HERMAN E. DUMMER NEWSLETTER
December, 2020
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Gifts: noun… things given willingly to someone without payment.
As many of us are struggling whether financially, emotionally, physically or all of the above, let’s take time to step back and give ourselves some grace. It is really hard right now. When you add the holidays on top of this, anxiety rears its ugly head. Our society has become so commercially motivated that we feel in order to be accepted we must lavish others with material things, but if we look at the true definition of gifts, we see that it really does not mean expensive must-have bought objects. Gifts are great but can be soon forgotten. The gifts that we all remember and cherish throughout our lives are the gifts of friendship, time for others, commitment, togetherness, laughter, family, forgiveness, health and just plain time for ourselves. These gifts warrant a different kind of cost which is not always easy but the payoff is worth so much more than any worldly gift could offer and they are very doable regardless of our situation. The hardest part of these types of gifts is giving “without payment”. We need to give of ourselves and expect nothing in return. That is the real meaning of “gift”. Our world is being forced to slow down so getting back to the true necessities of what we can control can help us come out stronger and better than before. As Thanksgiving passes and Christmas and the New Year approach, make gift giving a priority. Just make sure it is the REAL gifts you are giving. As always, we are here to help in any way we can. We appreciate all of you and wish you a gift giving Christmas and New Year and every day thereafter!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Lynette Ford
ADAPTIVE PAUSE FREE MEAL PICKUP
Meal Pickup:
Until the end of the calendar year, free food is available through the USDA's "Free Meals for Kids" program. During our adaptive pause from blended learning, our process for ordering and picking up meals will change. Each week, you will need to fill out a meal order form by Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. for the NEXT week. Meals will be picked up Mondays and Thursdays from 10:00-11:00 am behind Sandwich Middle School. Your first meal order will be due by 12:00 noon on Wednesday, November 25th.
Please click on the Link "Food Order Form" below.
Meal order deadlines during the adaptive pause:
- November 25th at 12:00 noon
- December 2nd at 12:00 noon
- December 9th at 12:00 noon
- December 30th at 12:00 noon
- January 6th at 12:00 noon
Starting the week of January 18th, we will return to ordering food using the same process that was in place prior to the adaptive pause.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SURVEY
Dear Parents and Guardians,
In order to continue our school improvement initiative, we need your help! Each year we send a survey to parents and guardians asking for input. Please take the time to fill out a survey. The link for the survey is below. In advance, thank you for your help. We will be closing the survey on December 18th.
Please click on the link below to complete the survey.
NURSE NEWS
FANTASTIC 4TH GRADE
Now that we have gone full remote, it is more important than ever to check in with your student on a daily basis to check in with them and how they are doing on their school work. The students also need to be completing their attendance each day to avoid being counted as absent.
In Reading, we are on to the second unit, which is a lot of fun! This month we have read several legends and myths. Right now the students are reading tall tales, and writing one of their own!
In Math, we are on to division! The students have learned a variety of methods to divide, and will continue to work on long division. Doing Reflex every day is very important! When they know their multiplication facts, division is a lot easier!
In Social Studies, we are now learning about our very own state of Illinois, which will continue to be our focus for a few more weeks. We are continuing to learn more about soils, rocks, and landforms in science. After learning about fossils and how they form, we are moving on to volcanoes and studying Mount St. Helens’ famous eruption.
Before the Thanksgiving break, the fourth grade teachers took the opportunity to do some fun holiday activities with the students. Hopefully the students enjoyed it as much as the teachers did!
FABULOUS 5TH GRADE
The fifth-grade team of teachers would like to thank parents, guardians, and caregivers for all of your hard work with teaching your children this year! We teachers continue to reflect on how instruction is given and how much work is assigned. It’s a learning process for all of us, and we are trying to do the best with the circumstances as they are. Hopefully, families had a chance to connect and rest over Thanksgiving break, and actually break from schoolwork for a while.
In the second trimester, we are inching closer in math to a large unit in fifth-grade math involving fractions. Students should continue to work on practicing basic fact addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, since mastery of those skills will help all the more complex topics come easier to them. For reading and language arts, students will continue to learn new vocabulary words and word roots to try and help students become better readers. We will address how readers understand relationships between individuals and historical events are important to their understanding of a text. In writing, students will understand that informative writing using linking words and phrases and specific vocabulary to convey ideas and information.
Scholastic News continues to be our social studies curriculum for this year. Hopefully students are enjoying reading about current events and watching video clips. Science continues to explore the natural world with the Watery Planet unit. We encourage students to be curious about the world around them. Mrs. Freemon has books of all sorts; perhaps students might like to check out a book on nature. We hope kids keep reading!
BAND & MUSIC NEWS
During our short month of November, new activities were introduced to fourth grade while fifth graders expanded upon them from last year. Both grades have learned how to play Ghostbusters, Skeleton Dance, and In the Hall of the Mountain King on boomwhackers; a tuned plastic tube which is played by striking it on their hand, arm, or leg. In addition, students learned about the history of the Star Spangled Banner and how the lyrics reflected the War of 1812. Lastly, students briefly played Tone Chimes; an instrument similar to a hand bell. Using teamwork, all classes practiced and played America, My Country ‘Tis of Thee. Moving forward with remote learning plans, students will have access to virtual tone chimes with winter tunes such as “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies” and “Carol of the Bells.” Lastly, music videos that are posted on the Google Music Classroom are now being shared through a website called Edpuzzle. This engages students with interactive videos and allows monitoring the amount of views each video has received. Music lessons are posted to the Google Music Classroom weekly around 9pm on Sundays.
Fifth grade band has continued with Friday Zoom lessons on drum pads and sticks. Band students have been learning basic rhythms and sticking techniques that will transfer to a traditional band instrument.
DUMMER GETS $1,050 TO CONTINUE OUR CHARACTER COUNTS PROGRAM
Other DKG members instrumental in keeping the program alive are the School's Principal, Lynette Ford (Gamma Rho Chapter) and Teresa Cameron, the Reading Specialist (Omicron Chapter). Since initiating the Our Character Counts! program in 2014 the number of participating students has grown each year.
The Lambda State Foundation for Educational Studies awards stipends to chapters and individuals who are members of the society. Its mission is to support project related to the improvement of education in Illinois.
DUMMER ART CLUB
STUDENTS OF THE MONTH
IMPORTANT DATES
January 4th - School Resumes. Remote Learning For All Students
January 18th - No School - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 19th - Blended Learning Begins - "B" Students Only in Person Attendance ("A" Students Remote)
January 20th - "A" Students Only in Person Attendance ("B" Students Remote)
DECEMBER MENUS
HERMAN E. DUMMER SCHOOL
Email: jkruswicki@sandwich430.org
Website: sandwich430.org
Location: 422 South Wells Street, Sandwich, IL, USA
Phone: 815-786-8498
Facebook: facebook.com/ourschool
Twitter: @ourschool