September 2nd Newsletter

September 2, 2014 Dear Parents, I hope your child is enjoying school as much as I am. We had another great week last week! Field Trip: The second grades will be going on an all day field trip on Thursday, September 25th, to Cedar Breaks, the Parowan Park for lunch and the Parowan Gap to explore the petroglyphs. This will be in conjunction with our rock unit in science. Please have your child dress appropriately. We will be hiking so have your child wear good hiking shoes. Also, he/she will need to bring a jacket. It is usually a lot cooler at Cedar Breaks than Cedar City. Since we will be gone all day, we will be eating lunch at the Parowan park. Please indicate on the permission slip of your child is eating home or school lunch that day. I will be ordering lunches on Friday. If I haven’t received your permission slip by then, I will order a school sack lunch for your child. Permission slips need to be returned in order for your child to be able to join with us so please return the field trip consent form ASAP. Thank you so much. Math: We have been working with and will continue to work with doubles and graphs. We will have our test on chapter 10 this week. Science: We will finish our unit on gravity this week. The students had a lot of fun as they did experiments to learn about gravity. We will begin our moon unit on Thursday. Miss Lee, our student teacher, will be teaching this unit. It should be a lot of fun. Spelling: Spelling words were sent home today. Watch for them to come home each Monday. Most of the students have the first grade spelling words that they missed on our pretest and some of the second grade words that they missed. We do activities at our spelling center during the week to help the students learn their spelling words. However, any extra practice you can give your student at home would be great. Each list this week is different so each child has their individualized list. Please help them with their list. Book Order: Please remember that the book order is due this Friday September 5th. Please make your check payable to Scholastic Book Club. Name Paper: Please remember to have your child return their paper on how they got their name by Thursday Sept. 4th. PTA Fall Bash: Please support the Fall Bash, on Monday September 8th sponsored by the PTA. This will be their big event this year. There will not be a Halloween carnival. It is going to be LOTS of fun for the entire family. Watch for information to come home about it. School Pictures: School pictures will be taken on Monday September 8th. Packets were sent home with more information. Language: We will be working with the friendly letter format, continue to review short and long vowel sounds and learn about complete sentences. Sharing: There will sharing this week on Friday at 1:15. Reading Parents: Reading parents will start the week of the 15th. I’ll give you a call if you signed up to help. Thanks! Thanks for all of your support. It is a joy to teach your children. Please call me if you have any questions or concerns at 586-2850 @ school or 586-2189 @ home. Sincerely, Brenda Haight

August 25th newsletter

August 25, 2014 Dear Parents, We have had a wonderful first two weeks of school. I am so excited to have your child in my class. I know that when parents and teachers work together, children have a successful year in school. I appreciate all the help and communication I receive from parents and look forward to working with you this year. Field Trip: We will be leaving for the walking field trip to the play Seusical the Musical at the Heritage center a little after 9:00 on Monday morning the 25th. Please don’t have your child be late or they could miss up. Three students from our class are in the play. We are excited to see them perform. Updated schedule: Here is the updated schedule of our times for Art, Music and P.E. The new music teacher is Debra Davis. She will start this week. We are excited to have her. Monday: 2:00 – 2:30 Music Monday: 2:30 - 3:00 Art Tuesday: 1:00 – 1:30 Music Tuesday: 2:30 – 3:30 P.E. Friday: 2:10 – 2:30 Sharing Friday: 3:00 – 3:30 Library Name Paper: Attached to the weekly reading log is a note regarding names and how your child received his/her name. Will you please help your child complete and return it to school by Thursday September 4th? (Please print as your child will be copying it over for a class book). Thanks for your help. Book Order: Sent home this week was our first book order. It is due back by Friday September 5th. This is just a reminder that the book orders must be paid with a check written out to the book company. Please don’t make out a check to me or the school or send cash. I appreciate your help in this matter. This may be the only book order I send this year depending on the response to this one. Book orders are a wonderful way to add to your child’s library very inexpensively. Reading: Thank you for reading with your child each night for 20 minutes. (Your child needs to read 5 days a week but of course they may read more.) The lilac reading recording sheets are to come back on Mondays. Reading each night is one of the most important things you can do to help in your child’s education. Sharing: We will have sharing on Friday afternoons . Please don’t let your child bring toys or anything which might break. Objects that go along with the units we are studying would be great. If they want to bring pets, they need to arrange a time with me first. Thanks! Math: We are working with graphing, skip counting by twos, and doubles. Labor Day: There will be no school next Monday Sept. 1st because of Labor Day. School will resume as usual on Tuesday. Science: We will begin our unit on rocks. This will be a fun unit for the class. Zero Hero Treats: If you signed up to send Zero Hero treats with your child, you may send them anytime. Spelling: The spelling words for this week are the days of the week and September. A list of them was sent home today with your child on green paper. The test will be on Thursday. Thank you for your help and support! Sincerely, Brenda Haight

August 18th Newsletter

August 18, 2014 Dear Parents, I hope you all get a copy of this email and can also view it on the blog. Make sure to watch for pictures on the Blog from the first day of school. I hope to have the pictures posted by the end of the week. School has been fun and exciting so far as we have been making new friends and getting to know each other. I hope your child is enjoying school as much as I am. I think the favorite activity thus far was launching our water rockets on the first day of school. That sure was a lot of fun. No one even complained if they happened to get a little wet. (It felt good to get cooled off.) A special thanks to the parents who came to help. Their help made launching the rockets go very smoothly. THANKS! Thanks for returning the many forms that needed to be signed. If you haven’t sent yours back yet, you may do so anytime. Field Trip: Our class will be going to the musical production of Seusical the Musical on Monday August 25 in the morning. Three of our classmates are in the production. We are excited to see them perform. There is a $1.00 admission fee per student. If you can send $1.00, I’d appreciate. Thanks to those of you who have sent the money. Grandparents Program: Our class will be performing a program for our Grandparents on Friday February 13th at 1:30 p.m. in the school gym. Please tell grandparents and family members who would like to attend about the date so they can put it on their calendar and plan on coming. It should be a fun way to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Reading Parents: Reading parents will start the week of September 15th. I appreciate all of you who have signed up to help. I will contact you before then to verify times, etc. Thanks! Reading: One thing that will greatly benefit your child is if he/she reads each night. I am asking that each child read a minimum of 20 minutes per night (five nights a week). Sent home each week will be a reading record where your child can keep track of the days and time read, (The time you read to your child can also count but still have your child read as well.) Please sign and return the reading slip with your child each Monday morning. Homework: Homework will be sent home on Wednesdays to be returned on Friday mornings. This will usually be a math review page. The homework this week will deal with doubles in math. Back-to-School Night: It was great to meet with you at Back-to-School Night. Thanks for coming! Take Home Library: The Take Home Library will start in the middle of September. Watch for that. Sharing: We will have sharing this Friday at 2:00. Please don’t let your child bring toys for sharing or to school to play with. Parents, I am looking forward to visiting with you often throughout the year. The children in our class are wonderful. We are going to have a GREAT year! Please feel free to call me if you have any questions or concerns - school @ 586-2850 or home @ 586-2189. Thank you for your support! Sincerely, Brenda Haight

:etter from Mr. Oldroyd

Wednesday, July 16, 2014 Dear South Elementary Students and Parents, It is that time of year again that we start thinking of going back to school. This is such a beautiful and exciting time of year. I hope you have had a great summer. South Elementary is a great school by working together we will keep it that way. I wanted to remind you of a few things: Back To School Night- Tuesday, August 12-- Grades 1, 2, and 3 will meet with teachers in their classrooms at 6:00, PTA meeting in the gym at 6:30, and grades 4 and 5 with teachers in their classrooms at 7:00. *Please visit our school website. It is found at http://south.ironk12.org/. We put events on the calendar as soon as we find out about them. Each teacher also has a link to their class webpage that will be kept current with important information. *Attendance/Punctuality- School begins on Thursday, August 14th at 8:50 a.m. Please help us by getting your student to school on time every school day and keeping them in school until 3:30 every school day. We had between 10-15 students late every day last year. This makes extra work for Mrs. Smith. Please teach your child the important life skill of being on time. We have incredible teachers at South, but they can’t teach your children if they aren’t here. We understand when students are sick and we will have make up work for them. Please plan family vacations to coincide with school vacations. *Phones- We have always had 3 phone lines, 2 for telephone use and 1 fax line. We now have a total of 2 lines and one of them is shared with the fax machine. The number for the main line is 586-2850 and the shared line is 586-2851.We suggest calling earlier in the day if you need to get a message to your child. The phones will be busy closer to 3:30. *Bus Routes- Bus routes and stops are available at: http://irondistrict.org/bus-routes *Dress Standards- Please be aware of the Iron County School District Dress Standards, as we will be adhering to them closely again this year, starting the first day of school. The teachers and staff at South Elementary are caring, dedicated professionals. We have another incredible PTA board this year that are anxious to get started. We are excited to be part of the team with families and students to provide the best education possible for our students. Mr. Oldroyd Principal Cedar South Elementary

Welcome to 2nd Grade 2014-15 Letters

August 1, 2014 Dear Star Student, I was delighted when I found out that you were going to be in my class. My room is located downstairs, #A-8. Our class name will be: Mrs. Haight’s Star Students. Our class motto is: Reach for the Stars. This year you will shine and become the star student you are. You will be reading all kinds of stories. You will learn about animals, rocks, weather, matter, gravity, the moon and the wonderful world we live in. Second grade math will be so enjoyable that you won’t even know you are learning! You will learn about the writing process as you write each day. You are going to have a great year! On the first day of school, you will need to bring the following items: • The enclosed monster page about you for a class book…(Parents, please have your child color the monster and fill out anything he/she possibly can in his/her own handwriting. Glue or tape a recent picture in the box – perhaps last year’s school picture.) • The blue paper that is enclosed (Parents, please complete both sides for your child). • The lilac “Student Photograph Release” paper (filled out and signed) Optional items: • A small pencil box. (Your desk can’t hold a big pencil box.) • A water bottle with a tight fitting lid to set on your desk. (The first few weeks of school get rather warm.) • An empty plastic 2-liter pop bottle. (We are going to launch water rockets on the first day. See what you can find out about rockets before the 15th.) I am looking forward to being your teacher this year! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call me at school @ 586-2850 or at home @ 586-2189. Love, Mrs. Haight

March 10, 2014 Dear Parents, It was good to meet with you at SEP conferences. Thank you for coming. The students are advancing in their academic work so much. I am proud of them. Math: This week we will work on three digit addition and subtraction with regrouping. Spring Pictures: Spring pictures will be taken Monday March 10th. Only those who return the picture packet will have their pictures taken. Spelling: Watch for spelling words to come home today. This is our last week of homonyms. All of the class will have the same list this week. They are our third list of homonyms. They are: by, buy, bye, so, sew, know, no, through, threw, would, wood, there, their, and they’re. Students need to know the definitions as well as the correct spelling. Next week the spelling words for most of the students are: boy, joy, boil, spoil, coin, noise, Easter, animal, mammal and spring. Science: We will begin our unit on animals. We will learn about mammals. Language: We will learn about prefixes and suffixes. ICSD Dress Code: With warmer weather approaching, please remember the dress code for Iron County students. If you have questions, refer to the school webpage or contact the office. Please send a coat/jacket with your child each day. We do go out to recess and if the wind blows it gets very cold. Science Fair: Just a reminder that the science fair will be Friday March 21st. Progress Reports: Friday is the last day of 3rd quarter. Please send any homework or reading papers to school this week that need to be included in this quarter’s progress report. Have your child be sure and write his/her name on the papers. Pretend Birthday: We will celebrate Kassidy’s pretend birthday this Friday March 14th. Parents, thank you so much for your help and support. Sincerely, Brenda Haight

February 18, 2014

February 18, 2014 Dear Parents, It was great to see so many of you at our Grandparent’s Program last Friday. The students did a fantastic job! I was very proud of them. I also was impressed by how many grandparents and family members came to see the program. Thanks so much for your support! Thanks also for helping to furnish the refreshments. They were great! We also used the left over refreshments on Tuesday while we watch the class slideshow. We had a fun time. Thank you so much. This is pretty much the same program that I have had my students do for the past few years. I’ve thought I should probably change it but then realize no. This program teaches the students some rather strong values. The students also have to memorize a lot which is great for their brains. Playing the ukuleles, singing, dancing, etc. encourages both sides of the brain to work together which helps them become better students. Plus, I think the program is darling and helps the students show their grandparents how much they love them. Hopefully those of you who have seen this program before don’t mind. SEP Conferences: SEP conferences will be held the week of March 3rd – 7th. I will be out of town on Monday the 3rd so will schedule those appointments later in the week. A paper with a suggested time for you to come with your child to meet with me will be sent home this week. Watch for it. Please sign and return the slip as soon as possible. Thanks! Spelling: The spelling words for most of the students this week are question words. Watch for them to come home today. Everyone in the class will have the same words this week. Math: We will continue with regrouping with subtraction. You may know regrouping as carrying and borrowing numbers. Watch for math papers to come home. If your child has missed problems on them, these would be good for you to go over and review with him/her. We go over them at school but any additional practice is helpful. Language: We will continue to work with the two uses of the apostrophe- in contractions and to show possession. We will also work with similies and long vowel patterns in words. Science Fair: Just a reminder that the South Elementary Science Fair will be held on Friday March 21st. We had quite a few of the students in our class sign up to participate. Have fun with your child in preparing their project. If I can be of any help, please let me know. Science Fair Boards will be on sale at the PTA Book Fair during SEP Week. An information and rules packet will be sent home this week with those who signed up to participate. Spelling Bee: The school spelling bee will be held on Friday February 28h. Andrew Eves and Parker Johnson are the two students who got the most words correct on the qualifying spelling test and will represent our class in the spelling bee. They will represent our class well. This is an amazing group of students. It is an honor to be their teacher. I appreciate your help and support. Sincerely, Brenda Haight