Special Events

January 1

NO SCHOOL

January 18

NO SCHOOL Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 19

Early Release

AM Preschool: 8:45-10:15 PM Preschool: 11:00-12:30 Grades K, 1 & 2: 8:35-1:00

January 26 PTO Meeting 6:30 Kelly Lane

As you are aware we are preparing for the closing

of F.M. Kearns Primary School at the end of the

school year. In September 2016 the Granby

Preschool - Grade 2 community will be at Kelly

Lane School. As part of our preparation for this

move Bob Gilbert, Director of Teaching and

Talent Development and Aimee Martin, Director of Pupil Personnel

Services will present information to parents on Tuesday January 26 at

6:30 PM at Kelly Lane School about upcoming transition plans and

activities for our students. These plans and activities will assist our

students and families as we prepare to close Kearns School and transition

grades PK-2 to Kelly Lane, grades 3-5 to Wells Road School and grade 6 to

the Middle School. This presentation will be the main focus of the January

PTO Meeting. Mr. Gilbert and Mrs. Martin will share information about

transition activities for all students as well as the individual transition

planning process for students with disabilities. Principals will be present

for this meeting and there will be a time for parent questions and

answers. We look forward to seeing you at the meeting!

Please contact me at any time if you have questions about this process.

Wonder Week The week of January 25th F.M. Kearns School will have a special “Wonder

Week.” Students will do special “wondering” activities with their

Buddy Class.

Our school is a curious and wondering environment where children’s

minds and hearts are filled with wonder and awe. It is a place where

curiosity, creativity, and exploration are encouraged. It is a place where

children’s questions and observations are part of their daily work. Check

out www.wonderpolis.org for some fun with a “wonder of the day!”

F.M. Kearns January News

2016

Kearns raised $475 for CCMC.

The Granby Public Schools

calendar has been revised. Click

the link below or print out the

calendar at the end of

this newsletter. http://www.granby.k12.ct.us/uploaded/2015-

2016_Approved_Calendar_(Rev._Dec._2016).pdf

First Grade News In January, first graders will be reading nonfiction.

In writing, we will continue to work on our All

About books. We will learn about

measurement using nonstandard

units and addition and subtraction

strategies for facts within

20. In social studies we will begin

learning about basic map skills.

Preschool

News

In January, our

preschoolers will

be learning

about communi-

ty helpers by

reading books,

working on arts

and

crafts projects, and act-

ing out their roles in our

dramatic play area. We

will also be talking about

winter and how we plan

to stay warm when we go

outside to play; we can’t

wait for our outdoor

adventures this month.

Second Grade News In reading, the second graders will

continue to determine important information

in nonfiction text. As writers, the students will

continue writing opinion letters about books and

support them with reasons and examples. In math,

students will be working through

addition and subtraction to 1,000.

As scientists, students will explore

the properties of matter.

Kindergarten News

Happy 2016! Speaking of 16. . . we

will be focusing on teen numbers

this month. Ask your child to sing

this song.

Come on everybody

let’s get this done.

Numbers in the teens,

they start with a one!

In January, all grades will continue to explore

reading, writing, and playing music at their

level. Students in the younger grades will ex-

plore this concept through the use of pictures

and will eventually move into using stick nota-

tion. Students in second grade will begin to

explore actual notation starting with a modified staff and

moving into traditional notation. Throughout the remain-

der of the year students will have the opportunity to ex-

plore creating music in various ways. We will continue to

sing and move in music class, but will also be using a larger

variety of classroom instruments to play all of this fun and

exciting music.

If you ever have

any questions

about the music

room, please feel to

contact me or ex-

plore my website.

~Mrs. Lucas

PE with

Mr. Gates

Please welcome

Nic Tiemann,

our new physical education

student teacher, starting January

19th. Mr. Tiemann currently

attends CCSU and will be joining

Mr. Gates in PE classes until

March. We will be focusing on

Winter life skills and sports,

including hockey and snowshoe-

ing. Look for more information

and lesson videos at our Kearns

PE website,

kearnsphysed.blogspot.com.

Spanish

with Mrs. Miller

During the month of December

the art room was a buzz with

open studios. Students were able

to work in modeling clay, stamp-

ing, free draw, cutting and past-

ing or pinch pots.

MUSIC WITH MRS. LUCAS

In the past month the students

have learned to talk about

pasttimes such “to read” and “to

play sports”. They learned how to

express their opinion (“I like/don’t

like to…” = Me gusta/no me

gusta…) They also learned to use

sequencing words including

primero, segundo, entonces,

finalmente.

Doña Raquel y Doña Alicia

The Hour of Code The Hour of Code

occurred during the

week of December

7. The hour of code is

a global movement

designed to introduce

students to computer science. In the lab

we were coding with Kodable; moving

fuzzy creatures along their path. We will

continue to practice coding in the lab and

library stations. Some apps that your

child may enjoy coding with: Kodable, Bee

-Bot, Daisy the Dinosaur, and The Foos.

The Seedlings are Here! You’ll soon be seeing the first edition of

our “Kearns Seedling” book coming home

with your child. Each year a group of

Kearn’s teachers pick 6 outstanding books

that are worthy of sharing with the whole

school and our families. These books all

include a fun activity for you to do with

your child located within the back cover.

The most important part is to have fun

reading with your child. Enjoy the stories

and the conversations that come from

them! Our media center happenings can

be found on our media center website

www.kearnsmediacenter.blogspot.com

Coming This Month! The announcement of the 2016

Caldecott Award Winner! Ask

your child what kind of book the

Caldecott Medal goes to!

Media Center News READING CENTER NEWS

Read With Your Child... Did you know that readers are made on the

laps of their parents? By the age of 3, chil-

dren who are read to have heard 30 million

words and have a vocabulary of 20,000

words! Give your child the GIFT of a great

start to 2016 helping them build word

knowledge. Talk together a lot! To be good

readers, children need to know lots of

words and what they mean.

Tell family stories

Encourage conversations

Listen and ask questions

Teach nursery rhymes

Have fun with books, use different voices, have your child act out stories

Spend time at the library together

Sing songs and make up rhymes

Encourage effort and trying hard—

but give help when needed.

Read to your child everyday—not just

picture books, but signs, shopping lists

and labels, too. Children feel great when

they succeed!

CALLING ALL PARENTS! The Media Center is looking for volunteers interested in doing a simple data entry project. Our Kearns Library Catalog needs some cleaning up and we could really use your help getting it ready for our students to find books!

Thank you!!

Fun Winter

Math Activities Here are some quick and easy math ideas to

try during the winter.

Make up word problems about someone

making or eating cookies. Use stories that include

addition, subtraction or, for a challenge, both.

Measure the heights of different boxes with

non-standard tools (paper clips, blocks,

pennies, etc.). Put them in order from

the shortest to tallest and tallest

to shortest.

Measure lengths of ribbon or paper

using non-standard tools. Put them in

order from longest to shortest or

shortest to longest.

Make 3 different

sized snowballs.

Throw each of them

at the same target.

Which one went the

farthest? Which is

the closest? Why

did that happen?

Mrs. Lupoli and Mrs. DiCiancia

F.M. Kearns Integrated Preschool

We are now accepting applications for

the 2016-2017 school year

for preschool peer models.

{Child must be 3 or 4 years old by August 31st.}

Please call for details and

to schedule a playdate

for one of the following dates:

February 5, 12 or 26

860-844-3044

Dear Families,

Winter is here! At least we have had a little taste of the cold weather and I’m

sure there’s more to come. We always notice that kids get extra-antsy at this

time of year, especially when we have indoor recess. It’s great to bundle up and

continue to enjoy the outside at this time of year but if you can’t, ask your

children about Pop Se Ko and GoNoodle, they love to use the websites and

dance around their classrooms! I hope you all stay warm!

Sincerely,

Lauren Garneau, M.Ed., Ed.S. School Psychologist, Kearns Primary School

We go outside for recess if the temperature is 20 degrees or above.

Children need to be dressed for the weather. If there is snow on the

ground the children can go in the field to play in the snow as long as they

have snow pants, boots and mittens.

Here are a few tips: It is important to help your child become independent at dressing in

their winter clothes. Work on putting on snow pants, boots and

fastening coats independently.

Label your child’s clothing and boots. Lost and found fills up with

black snow pants at this time of year.

Scarves can get caught on the play scape so, neck gators are safer.

Send in shoes because we don’t want them wearing their wet boots all day.

We go out to play twice a day so an extra pair of mittens and socks would be great.

Snowballs are for building “snow creatures” not throwing.

Thanks for helping us make it a fun, safe winter recess time!

THE WINTER WEATHER IS

IMPORTANT — Delayed Opening On late opening days due to inclement weather, there will always be a 90 minute

delay, A.M. Preschool will begin at 10:15 and end at 12:00. P.M. Preschool

hours remain the same. Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades will begin at 10:05.

On early closing days due to inclement weather, P.M. Preschool is cancelled and A.M.

Preschool will be dismissed at 10:15. Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades will be dismissed at 1:00.

Parents who signed up

for School Messenger

will receive a text from

Granby Public Schools

for weather-related

school cancellations, late

openings and early releases.

Parents can also receive texts from NBC regarding school

closing? Simply log onto NBCconnecticut.com click on

“weather” then “weather alerts”. You will then be prompt-

ed to input your cell phone information.

IF YOUR CHILD IS A PICKUP. . .

If your child is an early pickup (before 3:10), please allow extra time as the office will not call the classroom for your child until you arrive in the office. At the end of the day, there is a flexible pick up time in the “all purpose” room between 3:20 and 3:35.

If your child is a pickup, either early or at dismissal time a note is always best to let us know. It helps your child remember as well as notifying the teacher who in turns notifies the office. If you email the teacher please include the office in the email and try to email before noon. After the teacher’s lunchtime they rarely have a chance to check their email. Of course if a call is needed we will be sure to notify your child and their teacher.

Mrs. Narciso’s

Winter Celebration

Art with Mrs. Miller Our beautiful front vestible!

Gingerbread houses in Mrs. Kibby’s, Ms. Ferreri and Ms. Kortis’ class.

Kearns’ Holiday Sing-a-Long.

Mrs. Garofalo’s Class making pinecone ornaments.

PJ Day at Kearns.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

NO SCHOOL

2

3 4

5

6 7

8 9

10 11

12 13 14 15 16

17 18

NO SCHOOL Martin Luther King Jr. Day

19

EARLY RELEASE DAY AM Preschool: 8:45-10:15 PM Preschool: 11:00-12:30 Grades K, 1 & 2: 8:35-1:00

20

21

22

23

24 25

Wonder Week All School

Community Meeting

26

PTO Meeting

Kelly Lane, 6:30pm

27

28

29

31

JANUARY 2016

F.M. Kearns