KP EagleNewsKey dates APRIL 7 PTA Meeting to discuss Walter Johnson Cluster overcrowding, Media Center, 7:00 PM

APRIL 9 PTA spring pARTy, Kensington Town Hall, 6:00 - 10:00 PM

APRIL 21 Science Fair, Gym/All Purpose Room, 7:00 - 8:30 PM

APRIL 26 No School, Primary Election Day

APRIL 30 Yard Sale, Upper and Lower Parking Lots

A note from the Principal Hello KP Families! I hope everyone had time to enjoy the break with family and friends. It is hard to believe we are starting the final quarter of this school year. The last quarter always seems to go the fastest, with too many things left to do and too little time left to do it. We started our Green Ticket Store just prior to the break. Students earn Green Tickets (randomly) for demonstrating respectful, responsible, or friendly behaviors. Green tickets are to be saved and treated like money. The Green Ticket Store is open on Tuesday and Friday mornings between 9:10 a.m. and 9:25 a.m. for students in first through fifth grades. Kindergarten students are able to shop in their own classrooms. Our Kindergarten Orientation will be held on Thursday, May 12th and Friday, May 13th. If you have a child, or know of a child in the KP neighborhood turning 5 by September 2nd, please call the office. It is very important for us to know how many Kindergarten students will enroll as soon as possible as our staffing is dependent upon the number of students. All the best! Barbara

A note from the PTA President

Dear KP, I don’t know about you, but once we hit April it seems to me as if the rest of the school year just disappears. It also happens that April is one of the busiest for the PTA! This month we have, of course, the big Spring pARTy on Saturday, April 9. There are still a few tickets left and we would love to see you at what promises to be a very fun night! Once we’ve recovered from the pARTy we move on to a new event by helping out the Montgomery County PTA with a Rock Creek Park clean up on April 16. More details will follow, but we will be working on our own little part of the park that  is right in the back yard of our school. Later in the month, on April 21, we look forward to the Science Fair. (continued p.2)

Kensington Parkwood Elementary School & PTA Newsletter • APRIL 2016

kppta.org

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Keep Collecting Those Box Tops! KP’s last submission for the 2015-2016 school year will be in June. Keep collecting, and thanks for your continued support! Angela Harvey

Run for a Goat with Running Club April will be "run for a goat month."  For the month of April, Recess Running Club and the PTA Service Committee will team up to raise money to buy a goat for a needy community through Heifer International.  Kids can bring voluntary donations of any amount with them to running club in April and run for a goat.

The Annual KP Science Fair is Almost Here The Annual KP Science Fair is Thursday, April 21 from 7-8:30 PM in the Gym/APR.

This voluntary non-competitive science fair is a wonderful opportunity for students in grades K-5 to have fun with science and present their work to the KP community. This year's science fair will also feature hands-on STEM activities sponsored by the KPPTA and local STEM vendors. Science fair applications were sent home in March before Spring Break. Individual and team projects are welcome! All participating students can receive a free tri-fold project board upon submitting their applications.Any questions? Contact Chris Fogg (cnfogg@yahoo.com) Thanks! Chris Fogg and Karin Averbeck (KP Science Fair Coordinators)

Welcome Wagon Did you join KP after the official first day of the school year? If so, the KPPTA Welcome Wagon is here to welcome your student(s) and your family to our community!  We have information packets available in the front office to address many of your questions. We also have a parent committee from each grade available to answer questions about the school, the KPPTA, grade-specific issues, or anything else you want to know about the KP community. So, if you joined the school mid-year, please contact Shoshana Eisenberg, Welcome Wagon Committee Chair, at shoshbeisenberg@yahoo.com and stop by the office to pick up an information packet. We look forward to getting to know you!

PE Update

Grades K-2 In the primary grades we will be working on the concept of striking with hands, various body parts, and short and long handled implements. We will also be working on cooperation and goal setting as it applies to physical fitness.

Grades 3-5 In the upper grades, we will be working on the concept of striking using long and short handled implements.  Activities will include baseball, hockey, and tennis skills.  We will also be discussing the FITT principle as it applies to physical fitness.

PTA President’s Note (continued) This voluntary fair is a ton of fun for the kids who participate - this year we have been able to talk our way into homework passes for participants to get them off the hook for the night of the event. Hooray! Lastly, the event near and dear to my heart, Treasures & Trash returns for its’ second year. Sell your old stuff, make some cash, and shred those old tax returns (back when they were actually printed on paper)! I will be at each of these events and very much hope to see you at one or more! Cate

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From the School Counselor

Dear KP Families,

Happy Spring! I hope that Spring Break has offered a chance for you and your children to rest, relax, and prepare for the final quarter of the school year. I wanted to take this month to talk about diversity. We are working to create an equitable learning environment here at KP that values our unique qualities as learners and as individuals. It is important that all students feel safe and accepted when coming to school each day, and parents can have a huge impact on our efforts.

As parents and caregivers, you are uniquely positioned to complement our school-wide efforts and guide conversations at home about appreciating the differences that make each of us special. Our older students are particularly aware of the recent world events and political campaigns where this message has not been cultivated. Encouraging your children to talk about social diversity at home and the importance of treating others respectfully and fairly goes a long way to plant the seeds of tolerance and acceptance.

Some great books to use to start these conversations include the following: • The Crayon Box that Talked, by Shane DeRolf & Michael Letzig

• The Sandwich Swap, by Queen Rania of Jordan Al Abdullah and Kelly DiPucchio

• It’s OK To Be Different, by Todd Parr

• The Boy with Pink Hair, by Perez Hilton

• Wonder, by R.J. Palacio If I can help support you or your children through these discussions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for all you do to support your children and KP!

Best, Jackie Mitchell

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In the Music Room

5th graders are using an online website called Noteflight to type up their compositions projects.

4th graders are working on xylophone compositions and reviewing musical elements of tempo and dynamics.

3rd graders are continuing to play their recorders and working independently and in small groups on various songs. They are also beginning a recorder composition.

2nd graders will begin writing their own rhythm compositions using standard notation.

1st graders are composting rhythmic ostinatos to accompany familiar game songs.

Kindergarteners are creating sound pieces using found sounds and instruments.

Kindergarten“April showers bring May flowers.” We are looking forward to warmer weather and observing the changes in our natural environment. We are curious to find out what spring will bring.We are working on the following objectives: Reading - Here are some tips to help you help your child become a better reader. As your child is reading, help your child figure out unknown words. “Do you know the first sound? What is the next sound?” “Look for a part of the word you know.” “Guess and check.” “What is the picture telling you?” Before you read a story to your child, share the names of the author and illustrator. Remind your child that the author writes the story and the illustrator draws the matching pictures. After reading, have your child identify the main topic (i.e., horses) and share key details from the book. Writing - Through practice and repetition, kindergartners are becoming writers!  At the beginning of quarter 4, they will continue to practice re-telling a story in sequential order (beginning/middle/end).  They will add details to strengthen their writing pieces.  We will be focusing on answering “wh” questions (who, what, where, when, why) to write about a chosen topic.  We will continue to work on the conventions of writing (capitalization, punctuation, spaces, etc.). Math - In April, students will, Represent addition with objects and record solutions with pictures, numbers, or words - Represent addition and subtraction by acting out situations - Model addition and subtraction situations and record equations to represent work - Represent addition and subtraction within 10 using objects on a 10-frame.Science - We will describe what humans can do with their hands.  We will also differentiate between similar looking animals by comparing observable featuresSocial Studies - In April, students will, Compare toys of the past with those of today - Identify and compare tools of the past and present - Identify methods of transportation - Identify methods of communicating messages used today and in the past.

First GradeApril is a busy month in first grade! Reading - In April, we will continue to read literary texts such as Junior Great Books, The Day the Crayons Quit, and poetry on familiar topics.  We will revisit skills such as identifying words/phrases that appeal to the senses/suggest feelings,  identifying real-life connections between words and their use, identifying who is telling a story, comparing what is the same/different and asking/answering questions about key details.  We will also continue to hone our ability to use context clues, sort vocabulary into categories, and have discussions that include multiple exchanges. Writing - We will write poems that recount an event, include details, and produce a sense of closure. We will also add drawings to our writing to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. We will then focus on adding adjectives to our writing in order to describe people, places, things, and events. Math - In weeks 1–3, instruction focuses on addition and subtraction within 100. We will develop the place value understanding that in adding 2-digit numbers, we add tens and tens, ones and ones, and that sometimes it is necessary to compose a ten. Grade 1 students use strategies based on place value and properties of operations to: add a 2-digit number and a 1-digit number (with or without composing a ten); and add a 2-digit number and a 2-digit multiple of 10. We will also subtract 2-digit multiples of ten. We will choose a strategy to solve problems and explain our thinking. In week 4, the focus will shift to 2-dimensional shapes and their attributes. Social Studies - We will be learning about natural and human resources used in the production of goods. We will also learning about capital resources used to produce a good. We will then focus on goods and services provided by a community.

Grade & Team Information

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First Grade (continued)Science - We will be learning about human needs, wants, and natural resources. Next, we will study sources and devices that use electricity.

Second GradeWe hope you had a fantastic spring break. We are looking forward to the last quarter and have lots of fun activities planned.  Our third quarter was very busy.  In writing students worked on opinion writing.  We have done a project on a book recommendation.  For math, we spent most of the quarter focusing on measurement and time.  We continue to work on comprehending fiction and non- fiction texts in reading.  During social studies, students learned about specialized workers and goods and services.  We also continued to study habitats and learned about life cycles. 

Third GradeWelcome back from spring break and to the fourth quarter!

Our final, yes final, book report will be handed out on April 18th. The students will read a mystery novel. The project will require them to create a display with three envelopes, a provided file folder, and three provided notecards. On one of the three notecards, students will write the actual ending of their mystery novel. On the other two notecards, students create alternate endings. During the presentation of these book reports, the class will guess which ending is the correct one! The final book report will be due on May 27.

Fourth quarter math is very different from third quarter in that we will be touching on a lot of content. We will cover two step word problems involving all operations, telling time, weight and mass measurement, geometric shapes, area, perimeter and graphing picture and bar graphs.

We are excited to begin working with Mrs. Lenore Blank Kelner, a drama artist, who will be working with all of the third grade classes in Radio Drama. While working with Mrs. Kelner, students will use their imagination, voice, and body to accurately create a character in a radio drama, and will use cooperation and concentration in order to work as a respectful team and listen intently to radio drama. They will also visualize a radio drama, compare and contrast a radio drama with television, analyze the elements that make radio drama effective, read with purpose, understanding, fluency, and accurate expression, and work diligently over time to effectively record a radio drama. These dramas will be available on the KP website upon completion.

Lastly, we are going on a field trip to the National Capital Trolley Museum on April 22. More details to follow.

Fourth GradeIn writing, fourth graders will be researching natural disasters.  We will be watching videos, reading books, and reading articles to gather information on earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis.  Finally, the students will organize all their research to compose a five-paragraph essay.  In Social studies, we will continue learning about colonization in preparation for our upcoming St. Mary’s field trip.  In reading, all students in fourth grade will be reading Shiloh. 

In math, students will be composing angles to make complimentary and supplementary angles. We will also work with classifying triangles, and continue working with fractions and decimals. In science, students will explore the properties of rocks and minerals, and discuss how the earth’s surface changes.

Grade & Team Information, continued

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Grade & Team Information, continuedFifth GradeWith spring upon us, we in 5th grade are looking forward to all of the exciting events ahead of us. In reading, students will continue to read and study informational poetry. We will identify content specific vocabulary and summarize two or more texts on the same topic. In particular, informational texts will focus on bees, bats and other animals. In writing, students will research historic Philadelphia and create their own informational travel brochure in anticipation of our upcoming field trip. In math, students will use place value strategies and models to multiply and divide decimals to the hundredths place. Students will then apply this knowledge by converting units of measurement and solving multi-step word problems.

In compacted math, students will study continue to study algebraic concepts. Particularly, students will use the properties of operations to write equations. Also, students will solve variable equations and inequalities based on real-world problems.

Permission slips for the Philadelphia field trip are due Friday, April 22. If parents would like to chaperone they must submit payment by this date as well. Beginning on April 11 every 5th grade class will participate in an Artist in Residency program with Rosalind Flynn. In the program students will incorporate dramatic elements into the work of Shakespeare.

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In the Art Room Kindergarten continues work on their monster cityscapes

1st grade continues work on their jungle prints 2nd grade is studying the work of Piet Mondrian and then will create a sculpture inspired by his work. 3rd grade is studying Andy Warhol and will create a self portrait inspired by his work. 4th grade is studying the work of Joan Miro and creating prints inspired by his work.

5th grade continues work on their printmaking unit.

Save the Date: KP’s Family Fun Day Join us for food, fun and possible fortune!

When: Saturday, May 14, 4-7pmWhere: KP's blacktop and field

Entrance Fees: $10 per child  (covers all games, inflatables, popcorn/cotton candy, face painting, and dunk tank)

Additional Activities: Food Trucks (Armands Pizza, Guapos, Ice Cream)

Cake Walk  50/50 Raffle

Look for the flyer in your child's back pack for more information and to purchase wristbands and 50/50 raffle tickets in advance.