Newsletter - December 2019

News from the Art Room...

 

Thank you to all the families who attended the Masonic Center Art Show! It was a fantastic display of our student artists’ talents from across the city. 

Fourth graders have been working hard to complete their paintings based on the artwork by Wisconsin-native, Georgia O’Keefe. Fifth graders have been hard at work to finish their sugar skulls. They learned the running stitch and blanket stitch. Look for your student’s sugar skulls to come home soon!

This past month the younger grades have been working on winter-themed art. Kindergarten read the book, The Mitten by one of my favorite authors, Jan Brett, and created their own mittens. First grade learned all about snowflakes and used texture plates, stencils, and cut paper snowflakes to create a banner. Second grade created winter wonderland paintings and learned all about watercolor techniques. You will be able to see these on display at the upcoming Music Concert on December 5th!

 

Math Fun and Gift Giving Ideas

It’s that time of the year again! Time for gift giving ideas and family time spent indoors on cold days. Did you know that playing board games has many benefits for kids?  Playing games is a great way to encourage your children to have a positive attitude toward math and children love to play with friends and spend quality time with adults. The games listed below all work on specific math skills, but don’t forget the old favorites not included in the list below  such as Candy Land, Checkers, Monopoly, Battle Ship, Yahtzee and Cribbage.  

Here are just a few benefits of board games:

Problem solving skills

Basic math concepts

Language and communication skills

Social skills: taking turns, sharing, how to handle winning and losing

Following directions

Improved memory and attention

Sum Swamp  Add and subtract your way through the swamp.  Young children get to practice their essential arithmetic facts while having fun.  This game received an Oppenheim Best Toy Award.

  

Equate  If your eight year old likes crosswords, this game will be a hit.  Making equations can be a challenge. Eight year olds can begin making equations using addition and subtraction but older children can get more points using division or fraction tiles.

Head Full of Numbers Shake the “head” cup to roll the dice. Set the sand timer. Write as many equations from the numbers and symbols on the dice before sand runs out. Good for any number of players and level.  This is an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award Winner.

Sequence Numbers The brightly colored cards have questions and the answers are printed on the game board.  Place a tile on the answer. With five in a row, you have a Sequence!  This bingo-like game is great for ages seven and older.

Money Bags: A Coin Value Game This game makes making change so much fun!  Earn money while completing chores, like setting the table or for selling lemonade. The spinner makes exceptions such as, no nickels to make sure kids make use of the higher value coins. Money bags is great for developing critical thinking and counting/coin sense.

Pizza Fraction Fun Game Better be hungry for pizza as you play seven games in one!  Identifying, adding and subtracting and matching equivalents help make making pizzas and working with fractions fun. The double sided spinners allow the difficulty level to be easily adjusted.

Dino Math Tracks Place Value Game Dinosaurs rule with place value.  Roll the dice to make four digit numbers. Get your dinos to their base before other players do.  An Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award Winner.

 Sumoku Play five different versions, including a solo one, of this addition/multiplication game.  Set tiles up crossword style to add up to multiples of the number on a die.  Connect all the numbers for a complete Sumoku!

 Pay Day Board Game Family finance is fun in Pay Day.  Get paid and decide how to spend your money. Whoever has the most money at the end of the game wins.  This classic game is for suitable for ages eight and up.

Set Set is an amazing card game! This is a game that your 6-year-old will be better at than you are. This is a matching game that can be played solo or with any sized group. The rules are relatively simple. A set is three cards which all have the same type of an attribute or miss-match an attribute. Perhaps a set is three cards all have ovals with a striped pattern on them but each card has a different number of shapes (1, 2, and 3) and different colored (purple, green and red) There is also a Junior version for ages 4 and up.

 

Connect 4 Every family needs a noisy, clattering, pieces-get-everywhere kind of a game. Connect 4 is a childhood classic that supports geometric thinking, planning and pattern recognition. It is a two player game and great for two children to play together. Basically, it’s an advanced version of tic-tac-toe. This is a great game to entertain the kids while you are finishing dinner or something.

20 Express  This game is great for parents to play with your kids! It’s a number game which focuses on consecutive ordering. The scoring may take parental involvement as it is a little weird at first sight. However, the cool part about this game is that everyone tries to organize the same numbers at the same time. So you, as a parent, can compare answers with the other players. “Oh, that was a good choice, I didn’t think to do it that way!” The only negative to 20 Express is that it obviously uses math and that may turn off some kids. This game is good for traveling as it doesn’t require a central table and any number of people can play at once. Each player just needs a pen and something to write on.

Zingo 123  What better way to build reading and counting skills than with Zingo. 1-2-3, the newest game in the award-winning Zingo. product line. With Zingo. 1-2-3, players match numbered tiles to images on their cards. The first player with a full card wins by yelling "Zingo." Two levels of play focus on counting and addition. This fast-paced game will have the whole family yelling "1-2-3 PLAY".

Prime Climb  An award-winning, beautiful, colorful, mathematical board game. Color-coded board makes multiplication and division as easy as combining colors.  Prime Climb is easy to learn and perfect for 2-4 players, ages 10 and up. Also great for younger players with adult guidance. Dynamic mix of strategy and luck makes Prime Climb endlessly replayable.

 

Music News!

 

All of the students have been working very hard on the music we will be performing for the Winter Concert. The theme for the concert this year is winter and everything that is great about winter, so the kids will be singing about snowflakes, snowmen, mittens, sleigh rides, and much more!

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS!! 

The winter concert is Thursday, December 5th at 6pm in the Alberta Kimball Auditorium, inside Oshkosh West High School. Please drop your student off with their teacher at 5:45pm.

It is expected that all students will be at the winter concert. Many students will have a special role (speaking, playing an instrument, singing, etc.) so if you know that your student will not be there, please let me know in advance (april.schneider@oshkosh.k12.wi.us). 

After the concert is done, every grade will be singing and playing a variety of holiday music in music class, as well as playing games and learning about different holiday traditions.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION?

 

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION?

During the month of November, students in all grades participated in Speed Stacking (cup stacking). When most people think of this sport--yes I said sport--they do not relate it to physical education. However, students are able to get up and move our bodies and play all sorts of games such as Builders and Blasters, Fox and the Hound, Stack 12, and Indy 500 all while learning the basic skills of stacking. Stacking also helps hand eye coordination which in the long run will make students smarter in the classroom as they are learning how to use both sides of their brain. On November 14th, we participated in National Stack Up! Day and tried to be part of a world record. Last year the record was 624,390 stackers. As of 11/19 the record has not been officially counted but we are hoping that we helped to break it!

All students also completed the PACER test in November as well. This is a favorite of many students. It is a test of cardiorespiratory endurance-students have to run back and forth on the gym floor when they hear a beep. Students pushed themselves to do their best and we had a very successful PACER test day. 

WHAT’S NEXT IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION?

In the month of December, students will begin striking skills. Striking can be done with the hand or foot and even with an implement such as a lollipop paddle. Students will learn skills related to soccer, hockey, volleyball and paddle ball. 

ALL STARS OF THE MONTH

During the month of November, Mrs. Lange kept an eye out for students that went above and beyond in the gym. Their behavior was spot on! They were positive role models and leaders, had great sportsmanship, and were respectful, responsible, and safe. The all stars of the month for each grade level are below with their pictures. Great job Patriots!

Kindergarten:                           Amelia and Andrew                 1st: Kylie                     2nd: Taylor

            

3rd:   Jayden                      4th: Anna                        5th: Nicki

            

TIPS TO BE FIT AT HOME

Cold weather and the holidays are here but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be active! What can you and your children do at or around home to keep you moving through the seasons? 

1. Take the stairs instead of the elevator during your holiday shopping trips.

2. Build activity into family outings.

3. Shovel snow instead of using the snowblower (BE CAREFUL NOT TO LIFT WITH YOUR BACK!)

Be on the lookout for “holiday homework” that your children will bring home to help them stay active while they are away from school!

Monthly Literacy Update

 

 

Mrs. Boettcher                                                                   Mrs. Vollbrecht

As we finish out the year, it’s always great to reflect on how children have grown as readers and writers and celebrate their accomplishments. Attached on the next page is the December Reading Challenge from Brightly (readbrightly.com). Reading challenges are always a fun way to push yourself to try different books, and they are a great excuse to get cozy with a good book, too. Have fun with this December Reading Challenge, and keep up that reading routine over the holiday season! 

If you’re looking for some good titles to use for the challenge, here are a few from Brightly.

 

Speech/Language Corner

Parents can use various activities to help their child with his/her speech and language development. Here are some activities for children (these suggestions would be appropriate for children developing communication skills): Children of any age—

• Talk to your child about what you are doing, what you see, what your child is doing and what your child sees.
• Repeat or expand on what your child says using correct sounds and words. Don’t call attention to speech errors your child may have.
• Take time to listen and respond to your child. Acknowledge, encourage and praise attempts to communicate.
• Build and expand vocabulary by labeling and talking about objects and events in your child's environment. 

December Bucket Filler Award winners!

During the month of November, classrooms worked on showing their Patriot Pride by following the Jefferson Way of being Respectful, Responsible, and Safe. As a school, our goal is to collect 175 big class stars.  We currently collected 72 stars. Way to go students, keep up the hard work!

The social skill theme for December is the Time Machine. When you are having a problem with a friend, you can follow the 7 steps in the Time Machine to help you solve the problem/conflict. Step 1: Roll back time. Have the participants and the class (when applicable) roll their hands backwards signifying going back in time. Step 2: Are you willing? Ask for willingness. “Are you willing to solve the problem so everyone in the class can learn helpful ways?” If willing, the victim stands on the “I don’t like it” side of the mat, and the aggressor on the other side. Step 3: Breathing star. Be a S.T.A.R. Everyone Smiles, Takes a deep breath And Relaxes. Step 4: Tree of hearts. Wish each other well. Everyone places their hands on their hearts and offers well-wishes to each other. Step 5: 1-2-3. Focus on the goal. The adult and/or the class chants, “1-2-3,” and the participants respond, “Let’s do it,” to build unity. Step 6: Sentence starters. Coach the children to use helpful words. Have the victim speak first using the sentence starter printed on the Time Machine. “I don’t like it when you ____. Next time, please______.” Help children reframe their thoughts to show how they want to be treated. Instead of, “Stop it,” teach phrases like, “Next time say, Move please, instead of pushing me. Step 7: Hearts and globe. Connect to repair the bond and show there are no hard feelings. Participants connect with a handshake, a hug, a high-five or other connection.E

Monthly Prize Winners