The Hawk
Holmes Elementary School Weekly Update - February 9, 2018
IMPORTANT DATES/THINGS TO REMEMBER
- Pancake Breakfast – February 10 - 9:00-11:00
- Book Fair – February 10 – 9:00-12:00
- School Store – February 13
- Lincoln School’s PTO Diversity Committee presents Inclusive Schooling - February 15 – See PTO section for additional information
- President’s Day – No school – February 19
- Kindergarten Showcase – February 27
- Hawk Nest – February 28
Student Led Campaign
Holmes Student Council members have developed their first school-wide campaign. Officers pitched their idea that included an objective and success criteria. Students have even crafted the following parent communication:
Holmes School is now having a campaign to try to keep the school bathrooms clean. During the month of February, Holmes School students will be participating in the Clean Bathroom Campaign. Our objective is to encourage all students to keep bathrooms clean. We can accomplish our objective by having a school-wide competition in the month of February, and our goal is to have a clean bathroom for 14/18 days in February. To us, a clean bathroom is having clean floors, clean sinks, and nothing in the toilet. Student Council members will check the bathrooms each day when the office calls down for folders so no one misses any class time. Members will then use a form to see if it is considered a clean bathroom. The form will also let us communicate with the teachers. If we reach our goal, we will have a reward.
Students have been voting on rewards and grades K-2 will have different rewards than grades 3-5. We hope this will make an impact on our school to make it a cleaner place.
Math Talks
At our February 7, 2018 PTO Ms. Peronto (3rd grade teacher) and Ms. Manuel (5th grade teacher) lead parents in a math talk. If you weren’t able to join us for the meeting you can find the presentation, video links, and how you can help build conceptual math knowledge at home by clicking here.
What’s Happening in Art with Ms. Jones
Kindergarten artists have been exploring with paint and color mixing. By experimenting, students discovered primary colors can be mixed together to make new colors! Each artist mixed their own paint to create color wheels. Next, students discovered that adding white to a color makes it lighter. This week students made larger than life cupcakes by mixing tints.
1st grade artists recently explored Vincent van Gogh’s body of work and discovered his technique. Students each painted a gorgeous sunflower still life in the style of van Gogh. This week students will experiment with sewing! Artists will use a running stitch and a whip stitch to embellish a new painting.
2nd grade artists discovered the artwork of Henri Matisse and his love of color. Each student was only given the primary colors to create a painting inspired by Matisse’s goldfish painting. Students mixed unique colors for the background and foreground of their artwork.
3rd grade artists are exploring how artists use line and color to create mood in an artwork. Our inspiration is Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream. Students were asked, “what would make you scream?” to develop the content for their mixed media artwork. Next, students will write narratives about their work and record their voices reading them. Viewers can scan a QR code to hear each artist tell their story!
4th grade artists are taking a close look at the art of one of the most important artists of the 20th Century, Jean Michel Basquiat. Students brainstormed a concept and have begun large paintings inspired by Basquiat’s unique style of expression. As we go, we’ll be working through the steps of art criticism: describe, analyze, interpret, and evaluate.
5th grade graphic designers have been “hired” by local businesses to design advertisements for The Wednesday Journal’s annual Design-an-Ad contest. In March be on the lookout to see which Holmes designers will be featured in the journal!
Book Study
Celebrate Holmes Staff
Families, have you noticed a Holmes teacher or staff member who deserves a compliment or a thank you? Has this person made a difference for your child? Please share the reason in a brief email to me (czelaya@op97.org) so that we may recognize and thank them!
2. Due to school closing today, we’ve extended the Book-Fair to Saturday,
Feb 10th from 9-12p. Come shop after pancakes!
The evening consists of a tasting of foods from around the world as well as sharing booths and entertainment. So there are many ways to get involved to help make this much-loved event a success. You can bring a dish for the tasting, set up a station to share an aspect of your culture or heritage, and/or volunteer your time with the behind-the-scenes preparations or help running the event.
Have Questions? Please contact Nicole Sumida & Afshan Syed Norris at sumida.nicole@gmail.com and afshan.syed@gmail.com
5. Thanks to everyone who attended Wednesday’s PTO Community Meeting.
During the meeting, we discussed several topics including Math teaching styles
and how to support your children’s curiosity about Math at home. Here
are some tips to do at home:
- Share the way you, the parent, learned and discuss that process. Multiple strategies are important for kids to know.
- Have your child “teach you” and walk you through the process of the math strategy/lesson of the day.
Questions to ask;
- What makes you say that?
- What makes you think that?
- Explain your thinking to me.
- What’s another way to do that?
The PTO is also embarking on a reading enrichment program evaluation process which includes asking parent community members to be part of the process. If you’re interested in helping us find a cutting edge program that promotes excellence in reading, please contact Sarah Coleman and Ed Hartman at sarahlcoleman@gmail.com and eehartman36@gmail.com
Dr. Christine Zelaya
Email: czelaya@op97.org
Website: http://www.op97.org/holmes/
Location: 508 N Kenilworth Ave, Oak Park, IL, United States
Phone: 708-524-3100
Facebook: facebook.com/christine.zelaya.96
Twitter: @ChristineZelaya