2 0 1 6 - 1 7 S C H O O L Y E A R

I S S U E N O . 8

Together Achieving Educa onal Success

It is the policy of the Tyrone Area School District not to discriminate on the basis of sex, handicap, race and na onal origin in its educa onal and voca onal programs, ac vi es, or employment as required by Title IX, Sec on 504, and Title VI. Please direct ques ons about tnot to discriminate on the basis of sex, handicap, race and na onal origin in its educa onal and voca onal programs, ac vi es, or employment as required by

Title IX, Sec on 504, and Title VI. Please direct ques ons about this policy to Cathy Harlow, Superintendent of Schools, at 814.684.0710 Ext. 4123.

Suppor ng Literacy Development—by Lisa Hartsock, TAES Principal

Supportive parents often ask how to help their children become better readers. It’s simple: read to them at home. Emilie Buchwald, a published author of children’s books said it best: “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” Children look to their parents to see what they find important and then actively try to imitate their actions. If they see you reading and if you keep a good supply of books at home, they will be more likely to want to read, too. After a child learns to read, the emphasis then becomes reading to learn. A child could be a good reader in terms of fluency, but may not always be strong at understanding what is read. Here are some things that parents can do to help improve their child’s reading comprehension: Predicting helps with story comprehension. As you read, discuss what you think will happen next and what clues you used to figure

it out. You might say, “I think the little girl will get lost because she’s not staying with her mom. The picture on the next page shows the girl alone and crying.” Retelling the story after you read is another way to improve understanding of the story. Give a recap of the major events in the story. Acting out stories is another way to retell what happened.

Literacy isn’t only about reading. The process of writing strengthens the understanding of words and their meanings. Writing also

shows the connections between the written and spoken word. Grab a pen and piece of paper and write about something. You can encourage writing in your child by keeping writing materials available.

Stumbling over words offers a learning experience for your child. Seeing an adult make mistakes while reading shows your child

that he doesn’t have to read perfectly the first time. Model sounding out difficult words to help your child figure it out. When you come across a difficult word, talk through the context to guess the meaning, reach for a dictionary. These skills demonstrate how to become a better reader with a better understanding of the text.

Some kids look at reading as a chore instead of an enjoyable activity. By reading on your own just for fun, you show your child that

reading isn’t always boring. Read the daily or weekly papers, magazines, and books or check out books for the local library. Showing that you value reading can encourage your child to read more on his own.

In trying some of these things, you should eventually see improvement in your child’s reading skills and comprehension. Anything you can do with your child to encourage reading helps! Encourage them to find value in reading to learn, as well as reading for fun and enjoyment. Remember you are nurturing lifelong skills!

May/June 2017

05/01‐05/05 PSSAs: Science—4th Graders

05/08‐05/12 BOGO Book Fair

05/24 & 5/25 Track & Field (4th Grade 24th), (3rd 25th)

05/29 Memorial Day: No School—Daycare Closed

05/30 School‐wide Walkathon

06/01 Last Student Day, 10:50 Elementary Dismissal, Elementary Report Cards

It’s Circus Time —submi ed by the Second Grade Teachers

Through the Shriner’s generosity, the second grade traveled to the Annual Jaffa Shrine Circus on Friday, April 7, 2017. The students were engaged by the silly trampoline man, cavor ng camels, juggling genius, and enormous elephants. Students also enjoyed seeing the clowns, especially Lumpy and Gator, who visited our school earlier in the week. All the while, the students’ appe tes were quenched by the flow of snow cones, the salty bu er of popcorn, and the s cky sweetness of co on candy. With their bellies full and their dreams of seeing a circus fulfilled, the resome students trudged back to school where they shared their souvenirs and experiences with everyone!

Awesome April —by: Miss Hammond

The month of April was filled with learning about different countries. The weather was pleasant and we’ve had a lot of fun with the school age daycare students.

Brazilian and Mexican

climates were nicely

represented with the great

weather we had here in

Pennsylvania during the month. We talked about the

different cultures and sporting activities of Brazil,

Spain and Mexico. While studying what kinds of food

they ate, we tantalized our taste buds with yummy

fruit salsa—made with apples, kiwi, strawberries and

jam. Using tortillas, the students made banana-

cinnamon wraps and cheesy Mexican pizza filled

with a creamy sauce, tomatoes, lettuce, chicken and

cheese.

Following our food preparation segment, we

held our own activity session with a Just Dance and

Mario Cart Wii party. It was an exciting and fun time

for the school age daycare group. We are looking

forward to making May memories to finish out the

school year!

Animal Adaptations—by Mrs. Getz

This month, the fourth grade team learned about animal adapta ons. We used interac ve lesson plans, incorpora ng kinesthe c, auditory, and visual learning. The students rotated through seven different sta ons focusing on carrying capacity, adapta ons, and interrela onships. Each lesson was led by a fourth grade teacher or student teacher, both outside and in the classroom. While students rotated, they learned about the different resources and necessary changes animals need in order to survive.

One sta on the students thoroughly enjoyed was Web of Life. This game, led by Mrs. Nadolsky, focused on interrela onships between animals, resources, and humans, taught the students about their important role in the ecosystem. The students were able to take on the persona of a resource, animal, or human, and relate to one another by throwing a ball of yarn and making a “web”. Once everyone had shown a rela onship, students were able to cut the yarn and make a bracelet, reminding them of their crucial role in the environment. This lesson was a fun and interac ve way for the students to prepare for the science PSSAs they will take in May!

Third Grade Student Teacher Farewell

As we begin our final week here at Tyrone and reflect back on our amazing experience we have received, we wanted to take the time to thank the Tyrone

community as a whole. Thank you to all the families, staff, and students for making Tyrone feel like home for us! Our experience in third grade has been unforgettable and has successfully prepared us for our future teaching careers. We wish all students the best in their future endeavors and look forward to hearing about the amazing things they accomplish in their educational years to come!

We love and thank you Tyrone! —Miss. Coreno, Miss. Esposito, and Miss. Mallon

First Grade Carnegie Fieldtrip

—by Sarah Ciampoli, 1st grade teacher

On April 13th, after an awesome Museum Madness unit in first grade classrooms, the whole grade took a trip to the Carnegie Natural History Museum in Pittsburgh. While there, the students completed the dinosaur dig program and participated in the Bonehunter’s Quarry. In the quarry, the students were paleontologists and used chisels , as well as brushes to uncover hidden fossils. Then, in the dinosaur program, each student had a chance to find either a Stegosaurus toe or a T-Rex fossil. After discovering the ir prized fossil, each student wrapped the fossil in a plastic jacket to protect it and transport it home. Also at the museum, the classes had a guided tour of the dinosaur exhibit and had the opportunity to tour the museum to view the other exciting exhibits.

On the way home, our firsties had a pit stop at McDonald’s in Blairsville. Overall, it was a fun and exciting trip for everyone involved.

Week of the Young Child—by Mrs. Raabe, K3 Teacher

During the last week in April PreK students and teachers par cipated in

many ac vi es to celebrate the na onal recogni on of Week of the Young

Child. Students created art work that can be seen in downtown

businesses. The Prek Hallway also organized special events for each day

of the week. Monday was Art Day. Students rotated through the

classrooms and created 3D sculptures, used watercolors, made a mosaic

and created pictures with markers and handprints. On Tuesday we talked

about book characters and preschool heard many of the teacher’s favorite

books, dressed up as book characters and had some fun ac vi es to

explore. On Wednesday, we used our science skills to conduct

experiments and we had a field day on Thursday. We celebrated music on

Friday with the all school assembly in the morning and Ms. Lindsay from

Dance Fusion in the a ernoon.

Farewell and GOOD LUCK!

First grade will be saying good luck and see you soon to four wonderful first grade student teachers. Each one of them brought knowledge, spice, and energy to the classrooms they taught in. The stu‐dents, teachers, and parents will miss them greatly! Great luck to Miss Paugh, Miss Flo‐ry, Miss Seitz, and Miss Marino.

Excitement in the Air ‐‐submi ed by Mrs. Bock, Kindergarten Teacher

Spring is always such an exciting time of year in Kindergarten. This spring is no different. Easter fell in the middle of the month this year so the kindergar-ten wing was filled with eggs, bunnies and spring flow-er activities surrounding the holiday.

The whole school rallies for our students when PSSAs roll around. Kindergarten showed their sup-port through making posters and signs to encourage the students taking the tests the week before the first test started. Everyone also shifted their schedules to allow staff and facilities to best support the students being tested. This meant that guided reading hap-pened after lunch instead of first thing each day during the weeks of testing for kindergarten students.

To encourage our students to read, read, read we kicked off the reading challenge this month as well. Students who read 10 books a week and record them on the given sheet and return them each Monday re-ceive a small prize. The State College Spikes came and read us some baseball stories and offered their support by promising a free Spikes ticket to those stu-dents reading as well. The challenge continues for 4 weeks and top readers in each classroom will receive a prize. The overall top readers in the grade level will receive a prize as well.

We have been writing all year long and April was a great time to recognize some of the great sto-ries we have written by having a spring writer’s cele-bration. Each student chose a favorite story and pub-lished it. They edited it, created a cover and the books were bound. Some classes have hung the fin-ished work in the hallway. Each student shared their story in class and brought an item inside an egg that they had written 3 clues for. Each child read the three clues and classmates got to guess what was inside the egg. It was a fun way to celebrate what good writ-ers we are becoming.

We enjoyed the magic show presented by the PTO this month and started our weekly wellness walks on Fridays April 21st.

Track and Field Day

3rd and 4th Grade

Summer Reading Tips

Summer is quickly approaching but taking a break from school shouldn’t mean taking a break from reading. Research shows that reading 5-7 books during the summer may keep a reader from experi-encing the “summer slide”. Reading at least 20 minutes per day has been shown to give students a head start on the next school year. Most importantly, when parents and children enjoy reading to-gether, children develop a love of books and of reading that lasts a lifetime.

Here are a few tips to make summer reading enjoyable for the whole family!

Set a good example. Let your child see you reading for fun.

Use books to break the boredom- “How To” books can teach them something new to do.

Make reading a fun and memorable family activity. Use creative voices, act our stories,

etc.

Magazines, newspapers, recipes, and board games provide a variety of reading materi-

als.

Encourage your child to read the traffic signs and billboards while traveling.

Read aloud with and to your child every day.

Visit the local library where you’ll find lots of free summer reads and recommendations.

Allow children to choose what they want to read.

Choose books that are just right – not too easy, not too hard.

Assist your child in locating books about a future travel destination or a new activity.

Take advantage of every opportunity to read every day!

Interact with your child about what they are reading. Ask questions and discuss.

Organize a summer scrapbook and write captions for the pictures.

New movies coming out? Encourage your child to read the book, then go see the movie.