New Emerson News
New Emerson School • December, 2021 • Issue 4
Second Grade Goes on First Field Trip!
From Ms. Terry
Welcome to December! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with food, family, and friends! The bustling holiday season is upon us. We are hoping to keep the students on task as much as possible in the next three weeks. It will be a challenging feat indeed!
I would like to take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate our wonderful New Emerson staff. I feel privileged to work with such a dynamic and dedicated group of educators, and appreciate that they always go above and beyond for our students. I am also very grateful for our supportive and engaged parent community. Thank you for the many ways you give your time in support of our students and staff-we could not do this work without you. Finally, I am inspired and honored to work with our amazing learners. They impress me daily with their hard work and kindness. Being in the presence of these young learners everyday brings such joy and purpose to my life.
Our campus student council group, Kids in Action (KIA), will be planning a few dress-up events for the last two weeks of December. We hope that these events will add to the holiday excitement for our students and staff.
As you head into the holiday season with your families, I wish you health, happiness, and joy. Each day, I am reminded of the treasures we have at New Emerson, and I am grateful for the wonderful people who fill our school. This year is certainly the year to appreciate everything you have. Thank you for your continued support.
Best wishes for a bright and cheerful December,
Ms. Terry
From Ms. Tina in the Office
The next three weeks are going to be extremely busy with so many activities not only at school but in preparation of family celebrations. The weather is changing and we may have a little snow in the next few weeks. We no longer have a lost and found in the building. As such it is very important that all jackets, caps, gloves, boots, etc. have your child’s name on them. Unidentified items will be outside on the fence. Water bottles and lunch boxes need to be labeled as well so that we can return them to their rightful owner.
Please remember that students with any COVID symptom cannot come to school without a negative test. The BINAX testing that is offered at school is only for students that develop symptoms during the school day. We cannot have any symptomatic learners coming into the building. Please call me if you have questions.
It’s so hard to believe that Thanksgiving is over and Christmas will be here before we know it!!! I spent time this Thanksgiving reflecting on the past year. Although it was extremely crazy and hectic (moving to Colorado, new job, etc.) I have so much to be thankful for this year. I have amazing friends, co-workers and parents to work with each day. One thing, however, that is so heartwarming is how wonderful the students are. They have been kind and truly caring from day one. Their comments, cards and pictures they have made for me touch my heart! Parents you should be so proud!!! They make me smile all day long. Just know I love them all!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!!!!
Computer Science Week Dress-Up Days December 6-9, 2021
The Counselor's Desk
Hello parents,
My November classroom lessons in grades K-2, were about identifying, naming and managing emotions. The students learned that facial expressions, body language and tone of voice can be clues to help us understand how someone is feeling. They also learned how to use “I feel” messages to name emotions. They played a game of charades – acting out an emotion and having classmates guess the emotion. Learners in 1st and 2nd grade also considered ways to help themselves feel better when they have challenging emotions.
I started a two-part Career lesson in 3rd grade in November. The third graders learned about six career clusters and about many different jobs in each cluster. They made choices about which of those jobs were interesting to them and they shared their choices with their classmates.
The 4th grade learners completed another session of Couragion in November. They are making good progress with completing career quests, and they seem to be enjoying learning about many different STEM related careers. The 4th graders can access Couragion at home (through Classlink) if they want to complete more quests than time allows at school.
I started meeting with the 5th grade learners in small groups in November. They made choices early in November about SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) topics that they were interested in learning more about this year, and were placed in small groups based on their choices. The small groups allow for more interaction between students and some good discussions about SEL topics.
I hope that you and your families stay well and have a wonderful holiday season!
Leslie Atchison
New Emerson School Counselor
In the Libratory with Ms. Miranda
Hello, fabulous New Emerson families --
Things are jumping in the Libratory this nine weeks! We spent the first quarter generating group norms, procedures, library book policies, classroom jobs, and implementing the use of iPads for the first time.
This quarter we are checking out books every other week, and doing multiple engineering design and STEAM projects tied to books. We are focusing on EDP — the Engineering Design Process and learning the four main areas of a library this quarter.
K-2 learners use craft materials, lego, iPads, and building manipulatives to complete these maker design projects.
The third, fourth, and fifth-grade learners are finishing up more advanced five-week "FALL STEAM Ahead " engineering projects that have included self-selected cardboard construction, Tinkercad design, 3D Pen/Printer designs, Flipgrid book review videos, green screen commercials, and computer animation.
This Friday you will be receiving an email with a QR code to join your child's Libratory digital STEAM notebook where we are housing all of our lessons, designs, and photos of our builds. Please scan the code with your phone camera and join your child's SEESAW Digital Notebook so you can see everything your child has been doing in here.
As far as books go — our next library book checkout week is Dec. 5-8th, and then we will begin checking books out again after the winter break.
Have the happiest of holidays!
-Miranda :)
New Emerson Third Graders Kick-Off Art PBL Project & Get Recognition from GJ Creative District Online
We Need Your Shoebox Donations!
Masks will be required for all parent participants as well as students staying in a mixed-cohort grouping for childcare in the Libratory during the PTO meetings.
Or you can join us mask-free online at 4:15 p.m.: https://meet.google.com/myz-qtaf-nhs