Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Level Updates:

Kindergarten

The Kindergarten team is off to a wonderful start this school year!  The kids have really amazed us as they have transitioned into their new surroundings and learned the routines and procedures.  Each child brings something unique to our classrooms and each day brings something new and exciting!  As we begin to delve into the “This is Us” planner, we will be inquiring about ourselves and what makes each of us unique.  We will be reflecting on how we have grown and changed over time, exploring our special talents, and celebrating our similarities and differences. At home, families can look for opportunities to investigate who you are and what make YOU unique! 

 

This month, we are also excited to have an on-site “field trip” for our kindergarteners!  Our friends will be able to pick a pumpkin from “the patch” to decorate and enjoy a yummy snack, courtesy of our awesome PTSO!   


Primary


The Primary teachers have been working hard to make hybrid and remote learning work.  The teachers would like to thank the parents and students for their flexibility during this time.  We are loving getting to know our new students this school year.   

During the beginning of the year, our classes are working to create good reading and writing habits. In writing we have been learning how to write personal narratives.  We have been working on writing small moments and a complete sentence.  In readers we have been learning how to decode words and read fluently.   Students have been loving great books, like "Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon," and "Jabari Jumps" which teach wonderful social emotional learning lessons. 

We are just finishing up the planner "Who Are We?" where we learn about values and symbols of QUEST and the United States.  Mr. Warren even went into each class and taught the students about important values at QUEST, like being respectful and collaborative.  Soon we will be moving into our new planner, "Let's Build a Community," where we discuss what makes urban, suburb and rural communities and how they are interdependent.  

The primary teachers have some fun things planned for Halloween thanks to support from PTSO. 

Elementary

The Elementary Team has been hard at working welcoming students back to school and helping students navigate new routines and expectations at the elementary level.  Students have been getting to know one another both within their own cohort as well as their peers in the cohort opposite of their own.   The Elementary Team is currently working on their IB Planner entitled Weather.  In this planner students learn about weather and climate.  They learn how meteorologists predict weather and how weather-related events impact people and the land.  

Intermediate 

The intermediate team is showing resiliency by overcoming and making the best out of the unexpected. As the proverb goes, we are making lemonade out of lemons. We are currently elbow’s deep in our inquiry unit, Biology, Culture and Ancestry shape who we are. Our central ideas include:

  •          ways in which children around the world share similarities and differences
  •          understanding culture and diversity and how that impacts personal decisions
  •          understanding the structure of cells and inheritance of genetic information

 Throughout this unit, intermediate students have explored what children eat around the world and how they sleep. We’ve discussed the richness of each other’s cultures and made comparisons to children from near and far. Intermediate students are also reading the story Wonder by R.J. Polaccio and connecting our inquiry learning to the book by exploring genetic information and cells. There is something to be said about a student who can analyze a Punnett square!

 I-team students are taking control over their own learning by establishing learning goals in preparation for our 3-way conferences. We all also look forward to preparing for, and rocking, our annual QUEST feast in new and exciting ways. Stay tuned! 

Special Areas

To help families with any questions about Special Areas this year, here is a link for parents to view at their convenience:  https://www.wevideo.com/view/1859964885 

Please reach out to us with any questions or concerns specific to your child via email, and if necessary we can gladly set up a zoom time during Parent/Teacher Conference night, October 15th, 4:30 to 8:30pm. 

Ms. Powley, Art, spowley@hilton.k12.ny.us 

Mrs. Pestilli, Music, spestilli@hilton.k12.ny.us 

Ms. Wallman, Music, rwallman@hilton.k12.ny.us 

Mrs. Kingdollar, Spanish, akingdollar@hilton.k12.ny.us 

Mr. Moon, Physical Education, smoon@hilton.k12.ny.us 

Mr. Deprez, Physical Education, jdeprez@hilton.k12.ny.us 

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