Dear Families:

It has been another busy week at MSES with a lot of opportunities to learn so much. In Kindergarten, Don Goede, came and shared a wealth of information with kindergartners about the Lakota Sioux. Mr. Goede shared interesting information and and cool artifacts to wrap up the CKLA unit on Native Americans. Thank you, Mr. Goede.

Third graders are studying sound in CKLA. This week they tried to “see” sound by putting rice and sugar crystals on plastic wrap. A song was played through a speaker with some students saying they could see the rice and sugar “dancing” on the plastic wrap to the beat of the song.

Our Choice Enrollment window is open for new out-of-district families. We fill up pretty quickly, especially in kindergarten. We will be providing tours next week to interested families.

The next PAC meeting will be next Wednesday, January 25th at 10:15, at Red Dog. PAC will be chatting about needing to finish the tile mural project and additional fundraisers.

Our PAC, Parent Action Committee, is also hosting a fundraiser at the Ninja Gym on 1/21, from 4:30-6:00pm. Fifty percent of the proceeds benefit Manitou Springs Elementary School. Come join the fun!

If you are not a gym ninja and you want to contribute to MSES, please link your King Sooper's grocery card to MSES.

Please remind your children not to bring TOYS to schools because they are easily lost, traded or forgotten, resulting in tears. Thank you for your cooperation.

Warmly,

Maria

• Jan 21: PAC Fundraiser @ Ninja Gym - see flyer below
• Jan 24: MSMS Welcome Night for Incoming Students, 5:30pm
• Jan 25: Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay for Students)
• Jan 25: PAC Meeting, 10:15am
• Jan 27: Fitness Friday! 7:30am-8:00am
• Feb 10: No School for Students - Conference Prep/Staff Work Day
• Feb 16: Half Day - 12:30pm Dismissal - Family Conferences
• Feb 17: No School for Students - Family Conferences
• Feb 20: School Closed - Presidents' Day

Kindergarten students wrapped up a domain about Native American tribes this week. To bring our learning to life, we invited a guest speaker to come visit our classes and talk about some real Lakota Sioux artifacts and traditions. Mrs. Farrell's husband, Mr. Don, came to share his wealth of knowledge about the Lakota Sioux tribe. Students had the opportunity to touch artifacts such as tools, beaded necklaces, moccasins, and drums. They also were able to smell sage and cedar, and learn about many sacred Native Americans items. Thank you, Mr. Don, for sharing with all of us! Additionally here are a few questions you can ask your expert to see what they remember about their learning about various tribes:

• What are the names of the three Native American tribes we learned about? (Lakota Sioux, Wampanoag, and Lenape)
• What animal was sacred to the Lakota Sioux? (buffalo)
  
• What was the most important crop to the Lenape? (corn)
• What is an appanaug? (A Wamanpoag celebration; a clambake feast)

Our Second Graders have been hard at work adding some fantastic new subtraction strategies to their tool belts. The strategies that we have worked on so far are an open number line, the arrow method, picture way, take from a ten, and take from a hundred.Some students are even using the standard algorithm. They get to choose whatever strategy works best for them, and helps them feel successful. Ask your expert- What strategy do you like best? Why?

In CKLA we have been learning about Greek Mythology and how they used it to explain our seasons, how the Aegean sea got its name, and where spiders where created. We also got to taste some yummy pomegranate seeds and fennel. Ask your expert? What did you think of the taste of fennel? What might you compare it to?

In Writing we are getting ready to transition into narrative writing in the next few weeks. This is a great opportunity for your child to start writing their own stories about small moments in their lives. We are very excited to read all of the great stories that they write.

Dear Mustang Families,

Welcome back and Happy New Year! This semester will bring some exciting and engaging learning. We are almost wrapped up with the Kindness and Empathy unit across grade levels. Next up, students will learn about Problem Solving when having interpersonal problems.

This week in 1st grade your child learned and practiced two types of kind acts: offering to help someone and inviting someone to join. Help your child think of a kind act they can do for someone involving offering to help or inviting them to join. Support your child in carrying out the kind act.

This week in 2nd grade your child practiced having empathy to come up with kind acts they could do for others in different situations. Ask your child how having empathy can help them know how to be kind.

Ashley Root, MA, LPCC

MSES School Counselor