Kramer Elementary

Happy Friday, Kramer Elementary Families!

Despite a week full of rainy weather, our students kept positive attitudes and stayed focused on learning. Even though we had to spend more time indoors and blacktop recess, our classrooms were still filled with curiosity, creativity, and teamwork.

Thanks to our students for keeping their spirits up—even when the weather is down! 🌧️

Joke of the Week

☔ What do clouds wear under their raincoats? Thunderwear! 🌩️

With warmer weather we will be utilizing blacktop area for afternoon recess and the gates will be closed. The vehicle line gates will open at 3:40 PM for pickup.

Please note that the parking lot is still reserved for staff and Preschool pick-up only. The only vehicles permitted in the upper lot during drop-off and pick-up are those displaying the orange PRESCHOOL sheet in the front window.

Thank you for your cooperation!We appreciate your cooperation! If you have any questions or concerns, please call the office! We are happy to help!

Student government has done a fantastic job organizing and numbering our lost and found! See the PDF below and if you see something that belongs to your student, fill out the Google form and we can get the item to you!

open_in_new

Title Talk

Reading Corner February Newsletter

What does decoding mean?

A simple definition for decoding is recognizing letter sounds or patterns and blending them together to translate a written word into speech. Decoding is a foundational reading skill (phonics) that must be developed to begin successful reading with fluency. This process begins with students recognizing their letters and sounds then blending the sounds to speak the word, i.e., /c/ - /a/ - /t/ becomes cat.

Here is an example of what happens when a student decodes a word:

Recognizing letters and letter patterns (like b, sh, igh)
Knowing the sounds they make
Blending those sounds together to read a word

Activities: Reading Rockets is a reputable research-based website for all things reading; and below are age-specific resources for decoding activities.

Kindergarten: https://www.readingrockets.org/literacy-home/reading-101Kindergartener phonics and decoding activities

First Grade:

https://www.readingrockets.org/literacy-home/reading-101-guide-parents/your-first-grader/phonics-and-decoding-activities

Second Grade:

https://www.readingrockets.org/literacy-home/reading-101-guide-parents/your-second-grader/phonics-and-decoding-activities

Third Grade:

Here is a video showing how a 3rd grade student uses syllables to decode longer words more easily.

Questions or need help? Please reach out to your child's Reading Corner instructor; Mrs. Geshan, geshanc@talawanda.org,

Mrs. Kobermann, kobermanc@talawanda.org, or Mrs. Walters, waltersh@talawanda.org.

Health Reminder: Flu and Seasonal Illness

We are seeing an increase in flu and seasonal illnesses at school. To help prevent the spread of

illness, please keep your child home if they have a fever (100°F or higher), vomiting or diarrhea,

significant cough, sore throat with fever, body aches, extreme fatigue, or flu-like symptoms.

Students should be fever-free for 24 hours without medication and symptom-free for 24 hours

after vomiting or diarrhea before returning to school. Thank you for helping keep our school

community healthy.

OTHER TALAWANDA FREE RESOURCES

SEE IMAGES BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION

Student Fees:

Fees have been loaded to Payschools Central If you wish to pay online. You can also pay in the office with cash or check.

Lunch Accounts:

As a reminder, you are able to add funds to your student's lunch account through the Payschools Central system. If your student's account reaches -$50 it will be rolled into your school fees. Please be mindful and keep your student's account current. You can use Talawanda EZ Pay, send a check or cash to the school office to take care of your student's balance.

Free and Reduced:

If you would like to apply for free or reduced lunches, please reach out to the Kramer office or Kramer social worker, Chelsea Pike. We can help walk you through the online application or help you fill out a paper form in the office. If you qualify for FREE lunch, your fees will also be waived. (EXCEPT for 5th grade Chromebook fee) If you qualify for REDUCED, fees will be reduced by 85% (EXCEPT for 5th grade Chromebook fee) and meals will be FREE.

Final Forms:

Remember, if you have any changes to your information (phone number, address, who can pick up your student, etc) throughout the school year, change it in Final Forms! The office is notified of these changes and will update our information. IF you have an address change, you must submit new proof of residency to the office before we will update your address.

PAX is in full swing at Kramer! The students are getting involved and it has been wonderful to see them take part in implementing PAX in their classrooms and in the building! Take a look at the attachments below to learn more. We would love for you to ask your child about PAX and what it means to be a good PAX leader.

T- What did you try?

G- What are you grateful for?

I- What inspired you this week?

F- What was fun this week?"

Read At Home

Kramer RAH (Reading At Home) is a voluntary program from K-2nd graders that builds a home-school connection by rewarding students for reading at home. Each week students record the books they've read and turn-in record sheets for rewards. Rewards alternate between a student selected book and a small prize.

Have you connected your Kroger Rewards card to the Kramer PTG yet? Each account can be connected to ONE nonprofit. When you use this feature, Kroger donates a percentage of your expenses to our PTG. You just have to sign up once!

https://www.kroger.com/i/community/community-rewards

CLINK THE LINK BELOW TO SEE MORE COMMUNITY EVENTS ON THE TALAWANDA COMMUNITY PAGE! 🔽

PEOPLE UNITED FOR SELF HELP

PUSH provides grants to low-income homeowners in the Talawanda School District for critical and emergency home repairs. Call Jeanne or Sabrina at 513-523-8100 for more information. Application is attached. Http://www.push-oxford.org/