Clinton Township Newsletter

9 A u g u s t 2 0 1 4 I N O U R S C H O O L S : P a t r i C k M C g a h e r a n S C h o o l • This Summer we will be encouraging our students to use their time to read. We also encourage our parents to read with their students. Take turns reading to each other. Students become better readers when they hear good readers read. Share different books you are reading and ask your students to tell you about what they have chosen to read. Why did you each pick your book? Did you like the cover? Did you read something else by that author? Did the title catch your interest? What are you enjoying about your book? • We are again sponsoring our Summer Reading Challenge. If you go to the Patrick McGaheran page on the Clinton Township Schools web page, you can click on the "PMG Summer Reading Challenge" and you will be able to click on a linked PDF. There you will find lists of "hooked books" at differ- ent reading levels. Then there are logsheets to record your student's progress. Home coaches should sign the rosters if you heard or saw the students reading. The last two pages list some short chapter books and suggested easy readers. Read for 15 hours (60 steps), 25 hours (100 steps), 35 hours (140 steps). Bring your packet back to school in September and give it to Mrs. Ehlert in the library at SRS or PMG to receive your reading certificate, bookmark and a surprise. Enjoy the Summer and come back in September ready to read, ready to write and ready to enjoy learning! • PMG has big news with a new bundle of joy for Mary Postma, the principal! We all welcome Andrew William, the most precious addition and congratulate Mary and her husband. While Ms. Postma is out on leave, John Scott, former PMG Principal will be taking over as Interim Principal. His smile is infectious and he is already busy working on schedules and building management this summer and looking forward to greeting students and staff in September! Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer! We are busy here getting the school ready for our August Visitation Day and September open- ing. Summer is a great time for relaxing, reading, and reviewing. If you are outside, enjoy reading in a hammock, by the pool, or by the ocean. If you are inside enjoying the air conditioning consider working on some website activities listed below. The list below has information ranging from science experiments you can do at home to general learning activities: www.sci- encebob.com/experiments. This site has quite a collection of activi- ties that you can do at home – we suggest some supervision! Build a hovercraft out of a CD or make your own Rock Candy! These are always fun and great to do together. www.funbrain.com/parents/index.html www.kidsreads.com/index.asp www.pbs.org/parents/ www.scholastic.com/parents www.timeforkids.com/TFK/parents www.freerice.com www.sheppardsoftware.com These sites offer a lot of activities to choose from. You can see what sparks your interest as you browse through them. Our families have quickly discovered that the "Place the State" games on Sheppard Software's site is a competitive sport! Our community garden is flourishing! Sixth graders spent a good deal of time preparing and planting our crops. We are always looking for volunteers to help with the upkeep and harvesting. Please stop by to visit and help keep our garden blooming! r o u n D v a l l e Y S C h o o l • We hope that our SRS students have been having a wonderful summer, and have been reading lots of books! Please remember to record summer reading on the SRS Summer Reading log! Addi- tional copies may be found on our website at: http://www.ctsd.k12. nj.us/spruce-run-school-2014-summer-reading. • We have been busy "sprucing up" Spruce Run School for the new school year! The custodial staff has been painting and cleaning our school, and our office staff has been purchasing supplies and working on our class lists. Our school theme for the upcoming year is "Wild About Animals!" and we look forward to sharing more about this with you! • Please be sure to look for the letter from Mrs. Goad at the end of August to find out who your child's new Preschool, Kinder- garten or First Grade teacher will be! Please mark your calendars for August 27 for the School Visitation Day to see your child's new classroom and meet the teacher prior to the first day of school. More information will be included in the August mailing. Enjoy the rest of the summer and don't forget the sunscreen! S P r u C e r u n S C h o o l Remember: August 27 is School Visitation Day! Most people think of schools as quiet places over the summer. How- ever, this is certainly not the case at CTMS, which was a hive of activ- ity in July. The school was filled with the sound of laughter and learning as students participating in the CTSD Extended School Year program and the Clinton Township Recreation Department Summer Program enjoyed a myriad of activities. Summer Reading: As we relax and take time to rejuvenate over the summer it is important to recognize the importance of summer reading. Research shows that students who do not read over the summer demonstrate academic loss in the Fall. Additionally, summer reading loss is cumulative. By the end of 6th grade, children who do not read over the summer are two years behind other children. Source: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/summer/research.htm - importance All CTSD students are expected to read throughout the summer. Our purpose of is to encourage students to acquire the wonderful lifetime habit of independent reading. Information on the reading requirements for incoming seventh and eighth grade students, as well as those students moving onto North Hunterdon High School can be found on the CTMS library wiki: https://wiki. ctsd.k12.nj.us/wiki/projects/ctmslibrary/CTMS_LIBRARY.html. C l i n t o n t o w n S h i P M i D D l e S C h o o l • Stress the importance of summer reading with your child. • Make reading exciting; don't think of it as a chore. • Create a reading list. • Create a no-TV or electronic game time during part of each day. • Join a summer reading program at your local library. • Keep a supply of reading materials around the house. • Go to the library regularly. • Ask your child questions about the books s/he is reading. • Pick a favorite author or series and read all the books. • Listen to books on tape while traveling. • Model reading. What Parents Can Do: "Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere." ~Chinese Proverb

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