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Join us at the next
PTO Meeting on
Wednesday, December
7, 2016 at 7:00 PM in
the Lincoln Media
Center. Childcare is
available, courtesy of
Lincoln PTO.
Like us on Facebook
at:
www.facebook.com/Linc
olnPTO.OakPark.
Subscribe to us by
visiting our website at
http://ptolincoln.org/
and signing up for our
weekly newsletter.
Welcome to the 2016-2017 School Year!
A Message From Our Principal, Ms. Hamilton
October 2016
LINCOLN LOG
The PTO Newsletter for
Abraham Lincoln
Elementary School
Oak Park, IL
PTO Welcome 3
Reading Thoughts 4
Memorial Garden 5
OPEF at Lincoln 6
Music Notes 7
Picnic in Pictures 8
Lincoln Book Fair 9
PTO Fundraising 10
PTO Officers &
Committees 12
Inside this issue:
I would like to thank all parents, students and staff for helping make this a
successful start to the new school year. We have had so many wonderful opening
activities and I truly appreciate your enthusiasm and participation in making the
following events a huge success: Kindergarten Sneak Peek, Kindergarten and New
Parent Welcome, Open House and Curriculum Night, our first PTO meeting and
the schoolwide back-to-school picnic. I hope these events, and the ones to come,
will continue to foster the strong community we have created at Lincoln School.
New Staff
Please welcome the many new faces at Lincoln School.
Erica Childress – Kindergarten
Natalie Clark – Kindergarten
Racher Weber – First Grade
Carolyn Koegler – First Grade Spanish Immersion
Veena Rajeshekar – Third Grade
Elizabeth Chase Vivas – Fifth Grade
Scott Kandelman – PE
Amanda Affetto – Occupational Therapist
Katherine Richardson – Learning Resource
Julie Anderson – Teacher’s Assistant
Johnnie Anthony – Teacher’s Assistant
Kelly McDonald – Teacher’s Assistant
Jessica Richardson – Teacher’s Assistant
New Curriculum
As you learnt during our back to school events, District 97 has adopted new
curriculum in a number of areas this year.
Units of Study from the Teachers College at Columbia University is a writing
curriculum built on seven fundamental beliefs:
1. Writing needs to be taught like any other basic skill
2. Students deserve to write for real
3. Writers write to put meaning onto the page
4. Children deserve to be explicitly taught how to write
5. Students deserve the opportunity and the instruction necessary for them to
cycle through the writing process
6. Writers read
7. Students deserve clear goals and frequent feedback
(Continued on page 2)
What's Up at
Lincoln
PAGE 2 LINCOLN LOG OCTOBER 2016
We also began this school year with Eureka Math as our single math program for grades K-5
throughout D97. This curriculum was built from the ground up to address the Common Core state
standards and maintains our approach to teaching math as applicable, hands-on, built on fluency,
with an eye toward helping students persist in mathematical problem solving.
Second Step is our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum. SEL is the process through which
we acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and
manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and
maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions. Each Tuesday afternoon, our entire
building is pausing to spend a half hour working on building our skills, vocabulary and strategies.
Each homeroom teacher is joined by another adult (teacher, TA or other staff member) who partners
in this instruction, reinforcing that we all have a part to play in making good decisions that make
our classrooms and school a safe, pleasant and joyful place to be. The schedule for these lessons as
well take home activities can be found on our Lincoln website.
Parent Teacher Conferences
The first parent teacher conferences are scheduled for the week of October 17th. These conferences
fall roughly at the midway point of the first trimester, and are purposefully placed there to allow for
these conversations to impact the second half of the trimester. Our overall goal is always student
growth. This means having a good understanding of where we started, and how we’re moving
forward. If you have not yet done so, please email your child’s teacher to set up a time for your
conference.
We want all parents to be actively involved in their child’s education by:
attending Parent Teacher conferences
talking about school each day
praising effort and achievements daily
reading together for a minimum of 15 minutes each day
building self-discipline routines together
stressing the importance of punctual daily attendance
encouraging the completion of all homework assignments
communicating regularly with teachers
participating in or regularly attending activities during the year
(Continued from page 1)
Report absences
using Lincoln
School’s dedicated
attendance phone
number or
e-mail address.
PAGE 3 OCTOBER 2016 LINCOLN LOG
PTO Welcome Hello Lincoln Families,
Our 2016 – 2017 school year is in full swing! Now that we’ve all settled into
our new routines and found our way around Lincoln, we wanted to take this
opportunity in our first Lincoln Log of the year to introduce ourselves and
share a little about the PTO.
The PTO is dedicated to promoting our children’s emotional, physical and academic success
through meaningful and constructive parent involvement. We are committed to providing
volunteers and financial support for programs and activities that nurture and enrich the well-being
of all students.
Many of you have already expressed an interest in getting involved and we’re excited about the
opportunities coming up this year to support our students, faculty, staff and entire Lincoln
community. In order to help us match volunteers to volunteer opportunities, we've created a
volunteer survey. Please consider completing it, letting us know how you would like to help, and
keep an eye out for individual volunteer opportunities. The survey can be found on our PTO
website, ptolincoln.org.
We’re also always happy to answer questions and talk to parents about all the great things
happening in and around Lincoln. We have general membership PTO meetings the first
Wednesday of October, December, February and April at 7PM in the Media Center of the school.
Childcare is provided and it’s an opportunity to hear about a variety of topics that are important to
the Lincoln community, speak with the PTO and our Principal, Cathy Hamilton, and get to know
other Lincoln parents.
In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to us any time ([email protected]) or stop us
and say hi if you see us out and about!
Lisa Magnuson Becki Zobel
PTO Co-President PTO Co-President
About Lisa:
Lisa is a mother of two – her daughter is a third grader at Lincoln and her son
just joined the Lion Pride as a kindergartener. After spending thirteen years in
public relations and corporate communications, she started her own
communications consulting, working with small businesses and start ups. She
loves reading, theatre and art and is a certified yoga instructor.
About Becki:
Becki has two children at Lincoln, a son in second grade, and a daughter in
kindergarten. Following eight years as a computer engineer at Motorola, she
now works at Rush Oak Park Hospital, where she is an Emergency Dept RN and
leads the Stroke Program. Becki enjoys gardening, singing, and taking cooking
classes.
PAGE 4 LINCOLN LOG OCTOBER 2016
Some Reading Thoughts
Mrs. Davidhizar, Reading Specialist
Welcome back to a new year! I hope your summer was restful and fun.
From time to time, it is good to revisit why we do things. In this case, it might
be helpful to consider one of the important components of reading instruction--phonics. (Other reading instruction
components include phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, motivation and interest, background
knowledge, etc.)
What is phonics? "Phonics is one of the primary building blocks of reading. Without an understanding of
the relationship between letters and sounds, reading cannot occur. This multifaceted connection between print and
pronunciation is an important component of any instructional program in reading because it provides readers with
tools for discovering new written words." See http://www.k12reader.com/what-is-phonics/.
What does research say? "…the National Reading panel, composed of experts in the field of literacy, was
asked by the United States Congress to examine the research on the teaching of reading. A subgroup of the National
Reading Panel reviewed 38 studies to determine what the research says about the teaching of phonics. To ensure the
soundness of its findings, the National reading Panel chose to review only studies that met rigorous criteria for
research studies.
The National Reading Panel determined that the research indicates that phonics is an
essential ingredient in beginning reading instruction and found that the research indicates that phonics is an essential
ingredient in beginning reading instruction and …that:
Systematic and explicit phonics instruction–phonics instruction that is direct and follows a particular sequence–
is more effective than phonics instruction that is not systematic or no phonics instruction at all.
Systematic, explicit phonics instruction is most effective when it begins in kindergarten or first grade.
Systematic, explicit phonics instruction improves children’s word recognition, spelling, and reading
comprehension skills.
Systematic, explicit phonics instruction benefits all children, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
Systematic, explicit phonics instruction most benefits children who are having difficulty learning to read.
Phonics instruction is only one part of a complete reading program for beginning readers. Effective beginning
reading programs should also emphasize reading fluency, vocabulary development, and text comprehension."
See http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-tips/phonics-basics/.
As children get older, basic phonics continuum tasks become more complex and include lessons in advanced
phonics (tricky patterns) and 6 syllable types. A thorough understanding of early phonics is the foundation for later,
deeper word studies--structural analysis (the study of prefixes and suffixes) and Greek & Latin Roots. All of these
equip students with the tools to become accurate, independent readers.
Some reading instruction philosophies claim that this instruction is not beneficial because the English is,
seemingly, so irregular. However, when one learns that ch not only "says" /ch/ as in choose, but also (because it is
borrowed from French) "says" /sh/ as is machine and also (because it is borrowed from Latin) "says" /k/ as in
chord…then phonics and our English language makes so much more sense. It is this borrowing from other languages
that makes our language structures so rich and the analysis of it so good.
Be sure to look for this kind of instruction in your child's reading home practice. Have a wonderful,
worthwhile, and successful year, and thank you for supporting your child's reading progress!
For joyful reading, Mrs. Davidhizar, Reading Specialist
Also check out: http://www.abcfastphonics.com/phonics.html
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/phonics-instruction
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/phonics
PAGE 5 OCTOBER 2016 LINCOLN LOG
The Lincoln School Memorial Garden was created in memory of all those educators who have
touched our lives.
This garden is located on the south east corner of the school and it also houses a Little Free
Library. This library belongs to everyone! Anyone may use it – students, parents, friends
and neighbors. The books are always free. Here is how it works:
Take Books
If you see something you would like to read, take it. It’s for you.
Some books include a note about who gave it or who has read it.
You may leave your own note when you are done.
Share books
When you’re finished with a book, you may pass it along to a
friend or return it to this Little Free Library or any other Little
Free Library.
Leave Books
Your books are welcome at any
Little Free Library. If Lincoln’s
Little Library is full, there may
be another Little Free Library
nearby that could use them.
Lincoln School’s Memorial Garden and Little
Library
Trekkers, Lincoln’s PTO-sponsored fitness program, is gearing up for fall! The students are excited to
put on their running shoes and do their laps.
Trekkers is open to students in grades 1 through 5 and meets on Thursdays during lunch recess.
Students walk or run laps around the perimeter of the field to earn fun incentives.
We have a fantastic group of volunteers! This fall, we need a few more folks to make the program run
smoothly and to ensure the safety of the students. The time commitment is Thursdays from 11:15 am to
12:15 pm. The Trekkers’ fall session begins the first week of October and goes through mid-November.
Please consider helping out this fall. Our volunteers pass out lap cards, mark lap
cards, monitor the route, and cheer on the students!
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Trekkers chairs Kelly McCreary
([email protected]) or Martha Smith ([email protected]).
Lincoln Trekkers: Looking for Volunteers
OCTOBER 2016 LINCOLN LOG PAGE 6
Oak Park Education Foundation at Lincoln
OPEF is a 27-year-old nonprofit delivering hands-on STEAM
enrichment via six free in-school residency programs. OPEF served over 4,200 D97 students in 2015-16!
Architecture Adventure -Architects design, build and explore the
man-made world with 4th/5th graders and middle schoolers.
Art Start -Artists animate the curriculum through visual and performing arts residencies with K-2nd graders.
Geared Up -3rd-grade students engineer simple machines using
specialized LEGOs; also used in the 7th grade science curriculum.
Science Alliance -Work in scientists conduct experiments and lead field trips with 4th/5th graders and middle schoolers.
VEX Robotics -Tech experts work with teams of middle schoolers to design, build, program
and compete with robots.
Spoken Word - Middle schoolers find and cultivate their unique voices by reading, writing and performing poetry.
Close connection with
D97, but OPEF receives
no tax dollars.
All programs are deliv-
ered in D97 schools,
and D97 teachers help
run programs, teach
BASE camps, and part-
ner to deliver in-class
programs.
Key staff, school board
members, D97 parents
and community mem-
bers are on the board.
OCTOBER 2016 LINCOLN LOG PAGE 7
The music department is off and running! Chorus, band, and orchestra are in full swing. We hope
that you are hearing mostly pleasant sounds coming out of instruments at home, and that the kiddos
are excited to sing and play. We welcome Mrs. Judy Friesen back to our staff as a general music
teacher. Please say hello if you see her out and about. It’s never too soon to mark your calendar for
our performances this year.
BAND
12/21 - Holiday Caroling @ Lincoln (12:30-2pm) - dress "festively" (ONLY Intermediate
band)
12/23 - Holiday Sing Performance @ Lincoln - dress "festively" (ONLY Intermediate band)
3/15 - Red Carpet Recital @ Lincoln (7pm) - dress up! (ALL band students)
4/19 – Band/Orchestra Festival @ OPRF High School - black/white attire (ALL band/
orchestra students)
5/29 - Memorial Day Performance (Intermediate and some beginners)
CHORUS
There is a record number of Chorus participants this year - 114!! WOW!!
12/23 Holiday Sing Performance
3/21 – Choral Festival @ OPRF High School
5/26 – 5th Grade Awards
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the
imagination and life to everything.” ― Plato
Ms. Vogt, Mrs. Shannon, Mr. Tangorra, and Mrs. Friesen
Music “Notes”
World Language at Lincoln Registration for World Language classes is open! The World Language Program is an extra-
curricular enrichment program taught during lunchtime recess. It introduces students to the
basics of Chinese, French, German, Japanese, or Spanish. Classes run from mid-October
until May. Tuition is $245 for German (which includes a video and conversation class), and
$155 for all other languages. Discounts are offered for additional children. Rolling enrollment
will be accepted as space is available. Visit the Lincoln digital backpack for detailed program
information. Registration can be completed on the PTO website ptolincoln.org.
OCTOBER 2016 LINCOLN LOG PAGE 8
Thank you to the Lincoln community for
helping to make our first annual Back to
School Picnic a success!
OCTOBER 2016 LINCOLN LOG PAGE 9
Lincoln Spiritwear is available on-line. There is
a wide variety of t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and
more! Visit the PTO Store section of the PTO
website, ptolincoln.org, and have fun finding your
favorite style.
Show Your Pride with Lincoln Spiritwear !
Plan to visit the Lincoln Book Fair! We’ll be in the Media Center on
Wednesday and Thursday, October 19 and 20, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and
Friday, October 21, from 8 a.m. to noon.
Anderson's Bookfair Company has prepared a great selection of books for all ages and
interests, including picture books, fiction, nonfiction, Spanish-language, and more!
The Book Fair is conveniently scheduled during Parent/Teacher Conferences, so be
sure to stop by while you’re at the school to browse, shop, and support Lincoln!
Proceeds will support the purchase of new materials for the Lincoln Media Center.
Interested in volunteering for the Book Fair?
Please sign up at: http://signup.com/go/n8YPvx.
Questions? Please contact Cindy Ternes
Snydacker at [email protected] or Erin
Walsh at [email protected].
Lincoln Book Fair 10/19 -10/21
OCTOBER 2016 LINCOLN LOG PAGE 10
It’s Box Tops Submission Time!
Our school will be sending in the Box Tops we’ve collected by October 28th. Our goal this year
is to earn $1000. You can help us reach that goal by sending in your Box Tops as soon as
possible.
Box Tops are each worth 10¢ for schools and are found on hundreds of products. When
students, families, schools and communities work together to collect Box Tops, the money
adds up fast. Last year, our school collected over $1100 to help the PTO support programs at
Lincoln.
Clip Box Tops, tape or paste them to the collection sheet and send the sheet to
school. Please note, bonus certificates must submitted separately.
OCTOBER 2016 LINCOLN LOG PAGE 11 LINCOLN LOG
Contributing to the PTO is easier than you think!
Mention Lincoln
Elementary when
shopping at Office
Depot or use code
70033865 when
shopping online
Locally grown organic foods delivered to
your doorstep. See www.freshpicks.com
for current offerings of fruits,
vegetables, meats, dairy and baked goods
from local farms. Type Lincoln School in
the Exclusions Box of your account and
the school will receive $2 with each order
you place.
Keep clipping those Box Tops! You can also shop Box Tops Marketplace and earn
money for Lincoln with every purchase. Choose from over 400 stores. Register
in the Shop & Earn section of the Box Tops website at:
http://www.boxtops4education.com/.
Save the
Date!
The first Dine Out for Lincoln event is coming soon!
Date: October 24, 2016
Time: 5:00PM - 8:00 PM
Place: Culver’s in Berwyn
(6943 W Roosevelt Rd )
Dine at Culver’s on Monday, October 24 between 5 and 8 Pm, mention Lincoln
School and Lincoln PTO will receive 10 percent of sales. Flyers coming soon!
Please take a moment to register with our sponsors. Your day-to-day purchases
can support our school.
Shop at smile.amazon.com, and find the same convenient shopping
experience as Amazon.com, with the bonus that Amazon will donate
a portion of the purchase price to the Lincoln PTO. Support
Lincoln today by shopping at http://smile.amazon.com/ch/36-3795868.
PAGE 12 LINCOLN LOG OCTOBER 2016
2016-2017 PTO Officers and Committee Chairs
DATES TO REMEMBER
October 2016
19 Book Fair Begins (10/19-21) 20 Half Day Due to Conferences 21 Half Day Due to Conferences
31 Halloween Parade
November 2016
8 Institute Day, No School 23 Thanksgiving Break Begins
December 2016
7 PTO Meeting 23 Holiday Sing 26 Winter Break Begins
PTO EXECUTIVE TEAM
Co-President Lisa Magnuson | [email protected]
CoSPresident Becki Zobel [email protected]
Treasurer James Ratner | [email protected]
Secretary Kelly McCreary | [email protected]
1st VP, Allocations & Nominations Jessica McMeyer | [email protected]
2nd VP, Community Engagement Allison Fluecke | [email protected]
3rd VP, Communications Jen Hauptman | [email protected]
4th VPs, Fundraising Marcella Douce | [email protected]
Liz Williams | [email protected]
FUNDRAISING Carnival *Volunteers Needed Allison Fluecke
Carnival Ticket of Choice *Volunteers Needed Anita Mendoza | [email protected]
SpellCheck *Volunteers Needed Marcella Douce
Box Tops Leslie Stephenshaw | [email protected]
Lincoln “Dinners” Leila Massouh | [email protected]
Spirit Wear Marcella Douce & Liz Williams
Shop for Lincoln Marcella Douce & Liz Williams
School Supplies Marcella Douce & Liz Williams
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Back-To-School Picnic Allison Fluecke & Marcella Douce
Movie Night Allison Fluecke
Volunteer Appreciation Allison Fluecke
STUDENT ENRICHMENT After School Programming Bob Walicki | [email protected]
Girls on the Run *Volunteers Needed Kelly McCreary
Girl Scouts Rebecca Malley | [email protected]
Cub Scouts Jason Clary | [email protected]
5th Grade Activities *Volunteer Needed 5th Grade Parent | Volunteer Needed
Trekkers *Volunteers Needed Kelly McCreary
Book Fair Cindy Ternes-Snydacker | [email protected]
World Language Rocio Jacoby | [email protected]
OPEF Liaison Nora Flynn | [email protected]
Green Committee Mindy Agnew | [email protected]
Gardening Committee *Volunteer Needed Volunteer Needed
Wellness Amelia Topel | [email protected]
Erin Walsh | [email protected]
Summer Math Patti Perty | [email protected]
