If your student has a change in their health or has a healthcare need at school, please contact Susan Martin via email at susanm.martin@oshkosh.k12.wi.us. or contact the office at 920-424-0165.

If your student will need to take a medication during the school day, please have your child’s provider fill out and sign the appropriate form below. These can then be returned to the office or faxed by the provider to: 920-424-7583.

Over the Counter Medication Form *parent signature only required

Prescribed Medication Form 

Inhaler/Asthma Action Plan  

Epipen/Allergy & Anaphylaxis Form

*Reminder: The directions on the medication bottle/box must match the written order on the medication request form.*

REMINDERS:

• Stock Epi-pens do NOT go on field trips. 

• Please fill out an Emergency Epi-Pen/Anaphylaxis Plan even if you don’t have a personal Epi at school.

• PRN medications (Ibuprofen, Tyelnol, Tums etc.) must come in a New and  unopened Bottle.

• Is your child up to date with their immunizations? Please contact the doctor for physicals and immunizations! All students at Jefferson are required to have their Tdap, Polio, MMR, Varicella and Hep B! Please check with your doctor to see what wellness requirements are needed for your child.

A Letter from the Health Office - Amazing April

Susan Martin LPN/Health Assistant and Liz Lynch, BSN, RN, NCSN

Every Kid Healthy - April 22th-26th

National Stress Awareness Month 

MINDFUL MONDAY (Social, Emotional Health)

Try a new meditation, breathing technique, or journaling.  Spend time with friends and family.   Watch a movie like “Inside Out” or “Turning Red” - learn to identify your emotions! Check out these breathing techniques 

TASTY TUESDAY (Nutrition and Food Access)

Check out My Plate to see how many servings of Fruits, Vegetables, Protein, Grains, Fats are needed (~5 servings a day for fruits and vegetables are recommended per day)

Ways to make eating fun! 

Try a new recipe or cookbook.  Get kids involved in the kitchen.  Grocery shop and try a new food.  ‘Play’ with food and get artsy - Make a foodscape!  Visit the local Farmer’s Market.

Cook with a story - Read “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” and then make cookies!

Strawberry Pineapple Banana Smoothie Recipe

• 1 cup Strawberries ½ cup Pineapple
• 1 banana 2 cups of Orange Juice
• ½ cup Greek Yogurt 1 cup Spinach (optional)
• 1 tablespoon Chia/ Flax Seeds (Optional)
• Ice and blend until smooth - Enjoy!

WELLNESS WEDNESDAY (Physical Activity)

It’s recommended for kids to get 30-60 minutes of physical activity per day!  Doing physical activity helps promote blood flow and mental clarity.  Helps bone and muscle strength. It reduces the risk of obesity and creates healthy habits for the body.

Here are some fun physical activities to try:  Put on music and groove/ dance for 3 songs.  Try a new sport like basketball, tennis, baseball, or flag football.  Get into nature - go for walks, hikes, rollerblade, jog, swim.  Change it up - take the stairs vs the elevator.  Get a membership!  Join the YMCA or get involved with your city rec department activities!

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY (Equity Awareness)

Host a talent show to promote social inclusion.  Highlight what’s special about Jefferson in a picture or mural

FAMILY FRIDAY (Family-School Partnerships)

Get involved in Jefferson Family night activities like STEM or movie night.  Cook and eat a family meal together or host a family board game night.

April Family Bucket List

 

The Winnebago County Health Department wants to remind everyone that our immunization services will continue to be available to support our community.  All required school vaccinations are available. The immunization clinics are available for both eligible adults and eligible children.   Please click on this link to view the immunization flyer and scan the QR code to obtain a list of eligible immunizations. 

Throughout the year our immunization clinics will be open every second Tuesday of the month from 1 – 4 pm by a scheduled appointment.  To schedule an appointment, please call 920-232-3000.  The clinics are free of charge to those that are eligible.

Lindsey Uecker BSN, RN, NCSNPublic Health nurseluecker@winnebagocountywi.govoffice:920-232-3017 cell/text: 920-642-3479

winnebago county health department112 otter ave po box 2808oshkosh, wi 54903-2808

In art class we are done hand building with clay and we will all be painting our pieces after they are done being fired in the kiln! Kindergarten and 1st grade will then be learning about printmaking and do different stations for each printmaking technique. 2nd grade will learn about ocean life and more specifically jellyfish that are on the endangered species list. Jellyfish will be the subject of our next pieces and we will be experimenting with chalk pastels. 3rd- 5th grade will start a lesson about Henri Matisse, and learn about collage and organic shapes.

Ms. Keefe

 

 

Help Kids Spot Fake News and Decode Media Messages

With so much media & information coming at us through television, phones, and social media, it's important for kids to understand the basics of media literacy. When kids can identify different types of news and media and the methods and meanings behind them, they're on their way to being critical thinkers and smart consumers.

1.  Encourage healthy skepticism.

Help them analyze the messages around them -- from toy packaging to news headlines -- and question the purpose of the words and images they see.

2.  Play "spot the ad."

When you see advertising on TV or on a billboard, ask kids to figure out what the ad is selling. Sometimes it's obvious, and sometimes it's not. Help them explore why certain pictures, sounds, or words are used to sell certain products.

3.  Explore different sides of a story.

Use real-life examples to help kids understand how people can view the same situation with totally different perspectives. One child might experience a game on the playground as fun, while another might feel like the rules are unfair. 

4.  Discuss fact vs. opinion.

Play around with ideas and decide which are facts and which are opinions. Ask: How tall are you? What's the best food in the world? Do rocks sink or float? Do you like dogs? Point out that both facts and opinions show up in the news, but opinion is usually labeled.

5.  Choose a variety of sources.

Show kids how you get news and information from different places, and explain how you make your choices. Use words like "credible," "trustworthy," "respected," and "fair." As kids get older, introduce the ideas of bias, satire, and clickbait.         

Elementary Hotspot InformationIf there is ever a need for a virtual learning day and you do not have wifi at home, please fill out this form if you have not already done so. This should be filled out only if your oldest child is in elementary school and you do not have access to wifi at home. Please note that the hotspots only connect to Oshkosh district devices such as Chromebooks.

 

Monthly Literacy Update

April 2024

We often think to read aloud to our younger children, but did you know it is also important to read aloud to older children? Below is an article from Brightly which talks more about the importance of this activity.

The Importance of Reading Aloud to Big Kids

by Melissa Taylor

Only 17% of parents of kids ages 9–11 read aloud to their children. Yet 83% of kids ages 6–17 say being read to is something they either loved or liked a lot (Scholastic’s “Kids & Family Reading Report”). Reading aloud to kids helps expand their literacy skills, love of reading, worldview, and more. Here are some key reasons it’s important to read aloud to your older kids:

Lets Them Experience the Joy of Story

The goal is to love the story. That’s the point of reading, [as well as] reading for meaning. I let [my eldest daughter] listen to hours of audiobooks and read aloud to her multiple times a day. I wanted her to get hooked on the stories in the chapter books. Like her, all readers — and especially struggling readers — learn to love stories by hearing stories.

Models Fluent Reading

When you read to kids, you’re modeling how to read language. You pause at commas and periods. Your voice inflection changes when you read questions or exclamations. And you can show what you, a fluent reader, do when you come to a word you don’t know. (Even if you’re pretending that you don’t know it.)

Helps Expand Their Vocabulary

Kids’ auditory comprehension is higher than their reading comprehension. When you pick a challenging book that your kids can’t read on their own, you are exposing them to a wealth of new vocabulary words. This stretches a child’s language development, particularly if you stop to talk about the meaning of these harder words.

Exposes Kids to New Authors, Texts, and Genres

Reading aloud can get kids hooked on a new author or series of books. Once a child falls in love with the story or author, it’s hard to hold them back from reading it on their own. Plus, reading aloud gives kids a chance to explore genres and texts they wouldn’t normally select. “I often read the first chapter or two of a new book to my daughter to pull her into a book that she might not have chosen otherwise,” says Natalie Figge. There are so many amazing books that kids don’t pick to read on their own. These books make great read alouds — in what I call the “just give this book a chance” category.

Builds Awareness and Empathy

Literature is one of the best ways to help kids understand something without experiencing it for themselves. And books do this with all sorts of subjects and concepts, building our children’s understanding of humanity and the world around them.

Improves Kids’ Long-Term Reading Success

Finally, decades of research shows that reading aloud to a child daily is one of the most important activities for reading success. That goes for older kids, too. Kids who are read to have good vocabularies, write well, and do well overall in school (Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985 U. S. Department of Education meta-study of 10,000 studies). They’re also more likely to keep reading on their own. 

Awesome Read-Alouds for Big Kids

Looking for some great books to read aloud to your big kid tonight? Check these out:

https://www.readbrightly.com/importance-of-reading-aloud-to-big-kids/

 

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If you are a caregiver for a child ages 0-5, check out this long-term challenge from the Oshkosh Public Library at https://www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org/content/1000-books-reading-challenge-0

 

Math Corner with Ms. Reuter Math IST 

There are many math tools that students use to solve math problems. Let’s take a look at the Number Path and Number Line tool and how it is used across the grade levels. You will see your child use this tool in many different ways as they progress from grade to grade. Check out this wonderful progression from The Math Learning Center.