Dear Parents,
January has been a busy month at Point Road School and it looks as if we are off and running into February!!
January has been a busy month at Point Road School and it looks as if we are off and running into February!!
The weather this winter has been a bit unpredictable, did Punxsutawney Phil did see his shadow so will we get some winter snow or not? Time will tell!
We held our Annual Spelling Bee on January 6th– it was amazing to listen to the difficulty of some of the words that the students were being asked to spell. After a grueling competition, the winners were as follows:
4th Grade Champion: Claire O’Leary
4th Grade 2nd Place: Shane Langan
4th Grade 3rd Place: Nicholas Silverio
3rd Grade Champion: Charlotte Richards
3rd Grade 2nd Place: Francesca Pianoforte
3rd Grade 3rd Place: Eliza Connolly
3rd Grade 4th Place: Sophia Filippelli
We wish Claire best of luck at Monmouth University!
4th Grade Champion: Claire O’Leary
4th Grade 2nd Place: Shane Langan
4th Grade 3rd Place: Nicholas Silverio
3rd Grade Champion: Charlotte Richards
3rd Grade 2nd Place: Francesca Pianoforte
3rd Grade 3rd Place: Eliza Connolly
3rd Grade 4th Place: Sophia Filippelli
We wish Claire best of luck at Monmouth University!
On Thursday, January 19th the 4th grade students played the staff in the annual Point Road School basketball game. Although the 4th graders played well, the staff actually won! The final score was 63-60!
On Thursday, February 2nd from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM, we held our Tenth Annual Family Fitness Night! Families were "put to the test" with activities that our students experience in physical education classes and participated in some of the newest activity trends in lifetime health and fitness.
The 2nd Marking Period closed on Friday, January 27th and Report Cards were available on the Parent Portal on February 3rd If you have any questions or concerns; please contact your child’s teacher. Conferences are scheduled for Thursday evening, February 9th. If you would like to request a conference with your child’s teacher, please send a note to the teacher with this request. Otherwise, these conferences are generated via teacher request.
So far our Spirit Days have been a source of excitement that even the coldest of winter days cannot dampen!
The remaining Spirit Days for February include:
Friday, February 10th
Considerate and Comfy Day! It’s cool to wear pajamas to school, but it's even cooler to use manners! Make please, thank you and excuse me your words of the day! (Don’t forget to bring shoes for outdoor recess!!) We are doing this in conjunction with the PTO Outreach Little Silver Committee’s Pajama Program collection. Please see the PTO Constant Contact newsletter for more info!
Thursday, February 16th
Whole School Rap-Off Day! Postponed to March 17th
February 24th
Characters and Kindness! Dress up as your favorite book character while using kind words and performing kind acts for others!
Here are some of our January photos for you to enjoy!
The remaining Spirit Days for February include:
Friday, February 10th
Considerate and Comfy Day! It’s cool to wear pajamas to school, but it's even cooler to use manners! Make please, thank you and excuse me your words of the day! (Don’t forget to bring shoes for outdoor recess!!) We are doing this in conjunction with the PTO Outreach Little Silver Committee’s Pajama Program collection. Please see the PTO Constant Contact newsletter for more info!
Thursday, February 16th
Whole School Rap-Off Day! Postponed to March 17th
February 24th
Characters and Kindness! Dress up as your favorite book character while using kind words and performing kind acts for others!
Here are some of our January photos for you to enjoy!
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/8/5/23851278/published/img-0134.jpg?250)
“Bee” Proud and Show LS Pride Day!
On February 14th, we are looking forward to celebrating the 100th Day of School!
Please visit our website often to keep abreast of all of our activities! If you have not already done so, please follow us on Twitter @PointRoad2 and “like” us on our Facebook page!
Please visit our website often to keep abreast of all of our activities! If you have not already done so, please follow us on Twitter @PointRoad2 and “like” us on our Facebook page!
February 22nd, 23rd and 24th CoGat Testing – Grade 2
March 12th Daylight Savings Time |
March 20th – Spring Begins
March Madness at Point Road School!
Learning to write well is one of the most challenging tasks for anyone, regardless of age. It takes time, practice, and lots of encouragement. Parents and teachers can help children develop their skills and, equally important, a love for words and writing. Reading and writing go hand in hand. Please continue reading for some ideas that can help your child become a better writer!
Sincerely,
Pamela Albert Devine
Let's Write!
One of the most important parts of knowing how to write well is to feel comfortable doing it. The magic in writing comes from the ideas you have. Let ideas flow, as they would if you were talking. The beauty of the written word is that you can always go back and make changes: rearrange the ideas, correct the spelling, add new ideas, and take out ideas that don't fit. The important thing is for all of us to work together to make writing an important part of our daily life.
The Wee Deliver program, the official Point Road Post Office has been very active this year! We are very excited about how much the students are writing! Encourage your child to write letters at home that can be mailed either at our post office or downtown at the Little Silver Post Office.
Writing connects families and friends.
Writing preserves memories.
Writing helps solve problems.
Writing helps children take a stand.
Writing helps children learn responsibility.
Writing should go public.
Writing inspires creativity all year round.
Writing improves reading. Reading improves writing.
Writing improves with teacher and parent help.
Sincerely,
Pamela Albert Devine
Let's Write!
One of the most important parts of knowing how to write well is to feel comfortable doing it. The magic in writing comes from the ideas you have. Let ideas flow, as they would if you were talking. The beauty of the written word is that you can always go back and make changes: rearrange the ideas, correct the spelling, add new ideas, and take out ideas that don't fit. The important thing is for all of us to work together to make writing an important part of our daily life.
The Wee Deliver program, the official Point Road Post Office has been very active this year! We are very excited about how much the students are writing! Encourage your child to write letters at home that can be mailed either at our post office or downtown at the Little Silver Post Office.
Writing connects families and friends.
Writing preserves memories.
Writing helps solve problems.
Writing helps children take a stand.
Writing helps children learn responsibility.
Writing should go public.
Writing inspires creativity all year round.
Writing improves reading. Reading improves writing.
Writing improves with teacher and parent help.
In addition to letter writing activities, as a parent, here are someother things you can do to foster a love of writing:
- Praise children's writing efforts and respond to the message rather than to the grammar or spelling. Prominently display children's writing and demonstrate that you enjoy and value children's writing.
- Show that you write often to make lists, take down messages, write notes to the school, and write letters to friends.
- Write to your child: put a note in a lunch bag, make a birthday poster, and sendpostcards from your vacations.
- Encourage your young children to get ready to write. They can scribble, draw pictures, and make designs with letters.
- Play writing and spelling games: have family spelling bees, do crossword puzzles, play scrabble, play waiter or waitress.
- Explain that math problems are a form of writing. 2 + 3 = 5 is a sentence.
- Talk about why people write. Are they giving step-by-step instructions, telling a story according to when the events happened, describing how something looks, or trying to convince someone to do something?
- Exchange Post-it® notes with your children. Put the notes on pillowcases or mirrors, or in lunch boxes, books, or any surprise location.
- Start a family diary to record special days, funny sayings, weekend activities and other significant events. Include photos, letters, cards and other mementos relevant to family. Share reading of the journal with family members.
- Talk with children to help them clarify their thinking about their writing.
- Talk with children about what sort of writing they are doing at school. If you are involved in writing for work, show children how you have written and explain why you are writing.
- Encourage children to use the computer for their writing.
- Read children's draft writing and comment on the things you like about it. Encourage children to figure out their own answers, e.g. have-a-go at spelling a new word and then use a dictionary to check. Provide help if children ask for it but leave final decisions about writing to the writer.
- If your children ask you to help them 'fix' their writing for publication or for a project, check with the teacher to see if children are using an editing checklist at school and obtain a copy. Work cooperatively with children using the list.
- Help children assemble photo albums of family events and write captions for the photos.
- Comic Strip Writing -Use comic strips to help with writing. Cut apart the segments of a comic strip and ask your child to arrange them in order. Then ask the child to fill in the words of the characters (orally or in writing).
- Ask children to put their wishes and wants into writing and to suggest how they may work toward or contribute to getting what they want.
National Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy and the Helping Your Child seriesof books for parents. For more information, please contact the National Library of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC20208, telephone 1-800-424-1616.
National Writing Project
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/resources/help_write.csp
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/resources/write_together.csp
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/nwp/ten-ideas.html
Help a Child Write a Story
http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/tips-howtos/help-child-write-story-a-30593.html
How to Help Your Child Become a Better Writer
http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/howtohelpenglish