HorizonHorizonElementary SchoolElementary School

DECEMBER 2019 NEWSLETTERDECEMBER 2019 NEWSLETTER

PRINCIPAL'S POSTDear Horizon Parents,

December never disappoints with its usual extreme level of "hustle & bustle." Whew, it's been abusy month so far! In the midst of the many items on our "to do" lists, it is always, always,always a joy to spend each day with your wonderful children. This month, it is an extra specialblessing to see our kids and families using the LIFELINE of Generosity by donating to our "Joyof Giving" efforts: Toys for Tots Drive, items for Care Packages for the Homeless, and warmblankets for those in need.

“When you learn, teach. When you get, give.”~Maya Angelou

“To do more for the world than the world does for you – that is success.”~Henry Ford

Horizon's classrooms are full of bright, beautiful young people who are learning importantlessons and skills every day. Our staff (teachers, support staff, bus drivers, Kids Club,custodians, and administrators) is a team of truly dedicated people who are focused onhelping each child reach their full potential. Sometimes that means helping a strugglingstudent learn the basics. Other times, that means taking students into new territory, exposingthem to challenging (and often rewarding) learning experiences. Our vision is that all studentshave "high achievement and maximum academic growth." In addition, we want each student tobe socially, emotionally, and behaviorally strong. Each staff member and each family membercontributes to this process and we appreciate each individual's role in working with ourstudents.

As a school, we continue to strive for excellence at every level. We know we can only reachhigh levels of success and accomplish our goals if we do it as a TEAM. PHM's Triangle ofSuccess: Students, Parents & Teachers working together is the key, and we are blessed by

your generous support and our school. Thank you for giving generously of your time, talent,and resources.

On behalf of our entire Horizon staff, we wish you a joy-�lled holiday. It truly is the mostwonderful time of the year!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year,

Tressa Decker, PrincipalAmy Fadorsen, Assistant Principal

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL) ATHORIZON Social-emotional learning lessons for the month of December will focus on regulation andsocial awareness, speci�cally, perspective taking. Regulation refers to the ability to recognizeand manage one’s emotions. Regulation skills help students implement self-control, positiveself-discipline, and impulse control. Learning about regulation helps students managestressors or things beyond their control and implement coping strategies to keep theirthoughts, feelings and actions in check. Social awareness refers to the ability to take theperspectives of others, and empathize with people of diverse backgrounds and cultures.

We believe it is important for children to develop and practice these skills while they are inschool. It is also extremely important that they are practicing them at home. We encourageparents and caregivers to reinforce these lessons and practice these skills at home. This cabe done in simple ways such as talking about self-control, praising your child when you catchthem using self-control (ex. wait until it's time to eat the cookies, rather than grabbing onebefore it's time), and by strategically talking with your child about "how the other person mightfeel" as this will help them develop empathy and the ability to take other perspectives thantheir own. Your support and guidance makes a big difference...thank you!

PRESCHOOL NEWSOur preschool class had some very special guests! Students from Penn High School's English10 class came to share their gift of reading with us. The high school students brought a bookto share with us. The students also chose an activity to do with us that related to the story thatthey read. We were so honored to be chosen to partner with the PHS students!

KINDERGARTEN NEWSThis month we had a blast learning about verbs, the differences between fantasy and reality,number sentences and comparing and contrasting. We also created “Friend Venns” to help ussee how we are similar or different from our classmates. We also learned the story ofThanksgiving and are eager to tell our families all about it during our break.

1ST GRADE NEWSStudents in First Grade are working on the November LIfeline of gratitude by developing,selecting and organizing ideas of how and why they are grateful and writing about it to sharewith the class. Having students listen to other students writing helps them become betterwriters. This process also helps students learn how to read more carefully paying closeattention to the details of their piece.

2ND GRADE NEWS

Writers in Second Grade are working on revising their stories with their writing partners.Students are learning that a good writer will write, write some more and then edit. Writers areworking on bringing their characters to life by making them move, talk and think in theirstories.

3RD GRADE NEWSHorizon's 3rd-grade students studied informational writing. They used the knowledge theygained from the Air Museum �eld trip, as well as research skills, to craft a non�ction reportabout a speci�c airplane. Students practiced their speaking and listening skills as theypresented their reports to the class. Also, our 3rd graders created amazing birds during theirsmART lesson. Their creative birds were fashioned out of model magic clay and feathers. Thisart project was perfectly timed with a story in our reading curriculum called "Amazing BirdNests". Our 3rd graders are looking forward to their musical production entitled "Scenes of theSeason" coming up in December. Horizon is lucky to have intelligent and creative studentsthat are shining brightly!

4TH GRADE NEWSOur fourth graders have been learning how to write opinion essays this month. Teachers havebeen busy writing with their students and incorporating craft into practice pieces to help buildthe students' understanding of using text evidence to support their writing and explaining theirpoint of view with clear details. Here is a sample of a class essay on a topic many of us knowand love, ice cream!

I love Ice CreamBy: Mrs. Rehlander’s Class with additions by Isabel Cramer.

I love ice cream because it comes in a variety of �avors, it is a refreshing, tasty treat on a hotday, and most of all because you can customize it to make different desserts.

One reason I love ice cream is that it comes in a variety of �avors. There are many �avors ofice cream, but the three basic �avors are vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Some ice creamshops carry a huge variety of �avors to tempt their customers. Some of their names are veryinteresting like Splunkers, Superman, Moose Tracks, Turtle Tracks, and Blue Moon. All are

wonderfully delicious treats. My favorite �avor is Cake Batter because it tastes like a pool ofdelicious batter, is soft and creamy, and tastes like a swirl of simple, delicious, cold and

creamy batch of cake batter.Another reason I love ice cream is that it’s a tasty treat on a hot day. Vist your freezer on a hot

summer day for an ice cream treat. It will cool you off and please your taste buds. You caneasily scoop up your ice cream, add it to a bowl or cone, and eat it to cool off. If you want to

relax, then sit down and eat it. Don’t wait too long or it will melt.

Although I love ice cream because it becomes in a variety of �avors and because it’s arefreshing treat on a hot, I especially love it because you can customize it to make manydifferent desserts. For example, you can add a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream to

rootbeer and enjoy a rootbeer �oat! Cut up a banana, add some ice cream and toppings, andyou have a luscious banana split. Another treat you can make is a milkshake. Get some vanilla

ice cream, add some syrup of your choice, put it in a blender, and you’ve got a ticket todeliciousness! Enjoy!

Do we need a reason to eat ice cream? Here are just a few to think about and enjoy a bowl ofice cream while you do!

5TH GRADE NEWSAbraham Lincoln, Neil Armstrong, Mother Teresa, Fred Rodgers, and Martin Luther King Jr.were just a few famous visitors who showed up in �fth grade recently. The "wax version" ofthese historical heroes were part of our museum that the fourth graders were invited to visit.Our "heroes" had to research information about themselves and then dress in costume to sharetheir stories, as well as write an informational essay. Queen Elizabeth, Cleopatra, MadameCurie, Albert Einstein, and several others were guests at a talk show, hosted by Mrs. Decker.They shared about their education, work success, and advised the rest of the �fth graders.We're proud to think that our students may end up impacting the world in a big way and beingpart of a real museum in the future!

PE NEWSBasketball:Students in P.E. kicked off the month of November with a unit in Basketball. It was a short unitdue to all the days off but we had fun! We will visit Basketball again during March Madness inthe spring. Students in grades 3-5 will be holding their very own Elite Tournament! We can’twait!Before Thanksgiving break, students played Feed the Turkey and Family Feast! Students hadto demonstrate teamwork by moving their turkey from one side of the gym to collect food tothe other side without touching the �oor! It was a great challenge for all. In December, students will be learning different challenges with a noodle and holiday glowbowling! It’s going to be a great month!

MUSICAL NOTESNovember has been a busy time for Horizon Music. The Fourth and Fifth grade Show Choirperformed a tribute to the evolution of Rock and Roll. The third graders have been working ontheir winter program that is coming up in December. In music class, we have also beenplaying Xylophones and performing in small groups.

FROM THE MEDIA CENTERStudents this month in the Library received another message from our Young Author'sConference guest author, Ms. Lola Schaefer. She spoke to the students about getting ideas forwriting.

She recounted a trip with her husband through the Cumberland Plateau and the ranger whowas guiding them on their hike stated, "All of this got started because of an acorn." This washow the idea for her book, Because of an Acorn came forth. The book leads children throughthe life cycle of an acorn. She then encouraged the students to think about everydayoccurrences that could be the basis for the stories that they would soon write.

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH - GRATITUDE

KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS OF THE MONTHJaxon Davidson, Ava Hewlett, Leif Steele, Antonio Love

1ST GRADE STUDENTS OF THE MONTHMason Kuczmanski, Marwa Ali, Neely Sorell, Owen Sage, Layla Bourdo

2ND GRADE STUDENTS OF THE MONTHLuca Pagano, Emma Nugent, Joel Shemanski, Marin Trevino, Leah Knapick

3RD GRADE STUDENTS OF THE MONTHNatalie Seanor, Maddie Szymarek, Katelyn Olson, Leah Pressler, Evan Felix

4TH GRADE STUDENTS OF THE MONTHIsaac Rivera, Makenna Bourdo, Lydia Keim, Sophia Drake

5TH GRADE STUDENTS OF THE MONTHSamantha Johnson, Haley Savannah, Ashlynn Weisser, Chloe Osborne (Not Pictured), AJRimelspach

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!Dec. 9 - PTO Holiday Shop this week during Library SpecialsDec. 9 - PTO Adopt-a-Family Gift Wrapping Party; 6:30-8:00 pm @ HorizonDec. 10 - PreK to PlanetariumDec. 10 - 4th Gr. (Briones & Pond) to Ethos Innovation CenterDec. 11 - 4th Gr. (Lira & Rehlander) to Ethos Innovation CenterDec. 12 - Gr. 1 & 4 Hearing ScreeningDec. 13 - 4th Gr. Mini-MallDec. 13 - Southwest Airlines Adopt-a-Pilot Program for 4th gradeDec. 16 - 1st gr. Celebrity ReadersDec. 17 - Kindergarten to the PHM PlanetariumDec. 17 - 5th gr. Mini-MallDec. 18 - Portillo's "Give Back" Night for HorizonDec. 19 - Dress for the Holidays today -- (ugly Christmas sweaters, holiday clothes, etc.)Dec. 19 - "The Gift of Reading" (a Horizon Holiday Tradition)Dec. 19 - Kindergarten Celebrity ReadersDec. 20 - All School Sing-a-longDec. 20 - Classroom "Comfort & Care" Winter Parties (school appropriate PJ's are welcome)Winter Break (No School Dec. 21 - Jan. 5)