Ellsworth’s Career Fairswmcdn.com/...Ellsworth_FebNewsletter2015_021115.pdf · February 2015 Page...
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February Events / Looking Ahead E L L S W O R T H E L E M E N T A R Y 2/18—Bus Evacuation Drill 2/18—PTO Little Caesar’s Night 2/19—Kindergarten Experience 6-7:00pm 2/25— Galileo Testing begins 3/10—3/14—No School—Spring Break Wednesdays—Wear your college jersey 2/3—Progress Reports go home 2/10—PTO Mtg @ 4:30 in the Library 2/13—Kid’s Night Out @ Harmon 2/16—No School—President’s Day February 2015 Page 1 Ellsworth Elementary– Home of the Excelling Eagles 38454 N. Carolina Ave, San Tan Valley, AZ 85140 480-882-3520 Voice / 480-987-8250 Fax www.jocombs.org or www.ellsworth.jocombs.org Ellsworth’s Career Fair The gym at Ellsworth Elementary school was bustling on Friday, January 16 th , but not with students playing kickball or jumping rope. Instead students in grades K- 5 th dressed as everything from football players to doctors, walked around the room to meet profes- sionals from different jobs to learn all about careers and life after school. Mrs. Telles, school counselor at Ellsworth Elementary organized the first annual career fair so that students could start exploring their interests because it is never too early for students to believe that they can go to college because it does not have to be out of reach for anyone. A mixture of parents and community members gave up their day to show the students what they do, from a Horse Ferrier, Airplane Pilot, Civil Engineer to a Rodeo Clown, Cosmetologist, Journalist and Police Officer just to name a few. Most students understand the concept of college and how different careers need different levels of education and the career fair is great exposure to things they wouldn’t normally get to talk about in class.
Transcript of Ellsworth’s Career Fairswmcdn.com/...Ellsworth_FebNewsletter2015_021115.pdf · February 2015 Page...
February Events / Looking Ahead
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Y 2/18—Bus Evacuation Drill
2/18—PTO Little Caesar’s Night
2/19—Kindergarten Experience 6-7:00pm
2/25— Galileo Testing begins
3/10—3/14—No School—Spring Break
Wednesdays—Wear your college jersey
2/3—Progress Reports go home
2/10—PTO Mtg @ 4:30 in the Library
2/13—Kid’s Night Out @ Harmon
2/16—No School—President’s Day
February 2015 Page 1
Ellsworth Elementary– Home of the Excelling Eagles
38454 N. Carolina Ave, San Tan Valley, AZ 85140
480-882-3520 Voice / 480-987-8250 Fax
www.jocombs.org or www.ellsworth.jocombs.org
Ellsworth’s Career Fair The gym at Ellsworth Elementary school was bustling on Friday, January 16th, but not
with students playing kickball or jumping rope. Instead students in grades K- 5th dressed
as everything from football players to doctors, walked around the room to meet profes-
sionals from different jobs to learn all about careers and life after school.
Mrs. Telles, school counselor at Ellsworth Elementary organized the first annual career
fair so that students could start exploring their interests because it is never too early for
students to believe that they can go to college because it does not have to be out of reach
for anyone.
A mixture of parents and community members gave up their day to show the students
what they do, from a Horse Ferrier, Airplane Pilot, Civil Engineer to a Rodeo Clown,
Cosmetologist, Journalist and Police Officer just to name a few.
Most students understand the concept of college and how different careers need different
levels of education and the career fair is great exposure to things they wouldn’t normally
get to talk about in class.
February Birthdays!
2/2 - Christine Murphy - Math Coach
2/22—Karen Steele—Band/Music
If you would like
to provide treats
for your child’s
birthday, please
let your teacher
know in
advance, so they
may plan
accordingly.
Page 2
IMPORTANT ELLSWORTH NUMBERS Main Line/Attendance (Mrs. Josie or Mrs. Mary): 480-882-3520
Health Office (Medical Assistant Mrs. Jenne): 480-882-3523
Food Service (Mrs. Kendra): 480-882-3524
Reed Taylor—Fairness Reed sets the example for fairness in
our first grade classroom. He is a pa-
tient listener when classmates are
speaking or reading with him. He shares
during work and Daily 5 time. He works
hard to follow the rules and makes sure
to treat all of his peers fairly. For these
reasons we are proud to have Reed
from Ellsworth Elementary our February
Student of the Month!
Happy February!
Our students love reading! Please continue to support your child at home by studying the as-
signed word lists. Make it fun by creating a memory game or awarding incentives for progress.
We strive for fluent readers. If your child gets stuck on a word, try the following strategies:
Look for parts you know (sh, th, ang, ank, ed, silent “e”)
Try sounding out the word using word parts.
Use the sentence and text features to look for clues.
Read the sentence again to see if it makes sense.
Once you figure out the word, go back and reread for fluency.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Mrs. Alva
Reading Specialist
Title I News
Kindergarten
2nd Grade
The year is flying by! We just passed the halfway mark
of the school year. This is a critical time in the educa-
tion process. It’s important to reinforce and review ex-
pectations with your child. They need reminders about
rules and procedures as they get ready for the spring
semester. Thank you for your continued support!
We continue making great progress in reading. Every
child should spend 20 minutes each night reading. Dis-
cussions that compare characters and stories from one
story to another or that compare a character or event
to themselves and their own lives will enrich their read-
ing experiences and help with critical thinking.
Page 3
1st Grade
3rd Grade
Classroom News & Updates
We are hard at work with Fundations in
1st grade! We started to learn about long
vowel teams and closed syllables. Con-
tinue to have your child find these types
of words in text. Please continue to have
your child read their trick words in and
out of context daily and have them write
the words in sentences. In Math we are working on data analysis
and surveying our class. Students are re-
quired to answer questions about their
data and create a graph. We are also
learning to tell time using antilog and dig-
ital clocks. More information will be going home
regarding our Valentine’s party on Febru-
ary 13th.
As we are nearing the end of 3rd quarter,
students are participating in many culminat-
ing activities to wrap up their learning for
this quarter. Over the next few weeks
students will be reading, studying, and writ-
ing about many great American idols. They
will be creating fun and educational biog-
raphies in honor of our heroes. Thank you parents for your continual help
in and out of the classroom. We appreci-
ate the time you spend reading with your
child. We look forward to seeing you at
spring conferences.
Kindergarten is just getting more and more exciting every day – can you believe it is February!
Looking ahead: Spring Conferences (3/19 AM ONLY & 3/20 PM ONLY 8:15 arrival) are Student-Led so please remember your child must be present when you come for your confer-ence. More information will be coming home soon! Field Trip to the Arizona Museum for Youth on Thurs-day April 2nd, Detailed information will be sent home as it gets closer. Mastering our Last Name – recognizing and writing using initial capitalization only
(i.e.: Doe not DOE) Letters: Revisiting all letters in the medial and final
position while continuing to reinforce our first sound fluen-cy.
Sight “Trick” Words- the, a, are, to, and Phoneme Segmentation: Recognizing and provid-
ing all SOUNDS in a given word. Nonsense Word Fluency: Reading CVC words (real
and nonsense)
Numerals 0-20 Addition and Subtraction- add and subtract to 10. Teen Numbers- Understanding that it is a group of
10 and ones.
4th Grade
Page 4
5th Grade
It’s hard to believe this year is already half over! Fourth Grade con-
tinues to make great strides as we begin 2015.
4th graders have begun working on Unit 6 in math and our focus is
currently on adding, subtracting, and converting fractions and mixed
numbers. “Students have really enjoyed exploring the connections
between fractions and the way they can be used in daily living and
real life situations. Our students are participating in small group,
literature studies and they are learning to distinguish the differ-
ence between first-hand and second-hand accounts of an event or
story.
We recently became pen pal buddies with the first grade classes
here at Ellsworth and our 4th graders are writing and reading friend-
ly letters to their buddies on a weekly basis. This has been fun and
engaging for all.
Fifth grade is excited to begin the new year with literature
studies and independent history projects for the third quar-
ter. A letter was sent home regarding our upcoming field trip to
the Boyce Thompson Arboretum on March 6th, please remember
to send in your $11 – this covers admission, transportation and
lunch!! If you have time, stop in after February 11th and take a
look at the African-American posters that students completed
with their biography project – they look amazing!
6th Grade is Flying Through February! We have become Pen Pals with the 2nd
Grade Ellsworth classes and during our writing block each Wednesday, stu-
dents write their assigned Pen Pal a letter. We focus our letters on a dif-
ferent a Character Trait each week. 6th Graders have also been reading
leveled literature within small groups. After reading each chapter, students
are working on summarizing important details, pulling out unknown vocabu-
lary words from the text, and inferring on what they think might happen
next based on what they read that day. Students are definitely becoming
stronger readers and writers. In math, we have been learning ALL about
ratios. Students can solve a proportion using cross multiplication, a Factor
Puzzle, isolating a variable within an equation, and by drawing a Tape Dia-
gram. It has been wonderful to see students make the connection that
there is more than one way to figure out these real-life scenarios. Please,
as always, contact us if you have any questions and/or concerns. We are
always open to any/all feedback and truly appreciate your ongoing sup-
port.
6th Grade
The annual Spring Band Concert will be on Monday,
April 6, at 6:30 p.m. All are invited! Any 4th graders that are interested in
joining band next year should try to come out and check it out! It might help
you decide which instrument you might like to play!
There is much more happening in the band room – way too much to put
here! Mrs. Steele has sent out an email to band parents with all of the band
news, and is also sending it home on Friday with your child. Please read it
through, and sign the back page – it needs to be returned for a grade!
Music Department
Page 5
Guido Lavorata [email protected]
Karen Steele
You can help the American Heart Association by helping your child make a web page.
It’s safe, effective and saves YOU time by raising life-saving donations online.
Visit www.heart.org/jump and click on ‘Students Sign Up’ to get started today.
The American Heart Association's Mission: To build healthier lives, free of cardiovas-
cular diseases and stroke.
Physical Education
Our school is proud to partner with the American Heart Association to help kids with special hearts! Mark your family calendars NOW for our upcoming Jump Rope For Heart event taking place the week of:
J.O. Combs is excited to announce a Tuition Free All Day Kindergarten Program
beginning 2015-2016 school year. As our enrollment is on-going, any interested
families may enroll at this time.
A special “Kindergarten Experience” is scheduled on February 19th at 6:00pm
for Ellsworth, Harmon, Ranch and Simonton Elementary. Combs Traditional
Academy will host their event on March 3rd at 6:00pm.
For additional information, please call 480-987-5310.
SAVE THE DATE
Kid’s Night Out It’s Kids Night Out and Parents’ Night Off!
Valentine’s Night
Friday, February 13th
6:30 - 10:30 pm
At Harmon Elementary
Kids will enjoy:
Crafts, Wii Games, Dance Party,
Active Games, Movie & Popcorn Please note that parents must sign child in at event in
order for them to attend
Register Online at www.jocombs.org
$20/child before February 11th
$25/child at the door
Page 6
Remember to save your Box Tops and Campbell Soup Labels! The Box Tops for Education program raises money for our school, based on prod-ucts many of you already buy. Each box top is worth $0.10. You can give them to the front office or glue/tape them to the Box Top print off sheet. REMEMBER…the class with the most Box Tops at the end of each
If you are interested in receiving more information via email, please send your name and contact information to :
We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Feb 18th - Little Caesar’s Day. PTO gets $1 for every pizza sold all day!
Feb 9th-13th - Box Top “Snowball Fight” - Send in your Box Tops
P
T
O
Feb 18th - Little
Caesar’s Day. PTO
gets $1 for every
pizza sold all day!
Feb 9th-13th Box
Top “Snowball Fight” Send in your box-
tops
Help!
We need
clothes of all
sizes for the
Nurse
February
Lunch
Page 7
Dear Families,
Second Grade Blanket Testing for all Second Grade Students
Week of March 23-27, 2015
Students will take the Nonverbal battery of the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)
Test will be administered by the classroom teacher Schedule of testing will be provided in the letter that students take home in Febru-
ary (will also be available on the J.O. Combs Website under the Curriculum and Instruction tab)
Students who already qualify as gifted will not test
Parents may have child opt-out of testing
Opt-Out form will be sent with letter to parents in February (will also be located on the J.O. Combs website under the Curriculum and Instruction tab)
Opt-Out form must be received by classroom teacher NO LATER
than Friday, March 6
Students who score at the 90
th percentile or above on the Nonverbal battery will be
given the remaining two portions (Verbal and Quantitative) of the CogAT during
the week of April 27 – May 1
Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher with any additional ques-tions, or you may contact Debbie Sant at 480-987-5300, extension 1050 or via e-
mail at [email protected]
