades 1-4 on Thursday,
March 23rd. If you have any questions,
please reach out to us at cetpta@gmail.com |
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Parent/Teacher Conference Please sign up for your Parent/Teacher conference.
The conference link is on the CET web page and will remain available until March 6 at 6 pm.
If after March 6th you need to schedule or reschedule your conference,
please contact you child's teacher. **************************************************************************************
Calling All Chess Players
On Saturday,
March 25th,
Haldane Elementary School will be hosting a Spring Chess Tournament.
Free entry.
Register on-line at chesskatz.org |
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