New student registration begins on Friday, March 1st. Parents of incoming kindergarteners are encouraged to bring registration paperwork and residency documentation to Country Trails Elementary School on March 1st between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm. If you are unable to make it on this day, you may bring registration materials to the school at another time during regular business hours.
Please visit our Registration Information page to download registration forms and view residency verification requirements. If you have any questions about these forms or requirements, please contact the Country Trails office at 847-717-8000. Once registration paperwork has been received, staff will enter students into Skyward, our student management system, and parents will need to complete online registration via Skyward beginning March 15th.
We look forward to welcoming your students into the District 301 family!
Date posted: February 13, 2019 | Author: ctwebprincipal | Comments Off on Kindergarten and New Student Registration Begins March 1st
We had an exciting month. Our theme this month was WINTER! We read many, MANY books, my favorite was 3 Little Kittens however the students’ favorite was the Hat. Students made puppets and were able to retell the story. We discussed to great lengths the differences between mittens and gloves and graphed which one students’ wore. We explored many new centers in the kitchen area, as known as housekeeping, we had a Hot Cocoa Hut where the Barista served wonderful hot chocolate with marshmallows. We are now having a birthday celebration for my dog Duke, we also take turns pretending it’s different student’s birthdays too. In blocks, we added a train set. In the sensory table we have acratic animals with fake snow and real snow. We even used watercolors to make colorful snow. We are continuing our exploration through the alphabet we are currently up to letter Ll. In the AM we are counting to 10 during circle time and in the PM to 20. For the PM class we will be starting Jolly Phonics soon look for binders to come home shortly. As a reminder, we are nut free for snack, and please send only 1-2 items for snack, we only have 10-15 minutes.
Kindergarten
Kindergarten is reading many books about kindness and doing random acts of kindness. We continue to work on subtraction, writing sentences with capitals, spacing and punctuation. We are working on mastering our kindergarten sight words. We are also celebrating kind acts that we do for each other and at home.
First Grade
In first grade we are learning about space. Students were excited to learn about the different phases of the moon. Students created a model of the phases using Oreo cookies!!!
Second Grade
The second grade students have been learning about Polar and Ocean Biomes. This weather we are having is perfect for talking about how animals adapt in cold environments. We are integrating our ELA skills of completing a Venn Diagram into our Social Science while learning about animals that live in the Arctic and Antarctica.
Reading/ELL
The students have been learning about non-fiction text structure. The different types of non-fiction text structure include: problem and solution, cause and effect, compare / contrast, description and sequence. Understanding text structure and the text features are important because it helps the students have a purpose when they are reading. The readers are able to summarize the text by using the text structure as a guide. After reading, the students use graphic organizers to map out their ideas from the text. As they are reading, they think about how the text is organized. For example, a rain shower (cause) can help the plants grow (effect). Another example is when we compare and contrast animals such as lions and tigers. When we compare the two animals, they are both wild animals and part of the cat family. When we contrast the two, lions do not have stripes and they tend to live in groups. However, tigers have bold, black stripes and prefer to be alone.
Date posted: February 1, 2019 | Author: ctwebprincipal | Comments Off on Curriculum Corner
Math: We have just concluded our unit on division and will soon begin our work with fractions. During these next few units we will be learning how to add and subtract fractions with different denominators, work with mixed numbers, and multiply and divide fractions. Social Studies: We are in the middle of our unit on ancient Egypt. In this unit we are learning about the geography, government, social classes, and daily life of that fascinating time period. It is always a subject of great interest to the kids, but who doesn’t want to know more about mummies?!
ELA: We have begun our reading unit on author’s purpose. We are learning to identify when an author is writing to entertain, inform, or persuade an audience. We will also be working on informative writing. For this writing, we will be pulling together our skills in paragraph writing so that we can write a cohesive report on our subject. This writing will require research and citations. As always, we will be continuing our work with grammar, as well as building our writing stamina.
Specials
PE: During PE students will be doing their fitnessgram fitness tests. These tests include the push up, curl up, sit and reach, and pacer. They record individual scores with the teachers help and are able to monitor their progress from year to year. Our next unit at the conclusion of fitness testing will be paddle ball. Below is a website with more information on the fitnessgram testing. https://www.cooperinstitute.org/fitnessgram
HEALTH: During health class students will be finishing up their nutrition unit. During this time students will explore food labels and understand the importance of healthy eating habits. Next up is the anti-smoking unit and our Erin’s Law presentation.
Date posted: January 25, 2019 | Author: ctwebprincipal | Comments Off on CURRICULUM CORNER
November flew by us! Our themes this month was Fall Leaves, Turkeys and Thanksgiving. Our finger play 5 Fall Leaves, with counting and taking away the leaves. We sang many fun songs, ABC Disco, Number Rock and the Freeze Dance, in the PM class we are also singing our alphabet Forward and Backward. Both classes use alphabet posters with letters and pictures on one side and numbers on the other side, the AM has numbers 1-10 while the PM has numbers 1-20. We also use pointers to track the letters and numbers, this month we used a turkey pointer. We made different kinds of funny turkeys by cutting, gluing and added features like eyes, beak, feathers and a waddle. In the sensory table, we have moon sand with trucks and letters. We enjoyed our first pajama day, and look forward to our next Christmas pajama day on December 21st!
Kindergarten
Kindergarten is having a great time in kindergarten reading about that tricky Gingerbread Man. We have been practicing retelling, adding, and comparing and contrasting versions of the story. With winter break coming in a week, continue to practice writing numbers in order to 50, counting to 100, simple addition with sums up to 10 as well as letters and the sounds they make. Have a great break and see you next year.
First Grade
First grade has been learning about different holidays and traditions. The children wrote about the holiday they celebrate and their family traditions.
Second Grade
Second grade as been traveling the world and learning about winter customs and traditions from around the world. The students are creating presentations about their own winter holiday traditions and will be presenting them in class. We are excited to learning about more winter holidays!
Third Grade
Third graders have been studying about Natural Disasters in our Weather and Climate Unit in Science. They worked together to design an emergency plan for a variety of natural disasters or natural hazards.
Fourth Grade
Math: 4th graders are working on multiplication. We are focusing on solving 3 digit by 1 digit multiplication, 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication and different strategies to work out the problems. We will test for this unit before we leave on winter break. When we come back we will be starting our new unit on division. Social Studies: We are wrapping up our Northeast Region unit. Students are comparing products produced in the Northeast region with those produced in Illinois. They are taking this information and writing a paragraph for a magazine they will create about Illinois. This magazine project will continue throughout the year as we learn about the different regions in the US. Writing: Paragraph writing continues to be the focus in 4th grade as we solidify an understanding of topic sentences, appropriate transitions, and excellent conclusions. Science: Energy and Waves is our next focus in Science. We will start this prior to leaving for break and it will continue after we return. This is always a fun unit where the students learn about sound, light, and color before moving into energy. Reading: The 4th grade classes are finishing up with fiction and comprehension strategies such as analyzing characters, inferring and understanding theme. We will be moving into Non-Fiction topics including text features.
Fifth Grade
Math: We are nearing the end of our division unit. In this unit we have been learning to divide two and three digit numbers by one and two digit numbers. For example: 237 ÷ 9 and 237 ÷ 94. We have also been learning how to interpret remainders in quotients. Our last topic will be dividing with decimals, including whole numbers by decimals, decimals by whole numbers, and decimals by decimals.
Science: Stars and Earth in Space. Part of this unit is on Earth’s movement in space and how its rotation affects shadows, tides and temperatures. We also learned why it is the tilt of Earth’s axis and its location around the sun that causes the seasons, and not its distance from the sun. We learned how our location on Earth, as well as its revolution, causes us to see different stars and constellations. We studied the composition and life cycles of stars (including our sun) and types of galaxies. Last, but not least, we are very excited as we prepare for next week’s field trip to Challenger Learning Center.
ELA: We have been practicing the strategies of comparing and contrasting to improve our reading comprehension. This unit will soon be followed by author’s purpose. We are also continuing to practice our writing, especially paragraph construction. This includes topic sentences, transitions, supporting details, and concluding sentences.
Specials
In PE class our students will finishing their hockey tournaments. Next up is our Paddleball unit which the kids absolutely love.
Reading/ELL
The students have been learning about new vocabulary words when they are reading fiction and nonfiction text. Vocabulary is the avenue, which helps students understand new concepts and information. Researchers such as Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown and Linda Kucan categorized teaching words into three different tiers.
Tier 1 words are the basic words such as boy, girl, house, table, family, etc. These words are part of the students’ daily conversation.
Tier 2 words are academic words that are more complex and have multiple meanings. Some examples include explain, expand, summarize, compare, contrast, etc. Students learn these words when reading text and receiving explicit instruction.
Tier 3 words are content specific words that are less commonly used words. Teachers provide specific instruction with these concepts in specific content areas. Some examples include respiration, photosynthesis, parallel, diameter, etc.
Some of the activities teachers have used to teach the vocabulary concepts include: vocabulary squares where the student will give the definition of the word, provide a connection to the concept, use synonyms of the word, and draw a picture of the important term. Another activity includes vocabulary ladders, where the students explain the meanings of words. They are able to organize the words that have similar meanings, use sentence clues to help them understand the meanings of the words, sentence stems to explain the words and they are able to write a response using the important vocabulary concepts.
Date posted: November 19, 2018 | Author: ctwebprincipal | Comments Off on CURRICULUM CORNER
EC has been very busy pretending to be firefighters and learning about fire safety. We practiced calling 9-1-1 and STOP DROP AND ROLL. Miss Graf’s class made fire with tissue paper. Mrs. Steinmeier’s class made fire pictures with shaving cream. The kitchen area was transformed into a house on fire while the block area was filled with fire trucks.
We are also learning to recognize our first names and spell them. The PM classes are working on letters A,B,C,D. Our first field trip to Goeberrt’s Pumpkin Farm was a success and a little wet. Each class received a giant pumpkin! We will soon be opening our pumpkins to scoop and count the seeds. Next month is all about Fall, leaves, and being thankful on Thanksgiving.
Kindergarten
We have been having so much fun using our 5 senses to observe the changes that Fall brings. We have been learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin and using descriptive language. In math, we just finished up our unit on the numbers 0-10 and are beginning to learn about addition and different tools that will help us add. Keep practicing the numbers 0-10 and matching quantities to numerals. We have had so much fun reading books about our favorite characters. This past month we worked on identifying the characters, the setting and retelling stories. Continue to work on this with us at home when you are reading your “favorite” books. The best things that you can practice with your kindergartners at home are sight words, the sounds that letters make and recognizing numbers 0-10 and the 5 basic shapes. Thanks for all your support at home.
1st Grade
First grade students used their problem skills and persevered to open their fire safety “Break Out Boxes”. They were excited to work in teams and earned an extra recess!
2nd Grade
Second graders have been learning about the oceans, continents, and landforms. Students made pumpkin globes to represent our Earth. Students researched a landform and created a digital slideshow. Some second graders even demonstrated their knowledge of their landform in the form of a song.
ELL & Reading Resource
This year, students will read a variety of stories, including fairy tales and fables. Fairy tales are stories that can take place in a distant or make-believe land. They can feature imaginary characters such as dragons, fairies or giants. The problem in the story is solved at the end and it has a happy ending. Fairy tales may also include magical elements such as magic beans or enchanted castles. Some examples include: Rapunzel, Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk. Fables are stories that provide a lesson or moral at the end. They often include talking animals. Some examples include: The Hare and the Tortoise and The Lion and the Mouse. When reading the stories, students will determine the central message and be able to describe how characters react to events in the story.
Date posted: November 2, 2018 | Author: ctwebprincipal | Comments Off on CURRICULUM CORNER
3:00ish ~ visitors begin leaving to have lot cleared for dismissal
If you’re planning to come on Halloween, please be aware we have made some changes this year to help ensure your child’s safety:
Anyone is welcome to join us for the parade.
The parade will be outside in the bus loop unless it rains. If it rains, it will be through the hallways and gym. Please plan costumes accordingly for the cold.
Only visitors who have let teachers know BYOCTOBER 26thwill be allowed to enter the building to set up or help with the party.
No siblings or other children will be allowed at the parties.
A maximum of 3 visitors (who are on the teacher’s list mentioned above) will be able to come in during the grade level’s lunch to set up. These visitors may also come to the party if they want.
Costume Information:
Students do not wear their costumes to school. They should bring the costumes to school and change into them before the parade.
Items representing weapons are not allowed. Anything even resembling a weapon will be confiscated and parents will need to pick up the item after school.
No one should wear costumes which appear bloody or promote gore (if in doubt, check with the school office).
No face cover (masks, bandanas, etc.) can be worn to ensure proper identification of all (including adults).
Any hair or make-up preparations need to be completed at home. Students will not be allowed to color their own hair at school.
Date posted: October 19, 2018 | Author: ctwebprincipal | Comments Off on Halloween Information
Third grade students did a S.T.E.A.M. activity that reinforced the multiplication concepts that they have been currently working on in math. Students were given specific multiplication products and had to create a restaurant blueprint using arrays, with the given products. This activity also encouraged students to work together, problem solve, and communicate effectively as a team.
Fourth Grade
In fourth grade we are working on finding perimeter along with adding and subtracting whole numbers. We are focusing on working these problems through the use of story problems. ELA – The current focuses are character traits, character change, and questioning. The writing emphasis is on types of sentences, the requirements of writing complete sentences and how to start the writing process. Science – We are learning about the human body, senses, and the brain. We are starting with the eye and vision and how the eyes work. We will move on to the brain & nerves when we discuss how the brain controls the body. We will finish with Muscles & Skelton and learn about why biceps bulge.
Fifth Grade
Fifth Graders have been hard at work this month. We are in the middle of our math unit on multiplication, including: multiplying 2-digit by 3-digit numbers (both whole and decimals) , volume and exponents. In reading, we are concluding our unit on summarizing and will be moving on to using context clues for comprehension. Writing with colorful adjectives and vivid verbs has been a focus in writing, as well continual practice on constructing proper sentences and paragraphs. We have also finished our social studies unit on Mesopotamia and have switched over to science. Here we are learning about the Earth’s spheres and how they are interconnected. Earth’s four spheres are the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere.
Specials
In the month of October our health students at Country Trails will be continuing to develop their understanding of germ/illness prevention and the importance of washing hands. Following this the students will be participating in our fire safety unit where the students will be able to practice emergency procedures and develop fire safety plans for their homes, which coincides with our schools fire safety prevention week. During this week, the fire department will come and talk to our younger students who will get a chance to interact with the fireman and also see a fire truck.
Date posted: October 17, 2018 | Author: ctwebprincipal | Comments Off on CURRICULUM CORNER
