AVAXAT ELEMENTARY Gator Gazette “A Message from our Principal”

AVAXAT ELEMENTARY
Gator Gazette
2016
“A Message from our Principal”
Avaxat Families,
This news is about a month old but I am proud to announce Avaxat is a California Gold
Ribbon School! This honor was earned for our After School Later Gator Program. More
information regarding the award can be found on our District Website. Thank you to all
Avaxat Students, Staff, and Parents for the support of the program.
The idea for the afterschool program came from a parent survey during the 2012-13 school
year. During the 2013-14 school year the Avaxat Staff developed the course offerings and
procedures for the Later Gator Program. During that same year we adjusted our start and
end times to accommodate families to support the afterschool program. The first Later
Gator session was offered in September 2014 and we are now completing our 2 nd full year
of the program with continued success. Again, I cannot thank parents enough for the idea
and support of the program these past two years. To be honored for a program which has
taken a 4 year path from idea to what it is today is a true validation of our collective efforts.
Finally, a special thank you to our application writers: Mrs. Mitchell, Miss Rosendale, and
Mrs. Whittington. Through their attention to detail, fact finding, and writing skills they
created an application which the State recognized as Exemplary and earned Avaxat the
honor of being selected as a Gold Ribbon School.
Congratulations Avaxat Community!
Avaxat
Elementary
School
David Ciabattini
Principal
“Learn More, Respect All”
Website: http://www.Murrieta.k12.ca.us/avaxat — Facebook Page /Avaxat Elementary School
24300 Las Brisas Road, Murrieta, CA 92562 Phone: (951) 696-1402 Fax (951) 696-1629
May
05/03
05/03
05/04
05/12
05/13
05/14
05/16
05/18
05/19
05/20
05/24
05/25
05/26
05/26
05/27
05/27
05/27
05/30
05/31
Lunch with the Principal Grades 1-3
Kindergarten Field Trip to DeJong’s Dairy (Mr. Barnett, Ms. Barnyak, Ms. Eikmeier)
Kindergarten Field Trip to DeJong’s Dairy (Ms. Schultz, Ms. DiPierro)
Kindergarten “Here I Come” 5:00-5:30 (Incoming Kindergarten)
Ice Cream with the Principal 1:00 MPR
Band at Mulligans 10:00
Choir Concert 8:15-8:45 for Grades 2/3 - 8:45-9:15 for Grades 4/5 and Parents
Street Painting for All Students
Open House 5:30—6:30
PTA Honorary Service Awards
Last Day of Band
Santa Rosa Plateau visits Third Grade
Third Grade Field Trip to Santa Rosa Plateau
Fifth Grade Field Trip to Shivela Middle School
Crazy Sock Day
Second Grade “Spring into Summer Spectacular!” 8:30 a.m.
Fourth Grade Frontier Days 9:00-12:00
Memorial Day Observance—No School
Student of the Month Grades 1 and 2
June
06/01 Student of the Month 3rd Grade
06/01 Second Grade Field Trip to Murrieta Public Library/Los Alamos Sports Park
(Ms. Torres’ and Ms. Uhl’s class)
06/01 Fourth Grade Rocket Day 9:30-11:00 Field
06/01 AVID Students Field Trip to UCR
06/02 Student of the Month 4th Grade
06/02 Second Grade Field Trip to Murrieta Public Library/Los Alamos Sports Park
(Ms. Mitchell’s and Ms.Whittington’s class)
06/03 Student of the Month 5th Grade
06/03 Third Grade Living Wax Museum 1:00-2:00 Quad Area
06/06 Fourth Grade Father’s Day Celebration 12:30-1:20
06/07 Talent Show (All Grades)
06/07 Lunch with the Principal All Grades
06/07 Fourth Grade Water Day 1:00-2:15 Field
06/08 Second Grade Assembly 9:00-10:00 MPR
06/09 Third Grade Field Day
06/09 Fourth Grade Awards 8:30-9:15 MPR
06/09 Fifth Grade Awards 9:30-10:30 MPR
06/10 Last Day of School
Character Counts
Responsibility is our character pillar for the month of May. This is a great trait to focus on and we as parents and
educators can catch our kids being responsible in MANY ways!
Responsible students do what they are supposed to do such as….
Always keep trying to do their best.
Use self-control and are self disciplined.
Think before they act enabling them to consider their consequences.
Know that they are accountable for their choices.
Complete and return their homework, follow the school rules and procedures,
return playground equipment when done, and help out at home with daily chores, etc.
Thanks for supporting our Character Counts Program!
PTA News
May 11th Kona Ice
May 13th Ice Cream with the Principal at 1:00
May 16th - 20th Teacher/Staff Appreciation
May 20th HSA Awards and Brunch
Thank you for your Support!
The Avaxat PTA
Healthy Families/Medical for Families
Now, more children and teens qualify for free or low-cost medical, dental,
and vision care coverage programs.
Interested in more information?
Please stop by the Avaxat office and pick up a Healthy Family brochure application.
You can also contact them at 1 800 800-5330 or www.healthyfamilies.ca.gov.
Support our Military Veterans
Avaxat is collecting toiletries items to donate to our local Military Veterans. Please bring in any NEW wrapped
items to the office and place in the big red box. Donations are distributed in our community to help our
Veterans who have sacrificed so much for us. We will end our drive this year on Friday, May 27th
Thanks for your help!





Deodorant
New socks
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Petroleum Jelly





Toilet Paper
Lotion
Shaving Creme/Razors
Female Products
Hair Conditioner
“Spotlights on “Math”
While it is important to teach the basic skills described in the kindergarten
math standards, it is just as important to bring meaning to those skills. Math is
not something that happens only at school. Math is the way we make sense of our world. When we clean
our room or help empty the dishwasher we are sorting and classifying. When we help set the table we
are making many decisions based on our math knowledge. How many plates do we need? How many
chairs? On which side of the plate do we put the fork? What about the knife? Not a day goes by that
we don’t use our math knowledge. How many minutes will it take to get to Grandpa’s house? What time
will it be when we get there? How many more days until my birthday? Listen for opportunities throughout the time you spend with your child to use the language of math. Help bring meaning to the skills
your children are acquiring.
indergarten
Recently, we were reading a book about butterflies. On one page it said, “It takes 2 to 6 weeks for the
caterpillar to change to a pupa.” We talked about what that means. Later, I asked that question again,
“What does that mean, ‘2 to 6 weeks’?” One child answered with some pretty good math language. He
said, “It means not less than 2 weeks and not more than 6 weeks. In between 2 and 4.” That is the
math thinking we are looking for and that is the math language we are looking for too.
ST First graders have done a terrific job learning various ways to solve math problems this year.
Whether they use tens frames, blocks, or something else, manipulatives play an important role in
our daily routines. Using tools to learn makes abstract concepts more concrete. Of course, memorizing addition and subtraction facts are still important, but being able to decompose numbers (break
apart) and understand their relationships are also very important.
Below is an example of a method we use in first grade, called subitizing. This means being able to look at
a small group of items and quickly add them up to know how many are in the group without having to
count each item. Dice games can help with this.
You can be creative at home when looking for manipulatives. You can use legos, pennies, or even macaroni
noodles! Your child can also “draw it out” to help them. Remember that making mistakes is part of the
learning process. Don’t hesitate to ask your child’s teacher if you have questions.
ND Second graders continue to build upon Math concepts that began in August. Our students are
currently practicing California Common Core Domain of “Measurement and Data” by counting
coins (quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies); by using strategies learned to tell time to the nearest hour, half-hour, 5 minutes, and quarter hour; by using measurement tools such as inch and centimeter rulers, tape measures, and yard sticks; and by collecting data using surveys and tallies, and recording
and comparing their information in a bar graph or in a picture graph. Students are also practicing the
“Geometry” Domain by working with various plane and solid shapes. Our second graders will continue to
learn and use the Eight Mathematical Practices in order to become proficient in Math. The Mathematical Practices help students to: 1) make sense of problems and persevere in solving them; 2) reason abstractly and quantitatively; 3) construct viable arguments respectfully; 4) model with mathematics; 5)
use appropriate tools strategically; 6) attend to precision; 7) look for and make use of structure; and 8)
look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. Continued on next page….
“Spotlights on “Math”
ND Continued...Using words, pictures, and symbols to represent numbers and models in problems is
a strategy that continues to help second graders visualize concepts and quantities. “Math Talk” remains part of our daily routine, as well as writing to explain and express HOW a math problem can be
solved. Realizing that there are different ways to solve one problem becomes more apparent as the students share their mathematical ideas with one another. These engaging activities attempt to foster a life
-long love of Mathematics!
RD
We are using the math program that correlates with the new common core standards called California Go Math. Students worked on number sense in their Chapter 1 books which covered place value
identification, rounding, estimating, adding, and subtracting with regrouping. They learned new strategies
such as using compatible numbers, friendly numbers, break away (expanded form), groups of ten, and number lines.
The program also has technology components to help students see examples of how to do a strategy,
practices skills, and to test on skills. Parents as well as students are able to go on the Think Central website to view lessons and assignments that match to the workbooks as well as seeing the other tools that
reinforce lesson skills.
In October we started Chapter 2 which covers statistics, data recording, and analysis. Although Chapter
3 starts to cover multiplication and division, our team has already introduced multiplication facts for
0,1,2,5,10 facts to all students.
TH Now well into the final quarter of the school year, fourth graders are working to develop a solid
mathematical foundation by making sense of problems and persevering to solve them. We are also
continuing to develop a greater depth in understanding how fractions work. This includes adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions (and their equivalencies) within the context of a word problem.
Additionally, students are honing their mastery of measurement and geometry concepts, while applying
number sense skills and fact fluency. Special emphasis is placed on using multiple strategies to solve multiplication and division problems. Students can access all math instruction materials and homework online
through Thinkcentral.com. All students are encouraged to use xtramath.org from home to strengthen fact
fluency.
TH Fifth grade continues to work on breaking down and solving word problems. Also, fractions,
fractions, fractions; adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. As we head into CAASP, we are
working on applying all math knowledge to problem solve on multi-level "real life" problems.
Sprigeo
This is a bullying reporting system that allows students to report bullying incidents and school safety threats
anonymously.
All information sent through the Sprigeo system goes directly to our school administrator through a secure online
connection.
For more information please visit www.murrieta.k12.ca.us/avaxat