Wilson's Weekly
BPS...where books come alive!
December 4 - December 8, 2017
Core Beliefs, Vision, and Mission
We believe all students can learn:
- Learning must have a clear purpose.
- All learners deserve a safe, respectful, and structured environment.
- Learners grow with mutual support, responsibility, and compassion.
- All learners have the ability to grow.
Shaping the future one child at a time
Mission
Blytheville Primary School fosters a safe and positive learning community. We educate students to be innovative thinkers today and productive leaders of tomorrow.
Behavior Expectations
We are...
- responsible.
- respectful.
- safe.
- positive.
- motivated.
Strategic Plan
Our school plan can be found here.
Week at a Glance
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I will be in the primary office. Tuesday and Thursday I will be in the kindergarten office.
This WEEK
- Monday - NED Assembly 1:30; Kindergarten Literacy Team Curriculum Day 12:30-4:30
- Tuesday - Fire Inspection; Jerry Vaughn here; Crafty Christmas 5:30-7:00
- Wednesday - Building Leadership Team Meeting 2:30
- Thursday - Birthday Lunches; Christmas Parade
- Friday -
Next WEEK
- Monday - Staff Christmas Lunch 12:30; Kindergarten PLC
- Tuesday - 2nd grade PLC; Fall Picture Day Makeups; Garris out, Kindergarten Musical 9:00 am (for PK-2 students) and 1:00 pm (for parents)
- Wednesday - Readers will be in each class; Garris out; Wilson out for BLI until 1:30
- Thursday - 1st grade PLC; PBIS store; PBIS Celebration; DIBELS/DSA/mClass assessments due
- Friday - PBIS Semester Celebration; Christmas Parties 1:30; 2nd Quarter Ends
Upcoming Events
The school calendar can be found HERE.
Extended Curriculum Days
- Monday, December 4 - Kindergarten (literacy team only)
The following people will be covering the classes during this time. Please have sufficient work to engage the students in review of what they have been working on this quarter. Also, double check your dismissal notes. The sub will need to know which students are car riders and the specific bus each bus rider needs to get on in the afternoon. This does mean that afternoon interventions will not be meeting as normal during these times. Morning schedules will stay the same and interventions should continue.
Changes to personal lunch times and coverage of recess duty:
- Ms. Carter will eat lunch at 11:00 instead 12:30.
- Ms. Davenport will eat lunch at 11:50 instead of 12:10.
- Ms. Myers will eat lunch at 11:10 instead of 12:10.
Kindergarten (December 4)
- Foster - Riggs
- E. Rogers - Davenport (join bus duty when late bus riders called)
- Lampe - Carter
- Orr - Myers (join bus duty when late bus riders called)
- Hartgen - Engle
Reminders and Announcements
- Kindergarten - Aldridge - 2 lbs. 8 oz.
- 1st grade - Jaques - 4 lbs. 8 oz.
- 2nd grade - Poole - 1 lb. 13 oz.
- Special - Shepard - 2 lbs. 4 oz.
- TOTAL so far = 86 lbs. 14 oz.
2. Box Tops for Education - We are collecting box tops to help pay for our PBIS store. Please turn them into Ms. Newsom in kindergarten or put them in the box in the office.
3. We will have our second annual Christmas Door Decorating Contest. There will be a $40 prize for the winning door in each group. There will be four groups.
- Group 1 - Second grade hallway (includes Riggs, Carter/Maths, Appleby, Fox, Billups, Jenkins, Moriarty)
- Group 2 - Williams, Taylor, Clay, Whitaker, Mattingly, Primary Office, Nurse, Cade, Pitts, Quearry, Plunkett, Clark, Bullard, K Office, Engle, Sharpe (gym)
- Group 3 - 1st grade hallway (includes Gaston/Dawkins, Hepler, Galbraith, Evans, Shepard)
- Group 4 - Kindergarten hallway (includes preschool, Myers, Davenport, Reuther, Walker, Midsouth)
4. We will have a catered lunch on December 11 from 12:30-1:30 (like we did last year) to celebrate Christmas. Each teacher will have a volunteer come to their room to watch their students during the lunch. We need volunteers! If you have parents in classroom that you know would volunteer to help out, please contact them. If they are able to volunteer on December 11 please send their information, so I can forward it to Mrs. Clay (our PTO president). I know not everyone has a parent who can help, so if you have multiple, please contact them and ask them to help other teachers out. If you know of any community organizations that would be willing to volunteer, please, let me know as well. THANK YOU!
5. We have adopted the Blytheville Fire Department and are collecting money for MDA as part of their Fill the Book Campaign. The class who collects the most money by the end of the quarter will receive food/snacks for their Christmas party. As an added incentive: Each teacher that raises $50 or more will receive a 30 minute early out/late in pass. At least two days notice must be given to use the pass to make sure that someone will be available to cover your class. Please remember to send your money to the office each Friday, so it can be counted. Make sure your name is on the bag.
- Kindergarten - Hartgen - $79.47
- 1st grade - Hopkins - $3.00
- 2nd grade - Watson - $15.61
- TOTAL = $116.14
PBIS Behavior Matrix Focus
NOTES
- EVERYONE: I will be looking for the kindness chains outside of your door. Please remember to continue to add to the chain.
- 1st and 2nd grade teachers: The underlined italicized parts are your responsibility. The beginning of the lesson (non-underlined) will be taught during morning meeting.
- EVERYONE: Please send pictures of your classroom displays from last week to Mrs. Wilson either through text message or email. If you also did the donut display from Wednesday of last week, please send Mrs. Wilson a picture of that also. (Each classroom should create a display to showcase what they are learning about kindness. Examples can be found here, here, here, here, and here, but do not have to be elaborate (it could be something as simple as a co-create anchor chart). You can come together as a grade level to create something as well. You can use some of your curriculum half day to discuss if you would like.)
- Resources: Link to Behavior Matrix.
LESSONS
- Monday - Show the behavior matrix and point to "We are responsible." Explain to students that we will be focusing on listening this week as we learn how to follow directions. Watch this Sesame Street video on "how do we listen." Have students practice what they learned in the video.
- Tuesday - Display the behavior matrix and point to "We are responsible." Remind students we are focusing on listening and following directions this week. Teach “whole body listening.” In whole body listening, a student practices keeping particular key parts of their body focused on the speaker. Their eyes are watching, ears are listening, brain is focused on the speaker’s information, mouth is closed, shoulders are squared toward the speaker, heart is caring about the message, hands are folded or in lap, and feet are still on the floor (or criss-cross). Play Simon Says. Tell the players to line up in front of you so that they can see you. Instruct them that you are Simon and that you will be giving them directions to follow. If you say "Simon says" before you give the instructions, the players should do the action(s). If you do not say "Simon says" before you give the instructions, they should disregard the instructions. Start with simple one step directions such as, “Simon says put your hands on your head.” In the beginning, “Simon” can demonstrate the directions with the players. Later, “Simon” can stop demonstrating and can even verbalize multi-step instructions. For example, “Simon says, hop on your left foot, then hop on your right foot, and finally sit on the floor.” Practice whole body listening in class.
- Wednesday - Watch the read aloud for My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook. Discuss how listening can help you follow directions while at school. Print off and cut out the scenarios from this resource. Have a student pull one of the scenarios out of container. Read the scenario aloud to the class. Have students give a thumbs up or down if the scenario describes a situation where listening is happening. Have a student explain.
- Thursday - Watch the read aloud of Interrupting Chicken. Discuss with students how the chicken was not practicing active listening. Make the connection between active listening and following directions. Play the Storytelling Game with your students. You can play two ways. FIRST WAY: Start a story with a beginning phrase, and then each child in the classroom adds one word to the story in turn. Students must be active participants and follow the story closely so that when their time comes to add a word, the story will make sense. SECOND WAY: Sort children into groups of three. In these “pods,” they are to play the storytelling game, only in successive story events rather than one-word. For example, the first student starts with an event such as “The rabbit found a carrot in the garden.” Then the second student adds an event that happens afterward in the story, such as “The carrot was too big to carry.” The third student adds, “So the rabbit put it in a wagon to pull it to his burrow.” After time is given for the pods to come up with their three-event stories, instruct the students to move to a new pod. In those groups, they must retell their stories with perfect accuracy to their new pod members.
- Friday - Review what students have learned during the week and make the connection to following directions under "We are responsible" on the behavior matrix. Review following directions and whole body listening. Complete one following activities with your students (choose one that you didn't do in October): (1) Listen and Follow directions activity (2) Fall listen up following directions activity (3) Walk the line activity (4) Pages 19-22 in this fall packet (5) Listen mats activity.
Picture Book Recommendation of the Week
A favorite joke inspires this charming tale, in which a little chicken’s habit of interrupting bedtime stories is gleefully turned on its head.
It’s time for the little red chicken’s bedtime story —and a reminder from Papa to try not to interrupt. But the chicken can’t help herself! Whether the tale is HANSEL AND GRETEL or LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD or even CHICKEN LITTLE, she jumps into the story to save its hapless characters from doing some dangerous or silly thing. Now it’s the little red chicken’s turn to tell a story, but will her yawning papa make it to the end without his own kind of interrupting? Energetically illustrated with glowing colors —and offering humorous story-within-a-story views —this all-too-familiar tale is sure to amuse (and hold the attention of ) spirited little chicks.
Motivational Quote of the Week
Your vibe attracts your tribe. No matter how self-sufficient we all believe we are, the truth is we need a good support system. We need each other. We all could use more friendships, support, inspiration, compassion, and kindness. The people we surround ourselves with have the power to uplift and inspire us. Choose the people around you that challenge you. They ignite your spirit and help you to grow. Think about the people you know who could be positive influencers in your life. Spend more time with them. As you surround yourself with positive, supportive, and energetic people, your vibe will resonate into your classroom. Your students will feel the energy too. That makes it all worth it.
What the Principal is Reading
The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins
Got Data? Now What? by Laura Lipton, Bruce Wellman
For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis E. Taylor
Bob left Earth anticipating a life of exploration and blissful solitude. Instead he’s a sky god to a primitive native species, the only hope for getting humanity to a new home, and possibly the only thing that can prevent every species in the local sphere ending up as dinner.
Archives
About the Principal
Email: jwilson@blythevilleschools.net
Website: http://www.blythevilleschools.com/o/bps
Location: 1103 Byrum Road, Blytheville, AR, United States
Phone: 870-763-6916
Facebook: facebook.com/cimeronejana
Twitter: @cimeronejana