CLNL+February+2012

**Olga Iris Guzmán - Principal**  **-**
 * = **Public School 228 Queens**
 * Early Childhood Magnet School of the Arts**
 * 32-65 93rd Street**
 * East Elmhurst, N.Y. 11369**
 * (718) 899-5799 • Fax (718) 899-7323**


 * “The Little School with a Heart”**

= = ||
 * Diana Rodriguez –Assistant Principal I.A.**


 * Parent Curriculum Newsletter **
 * **February 2012 Issue** || ** February 14th is Valentines Day ** ||

 ||
 * == **PreK** == || **//__ READING __//****// : //** **PreK is in the zone…the Construction Zone! We will be reading books, poems, songs and changes about making and building things. Our classrooms will become a construction site based upon this month’s theme.**
 * //__ WRITING __//****// : //** **The children continue to write their names (remember only the first letter is capitalized!), work with alphabet magnets, put together ABC puzzles and draw and write with a variety of materials on different kinds of paper.**
 * //__ MUSIC: __//** **Our theme song for this month is the Construction Zone. We will also sing songs for Groundhog’s Day, Valentine’s Day and songs for snowy days. The Pre-K children also use different musical instruments.**
 * //__ MATH __//**** : ** **We are continuing to count using 1-to-1 correspondence and identify numbers. We are also comparing lengths and heights of objects, and using learning positional words (up-down, back-front).**
 * //__ TECHNOLOGY: __// The children have become more and more independent at the computer center. Two children often work together on Starfall.com. They practice their alphabet and reading skills and listen to music and songs about Groundhog’s Day and Valentine’s Day. If you have a computer at home, don’t forget to visit Starfall.com! We are also listening and looking at books in “Bookflix.com”.**
 * //__ Social studies: __//** **The children are learning to get dressed for winter days all by themselves! Can your child zip up their coat and put on their hat, scarf and mittens? We will talk about the life of famous Afro-Americans.**
 * //__ science: __//** ** Snow is every where during winter! Take a look at the bare trees. Can you find a pine cone on the ground? Do you see any squirrels climbing the trees? There is lots to explore in winter. **
 * //__ PHYSICAL ED. & HEALTH __//****// : //** ** The Pre-K children wash their hands before every meal and after using the bathroom. The children exercise everyday by playing games that involve marching, jumping, hopping, dancing, spinning and jogging. **


 * == **Kindergarten** == || **//__ READING __//****// : // Unit 6 – Learning About Ourselves and Our World**
 * This month we will return to discovering more about the world around us through nonfiction books. We will focus on the different nonfiction topics covered in our books, features of nonfiction texts, and all the information we can learn by reading them.**
 * //__ WRITING __//****// : // Unit 6 – How to Books - We will learn in a way that will teach others how to do something by including a sequence of clear steps, illustrations, instructions, and facts.**
 * //__ Music: __// The composer of the month is Duke Ellington. We will learn to play “London Bridge” using hand bells. We will sing “Hello Song”, “London Bridge” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. We will continue to incorporate listen and move songs to enhance listening skills.**
 * //__ MATH __//**** : This month, we will explore counting by 5’s, number patterns, measurements.**
 * //__ SCIENCE __//****// : //****How can we observe and describe objects using our senses? How can we sort objects in different ways?**

**//__ library __//**** : ****Kindergarten will work with a partner to practice retelling using their voice to tell a story.**
 * //__ Social STUDIES __//**** : We will celebrate Black History Month. We will also learn about President’s Day celebrations and learn to identify the difference between basic needs and wants.**
 * //__ TECHNOLOGY __//****: We are incorporating technology activities to reinforce sight word recognition through web based problems such as “Samson Classroom”.**
 * //__ PHYSYCAL ED. & HEALTH __//****__ : __** **This month is “Dental Hygiene Month” and we will participate in activities that will teach us about proper dental care.** ||


 * == **First Grade** == || **//__ READING: __// Good readers become their own teachers, working hard to figure out tricky words in different books across genres.**
 * //__ WRITING: __// Good writers learn how to write “How-To” books by showing specific and detailed steps on how to make or do something they know well.**
 * //__ MUSIC: __// The composer of the month is Duke Ellington. We will learn to play “London Bridge” on the xylophone. We will sing “Hello Song”, “London Bridge” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. We will continue to incorporate listen and move songs to enhance listening skills.**
 * //__ MATH __//**//__ : __// **We learn about fact families and fact triangles to add and subtract numbers in the same group. We also learn measurement using centimeters and learn how to count coins using quarters.**
 * //__ SCIENCE: __// What are properties of matter? Of what materials are objects made? How can we test materials?**
 * //__ SOCIAL STUDIES: __// We learn** **about communities and special buildings such as hospitals, police stations, and courts. We also learn about New York City, its diverse communities and leaders.**
 * //__ TECHNOLOGY: __// We continue to practice our reading comprehension using www. raz-kids.com and practice spelling our lists of words on www. samsonsclassroom.com. The Dual Language classroom has been learning new words and phrases in Spanish using** [|**www.digitaldialects.com**]**.**
 * //__ library __//**** : ****First Grade will use masks to help tell a story to their classmates.**
 * //__ PHYSYCAL ED. & HEALTH: __// First graders are learning how to follow directions playing organized sports. We learn how to play dodge ball, relay races, and basic exercise movements to keep our bodies healthy.** ||

 ||
 * == **Second Grade** == || **//__ READING __//****// : // Series Reading Clubs: In this unit, the children will practice previously learned strategies, and develop new ones, to integrate what they know about a character (or characters) across series. Children will use this information to understand, predict, and critique a story. They will react and pay attention to the important parts of the story and learn about how stories in series tend to go.**
 * //__ WRITING __//****// : // Write Series Books: The goal of this unit is to raise the quality of the children’s narrative writing. They will write longer and more elaborated realistic fiction stories. They will work on showing, not telling, and inserting interesting details and dialogue in their stories.**
 * //__ Music: __// The composer of the month is Duke Ellington. We will learn to play “London Bridge” on the xylophone. We will sing “Hello Song”, “London Bridge” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. We will continue to incorporate listen and move songs to enhance listening skills.**
 * //__ MATH __//.: In Unit 6, children will learn earlier work with addition and subtraction and begin formal work with multiplication and division. This unit has 3 main areas of focus.**
 * Objectives:**
 * 1) **To Introduce and practice array models**
 * 2) **Review strategies for solving addition and subtraction problems.**
 * 3) **Develop procedures for multiplication and division world problems.**
 * //__ SCIENCE __//****// : // What causes objects to move? What are the effects of different forces on objects and people?**
 * //__ SOCIAL STUDIES __//****// : //Unit 2 Objectives: Our Earth (Part III): Caring for our resources and taking responsibility for the common good.**
 * We will also discuss the following topics this month:**
 * 1) **Groundhog Day**
 * 2) **Chinese New Year**
 * 3) **Valentine’s Day**
 * 4) **Presidents’ Day: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln**
 * 5) **African-American History Month**
 * //__ TechnolOGY __//****// : // Students will continue working on our new online sites to enhance their spelling and reading skills. (**[|**www.samsonclassroom.com**] **and** [|**www.uptowneducation.com**]**.)**
 * //__ library __//**** : ****Second Grade will demonstrate good story telling techniques.**
 * //__ PHYSICAL ED. & HEALTH __//****// : // Students will learn about the resources available at home and in the community offer opportunities to participate in and enjoy a variety of physical activities in their leisure time.**


 * WE ARE DEDICATED TO THE SUCCESS OF ALL OUR CHILDREN. **


 * Please note that you may find the Parent Curriculum Newsletter at ps__228q.wikispaces.com__ every month.**