March Volume 5, Issue 7

CRAFTON ELEMENTARY

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Digital Learning Day . 2

PTA News .................. 2

Read Across America 3

Friendly Reminders .. 4

PSSA Countdown ...... 5

Students of the Month ................................... 6

Monthly Birthdays .... 7

CRAFTON CORNER

We Respect Each Other

Being respectful is more than just using good manners—it means treating

people the way you want to be treated. Keep these ideas in mind to help your

whole family focus on respect.

Use Peaceful tones—It’s a fact that shouting often leads to more shouting.

Ask your child to speak in a normal tone to show respect for the person she/

he’s talking to—and for everyone around him/her.

Avoid making assumptions—Your youngster can respect others’ feelings

by giving them the benefit of the doubt. For example, encourage him/her to

rephrase an accusation like, “Who took my water bottle?” Instead he could

ask, “Has anyone seen my water bottle?” That’s more respectful because it

won’t make anyone feel accused or defensive.

Accept different opinions—With your child, role-play ways to respect

opinions that are different from his/her own. He/she might start a sentence

with “That’s one way to look at it, but I think—” or “a lot of people would

agree with you. In my opinion—” If a conversation is getting heated, he/she

could simply say, “Let’s agree to disagree and talk about something else.”

My Studying Tool Kit

Developing strong study skills now will help your youngster throughout ele-

mentary school and the rest of her school career. Suggest that he/she add

these tools to his/her studying tool kit.

Color—Let your child use highlighters to color-code his/her notes for

easy reference. Perhaps he/she will highlight dates in yellow, people’s

names in pink, and vocabulary terms in blue.

Recordings—Encourage your youngster to record herself/himself ask-

ing questions about the material. She/he can hit “play” to hear the ques-

tions and “pause” to give each answer.

Sticky notes—Your child could write a one sentence summary of each

textbook section on a sticky note.

2

DIGITAL LEARNING DAY

FEBRUARY 27TH

What do we mean by Digital Learning?

Digital learning is any instructional practice that

effectively uses technology to strengthen a stu-

dent’s learning experience. It emphasizes high-

quality instruction and provides access to challeng-

ing content, feedback through formative assess-

ment, opportunities for learning anytime and any-

where, and individualized instruction to ensure all

students reach their full potential to succeed in col-

lege and a career.

Why Celebrate Digital Learning Day?

With so many new types of digital devices, educational software and mobile

apps continuously developed, it’s hard to keep up with the latest and great-

est advancements in educational technology. In some classrooms and out-

of-school programs across the country, educators are doing some pretty

amazing things with technology. Yet, these pockets of innovation are con-

fined to a small number of schools and communities. Digital Learning Day

was started as a way to actively spread innovative practices and ensure that

all youth have access to high-quality digital learning opportunities no mat-

ter where they live.

PTA NEWS

March 2-6—Read Across America Week

March 1-29—Penny Wars

March 4th—Sarris orders due

March 11th—PTA Meeting at 7 pm

March 31st—Mix and Match Day

Digital Learning Day Activities

Kindergarten participated in Scratch

Jr. and Code.org with their fourth grade bud-

dies.

First Grade students used a food group

Kahoot to celebrate their food groups unit.

Second Grade utilized gram m ar K a-

hoot to reinforce present-tense verbs and

irregular nouns. They also used Scratch Jr.

to explore/develop coding skills.

Third Grade extended their lessons with Spelling City, Google Slides Presentation on Main Idea/Supporting Details relating to our story in Wonders, Epic Books and Leg-ends of Learning Fourth Grade w orked w ith their K in-

dergarten buddies in Tagxedos and coding.

The students also used Scratch and Tynker to

participate on activities on iPads.

Fifth Grade reinforced their skills by

having students work on PowerPoint pro-

jects, Edmentum, Kahoot, and Plickers.

Sixth Grade students discussed how

power is divided in the United States Govern-

ment by participating in a TedEd lesson. In

science, the students will create a Powerpoint

on volcanoes.

READ ACROSS AMERICA

KINDNESS MATTERS! Read Across America Week is the week of March 2nd and this year’s theme is “Kindness Matters.” We had many exciting things planned for our students. We began the week with spirit days and encouraging everyone to bring reading to life. There were also many guests planned for our students. Pittsburgh Riverhounds Mascot, Amo, will kick off our participa-tion in the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Reading Challenge. We will partner with Animal Friends to honor Dr. Suess’ birthday. The field trip will allow students to practice their reading skills in a meaningful, purposeful way. Kindergarten and First Grade—Our special visitor, Elsa, will read to our students. Second Grade—Second grade students will take a trip on the “Magic School Bus” with Mrs. Fizzle. Kindergarten through Third Grade—The students will meet Western Pennsylvania author, Jason Paul. He is the author of Lightning Bug Lights. Students will take a beautiful journey while balancing a child’s imagination with reality. Kindergarten through Sixth Grade—All classrooms will be visited by guest readers from the community.

Spirit Days: Monday, March 2nd—Wear Your Words Day—Wear a t-shirt with a message! - school appropriate of course) Tuesday, March 3rd—Fox in Socks, Crazy Socks Day Wednesday, March 4th—Be A Character Day—Dress up as your faviorite char-acter from a book. Thursday, March 5th—Grab Your Hat and Read with the Cat Day (Students and staff should wear their favorite hat and/or Dr. Seuss gear) Friday, March 6th– One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Day —Students wear red and/or blue.

Drop off

Please remember that Drop Off time in the morning is a busy time.

There are many cars and buses that are moving along. If your child

is dropped off on the opposite side of the street, please have him/her

cross at the corner with the crossing guard. If you are dropping your

child off in the morning, please be mindful of all of the other parents

that are waiting patiently behind you. Be respectful and keep the

line moving so all of the buses and cars receive the same type of

courtesy.

Drop off begins at 8:00 am. Students should not arrive at school

before this time. There is no adult supervision until 8:00 am.

Dismissal Time

Remember that dismissal time is also a busy time for the school.

Parking is difficult for all families, but we must be safe for all of our

students. Please do not park in the alley. This disrupts the flow and

traffic that is happening at dismissal time. Do not block cars. Every-

one has a busy schedule and must be able to leave when ready.

Be mindful and friendly to our neighbors. Please do not park in their

driveways or block their cars or yards.

Please Remember

When communicating with your child’s teacher via email, please be sure to copy the school secretary (maryrose.louis@carlynton.k12.pa.us) on correspondence that involves any of the following:

Attendance

Tardiness

Absence excuses

Dismissal changes**

COUNTDOWN TO THE PSSA

With a few weeks before the PSSAs, our teachers are looking for creative and effective ways to maximize the remaining

instructional time to provide our students with the necessary tools that are needed to become Proficient or Advanced in

English Language Arts, Math, and Science. It is imperative that all students are in school during these assessments and

report on time, as modifications to daily schedules will occur in order to create a conducive testing environment for all

students. The testing calendar is listed below:

Assessment Dates Grades

English Language Arts April 20-22, 2020 3-6

Mathematics April 27-28, 2020 3-6

Science April 30-May 1st, 2020 4

Parent Tips to Help Prepare Your Student for Standardized Testing

What your student is learning on a daily basis builds the foundation for being able to demonstrate high achievement on

tests. During the weeks leading up to the test, begin to talk with your child about the importance of giving their best ef-

fort during testing. The following thoughts will help you in preparing your child for being ready to give the test his or her

all.

The Night Before:

Help your child get to bed on time. Research shows that being well-rested helps students do better.

Help children resolve immediate arguments before going to bed.

Keep your routine as normal as possible. Upsetting natural routines may make children feel insecure.

Mention the test to show you’re interested, but don’t dwell on it.

Plan ahead to avoid conflicts on the morning of the test.

The Morning of the Test:

Get up early to avoid rushing. Be sure to have your child at school on time.

Have your child eat a good breakfast but not a heavy one. Research shows that students do better if they have break-

fast before they take tests.

Have your child dress in something comfortable.

Be positive about the test. Acknowledge that tests can be hard, and that they are designed so that no one will know

all of the answers. Explain that doing your best is what counts. It is important to make your child comfortable and

confident about the test.

After the Test:

Talk to your child about his or her feelings about the test, making sure you acknowledge the effort such a task re-

quires.

Discuss what was easy and what was difficult; discuss what your child learned from the test.

Kindergarten Lennon Nitti Wyatt O’Malley-Gamrat Orion Orsi

First Grade Veronica Muth Kaydance Jenkins Corinne Coppler

Second Grade Hailey Berkhouse Evan Ducouer

Third Grade Shanel Henry Olivia Colussy

Fourth Grade Caitlin LaRiviere Greta Schriver

Fifth Grade Natalie Smith Sophia O’Brien

Sixth Grade Destinee Curry Trevor Patton Nai’jer Davenport

Issac Anker Troy Lee Foster Logan Orsi

Mya Austin Elisabetta Frank Nicholas Reeder

Olive Bannan Mitchell Glidden Kimberly Sheets

Richard Bernhardy Rose Highfield Braxton Sherrell

Shayden Butti Jasmine Koster John Slogick

Dominic Cirrincione Quinn Kuban Ava Tegge

William Crawford Leona Leidig Harper Ulakovic

Channing Crowell Sarah Loney Dimitri Valcheff

Everett Dix Gianna Medici Theos Valcheff

Wyatt O'Malley-Gamrat