Lansing Intermediate Roar
Volume 2, Edition 3, 10-01-2023
Principal's Message - Mr. Altieri
Our fifth graders completed their field trips to Starbase. They were able to complete many activities that culminated in designing models, programming small robots, and launching rockets over 100 feet in the air. A huge shout out to all the staff members and parents who helped make the field trip a success, especially during that really hot week of weather!
Our first PRIDE assembly highlighted our students (and staff members) who have exhibited stellar perseverance during the first two months of school. Conferences are just around the corner. If you have not scheduled a conference time, please reach out to your student's teacher to reserve a time!
The evening of October 18th (6:30-8pm) we will have a Halloween-themed Specials Night open to LIS students and their families. Hope to see you there!
We are always striving to make our newsletter, and all information we put out to parents, more useful and engaging. If you have feedback or ideas that you would like to see, please email me at martin.altieri@usd469.net
Thank you and we appreciate your support making this a grrrr-eat year to be a Lansing Lion!
Front Office Dispatch
Ride Changes: We will not send students home a different way than normal without hearing from parents/guardians BEFORE 2:45 p.m.
Attendance: If your student is going to be absent, please notify the office before 9am on the day of the absence. Office staff arrive at 730am, but the building opens at 8am. Absences can be reported by calling 913-297-0990 or by emailing lisattendance@usd469.net.
Online Registration: Online registration must be completed every year. If you have not completed the steps for it, please do so as soon as possible. If you have any questions, or are unsure if it is completed, please call our office at 913-297-0990, option 2.
Fees: Please check your Skyward account and pay fees that are due. If you feel you may qualify for free/reduced and have not already applied, please do that. You can find the application on our website:
You can also come into our office and fill one out in person. If you have any questions please contact Jennifer Grant, bookkeeper at 913-297-0990, option 3.
Nurse News
There are so many safety topics for Halloween: Trick-Or-Treat Safety, Costume Safety, Pumpkin Carving Safety, Fire Safety...I'd like to focus on CANDY SAFETY.
To BOO LIST for CANDY SAFETY:
1) Inspect candy for signs of tampering, unusual appearance or discoloration, and holes or tears in wrappers.
2) Throw away anything that looks suspicious.
3) Remove choking hazards for small children (ie hard candy, gum balls).
4) Read labels carefully for children with food allergies.
5) Discard homemade items.
BEFORE YOU EAT, INSPECT YOUR TREAT!
Nurse Chris
Counselor's Corner
Hello parents,
October is Bully Prevention Month. We are starting our Second Step Bully Prevention unit during counseling classes to learn what to do if we see bullying in our school. We will also be celebrating Unity Day October 18th by wearing orange to promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. Please encourage your child to participate!
Kindness Club is off to a great start! Some of the things they are planning are: gratitude box, Kindness grams, Earth day clean up, fall clean up, and Motivational Monday. Here are our next dates:
5th grade: 10/16, 10/30, 11/6, 11/27. 4th grade: 10/17, 10/31, 11/7, 11/28. We meet before school in my office. Please reach out if you have any questions.
Janet Farrar, counselor/social worker
Fourth Grade - Laurie Holden
What a difference it is to have a fully staffed building this year! Our fully staffed Intervention-MTSS team is off to a great start providing consistent interventions to our Tier 3 students with little interruptions. It is the first year in a long time that we actually have our system running like it was designed to run.
Our first PRIDE assembly was last week and we honored 4th grade students who have shown our PRIDE trait of perseverance. We had a very special appearance to receive one of the awards by Eva Garrett who has been battling cancer since spring of last school year. She has had a bone marrow transplant and is currently being taught homebound but will join in person as soon as she is cleared by her doctors to come back. It was truly electric when she walked into the gym since most of the 4th graders had not seen her since March!
Math - We have completed Chapter 2 - multi digit multiplication and took our CFA for the chapter last week which our students scored very well on the test. We have started Chapter 3 which is 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication which is a little more challenging for them. We have really worked as a team to teach proven strategies that provide conceptual understanding (aka the “new math” term) and standard algorithms. It is best practice when you combine both and it is very effective as opposed to just rote memorization.
ELA - Writing - Systems approach vs silos! The past several years we have been working hard from the DLT down to PLC’s in moving to a systems based approach within the district. This year we have added writing to this process. Miles has worked very hard with Caroline, who is our instructional coach, along with the LES IC to have a strong scope and sequence for teaching writing in grades K-5. Caroline presented to our staff and introduced the Lion Paragraph. She even has come in and guest taught classes to introduce the strategy to our classes. We are off and rolling and are incorporating writing more systematically and often.
Reading- We have completed Wonders Unit 1 and given the CFA. We will be analyzing these results at an upcoming PLC. As a team, we have selected one bigger writing project for each unit and in this unit we completed opinion writing- The Best Part of Me. These will be showcased during conferences. We have moved on to Unit 2 whose ‘big”idea’ is what can we learn from animals so it has a lot of cross curricular lessons with science.
Science - We have finished Earth’s systems and moved onto Animal Adaptations. We have a project based learning assignment planned where students will have to create an animal based on a combination of other animals. They will need to create, draw, name, describe, identify habitat, food sources, and adaptations of the animal.
Social Studies - We completed the Midwest region and are taking a break from social studies for a few weeks to focus on science.
SEL & BIST - We are still in Unit 1 for Second Step which is Empathy and Skills for Learning. Skills covered in this unit include, empathy, listening with attention, being assertive, respecting similarities and differences, understanding complex feelings, understanding different perspectives, conversations & compliments, joining in, and showing compassion.
Fifth Grade - Sara Martin
Fifth grade completed the Starbase program. Students completed many STEM activities. They used a flight simulator and we able to try a virtual reality headset. Coding was used to navigate a robot on a map. Students also compared the density of different items to the density of water.
Reading - Students are beginning Unit 2 of the Wonders program. In this unit, they will read expository text, folktales, and poetry.
Math - Classes have been working on Chapter 2 – Division. Students have been working with estimation and partial products. After chapter 2 Is completed next week, we will begin working on adding and subtracting decimals.
Social Studies - Most classes have finished the unit on Native Americans and have moved on to science.
Science - Students have started exploring Mystery Science. The first unit covers food chains, producers, and composers. Classes had the opportunity to play the food chain card game and identify links in the food chain.
STEM - Suzanne Phillips
5th Grade - All 5th grade classes attended STARBASE in Lenexa once each week. They completed missions dealing with coding, launching rockets and AI. This is an amazing free resource for our 5th graders.
When the fifth grade classes were not at STARBASE they had been learning about how to accomplish challenges like creating a name tag without a writing utensil and about Accidental Inventions and creating their very own intervention from 2 different items.
When they weren’t at STARBASE, fifth graders finished up a Shark Tank project on trying to advertise their Accidental Invention. We have quite a few great engineers, sales people, and actors in this class.
We are currently finishing up 21 Elephants and Still Standing, a story about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. The students learned about 3 different types of bridges, the beam bridge, a truss bridge, and suspension bridges. Fifth and fourth graders were then challenged to build a truss bridge that can hold the most weight, using only tape, pipe cleaners, straws, and a card board deck.
Our next module is Organism: Structure and Function, the students' challenge will be to develop an animal prosthesis to help an injured animal survive by being able to move or eat again.
PE - Lee Matzedor
4th and 5th grades played Magic Ball in early September. After Labor Day they learned a game called Mat Ball. It's a form of kickball. This game is great for throwing, running, dodging and catching. Also, the classes must work together as a team to get outs! We have also increased our jogging warm up time to 3 minutes to help prepare for the upcoming mile run at the track.
Art - Libby Stevenson
4th and 5th grade students are using clay Kansas red clay and some white clay to create tic tac toe boards. They are learning simple sewing by making a bag for their game. This month, we will learn about the artist Yayoi Kusama who is known for her polka dot pumpkins. We will also celebrate Latino Heritage Month by designing sugar skulls.
Music - Ryan Rothmeyer
5th Grade is preparing for their musical, "Rock and Roll, how it all began". It will be performed on November 16th and the district auditorium.
4th Grade is working on musical symbols and note durations.
Library Log - Tina Silva
September was a busy month. Besides learning about cataloging, the difference between fiction and non-fiction, 4th graders created “Thank-fall” leaves. What are you thankful for was the theme.
We exchanged our leaves with the 2nd graders at LES. It was neat to read what each other wrote.
5th graders worked hard on an Animal research paper. They had to find out information on an animal they got to choose. These papers then were put into a folder so anyone could read them. I feel they did a pretty good job.
I am really proud of our students as they have already passed the 200 links in our ‘book chain’. When asked if they would like to continue, they all agreed to see how many links we could add by May 15th. I asked them how many they felt we could get and some of the guesses were above 1000. Very exciting to see and hear them reading more everyday.
Just want to remind everyone about our school BOOK FAIR!
It will be going on during parent/teacher conferences. Signs will be posted and information will be sent home. Stop by and look at the many new books. There is something for everyone!
Keep reading!
Instructional Insights
Staff Spotlight - Jerliyn Eaton
Standards-Based Grading
Morning Student Drop-off Procedures
LIS Parents,
We want to ensure our students arrive at school safely. Please help us by reviewing our car drop off procedures.
Do not back up traffic by turning left from Ida. Cars have been swerving around backed up traffic and it is dangerous for everyone involved.
If you plan to sit in the car with your child, and not immediately drop off, pull forward to the end of the cones to prevent traffic backing up to Ida.
Circle around the parking lot back to Ida after dropping off.
Be patient. Saving thirty seconds of time is not worth endangering our students.
Reach out to school staff if there are issues you see that need to be addressed. We are always looking to make drop off more efficient and streamlined.
Cell Phone Policy
If you need to get a message to your child, please contact the office and we can make sure your message is passed along to them. Students caught using their phone will receive a warning the first time. Future violations may result in a discipline referral for inappropriate use of technology.
Thank you for doing your part to help foster a strong learning environment at LIS!
High School Sports Attendance Policy
"We're excited for the community to come out and support our band, cheerleaders, and athletes. We have a few reminders for Lansing High School events:
- Student performances are the focus of the event. No one should be on the practice football field, soccer fields, or other areas away from the stadium
- All elementary, intermediate, and middle school aged students attending this season's high school home sporting events and activities must have a parent or guardian with them for the entirety of the event.
- The middle school cheering section is on the south side of the stadium near the concession stand
- Students cannot enter the stadium from the tailgate area
- Please do not bring balls, frisbees, or other items to the game
- Spectators who are disruptive will be asked to leave.
Thank you, and we look forward to a fantastic year!"
https://usd469.socs.net/vnews/display.v/ART/6310fd6b46368?in_archive=1
Upcoming Events:
10/11 - No School - Teacher Workday
10/11 - Conferences (4-8pm)
10/12 - No School - Conferences (7-3pm)
10/13 - No School
10/18 - LIS Halloween Specials Night (6:30 - 8pm)
10/26 - PRIDE Assembly - Respect (9:35am - 4th grade; 10:15am - 5th grade)
10/31 - Halloween
11/1 - No School - Professional Development
PTA News and Links:
10/1 - 10/9 - Fall Fundraiser (Cookie Dough Sale/Opt Out Fundraiser)
10/11 - Papa Johns Fundraiser (Please use code KSL003 to support Lansing PTA)
10/11 - 10/12 - LIS Book Fair (Families can also shop online https://www.scholastic.com/bf/lansingintermediate)
10/19 - PTA Meeting 6:30pm@LES
10/25 - Skate Night 6-8pm at Skate City Wyandotte
We need volunteers! Consider lending a hand to make our fall event a success! Many hands make light work!
Email : LansingPTA.K5@gmail.com
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lansing469pta/
View our webpage: https://lansingpta.blogspot.com/
Cookie Dough Sale
Cookie Dough Order Form
PTA Opt-out Fundraiser
Lansing Intermediate School
Website: https://www.usd469.net/vnews/display.v/SEC/Lansing%20Intermediate%20School%20%28Grades%204-5%29
Location: 509 Ida Street, Lansing, KS, USA
Phone: (913) 297-0990
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisusd469