Bulldog Bark
March/April 2024
Dear Families,
Summer School handbooks will be sent home early next week. Summer School will run from June 10th - June 27th Monday-Thursday each week. We have some exciting new courses being offered and we hope your children are able to join in on the fun!!
Spring Break is scheduled for March 25th-29th with there being no school on April 1st as well. The Elementary Office will be open Monday through Wednesday from 7:30-3:30pm and closed on Thursday and Friday.
Forward testing is upon us. Our 3rd and 4th grade students will be taking the Forward Exam starting the week of March 18th and extending through the week of April 15th. Make up testing will be done the week of April 22nd. These are state tests in the areas of Math and English Language Arts for 3rd grade and Math, ELA, Science, and Social Studies for 4th grade. The tests are carefully scheduled out so the students are not taking too much on one particular day.
Thank you for your continued support in your child’s education!!
Yours in Education,
Andy Kohn
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
3/25-3/29 No School- Spring Break
4/1 No School- Inservice
4/10 No 4K Class
5/3 Muffins/Cupcakes with Moms 7:30 a.m.
5/8 No 4K Class
5/6-5/10 Teacher Appreciation Week
5/17 Donuts with Dads 7:30 a.m.
5/18 PTO Bike Rodeo- More details to come
5/20 DISTRICT WIDE EARLY RELEASE- ELEMENTARY DISMISSED AT 1:2O
5/23 Spring Concert/ Art Show 9:30 & 1:30 p.m.
5/27 No School- Memorial Day
5/31 4K Graduation Day
6/5 4th grade Awards Ceremony- More details to come
6/5 Last Day of School!
Protective Behaviors
The past month my lessons covered Protective Behaviors. Every year I tell the kids that it is a serious, but necessary subject to talk about. Each student does an amazing job really soaking in the lesson’s focus of making sure you know how to keep yourself safe. Your child brought home a letter for you. On one side is the information I cover during my lesson. On the other side is a list of Trusted Adults. These are the adults your child feels comfortable talking to if they feel unsafe. Please take time to talk with your children about this sensitive subject. It is so important that they know we ALL have the right to feel safe.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Mrs. Dietzenbach
4th Grade Transition Conferences
The week of April 29th-May 3rd, Mrs. Dietzenbach will be meeting with every 4th grade student and their parent(s) to talk about what to expect in middle school. Mrs. Dietzenbach will share information about schedules, after school activities, and the school. This is a great time for students and parents to ask questions or share any questions or concerns they may have about middle school. Then, in May all 4th graders go over to the middle school for a tour.
Parents- please keep an eye out at the beginning of April for an email sent about how to reserve a time to meet using the website Sign Up Genius. If you have any questions, please call Mrs. Dietzenbach at 429-2151 ext. 152 or email dietme@pasdwi.org.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
On Wednesday, March 13th Brian Kenney worked with 3rd graders on becoming strong student leaders. Through many activities students reflected on learning how focus and good mistakes help them grow and learn. All the adults were amazed by the insight students shared throughout the day! We are very proud of these 3rd graders!!
We began with an activity on how if we use strong focus we can see amazing things!
This activity taught us that if something isn’t working the first time, try something different.
This activity taught us to rethink ways to achieve a goal.
A WORD FROM OUR MUSIC TEACHER!
Dancing for the Spring Concert!
Greetings Everyone,
With the turn of the seasons, we begin our preparation for the spring concert. This year the students in all grade levels will be performing a dance.
The Kindergarten will be doing a circle dance. There are three classes of this age group, so there shouldn’t be a problem fitting them all on the stage. The challenge for them is maintaining their circle while moving to the music!
First graders are also doing a circle dance, but this dance is more challenging because the students are paired up and have to move in and out to the music. This is the smallest grade level, and these kids do a great job of maintaining their spacing while dancing. I know parents will be excited to see their performance!
The second graders are the largest group of students, and unfortunately, there isn’t enough stage space to accommodate everyone at the same time. However, there will be a separate group for the morning, and a separate group for the afternoon. And of course, should there be any absences, I will have more than enough volunteers to step in at a moment's notice!
The third graders are performing a high energy dance that they love. While this is also a big group, I’ve managed to set it up so that everyone will be dancing in at least one of the concerts. With four classes in third grade, there will be two classes dancing at each concert.
Early in the school year, I came across a video on my Musicplayonline website showing some elementary age students dancing to a song called Sky full of Stars, by ColdPlay. The kids in fourth grade loved it so much that we decided to incorporate it into the spring concert. This dance involves a lot of physical activity and the kids have to be very precise with their routine. Again, because this is a smaller group, everyone will get a chance to dance at least once!
Regarding the 4K students, next week is their big week with their annual circus event! I know Mrs. Lindert and Mrs. Vinz have worked extremely hard preparing the kids for their circus! I hope all of the 4K parents get a chance to see the kids in the circus!
Mr. McConnell
A WORD FROM OUR PHY. ED TEACHER!
Jump Rope & Floor Hockey Fun
During the month of February, students worked hard learning a variety of jump rope skills. Students in kindergarten and first grade learned the basics of turning and jumping short and long ropes safely. Students in second through fourth grades learned more advanced single and long jump rope skills, including the eggbeater and turning double dutch. All students learned that jumping rope helps with coordination, strengthening their hearts and muscles while increasing their overall fitness levels. Students also had many opportunities to jump for time to increase their cardiovascular and muscular fitness.
Now that it is March, students have begun their floor hockey skills unit. Students in the primary grades will learn basic skills, such as stick handling, striking, passing, dribbling, and goaltending. Students in the intermediate grades will review basic stick handling skills before learning more of the dynamic fundamental skills involved in floor hockey. These skills include defense, offense, goaltending, and dynamic lead-up game play. All students will learn how to safely participate in floor hockey activities with their classmates. This requires students to learn to keep the blades of their hockey sticks below waist level at all times.
Mr. Carpenter
A WORD FROM OUR ART TEACHER!
Kindergarten
This month, kindergarten students will be learning about creating artwork using collage. Recently, we created a hot cocoa collage using a crayon resist technique on our cocoa mugs, added a horizon line outside our window, then added curtains and a table with patterned paper. Next, students will create a spring bird collage using cutting, gluing, and tearing skills. These colorful birds are sure to bring a smile to your face in time for spring!
First Grade
First Graders will be re-creating Jasper John’s “Alphabet” using watercolor and crayon resist this month. They will learn basic ruler skills to plan out their painting by dividing it up into equal parts with a ruler, then sketching out the letters of their name to fill in the spaces.
Second Grade
Second grade students will start their clay unit this month! They will learn and apply various clay building techniques to create a custom designed wall pocket. After we are done building them, they will also have the opportunity to select their own colors to glaze them!
Third/Fourth Grade
Third and Fourth grade students are being introduced to stop motion animation this month! This technique is where objects are moved in small steps between photographs. When the photos are played together (12-24 pictures per second) they give the illusion of movement. Students started by creating a storyboard to plan out the details of their videos. During art, we will be creating our sets and special effects. Once students are ready, they will take their photos and put their videos together in computer skills with Mrs. Houslet.