Nurse's Notes- Mrs. Jennifer Brown, RN
Here we are in October and flu season is upon us. Don't forget to get your flu shots! As we come further into fall we are battling with a lot of colds and allergies at school. Please remind your child to cough into their elbow so we cut down on spreading germs. Also, remind them how to blow their noses. I see many children who are not able to do this and it affects how they feel. If your child is one who uses cough drops, remember that you are able to send them in with a note. These are kept in the nurse's office and your child can come and get them as needed. I do not keep any cough drops to be handed out.
We are coming up to the deadline (October 15, 2022) for medical paperwork to be turned in. Those of you who are still missing things have been notified by mail, email and phone. Please email me with any questions you may have regarding this.
Reminder to all second grade parents, your child needs a dental exam turned in this year. If you are unsure if you have turned one in already, please reach out to me.
PTO Update with Mrs. Brielle Meinder, PTO President
Hello from your friendly PTO! I have to start with the obvious…The Trojan Trot! We knew it would be a success but you sure wowed us. Over $86,000 was pledged!! We have to thank all of the wonderful teachers for letting us rearrange schedules and for helping us to spread the word on all of the different platforms. They were our connection to students and parents. Primary did such an awesome job raising money! Special shout-out goes to 3rd grade! Our next cheers of gratitude go to Administration. Mr. Heidbreder, Mr. Cox, Ms. Johnson, Mrs. Sikkema, and Mrs. Segler really let us “take over” the school for 2 weeks and made all of our wishes come true. Ms. Johnson was such a good sport about getting silly stringed.
We could not have done this fundraiser without a ton of motivated students, generous parents and family members, and a giving community. The Trojan Trot volunteers, led by Mrs. Jessica Gibson-James, spent a lot of time and energy on this and I’m so glad that it was worth every second. We have been consumed with all things Trojan Trot so stop by our next meeting on Thursday, October 6th (at 7pm in the CIS Library) to hear about what else we have planned for this school year.
Interventionist Corner- Mrs. Kris Mertens, Math Interventionist & Mrs. Stephanie Standish, Reading Interventionist
Now that our beginning of the year assessments are completed, we will begin to provide intervention support for students. We will meet with each teacher the first week in October to discuss any concerns they might have and who they feel needs extra support. If the teacher feels your child needs extra support in reading or math, she will contact you to let you know that we will be discussing your child at our meeting. Intervention support will be decided based upon whole school needs and availability. If your child will be receiving extra support during our first round of intervention, you will get a phone call from your child’s teacher and/or the interventionist serving your child.
We would like to provide some activities over the course of the year that you can work on with your child in a fun way at home.
Math Activity for Fun
Guess My Number
You need to have an idea of a range of numbers your child understands. This will vary from child to child based on age and level of understanding.
For example - within 30 , within 100, within 1000. Let’s try out this scenario. I will tell you my range to get us started. My number is between 0 and 20. ( You can do larger ranges for older kids and smaller ranges for younger kids.)
Think about the following math words and phrases as you make your guesses: greater than, less than, odd, even, decades, between, after, before.
example:
Student: Is the number 15?
Parent: My number is not 15, but my number is less than 15.
Reading Activity for Fun
According to research, reading with your child at home is very important to their literacy success. The following graphic illustrates the benefits of just 20 minutes a day.
If this is not already in your routine, please consider adding it in! In future newsletters, I’ll be passing along some fun ways to share a story with your child. Here’s your first one:
*You read a page, I read a page: Whether your child is in kindergarten or third grade, you can read with them by taking turns reading a page. This allows you to model what a good reader sounds like and still gives your little reader the opportunity to show you what they can do, too!
Social Emotional Learning Corner- Mrs. Gail Johnson, School Counselor, Mrs. Maggie Bagley, School Social Worker & Mrs. Alayna Miller, School Psychologist
Reflecting on the month of September, our TROJAN code word of the month was Teamwork. Mrs. Johnson went into classrooms and did lessons that helped students identify what being a good team member is and then had students practice being good team members by participating in various group activities.
This month, the TROJAN code focuses on the word Responsibility. We will spend the month talking about what responsibilities students have at school and how to make good choices while at school. Follow this link to see how you could encourage your student(s) to be responsible at home! 
Art corner- Ms. Lacey Gleason
Kindergarten has just wrapped up their directed ocean drawings. We talked about shapes and color as we created an under the water scene together. We made many fun animals like a chompy shark with an angry eyeball and an octopus with purple hair! We had a lot of fun!
First grade completed their self-portraits where they learned how to add realistic details! We picked real hair and eye colors and made sure to color everything in solid! Students even learned how to make the eyes in a football shape! Some classes have started our group project as we study artist Wassily Kandinsky.
Second grade finished up their tie-dyed turtles and have moved on to one of my favorite artist studies, Georgia O’Keefe. We are working on drawing cow skulls with color and patterns! These will be perfect for October!
Third grade is working on their texture fish! We had fun drawing extra sea animals around our fish so they had some buddies. We will be studying Pablo Picasso next!
A little Note from Music... Mrs. Kathryn Cunningham
The music room has been busy making lots of music! All the students have enjoyed playing instruments and singing this year. Here is a little overview of what each grade level has been working on.
Kindergarten finished their unit on the four voices. They learned all about the different ways they can use their voice. They even did a little mini-performance in the music room. We had lots of fun acting, dancing, and singing together. We are now learning about rhythm.
1st Grade just finished their unit on meter. They learned all about steady beat and how beats are organized in a measure. We have had fun moving to different meters in 2, 3, and 4. I think my favorite was the meter of 3. We waltzed around the room.
2nd Grade also just finished learning about meters. This was a review from 1st grade. We are now learning about rhythm. They will start learning how to compose rhythms and also how to improvise.
3rd Grade has learned about the different voice ranges (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) and how remarkable the human voice is. We are now beginning to learn about how to read the treble clef staff by identifying the lines and spaces.
Mark your calendars!! Each Grade level will have a concert in the spring. Dates and times are below:
Kindergarten- May 4, 2023 in Holford Gym at 5:30 pm
1st Grade- May 4, 2023 in Holford Gym at 6:30 pm
2nd Grade- May 11, 2023 in Holford Gym at 5:30 pm
3rd Grade- May 11, 2023 in Holford Gym at 6:30 pm
P.E. with Mr. Chris Dalberg
STEM with Mr. Robert Deatherage
