Shoemaker Newsletter
October, 2018
Happy October!
It is hard to believe that more than a month of school has already passed! The children and faculty have been working very hard to settle into routines, and dive into our new resources and technology. It has been really fun for me to get into classrooms to read to the children, and I look forward to continuing to do so monthly. Several Good News Calls home have been made to share kind behavior, perseverance, positive attitudes, and much more! Mr. Trexler has enjoyed passing on information to you via our new outdoor sign. If you haven’t already connected with us on our website, Facebook page or Twitter, Mr. Trexler put QR codes on the sign for you to scan and gain immediate access to these social media tools. Please ask a staff member for help if you are unsure about how to scan the codes.
As always, thank you for all that you do.
Warmest regards,
Jackie Vogel
Shoemaker Principal
Mark Your Calendars:
October 6 - PTO Applebee's Breakfast in Trexlertown. 8am-10am. Must pay with cash or check.
October 8 - Columbus Day. No school.
October 9 - No school.
October 19 - Early Dismissal. Students dismiss at 12:30. Lunch will be served.
October 23 - Mix-it-up lunch day.
October 24 - Unity Day. Wear Orange.
October 26 - Shoemaker Halloween Parade. 2:00.
Mix-It-up Day Details:
Shoemaker Elementary will be celebrating Mix-It-Up day on October 23, 2018. During lunch periods students will be encouraged to move out of their comfort zone and connect with someone new over lunch. It’s a great way to promote our welcoming Shoemaker environment and meet someone new.
Wear Orange on Unity Day, October 24th.
Looking Ahead:
November 8 - PTO meeting. 3:30-4:30.
November 9 - Veteran's Day Assembly. Grade K,1,2-9:30-10:30. Grade 3,4,5-2:00-3:00.
IMPORTANT VETERAN'S DAY INFORMATION:
Dear Parents and Guardians,
On November 9th, at 9:15am and 2:00pm, Shoemaker School will be celebrating Veterans’ Day. On this occasion, we are holding our monthly “Mustang Meeting” and having two special ceremonies involving many different ways to help us remember and honor those who are serving in the military, or who have served in the past. All of the grades have a special part in this ceremony. First, we will be having a show displaying the talents of the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders from 9:15-10:00. We will then have another show from 2:00 to 3:00 to display the talents of the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students. You are welcome to come to both or choose one. We realize that the students of Shoemaker School may have some veterans in their families, and we would love for these special family members to come to school for one of the assemblies.. In order to ensure that we have the appropriate space to accommodate our visitors, we ask that you fill out the bottom of this form and return it to your child’s teacher no later than Monday, 11/5. You can also RSVP Mr. Trexler at gtrexler@eastpennsd.org. Please attach or cut and paste the information in the form below. If you do not wish to attend the ceremony, you do not have to return the form or RSVP.
As years in the past, we would like to have a slideshow presentation that includes pictures of our Shoemaker veterans. This would include family pictures, old military pictures and anything you can find that represents your soldier. We believe by putting a face to the names shown so the Shoemaker family will be able to better recognize the sacrifice these brave soldiers have made.
If you are interested in having your soldier represented in the slide presentation this year, please email Greg Trexler (gtrexler@eastpennsd.org). Once he has received an email, he will share the slide presentation to a Google Drive address of your choosing. You will need to log on to Google Drive using your or your child’s user ID and password. He will send you instructions on how to make your Google slide for your soldier. All you need to do is input the information on the template. He will take care of the rest. Please keep it to one slide per veteran. We love our Vets Day program, but we would like to keep the program less than 3 hours.
Regards,
Veteran’s Day Committee
Please complete this form and return it to your child’s teacher no later than Monday, November 5th. Thank you!
RE: November 9th Mustang Meeting - Veterans’ Day Celebration
_____________________________________________________________
______ Yes, we have veterans in our family who would like to attend the ceremony.
How many will be attending? ________________
What time will you be attending? 9:15 2:00 Both
Please state their name(s), relationship to student, and what branch of the military (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, etc) they served.
Name Relationship Branch
Student(s) name(s):___________________________________
Teacher(s):___________________________
Room #(s):_______
Halloween Parade Information:
On Friday, October 26th we will be holding our annual Halloween Parade. Parents are invited to join us promptly at 2:00. Please stand on the macadam street starting at the side of the building (where the busses pull in) and circle around the front of the building to the playground. Please do not stand on the sidewalks, since the students walk on them for the parade. When selecting costumes, please choose costumes that do not have weapons of any kind, or that limit a child’s vision. Due to safety concerns, children will not sit on the playground once done parading, so please be sure to arrive promptly, so that you do not miss seeing your child.
Attention 5th Grade Chorus Parents:
News from Mr. Burrell:
Check out our Little Free Library Box!
Well, I don’t know about you, but for me, September flew by. We were very busy getting settled and remembering how to be “school people”. My guidance lessons in September were about Responsibility as we got back into the homework groove and balancing that with all of the after school activities. I focused a lot on being responsible for the way we treat each other. October will bring many new adventures. My guidance lessons this month will be about Respect which is always our main focus as we highlight the “Bucket Book” again and talk a lot about filling people’s buckets with kindness and treating each other with respect.
In Community Service this month, we collected A LOT of food for the Zionsville Food Pantry. I will give you the grand totals in the next newsletter. Thank you to everyone who was able to support this project. In October, we are going to kick off a new project. We have adopted one of the Allentown School District elementary schools. Throughout the year we will be collecting items to help out Washington Elementary. We will be collecting classroom essentials from October 1st until October 31st. We are looking for all types of hand sanitizers, tissues, and Clorox wipes. We are also looking for after school snacks for those students who go home to empty cupboards. So snacks packs and/or juice pouches would be greatly appreciated.
Speaking of needs, we will be looking for Shoemaker families who are able to help out with donations for Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you would like to be a giver family, please contact me at 610-965-1626 ext. 1 or contact my Angel Network organizer, Wajeeha Shah at wajeera@gmail.com. Those of you who have already signed up to be a giver, you will be receiving an email from Wajeeha very soon.
Thank you for everything you do to support our school and, more importantly, all of our children.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Ringer
Professional School Counselor
Links to Learning:
Over the last month of school students at Shoemaker have been busy digging in to a new resource called Ready Math. Not only is the resource new for the students but it’s new for parents too! Here are some tips from Ready on how to you can help your child at home, particularly with homework.
It’s important for your student to spend time thinking about problems and trying different things to arrive at a solution––even if he or she is struggling. Make sure they don’t give up too easily. If they are really struggling, praise their efforts and encourage them to try to figure it out––mistakes are okay because we learn from them. Research has shown that children often better retain what they have learned after continuing to think about a problem, even when they wanted to give up.
Rather than trying to show your student how to solve a problem, encourage him or her to try each one. Ask guiding questions that get them to take time to think about the problem and make connections to what they already know. Below are some possible questions you might ask.
Questions to ask your student about homework problems:
“Your solution is really interesting. Explain to me what you did.” (If your student says “I don’t know,” say “Well, tell me what you do know.”)
“Can you explain this part more specifically?”
“How did you decide what strategy to use?”
“Is there another way to solve the problem?”
If your student is stuck, ask questions like:
“What is the problem about?”
“Can you draw a picture to represent this problem?”
“What is the problem asking you to find?”
“What have you tried? What steps did you take?”
“How is this related to the problems you have been working on in class?”
“What could you try next?”
“What information is important? Why?”
Mrs. Julie Konjoian
Instructional Specialist