Notes from the Principal

Northwinds Elementary

1111 - 7th Avenue NW

Buffalo, MN 55313

Phone: 763.682.8800

Attendance:

763.682.8804

Fax: 763.682.8805

www.bhmschools.org/

schools/northwinds

Northwinds Ele-

mentary School

Our mission at North-

winds Elementary School

is to provide a safe, child-

centered learning environ-

ment which promotes

learning for all students

Northwinds Express

Dec 2017

Volume 12 Issue 4

Inside this issue:

Notes from the Principal 1

Battle of the Books 1

Trash to Cash 2

Christmas Angel Donations 2

Innovation Station 3

World Cultures 4

Health Office Needs 4

Musical Notes 5

Morning Procedure 5

PTO News 6

BookFlix 6

Important Dates 6

December Greetings!

Here we are…December already. We’ve had almost four strong months of

learning, building community and enjoying our friendships. This time of year

also brings a flurry of activity…so much to do. I hope that whatever holiday

you celebrate, you can enjoy it immensely.

It was so good to see so many people at conferences. It is such an important

investment for your child. We appreciate your partnership and your help. It

truly does take a village and we’re proud to work with you.

Weird to say, but we’ll talk next year!!! 2018!!!

Thanks for all you do.

Shawn

Battle of the Books—Wednesday, March 21, 2018. Grades three through five can participate in this optional reading

challenge. Students form teams of two or three people to participate in the

Battle of the Books. This year at Northwinds there are nine Maud Hart Love-

lace nominees that will be a part of the competition. Bookmarks listing the

books can be found in the library and in the World Cultures classroom. Sign-

up sheets will be available in the World Cultures classroom in 2018, but start

reading now! The media center has 5 copies of each book plus electronic cop-

ies of each title to use. Students have also been checking out the titles from the

public library.

In addition to the Battle of the Books, any student in grades three through

five who has read (or was read to) three or more Maud Hart Lovelace nomi-

nees is eligible to vote for his or her favorite Maud Hart Lovelace title in late

March. Students from all over Minnesota participate to pick a favorite. You

can find past winners by visiting the Maud Hart Lovelace website, sponsored

by Minnesota Youth Reading Awards (MYRA). Students in grades K-2 are

reading the ten Star of the North nominees and will also be voting for their fa-

vorite title. Star of the North is sponsored by the MYRA as well.

Page 2 Northwinds Express

Trash to Cash—New Program Starting in January

Northwinds is supporting the "Christmas Angels" program again this year. Many senior citizens are alone

throughout the holiday season and do not receive any gifts. The "Christmas Angels" program aims to change

this. They are collecting blankets, lotions, chapsticks, pony tail holders, grip-

py socks, women's sweatshirts and sweatpants, men's sweatshirts size S,M, L,

XL, 2X or 3X, and men's sweatpants size M, L, XL, 2X or 3X. These gifts

are delivered to senior citizens around our community on Christmas morning.

Donations can be brought to NES for the next two weeks and put in the box

in the front hall.

Christmas Angel Donations Being Accepted

Page 3 Volume 12 Issue 4

Innovation Station—Mrs. Franzen Hello innovators!

This past month of November we were busy using our creative minds in Innovation Sta-

tion! Creativity is one of the four Cs, and even though that was the focus, a lot of our

projects required the use of the other 3 Cs as well. Kindergarteners worked on being cre-

ative with a variety of materials such as play dough, toothpicks, pattern blocks, etc. They

also made their own snow scene when we learned about the winter months. We can't be-

lieve not a lot of snow has come our way yet! First graders were busy making their own

collage on pic collage- an app on the iPad- and their scene was centered around the sea-

son they chose. We made one big collage at the end of all of the seasons! First graders

also got to be creative and make their own robots out of paper. This was very good tim-

ing because we are starting robots and coding this month in December! In second grade,

we made notans- puzzles that are flipped- and our very own stamps. We also made

xrays! Third graders were able to work on a collaborative creative project which was made out of lines. All of

their main lines connected to make one giant puzzle that they put together. Then, we were able to tie in a third

grade science lesson about light when we had to draw our shadows. These students really had to work together

and communicate to get a good looking shadow drawing. In fourth grade, students studied a man named Dale

Chihuly. He is a sculptor and makes his own glass sculptures. We were inspired to make our own Chihuly

sculpture chandelier, but out of plastic bottles instead of glass. We painted and cut the bottles and then put

them in chicken wire to create it. Last but not least, fifth graders wrote their own creative stories to match a

different students collage. They also were able to make pendulum paintings, as they study motion in science.

Some pictures are included of our artwork and if you want to see them up close and personal, stop by the office

in the month of December as they are on display!

Page 4 Northwinds Express

Salam,

Third, fourth, and fifth graders are in the midst of our unit featuring

Ethiopia. Students have been learning about the land, the people,

their schools, foods, and traditions. Currently we are looking at

some artifacts from Ethiopia and learning about the importance of

coffee in their culture. Historians believe that Ethiopia is the birth-

place of coffee. Ethiopians regularly participate in what is known

as a coffee ceremony, which is a social ritual. We will have our own version of a coffee ceremony here in the

classroom, ask your child about it!

Our "museum" displays for Argentina and Finland are looking great! If students are extending their learning

at home and want to bring in things for our Ethiopian display, items are now welcome. Maybe your child

cooks something that would traditionally be eaten in Ethiopia. Snap a picture and send it! I can print it here at

school and put it on display. Maybe your child does some research on Ethiopian animals. Have them write

about what they've learned and bring it in. Maybe your child is artistic and they draw a scene of the Ethiopian

landscape. I'll be happy to display it. The ideas are endless. Remember, I offer a small incentive prize for

doing this extension work too.

The kindergarten students had a couple lessons featuring the 5 oceans, and now we are stud-

ying Africa. We have been focused on animals and land features. Next we will study

Egypt, using the book We're Sailing Down the Nile as our introduction. Kindergarten stu-

dents have learned several songs here in World Cultures. Ask them to sing a song or two for

you at home. They know a song about maps/globes, one about the continents, and we're

working on an ocean song too.

Caw,

Mrs. Berg

World Cultures—Mrs. Berg

The Health Office is in need of gently used pants and shirts size 6-10. If

you have some you are willing to donate, please bring them to the Office.

Thank you!

Health Office Needs

Page 5 Volume 12 Issue 4

Warm December Greetings, Families!

In December our music room will be filled with the sounds of The Nutcracker Ballet! All grades will study

ballet as an art form and look carefully at the music to discover the form of each piece in the Suite. We will

also touch on holidays around the world, including the Netherlands, Germany and many others!

Our 4th graders recently performed their musical, “Snow Biz.” They all did a super job. Thank you to the

wonderful volunteers for helping to decorate the stage. I appreciate you!

Our NES 4th and 5th grade Choir will have their final rehearsal on Monday, December 11th from 2:30-

3:30. Our concert will be held on Tuesday, December 12th at 6:30pm on our NES Stage. Please watch for

the next Choir sign-up coming home in January and in the Winter Community Education catalogue. All 4th

and 5th graders are welcome to join us!

I would like to invite all of you to the Buffalo Community Orchestra’s holiday concert on Saturday, December

9th at 7:30pm in the BHS PAC. This is a great concert filled with festive music, including our wRight Ring-

ers Handbell Ensemble and the Wright County Chamber Chorus. I play principal flute in the orchestra, so

make sure to say “hi” if you attend!

Have a warm, family rich December!

Musically Yours,

Mrs. Wagner

Musical Notes—Mrs. Wagner

Please remember that students are not allowed in the building before 7:25 a.m. There is no supervision availa-

ble until that time and students will need to wait outside if they arrive before 7:25 a.m. Please make sure that

your children dress appropriately for the weather in the event that they need to wait outdoors for a few minutes

in the morning. The only exception is, if it is raining or the wind chill/temperature is below zero. In these situ-

ations, students will be allowed to wait in the front foyer. If your child is a walker, make sure that they are not

leaving the house too early to avoid an extended wait time.

Morning Procedure

Page 6 Northwinds Express

The weather is changing and so is our PTO meeting time! The new time for our PTO meetings will

be at 4:00pm starting on January 8th, 2018. We are hoping this time will allow more people to attend and

see the fun things PTO does, like see where our fundraising money goes as we vote on grants written by NES

teachers. ALSO stay tuned for information about our Family Fitness Night, January 11th, 2018. It's a great

way to start out the New Year!

Important Dates December:

12th—Grade 4/5 Choir Concert

6:30 pm

20th—Special Lunch Menu

22nd—Jan 1—No School!

Winter Break

PTO News

January:

8th—PTO Meeting 4 pm

11th—Family Fitness Night

5:30-7 pm

15th—No School -

Martin Luther King, Jr Day

26th—No School—

End of 2nd Term

31st—Report Cards available

February:

5th—PTO Meeting 4 pm

19th—No School—

Presidents’ Day

22nd—Kindergarten Registration

26th—March 2—

I Love to Read Week

NOTE—Starting in January, meeting time

will be changing to 4pm.

Our NES PTO has generously funded another year’s subscription to the online resource, BookFlix. Teachers

are using this resource in the classroom but one wonderful advantage of it being online is that parents and stu-

dents may access it from home. It is geared primarily for our K-3 students but teachers in the intermedi-

ate grades have found it applicable with certain units of study. Scholastic BookFlix is an “online literacy re-

source that pairs classic video storybooks from Weston Woods with related nonfiction eBooks from Scholastic

to build a love of reading and learning. The engaging way to link fact and fiction, BookFlix reinforces early

reading skills and introduces children to a world of knowledge and exploration.” (from Scholastic.com)

Thanks again to our NES PTO for funding this home and school connection with books!

If you would like the log-in information, please contact your child’s teacher or Mrs.

Waldron at jwaldron@bhmschools.org for the user name and password.

BookFlix