N O V E M B E R 2 015

Rockport Elem. News

Dates to
Remember
WINTERFEST
December 2 & 3
B O O K FA I R

SECOND GRADE READING

CURRICULUM

currently working on The Human

Body.

The second grade students are being

introduced to a new online reading
program in conjunction with the
cur rent R eading Street series.
EngageNY is a curriculum made up
of
three
components-

The Skills strand teaches
reading and writing.
Children
practice blending (reading) and
segmenting (spelling) using the
sound spellings they have learned
through a synthetic phonics
approach. Handwriting, spelling,
and the writing process are also
presented in the Skills strand.

December 1st-4th
PTO MEETING
December 7th
SCHOOL BOARD
December 7th
PA R AG O N M E G A
PA R T Y
December 22nd
WINTER BREAK
Begins December 23rd.
Classes resume on
Monday January 4th

The students are reading from Unit 3

Listening
Reader-Kids Excel. They use I-pads
and Learning
and computers to read their text.
strand, Skills
Soon we will have hard copy books
strand, and
that are being copied from a Dollar
G u i d e d
General grant that we applied for and
R e a d i n g a n d A c c o u n t a b l e received money to accomplish this
Independent Reading.
task.

The Listening and Learning
strand lessons are comprised of
teacher read-alouds, class discussion,
vocabulary work, and extension
activities. They build on the reading
research finding that students
listening comprehension outpaces
their reading comprehension
throughout elementary school. These
r e a d - a l o u d s a n d e xe r c i s e s a r e
organized into domains (units). So
far we have covered Fairy Tales and
Tall Tales, Early Asian Civilizations,
and Cycles in Nature.
We are

Guided Reading and
Accountable Independent Reading is
additional literacy time within the
school day where students use
developmentally appropriate
grouping to meet their individual
needs. This is an opportunity for us
to use favorite traditional read aloud
work (Reading Street basal series),
literacy based centers, and AR books.
The purpose of this time is to build
independent, interested, and capable
readers.

PRINCIPALS CORNER
It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already upon us and we are racing
towards the half way point of the school year. Thanksgiving
is also a
time to share experiences with friends and family and
reflect on all the good things that have happened to us
in the past year. There are always trials and
tribulations that come with any school year but we Follow us
must be mindful not to get too caught up in the on Twitter
drudgery. There are so many things that we have to be
thankful for. I hope that everyone has a safe and @RockportElem
happy Thanksgiving.
@Principal_Meyer

MULTIPLICATION WAR
The multiplication tables
are a key component of
third grade math, and
since they are a basic
building block for math
from here on out, nows
the time to make sure
your child learns the
tables.
Third graders
will learn to multiply and
divide numbers up to
100. They will also learn
about simple fractions,
how to categorize
geometric shapes, and
will be introduced to the
concept of area vs.
p e r i m e t e r.
Play
multiplication war, a fun
card game, with your
child and before long
multiplication facts will
be part of your childs
mathematical skill set.
Besides strengthening
multiplication skills,
multiplication war also
provide practice in
comparing numbers.

HOMEWORK
STRUGGLES
The Three Ds Struggling with
homework often leads to
poor grades. There are
three main problems
with homework that
have less to do with

What You Need: Deck of

cards, A timer
What You Do:
1. Shuffle the deck of
cards and deal them face
down, giving each player
an equal number of cards
until the deck runs out.
Each player keeps his
cards in a stack. Assign
picture cards, such as
jacks, queens, and kings,
a value of 10. Give aces a
value of either 11 or 1.
2.Demonstrate to your
child how to play the
game. Each player turns
two cards face up, reads
the number sentence
and supplies the answer.
For example, if your
child draws a 5 and a 4,
he says 5x4=20. If you
draw a 7 and an 8, then
your number sentence is
7x8=56. Because your
product is larger, you
win the four cards and
you put them at the
bottom of your pile.

ability and more to do

with our ability to give
our children the support
they need.
DELAY - Foot dragging
when approaching
homework time is a
common dilemma. Many
students take hours to

3. If each of you has a

number sentence with
the same product,
then its war! Each
player puts four cards
face down and turns
up two of them. The
player with the largest
product wins the eight
cards.
4. Set up the timer
and play the game for
10 to 15 minutes.
When the timer goes
off, each player counts
his cards. The player
with the most cards
wins.
If one player
runs out of cards
before time is up, then
the other player wins.
5. Say no to boring
drill and kill.
Get
your game on!
Multiplication Math
War is an enjoyable
way to spend time
with your child while
strengthening math
skills.

sit down and get to

work.
Distractions
Television, video games
and Facebook are stiff
competition when it
comes to homework
c o mp l e t i o n . W h e n a
parent can't always be
around
during

At Rockport, our
school community has
a commitment to:
Increased academic

achievement
Developing positive
relationships by practicing
mutual respect
Celebrating the diversity of
learning styles and
cultures
Providing a safe
environment Where each
child, each day, is a
success!

WINTERFEST
MARK
YOUR
CALENDARS FOR OUR
WINTERFEST

December
2
PreK-6:00
Report to the
PreK room5:45 Grade
K-6:20 Grade 1-6:40
December 3 Grade 3-6:00,
Grade 4-6:20, Grade 5-6:40
Students need to come to
t h e m u s i c r o o m 5 - 10
minutes
prior
to
performance time.

homework hours, for

instance, certain steps
can be taken. A schedule
should be developed
with students, not for
students.
Disorganization Homework problems
center around the more
practical aspects of

schoolwork: taking note

of his assignments,
bringing home the
necessary material, and
going through the
concrete steps of getting
them done. This means
students need to
understand the steps
necessary to complete a
task.

LOREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET, CONSECTETUR ADIPISCING

ELIT

Family
Learning with
3rd Grade
With IREAD-3 and ISTEP approaching, reading proficiency is very
important! How can you help? Read about it, talk about it, think about it! You
can make reading fun, while helping your child become a happy and confident
reader. Try a new tip each day!

3rd Grade Learning and Doing

CHAPTER BOOKS
Third grade is the time when
students should begin reading small
chapter books. Some of the chapter
books are simply too big to start
with, and the size alone may
discourage students from even
trying.
Introduce your child to
smaller chapter books, or series.
The Magic Tree House series,
The Boxcar Children, or the
Weird School series are great for
3rd graders. These books offer a
sense of adventure and humor, but
arent too challenging.
Mrs.
Harrison, our school librarian, is
available to help students pick out
just the right book for them!

MAKE BOOKS SPECIAL

You can turn reading into
something special for your child.

Reading with your child helps

build fluency, but also allows you
to spend quality time with your
child. Take your child to the
library and get them a Spencer
County Public Library card.
Once your child has a card, we
can help them download books
from the public library to their
iPad. You can also set up a place
in your home to read with your
child. This makes reading time
that much more special!

CRACK OPEN THE

DICTIONARY
Let your child see you use a
dictionary. Building vocabulary is a
really important skill to creating
proficient readers. If you, or your

child, run across a challenging

word, look it up. Show your child
that everyone has to look up words
every now and then! Be sure to
read books close to your childs
reading level. You do not want your
child to read a book that has too
challenging of vocabulary.
This
may cause your child to give up on
the book.

TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING

Schema, or a childs background
knowledge, is important when
building comprehension skills. Talk
about everyday activities with your
child. You can do this at home, or
even on the go. This helps them
build vocabulary and may help
them connect with the text that
they are reading!
page 3

Rockport Elem.

WHAT MAKES A CHILD GIFTED AND

TALENTED MAY NOT ALWAYS BE GOOD
GRADES IN SCHOOL, BUT A DIFFERENT WAY
OF LOOKING AT THE WORLD AND LEARNING.
- CHUCK GRASSLEY

HARD AT WORK
When you walk
through the door of Rockport
Elementary staff members interacting
with the students in the halls, at lunch,
and especially in classrooms. These
interactions help create a powerful
community of learners. I want to say thank
you to all of our school. Thank you to our students for
coming to school from the first day eager to learn and willing to put forth
your best effort. Thank you to our parents for being supportive of our school
and teachers. Thank you to our teachers and staff for your hard work.

4.

Rockport Elem.

ROCKPORT PARENTS
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200 S. 6th St. Rockport

Indiana 47635, T 812-649-2201,
aaron.meyer@sspencer.k12.in.us