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ELK NECK RETRIEVER REPORT
January 2014
PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING...
Read! Read! Read! It’s a mantra that has been heard in all
learning institutions around the world. Experts say that encouraging
a child to read may be the most important thing parents can do to
ensure children’s school success. Here are just a few tips that may
turn a reluctant reader into an avid reader, or an avid reader into a
book aficionado:
1. Get your whole family involved in reading books (or favorite
parts of books) aloud to each other.
2. Be a reading role model—make sure your children see you
reading. Have lots of reading materials around such as books,
magazines, newspapers, or catalogs.
3. Go to the library often, it’s free and has a great selection.
4. Read in unusual places—under a tree, on the floor, in the park,
in a tent, upstairs, or downstairs.
The last suggestion might be kind of tough at this point in the
year, but certainly keep it in mind as the weather improves. But for
now, what better time to curl up with a good book than while the
weather is cold and dreary - even better when shared with your
child!
Thank you for all of your continued support of Elk Neck and our
staff. We appreciate you!!
Elk Neck Elementary
Mr. George Whisner
Principal
Mrs. Alison Benner
Assistant Principal
IMPORTANT DATES
TO REMEMBER:
Jan 2
School Reopens
Jan 7
PTA Meeting 4:00 pm
Jan 15
End of 2nd marking period
Jan 16 - 17
Professional Days
NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
Jan 20
HOLIDAY
NO SCHOOL
Jan 24
PTA Dance
Jan 27
MP 2 Report cards issued to
students
Jan 30
Marking Period 2 Awards
Gr. 3-5 9:30-10:00 am
Gr. K-2 10:15-10:45 am
George Whisner, Principal
Elk Neck Elementary School
Jump Rope for Heart
Mark your calendars for Feb 19th!
Elk Neck will once again support Jump Rope for
Heart. JRFH is a fundraising activity for the
American Heart Association. In addition to this
worthy cause, it is also a fun fitness activity for
our students. This optional activity is offered to
Elk Neck students in grades 2, 3, 4, and 5.
CHARACTER TRAIT FOR
JANUARY
Justice
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ELK NECK RETRIEVER REPORT
Counselor’s Corner
Welcome back to Elk Neck Elementary after the winter break. We
hope this time was relaxing and refreshing for you and your family.
As we enter the new year here at Elk Neck Elementary, we want to
take a moment to welcome Ms. Megan Sauer as our interim School
Counselor. Ms. Sauer is an experienced and certified school counselor
and will be covering for Mr. Parker during the time that Mrs. Benner is
out on maternity leave. Mr. Parker will still be in the building daily, but
will be wearing a different hat during that time. Mr. Parker and Ms. Sauer
will be working together with the rest of the Elk Neck Staff to provide the
best services for all the students of Elk Neck Elementary School.
Feel free to contact Mr. Parker or Ms. Sauer with any questions or
concerns you may have. We can be reached at school at 410-996-5030.
We are all here to help.
INCLEMENT WEATHER INFORMATION
As the cold weather approaches, it is time to think about possible snow closings, late
starts, and early dismissals. Please talk with your child about a plan to follow in case
school is dismissed early due to weather conditions. Please tune to local radio and/or TV
stations for information about late morning starts or school closings. Late openings and
closings are also posted on the Cecil County Public Schools website at www.ccps.org.
Please make sure that emergency phone numbers are also updated in the office so that
families of students can receive the ConnectEd call that goes out in the event of inclement
weather.
INCLEMENT WEATHER DELAY POLICY
2-Hour Delay Start Time
11:00 am
Buses will pick students up from the designated bus stops exactly two hours later than
their normal pick-up times.
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Ways to fight the flu and keep healthy…
Eating 5 fruits or vegetables a day helps to keep the immune system
healthy, as well as including enough protein.
Vitamin C is a healthy immune booster—foods rich in vitamin C include
orange juice, Brussels sprouts, green peppers, tomato juice, broccoli, grapefruit,
pineapple and kiwi. Most fruits and vegetables contain more than 30 mg of
vitamin C.
Zinc is also thought to aid the immune system—zinc can be found in meat,
seafood, milk and other dairy products, beans and even water.
Cough reminder—cover your mouth and nose with a tissue and turn your head
away from others.
Hand washing—hands should be washed after coughing or sneezing, after
using a tissue, before eating, and after using the bathroom.
Cleanliness—be sure to clean doorknobs, countertops and other surfaces on a
regular basis and after being used by an ill person.
Healthy lifestyle—Be sure to get adequate rest (7-8 hours per night for adults
and 8-10 hours for school-aged students), proper nutrition and
moderate exercise to keep your body fit and healthy.
Samantha Miller-Hall, MSN, RN, NCSN
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GRADE LEVEL NEWS
PRE-KINDERGARTEN
In Pre-K this month we will be continuing our Clothes Theme! Students are still learning about clothing features, taking care of their clothes, discussing how clothes are made,
exploring where we get our clothes, and talking about the special clothes people wear for
work. We will also be discussing what kinds of clothes you would wear for each season.
Students will be tying in their math skills with this study in order to sort the different clothes
for each season!
Students have learned letters Pp, Bb, Tt, Dd, Ff, Vv, Ii, Oo, Kk, and Gg so far. Be sure
to practice these letters over break! We don’t want students forgetting important concepts over our long holiday break! Our letters for the month of January will be Ss, Zz, Ee,
and Aa. We encourage you to begin familiarizing your child with these letters at
home over winter break.
As a reminder, students should now be able to identify numbers 0-10 independently. As we move forward we will be diving in deeper with higher level skills for numbers 0-10… if your child is unable to identify them all, please make sure your are practicing
at home so they don’t fall behind in the new concepts! We will continue to focus on concepts such as what comes before and after a number, decomposing quantities, and determining what must be added to a number in order to get a quantity 1-10. These are
challenging skills for students so we will continue to review these skills throughout the year!
Several parents have been asking if there are any supplies we are in need of for our
classroom. If you would like to send in ziploc baggies (large or small) or tissues, we would
be very grateful.
We would also like to take a minute to say thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers that have been helping out in the AM and PM sessions. They have been working extremely hard with students to help reinforce some of our concepts! We have seen a lot of
growth in many students since our volunteers have started!
Lastly, we hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday break! We look forward
to seeing everyone in the New Year!
Mrs. Handy
Mrs. Young
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GRADE LEVEL NEWS
KINDERGARTEN
Happy New Year! We hope that you have enjoyed a relaxing holiday and some special moments with your family this season. We had an awesome time in 2013 and plan for 2014 to be just as great! As we begin our time
back in school, let’s help our children remember the daily routines and teacher expectations.
We will start the new year with our Primary Talent Development study on attributes. We will observe and
compare the attributes of objects such as houses and shapes. In science, we will begin studying the season of
winter and how it compares to the other seasons. We will be visited by Fair Hill Nature Center and students will
be engaged in acting out a “Winter’s Tale” which introduces and expands on the concept of hibernation.
We are beginning to work on personal skills such as zipping coats, tying shoes, and learning addresses and
phone numbers. Students who master these skills will become members of our “Shoe Tying” Club and our “Count
to 100” Club.
Please continue to work with your child on number recognition, counting, letter recognition, and sight words.
Reading nightly establishes a love of reading, builds confidence, and reinforces the skills necessary for success.
It provides the best quality time with your child. Try making some hot chocolate and cuddling up with a good
book. Welcome 2014!
FIRST GRADE
SECOND GRADE
December was a very busy month. During reading, the students continue to develop strong decoding skills by reading and
writing words with blends and different endings like s, ed, and ing.
The students also continue to use visualization and questioning
strategies to help them better understand both fiction and nonfiction text. They are practicing summarizing what they read.
You can help your child strengthen their summarizing skills by
asking them to retell a story they have read using a beginning,
middle and end. The students wrote a piece to express an opinion and edited their writing to make sure that they followed capitalization and punctuation rules.
The first graders have been reading and writing about family
traditions. They have learned that culture is expressed by meeting basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter. They compared
families of long ago with families of today. They also learned
about different cultures and how others celebrate the winter holidays. Talking about how your family or your ancestors celebrated is a wonderful way for your child to learn about their past, so
please share this rich history with your child over the winter
break.
In math, the students are learning to graph and interpret data.
They are describing the attributes of two-dimensional shapes and
composing these shapes. Some strategies that we are still reviewing include: making a ten, using doubles to add and subtract
and understanding the meaning of the equal sign.
Everyone had a great time at our winter chorus
concert and the reindeer run. We hope that you
have a wonderful winter break. Be sure to enjoy
time with your family and friends and have a safe
and happy holiday season!
Happy 2014! We hope that everyone had a
joyous and restful winter break. Second graders
will be very busy in January. As we finish up the
second marking period, students will continue
their trip around the world through the eyes of an
author as we visit the continents of Antarctica,
Australia and Africa. Our passports are bursting
with information about the different countries we
have “visited”. Second graders are also writing an
informative piece about a favorite family tradition.
In math, students are using their understanding
of place value to add and subtract multi-digit numbers. Students have learned several different
strategies for solving these problems and will apply what they have learned to solve multi-step
story problems.
We have wrapped up our geography unit in social studies and will begin our next unit of economics. In this unit, students will learn about
wants and needs, goods and services and the
production process. In science, students have
started a unit on balance and motion. Walk into a
second grade science class and it may appear
that students are having fun playing with a variety
of toys. A great deal of learning is going on however, as we explore the concepts of balance and
the motion of objects through hands-on investigations.
Please continue to check your child’s planner
each night for assigned homework. Here’s to a
great 2014!
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GRADE LEVEL NEWS
THIRD GRADE
Happy New Year! Although we have begun a new calendar year, we are in the middle of our school year and students will continue to work hard in 3rd grade. In 2014 you
will find third graders becoming more independent and taking on more responsibility for their own learning. Students
are setting goals and collecting data in order to measure
their success towards these goals.
In language arts and social studies, we are finishing our
Amish unit and will begin studying the community of Australia. Your child will be reading and researching the five elements of Australia and comparing and contrasting it to our
community, Cecil County.
In math, we will begin to work with fractions, which is
related to multiplication and division. So please continue to
practice multiplication facts at home.
Our classrooms are getting a bit noisy in science as we
learn about the physics of sound. Students have been investigating how sound is made and the different ways to change
the volume and pitch of sound.
Here’s to a great 2014!
FOURTH GRADE
Welcome 2014! We hope that everyone had a relaxing and fun winter break.
As we ring in the new year we will continue to study different interactions in all
subject areas.
In math, we will continue to work on
ordering, comparing, adding and subtracting fractions and whole numbers. Please
continue to work on math facts.
In language arts and social studies, we
are continuing to learn about the history
of Maryland and the different types of
interactions the early settlers had with
the Native Americans.
Finally, in science we will be working
on forces this month. This includes the
study of the power of magnets and electricity.
We look forward to a successful and
rewarding 2014!
FIFTH GRADE
Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with their family. It’s hard to believe that half of
the school year is nearly over. Where has the time gone?
Colonization continues to be the focus in social studies for fifth grade.. Students will be learning about European exploration and its effects on the Native Americans. Through the study of interdependence, students will understand how different cultures were dependent on each other for survival.
In mathematics, we will be finishing up our unit on multiplication and division of whole numbers and decimals.
Students have completed all of their quizzes and will be preparing for their unit test on these concepts. More information about this assessment will be forthcoming.
Cell parts and their functions will be studied as our students prepare for their summative assessment in science.
Be sure to ask your child what they have learned about cells in class. We will also be using our newly acquired National Geographic Explorer magazine to teach many of our Common Core concepts. Nonfiction social studies and
science text will be used in both whole group and guided reading instruction.
At this time of year, students may be running low on school supplies. Please check with your son/daughter to
see if they have everything they need for school. We will continue to go outside for directed play whenever possible. Please see that your child comes to school dressed for the weather.
The fifth grade would like to thank all of the parents who have donated items for our holiday parties and the
ASPCA. We really appreciate your generosity.
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ELK NECK RETRIEVER REPORT
Retriever Revue 2014
Let’s see the fabulous talent at Elk Neck
Elementary School!
This year’s revue will be held on
February 21, 2014.
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We will have 3 dates for rehearsals:
2/3, 2/6 and 2/13 — right after school AND
2/20 — mandatory dress rehearsal right after school
It is mandatory that your child attends at least two
rehearsals and the dress rehearsal.
Registration forms for the revue will be going home with
your child soon. We look forward to seeing the many
talents here at Elk Neck.
If you have any questions please contact Mrs. Strange at
dstrange.ccps.org
ELK NECK RETRIEVER REPORT
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News from the Art Room
The CCPS Winter Art Show will soon be taking place!
Congratulations to the following students with artwork in this show:
Ellia Barrett
Trent Khanjar
Madison Roe
Saige Thompson
Amber Baumiller
Kaylee Manzella
Keri Stout
Isabel Wells
Artists will receive an invitation to the artist’s reception from Ms. Tippett in January.
Other show information:
Location: Cecil County Arts Council in Elkton, MD
Exhibition: January 6th to January 31st, M-F 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Artsonia is becoming a great success at Elk Neck! I will be sending home another permission slip after the
first of the year with students who have yet to turn one in. Feel free to discard it if you do not wish to
participate.
Come check out what we’re creating!
Elk Neck Artsonia Gallery
http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=4743
Have a wonderful winter break!!
Ms. Mary Tippett, Art Teacher
Media Message
*** Words cannot express my gratitude to all of the volunteers who helped make our Scholastic
Book Fair a successful event from start to finish. Thank you very much for all your hard work
and dedication -- very much appreciated!!
*** This December our Elk Neck Library Club is busy creating gift bags for the pediatric unit of
Union Hospital in Elkton. Each gift bag will contain gently used books and magazines, as well
as book marks created by our students as well as other items. The library club members are
very excited about this project, hoping their endeavor will help spread some Christmas cheer
to those children who need to be admitted to the hospital during this holiday season.
Similar projects are being planned for the remainder of the school year.
Mrs. Wendy Baker, Librarian