Dear White Oak Families, 

We may have lost an hour of sleep this morning, but the weather forecast shows it will really feel like spring by the end of the week! As a reminder, there is No School tomorrow due to the Teacher Workday. 

Thank you for taking a few minutes to read through our weekly newsletter. 

Quick Updates/Reminders:

• The Science Fair is Thursday from 5:30-7:00.
• The SSA parent meeting was held last week. If you were unable to attend, there is information available on our website. The test request window opens April 1. 

PTA News/Updates

Save the Date:

• Friday, 4/19 - Spring Carnival - Stay Tuned for Details!
• Wednesday, 5/1 - BB's Crispy Chicken Spirit Night

STEAM Specials Updates from Mrs. Overton

Science Fair: This Thursday from 5:30-7pm. If you are participating, you can start to set up at 5:15pm. More information will be sent through email this week. All students should be with a parent/adult. 

Kinder & ECS: We have been reading the series of books by Chris Van Dusen, "If I built a . . . ." and so far have built houses and cars of their own designs. They have enjoyed building with LEGOs, while also discussing their projects and using vocabulary about their builds (above, below, under, next to, etc.)

First Grade: First grade has been working on animal adaptations in STEM to coordinate with their first grade literacy unit. They have looked at different types of bird beaks and explored which beaks are better for scooping versus picking up seeds. They have also looked at camouflaged animals and hid paper moths throughout the STEM lab! I hope I can find them all!

Second Grade: We finished up matter by learning about the water cycle and went right into weather. They learned about the major types of clouds we often see and hopefully can identify some of them! Students should be able to discuss some of the climate zones (polar, temperate, desert, mild, and tropical) and where in the world they are. They have learned why our weather is not always the 4 seasons of the temperate zone. Next we are moving into severe weather and becoming engineers to design a house that won't get blown away by the Mrs. O tornado!

Third Grade: We have been using the Lego robotics kits and exploring different ways to build amusement park rides. They have had to work cooperatively with their peers to build, test, and code their creations. Next we will move into a short introduction to our Finch robots before going back to science and looking at different land forms and water forms. 

Fourth Grade: We finally finished our joint project with Ms. Yates and the 4th grade team for their second quarter EL learning. Students created dioramas with Ms. Yates about their animals they researched in their classroom and then came to the STEM lab to code with Scratch to get their dioramas to talk using the Makey Makey and circuits. We will be focused on being good digital citizens for the rest of this quarter. So far, we have discussed ways to minimize digital distractions and will go into the importance of passwords and basic cybersecurity next. We had a group of 10 fourth graders that went to the Raleigh Convention Center to present their projects to educators from around the state. They did a fabulous job, and we are so proud of them!!!

Fifth Grade: At the beginning of the quarter, students got to explore with the Finch robots and create races, mazes, and more with their robots. Then we learned about the solar system and the different landers and probes NASA and other countries have sent to neighboring planets. Students have been working on creating Venus Landers that can survive the heat of Mars. They have explored different materials to prevent the butter from melting inside their landers to go reinforce vocabulary from their science heat energy unit. 

2023-2024 White Oak Elementary PTA Corporate Sponsors

	Aura Skin & Laser
	Bottle Theory
	Bright Ideas Realty
	Carolina OrthodonticsandTriangle Family Dentistry
	Lune Spark
	Mirchi's Restaurant
	Open Arts
	Parkside Eye Care
	Sarika CPA LLC
	Starpath Dance