SHAWSHEEN SHOUT OUT! October 2019

Shawsheen Elementary

Upcoming Events

Oct. 4

Student Council Snack Friday

October Birthday Snack (Optional)

Oct. 8

Parent Group Meeting (7:45am) and (5:30pm)

Oct. 11

No School for Students

Oct. 14

No School

Oct. 15

Family Night at 5:30pm

Oct. 18

Student Council Snack Friday

Nov. 1

Student Council Snack Friday

November Birthday Snack (Optional)

Nov. 1-15

Student Council Canned Food Drive

Nov. 12

Parent Group Meeting at 7:45am and 5:30pm

4020 W. 7th Street, Greeley, CO 80634

www.shawsheen.greeleyschools.org Telephone: 970-348-2300

Election Day is November 5th!

Are you registered to vote? Please watch for your mail in ballots mid-October. There is an important measure supporting schools on this year’s election ballot. Thank you for doing your civic duty and voting!

We need YOU!

Our next Parent Group Meeting is Oct. 8 at 5:30pm. We are also doing a morning meeting at 7:45am on the same day. Childcare is provided at no charge to you for the evening meeting only. We had a good turnout at both meetings in August. Please consider joining us. We discuss school business, budget, fundraisers, and other school events. We appreciate our parent support! Remaining meetings are Nov. 12, Jan. 14, Feb. 11, Mar. 10, and Apr. 14.

Family Night

Our next Family Night is Oct. 15th at 5:30pm. Please come and stay for fun activities to learn more about AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination). Dinner served afterwards. Students are doing more Writing to Learn, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading to Learn through AVID Strategies every day. They are preparing for College or Career. What does your child want to do when they grow up?

FREE English Classes for Adults

Do you know someone who is interested in learning English? Free classes from 6:00pm-7:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4754W. 31st St. Greeley. Free Child Care provided.

Greeley Multicultural Festival

The entire community is invited to this event. Experience cultures with all of your senses!  Enjoy music, performances, food, demonstrations, crafts, and more! The Greeley Multicultural Festival celebrates diverse cultures embedded in the fabric of our community. Oct. 19 is the 3rd year of the event.  This year the event will be at the new Campus Commons building on the University of Northern Colorado campus. Since the event is on Saturday from 11:00am-5:00pm, you do not have to pay to park on the UNC campus.

More Important News

On time. All day. Every day.

Please help us out by getting your child to school on time. 7:30am Supervision bell rings 7:45am Line-up bell rings 7:50am tardy bell rings – student must be in their classroom AT 7:50am to be on time. Another safety measure is that parents must check-in WITH their children when they are tardy. Please DO NOT just drop them off and send them in alone.

News from the Teachers

Special Education

Happy October!

Now that we have settled into the school year, our students and teachers continue to work hard. Throughout our co-teaching classrooms, students are working on their goals and showing progress towards grade level standards. October 1st in our first IEP day. We look forward to meeting with our families to share everything your child has been achieving. Next month, our IEP day is November 5. Our team will be in contact with you if your child's meeting is due. Please reach out if you have any questions!

Ms. Coram, Mrs. Krueger, Mrs. March, Mr. Varner and Mrs. Voss

Music

Hello! 

I have sent you an email to test if that would be a good system to communicate with you. If you did not receive the email would you please send me an email at eeaster@greeleyschools.org to update my information? Please state your student’s grade level and their name. I am attempting to increase my communications with all my Shawsheen students' families to give you updates about concerts, behaviors, and general observations about your student. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns as well. I hope to meet you in person for parent teacher conferences.

Mr. Easter

PE

The year has been off to a great start in PE. We have finished our Training Camp and are ready for big things in the gym! We have started our Volleying unit, and will be doing these skills in PE for the next few weeks! It is fun and challenging but I think your students are going to enjoy it. Please keep sending your students to school with Tennis shoes so that they are active and ready to go. 

Thank you stay healthy and happy! 

Mr. Z  

Art

Street art is becoming very popular in the art world.  What I love about street art is that it is accessible to everyone.  Students have been learning about street art, murals and Kelsey Montague.  Kelsey is an international street artist who takes street art to the next level by making it interactive.  I love everything about Kelsey’s murals: the beauty, the message and the interaction. I wanted each student to contribute to a collaborative and interactive school mural that will be displayed all year long in the school hall.  Look for our wing collaborative mural “What Lifts You” displayed soon!

Mrs. Fryer

Kindergarten

We are having a great time in kindergarten! We are learning and growing so much!  

In math, we are focusing on reading, writing, and representing numbers 0 to 10.

In reading, we are starting to recognize, read, and say sounds. Thank you for your support with daily homework and regular reading practice at home!

During writing, we are adding on to our word wall every week. We are trying to sounds out words and are drawing pictures with more detail.   

In handwriting, we are working on pencil grip as we practice proper formation of letters and numbers.

In science, we are learning about trees. Our classes are comparing the structures, physical attributes and reasons why trees are so important.

In social studies we are investigating where we live.  We are learning about people, places, and things we can find in schools and neighborhoods and how we can take care of our neighborhood.

Thank you for coming to conferences. It was so nice to visit with all our families!

Mrs. Duplex, Mrs. Kotalik and Mrs. Maresh

First Grade

Thank you to all the families who attended Parent Teacher Conferences on September 30 and October 3. We enjoyed meeting with you and discussing your child’s progress. If you were unable to attend your scheduled conference, please reschedule with your child’s teacher as soon as possible.

Reading Mastery Signature Edition (RMSE):

We continue to work on building phonemic awareness, phonics skills and fluency in our RMSE groups.

Just a reminder, RMSE homework comes home daily and is yellow. Please listen to your child as he/she does his/her homework. Additionally, please sign and return it the following day. This is a crucial piece of their reading instruction in first grade. Also, in your child’s RMSE homework folder are the RMSE sounds with a picture for each to help students remember the sound. Please practice these sounds nightly.

MATH: We continue to work on addition within 10 and will soon be starting subtraction.

Math homework is sent home weekly on Thursday and needs to be returned by the following Wednesday. Homework should be a review of that week’s lessons taught in class. Please let your child’s teacher know if you need additional support or resources for doing the homework at home.

WRITING: We started Unit 2: Getting Ideas. During this unit, students generate writing ideas from their own lives and practice telling stories orally.

OTHER: Halloween parties will take place on Thursday, October 31. A note will be sent home in Thursday folders as the day approaches with more information.

Mrs. Z, Mrs. Duvall, and Mrs. Hill

Second Grade

October is here and we are settled in and working hard.

Writing: We are still working on narrative writing but are working on adding more details to our stories (sight and sound words). We continue to emphasize starting sentences with a capital letter and ending with correct punctuation.

Math: We are currently working in Mission 2– measurement. Children need to be able to determine which tool to use when measuring with centimeters and meters. Please make sure your child is completing homework nightly to get the needed practice.

Literacy: We are continuing our work in Unit 1. Our focus is on having students understand the “Who, What, Where, When, and Why” of the story. We are also working on identifying characters, setting, and events in a story. You can support your child by asking them these questions while they are reading to you.

Science: We continue our study of the life cycle of insects and their habitats. We now have caterpillars in our rooms! Be sure to ask your child to tell you what is happening as they are changing before our very eyes! Ms. Wikoff’s room is working on how we can stop soil from being washed away. We will also be talking about slow changes and quick changes.

Working for your child,

Miss Hyland, Mrs. Kautz, and Ms. Wikoff

Third Grade

Reading: Unit 2 Figure it out

During this unit, students will continue diving into complex text. They will learn to distinguish their point of view from the author’s point of view and identify main ideas and key details. Students will be reading informational and narrative passages to help answer the question ‘what does it take to solve a problem?’

Writing: Narrative Writing

This year, we will be working hard to foster a love of writing in each student and we are off to a great start. We have been enjoying daily independent writing time while reflecting on memories. Students’ pencils are not sharp for long because they have been writing so much!

Math: Multiplication/Division

We are jumping in with two feet straight into multiplication and division. Students are working to recognize what the total, size of groups and number of groups is in real life problems. In addition, they are working to make equal groups or fair shares when dividing. Using this terminology with your student may help with homework! Another way you can support your student at home is by skip counting with them any chance you get.

Weekly Homework:

Homework packets are sent home on Thursdays and are due the following Thursday. The due date is always printed on the top right corner of the top page. We ask parents/guardians to work with students to develop a homework schedule that works best for you family. Additionally, we ask parents/guardians to check over student’s work and sign the front page of homework indicating you have done so. Students are asked to read 20 minutes per night and to complete four reading log entries per week. The homework packet may also include handwriting practice, math practice, spelling and reading practice. Thank you for supporting your student as they work through their homework each week.

Mrs. Fowler and Mrs. Grover

Fourth Grade

Reading: Unit 1 – Thinking it through

Fourth grade students are continuing on their literary journeys as they learn to refer to details in a text when explaining what the text says. They will need to be able to cite evidence and organize their answers in written form. Each week we will be focusing on a different Literacy skill and strategy. For example, one recent skill we focused on was cause and effect and students are still practicing rereading to summarize and cite key details from complex text. Our students should be reading chapter books with challenging multi-syllable words. Students need to be able to determine the meaning of words and phrases at a fourth grade level. It is super important that your student be reading as much as possible. This increases their fluency level and helps them be able to comprehend fourth grade material.

Writing: The Writing Process

The students are working at completing a published piece of writing. They are picking a rough draft that they have already been working on and are rewriting and editing these drafts. They are also paired with a partner to help through Peer Conferencing. This helps them give and receive feedback to and from their peers. They are also learning to read their own drafts critically and listen for overused words, such as, good, and replacing good with excellent, spectacular, stupendous, or terrific.

Math: Multi-Digit Completely Number Addition

We are continuing our journey through Unit 1. We just completed exploring place value understanding to round multi-digit numbers to any place value using real world applications. Our next adventure will be fluently adding multi-digit numbers using the standard addition algorithm. We teach that the regrouping occurs on the line under the addends as shown to the right. For example, in the ones column, students do not record the zero in the ones column and the one above the tens column, instead students record 10, writing the one under the tens column and then a zero in the ones column.

Science/Social Studies: We kicked off Social Studies with the discussion of incentives. For example, students had to come up with incentives to “take out the trash” or “do their homework”. They did pretty good coming up with some reasonable answers. It is always a great way to teach your children responsibility by giving them incentives to complete tasks around the house etc. As we study Economics in 4th grade, we will be focusing on notetaking skills. We will be teaching your students multiple ways to organize their thinking for them to choose from while taking notes.

Planners: We are asking that students bring home a planner every night signed by an adult or guardian. This is part of our AVID program. AVID stands for Advancement via Individual Determination. This program is to help your student achieve academic success and readiness to attend college or career courses. Having them take on this responsibility allows them to feel organized and connected with the school and with their families or guardians. On their planning pages, they complete a self-reflection and we will add important notes when needed.

Homework: Homework will be sent home on Thursday and needs to be returned by the following Thursday. There will be a reading log, math worksheet, and some type of literacy strategy or skill practice. Our homework is determined by setting high expectations for your student. Homework should not be saved until last minute; it will require thought and hard work. We believe in them so much that we are setting the bar high!

**Remember it is okay to struggle, it just means your brain is growing!

Mrs. Johnstone and Mrs. Wagner

Fifth Grade

Math

We are wrapping up Module 1 and will be taking the test soon! In mid-September, we will be starting Module 2. Module 2 will focus on multiplying and dividing with whole numbers and decimals. Students should be practicing their multiplication facts at home. This will help them greatly in math!

Writing

We have just begun Personal Narrative. Students will be writing stories that have happened in their life using the story structure we have learned in class. We continue to practice grammar daily.

Literacy

Students will be reading a variety of genres for the next few weeks. Our big idea for the first unit is Eureka! I have Got It. We will be studying sequencing, problem, and solution in our narrative text. For nonfiction, we will be studying cause, effect, and author’s point of view.

Homework

We encourage all students to read 20-30 minutes every day. On Thursdays, we will be sending home a one-page homework assignment for students to complete throughout the week. The homework will be due on Wednesday of the following week. On the homework, you will find a reading log, math practice from our curriculum, and fluency practice. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding our homework policy.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bass, Mrs. Kleiber and Ms. Strecker