PS 139 Family Newsletter November 2023

 PS 139 Family Newsletter - November 2023 

News from Principal Rolon 

Greetings Parents and Families! Welcome to the PS 139 Family Newsletter. Here you will find updates on the things happening in our classrooms and around the school that make PS 139 the awesome place it is. As always, we focus on the academic achievement of all of our students while at the same time creating an atmosphere where children are nurtured and get to enjoy themselves as they take pride in our school and their place in it. 

This school year is definitely a special one, as we welcome several new teachers to PS 139. You will get to read about some of them in these pages in the interviews conducted by our Student Council! Recently our Assistant Principal Mrs. Hookim dusted off her roller skates and coordinated a roller skating trip for our PS 139 families which was well attended and – as the pictures show – a good time was had by all. Most recently, we had our annual Halloween Parade and, as with many things here at PS 139, it gets better every year. This year the students paraded in costume and received Halloween treats as they walked. It was something we were able to keep a secret from them until the last minute and the smiles on their faces were well worth it. 

Our Glee Club and Basketball Club are up and running as well. Our new Music teacher Ms. Wilkie has been working on our Holiday Show and our Phys Ed teacher Mrs. Zuckerman has already started basketball team practices. As they did last year, our PS 139 Rego Eagles Basketball team will be competing against other District 28 schools in the league games which should be starting shortly. 

As for our classrooms, we are entering into our third year with the HMH Into Reading curriculum. This year the NYC Department of Education has mandated that all schools use this curriculum so we are quite a bit ahead of the game. The 

same goes for the Envisions Math curriculum, which is also now mandated and which our school has already been using for several years. PS 139 continues to be ahead of the curve thanks to the dedication and hard work of our excellent teachers and support staff. In addition to that we have been focusing on the quality of our student discussions and have been hard at work getting our students used to expressing and sharing out ideas and asking complex, higher level questions. This work has been going on for a few years now and it is truly rewarding to walk into a classroom and hear the level of conversation our students are engaging in with their teachers and one another. 

And we’re not done yet! So please stay tuned and feel free to speak to your children and their teachers about the wonderful things going on in the classrooms. As always, your comments and feedback are welcome, and our doors are always open. 

News from Assistant Principal Hookim 

We were so happy to welcome back our returning families for the 2023-24 school year and equally delighted to have so many new families join our community! We are looking forward to another year filled with fun and learning. 

In October we had the opportunity to partner with United Skates at Atlas Park for a school outing that brought many of our families together. It was an awesome feeling to see you all gather, laughing and chatting. Students from across the school skated together and helped one another along the way, and just in general had a great time. Our students exemplified the Core Values of 

Honor and Empathy by lending a hand when one was needed, and I couldn’t have been prouder to witness that genuine camaraderie in action and the way they represented PS 139! We hope to have many more opportunities such as this to gather and share fun times with one another. 

Speaking of fun and togetherness, the School Wellness and Community Committee has been working on activities that will engage our students in spirit days and team building events across the school. Please check your child’s Dojo/Remind for updates from their teachers on when these events are taking place and remember, every Friday is Spirit Day so wear your Rego Eagles shirt or blue and white to show your Rego Eagle Pride! 

News from Kindergarten 

We are off to a strong start! We have learned many letters and sounds in our phonics program! Readers in Kindergarten will be studying books about what makes each of us special by studying characters that are unique. As writers, we published an opinion piece and will begin writing narratives about our own 

personal experiences. As mathematicians, we learned numbers 0 to 5 and will begin comparing numbers using words like less than, greater than, or equal. In Social Studies we learned about our flag as well as the pledge. We will be discussing what makes us unique as well. Our young scientists have also become engineers as they experiment with pushes and pulls using various objects. 

News from 1st Grade 

First grade is off to a flying start this school year! Readers got immersed into their reading program HMH Into Reading. Our First Module is “Nice to Meet You.” The start of a new school year is an exciting time for children as they meet new people and try and learn new things. For some children, though, this time of year can also be challenging. In this module, children will read about how the people they meet and the experiences they have can help others. Children will read about the different activities they can do at school. They also will read about what makes a good friend, the many different types of friends they can have, and what makes each person special. We are looking forward to our first graders becoming good citizens using the core values of honor, empathy, integrity and leadership. 

Our Focal Statement for Writing is “Everyone has a story to tell.” Our Focal text is “Ralph Tells A Story. “First Graders are writing narratives using sequence words (first, next, then, last). In math, we are focusing on solving problems using different addition and subtraction strategies. 

News from 2nd Grade 

Second grade is working on Problem Solving. In Fundations, we are reviewing our glued sounds. In Reading, we are learning about resolving conflicts through literature. We are having discussions in class about our stories. In Writing, we are working on writing a Persuasive Text. Students will be writing to convince their readers about a topic they feel strongly about. In Math, we are working on different strategies to add within 100. Some strategies we will be using include place value charts, open number lines and 120 charts. We are also looking forward to our first School Trip to Green Meadows Farm. 

News from 3rd Grade 

Our third graders have been hard at work. They have done an excellent job getting back into the daily routine of school. They have been working on building their reading stamina and strengthening reading skills, such as making inferences and predictions, identifying literary elements and monitoring and clarifying for understanding while reading fictional stories. We are now going through the writing process to write letters to our future selves. In math, students have been busy learning various strategies to multiply and divide. In addition, we are exploring inheritance and traits in various organisms for science. 

News from 4th Grade 

We started off the school year setting up routines, procedures and protocols that your child practices every day! Please make sure you are sending your child in on time every day so they don’t miss out (there is so much going on!). Our first field trip to the movies was a blast, be sure you send in $10 for the next trip to the pumpkin patch on Friday, November 10th! 

What we are learning: 

This month in reading we finished our first novel study “Third Grade Angels” and are jumping right into module 1 in HMH. Module 1 asks us the essential question “How do your experiences help shape your identity?”. This module focuses on different stories that provide your child with opportunities to identify point of view and recognize figurative language in order to understand unfamiliar texts. 

In math, we have just finished our Modules 1 and 2, and are starting Module 3. Modules 1 and 2 covered base ten concepts, place value, addition and subtraction. They were quick modules, but it’s still a good idea to practice those skills at home to keep all topics fresh in their minds. In Module 3, we are working on multiplying multi digit numbers so it is extremely important to practice math facts at home with your child. The more fluent they are in their math facts the smoother learning this concept will be! 

In social studies, we are learning about Native Americans and starting our first project! We will be creating posters, brochures, flip books, etc. to showcase our knowledge on Native American tribes! 

In science we finished unit 1 about animal classification and are starting our journey into learning about different animal adaptations. How do the bodies of animals help them to meet their needs? How do living things survive in different habitats? Find out on our next newsletter!!! 

News from 5th Grade 

Welcome to Fifth Grade, the graduation year! The fifth grade has navigated through two modules of reading and writing. We have investigated various genres of literature: fantasy, poetry, non-narrative, dramatic play, realistic fiction, articles, and much more. 

In writing, the children researched inventors at work and the circumstances which pushed them to create new inventions. The children were taught to quote and cite evidence from different sources, write in complete sentences and paragraphs, make revisions, peer edit and publish. Currently, the children are wrapping up a narrative (fictional story). The children were encouraged to use strategies such as internal thinking, action, dialogue and details in order to show not tell. The classes are looking forward to their publishing celebrations. 

Math has been quite a journey, delving into concepts such as place value, decimals, and complex multiplication skill and problem solving. Starting in November, the children will be learning how to multiply with decimals (PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD HAS A GRASP OF BASIC MULTIPLICATION FACTS - THANK YOU). 

Our science unit investigates our Earth systems. Specifically, we’ve discussed the water supply and shortage, where water comes from, freshwater vs. saltwater, the water cycle, and how humans affect the water supply. In addition, those classes working with Mrs. Robinson are focusing on Pangea and Earth’s formation. 

The grade will be taking a field trip to Russell Sage Middle School on November 28, 2023. We will be walking over to the school as a group (permission slips will be coming home). 

Please keep in contact with your child’s teacher either on Remind or Dojo. We are looking forward to having a successful year, filled with lifelong memories.