Katonah Elementary School

November 2022

Dear KES Families,

We are gearing up for another month of “Building a Community of Belonging” and engaging in social-emotional and academic learning experiences.

Community Read

This month our book is, “Gratitude is my Superpower” by Alicia Ortego, which focuses on being… GRATEFUL. One important aspect of the book is recognizing life’s disappointments as opportunities for growth. A gratitude activity is attached to this communication; you may want to consider participating in this activity as a family. Having a positive attitude can make a big difference in our social-emotional wellness!

Social-Emotional Learning

Each classroom is visited by our clinicians twice per month. Last month, our school clinicians, Dr. Zampolin and Mrs. Fulton introduced The Zones of Regulation to all our students. The visuals (attached) were shared with our teachers, and each class engaged in conversations about situations throughout the school day that can result in a strong emotion. The students are learning skills to identify emotions in each of the Zones and how to measure the size of a problem. We encourage you to ask your children about the Zones, and feel free to use the attached tools to identify emotions at home. This upcoming month, we are looking forward to sharing emotional regulation strategies with students, and with you!

Curriculum Updates

Students in kindergarten will continue to develop their knowledge of letters, including letter names, related sounds, and proper formation. They will begin to read books that contain familiar high frequency words and work in partnerships to share book choices as well as practice turn taking in reading and in book talks. Kindergartners will be writing to “show and tell” in their writerly life as they explore the genre of informative writing. They will observe and study real things and then illustrate, tell, and write to teach about them. In math, children are learning about numbers from 6 to 10. They will explore how to represent quantities with objects, how to read and write them as numbers, and compare groups to decide which number is greater. Kindergarten scientists are excited to observe, wonder, and experiment to learn about weather patterns! 

Students in first grade will be relying on good reading habits to help them monitor reading with a focus on word endings, sight words, and silent ‘e’ patterns. Comprehension work will involve making predictions and retelling using story elements. Students will be using personal narrative stories to write "How-To" books with steps, transition words and illustrations that help teach. In math, students will be applying their understanding of addition and subtraction to be able to fluently add and subtract to ten. A focus on gratitude will be woven throughout the learning we do in November and culminate with a special project.

Students in second grade are getting ready to kick their writing up a notch in November! They will be creating informational chapter books, just like experts. To help support their efforts, they will be learning all about non-fiction conventions in reading workshop. We can’t wait to see their writing and reading skills evolve! In math, the second graders are exploring hands-on tools to help them solve addition problems. Many of these tools will lead them to mental strategies that will stay with them a lifetime. The second graders will also be spending November continuing their social studies unit on Communities. They will be traveling back in time to see how communities have changed over the decades and culminating in a fun 1950’s event on the 50th day of school! 

Students in third grade can answer the question, “Who done it?” as part of the Mystery Unit in Reading Workshop. If asked, they will probably tell you that once a reader realizes that a book is a mystery, they first ask, “What’s the mystery here?” then ask, “Who is the crime solver?” They will learn to read like a detective, to look for clues, look for predictable patterns, study choices that the characters make and learn life lessons about human nature. Stay tuned to find out… Who done it? Third graders at KES are also doing their part to change the world for the better. In writing workshop, these “Change Makers” will take in all that is happening around them- injustices, small acts of kindness, and so on- and write. They will come to see that, as writers, they can move others to action and even to a new way of thinking. They will learn that passionate opinions and their bold declarations are strengthened by thoughtful reasoning and evidence. So, if you are wondering why your third grader is working to persuade you to get a new pet or a bigger bedroom, this may be the reason why! Stay tuned to learn about the changes these students will continue to make at KES and beyond.

Students in fourth grade will be diving into reading non-fiction and learning how to determine importance based on the structure of the text. In writing, students will construct personal and persuasive essays with a focus on making a claim and supporting it with evidence. In Math, students will continue to use strategies and properties to multiply by both one- and two-digit numbers. Fourth graders are excited to embark on their first engaging science unit of the year about energy! Students will be learning about different forms of energy and how one form is converted to another.  

Students in fifth grade started the year with the exploration of the concept of place value and will now be engaged in strengthening and extending their computation skills, from multiplying whole numbers to estimating and multiplying with decimals. In ELA, fifth graders will take on the role of student reporters, identifying people, places and things within the school community and honing their skills at writing factual new stories in our journalism unit. While students may continue to read fiction books independently, in school they will tackle non-fiction text complexity- multiple main ideas, summarizing, identifying various text structures, and making part to whole connections. Fifth graders will finish up their study of geography and early people in social studies and embark on their first science unit- patterns of earth and sky. On nice fall days, they will play “shadow tag” to investigate shadow patterns and their relationship with the angle of the sun. As Thanksgiving approaches, students will be discussing gratitude and family celebrations.  

Mark your Calendars

Tuesday, November 2                   Interim Reports on Infinite Campus Parent Portal

Wednesday, November 3            PTO Holiday Share Food Drive Begins

                                                                PTO Scholastic Book Fair Begins

Thursday, November 4                 12:15pm Early Dismissal/No Lunch Served

                                                                6:00-8:00pm Parent-Teacher Conferences

Monday, November 7                    12:15pm Early Dismissal/No Lunch Served

                                                                1:00-3:45pm Parent-Teacher Conferences

Tuesday, November 8                   Election Day- No Students

Wednesday, November 9            12:15pm Early Dismissal/No Lunch Served

                                                                6:00-8:00pm Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thursday, November 10              Picture Retakes

Friday, November 11                     Veterans Day- Schools Closed

Wednesday, November 16          Pre-K Panel Discussion @ MPES (not KES)

                                                                7:30pm PTO General Membership Meeting

Thursday, November 17               7:30pm KLSD BOE Meeting

Friday, November 18                     PTO Food Drive Delivery

Thursday, November 24              Thanksgiving Recess- Schools Closed

Friday, November 25                    Thanksgiving Recess- Schools Closed

Monday, November 28                PTO Gift Drive Begins

The weather is cooling off quickly and it's not uncommon to have mornings that start off in the high 30's to low 40's. Please dress your children appropriately with hoodies and jackets, as needed. We ask that when the temperatures are below 40 degrees, do not send your children to school in shorts. Hopefully the beautiful fall weather will stay for several weeks, as we all enjoy our time outside during the day.

As always, thank you for your continued support of our school community.

Take good care,

Cristy Harris, Principal and Kweon Stambaugh, Assistant Principal