CAE News
Week of September 6th-9th
Week 3
The Energy Bus and The Energy Bus for kids are both great books written by Jon Gordon.
Jon Gordon's best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous NFL, NBA, MLB coaches and teams, Fortune 500 companies, school districts, hospitals and non-profits. He is the author of numerous books including The Wall Street Journal bestseller The Energy Bus, Soup, The No Complaining Rule, Training Camp, and The Carpenter. Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Fox and Friends and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include The Atlanta Falcons, LA Clippers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Campbell Soup, Wells Fargo, Northwestern Mutual, Publix, Southwest Airlines, Bayer, West Point Academy and more.
Both books, The Energy Bus and The Energy Bus for kids , focus on how to overcome challenges by practicing timeless principles that are crucial to our student’s success as they are faced with challenges in school and in life. In a world where information is at your fingertips, employers are looking for positive workers who can face challenges in a positive manner. In addition to academic success, our students will also need to be good at problem-solving, thinking critically, communicating, working with others that are different, and have the courage to take risk to achieve different outcomes. Having the ability to respond appropriately to difficult situations will be key as we prepare students for jobs that have not yet been created.
Because of these 21st century skills- we must have 21st century learning communities that support these behaviors. Students must be in a positive, safe learning environment in order for him to feel safe to try new things.
In the book the Energy Bus, the main character George, is faced with challenges in both his personal and his professional life. He is on the verge of losing his marriage as well as his job due to his poor attitude. The story begins on a Monday morning and George wakes up and asks himself – what else can go wrong today? And when he steps outside, he has a flat tire! George panics and immediately begins thinking about people whom could possibly give him a ride, he considers a neighbor but he had already left. He then thought of people from work who could pick him up and no one came to mind so George has to ask his wife. His wife instantly begins to rattle off all the chores she has to take care of – taking the kids to school, the dog to the vet, etc. and there was no way she was willing to change her plans for George, so she suggested he ride the bus.
On the bus, George meets Joy, the bus driver. Joy is a delightful, happy lady who greets George with a big smile and calls him ‘Sugar’ as he steps on the bus. George ends up riding the bus for 10 days and during this 10-day period George’s life is changed because Joy introduces him to 10 principles that will help him transform his work life and his personal life.
The reader follows George as this transformation happens and we are all inspired by the results.
In an Energy Bus School we believe that if we introduce our students to these principles early, they will have the mindset to achieve great results in the 21st century.
Jon Gordon and Niki Spears (co-founder and former principal, educator, and change leader) have taken principles from The Energy Bus (adult version) and The Energy Bus for Kids and outlined 7 principles that will guide our learning community to success!
Below are the 7 principles along with a brief description:
Principle 1: You’re the Driver – reinforces taking personal responsibility for your actions, not blaming or complaining, but feeling empowered to take risk and make the necessary changes to get the results you desire.
Principle 2: Create a positive vision- teaches students to set positive personal and academic goals as they become active participants in the learning process.
Principle 3: Drive with purpose –students discover their unique talents and how they can utilize these gifts to determine their purpose.
Principle 4: Fuel Your Ride with Positive Energy- reveals ways to become a more positive person while learning how your behavior can impact everyone in the learning community.
Principal 5: Transform negativity – look at ways to turn challenges into great opportunities for learning and growth.
Principle 6: LOVE your passengers – seeing the true gift in every person we meet as we find ways to serve our school and our community.
Principle 7: Enjoy the Ride! – reinforces the importance of living a happy and healthy life.
We appreciate you being on our bus and helping make our school such a great place!
News from the classroom
Oral Language: What is a friend?
Phonological Awareness: Segmenting sentences (Sentence clap; breaking sentences into individual words)
Alphabet Knowledge: Letters (concept of letters)
Math: Counting to 5; Sorting objects
Science/Social Studies: Using our senses
Kinder Passengers:
TEDDY BEAR DAY is Friday! We will be having lots of fun with bear activities all week long!
English Language Arts-
*We will be learning about and identifying rhyming words.
*We will continue to practice name writing and letter formation.
Reading-
*We will be retelling events from different stories about Bears!
*Sight words to learn for the first six weeks are: a, I, am, can, see, the
Math-
*We will continue to identify, read and write numbers 0-5.
Science/Social Studies:
*We will compare and describe our teddy bears,
*We will complete a gummy bear experiment.
*We will continue to learn rules and procedures for school.
1st Grade Passengers:
Phonics-Students will bring home their purple phonics folders on Tuesday. Students need to complete their phonics homework this week.
*Math: Unit 1- We will continue to work on understanding addition and test over this
*English Language Arts: We will sequence our weekly story “I Can, Too!”. Please read this at home nightly and sign.
*Phonics: We will be learning about the short vowels e and u.
*Writing: We will begin working on completing sentences and using correct punctuation.
*HFW’s
- over
- it
- too
*Sight Words
- a
- for
- have
- he
- too
- look
- not
- yellow
- red
- see
*Follow this link to learn how to help your child with reading comprehension and making predictions:
2nd Grade Passengers:
Phonics-Students will bring home their red phonics folders on Tuesday. Students need to complete their phonics homework this week.
Math: We will be comparing and ordering whole numbers up to 1,200.
Reading: We will be identifying the moral and theme of different fables and making predictions using the title and pictures in a story.
Phonics: We will be learning words with the r and l blend and identifying closed syllable words.
Writing: We will be learning how to plan a first draft using pictures, listing, sharing ideas and sequencing ideas into sentences.
Social Studies: We will be learning about contributions that different historical figures have made.
Science. We will be learning the scientific method and introduce the states of matter.
3rd Grade Passengers:
Reading-We are using context clues to figure out the meaning of unknown words, comparing and contrasting characters, and making inferences.
Writing-We are learning about nouns and verbs and using the writing process.
Math-We are comparing and ordering whole numbers.
Science-We are learning about science tools, safety and matter.
Social Studies-We are learning about communities and how to use maps and globes.
*Intervention/Enrichment starts week 4
4th Grade Passengers:
Math- This week we are learning addition of whole numbers and decimals! Students can relate addition of decimals to adding money. We will also be rounding to find estimates to addition problems.
Science- We are learning and investigating about the physical properties of Matter! Students will have fun learning about matter and density towers.
Texas History- Students will understand important ideas of historic documents in Texas. They will study the US Constitution and understand its importance as well as the basic functions of the three branches of state government.
Reading- This week we will be focusing on summarizing and sequencing by reading fiction stories and poetry. As per every Friday, students will be continuing in their novel study as they learn how to complete another role in their Literacy Groups.
Writing- This week we will begin the writing process with our first paper. Subjects, predicates, common, and proper nouns will all be reviewed from last week's lessons as we incorporate those into our writing.
*Intervention/Enrichment will continue
Fifth Grade Passengers:
5th Math will be multiplying and dividing whole numbers.
5th Science will be classifying the properties of matter.
5th Reading will use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
*Intervention/Enrichment will continue
Upcoming campus dates:
Grandparents week September 12th-16th---grandparents are invited to join us from lunch any day this week! Please make sure you bring your driver's license. All visitors must be on visitor's list or in the system as family or an emergency contact
The Great Cookie Fundraiser-kicks off next week. Students will sell big, delicious cookies for $2 each. The campus will receive 50% of the funds. Funds go towards our activity fun which helps provide technology for the classrooms, t-shirts for Read, Deed, and Run, and so much more.
September 16th-homecoming game vs. Waco Robinson
Students can wear their spirit shirts on Friday to show their Hornet Pride. Mums will not be allowed at school.
Central Athens Elementary
Email: jrisinger@athensisd.net
Website: www.athensisd.net
Location: 307 Madole Street, Athens, TX, United States
Phone: 903-677-6960
Facebook: facebook.com/centralathenselementary.com
Twitter: @CAE_AISD