Longfellow Newsletter
Week of: May 2nd-8th
Every Student Counts, Every Moment Matters! #ICCSDtogether
Message From Principal Webb
Dear families,
It is May already! Can you believe we are in the final weeks of our 2019-2020 school year? How strange that our end of the year looks very different. The district sent communication out on student workbook distribution(see below for more information). This will be on Tuesday, May 5th at Longfellow Elementary from 8-4. I hope to see you there. In this newsletter, you will find the link for our classroom consideration form. More information will be coming out soon around gathering student belongings by the district.
Great News! The PTA has generously agreed to purchase a 2019-2020 student yearbook for every student in the school this year. More information will come when the books arrive!- THANK YOU! You will also find information on the PTA Silent Auction below.
Finally, I want to send a BIG SHOUTOUT to all of our Longfellow Educators! Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week! I can't thank our staff enough for all that they do, as they are ROCKSTARS! If you have time to send a quick message to your child's teacher(s) please do so or post it to our Longfellow Facebook page!
We will get through this together! We miss you!
Sincerely,
Kelli Webb
Focused Learning areas at Longfellow:
Classroom Corner:
Elementary Teachers will Connect with Parents/Students once per week to check in to see how students are doing with accessing Clever and the usage of Lexia Core 5/ Power Up and Dreambox (math). This will happen through either an email, via phone, Zoom or SeeSaw accounts (if teachers use this).
Teachers will be reaching out to students who are meeting their goals, and those who need support.
Music
Hello Musical at Home Longhorns!
We hope to see you this week at Specials Zoom Class Time!
CLEVER LOGIN TO MUSIC PAGES: all students should now see a “music page” in your Clever account menu - please click there for things we have been working on in music this spring, plus some really great at-home music resources! Included there is an “All About Me” Playlist activity - I’d love for any student to either fill in the google form or print a hard copy/write their own list and mail it to me at Longfellow Music, 1135 Seymour Avenue, Iowa City, IA 52245!
K-2 students please continue to bring any and all instruments to our Tuesday morning zoom! It is so fun to see the drums, bells, and shakers students have made from found objects around their house. Please think about some sounds that remind you of spring this week….what sound does a worm make crawling through the soil? What about a flower blooming? Rain sounds? I’ll be excited to hear any and all sounds!
3/4 students, we’d love to have you bring any instruments you’ve been playing and share with us this week at our zoom meeting! We also talked about bringing a joke or a spring drawing you’d like to share with others. Keep singing Fifty Nifty - you can find this link in your Clever account under the 3/4 music page.
5/6 students, If you are interested, please share a clip of you playing or singing any portion of “Lean on Me,” or another song that is meaningful to you via this FLIPGRID LINK (also found in your Clever account under the 5/6 music page). I’d love to make a mash-up or “sound collage” of our sixth graders to celebrate graduation from Longfellow at the end of May!
Those of you who have signed up for Soundtrap with me: I have put in a help request with Soundtrap to resolve the trouble we have had getting in - I’ll let you know what I learn ASAP!
ELL- English Language Support:
One critical skill we practice in ELL is asking and answering questions. You can support your child by providing question frames that start with who, what, when, where, why, and how. Pebble Go is an engaging research website that can encourage your child to ask and answer questions. J! Additionally, the articles have also been translated into Spanish!
If you need the AEA password please email Ms. Morey, Ms. Beck or Ms. Crowe
Physical Education- Ms. Sobaski
Longfellow MOOvers!
Let's keep it going with another week of optional physical activities at home:
Fit Workout - Jump Rope and Hula Hoop
Make sure you get out and enjoy the beautiful weather!
Ms. Sobaski
Art
Hello Longfellow Artists and happy May! I hope everyone is staying safe. I miss you all very much.
Here is the latest video of “Art at Home with Ms. Q”. We are drawing flowers with chalk!
In case you missed the other videos...
sketchbooks:
Window hearts:
Follow msqartroom on Instagram http://instagram.com/msqartroom
to help us to stay connected during this time.
quintero.buffy@iowacityschools.org. I would love to share your work on Instagram.
Hope to see some of you virtually soon. Please join our Specials Zoom, if you can! We are all in this together.
Attachments area
Preview YouTube video Art at Home with Ms. Q - May Day
Reading Support from Title 1
Hi readers & leaders, from Ms. V & Mrs. Pauley!
Learning to read requires strengthening two main parts of our brain: the orthographic processor, which recognizes print, & the phonological processor, which manipulates sounds. When these two processes come together efficiently, we’re able to read accurately & fluently!
Practicing phonological awareness is easy in that it doesn’t require any materials--just your ears & voice! Below are some prompts for adults or older kids to say out loud to emerging readers. This week, we’ll work with syllables, or parts of words organized around a vowel sound.
Prompt: “We’re going to say a word, then make a new word by changing the syllables.”
More Support: “Put your hand under your chin. Every time your jaw drops, that’s one syllable.” “Every time you say a syllable, clap or put up a finger.”
Adding Syllables
“Say long. Add horn to the end. New word?” (longhorn)
“Say book. Add note to the beginning. New word?” (notebook)
“Say lip. Add too to the beginning. New word?” (tulip)
Deleting Syllables
“Say bookmark. Now say bookmark, but don’t say mark.” (book)
“Say playground. Now say playground, but don’t say play.” (ground)
“Say butterfly. Now say butterfly, but don’t say butter.” (fly)
Substituting Syllables
“Say cupcake. Change cup to pan.” (pancake)
“Say raincoat. Change coat to bow.” (rainbow)
“Say kindness. Change kind to great.” (greatness)
Counting Syllables
“Say safe. How many syllables?” (1)
“Say supportive. How many syllables?” (3)
“Say Seymour. How many syllables?” (2)
“Say responsible. How many syllables?” (4)
“Say your name. How many syllables?”
Student Family Advocate- Ms. Amanda
Hello, Longhorns!
I miss all of you so much! What crazy times we are living in. If you're finding yourself in need of local resources a collaboration of Think Iowa City, Iowa City Area Development Group, and Iowa City Area Business Partnership and the Iowa City Downtown District have created a website for various resources. https://icareatogether.com/ I have enjoyed this page: https://icareatogether.com/things-to-do/. There are activities you can do with your family, including hikes, local fitness classes, kits from local restaurants for making food at home, etc.
Please make sure you are connecting with family members or friends during this hard time. If you're finding things to be hard, so are the people around you. Make sure you're sending love to each other daily and speaking with mental health professionals when you can. NAMI of Johnson County is hosting support groups for people 18 and older who need additional support during this time: https://namijc.org/support-groups-2/.
Hang in there, hug your family that you live with, your pets, and/or your stuffed animals, and do it multiple times a day! The weather is getting warmer, we are getting closer to being able to be together in groups soon. You're all amazing.
Ms. Amanda
Library- Ms. Morey
Hi Longhorns! May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! If we were at school we would be celebrating this month by sharing work written and illustrated by Asian American and Pacific Islander authors and illustrators and featuring characters from this amazing branch of our American family tree.
If you have not yet tried out MackinVia to access free eBooks, here are some of the great titles featuring Asian American creators and characters on that site:
- The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin
- Round is a Mooncake by Roseanne Thong
- A Different Pond by Bao Phi
- Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look
- Front Desk by Kelly Yang
- Flying Lessons and Other Stories by Ellen Oh
- Dash by Kirby Larson
- Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
MackinVia has many other eBooks and audiobooks too. To sign in to this resource head to https://www.iowaaea.org/ and select MackinVia. You will be prompted to login with our school (type Longfellow Iowa City), username, and password (the one that starts with 3141...but email me if you do not have this username and password).
Here is a link to another great AEA Resource, Tumblebooks, and a story about a Taiwanese immigrant child, called Hannah is My Name. This link will take you right to the book! At other times sign in to TumbleBooks with the usual username and password (starts with 3141... Again, email me if you don't know it!)
I hope you are having a great weekend! Remember to keep reading and that I am thinking of all of you. If you need help with technology you can contact me or visit the Help Desk.
Translated reading challenges
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ltaTAMjrcygXHFskaiIuzJwLWZng7Ldxqb6gKG2ci74/edit- Arabic
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TjrDNH01MnzUBi7vILNdjoW69HKi10KQgWWp7H5n76o/edit- Chinese
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EwTZm40U2JCf-v5hK4qG6YggfQLPGcRwlmRoJdCgFsw/edit- Chinese
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zA0SO4inwcSQerPelV2hmjkq-nnL2OM3IDSJDmcMSMw/edit- French
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xoVpyyasmTvaPDK9xsktZLVHRzz_SMDzDRlD-xeEEMI/edit- French
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ds2s1wwmZeikRYnoqp1gb4xEXZ_VghNTB-OyXsBw520/edit- Spanish
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zFX1PoZr7UVP7HlweaW4oEJgrlwJziCaZvaKSEPtD4E/edit- Spanish
School Counselor
As we begin the month of May, I wanted to open up two more opportunities for students to meet with me via google hangout. This would be for any students I have met with or haven't met with. This has been a tremendous opportunity for me and the students to check-in and see how things are going. I have created a Sign Up document at the following link.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0948ACAB2DA4FD0-counselor
The month of May is also special as we had planned on discussing careers with students. I wanted to share some valuable resources for our students if they were interested in doing some career exploration over the course of the month.
For our 3rd to 6th grade students:
Here is a website with over 500 career videos based on many different skills. They also have videos in spanish as well.
https://www.careeronestop.org/Videos/video-library.aspx?lang=en&frd=true
For our K - 2nd grade students:
Here is a great YouTube playlist with different career videos that explore many opportunities they could be interested in.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsrHA2p9h-BjSZNWDzwKqrDKfALV6oYxU I hope these resources spark some interest for students as they begin to explore all the different careers that are out there in the world. Please let me know if you have any questions. Derek Cornett Longfellow Elementary School Counselor
Extended Learning Program (ELP) Ms. McDonald
Hi Longhorns! Keep your child motivated and in a mathematical mindset with fun math games and puzzles. KenKen is a great puzzle that includes basic fact practice and logic that can be adapted for any age level! Here are directions for how to solve KenKen puzzles. Students can play KenKen online for free and adjust the difficulty of the puzzles! If you want to print puzzles for students to try without a computer, go here. Good luck!
Join the Specials (PE, music, Art, Library) zoom meetings for all grades:
Specials Class Time!
Specials Zoom Class Time!
We invite any interested students to join the specials’ zoom meeting - we would LOVE to see you! Just click on the link below at the designated time! Hope to see you there.
Tuesdays, 10:30-11 AM: Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade Specials Zoom (meeting ID: 446 980 804)
Wednesdays, 10:30-11 AM: Third and Fourth Grade Specials Zoom (meeting ID: 308 778 081)
Thursdays, 10:30-11 AM: Fifth and Sixth Grade Specials Zoom (meeting ID: 550 231 130)
PTA Information:
Business Supporters
Hello Longhorns!
The PTA has created a spreadsheet for local businesses directly connected to our community. If you have or know of a business, please add to the list! If you are looking for businesses to support, consider using this as a reference.
Any questions/feedback, please contact presidentlongfellowpta@gmail.com
We're all in this together!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NhlyjjuGi-0pQACmtH1nB1AIJOtpkG7tgEBF9aCYIJY/edit?usp=sharing
Yearbook-
PTA is happy to announce that they will be purchasing Yearbooks for all students and staff this year. As the yearbooks arrive there will be more information about pickup or mailing.
Online Auction-
Longfellow Community,
We know this year is different for our own Longfellow community and our community as a whole. We appreciate the there are some of you who still want to give to Longfellow and are able – and many of you that want to give but are unable.
We have been working very hard on the silent auction since January and have some wonderful items that have been donated from our generous community. We don’t want these items to go to waste. For those of you who are willing and able to bid on the silent and service auction, we thank you for your generosity. For those of you who want to bid but are unable this year, we will catch you next year.
Please also keep in mind that some of the certificates for live events or performances simply may not be available this year. The companies may or may not honor them in the future, so please understand that when bidding.
If you would still like to donate an item and/or a service, please notify Janeen Van Etten at janeenmk@yahoo.com and it will be put up on the bidding site.
The auction will run from May 1st at 5 AM to May 15th at 8 PM and be completely online. For payment, you can write a check to Longfellow PTA after all bidding has been completed. Items will be delivered and payment picked up via no-contact porch delivery once the auction has closed.
Please enjoy bidding on these wonderful items!
Sincerely,
Longfellow Elementary PTA
Here's the link:
charityauction.bid/Longfellow2020Educational Considerations for Classroom Placement
The placement of children in classes is an important decision. When determining homeroom placements, we strive for continuity and balance in many areas including but not limited to gender, range of developmental stages, social mixture, and culture. Our goal is to create homerooms that reflect the diversity of our communities. Therefore, we work through an extensive process to determine class placement for each school year. This process includes much collaboration among teachers and principal to analyze student data while considering the many factors mentioned above to compile class lists. Honoring the decisions made by the educational professionals in regards to the class makeup is extremely important.
Longfellow will not accept requests for placement in a specific teacher’s classroom. Principal and staff will take into consideration information parents/guardians provide regarding extremely specific or unique academic, behavioral, social/emotional, or health-related needs. Only the information received on the Educational Consideration Form will be considered in the placement process.
Sibling Match
Parents may request a teacher who taught an older sibling. These requests will be considered but will not be guaranteed. Exceptions to the “Sibling Match” requests are made by the educational team, when necessary, to maximize educational services and resources for all students.
If you would like to submit a consideration for classroom placement please fill this out by May 10th: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1PmMERQOCoh36xhtxJxx5IEIs_qGoLFCRfkpxebGF97w/edit?usp=sharing
6th grade celebration information:
Dear 6th-Grade Parents,
The Graduation Party Planners are excited to announce that they are moving forward with a digital scrapbook and student share video for each of our kiddos. Please send 2-3 images of your kiddo from years passed and one current photo to Alta Medea-Peters (Calvin M-K's mom) at altamedea@gmail.com and then have your kiddo fill out THIS SURVEY so we can all learn a bit more about them! All photos and survey answers need to be submitted by May 6th!
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Learning Opportunities for students during closure
Latest Communication from the District:
Good Afternoon,
The following message was sent to all elementary families and staff this afternoon. Thank you.
Dear Elementary Families,
We hope that you and your family are safe and continue to do well during this extended school closure. Today, we have an update to share regarding the math and reading workbooks that we are providing to all elementary students.
Math and Language Arts Workbooks
In our last update to elementary families, we shared with you that we would also be offering reading and math workbooks as part of our Voluntary Continuous Learning Plan. The math workbooks are an enVision product that aligns with the current curriculum, but are different from the workbooks our students use in the classroom. These new workbooks are designed for home use to practice skills and do not require direct instruction by teachers. We plan to keep our current classroom math workbooks for use in the fall when the students are back working with teachers. The selection of a Language Arts workbook was a bit more complicated since we are midstream in the adoption of a language arts program with some buildings using new materials and others continuing with our current series. The reading workbooks we selected for home use are from the Wonders series and complement the new program that 3rd-6th grade students will be working from next year. We decided to also purchase Wonders workbooks for our K-2 students for home use due to the fact that neither our current K-6 series (HMH) nor our new K-2 series (Superkids) had a product that could be used independently of classroom instruction. In addition to providing the workbooks, our staff have created a table of recommended workbook page assignments for each of the remaining weeks of school, and have provided answer keys so that parents can check the work themselves.
Workbook Distribution
The workbooks have arrived and we will be distributing these at each of our elementary buildings. Pick up will be available on Tuesday, May 5th between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. Parents of all elementary children in grades K-6 should plan on going to your child’s school during this time, and follow the typical “car line” path. You will simply drive up to the building (staying in your car), state your child(ren)’s name, and a staff member will bring the workbook(s) to you. Students need not be present during pick-up. (If you have time to create a sign with your children’s names and grades that you can hold up for the staff to see, this could help the car line move more quickly.)
Elementary Suggested Daily Schedule
We have updated the voluntary Elementary Suggested Daily Schedule with the arrival of the workbooks. We continue to encourage the use of DreamBox and Lexia as well. DreamBox usage is up from 41% in March to 64% during the week of April 20, 2020. Lexia is up from 26% to 57% during the same time period. The daily schedule references the ICCSD Student Enrichment - Spring 2020 document as well. A few new additions to this document include links to spelling lists and math fact practice.
All of the offerings are voluntary under our Continuous Learning Plan at the K-6 level. Teachers are offering Zoom sessions each week as check-ins and for community-building activities. In addition, our teachers are offering support for the DreamBox and Lexia products. Moving forward, they will also be available to work with families and students on questions that may arise with the workbook pages that are assigned each week for reading and math. Please remember that since all of these options are voluntary, there is no need to turn in any workbook pages to your child’s teacher.
We encourage you to visit the ICCSD Learning at Home page on the District website. This page houses the information that has been shared with families over the past few weeks and offers translations into multiple languages if needed.
We understand that each family’s circumstances are different, so we want to provide multiple at-home learning options to match your family’s needs. We appreciate all that you are doing to support continued learning for our students. If you have questions, please reach out to your building principal or your child’s teacher. Take care and stay healthy. #ICCSDTogether
Sincerely,
Kristin Pedersen
Director of Community Relations
Iowa City Community School District
Nutrition
Children are welcome to come to the sites; however, this new guidance assists the District in providing even more meals to children throughout the community. Meals are free and available to children age 1 – 18. While not required, a parent/guardian/caregiver will be asked to share the school name where each child attends when picking up a meal (if the child is of school-age). The identified school does not have to be in the Iowa City Community School District and, again, this information is suggested (and appreciated), but not required. Free Grab & Go meals are available at each site from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm, unless otherwise noted.
Meal Pick-up Sites:
City High School
Hills Elementary School (12:10 – 1:00 pm)
Mann Elementary School
North Central Junior High
Northwest Junior High
South East Junior High
Twain Elementary School
West High School
Wood Elementary School
Breckenridge Mobile Park (12:10 – 1:00 pm)
Cole’s Communities Mobile Park (11:00 – 11:50 am)
Forest View Mobile Park (12:10 – 1:00 pm)
Hilltop Mobile Park (11:00 – 11:50 am)
Holiday Lodge Mobile Park (11:00 – 11:50 am)
Lakeridge Mobile Park (11:00 – 11:50 am)
Regency Mobile Park (12:10 – 1:00 pm)
This program will be solely for pick-up of meals and meals will not be consumed on-site. The District encourages families to continue to be proactive in reducing the risk of COVID-19 by not congregating at the school site once meals have been distributed. Meals are intended for immediate consumption and should be stored/refrigerated as needed. Additional resources for food assistance can be found through the United Way of Johnson County.
community food resources
Community Crisis Services and Food Bank; 1121 South Gilbert Street, Iowa City, IA, 52240. Food Pantry open: Mon, Wed, Fri 12pm-4:30pm, Tuesday, 12pm-7pm, and Thursday 9:30am-4:30pm, and Saturday, 9:30am-2pm.
IC Compassion Food Pantry; 1035 Wade St, Iowa City, IA, 52240. Food Pantry Open: Wednesday, 12pm-4pm and Thursday, 5:30pm-7:00pm.
During this time make sure you get outside, drink lots of water, and take care of yourselves.
follow us on Twitter- @LongfellowScho1
Longfellow Elementary School
Every student counts. Every moment matters.
ADDRESS: 1130 Seymour Ave., Iowa City, IA 52240
PHONE: 319-688-1135
FAX: 319-688-1136
Kelli Webb, Principal
Amanda Mosley, SFA
Stacia Nkumu, Principal Secretary
Non-Discrimination Policy:
It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status in its educational programs, activities, or 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 Director of Equity, 1725 N. Dodge St., Iowa City, IA 52245, (319) 688-1000.