The Steward Signal

September 2023

“STEWARD SCHOOL CONTINUES TO OFFER HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION WITH A SMALL TOWN APPROACH.”

by Mr. Hayes

Kindergarten has been hard at work learning about school rules and expectations throughout the building. We are also working on how to take turns and play fair when playing with toys or games. They have been so kind and often say, "great job" to someone in the classroom who has won a game or has accomplished something new. The amount of compassion these students show is amazing!!!!

Science, the students have been working on matter, sorting objects by different attributes, coming up with their own sorts, and our five senses.

Social Emotional Learning has been a great addition to our curriculum. The students have learned that if we have positive thoughts and positive actions, we will have a "happy heart". We are also learning how we need to take care of our physical bodies to have a positive thought process.

Science

Math, we have been working on identity numbers, finding patterns, two dimensional shapes, and developing solutions to small math problems.

Math

The first grade students have been learning so much this first quarter. In reading, we have been working on learning our phonics patterns as well as hundreds of sight words! We practice our sight words and phonics by reading small books and using flashcards that focus on a specific pattern. Our fourth and fifth reading buddies have been a huge help to us by helping us practice our sight words and read our phonics books every afternoon. We have also been learning about some important reading skills during class. So far we have covered fact vs. opinion, fix-up strategies, and predicting. We are currently learning about main ideas and details, plot, characters, and setting.

Language arts is a large part of our day. In handwriting we are learning how to make our lowercase letters the correct way. In spelling, we are all learning spelling patterns by looking at the first, middle, and last sound in a word.

In math we started the year by learning about counting patterns and place value. We are just beginning our unit on addition strategies. We use these strategies every day when we do our Rocket Math. Rocket Math is a series of timed addition tests that will help us memorize our facts.

In social studies we are learning to read maps, use charts, put things in order, and identify types of jobs in a community. We will be learning about social studies during first semester and transition to science for the second half of the school year.

Every day we write in our journals.

We use our journals to do a written

response for each chapter we hear

from the book The Mouse and the

Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. In

six traits writing, we have learned

how to stick to just one topic in

our writing. We have also learned how to give a story structure by focusing on a beginning, middle, and end.

Fundations (Wilson Language Training) Students use magnetic letters to form words as they review letter sounds, diagraphs blends and glued sounds. They also use dry erase boards to practice spelling these closed syllable words and trick words. The biggest challenge is writing a dictated sentence. This requires good listening skills, spelling strategies and good handwriting.

Ag In the Classroom:The students look forward to seeing Miss Dana Merriman as she brings an activity to educate the students about agriculture and its importance. They have planted seeds in a glove, created their own farmer’s market sign and played a card game finding matching agricultural pictures.

First Day

of School

Read Alouds: We started the year by reading The Cool Bean by

Jory John. Students learned that being cool isn’t about how you

‘swagger’ or how you look but how kind you are. The next read aloud

was Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. The class learned the meaning of perseverance and how they personally can persevere through something that is hard for them to do. Some of our students recited this quote from the book ‘Honey is sweet and so is knowledge, but knowledge is like the bee that made that sweet honey, you have to chase it through the pages of a book.’ Students also enjoyed honey and crackers.. Since Patrica Polacco was a favorite author, we read Mr. Lincoln’s Way and My Rotten RedHeaded Brother also. It was exciting to watch the students compare and contrast these books. With each read aloud, students enter into class discussions as well as write responses to questions.

Math: Students were excited to begin Rocket Math, a timed math fluency test. As students advance in addition and subtraction facts, they color letters on a rocket as they master that level. Second graders can regroup hundreds, tens and ones using base ten blocks, compare 3 digit numbers and identify patterns when counting by 1’s, 5’s and 10’s. The third graders can decompose a number in different ways to help subtract and can adjust numbers to make it easier to add and subtract.,

Math

Math

In math we have been hard at work! The 4th graders are learning about factors and multiples currently and are making great use of their multiplication songs. The 5th graders have been flying through adding and subtracting decimals! I am consistently wowed at their math abilities. Both classes had the chance to play math hopscotch in the classroom as they were learning during previous units.

Welcome back Steward families! It is wonderful to see all the familiar faces. We have had a great start to the year in 4th and 5th grade. We just took our first reading assessment on fact and opinion, monitoring and fix-up strategies, and predicting. We are excited to start discussing plot, characters and setting, and main idea in the upcoming weeks.

In our reading class, we have been focusing on developing strong reading comprehension skills. Students have been engaged in various activities such as reading and analyzing different genres of literature, participating in group discussions, and practicing critical thinking skills. I highly encourage you to support your child's reading journey by providing them with a variety of books and engaging in conversations about what they are reading.

Reading

6th - 8th Grade Math

All the junior high math classes have been working on various applications of ratios and how they work. We've learned or reviewed how ratios are just a fancy word for fractions and that they are just a comparison of 2 different quantities.

Ag In The Classroom

Mrs. Katie Pratt is back in the classroom with us once a month to learn about the agriculture around us. Our first lesson involved learning which items in the store come from agriculture and which ones come from natural resources. The students were surprised to find out just how many of the things we buy come from things that are grown around us.

6th - 8th Grade Science

We've started studying Physical Science this year. We're currently learning about the behaviors and properties of particles at a molecular level and what this means as we build substances. This is also the year that we will be studying the Periodic Table. Our most recent lab helped us understand the connections among temperature, pressure, and volume of gasses.

Student council

Science

Hello, Steward friends! Over the past few weeks, Kindergarten and 1st grade scholars discovered the amazing power of the color wheel! Using paint, play-do, and bits of colored paper, our kiddos saw again and again how red, yellow, and blue can combine differently to transform into orange, green, and purple!

In 2nd grade and 3rd grade, the students studied artist Keith Haring, noticing how he used simple lines and bold color to spread happy stories in public. Students were able to define which lines meant “noise” and which meant “movement.” They outlined friends for life-sized fun and created “graffiti” names, as well!

2nd-3rd Art

6th and 7th grade grabbed hunks of clay and set to work with our Hamsa hand art. They unearthed origins of this symbol sometimes used as an amulet and even saw how the upward or downward image of the hand can mean different things! Care was displayed as the students cautiously designed and then carved intricate imagery directly into their clay.

The 3rd and 4th grade music class from last year has demonstrated outstanding growth in the music classroom since last school year. Now, they have begun playing band instruments! In August, the 4th and 5th graders attended an instrument fitting session, where they got to try all sorts of instruments that play in the band. After seeing which ones they liked, we were ready to play. We can’t wait to show you what we learn by the winter concert in December!

by Mr. Groth

I would like to welcome everyone to the 2023–2024 school year. For those parents that I have not had the opportunity to meet, my name is David Hanes, and I am the physical education teacher. This is my second year teaching at Steward Elementary. I have had a wonderful experience my first year and look forward to building upon that for many years to come. I have two beautiful daughters, Grace (21), and Ella (17), and a three year-old Australian Shepherd named Beau who is very much a part of our family and is included in about everything we do.

Frisbee unit

Steward’s mission, for all students, is to provide a safe environment for all students to grow and learn about physical education, and I am committed to making that my mission as well. Personal growth and preparedness are important for the next stage of their academic career. Teaching lifelong activities to promote a healthy lifestyle, togetherness, and how to function as a team, regardless of various backgrounds are all key aspects of our program. Promoting encouragement and success for every student is my goal.

by Mr. Hanes

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