KES 2025 March Newsletter🍀
Building a Community of Belonging
The PTO is supporting the following enrichment this month!
"Call Me Geri" Grades K-5 (https://justcallmegeri.com/services/#edu)
Author Bonnie Bader, Grades 2-5 (https://www.bonniebaderbooks.com/school-visits)
Grade 1: Challenge Island Program
Grade 3: Arch4Kids Skyscraper STEAM Program
Incoming Kindergarten Orientation for Parents (3/5)
Families with a child turning five years old on or before December 1, 2025 are invited to attend our Kindergarten Orientation, held at KES on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at 7 p.m. Snow Date: Wednesday, March 12. Information about Kindergarten Registration will be provided.
This evening presentation is for parents/caregivers only.
Screenagers: Elementary School Edition (3/18)
Join KLSD and the Elementary School PTOs for Screenagers: Elementary School Edition on Thursday, March 18, at 6:30 PM at Bedford Playhouse. General admission tickets are $10, including popcorn and a post-event reception.
The evening features a film screening, a Q&A with KLSD Director of Technology Chris Nelson, and resources from Wait Until 8th, KLSD, and Bedford Books. Don’t miss this chance to learn and connect—get tickets here: https://bedfordplayhouse.org/movies/screenagers/
PTO GMM/Principal's Coffee (3/19)
Please join us at the scheduled PTO General Membership Meeting and Principal's Coffee on the evening of March 19 at 7:30pm. Instructional Coach, Alison Porcelli will be sharing the work KES has been engaged with this year in the area of vocabulary development in K-5 classrooms. We will meet in the STREAM Lab. Hope to see you there!
Please be sure your child comes to school in clothing that is appropriate for outdoor play. If the temperature, including the wind chill, falls below twenty degrees, the students will stay inside for recess. Dr. Louis A. Corsaro, the school district physician, has advised us in these matters.
K-5 Curriculum Updates
Each month, we will be providing curriculum highlights from each grade level. Please know that these are snapshots and do not reflect all the curriculum and learning in the classroom.
Students in kindergarten will continue to work towards reading for accuracy as they practice sliding through all the sounds in a word. They will enjoy working in partnerships to support each other in reading new words, as well as to discuss story elements. Kindergarten writers will explore persuasive writing and how they can use their words to make a change. They can see a problem, think about it, choose their audience and write a lot! In math, children will work with both addition and subtraction as they build fluency with both operations within 5, as well as explore ways to make 10. Then the counting sequence will continue with a focus on numbers 11 to 20, including multiple ways to represent this series of numbers. In science, kindergarteners will delve more deeply into our unit on Forces and Motion. Using an inquiry process, they will figure out how to design a pinball machine! In Social Studies, kindergarteners will continue to learn about their own identity and their role as a member of a community, such as KES. They will learn that children and adults have rights and responsibilities at home, at school, in the classroom, and in the community.
Students in first grade will take charge of their reading in our next unit, learning strategies to monitor their reading and solve problems using their phonics knowledge. They will also focus on understanding and improving their reading comprehension. In writing, students will start expressing their opinions about their favorite things and supporting their thoughts with clear reasons and details. In math, we will work on recognizing tens and ones in numbers up to 120. Students will practice identifying numbers that are 10 more, 10 less, 1 more, and 1 less using the 120 chart and their understanding of tens and ones. In science, students will continue exploring light and sound. We are looking forward to celebrating the 120th day of school on March 18th. Our first grade rock stars will spend the day building, writing, and creating all around the number 120!
Students in second grade are looking forward to new learning in March. We are excited to jump back into nonfiction reading and writing. In reading workshop, we will be using nonfiction text features to help us learn about insects. While taking notes, we will learn how to find interesting facts and put them into our own words. Our awesome reading skills will help us with this goal! In writing workshop, the 2nd graders will be become nonfiction authors as they write chapter books focused on the world of bugs. This cross-curricular reading/writing project is a newer unit for 2nd grade and we can’t wait to get started! In math, we will be deepening our understanding of place value leading up to triple digit addition and subtraction. As scientists, we will be putting together all our learning about erosion and landforms. Exploring maps and how important they are to geologists will also be a focus.
Students in third grade will begin the reading and writing test prep units. In addition to preparation for the NYS ELA Test, these units will provide opportunities to learn and practice skills that keep students on the trajectory of becoming life-long, confident readers and writers. In math, third graders will begin working with fractions. Students will learn to read and write factions for equal-sized parts of a region, use a fraction to represent multiple copies of a unit, as well as representing fractions less and greater than 1 on a number line. In social studies, third graders will explore the ways economics impact the world and our communities; understanding how goods and services are exchanged in markets, the impact of scarcity on decision-making, and the structure of the free market economy.
Students in fourth grade will begin an ELA unit on reading and writing strategies in preparation for state test in April. Students will be reading fiction and non-fiction passages and practicing inferencing skills, supporting their claims with text evidence, comparing texts, and applying their essay skills to answer extended response questions. In math, students will continue their work with fractions and begin to explore the connection between fractions and decimals. In mid-March, students will begin their study of Energy Conversions. In the Energy Conversions unit, students take on the role of systems engineers for Ergstown, a fictional town that experiences frequent blackouts. Throughout the unit, they explore reasons why an electrical system may fail. Through firsthand experiences, reading, writing, and engaging with a digital simulation, students make discoveries about the way electrical systems work.
Students in fifth grade will be engaged in several new units. When finished with the Literary Essay unit, the fifth graders will commence an ELA unit on reading and writing strategies in preparation for the state test in April. Students will be reading fiction and non-fiction passages and practicing inferencing skills, supporting their claims with text evidence, comparing texts, and applying their essay skills to answer extended response questions. In math, fifth graders will be multiplying and dividing fractions, and solving more complex word problems. The students will also be starting a new science unit-- The Earth system, taking on the role of water source engineers tasked with solving a problem. In social studies, fifth graders will continue to study government and how bills become law.
This Month in General Music
In Kindergarten, students will continue to demonstrate proper technique while learning to play various non-pitched percussion instruments. Students will continue to differentiate and explore vocal qualities (speak/sing/whisper/shout) through song and dramatic play. Additionally, students will reinforce what a Conductor does in music and practice conducting the class in simple quarter note rhythms. Finally, students will experience and participate in various folk songs and dances.
In first grade, students will continue their work in note reading using xylophones, with a focus on the use of dynamics to enhance their performances. They will also perform independent harmonic parts within a small ensemble setting. Additionally, students will perform spring songs and learn multicultural folk dances, while emphasizing the use of head voice and the development of strong, healthy vocal techniques.
In second grade, students will demonstrate their knowledge of proper mallet technique by playing various songs on Orff instruments. Students will demonstrate mastery on maintaining a steady beat (Macro-beat) while playing a simple broken bordun (using two mallets to play an alternating pattern between two notes) on an Orff instrument. Additionally, students will explore the difference in timbre for accented notes.
In third grade, students will advance their recorder skills by performing songs using the notes B, A, G, D, and C. They will incorporate xylophones to study the harmonic content of the pieces they perform. Additionally, students will enhance their choral abilities by singing multicultural songs in two-part harmony. They will focus on the proper use of vowels and consonants to improve sound blending within the ensemble.
In fourth grade, students will continue to prepare for the Fourth grade play “Of Mice and Mozart” by learning and practicing the songs and lines in class. Additionally, students will explore and demonstrate properly playing/singing complex rhythms.
In fifth grade, students will continue to explore composing music with classroom instruments. Additionally, students will explore “Theme and Variations” to multiple melodies and compose their own variations on each theme. Lastly, students will learn how to play two major scales on the guitar.
This Month in Physical Education
We are bringing the excitement of March Madness to our PE classes! Throughout the month of March, students will participate in fun, age-appropriate basketball-related activities, stations, teamwork challenges, and friendly competitions to help develop their skills and sportsmanship while also continuing to work on their fitness.
Our version of March Madness is all about participation, effort, and learning the fundamentals of the game of basketball in a fun, supportive and positive environment. It's sure to be a slam dunk!! 🏀
This Month in Library
