HOLDEN HEADLINES Home of the Hawks

November/December 2018

Holden Elementary 37565 Calka Sterling Heights, MI 48312

586-825-2670 Fax 586-698-4356

24 Hour Absence Line: 586-825-2670, Option #2

www.wcskids.net/holden

Cheryl Priemer, Principal

Lori Nieri, Secretary

Charlotte Markous, Clerk

SCHOOL HOURS

Monday – Friday Half Day

8:47 am – 3:54 pm 8:47 am – 11:58 am

Calendar of Events Oct 29-Nov 9 No School, Intersession Nov 12 Classes Resume Nov 12 Gleaners Food Bank distribution 1pm Nov 12 October Box Top Winners announced Nov 13 PTPO Meeting 6:30pm in cafe Nov 15 World of Fours, No School, Conferences Nov 15 Box Top Winners party 3:15pm Nov 16 5th Grade fieldtrip to MJR “Nutcracker” movie 9am-1pm Nov 16 Friday treats Nov 19 World of Fours, No School, Conferences Nov 19 Parent Teacher Conferences 5-8pm Nov 20 Half Day, Dismissal 11:58am Nov 20 World of Fours, No School, Conferences Nov 20 Parent Teacher Conferences 1-4pm 5-8pm Nov 21-Nov 23 No School—Thanksgiving Break Nov 27 3rd Grade fieldtrip to Detroit Symphony Orchestra 9:40am-12pm Nov 28 PTPO Game Night 5:30pm-8pm

Nov 29 Gleaners Food Bank 9am Monthly newsletters can be found online: www.wcskids.net/holden

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING … This school year is flying by. Attending the Parent/Teacher Conference is a great way to keep in contact with your child’s teacher. This helps your child be a successful student. Please make sure to double check with your child's teacher the day and time of your conference. During the conference times we are asking parents to complete a survey on a laptop. The information collected from the survey will help us with planning parent and families events for the remainder of the school year.

We are pleased to announce a new Holden staff member: Elizabeth Castillon, speech and language pathologist. She will be available at conferences if you have any questions.

Students should be reading 15 to 45 minutes a day. Please make sure your child is reading every day. Also, students should be working their math facts on the links through the Holden website.

The months of November and December are busy times for most families. Children can be over-whelmed and may have trouble focusing on their school work. You can help your child by keeping as normal a routine as possible. Please continue daily quiet times for homework, math practice and reading.

GET IN THE KNOW…

KINDERGARTEN – The kindergarten classes had a very busy month in October. We had a wonderful time on our field trip to Deneweth's Garden Center. We had lots of "Fall Fun" and learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin. Thank you again to all of the parents that volunteered their time to chaperone this trip! Towards the end of the month, we enjoyed many fun Halloween activities. We continue to learn new letters and practice letter sounds. We are also hard at work in our Math Journals and learning all about numbers 0-10. November will bring more learning with lots of discussions about our families and what we are thankful for! Please remember to read with your child each night! We look forward to seeing you at Parent Teacher Conferences in November.

Dec 6 Yearbook Activity Pictures 8:30am-12pm

Dec 7 PTPO Friday Treats

Dec 11 Multi-Cultural Dinner 6pm-8pm

Dec 20 5th Grade Smart Moves Celebration 9am

Dec 20 Holiday Sing Along 2pm

Dec 21 Half Day, Dismissal 11:58am

Dec 20-Jan 2 No School, Holiday Break

1ST GRADE - We are coming to an end in our Social Studies unit What is a Family? They enjoyed sharing the rules and responsibilities they have at home. In math we are going to dig deeper into addition and subtraction fact strategies such as counting on, doubles facts, mental math, and discovering new tools to help us solve difficult problems. The rekenreks that we made at the Parent Activity in September will come in handy during this next math unit. In Reading we are continuing to work with our Daily 5 routine which focuses on building our stamina at "read to self" time and learning about spelling patterns during word work. We will also be learning some new reading strategies such as sequencing, summarizing, and determining what is most important. In Writing we are learning how to write informational reports and are beginning to research an animal to write our own reports. We are all getting excited about our upcoming break, Halloween and Thanksgiving. 2ND GRADE – In math, students continued to practice addition and subtraction facts and began learning about place value, telling time, and money: identifying coins up to a half dollar, as well as

counting money. Our goal in math this year is to have a majority of the students able to add and subtract numbers up to 500. Please have children continue practicing their math facts at home. At this point, some students have passed both the basic addition and subtraction facts up through 20 quizzes! A few have even passed the double digit addition quiz and are working on double digit

subtraction now! We have been continuing our Earth science unit called "Changing Earth: Today and Over Time." We have also been reading various selections in language arts and analyzing characters using evidence in the text. We had an amazing morning in October investigating pumpkins with our parents! Thank you to those who participated and sent in items for this special activity. We also had a fantastic field trip to the pumpkin patch at Westview Orchards! 3RD GRADE - The month of October was a busy one in third grade! We have been observing weather in science and have even made our own barometer. This month also took us on our second field trip around Sterling Heights. In math, we focused on subtracting 2 and 3-digit numbers. Please make sure that you are practicing your math facts at home so that your student is fluent in their recall. We look forward to starting multiplication in the next trimester. In writing the 3rd graders are finishing up a personal narrative about a time they tried something new, in addition to spelling patterns that include inflected endings. This year is going by so quickly and the students are making so much progress! 4th GRADE - The students showed their Personal Best on all their work in October. They worked

hard and their teachers are extremely proud of their efforts. The 4th graders are working on writing and what makes good writing. Math groups are in full swing. We are starting our government unit in Social Studies. For November, the classes will be discussing the importance of Thanksgiving and focusing on what we can do to help families not as fortunate as us.

5TH GRADE - The fifth graders have been very busy this month! We wrapped up the volume unit in math and are working hard on mastering division strategies. In Language Arts, students have selected a famous person to research for our Wax Museum. They are using various sources to research the person’s childhood, what they are famous for and the impact they made. They will use the information to write a biography essay, create a timeline and poster. Colonial Life in North America will be our next Social Studies unit. Students will learn about the contributions of significant individuals during this period. We look forward to seeing you at conferences!

MEDIA CENTER – The Scholastic Book Fair is coming November 12th – 20th

Reading for pleasure inside and outside of school has real and long-lasting benefits. It unlocks the power of information and imagination and helps children discover who they are. Here’s what you can do to help children develop stronger reading skills and a love for reading: * Set the example. Let children see you read. * Have a collection of books in your home. Update this collection routinely to keep pace with changing tastes and reading skills. * Support our school’s Book Fair. Allow your children to choose their own books to read. All book sales help raise money for our library collection. All monies will go towards purchasing popular titles from the book fair. Thank you for your support! Students will have a chance to purchase books during school hours. A flyer with dates and times for purchasing books will go home in backpacks shortly before the fair begins. The book fair will be open during Fall Conferences so parents can shop as well. Looking forward to seeing you at conferences!

Since the first day of school, students have been eagerly trying to earn Holden All-Star status.

Students originally became All-Stars for turning in their completed summer homework packets.

Students who didn’t achieve this, have been able to earn All-Star status by being helpful, trying

their hardest and never giving up, being a good friend, doing well on tests and homework, making

progress in school, following the rules, etc. Students in the above picture recently earned All-Star

status. Students holding certificates were recognized twice for being a Holden All-Star. We’ve had

many students earn this honor, and see others striving to earn it. Congratulations to everyone on

your achievement!

Parents were invited into classrooms to help their student’s classroom work on

various projects. It was a very hands-on experience for parents and students. A

messy but good time was had by all. Thank you to the parents who came to help.

The students are always excited when parents are able to volunteer their time.

Pictured are our 1st, 2nd, 4th & 5th Grade parents helping the students.

Crazy

Hair/Hat

Day

1st Grade Kindergarten

2nd Grade Westview Orchard fieldtrip

PTPO Monthly Events

November 2018 12th - Box Tops Winner Announcement (for October Competition) 13th - PTPO MEETING: 6:30pm 15th - Box Tops Winner Party: 3:15 16th - Friday Treats: 2:45pm – 3:30pm 28th - Game Night: 5 - 7:30pm We'll also do RAH rewards in November

December 2018 7th - Friday Treats: 2:45pm – 3:30pm 11th - Multicultural Dinner / PTPO MEETING: 6pm We'll also do a shoe fundraiser in December and January. Donate your used shoes and we get money per pound! PTPO Monthly Events November is RAH Rewards! If your student has been reading at home, they will receive some great prizes from the PTPO! PTPO Meeting Tuesday, November 13th Meeting starts at 6:30pm Free childcare and snacks in the Cafe Please attend! We will discuss a fun Game Night for kids and adults! Would you like to volunteer for a PTPO event or help us fundraise? Please email us at holdenptpo@gmail.com or visit our website: holdenptpo.wordpress.com

October Newsletter Winners

Yousif Ilyas, Alena Jamil, Linton Deng, Alvin Assy Michelangelo Hakeem, Clara Salim

LATE STUDENT PICK UPS

If your student is not picked up from school at the end of the day and you have not contacted the school office, or our staff is unable to make contact with you or emergency contacts, your child will be placed in our Latchkey room. Once the office is closed for the day, you will need to go directly to the Latchkey doors (door #4) and show your identification. If your child was not previously registered for Latchkey, you will be billed. This will include the registration fee of $40.00, and a daily rate of $7.00. This bill will be mailed to your home. Please note...only those adults listed on the emergency card will be able to pick up student.

Please return this portion with your name and room number. A drawing will take place from the forms returned within 3 days of us sending the newsletter home. My child and I have reviewed the November/December 2018 Holden Headlines.

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Student’s Signature

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Parent’s/Guardian’s Signature

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Room # Teacher

NOVEMBER DECEMBER

Barbara Loussia, Yousef Hermez Robin Mattika, Rita Liyon