Francis Elementary

January 2021

Our Mission Statement

Francis Elementary’s mission is to ensure that each student receives an equitable education that leads to academic growth in all areas each year.

Our Vision

School improvement requires facing brutal facts with a commitment, buy-in, and willingness to change using a laser-like focus on common goals with a sense of urgency and the ability to reevaluate and adjust as needed. Francis students will be prepared to excel academically and be successful in middle school and beyond.

Important Dates in January

4th and 5th- Staff development days/student holidays

6th- Students return to classes (face to face and virtual)/beginning of 3rd 9 weeks

18th-Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

29th- Staff development day/ virtual day for all students.

1st Grade

MATH

https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/e/2PACX1vTVnibAEjNMLiDlZW4H9Vo1zeAj2cT0lJB2mXXF6e8u-ZoODKjCN2t7d0Kwnp_jiJe5cKvC3OcquSFg/pub

Students will use a variety of instructional materials and tools such as concrete and pictorial models and open number lines to demonstrate their understanding of numbers and operations and number sense. Students will be able to represent numbers in various ways such as concrete, pictorial, expanded and standard form. In this unit, the student will be able to use their understanding of numbers to compose and decompose numbers. Students will compare numbers using comparative language, such as greater, less than or equal to Students will use symbols (>, <, or =) to compare numbers. Students will also use formal and informal language while mastering skills such as reading, writing and representing, whole numbers and developing mathematical strategies to help improve problem solving skills.

Reading and Writing Skills

Reading for purpose and understanding
Tricky word list (all students must learn)
Vowel teams(great for decoding words that leads to reading)
Writing in complete sentences

Knowledge (Read Alouds)

Fundamental Features (farming,establishment of cities and government, as well as religion)
Early American Civilizations (Maya,Aztec,and Inca)
Students will explore the genre of informational writing. They will learn to identify important facts and information before,during, and after informational read-alouds.

Helpful at home

When reading new words, encourage your students to blend and segment each sound.
Go over tricky and spelling words regularly.
Find organic ways to read at home.
Be sure to go over slides and live lesson videos in Schoology daily.

2nd Grade

MATH

01/11-01/18 Comparing and Ordering 4 Digit Numbers

01/18-01/22 Subtraction with Regrouping

01/25-01/29 Subtraction with Regrouping

02/01-02/05 Division

02/8-02/12 Time

READING

Spelling Alternatives

Reading "The Job Hunt" about Kim looking for a job in Brooklyn while home from college.

The Cycles of Nature

3rd Grade

MATH

01/11 - 01/15 Multiplication Without Regrouping

01/19 - 01/22 Multiplication With Regrouping

01/25 - 01/28 Area

SKILLS

The students will work on data analysis using:

Bar Graphs, Pictographs and Table Relationships

Please have the students practice the time tables at home.

READING

We are studying CKLA Unit 5 - Light and Sound with a focu on the following:

the senses of seeing and hearing
properties of light and sound
how light and sound travel in waves
how light and sound can be manipulated by various instruments (magnifying glasses, microscopes, and telescopes)
finding key details in a text
practice taking lab notes and conducting experiments
writing predictions and observations

Writing

writing paragraphs using correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation
using adjectives and adverbs
correctly sequencing the events in a paragraph
The formal writing piece for the Light and Sound uit is a multi-day research and informative writing project that focuses on writing a newspaper article about the invention of either the telephone or the incandescent light bulb.

4th Grade

MATH

During the 3rd nine weeks of the school year, our fourth graders will be learning the following concepts:

Perimeter
Equivalent Fractions
Angle measurement
3 digit and 4 digit division
Area
Conversions

We also will be reviewing the concepts that have been taught previously, such as place value, comparing numbers (whole numbers and decimals), multiplication, fractions, and other skills needed for the readiness of our students in the upcoming grade level.

READING

This month, students will be learning about Geology. The Changing Earth focuses on the composition of the earth and the forces that change Earth’s surface, the theory of plate tectonics and how it explains the presence of volcanoes, mountains, underwater trenches, ridges, and other geological features, and geological processes like rock formation, weathering, and erosion in order to understand how the earth changes over time and why it looks the way it does. We will also focus on increasing our understanding of vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation in order to improve our reading comprehension and writing skills.

5th Grade

MATH

Problem solving:

* Comparing inequalities.

* Mix numbers

*Multistep problems

Skills:

*Estimation, Division and Multiplication.

* Multiplying and dividing decimals

*Estimating decimals

*Numerical relationship

* Data analysis and graphics.

Review:

*Decimal estimation

*Multiply and divide decimals

*Multiplication and Division

*Numerical expression

*Mixed concept review.

Concept:

*Mixed conversion (Customary, length, weight, mass, volume and capacity)

*Add and subtract fraction with equal denominators

*Add and subtract fraction with unequal denominators

*Volume

* Multiplying Fractions.

READING

zoom_out_map

Counselor's Corner

The school counselor will provide students with lessons to help them in their everyday lives in areas such as social skills, communication , interaction with peers, self-esteem, and anger management. The counseling program is based on the belief that the ultimate goal of counseling is maximizing student effectiveness through facilitating guidance, curriculum activities, responsive services, individual planning, and system support services.