Wildcat Parent News
November-December 2015
A Note from the Principals
Winter is upon us and the hustle and bustle of the holidays are here! Our students have accomplished so much during the past 61 days of school and we are thankful for the joy they bring each day to Belleville Schools!
Moving forward, a main instructional focus will continue to be Writer's Workshop as part of our Comprehensive Literacy Model. Additionally, upcoming professional development will focus around small group reading instruction within Readers' Workshop. We continue to make progress on our standards based grading and look forward to sharing the new report card at the January PTO meeting. There will be an opportunity for parents to ask questions at that time. Further details about this meeting will be shared with parents soon.
The PTO has sent information home with students about this Friday's Holiday Gift Shop. This is a wonderful opportunity for the children to purchase gifts for their families! Thank you to all of the volunteers and the PTO for making this workshop come together for our students!
As we move into the colder months, I would like to remind parents to dress their children appropriately for the winter weather ahead. On most winter days our students do go outside for recess and should come to school prepared with appropriate winter gear. (Winter coats, snow pants, gloves/mittens and boots). If your child is in need of any of these items, please contact our school counselor, Mr. Kyle Webber. Your cooperation in this regard is greatly appreciated.
The nurse’s office is always in need of gently used clothing for students to use when they are needed. Specific items and sizes are included in the box below. If you have any donations please send them to either the Elementary and Intermediate School, depending upon size.
With the holiday vacation approaching in a few weeks, I encourage you to take some special time together and enjoy the spirit of the season.
We want to wish everyone a very happy and safe holiday season and a happy new year! We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming winter concert!
Best Regards,
Pam Emmerich, Principal
Amy Kraemer, Associate Principal
Needed Clothing Items
Boy coat size Youth 10/12
Girl coat size Adult M/L
Boy coat size Adult M/L
Boy snow pants size youth 10/12
Boy snow pants size adult M/L
Boy snow pants size youth 2
Boots men size 9-10
Boots boy youth size 9-10
Months in Review
Fall Fest 2015
October 14th marked another annual celebration of fall at Library Park in Belleville. It was a gorgeous fall evening filled with fun music, delicious foods, exciting games, and beautiful artwork. Thank you to everyone who visited and participated in Fall Fest 2015!
Fire Safety Week
UFO Color Run
November- December Events
November 25-27- No School, Thanksgiving Break
December 9- PTO Meeting @ 7:00 (Intermediate School Library)
December 16- Intermediate Winter Concert and Art Show @ 7:00 (students report to classroom at 6:45)
December 18- Elementary Winter Concert (K-1:00, 1st-2:00)
December 14- Early Release
December 23-January 3- No School, Winter Break
January 13- PTO Meeting (Report Card Discussion @ 6:00, PTO Meeting @ 7:00)
January 18 - No School, Staff Professional Development Days
January 22- Early Release, End of Quarter 2
Belleville PTO Meeting
Wednesday, Dec 9, 2015, 07:00 PM
Belleville Intermediate School, South Grant Street, Belleville, WI, United States
Cold Weather Reminder
Just a reminder to keep the cold weather apparel close at hand when sending your children to school during the winter months. When we do have a significant snow accumulations, students will need snow pants, snow boots, gloves, with their name on items, for recess as students will go out on the playground unless the temperature of the wind chills are below zero. An extra pair of gloves and socks, with their name on the items, in your child’s backpack would always be a good idea. For those students who ride a bus to and from school, it is important that they are dressed appropriately in case the bus would stall. We want everyone to be safe and warm until help arrives. School closures are also a possibility at this time of year.
The decision to cancel school is made prior to 7 a.m. Announcements regarding school closings will be made on the following radio stations: WIBA 1310 AM, WIBA 101.5 FM, Q106, Z104, Star Country 96.3, ESPN 1070, 92.1 The MIC, Triple M105.5, CHARLIE 105.1, WOLX 94.0, Magic 98, JJO 94.1, WOZEN 1670 AM, HANK 1550 AM and WEKZ 93.7. Our local television stations Channel 3, 15 and 27 will also post the school cancellations.
Please refrain from calling our school office, as our lines must remain free to contact the media and transportation people.
Remember unless the announcement has been made over the radio or television, school will be in session.
The website for the School District of Belleville is http://linux.belleville.k12.wi.us/main/.
Literacy Corner:
Students at the Belleville ES and IS have many opportunities to read text found in a variety of resources. Three of those resources are the Book Room, the Classroom Library, and the School Library. So, what’s the difference?
The Book Room is a teacher planning and resource room where teachers select books for instruction in reading. Based on school-wide assessments teachers choose books and plan for small group reading instruction based on students’ need. There is a book room located at both the ES and the IS to support our reading curriculum. Both book rooms remain a work in progress as new titles are processed and integrated into the book room system. We could still use volunteer support! Let us know if you’re interested.
Classroom libraries are one of the most important areas within the classroom. Classroom libraries are a collection of books that are organized by topics, genres, and favorite authors. The role of the classroom library is to create a literary environment where students participate in the organization of the books and learn how to self-select books to read independently for sustained amounts of time. The classroom library promotes students’ ability to efficiently access a variety of books. It’s helpful to think of a classroom library as one’s personal library or collection of books.
The school library exists to develop, strengthen, and promote a lifelong love of learning and reading for students’ success in the 21st century. The school’s Library Media Center provides a dynamic collection of materials representing a diversity of views. We provide an inviting environment to accommodate collaborative and individual study, where everyone can learn, teach, produce, and contribute. We work to ensure that students and staff are effective and ethical users of information and technology by instructing and assisting students and staff with a multitude of print and digital resources.
By,
Dawn Stiegert
Tammy Boyd
Literacy Coaches/Reading Interventionists ES and IS
A Message From Ms. Houser
Physical Education
Lessons for Kindergarten through fifth grade PE classes focus on the general rules of fitness – endurance, strength, flexibility, speed and agility. We are working to maintain our fitness levels in PE by incorporating station activities, sports skills and games that generate a spiral curriculum. This means that we touch on each focus area often, instead of a unit by unit basis.
The elementary students (K-1) have begun the Presidential Fitness Test first semester and will repeat it toward the end of the year. The Intermediate School students are tested each month. Look for these results at the end of each month.
Student Council
The 6th Grade Student Council has been involved in a variety of activities so far this year. The Planning Committee will be involved with Mix It Up Day at Lunch in November, and assisted with Red Ribbon Week on October. The Yearbook Committee has chosen the cover for the yearbook and will begin taking candid student photos soon. The School Store Committee will have the store up and running in November, selling school supplies for $1.00 or less to students.
4-6th Grade Friday Morning Running Club
What a dedicated group I have here! If you are in Running Club please be prepared for winter weather. Our running club has averaged 50 students each Friday morning and we have totaled over 780 miles already! Way to go kids! Thank you to Ms. McCarthy for your help! Remember, parents can also attend with your child!
Featured Text of the Month
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
A beautifully written and illustrated text about the an owling adventure that a young child goes on with her Pa. Captivating pictures and and engaging text, this book is a favorite of many elementary aged children!
Technology Update
It has been a great start to the school year during the Technology/Library hour. It is very exciting to be a GAFE, Google Apps for Education, school and utilizing all the innovative resources Google has to offer for our educators and students! Students have been working on fundamental computer skills using a Chromebook with an emphasis on touchpad skills. Since the beginning of the school year we have had an ongoing discussion about the importance of digital citizenship. Grades 2-4 created a poster about how to stay safe online in order to be responsible digital citizens. Grades K-2 have been participating in the Global Read Aloud Project! Students have been learning about the author Amy Krouse Rosenthal, her imaginative books, while creating colorful pictures on the Chromebooks. Grade 3 has been learning about Google Apps and creating a Google Slides Presentation entitled All About Me. Grade 4 is participating in the global Holiday Card Exchange. They have been creating cards with a snow theme. Students are creating these with the use of Google Drawing. The 5th graders have just completed a collaborative Google Slides Presentation about digital citizenship. Currently 5th graders are using Google Maps to search locations around the world relating to their recent social studies unit on the Colombian Exchange.
Upcoming Adventures:
Computer Science Week is Dec. 7-12! During this week, all students will participate in the Hour of Code: https://hourofcode.com/us! During Library class, grades 2-5 students are listening to all of the Golden Archer nominated picture books. They are also eagerly participating in our Everybody Book Challenge for National Picture Book Month.
Technology Integration
Collaborative Technology
Keyboarding Skills
Elementary School Winter Concerts
First Grade- 2:00
Friday, Dec 18, 2015, 01:00 PM
Belleville Elementary School, West Pearl Street, Belleville, WI, United States
Intermediate School Winter Concert & Art Show
Wednesday, Dec 16, 2015, 07:00 PM
Belleville Intermediate School, South Grant Street, Belleville, WI, United States
Who Should I Contact?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iMwKyIYUZspDgXn5cSB-YnSmBheEctrK66cYUbCwCEw/edit?ts=565dd55a