A Letter from the Health Office - Fall into Healthy Habits 

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

As the season changes, temperatures start to drop and the days get shorter.  We are surrounded by the cooler breezes, the changes of the leaves with bright and brilliant colors and the beauty of nature's sounds. In order to remain healthy and strong, here are a few tips for the fall season. 

• Warm Clothes for Cold Weather
  • Brrrr….the weather is changing please have your children dress in the appropriate warm clothes.  Children should wear a warm jacket or sweatshirt, hat and gloves on cold days.
• Lip Balm/Chapstick
  • It is the time of the year again when your lips can get dry, red and cracked.  It is important to use lip balm/chapstick to keep your lips moist and hydrated.  Avoid licking your lips as this will only exacerbate the problem.
• Dry Hands/Skin
  • As we all know the changes of the season can bring dry hands and skin.  It is important to use lotion to keep our hands and skin moist.  Drinking lots of water will also help our dry hands, skin and body stay healthy and strong.
• Cold and Flu Season
  • Wash your hands - Washing your hands is the first and best defense to protect yourself against germs.  Use Hand Sanitizer to help stop the spread of germs.  School age children should get between 9 to 12 hours of sleep a night.  Drink lots of water to keep your body healthy and safe.  Talk to your Pediatrician about yearly vaccinations to protect against diseases.
• Fall Family Bucket List Inspiration
  • Fall Bucket List

If your student will need to take 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

REMINDERS:

Directions on the medication bottle/box must match the written order on the medication request form.

• 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, Tylenol, 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.

Phy-Ed Update from Mr. Schneider

This month in Physical Education, our students are engaging in exciting activities designed to enhance their skills and teamwork! For grades 2-5, we are focused on our passing and catching unit. Students are developing their hand-eye coordination and communication skills, culminating in a fun assessment next week where they'll demonstrate what they've learned.

Meanwhile, our youngest learners in grades K-1 are working on locomotor skills and spatial awareness. Next week, they will enjoy Halloween-themed games that promote movement and cooperation while celebrating the season.

Music Update from Mr. Flaugher 

October is in full swing in the music room! The Composer of the Month for October is Aaron Copland, one of the most influential American composers of all time. Students discussed real world issues about preserving nature and how humans interact with it while speaking about birdsong and how composers use it in their pieces of music. They were even able to connect the song “I’m a Barbie Girl” back to the bird who first “wrote” it. Kindergarten will be continuing to use their singing voice and learning new songs and games. 1st Grade will be exploring tempos and the difference between Presto (fast) and Largo (slow). 2nd Grade will be exploring the tale of Peer Gynt through the famous Grieg work In the Hall of the Mountain King. 3rd Grade will be working on composing rhythms and melodies in class using the meters we learned about in September. 4th Grade will be discovering the world of bucket drumming and diving into some spoooooky games for Halloween. 5th Grade will finally be starting recorders after some long-winded technical difficulties have delayed it. Lastly, All Grades will be beginning to explore concert music and themes. The concert will be held at West High School’s Alberta Kimball Auditorium on December 16th at 6pm.

Art Update from Ms. Keefe 

Happy October! The leaves are starting to change and there is a chill in the air. That means one thing! Jefferson students have started their fall/ Halloween projects. Kindergarten students have recently finished up their Painted Paper Pumpkins, 1st and 2nd graders are wrapping up their Mixed Media Mummies, 3rd graders are making the final touches on their Day of The Dead Skeletons, and 4th and 5th graders are working on their Mixed Media Ghost Portraits. When all of those fun projects come to a close, K-4 will begin working on their Neon Bee projects for the art show next semester, while 5th graders will begin working on a special Jefferson Patriots project for the yearbook. Exciting things are coming in the Jefferson art world!

Media and Technology Update from Ms. Kese 

Help Boost Kids' Safety, Privacy, and Security

This month’s digital citizenship lesson is around privacy and security.  When kids start to go online, whether they're playing multiplayer games, using educational apps, or just following their curiosity on Google, it's important that they understand the basics of online privacy and safety. With some general guidelines around what information is and isn't OK to share, and some help from parents when they're unsure, kids can have fun and learn a lot in the digital world.  Check out these 5 tips.

Discuss personal vs. private info.  Talk about the difference between what's OK to share online (favorite color) and what's not (home address).

Use privacy settings.  Together, go through the settings on all new apps to make sure you both know what information your kids are sharing. Especially in the beginning, it's better to share very little.

Avoid location tracking.  Location-aware apps can be super helpful. But apps that use a device's location to help people find your kid or offer them ads for nearby businesses should be used with caution. Turn them off if you can.

Power up passwords.  Work together with kids to help them come up with complex passwords. Think outside the dictionary. Use phrases and special characters that make passwords hard to guess but easy to remember. Remind kids to keep passwords private.

Skip quizzes.  Help kids identify and avoid clickbait, quizzes, special offers, and anything that asks for personal or private information. This helps keep information secure and devices safe.

Battle of the Books:

Battle of the Books is open to 4th and 5th grade students.  Mrs. Kese went into each of the classes to talk about it and over 45 4th & 5th grade students said they wanted to be part of this year’s competition.  Ask your child if they are participating!  If they are, they should be reading the books listed here. Our first meeting during lunch recess will be the last week of October and go through January.  Students do need to attend the meetings at lunch in order to participate.  We have copies in the library as well as audio and ebooks available on the SORA app.  If using the SORA app, students sign in with their usual username and password.  Here is the list of the 12 books: 

• The Big Cheese by Jory John
• Big Tree by Brian Selznick
• The Challenger Disaster: Tragedy in the Skies by Pranas T. Naujokaitis
• Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome
• Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
• Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan
• Lila Greer, Teacher of the Year by Andrea Beaty
• The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
• Midnight at the Barclay Hotel by Fleur Bradley
• Roll With It by Jamie Sumner
• Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr
• The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

School Counselor Update from Mrs. Brown

Hello dear families! 

It has been great being in classrooms for lesson, after intro meetings we kicked off lessons on the topic of friendship from KG-5th. KG-2nd we are learning about what it means to be a friend and how you can make friends, 3rd-4th we are learning about personality traits they are looking for in a friend and what they offer (kindness, respect, trust, etc.). And 4th-5th graders are learning about what healthy and strong friendships look like/feel like (feel happy most of the time when I am with my friends, feeling respected, being able to trust each other, etc).

We have also been working on the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS) for which you received a letter from the district with more information about it.  The data collected through SAEBRS is data that can help with making adjustments to classroom morning meetings, reteaching expectations, classroom routines/rituals,  Social Emotional Academic (S.A.I.G.) small group planning, Great People Skills (G.P.S. lesson planning, etc. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if there is something I can support you or your child with. You can reach me by calling our school office or emailing me directly at: jacqueline.brown@oshkosh.k12.wi.us.

Wishing you and your loved ones well,

Mrs. Brown

Math Update from Mrs. Bauer 

These are some current math skills that we are working on at school and would love to have you partner with us to support this at home! All the math apps are from Math Learning Center/Bridges that we can also use at school! If you need something on paper instead of a math app link, please email your child’s classroom teacher! 

Kindergarten: Practice counting forward 1-10 (or 20 if your child is confident and ready) on your ride to school, on a walk, waiting in line, or anywhere! Use this white board app LINK with your child to practice writing numbers 1-10. 

First Grade: Practice filling a 10 frame with 2 different number of objects or counters using this number frame app LINK with your child. Write a fact family (like 3+4=7 or 7-4=3) with two addition equations and 2 subtraction equations. Talk about or write a story problem to match one of the equations.

Second Grade: Practice telling time to the nearest 5 minutes on a digital or analog clock and use this clock app LINK. Have your child talk to you about their school day and about what time they do certain activities at school. Make that time on the clock. Ask them if it would be a.m. or p.m. and how do they know?

Third Grade: Practice multiplication models and strategies to create equal groups of shapes. Roll the dice LINK and draw that many big circles using the pattern shapes app LINK. Roll the dice again and fill the big circles with that many shapes in each. Ask how many groups (circles)? Ask how many shapes in each group? Ask how many shapes altogether and how do you know? Write a multiplication problem. 

Fourth Grade: Practice place value (10 times the value) by having your child model ones, tens, and hundreds, using the number pieces app LINK. Practice building numbers in increments by picking a number 1-10; like start with 5 (drag out ones), then show 50 (drag out 5 tens), then show 500 (drag out 5 hundreds). Ask your child what’s happening to the numbers and how are they related? 

Fifth Grade: Practice adding unit fractions using a model model app LINK like ½ + ¼ or ⅕ + 1/10. What money piece models ½? What money piece models ¼? How much in all as a decimal and fraction out of 100 ($1)? 

Literacy Update from Mrs. Boettcher and Mrs. Vollbrecht 

Writing is an important skill to have as a learner. It allows us to teach someone about a topic, to share a significant moment, to express our feelings, and to change the world. 

Sometimes writing can be tricky. It requires children to combine several different skills such as composing their ideas, thinking about the order of words and letters, knowing how to form the letters, and holding the ideas in their heads all at the same time. Because it can be tricky, often the fun of writing can get lost along the way. That’s why it’s important to make writing exciting and engaging for kids. Here is a list of ideas for how to do that from Growing Readers.

1. Play a game with pictures. Photos and images are great story starters. Do a web search and find a few interesting images. Or cut out pictures from magazines. The pictures can be realistic or make believe. Glue a couple images into a notebook. Then ask your child to write about one of them. You can prompt them, asking them to include what they see, what the people are thinking, what will happen next — or just let their imagination run free. 

2. Make an “I Can” book. Making an “I Can” book will let kids practice writing skills and keep track of their other accomplishments. Staple together a bunch of blank sheets of paper to make a book. As your child reaches a new milestone, such as learning to tie her shoes or hit a baseball, they can draw a picture on a new page of the book. Younger kids can then write, “I can tie my shoes.” Older kids can write a few sentences about what they’ve accomplished.

3. Make a journal jar. A journal doesn’t have to be a diary. It can also be a book where your child writes about ideas or answers questions, like “If you could do anything next summer, what would you choose?” A journal jar is a place to keep all those ideas and questions. Wash and decorate a wide-mouthed jar, like one that used to contain peanut butter. Then, write or print out journal prompts on slips of paper. Ask your child to pull out one prompt each day and write about it in their journal.

4. Create a family scrapbook. A family scrapbook is a great way to save memories and jump-start your child’s writing. Use an inexpensive photo album to keep souvenirs of things you do together. This can include photos, ticket stubs, and found objects, like pretty leaves. Your child can begin by writing the date and a line about where you were and what you did. Then, you can work together to write a more detailed summary. Don’t forget to include funny or even annoying moments!

Source: Growing Readers online. https://www.readingrockets.org/pdfs/edextras/143020-en.pdf