Territorial Elementary School Home

April 6, 2021

Dear Territorial Families,

Happy April!  It has been such a fun start to spring up here on the hill!  Classes have been prepping and planting in the garden.  We hoping to have a hearty harvest of Snow Peas, pumpkins, and radishes. Mrs. Moss our school counselor also started small groups this week.  Students were excited to meet in petite groups with their peers to practice friendship and social skills.  Likewise, as a school we are concentrating on teaching Citizenship traits.  We are recognizing students who treat others and the environment with respect and dignity, obeys rules, is honest, listens to others, and keeps trying.

Kindergarten is enjoying investigating bees and all the important jobs that bees do for our environment.  They are working super hard to master addition number bonds to 10 and read their sight words.  These students have shown so much growth this year.

First grade is loving their animal exploration.  After researching their animal, students crafted habitats with clay figures and survival essentials; food source, water source and environment features.

Second graders are working hard to master adding and subtracting to 100.  They are getting ready to start their geometry unit where they will recognize and draw shapes with specified attributes, such as a given number of angles, sides, etc.  Students are continuing to enjoy their virtual visits with Baby Grimsley during their Roots of Empathy lessons.

Second/Third is also hard at work mastering math skills, comparing and contrasting literature pieces from the same author, and focusing on poetry. Ms. Hoehn has also taken an active part in bringing career exploration and STEM experiments through Thermo Fisher Scientifi to 2^nd-4^th grade students.  Thermo Fisher has a local Junction City lab and has agreed through Zoom to help our students explore various scientific careers.  Thermo Fisher’s scientists will also be helping students participate in various STEM experiments which we are anxiously looking forward to. 

Speaking of Science, Connected Lane County is partnering with us to bring our students STEM Night!  They are offering our students the opportunity to participate in a Virtual STEM Nights May 6, 2021. They are partnering with members of the STEM Beyond Schools workgroup to deliver 30-minute hands-on STEM lessons with accompanying take home STEM kits. This is a free evening program.  On the night of the event, families can log on to a Zoom Webinar for a 30-minute virtual hands-on session led by an instructor from one of the STEM Beyond Schools partners. Kits will be provided to students prior to the event.  The STEM night will go as follows.

• 5pm-5:30pm - K/1st Grades, Clouds and the Water Cycle with Museum of Natural & Cultural History
• 5:30pm-6pm - 2nd/3rd Grades, Catchment Basins with Willamette Resource and Education Network
• 6:30pm-7pm - 4th/5th Grades, Cloud Watchers with Lane Community College

We are very excited to bring our partners together in order to give students some extra STEM enrichment during this challenging year.

Third grade is also working on poetry.  Likewise, they are reading the chapter book Clementine, by Sara Pennypacke. Students are finding Clementine to be an eccentric and lovable, yet unintentionally devious, eight-year-old third grader. 

Fourth grade recently completed beautiful maps of Oregon detailing regions, valleys, basins, lakes, and mountain ranges. As fourth grade digs into the Oregon Trail, Mrs. Dietrich is helping students compare the different perspectives represented on the trail by reading “Bound for Oregon” by Emily Rendon.  The book is about a girl named Mary Ellen who has to leave Arkansas to go to Oregon with her family and the experience that they share.  Students are also reading and comparing “Beautiful Bird Girl” by S.D. Nelson, the story of a young Native American girl and her experience. Students are also hard at work writing narrative poetry and learning to decompose fractions.  Mastering decomposing fractions is an important prerequisite skill to learning how to multiply fractions. 

As I mentioned in last month’s update, we are now providing students with 120 minutes a week of in-person PE instruction and students are loving it.  K- is working on throwing and catching, using different balls, one hand throws and two hands.  1st-2^nd - is working on dribbling and passing skills. 3^rd grade is enjoying aerobic rhythm, and showing off their new dance moves.  Finally, 4^th grade is focusing on jumping and landing. 

The OBOB (Oregon Battle Of the Books) teams are busy reading and discussing their OBOB books as they prepare for district competition.  OBOB is a statewide voluntary reading motivation and comprehension program sponsored by the Oregon Association of School Libraries in conjunction with a Library Services and Technology Act grant.  Students in 3^rd-12^th grade, regardless of ability, are exposed to quality literature representing a variety of literary styles and viewpoints.  OBOB’s mission is to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension, promote academic excellence, and to promote cooperative learning and teamwork among students.

A Few Things to Note

• Kindergarten registration is now available with the link on Territorial’s website.
• Kinder Meet and Greet will be held April 22^nd.
• KITS (Kids in Transition to School) will be offered again this summer for our incoming kindergarten students. More information will be posted on the district website shortly.
• Staff will be treating Territorial students to a free Kona Ice on April 12^th as a thank you for their hard work and can-do attitude.
• As the weather warms up, please make sure students are coming with their water bottles and shoes that they can participate in PE with.
• Please remind students to bring back their library books each week. When they aren’t reading it, it can stay in their backpack.
• A big thank you to Sorpotomists for donating books to TES students as a way of celebrating Read Across America Month.
• Please continue to help students log on every Wednesday at 8:00 A.M. for their required meetings.
• We are excited to be able to offer hot lunch items at least twice a week now.
• Remember that the CARES act is paying for breakfast boxes and school lunches through the end of the year.
• Afterschool Childcare is now available, if you are interested please contact Hannah Howe our Preschool and Daycare Director at hnelson@junctioncity.k12.or.us
• Parents, some students are experiencing dry hands due to the level of washing and sanitizer use. We have purchased Dermatologist approved, alcohol free hand lotion for each classroom.  If you do not want us to provide your child with lotion please contact Shannon McAdams at smcadams@junctioncity.k12.or.us.

Thank you for all that you do to support your child and the staff at Territorial!

Warm Regards,

Principal Sisler