Happy New Year! We

hope everyone has come

back to us rested and ready

to learn. As we come back

from our winter break, we

are looking forward to some

uninterrupted, serious

teaching time. That being

said, the winter season is

here, and the weather

doesn’t always cooperate

with us. I just want to re-

mind parents of a couple of

points that will help keep

all of our students safe and

comfortable.

First and foremost, please

make sure that we have an

up-to-date, working tele-

phone number in our com-

puter system. In the case

of a delay or closing, the

district’s automatic calling

system will send out an

announcement as early as

possible. Our teaching

staff also follows the delay

schedule, so staff is not

available to supervise chil-

dren that are dropped off

early. During a 2 hour de-

lay, the building will open

at 10:10 a.m. and no break-

fast is served.

Also, for our car riders, we

again advise all parents

that the only safe pick-up

and drop-off area is from

the street parking in the

front of the building. Stu-

dents are to use the side-

walk that runs from the

street to the front door so

that we can safely see all

students coming and going.

You may see a few vans go

around the back of the

school and parking in the

driveway to drop students.

These are not personal ve-

hicles but district contract-

ed transportation for sev-

eral of our students. Par-

ents should continue to use

the street parking for drop-

off and pick-up.

Finally, please make sure

your child has appropriate

winter wear for the season.

A warm jacket, hat and

gloves are advisable. If any

student is in need of warm-

er clothing, please contact

the school and we can help.

Also, keeping a sweater or

other layering piece in your

child’s book bag allows stu-

dents to adjust their per-

sonal temperature during

the day without having to

put on bulky outside coats.

Important Dates

Jan 19—School Closed

Jan 22—Board Meeting @CBO

7:00 pm

Jan 23—End of 2nd M.P.

Jan 24—Spartan Invitational

@ WTC 10:00 am

Jan 26—School Closed

Jan 30—2nd M. P. PBS Cele-

bration

Feb 2—2nd M.P. Report Cards

issued

Feb 12—Board Meeting @CBO

7:00 pm

Feb 16—School Closed

Feb 17—Parent/Teacher Con-

ferences

Feb 26—Board Meeting @WTC

7:00 pm

Feb 28—African American

Celebration @ HS (flyer’s will

be sent home in the future)

Library News

In the library, kindergar-

ten students are exploring

the entertaining books by

author Robert Munsch.

First, grade has begun the

FICTION unit. They are

learning how to figure out

if a library book is fiction or

nonfiction and how those

books are organized on the

shelves of a library. Sec-

ond and Third grade have

been learning about the

library catalog system,

which helps them learn

about the different books in

our library.

Message from Mrs.

Piavis & Library

News

1

1st, 2nd and 3rd

Grade News

2

Kindergarten, Coun-

selor’s Corner, Music

News and Yearbook

Sales

3

Kindergarten, Coun-

selor’s Corner, Music

News & Yearbook

Sales

3

Common Core,

Events and Closing

4

Inside this issue:

Message from Mrs. Piavis

January-February

2015 Edition

AST NEWS

The Tradition Continues…

If you walked down the first grade

wing on December 18th, we are confi-

dent that you would have smelled the

delicious aroma of icing. If you poked

your head in our doors you would

have seen icing from the tips of their

noses all the way down to their toes.

What were our first graders attempt-

ing? The children were creating gin-

gerbread houses!

For the last eighteen years, our first

grade has continued the tradition of

making gingerbread houses. It all

begins with a milk carton. Students

then covered the

cartons with gra-

ham crackers.

After putting the

sides on, the roof

was the trickiest!

Next, the children

filled in all the

holes and edges of

the house. It

looked just like

snow on a house!

After all the hard work, the best part

was yet to come. Students had an

abundance of treats to decorate their

houses. From candy canes to M&M’s

to Skittles; decorations were in abun-

dance!

We look forward to creating our gin-

gerbread houses every December.

This tradition could not continue if

not for the help and support of our

first grade parents. Many families

donated the various supplies that

were needed and also volunteered

their time to help make the houses.

The effort is all worth it when seeing

the first grade faces. After licking

icing and eating treats, one student

commented; “This is the BEST day

ever”! I think that we are all in agree-

ment!

We have switched over to science.

The students are very excited to get

started on our Bridges unit.

We would like to thank all the parents

for the goodies that were brought in

for the winter festival. It was greatly

appreciated. Also, a big thank you to

our chaperones for The Nutcracker.

The students enjoyed it and were very

well behaved.

Have a wonderful rest of January and

February. Hopefully everyone will

We hope everyone had a relaxing and

enjoyable winter break. It's hard to

believe January is upon us.

In reading, we are finishing up the

Unit 4 benchmark on Central Mes-

sage. Our next unit will be Author's

Point of View.

In Math, we our starting subtraction

with regrouping. Practicing problems

at home with your child would be very

helpful if they are having difficulty.

stay healthy. Tissues and hand sani-

tizer are always welcome :)

1st Grade News

2nd Grade News

help at home by reading with your

child every night and asking them

questions about what they are read-

ing. You can also help by studying and

quizzing your child on their multipli-

cation facts. Thank you for your con-

tinued support! After a relaxing extended winter

break, third grade is back into the

swing of things! In Language Arts, we

are wrapping up our central message/

main idea unit. Next on the agenda is

our comparing and contrasting unit.

In math, we are working on mastering

those multiplication facts! We are also

working on an introduction to frac-

tions! In science, we are working with

our Earth Materials Kits. You can

3rd Grade News

Page 2

“Friendship isn’t about whom you’ve

known for the longest. It’s about

who came, stayed and never left

your side”

We are all very happy to be back with

our students after our relaxing winter

break, and we would like to wish eve-

ryone a very Happy New Year! There

is so much that we are looking for-

ward to accomplishing this month.

We are working on Essential Story

Parts in reading as we work to find

the characters, setting, major events

and key details of stories. In math we

are learning about 2D and 3D shapes,

measurement and starting our studies

of addition and subtraction. Mean-

while, we will also work to grow our

writing skills by beginning to write

stories, making sure to use proper

capitalization, punctuation, spaces

and inventive spelling.

Now that the second half of our school

year is beginning, we will be working

on learning the skills and behaviors

that will be needed to become success-

ful first graders. There are no winter

blues in kindergarten—every day is

FUN here!

February has us in for lots of celebrat-

ing. We will be looking forward to our

100th day of school and planning lots

of learning with the number 100 on

this day. Additionally, we are plan-

ning our letter writing and visit to the

Frederica Post Office as we get ready

for our classroom post office on Valen-

tine’s Day. We are

also learning how

to retell a story,

mastering our

study of numbers

to 100, while con-

tinuing to master addition and sub-

traction. With President’s Day also

this month, we will be taking a look at

several of our presidents. As we begin

our third marking period, we will be

focusing on reading our sight words,

sounding words out in reading and

writing, and working on being sure

that we use proper punctuation and

capitalization. It’s hard to believe

Kindergarten is already half over!

After a nice, refreshing winter break,

we are working on melody in mu-

sic. Each class is learning how to read

and play melodies. We are working

toward writing and playing our own

melodies. We’re singing and playing

pitched instruments weekly.

We also have a Glee Club that meets

after school to prepare songs for per-

formances at the African-American

History Celebration, I Love Lake For-

est Day, and the District Choral Festi-

val.

book. There is 100 character spacing

available for your message and the

cost is $3.00.

The yearbook and the shout-out form

are due no later than Monday, March

2, 2015.

Kindergarten News

Music News

I began meeting with my grief group.

During this time the students who

have lost a loved one realize they are

not alone; that there are others right

here in their school going through

similar situations. In the past, I have

noticed this time spent together doing

activities and sharing has been very

helpful for those students who have

lost a significant loved one. I am look-

ing forward to working with these

students.

For the month of February we will be

discussing “Responsibility” and what

it means to be responsible. We want Welcome back! I hope everyone had a

wonderful winter vacation.

For the month of January we are dis-

cussing feelings. The students will be

able to identify feelings and the differ-

ent situations associated with each

one. The students will also realize

that it is okay to feel many ways at

the same time and that many of them

may feel differently than others may

be feeling. The students enjoy shar-

ing and doing the activities that allow

them to show-off their expressions.

Beginning Tuesday, January 6, 2015,

Counselor’s Corner

Jan-Feb Edition Page 3

students to understand that the old-

er they become the more they will be

responsible for. They also need to

understand they are always respon-

sible for their actions. I always look

forward to hearing what students are

responsible for at home. Many love

sharing the chores they do around

the house. Although, they might

complain while doing them; children

like the feeling of knowing you need

their help! It gives them a sense of

responsibility!

Yearbook Sales

Yearbooks are now on sale. Or-

der forms should have come home

with your student Friday, Janu-

ary 16, 2015. The yearbook is

full color and sells for $15.00.

We also have a yearbook shout-

out form that should have come

home. Write that special mes-

sage to your child, teacher,

friend, family member, etc. and

have it published in the year-

124 W. Front St.

Frederica, DE 19946

Phone: 302-335-5261

Fax: 302-335-5273

Web: www.lf.k12.de.us/east

KEY IDEAS FOR PARENTS

about the Common

#3—Showing How They Know

The Common Core emphasizes proof & evidence. Long gone are the days of work-

sheets, fact memorizations and skill & drill. Students are not taught this way and they are

not assessed this way. Take away: The new tests will require students to explain how

they know.

Look for more Common Core tips in next month’s newsletter

WE’RE READY!!

4th Annual

Lake Forest

Spartans

Father-Daughter Dance

March 14, 2015

Open to all Lake Forest Spartans Girls K-8 and

their Fathers or Fathers Figures

Time:

5:00 p.m. for Formal Dinner

6:00—8:00 p.m. for Dance and Activities

Cost: $20.00 per Couple with $5.00 per addi-

tional child

Advanced Ticket Sales ONLY!

Tickets go on Sale @ W.T. Chipman Middle

School in Harrington on

February 2, 2015.

350 available tickets—

SOLD OUT LAST YEAR!

Spartan Invitational

When: Saturday—January 24, 2015

Where: W.T. Chipman Middle School

Time: 10:00 a.m.

Participating East Staff:

Dr. Conway, Mr. Kircher, Mr. McDaniel, Mrs. Mollohan, Mr. Naftzinger, Mrs. Seilheimer, Mrs.

Swearingen and Mr. Turner.

Cost: $2.00 per student and

$3.00 per adult

Come join the fun and

support your teacher!!

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