We are looking forward to another great week of teaching and learning at Hereford Elementary! As a reminder, it is important that your scholar attend school daily when well and arrives on time. Scholars arriving after 8:00 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to be checked in. Thank you to all of the wonderful parents of Hereford Elementary that came out last Thursday to our Black History Program. Your continued support is appreciated!
Have a Great Week!
Principal Williams
Behavior Strategy: Maintain a positive learning environment.
Students learn best in an environment that is positive and set up for their success. Here are some tips to create this environment at home:
- Create a specific physical space for study that allows your student to focus.
- Find, organize, and set up materials so they are easy to reach without your student having to leave their study area.
- Initiate conversations about the student's current situation, allowing the student to ask questions and share their feelings.
- Offer your student choices whenever possible: the schedule for the day, what they want to learn about, what pencil they want to use, etc.
- Create an environment where it is understood that mistakes are the essence of learning. Help students understand that we learn more from mistakes than from getting the right answer because mistakes provide opportunities to connect what we know and don't know.
Behavior Strategy: Set and reinforce expectations to create an orderly environment where learning can occur.
Students work best in an environment that is well-defined in terms of dos and don'ts. In order to support student learning, parents and caregivers can:
- Create a specific physical space for study that allows your student to focus.
- Set three to five simple rules, in collaboration with your student, that set expectations for behavior.
- Explain procedures so that students know what to do, and when and how to do it. Procedures are the structures that help a learning environment run smoothly. These could include things like where to get extra paper or how to ask for help.
- Teach procedures using concrete language, following these four steps: define, demonstrate, practice, and refine.
- Reinforce rules and procedures with reminders and positive reinforcement that motivates your student to be persistent in their learning.
Read Across America Week
Dates: March 4-8, 2024
Theme: Freedom to Read
Dress Up & Daily Activities
Monday, March 4
Hats off to reading, rock your favorite hat
Tuesday, March 5
Reading fuels my future, dress up with college or what you want to be when you grow up
Wednesday, March 6
Wear a Word Wednesday. Wear a shirt with words on it.
Thursday, March 7
Character Dress- up from favorite book, Character Parade Day
Friday, March 8 (e-learning day)
Llama Llama Red Pajama—wear your favorite pajamas
For the Character Parade, please choose a book for your class to dress up as. We would like for all kids to get to participate in the parade this year, so please choose a craft or easy costume idea for your class to dress up. For instance, if your class chose If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, you could have them make mouse ear headbands that they could all wear for the parade. Please choose your book and craft/costume by Monday, February 26th .
Please post the flyer on your Class DoJo stories as well.
I will also be sending a schedule of teachers reading to other classes like we did last year since the kids enjoyed that very much.
SSupport Children’s Understanding of Fractions Using Household Measurement Tools
By providing opportunities to use household measurement tools, parents and caregivers can help children understand the relative size of fractions with different denominators and identify fractions on a number line. (reference to p. 10) Have fun using household measurement tools to help children understand the size of fractions!
As a parent, teacher and school librarian I feel strongly about the importance of reading and the value of finding a good book. I find that books are great for teaching hard topics to young children.
If you are looking for great books to share with your child, visit the public library or local bookstores. You can even find read-alouds of many books on YouTube.
Click the link below to access a list of 40 Black History books to read to your kids.
Enhance Your Child’s Academic Success With Positive Action
Parents have a significant influence on their children, surpassing that of friends, teachers, or school administration.
As such, active parental engagement is crucial as it inspires and motivates children to develop good learning habits, participate more in the classroom, and foster an overall positive attitude towards education.
The table below highlights a few ways in which parents can be involved in a child's academic success and the impact this can have on their academic success:
Parental Action
Impact On Academic Success
Establishing a routine
Promotes discipline and time management skills
Creating a conducive study environment
Enhances focus and concentration
Setting clear expectations and goals
Motivates and provides direction
Providing educational resources
Supports learning and exploration
Encouraging regular communication with teachers
Facilitates feedback and involvement
Monitoring and assisting with homework
Reinforces understanding and fosters learning
Encouraging extracurricular activities
Promotes holistic development and social skills
Offering praise and recognition for achievements
Boosts confidence and self-esteem
Being involved in school activities
Demonstrates support and interest in education
Cultivating a love for learning
Nurtures curiosity and lifelong learning habits
Are there any topics you would like to see a Parent Focus Meeting on? Please feel free to give me suggestions/feedback at ann.elkins@hsv-k12.org.
Thank you!
Ann Elkins
Hello Parents,
This week during our Guidance Lesson we will talk about a new character word, which is Integrity.) Integrity is an interesting character trait because it involves some of the character traits we have previously learned. Integrity is being honest, responsible, dependable, courageous, and kind. All these traits combined define integrity. When we have a bad day or make mistakes, it can be difficult to show all these qualities and be a person of integrity. However, the easiest choice is not always the best choice. When we decide to do the right thing, we grow as a person. Doing hard things grows our character. It makes us feel good inside, while bad choices will never make us happy. To have a successful life, we must live a life of integrity. When we live a life of integrity, the possibilities are out of this world.
Black History Nugget: Soujourner Truth, once estimated that she was born between 1797 and 1800. Truth was one of the 10 or 12 children born to James and Elizabeth Baumfree (or Bomefree). Her father was an enslaved man captured from present-day Ghana. Late in 1826, Truth escaped to freedom with her infant daughter, Sophia. She had to leave her other children behind because they were not legally freed in the emancipation order until they had served as bound servants into their twenties. She later said, "I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be all right." In 1851, Truth joined George Thompson, an abolitionist and speaker, on a lecture tour through central and western New York State. In May, she attended the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, where she delivered her famous extemporaneous speech on women's rights, later known as "Ain't I a Woman?". Her speech demanded equal human rights for all women. She also spoke as a former enslaved woman, combining calls for abolitionism with women's rights, and drawing from her strength as a laborer to make her equal rights claims.
Have a great week!
J. Jewel Thorne
School Guidance Counselor
Kelli Eaton- Assistant Principal
Excellence is the Expectation as we Journey to Success!
Email: kelli.eaton@hsv-k12.org
Website: https://www.huntsvillecityschools.org/schools/sonnie-hereford-elementary
Phone: 256-428-7440
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sonnieherefordelementary