Ideal Times
September 2013
Welcome-Note from the Principal
Welcome to another great year at Ideal Elementary School. I am pleased to report that the year is off to a great start and I am excited about the amazing things we have planned for the year! We are thrilled to once again have many new students and families joining our school community. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all of you. I am so proud of our school and I am so honored to be able to work with your children every day.
Our staff is committed to delivering the absolute highest level of education to our students. Last year our school ranked in the top 10% nationally for progress in the areas of reading and math! We plan to capitalize on this tremendous achievement by continuing to challenge our students every day. By setting individualized goals and helping students monitor their progress towards these goals, we will help students take ownership of their learning.
The two most important things that happen at Ideal School are TEACHING and LEARNING, but we also make sure that we have fun along the way. We make sure that we celebrate our amazing students, our remarkable staff members, our wonderful families, and the awesome things we accomplish together. I hope that each of you will be able to visit us throughout the school year and share in our pride.
All School Activities
Panther Pals
We started our Panther Pals meetings for the year! This is a monthly event where students meet and share with students from all different grade levels. Each teacher facilitates a multi-grade group for the year. Our focus this year is creating a kind and caring community. At our first meeting we introduced ourselves to the group, shared something that makes us special, and discussed character traits that make good community members. We are looking forward to our next meeting and getting to know each other better!
Mystery All-School Meeting
Our first All-School Meeting was held on Friday September 27th. At each meeting this year we will focus on one genre. This month was MYSTERY! Students learned the vocabulary associated with this genre, had to "solve" the baby picture mystery by guessing which teacher belonged to each picture. The students watched a mystery reader's theatre to the book: The Web Files by Margie Palatini, and we joined together as a community of learners to celebrate learning! Join us next month for our Greek mythology All-School Meeting! It will be on Thursday, October 24th at 10:00am.
Grade Level News
Preschool- Apple Exploration
For our Apple Unit, preschool students are discovering how many manipulatives weight the same or more than an apple. We counted the manipulatives and tried other manipulatives.
Kindergarten: Rhyme Time!
The kindergartners have been working on lots of rhyming activities!
Rhyming is SO important for future reading. The kindergartners are reading rhyming books, playing games on their Promethean board, and they even have a new rhyming game in their daily binder to play at home! If you see a kindergartner….give them a word and ask them to come up with a rhyming word for it! J It’s time, time, time….to rhyme, rhyme, rhyme! J
1st Grade: Apple Experts
First graders visited Kuiper’s Apple Orchard where they became experts on apples . The students got to learn many things on this trip. They became taste testers for different types of apples and learned how to make apple cider. There are over 5,000 apple trees on the orchard! They really enjoyed getting a ride on the tractor to see and read about all the different types of apple trees.
2nd Grade- Expectations For Learning
We have had a great start to our year! We have learned and practiced the expectations in our classroom and school. We met as a grade level to create our 2nd grade expectations for learning. The first day we met, we created about 50 rules! After discussing them, we got them down to three: Be quiet when others are talking, Treat others the way you want to be treated, Keep our bodies in control. We have promised and signed these expectations and are ready for a great year of learning!
3rd Grade-Author Webcast with Kevin Henkes
The third graders were lucky enough to participate in an author webcast featuring Kevin Henkes, one of our favorite authors. Mr. Henkes talked to us about his Henkes was talking about his new book, The Year of Billy Miller. He also explained how he writes his stories and illustrates them. We learned that he enjoyed art more than writing as a high school student but soon fell in love with writing.
4th Grade: S.M.A.R.T. Fourth Graders!
We know you're thinking, "Of course those fourth grade teachers think their students are smart! That's not news!" But did you know that this year, our fourth graders are really S.M.A.R.T.? We will be working all year to set and accomplish goals that are Specific, Measurable, Action-Planned, Realistic, and Time-Limited. For example, one SMART goal we have is to automatically recall multiplication facts 0-12 by December 20. Having goals that fit those qualities will help fourth graders pay close attention to their learning and show evidence of success. They are keeping their goals and evidence organized in a portfolio binder to share with their parents at conference times, and we are so excited to see their progress this year!
5th Grade: Math Mania
The 5th graders have been digging into math using a variety of materials. They have been using base ten blocks to represent decimals and powers of ten in different ways. Their interactive journals have been a great resource for note taking and skill practice. The students have even used their new knowledge to write their own definitions for key math terms. All of this hard work has deepened their understanding of decimals and the base-ten number system.
6th Grade: Excavating a Prehistoric Cave
Special Share : First and Fifth Grade Buddies
First and fifth grade buddies have begun meeting each Wednesday. The students will meet once a week to support one another socially and academically. So far students have completed a getting to know you activity and practiced place value with one another. They all look forward to more projects together!
The Ideal Bulletin Board
Birthday Books
If your child would like to share the gift of reading for his/her birthday, consider buying a book for the Ideal Library in honor of your child. Click here to see the library's Amazon wishlist. You can purchase a book from this list OR bring $10.00 to Mrs. Rodkey in the LLC and she will help you pick out a perfect birthday book.
October Breakfast and Lunch Menus
See what's cooking at Ideal School. Click here for the Ideal Breakfast Menu and Lunch Menu.
District 105 Events
9/27/13 Family Bingo Night
10/2/13 Team 105 Volleyball
10/7/13 Team 105 Volleyball
10/8/13 District FAST Program
10/9/13 Team 105 Volleyball
10/10/13 Market Day Pick Up
10/14/13 Columbus Day-NO SCHOOL
10/15/13 Teacher In service Day-NO SCHOOL
10/15/13 District FAST Program
10/15/13 District 105 Board Meeting
10/23/13 Literacy Night
10/25/13 End of Quarter 1
About Us
Email: lrodkey@d105.net
Website: www.d105.net
Location: 9901 West 58th Street, Countryside, IL
Phone: (708)482-2750