Anderson Angle
Volume VII Issue I
A MESSAGE FROM MR. HEWITT
Hello Anderson Families,
We are off to a great start of the school year, even with the challenges associated with COVID-19. The staff and I appreciate our families' support, understanding, and flexibility during this unique school year.
On September 24th, the District shared the COVID-19 School Closure Matrix and Determination & Implementation Dates with families. I want to take a moment to share how we are preparing for the transition to welcome all students back at 100% capacity.
Transitions: The students and staff must wear face coverings when up and moving in the classroom, hallways, and outside if they cannot maintain social distancing.
Mask Breaks: Our teachers will continue to look for ways to offer students multiple mask breaks throughout the day. At a minimum, students will receive one mask break each hour.
Lunch: Since the first day of school, students have eaten lunch in their classrooms. Once all students are back, we plan to use the cafeteria and classrooms. We will continue to emphasize social distancing at lunch as much as possible.
Recess: Currently, our classrooms are assigned to the North or South playground. We will continue with this practice as it allows us to split the grade level into manageable group sizes.
Again, thank you for your support, patience, and grace as we navigate this together.
As always, the staff and I are available to discuss questions or concerns you have about your child's education. Thank you for being a partner in education!
Sincerely,
Mel Hewitt, Principal
Anderson Elementary on Social Media
Twitter: @AndersonBFCSD, #AndersonJays
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andersonbfcsd
October Calendar
Monday, 10/5 - GROUP B
Monday, 10/12 - No School - Students learn at home (PD Day for Teachers) - Conferences
Wednesday, 10/14 - No We-Care Club - 5th Grade Girls
Thursday, 10/15 - School Dismissed at 2:00 - Conferences
Friday, 10/16 - No School
REMINDER: 2:00 Dismissal Every Monday
FREE MEALS FOR STUDENTS
The USDA has approved FREE breakfast and lunch for ALL students through 12/31/2020 or until funding is depleted. Bondurant-Farrar students will not be charged for any regular school meals starting September 14, 2020. Learn more: https://www.bfschools.org/Page/1083
Hello From Third Grade!
Our third-grade students rotate in Science and Social Studies. They learn one subject for three weeks, then rotate to the other. Currently, one class is finishing Science, and the other will soon begin. In Science, we have found ways to 'safely' do our Project Lead The Way activity to start the year. Force and Motion is our unit the students are studying. The students learn about engineering and working together on projects. The students learn vocabulary words, listen to a story, and watch a video. All of this is based around rescuing a tiger from a cage in a zoo. The students had to build actual models of an incline plane, lever, and pulley system using directions and images on the Chromebook. The end project uses their knowledge of the three and is to design a model to rescue the tiger. Students are very engaged in this activity in a 'safe' way. It is a fun project to start the year.
Thank you for helping at home. I am sure the students enjoy talking about this project with you!
Winn-Dixie and a Thank You!
Fourth grade had a great learning opportunity this past month! Our first unit in reading is a read-aloud chapter book called Because of Winn-Dixie. It is about a girl and her dog making friends in a new town. While reading this book, we focus on learning the main idea, theme, and character traits. We love this book because it teaches us about the importance of family and friendship!
When we are done reading the book, we watch the movie in class! This is a perfect opportunity to practice another skill we learn in 4th grade: comparing and contrasting! Before the movie, we talk about how movies and books are not always the same and that there can be many differences. While watching the movie, we ask the students to be on the lookout for any differences they notice. After the movie, we create a Venn diagram with the similarities and differences observed! We love starting this way in 4th grade because we learn many different skills while also having a fun time!
Lastly, we wanted to give a big THANK YOU to our 4th-grade students and families for working so hard in this Hybrid model! This is not our usual way of learning, but we are thankful for the planners and homework coming back completed. We appreciate all of the hard work!
Fifth Grade Fragments
Fifth grade is off to a great start! We have been practicing routines, delving into the curriculum, and using a fun classroom management system, Class Dojo. Class Dojo is used through many school systems in the United States and is used in over 180 countries (Classdojo.com/about). “What is Class Dojo?” you might be asking. Class Dojo is a behavior management and communication system.
Throughout the day, teachers can give students points based on the specific behavior that the teacher observes (like active participation, working hard, citizenship, etc.) Teachers can also note undesired behavior by giving the students needs work points (off-task, disrespect, or forgetting materials for class). Once the teacher has given the points, the student’s parents can view the points connected to their child’s account. If you have not linked to your child’s Class Dojo account, we encourage you to contact your child’s homeroom teacher.
With our Class Dojo Behavior System, students are also able to earn rewards. Each day that the child reaches a score of at least 5 overall points, the teacher will give the student a best ticket. To earn the champions of character recess for the month, students will need to earn 125 points. This year the fifth grade Class Dojo awards are at 100, 300, 600, 900, 1,000, and 1,500. When the student receives 100 points, their Class Dojo Avatar is added to the Super Improvers Wall. At 300 (MVP Level), the students will earn a lunch bunch with a friend. When a student has earned 600 points (Pro Level), they will receive a sweet treat. At 900 points (Super Star Level), students will get a special music privilege. When the student reaches 1,000 points (Hall of Fame Level), they will earn the extra recess privilege at the end of the year and a sweet treat. The ultimate surprise is at 1,500 (this is a surprise for students). Keep up all the hard work, fifth graders!
Music Notes
Hello everyone, and welcome to another exciting year of Bluejay Music at Anderson Elementary! We have many wonderful and new things happening in the music room, and I am thrilled you are here to be a part of it!
This fall, we began our year with a fun and active exploration of music. In addition to our study of rhythm, where we are continuing to learn how to read music, count on numbers, and tap the beat, each grade began focusing on music.
Our third-grade classes began the year with a composer study: Maestro John Williams! We used his piece "Harry's Wondrous World" from the Harry Potter movies to learn all about triple meter and how to conduct in ¾ time!
The fourth grade has been studying the brass family's characteristics using the "Toreador Song" from the opera "Carmen" by composer Georges Bizet. We also had an opportunity to learn and interpret the form and structure of the piece using parachutes!
The fifth-grade worked on teamwork as an ensemble and kept the beat of a piece as a group and subdivision of the beat within the song. To do this, we used two contrasting pieces, "Come Go with Me" a 50's Doo Wop piece, and "Popcorn", a modern pop song. For both pieces, we used actions and movement using Kickballs!
From time to time, we will be posting some of the activities we do on SeeSaw, a free app designed to share school activities between school and home in a safe and secure format. If you would like to follow us on SeeSaw, please contact me for details on getting started.
As a friendly reminder, Anderson Elementary Concerts are postponed due to COVID 19 concerns. This will be monitored throughout the year, and you will be updated if there are any changes.
Did you know you can access more Anderson Elementary Music Activities on our continuous learning hub? Just go to select BFCSD Music Site, then Anderson Music, and there are many fun activities to try.
Thank you to our students and community for a fantastic start to the new year! As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at prestons@bfschools.org
Red Ribbon Week Is Coming!
We wanted to give everyone a heads up about Red Ribbon Week. We will be celebrating it on October 22-29 with 5 dress up days. The themes of the dates will be announced as we get closer to the date. We also wanted to let you know about something different we’ll be doing this year. We always do some kind of fundraiser or collection during Red Ribbon Week. This year, however, instead of requesting monetary or item donations, we’re asking you, your child and/or your family to create some kind of correspondence that will be shared with one of our many nursing home and assisted living residents who have been the most isolated group during this COVID-19 journey. Your child will need to bring them to Mrs. Miltenberger at school and then they will be delivering those cards, letters, postcards, photos, drawing, crafts, etc. to Courtyard Estates here in Bondurant and, if we have enough, to some of the nursing homes in Altoona. Mrs. Miltenberger will be sharing some letter templates and more detailed information in her October newsletter. You can find her newsletter on the Anderson Facebook page as well as on Twitter. Let’s show how compassionate our Anderson students are by flooding the nursing homes with these “gifts from the heart”!
Notes from Nurse Jacy
Hello Bluejay families! We are so happy to see your children back at school; we have missed them! I wanted to send a few quick reminders to help keep things moving smoothly at school.
Common signs and symptoms of COVID19:
HIGH RISK
New cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing or new loss of taste or smell - if your student has any one of these, please keep them home. Call your healthcare provider.
LOW RISKHeadache, muscle/body aches, tired/lack of energy, sore throat, runny nose, sinus pain, congestion, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever /chills - if your student has 2 or more of these, please keep them home. Please do not send your student to school if he/she has a fever over 100, regardless of other symptoms. Call your healthcare provider.
The IDPH (Iowa Department of Public Health) has identified the above as “high risk” and “low risk” symptoms. Please check in with your child every morning before they come to school. If your child reports 2 “low risk” symptoms or 1 “high risk” symptom, they should have a medical provider evaluation (in person or telemedicine) that can provide an alternate diagnosis (i.e. allergies, common cold, gastritis, etc) OR remain home for 10 days as if they have tested positive for COVID19. A negative COVID19 test alone is not sufficient to return to school. Your child must also have significant improvement or resolution of symptoms and be fever free for 24 hours (without the use of fever reducing medication), before they can return, even with a doctor’s note. Once your child has been evaluated, please send us the note with the alternate diagnosis, or the plan of care.
The same guidance is followed if your child is sent home with potential COVID19 symptoms. If your child has a known pre-existing condition that we have documentation of (allergies, asthma, etc), that will be considered as a factor in determining whether they will be sent home.
The IDPH has provided these guidelines to assist with the safe reopening of schools. We are following their guidance, as well as that provided by the CDC. We realize these guidelines require additional work on your end to ensure that your child is healthy when attending school, but please know that the purpose is to ensure that ALL of our students and staff stay as healthy as possible. If you are unsure whether to keep your child home due to illness, you probably should. Contact their physician for guidance if needed.
https://educateiowa.gov/sites/files/ed/documents/Evaluating%2007302020.pdf
Please send your child with a mask/shield and water bottle every day. Our drinking fountains are allowing water bottles to be filled only. Please also remember to wash your child’s mask regularly.
Thank you for your assistance in keeping Anderson as healthy as possible!
Nurse Jacy
BackPack Program
Once again, we are excited to partner with the Food Bank of Iowa to provide nutritious weekend snacks to low-income families with elementary-aged students. If you are in need or know of a family who may benefit from this program, please call Sam Kluesner at 515-967-7494 or email her at kluesners@bfschools.org. For more information regarding The BackPack Program, please click here.
Box Tops for Education
Box Tops made the switch to the app over the summer! A few products still have the actual Box Top on them, and if you have some of those, they are still accepting them until their expiration date, so keep clipping and sending them in! However, most new products now will just have the Box Tops logo and you'll need to have the Box Tops for Education app to give our library credit. It's a quick, simple process--I just did it myself to see! When you download the app, it'll ask what school you're collecting for. You'll need to type Anderson Elementary, whether your child attends Morris or Anderson, because our school account was set up before Morris existed. Anderson and Morris libraries split the proceeds equally each year. There are LOTS of Anderson Elementary Schools around the country, so be sure to find ours. When you've downloaded the app, you'll just need to scan your receipts each time you shop. It keeps a running tally of the money we've collected so far. Box Tops have made a huge impact on the number of books we get for our libraries each year, so your time and effort in getting the app and scanning receipts does make a difference. Thanks so much!
Mrs. Barnett, Elementary Librarian
Watch D.O.G.S. Program
The Bondurant-Farrar WatchDOGs program is a parent involvement program that invites parent-figures into the school to help increase security and reduce bullying. Moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, and uncles are encouraged to spend a half- or full-day at their child’s school. During that day, you’ll have the opportunity to be in your child’s classroom, eat lunch with him or her, help in other classrooms, monitor hallways, and/or assist teachers and administrators with every-day projects – all of which enhance the overall education experience of our children. To find out more, or to sign-up to be a WatchDOG, email watchdogsbondurant@gmail.com.
It is the policy of the Bondurant-Farrar Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age (for employment), marital status (for programs), sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status (for programs) in its educational programs and its employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this policy please contact the district’s Equity Coordinator; Chad Carlson, Director of Administrative Services, 300 Garfield St SW, Bondurant, IA 50035, 515-967-7819,carlsonc@bfschools.org.; or Director of the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, Citigroup Center, 500 W. Madison Street, Suite 1475, Chicago, IL 60661-7204, (312) 730-1560, OCR.Chicago@ed.gov.