February 12, 2023
Dear White Oak Families,
Have everyone had a great weekend! We had lots of fun on Friday celebrating the 100th day of school. I have never seen so many "Old" elementary students & staff!
LOVE the Bus Week
It is National School Bus Driver Appreciation Week! We asked our wonderful drivers to list some of their favorites (below) if you would like to share a token of appreciation. The American School Bus Council also has several easy, printable resources on their website.
Stories from the Specialists
STEM with Mrs. Overton
ECS -- We have been doing some projects involving snow flakes and winter the past few weeks. Students created a snowflake using wax paper and glue. They made a mitten for the animals from The Mitten by Jan Brett and this week they learned about rainbows and created a paper snowflake. They used the snowflake and a CD to try and create rainbows using sunlight.
Kindergarten -- Has been focused on weather and seasons in STEM so far this year. They should be able to tell you what the seasons are and clues that you might see during that season.
1st Grade -- The past few weeks we have been working on constellations and things related to space. We also read a story about Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to go in space. Next we will be moving on to some animal adaptations to go with the 1st grade EL unit on birds.
2nd Grade -- The past few weeks we have been working on finishing up our extensions on matter by looking at the water cycle, then we moved directly into weather to support their 3rd quarter science unit. We have learned some of the types of clouds that we see on a normal basis, including cumulus, stratus, cumulonimbus, and stratonimbus. We are going to spend a few more weeks in weather this quarter.
3rd Grade -- We recently finished our force and motion extensions by building bumper coasters. We are going to spend one week on planets using Merge Cubes. Students are going to spend some time coding and building robotics with Legos. We are using the Lego Spike Essentials kits. Then we will be moving into supporting the science curriculum with landforms and water features.
4th Grade -- The past few weeks have been devoted to a project in art with Ms. Yates and in STEM for their EL end of unit projects. Students worked in groups to create a diorama about their animal they researched in their classrooms. Then they coded the project using Scratch and will be presenting their projects starting next STEM rotation using Makey Makey kits to get their projects to talk. We will be doing some coding and building with the Lego Spike Essentials kits this quarter as well.
5th Grade -- We have been working on a Venus Lander Project with 3 other area elementary schools. Students are using their knowledge from their heat transfer unit in 2nd quarter to build something to protect butter from melting in our Venus simulator. While we can't get close to the heat on Venus, we are able to get the box up to 200 degrees. Students have a limited budget and time to test. They need to stick to their budget and decide how they want to spend their money. We did our first tests yesterday and will be testing with each class during STEM over the next several weeks. After the Venus Lander project, students will begin to create a project for their force and motion unit that will combine force and motion with other science topics.
Recyclables -- We love cereal boxes and paper towel rolls if you have any to give!!!
Calling all Future Scientists! SCIENCE FAIR 2023
We are excited to announce that our Science Fair returns in-person this March!
Students have started learning about this year's Science Fair in STEM and we hope that your child(ren) signup!
- To learn more about the Science Fair: https://www.wcpss.net/domain/18558
- Signup using the interest form at www.bit.ly/3RuwmSO by February 17th. The Science Fair will take place at school on Thursday, March 23rd from 5:30-7pm or online using Flipgrid. Please choose one option!
We are looking forward to seeing all of this year's awesome projects!
PTA News & Updates
Spirit Night!
The next Spirit Night will take place at Mellow Mushroom Cary on Thursday, February 23, 2023, 11:00am - 11:00 pm.
Save the Date: WOES PTA Spring Carnival
Mark your calendars for this fun event that will take place on April 20, 2023!
More details coming soon.
WOES PTA Website
Stay in the know: Visit the WOES PTA website to learn more about Spirit Wear, PTA events, and more! https://woespta.membershiptoolkit.com/home
Spirit Wear
Purchase your Spirit Wear and show your WOES spirit!
HTTPS://WHITEOAKELEMENTARY.SPIRITSALE.COM
Positivity Project - Character Strength of the Week
The Positivity Project (P2) is a character education program (funded by our PTA) and dedicated to empowering America's youth to build positive relationships by seeing the good in themselves and others. We hope you enjoy using the character strengths vocabulary and have meaningful conversations at home that support your child's learning here at school.
This Week's Character Strength: LOVE
- This week in our Positivity Project/morning meeting we are exploring the character strength: Love
- Family Letter for the week of February 13-17 - Love - The password for each P2 for Families page is simply: P2
- White Oak P2 Calendar 2022-23
Classroom Updates
Please make sure you check your child's class newsletter sent each week on Friday:
Kindergarten | ||
3rd Grade |
Upcoming Dates
2/13 - 2/17 |
National Bus Driver Appreciation Week |
Monday, 2/20 |
NO SCHOOL President's Day |
Thursday, 2/23 |
PTA Spirit Night Mellow Mushroom |
Friday, March 3 |
Interim Reports Go Home |
Tuesday, March 7 |
NO SCHOOL Teacher Workday |
Tuesday, March 14 |
Class Pictures |
THANK YOU for all of your support!
Robin Swaim, Principal
Kevin Boynton, Assistant Principal
& all of the Explorer Staff
Follow Us!
919-694-0202
Facebook: @WhiteOakES
Twitter: @WhiteOakElem