HES Family Newsletter

Students have completed their beginning of the year assessments, screeners and fnished the 1st 6 weeks full of review. We are now diving into new curriculum and picking up the pace for grade level expectations in all areas.

We appreciate all of our parent support through attending meetings, supporting students with at-home practice, open communication and participation in special events.

Take a look below for what to expect across campus for our Little Eagles during the month of October! 🦅

Welcome to October! We have an exciting month ahead filled with learning, discovery, and growth. Here is a look at what our kindergarteners will be exploring this month:

📖 Reading: What Makes Us Special? This month, we are diving into a wonderful module all about celebrating our individuality and diversity.

● Core Topic: Children will explore what makes each of us one of a kind—from the things we love to do, the languages we speak, and our names, to our bodies, families, and big dreams.

● Key Takeaway: We are different in so many wonderful ways, and different is awesome!

🔢 Math: Counting Exploration

● Focus: Developing strong number sense by counting forward and backward from 0 to 10.

● At-Home Practice: Ask your child to count everyday objects (toys, snacks, steps) forward to 10 and challenge them to countdown from 10 like a rocket launch!

🚀 🔬 Science: Everyday Forces & Energy

● Focus: Investigating how things work in the world around us.

● Topics Covered:

○ Magnets: Exploring push and pull forces.

○ Light & Objects: Understanding how light interacts with different items.

○ Shadows: Observing how shadows are formed and change.

🏛 Social Studies: Government & Citizens

● We are finishing up our unit on Government and Citizens, learning what it means to be a good community member, how rules keep us safe, and how we work together in our classroom and city. 📌 Important Parent Reminders

1. Check Folders Daily: Please review and empty your child's folder every single day. Be sure to remove papers that are meant to stay at home so their folder stays organized.

2. Dress-Up Days & Events: Keep an eye out for flyers coming home in daily folders regarding special dress-up days and school events planned for October!

September was a GREAT month in 1st grade! We have been learning, growing, practicing our routines, and working hard every day. We are so proud of the progress our students are making and are excited to see what October brings!

What We’re Learning in October

Math:
We will begin Module 2, focusing on addition and subtraction strategies and building our problem-solving skills.

Science:
We’ll explore Everyday Changes & Energy and learn how things can change and how energy affects the world around us.

Reading:
We’ll finish Module 2, exploring stories about places and communities, and we’ll complete our end-of-module assessment.

Phonics & Spelling:
We will continue learning and practicing consonant blends to help strengthen our reading and spelling skills.

Social Studies:
We’ll learn about our country’s leaders, patriotism, and what it means to be a good citizen.

We are looking forward to a wonderful October filled with learning, growing, and lots of first-grade fun! Thank you for continuing to support your child at home and partnering with us throughout the school year!

Reading

This week in Reading, students will be learning about drama and creating mental images to help them better understand what they read.

Phonics

In Phonics, students will be learning about:

• Compound words
• Open syllables
• Closed syllables

Second Grade Studies

In Second Grade Studies, we will be learning about People in the Community and the important roles they play in our community.

Math

In Math, students will continue building their understanding of place value and money. We will be learning to:

• Determine the total value of $1, $10, and $100 bills up to $1,200.
• Count the total value of ones, tens, and hundreds.
• Understand that 10 ones can be changed for 1 ten and 10 tens can be changed for 1 hundred.
• Use place value discs to read and write numbers up to 1,200.
• Compare numbers up to 1,200.
• Use mathematical language to describe:
  • 1 more and 1 less
  • 10 more and 10 less
  • 100 more and 100 less

We are excited to continue learning and growing together this month!

RLA: Students will recognize characteristics of informational text such as Central Idea and provide supporting details.

Students will be able to explain the author's purpose and message within a text.

Writing: Students will apply the writing process steps to write about a Realistic Fiction story.

Students will practice differentiating between a Short Constructive Response (SCR) and an Extended Constructive Response (ECR).

Vocabulary: Use context within and beyond a sentence to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and multiple-meaning words.

Social Studies: Students will learn about the basic structure of state and local government.

Math: Students will practice working with one-and-two step word problems with all four operations: multiplication, division, addition and subtraction.

Science: Students will read and interpret scientific data.

Flu and COVID-19 are common respiratory illnesses that can spread quickly among

children and families. As we enter the cooler months, we can all help reduce the spread

of illness in our school and community by taking a few simple precautions.

Symptoms to watch for may include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose,

headache, body aches, chills, fatigue, and sometimes vomiting or diarrhea.

Help Prevent the Spread

 Keep children home when they are sick or have a fever over 100.0 F.

 Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

 Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your elbow.

 Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

 Do not share drinks, food, or personal items.

 Encourage plenty of fluids, nutritious foods, and adequate rest.

 Talk with your healthcare provider about recommended flu and COVID-19

vaccinations.

Thank you for partnering with us to keep our students, staff, and families healthy!

Choose Love extension lessons are still covering the pillar of Courage, and older grades are learning how to be courageous in friendships and their social skills. Younger grades are learning appropriate and courageous choices that make a student successful and are included in courageous actions.

In addition, our first Choose Love Champion outreach, “Petal It Forward,” is happening mid-month. Also, small groups will be beginning at that time and running for 6 weeks.

We are partnering with CASA of Hillsboro for a stuffed animal drive for kids who are serviced through CASA in this area. The stuffed animals can range from small, keychain backpack pets to a big stuffed animal. You can drop these off in our front office October 15th thru December 10th.

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month!

Dyslexia is a learning difference that affects how kids understand language, often making reading, writing, and spelling more challenging. But don’t worry—dyslexia isn’t about being smart or not; it’s just a different way the brain handles information. Finding out about dyslexia early and getting the right help can really make a difference for kids at school and with friends. Each year, on October 8th, we have Dyslexia Awareness Day. This special day helps families learn more about dyslexia and shows how everyone can help. Communities join in fun activities that teach about dyslexia and share tips, like using cool teaching methods and handy tools. By making sure everyone feels included, we can help kids with dyslexia shine!

Hillsboro Elementary will celebrate this Dyslexia

Awareness day by wearing RED❤️ on October 8th.

GATE students have been working on problem solving skills and engineering. They have enjoyed solving Einstein puzzles and building structures, implementing what they are learning. They are also reading a chapter book called The Great Riddle Mystery. We will be discovering mathematics in nature in the coming weeks, including Fibonacci spirals and tessellations. We will also continue focusing on academic vocabulary and Greek and Latin root words with prefixes and suffixes.

Music by Mrs. Abt - October is an exciting month in the music department. Third grade will perform Spanish songs for the Hispanic Heritage Month concert/Nachos and Numbers on October 13th. First grade will begin learning their holiday songs for a concert in December. Kindergarten scholars will be introduced to high/low sounds. Loud and soft sounds will be the theme for PreK in October. Second grade students will finish their more concentrated study of rhythm, work on rhythm cards, and sing seasonal songs.

Art by Ms. ONeill - Third graders will be working on multiple projects for Hispanic Heritage month, including Papel Picado, Day of the Dead Masks, Mexican Paper Flowers; and Hojalata tin art. One class will be working on Galaxy Drawings.

Three classrooms of second graders will be working on projects to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, including: one class creating Tooled foil art based on Hojalata; another class will be creating colorful paper Serapes, and another class creating a figure with a sombrero and a serape . Another class of second graders will be finishing their paper candy canes with a shiny glaze coating from Mod Podge. Another classroom will be creating handcut aluminum foil 2-d ornaments with color added with sharpies; and one class will be creating Watercolor Christmas ornaments with a gold painted border.

First Graders: Several classrooms of First Graders will be working on Sombreros and Serapes figures; another will be working on Otomi animals.

Kindergarteners will be working on Otomi animals, and learning a little art history by seeing a slideshow of Otomi designs and a slideshow of Alebrijes sculptured animals.

PreKs will be working on Otomi animals, to reinforce learning colors, and animals.

Technology by Mrs. Price - During the month of October K-3rd will return to our typing program Typetastic. Pre-k will continue working on Three Cheers for Pre-k (Bridge). Be sure to ask your child about how to be a good digital citizen. We will be learning new material during Digital Citizenship Week - October 19–23.

Library by Mrs. Wilson - In the Library, our big news is the Book Fair will be here the week of October 13! Students will all come to preview the Book Fair on Tuesday, the 13th, and students with money or digital gift cards will shop Wednesday through Friday, the 14th-16th. Look for flyers coming home with more information! Digital Gift Cards and online shopping are available at https://bit.ly/LiteratiSchoolStore. Parents can come shop before school from 7:20-7:55 or after dismissal until 4:00 PM; Friday we will close at 3:00 PM.

We will finish out the month learning and reading about pumpkins, spiders, bats and "scary" stories (but not TOO scary!).