GRAND AVENUE SPECIALS
OCTOBER 2015
SPECIALS DEPARTMENTS
Music-Katie Lavigne and Glenn Schuster
Physical Education-Jacob Breunig and Eric Scheunemann
Email: contact@saukprairieschools.org
Website: www.saukprairieschools.org
Open House and Parent Teacher Conferences
GRAND AVENUE PREDICTION RUN
The 38th annual Grand Avenue Prediction Run will be held on Friday, October 30, 2015. Students will start practicing laps on Thursday, October 1 and must try to run at least 1 lap per school day. The 3rd grade students will run 1/2 mile and the 4th and 5th grade students will run 1 mile.
If you could please remind your children to wear or bring tennis shoes to school to make their running easier and safer, that would be great. Also, an extra pair of socks would be a good idea since the the grass is wet for the morning recesses or after rain.
The Prediction Run times are as follows:
12:45 pm - first half of 3rd grade (Cichanowicz, Frey, Knuteson, 1/2 Ruhland-Cook)
1:00 pm - second half of 3rd grade (1/2 Ruhland-Cook, Trachsler, Udulutch, Van Laanen)
1:20 pm - 4th grade
1:40 pm - 5th grade
Something to Be Proud Of:
If students complete all their daily practice laps they will complete 10 miles this month if they are in 3rd grade, and 20 miles if they are in 4th or 5th grade.
We are off to a great start in ART!
It is hard to believe that we have been in school for four weeks and that October is right around the corner. Your child has art has two 45 minute art classes twice a week with Mrs. Yarnell or Mrs. Geier. During class this past month we have been getting to know each other and the procedures of the art room. We have also started a self-portrait project that will become part of an grade level and whole school mural. The goals that we hope each student will gain from the self portrait project are; stronger drawing skills, defining and recognizing a monochromatic color scheme, defining and recognizing abstract and realistic artwork, and defining a self portrait and portrait. Hopefully, the mural is complete by Grand Avenue’s Open House on October 15th and your child can show you their portrait!
Please feel free to contact us with questions or concerns. We are also looking for volunteers to help with displays or in the classroom.
Did you know the Sauk Prairie K-12 Art Department has a Facebook page? Like us to get announcements for upcoming events and pictures of what we are doing in class!
The Start of the Year in Physical Education has been EXCITING!
We have accomplished a lot in Physical Education so far. We have discussed what Above the Line behavior looks like in our classroom and what our expectations are. We expect students to be ready to learn, but our classroom looks different than others. We don’t use a lot of books, smartboards, or chromebooks; instead we use equipment, space, and our bodies.
We discussed the importance of following the playground policies so everyone can have fun and use recess to get exercise. We introduced the walk/run course as an option for exercise at recess as well. Besides safety, expectations, and recess we have focused on improving our dodging, chasing, throwing and catching skills this month.
Students have learned our instant activity and warm-up routine to start class each day. Within the first 10-15 minutes of class students put on a heart rate monitor, participate in an instant activity, and receive a full body workout that they do in small groups. The heart rate monitors have been a great addition to what we do in class. A special thanks to GSPIE for helping us purchase enough for a class set. Below is an example of what students can see when they are wearing the heart rate monitors. Not only is their heart rate displayed but the background changes color based on the intensity of their heart rate. We are starting to discuss the benefits of each of the five heart rate zones and will be discussing the components of fitness.
Grand Avenue Music
During the first few weeks of school we have been warming up our singing voices, making sure that we sing in tune. We have practiced singing some solfege and clapping some rhythms. In beginning our musical planet journey this year, we visited the country of Switzerland and learned a Swiss Hiking Song. We listened to some of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and discussed a “motive” in music. We met Austin Wintory, a contemporary composer that writes all kinds of music and one thing we learned is that he writes symphonic music for video games. Then for fun we sang Everything is Awesome from “The Lego Movie.”