Dates to Remember

11/05 2nd grade concert 7:00 PM

11/06 P.T.G. Meeting @ 6:30 PM

11/07 Veteran’s Day Assembly @ 1:45

11/07 First Marking Period Ends

11/11 No School – Veterans Day

11/13 R, R & R Ceremony 2:00

11/18 Report Cards Issued

11/20 Picture Make-Up Day

11/26 – 11/28 No School-Thanksgiving

Recess

Making Tracks

John E. Joy Community Newsletter

November 2014

The John E. Joy Elementary School

Learning Community is committed to

providing an excellent education for all of

its students. We believe that it is our

responsibility to foster a life-long love of

learning and to develop thoughtful,

independent learners by providing a

nurturing, innovative and inspirational

climate that empowers all of our students

to grow into competent, caring,

respectful, responsible and resourceful

citizens who take a genuine interest in

their community.

The John E. Joy Learning Community members

are whole–heartedly committed to the success

of all of our children who are our future.

Mission Statement Vision Statement

Principal News! The Character Education Word of the month is…GIVING!

Dear Parents,

As I observe your children grow and learn, I am

impressed with their hard work and your

collaboration with our teaching professionals. It is

rewarding to see our learning community working

together to help our students become respectful,

responsible and resourceful young ladies and

gentlemen. I am thankful for your support.

As the weather begins to turn colder, please

remember to send your child to school prepared to

play outdoors. In order to be prepared, students

need boots, a warm hat and mittens, a warm jacket

and snow pants.

Thank you for all you do to help your children

enjoy learning.

Yours in Education,

Andria M. Lacey

K 1st

Teacher Tracks

Second graders are busy learning all about Ancient India

and China. We have learned about how early civilizations

developed and prospered. We will be representing China in

the Cultural Parade. We have also moved on to Module 2

in Math, which involves learning addition and subtraction

using units of length. Second grade wishes everyone a

Happy Thanksgiving!

In November, the Kindergarten classes will be

learning about the Pilgrims and Native

Americans. We will be celebrating a

Thanksgiving Feast of our own. We will focus

on how the Native Americans helped the

Pilgrims and how the Pilgrims never gave

up. We will also continue learning about our

five senses and have many opportunities to

test them out! J Make sure to point the

senses out at home. We will continue working

on syllables, blending words, working on

sentence structures and making various shapes

that will help us transition into writing

letters. We are focusing on what makes a good

writer and have begun writing sentences and

using pictures to tell stories. We are becoming

quite the authors and illustrators. We are

continuing to work on numbers to ten and

various ways to represent these numbers. We

are learning about number sentences and

continuing to practice counting as well as

writing our numbers. Please continue to

practice the sight words, letters and numbers

that were sent home. Thank you for all your

support!

3rd

Third graders have (temporarily)

finished working on

multiplication and division and

have moved on to measurement.

We will return to multiplication

and division in module 3. Please,

please, please practice basic

math facts. Third graders are

expected to be fluent with their

basic facts in all operations by

the end of year. We have read

some very interesting books

about reading recently. Ask your

child about The Boy Who Loved

Words or The Incredible Book

Eating Boy. Third graders

should be reading 15-20 minutes

several times a week. They need

to build up their reading

stamina. Be sure to check your

child’s assignment book every

night!

First grade has been learning about the

human body during learning and listening. We

can identify the 5 body systems (skeletal,

muscular, digestive, circulatory, and nervous)

and why they are important. We are learning

about the five keys to a healthy body. (Eat

well, exercise, sleep, checkups and

washing). In skills we have begun our first

reader called Snap Shots. We couldn’t wait

to get the books in our hands and start

reading. We learned that a double letter

makes one sound, and sometimes ‘s’ can sound

like ‘z’. In writing we are learning ways to

bring a story to life. We can unfreeze people

by making them move and talk. We can also

bring out the inside by making them feel and

think. Finally, in math we have been learning

so many different math games to help us

learn. We learned about our doubles facts

and have been counting by even numbers. We

are learning about related facts and will be

taking addition stories with an unknown

number and turning them into subtraction.

2nd

4th

Mrs. Iacovissi's class represented America in the cultural

parade. Her class concentrated on the state called New York.

The students held symbols that represented New York. Students

paraded with a rose the state flower, a carton of milk the state

drink, a ladybug the state insect an apple the states fruit, a

bluebird the state bird and a beaver the New York state mammal.

We are continuing to study the Native Americans. Ask your child

what the white pine tree symbol stands for or perhaps the names

of the five Iroquois tribes. In math we are still working on place

value and have introduced a new term-tape diagram. The

children have been busy writing and working hard. Please

continue to work on basic multiplication facts at home.

Miss Passante’s

Class

Teacher Tracks

‘

Mrs. Lanzi’s

Class

November is a time to give thanks!

Try this at home:

Have your child write or draw 5 things he or

she is thankful for.

Then have your child say or write a

sentence about each item he or she is

thankful for. Using complete sentences in

speaking and writing is very important in

today’s academics!

for my grandparents.” Clap out each For

the younger child have them clap out the

number of words in the sentence and be

sure to model this for your child. For

example: “I am thankful word as you say

the sentence for a total of 6 words.

For the older student have them expand on

their sentences if they are simple. For

example: “I am thankful for grandma’s

pies,” instead add more words: “I am

thankful for grandma’s juicy, sweet and

delicious warm pie with vanilla ice cream.”

Your child won’t even recognize that he or

she is working on grammar, spelling,

vocabulary and expressive language skills.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mrs. Janes

Speech/Language Pathologist

Mrs. Janes

Students are adapting to the new math

Modules. Strategies such as tape

diagrams, arrays, making a ten, and

number bonds are a big part of “showing

your work”. Please encourage your

children to show their work on their

homework, using one of their grade level

strategies, even if they immediately know

the answer. You may wish to check out

the district’s website to learn more about

the math modules. www.romecsd.org,

click on Math module by grade.

Music

During the month of November the kindergartners are becoming familiar with the program music

to “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”

The first graders are learning the song “Five Fat Turkeys.” We are also learning to keep the beat to

this song. The second graders are putting on their finishing touches to the six songs they have

prepared for their Fall Concert. The third graders are listening to and performing “rounds.” The

fourth graders are learning to sing the songs “Over The River and Through The Woods” and “We

gather Together” for Thanksgiving.

Mrs. Latulipe’s

class

In the Resource Room, students in third and fourth grade are learning to read nonfiction

reading passages to determine the “gist” or main idea of the a passage and to identify supporting

details. They are learning to read to make inferences. All students are working to answer

comprehension questions about material that they have read. The second grade students are

working to improve reading fluency skills and working to read basic sight words. They too are

working to write the answers to comprehension questions. The Kindergarten students are

working to count the number of words in a sentence and to identify initial consonant

sounds. They are practicing writing the letters of the alphabet. It would be helpful if you could

read with your child at home each night or have them read at home independently.

In November, Miss Passante’s class will be

working with numbers 6-10 in different

arrangements for Math. We will be working on

our sounds and spellings, as well as how to write

them. We will be learning all about the 5 Senses.

We will also be learning about the Significance of

Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrim’s first interaction

with the Wampanoag. We will read about the

tribe’s clothing, shelter, food, where they lived,

and other aspects of their culture. We will be

studying Native Americans today and how they

keep alive some of the traditions and practices

of their ancestors. The class can’t wait to have a

Thanksgiving feast!

Mrs. Daoreuang’s

Mrs. Fritzen’s

Class

John E. Joy

8194 Bielby Road

Rome, NY 13440

Phone 315-334-1260 Fax 315-334-7362

Check out our Joy Newsletter

on the website!

http://www.romecsd.org/Domain/13

The country of the month for November is Morocco. Morocco is a country in Northern Africa,

close to Spain. Here are some interesting facts about Morocco:

Morocco’s main sport is soccer.

Morocco is about the size of California.

One of the most popular foods in Morocco is couscous.

Moroccans are known for being gracious and kind hosts.

The main language is Arabic and the country is known for its beautiful architecture.

Check out our bulletin board by the ESL room on Morocco in November.

PTG

Media Center

We’re off to a great start in the Library Media

Center. The Kindergartners have checked out

their very first books, and are now learning about

what authors and illustrators do. They are

learning that ANYONE can be an author – all it

takes is some imagination. First graders are

learning the parts of books. When they bring

home a library book, ask them to point out the

TITLE, COVER, TITLE PAGE, and SPINE.

Second graders have been learning about how

fiction books are organized in the library. They’ve

had a great time using their alphabetizing skills to

put fiction books in order. Third and Fourth

graders have been busy learning to use OPALS,

the online library catalog. OPALS allows students

to search for books that interest them. They are

well on their way to being independent library

users!

Ms. Thrasher

We are very excited about our upcoming events. Besides the candy sale fundraiser being

underway, we are getting ready for our Veteran’s Day Ceremony. If you haven’t done so already,

please submit a name of someone in your family that is or has served in the military that would

like to be honored on November 7th. We have planned a very special celebration to show our

support and appreciation for all that they do! Also, please make sure that you are signed up for

Tools for School through Price Chopper. Directions are found on the PC website, or you can

call the school PTG for support.

Q & A

Bullying: The Bystander's Role

Q: My child came home from school upset because kids were picking on a classmate and

wouldn't let her play with them. What advice should I give my daughter?

A: Tell your child that her classmate was being bullied and that she has the power to help stop

it.

There are several things she can do. She could start by standing up to the bully and saying

something like, "That's not nice." Then she might ask the child who is being left out to join her in

a game or activity.

Also, remind your child to report suspected bullying to a teacher or other adult when she

sees it. Let her know this is not tattling, but a way to help someone who is being hurt.