HERMAN E. DUMMER NEWSLETTER
January, 2021
A MESSAGE FROM MRS. FORD
Instead of the song lyrics, “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow,” maybe our New Year’s resolution should be, “Let it go, let it go, let it go!” Let go of all the ill feelings of the past year. Let go of the anxiety and stress of things we cannot control, and let go of the notion that we are not good enough. This last year has been a difficult one and we need to give each other and ourselves grace. We are all doing the best we can, and if we can honestly say, “I’m doing my best,” then we should be able to lay our heads down at night and know it will be ok and quit kicking ourselves to try to do more or be better. We are perfect the way we are. We are human and have our limitations. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS! Thank you for your sacrifices of time, and I’m sure some patience, as we progress through this school year. Our staff is truly giving their all and understand how hard things are since they are in the trenches right along with you. We are in this together no matter what comes our way and we will continue to figure it out hand in hand with grace knowing that leaning on each other it will be ok. I wish you a Happy New Year with much joy and am looking forward to great things to come!
MERRY CHRISTMAS, DUMMER STYLE!
A MESSAGE FROM DISTRICT #430
e-Learning Days
While students, staff and families have been engaged in full remote learning, we all know there is no substitute for in-person learning. We also know that the winter weather in the Midwest can be somewhat of a hindrance when traveling to and from school. In the future, when in-person learning is scheduled whether it is A/B days or “back to normal”, using an e-learning day will be considered should there be inclement weather.
Since Sandwich CUSD #430 is now 1:1 and students and staff are familiar with remote learning, please be prepared, on a daily basis, to shift to e-learning on so-called “snow days”. Please note, this will require everyone taking the responsibility of having their school issued personal device available for use at all times. Unlike previous years, e-learning days do not need to be made up at the end of the school year. Once decided, e-learning days will be communicated via the district webpage and school messenger.
ADAPTIVE PAUSE FREE MEAL PICKUP
Meal Pickup:
Until the end of the school year, free food is available through the USDA's "Free Meals for Kids" program. During our adaptive pause from blended learning, 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.
Please click on the Link "Food Order Form" below.
Meal order deadlines during the adaptive pause:
- 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.
NIU FREE READING INSTRUCTION
Lambda State Foundation for Educational Studies Helps Dummer Students Make Good Choices
Thanks to a $430.00 stipend from Lambda State Foundation for Educational Studies Principal, Lynette Ford (Gamma Rho), Reading Specialist, Teresa Cameron (Omicron) and Social Worker, Christine Dewey were able to purchase copies of the texts What Should Danny Do? and What Should Danny Do? School Day for each classroom. These books, from the series The Power to Choose by Adir Levy, help students to make wise decisions when confronted with difficult situations. The value of having a copy of each book in the classroom is that the homeroom teachers are able to access them easily for group discussion, or if a situation similar to one in the books should arise among students. These welcome additions to Dummer classrooms closely align with the six pillars of character, emphasized through the school’s Our Character Counts! Program.
FANTASTIC 4TH GRADE
Fourth graders are adjusting to our remote learning environment! Many students are attending Zoom meetings to receive help and reaching out to teachers for daily assistance with their learning! That is great and we love to see them join our meetings! Please be sure to check in with your child on their progress of work. Ask to see their Google classroom and help them check for missing assignments!
January reading lessons will have us continuing to read about Native Americans. We will learn to compare and contrast similar topics using different text sources. We will practice main idea identification, text structure, and using context clues to identify word meaning. The Lexia program is helping all of our students make daily reading progress and is an integral part of our curriculum this year. Please encourage your child to complete this daily!
In math we will begin to learn about factors, multiples, and prime/composite numbers. This will get us ready for our big unit on fractions. Your child should be getting the green light everyday in Reflex, which will help them build fact fluency and make other math skills easier.
Social Studies will have us learning about the geographical regions of the United States and the importance of each region to our country as a whole. After break, we will begin a new Science topic as well. We will be learning about energy! We have so many new topics to explore and cannot wait to begin after the winter break!
FABULOUS 5TH GRADE
We’ve made it through December! We are looking forward to 2021! We hope everyone takes some time to relax with their families and enjoy the break.
Starting in January, we will be moving on to fractions in math. We encourage all of our students to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE their math facts! The Reflex math program helps students to master their basic math facts. This will be necessary for our fraction unit.
In reading, we will be moving on to Unit 2 Module B - “Finding Courage” and starting with the anchor text Real- Life Superheroes. Our 5th graders will explain the relationships between individuals and historical events based on information presented in texts. Students will also understand various social movements and how they have affected large groups of people.
During our next writing unit, students will write a brief essay to explain the courage exhibited by one of the people in Real - Life Superheroes.
The district's initiative this year is focusing on the Lexia reading program. Fifth graders are expected to log in to Lexia and complete 20 minutes each day. Thank you for all of your support at home. As always, please reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns.
BAND & MUSIC NEWS
Monthly Music Notes
During our short month of December, new activities were introduced to fourth grade while fifth graders expanded upon them from last year. Students continued to play Tone Chimes; an instrument similar to a hand bell. However, since we have been remote for the entire month, a virtual instrument was created in Google Slides. These lessons included real music notation and play along tracks to the songs of “Carol of the Bells'' and “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies.” Lastly, some 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.
STUDENTS OF THE MONTH
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
January 18th - No School - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 19th - Blended Learning Resumes - "B" Students in Person Attendance ("A" Students Remote)
January 20th - "A" Students in Person Attendance ("B" Students Remote)
February 10th - Picture Retakes
February 11th - Picture Retakes
February 15th - No School
February 16th - No School
JANUARY BREAKFAST AND LUNCH MENUS
Herman E. Dummer School
Email: jkruswicki@sandwich430.org
Website: sandwich430.org
Location: 422 S Wells St, Sandwich, IL, USA
Phone: 815-786-8498