Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
From the Principal’s Desk...
C O N T A C T I N F O R M A T I O N Wildcat Quarterly F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7
Old Post Elementary 630-636-3400 100 Old Post Road Oswego, IL 60543 Fax: 630-636-3491 www.oswego308.org/schools/oldpost/
Attendance Line 630-636-3401
Principal 630-636-3410
Toia Jones
Assistant Principal 630-636-3411
Samantha Sinovich [email protected]
Principal’s Secretary 630-636-3409
Sandy Miller [email protected]
Attendance Secretary 630-636-3408
Connie Berry [email protected]
School Nurse 630-636-3402
Lesah Corsello
Transportation 630-636-2999
Old Post Elementary Newsletter
I must say that second quarter zoomed by for the 2016‐17 school year. Maybe taking ACTION (Achievement‐ Character‐ Teamwork –In‐ Our ‐Neighborhood and school community) this year proves that me flies when you are having fun. I can proudly say that we have been busy this year with taking ACTION. As a school community, we are making efforts to keep track of our chari es, community service and service learning opportuni es. Here are some of what we’ve done: Le ers to the military (1st grade); 87 meals packed with Boosterthon Fun Run; Kendall County Food Drive (5th grade); Cards and treats for the Oswego policemen and firemen (volunteers); HLAAs Walk 4 Hearing (DHH); hand‐cra ed Poinse as for Bickford Senior Living residents (2nd grade); 10,000 holiday cards for our military troops (5th grade); Quilts for veterans (5th grade); Veteran’s Day assembly (5th grade); Adopt‐A‐Family for the Holidays (OP); Help Old Post Everywhere (HOPE) (OP); Gi mart (OP); Cards for pa ents having Craniofacial surgeries @ RUSH University Hospital in February (Kindergarten). WOW, HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!! As you are aware from our previous quarterly newsle er, we are happy to bring AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determina on) to Old Post this year. Our 4th and 5th grade parents are familiar with the noteworthy binder and the note‐taking strategies. This is only part of AVID. AVID Elementary takes a systemic approach through the use of WICOR (Wri ng, Inquiry, Collabora on, Organiza on, and Reading) strategies. In addi on, AVID Elementary resources are grounded in the idea that the growth mindset can be taught. I hope you take an opportunity to learn more about AVID and Growth Mindset. My vision is to work with our LRC director and others to develop a library of resources that can be made available to parents on AVID and growth mindset. We have added some special things to our school day. Our 5th grade leaders join our kindergarten students during morning line‐up for a good read. Also, I hope that your child(ren) has come home excited about hearing the different college or university fight songs. Whenever you visit, please take a look at our college board in the hallway next to the nurse’s office. Lastly, there will be some new members to join our family next year due to boundary changes and kindergarten students returning to home schools. We have begun to prepare the ways in which to welcome our new families to such a wonderful place to learn. I am looking forward to third quarter and feel confident that as we take ACTION we will
posi vely impact our school, neighborhood and community.
From the Assistant Principal’s Desk...
C O N T A C T I N F O R M A T I O N Wildcat Quarterly F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7
Old Post Elementary 630-636-3400 100 Old Post Road Oswego, IL 60543 Fax: 630-636-3491 www.oswego308.org/schools/oldpost/
Attendance Line 630-636-3401
Principal 630-636-3410
Toia Jones
Assistant Principal 630-636-3411
Samantha Sinovich [email protected]
Principal’s Secretary 630-636-3409
Sandy Miller [email protected]
Attendance Secretary 630-636-3408
Connie Berry [email protected]
School Nurse 630-636-3402
Lesah Corsello
Transportation 630-636-2999
Old Post Elementary Newsletter
Old Post Arrival and Dismissal Reminders As we approach the second half of school, it is important to continue to
follow our school safety procedures for arrival and dismissal.
Arrival: There will be adult supervision in the morning from 8:15-8:45. The bell rings
at 8:45. Breakfast is available at 8:15 and students may enter the back of the school through Door #6. Students not eating breakfast may enter the building at 8:30. Students arriving after 8:45 will need to be signed in at the main office through Door #2.
At 8:30, bus riders and walkers will enter through Door #1 and proceed to the morning line-up in the gym.
Car riders will enter through Door #10. Staff members begin crossing guard duties and assisting students exiting
cars at 8:30. Walkers from behind the school and bike riders may enter the gym through
Door #8 between 8:30 and 8:40.
From the Assistant Principal’s Desk...
C O N T A C T I N F O R M A T I O N Wildcat Quarterly F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7
Old Post Elementary 630-636-3400 100 Old Post Road Oswego, IL 60543 Fax: 630-636-3491 www.oswego308.org/schools/oldpost/
Attendance Line 630-636-3401
Principal 630-636-3410
Toia Jones
Assistant Principal 630-636-3411
Samantha Sinovich [email protected]
Principal’s Secretary 630-636-3409
Sandy Miller [email protected]
Attendance Secretary 630-636-3408
Connie Berry [email protected]
School Nurse 630-636-3402
Lesah Corsello
Transportation 630-636-2999
Old Post Elementary Newsletter
Old Post Arrival and Dismissal Reminders (cont.)
As we approach the second half of school, it is important to continue to follow our school safety procedures for arrival and dismissal.
Dismissal:
Walkers and car riders will be dismissed through Door #1. Parents should have their YELLOW sign placed in their front window letting
staff know which students they are picking up. Kids Connection students will be dismissed to the cafeteria. Bused students will be dismissed at 3:35 through Door #3. Staff members
will monitor students as they exit the building. IF WE DO NOT HAVE A NOTE, YOUR CHILD WILL RIDE THE BUS AS USUAL.
All parents and students are asked to use sidewalks and not walk through the front circle drive.
Avoid parking in front of the school between 3:15 and 3:40 p.m. The front circle is a bus zone. It is illegal to pass a bus which is loading or unloading children.
Crossing guards are provided to help our students cross the streets nearest our school safely. Bike racks are located near the playground. Motorized scooters are not allowed on school premises.
Any change in your child’s normal dismissal routine must be sent in a note to the teacher (this includes any after-school activities).
For the safety of our students, the law states that there is no talking on hand-held cell phones while in a school zone.
Please drive slowly through the parking lot, and please observe these
guidelines. Saving a few minutes is not worth risking the lives of our students and staff. Only cross with our crossing guard. In general, the parking lot is emptied within 10-15 minutes of the dismissal bell. Everyone’s patience and
cooperation is appreciated!
P A G E 4
W I L D C A T Q U A R T E R L Y
Calendar of Upcoming Events January 9 Students return from Winter Break January 9‐Feburary 10 ACCESS Tes ng January 16 No School—MLK Day January 17 Culver’s Night January 19 Grades Available on HAC (4pm) February 2‐15 Kindergarten Registra on (9am‐7pm) (Central Registra on Office—OEHS) February 3 Daddy Daughter Dance (6:30‐8pm) February 8 End of 2nd Trimester (Kindergarten) February 9 No Pre‐K PTA Mee ng (7pm) February 14 Valen ne’s Day Class Par es Rosa ’s Night February 15 Spring Pictures February 17 2nd Trimester Report Cards (Kindergarten) End of 2nd Trimester (Pre‐K) Family Bingo Night (7pm‐8pm) February 20 No School—Presidents’ Day February 21 Culver’s Night February 22 STEM Family Night (6:30pm‐7:30pm) February 28 Pre‐K Report Cards March 9 PTA Mee ng (7pm) March 10 End of 3rd Quarter SIP Day—Early Dismissal (12:45 p.m.) No Pre‐K
P A G E 5
We have finished the end of the 2nd quarter and half of the school year… the year is going so quickly!! It has continued to be very busy in the nurse’s office with illnesses, injuries, and medications. We continue to remind the students to wash their hands and ice packs continue in high demand! Just a reminder, students need to stay home for a fever of 100 degrees or higher and for 24 hours after the fever breaks – without medication. Also, any vomiting/diarrhea, undiagnosed rash, or significant cough, should stay home. The Norovirus is expected to be very active through March. I have started hearing and vision screenings and parents will receive a referral if the students do not pass after 2 attempts. Dental exams are required for Kindergarten and 2nd grade and a reminder will be coming home for those not yet received. Lastly, as the weather remains colder, please make sure the students wear the appropriate coats and outerwear, since they go outside if the wind chill is 10 degrees or above. As always, feel free to call anytime with questions or concerns… Stay safe and healthy!!
Lesah Corsello, RN/Building Nurse
News from the Nurse...
P A G E 6
News from Pre-K...
We have been very busy in Pre-Kindergarten... We are bonding and growing together. We have Been learning: Units of Study included (varying by class): The Gingerbread Light Project Feelings Patterns Shapes Numbers Family Winter: Precipitation, Clothing and Animals
Special Experiences: Mystery Reader Game Coach Grade Level Reading Buddies
Dance Class
Having fun in Pre-Kindergarten !
P A G E 7
News from Kindergarten...
Kindergarten had a busy second quarter.
Here are some of the highlights and upcoming activities…
Reading: We learned about story elements (characters, setting, and se-quence of events) and compared fiction and nonfiction texts. Students will begin to bring home “I Pick” Baggie Books to share their new read-ing skills with you. Students learned how to identify and produce rhym-ing words. We are beginning to sound out and blend short 3 and 4 letter words. We will spend some additional time on each short vowel sound to reinforce these important beginning reading skills. Writing: We have been working really hard on writing one complete sen-tence on a given topic including responding to reading. Students have been practicing how to check their writing for a capital at the begin-ning, period at the end, and using spaces between each word. Our goal moving forward is that students should be using all lowercase letters to write their words with a capital for the first letter of a sentence or their name. High Frequency Words: We are continuing to learn new high frequency words. Students have been looking for these words in text and using them in their daily writing. We will start off the year with List 4 and will continue to test for individual lists. Math: We have been composing and decomposing numbers 10-20 and learning about place value to the tens place. Students have been prac-ticing counting to 100 by 1’s and 10’s. Science: Our new science unit is coming soon. Students will be doing some hands on investigations for each of the 5 senses.
P A G E 8
News from 1st Grade...
First Grade has had a busy 2nd quarter!
In reading, we worked on many strategies including: cause and effect, compare and contrast and sequencing events in stories. The first graders worked very hard practicing their high-frequency words. We also met and read with our 5th grade reading buddies.
We worked on explanatory and narrative writing. The students also practiced creative writing with our holiday card project.
In math, we practiced math strategies to help us add and subtract numbers through 20. A few of the strategies we used include: counting on from a number, using a number line, making a 10, using doubles and fact families. We also began working with place value.
We finished the quarter participating in our fun, holiday t-shirt painting project! Thanks to the many volunteers who helped make it happen!
P A G E 9
News from 2nd Grade...
In reading, we have been teeter to ering back and forth
between reading fic on and informa onal texts. Students can
iden fy character, se ng, genre, problem, and solu on in
fic on text. In informa onal text, our emphasis has been on
biographies. We studied Mar n Luther King Jr., George
Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. We then completed a
research project and wrote a report about an American who
did something important for our country. Second graders
con nue to expand their skills in the area of wri ng. We have
been learning to state our opinion, followed by suppor ng
reasons, and then examples and/or details about those
reasons.
We have started our study of ways to start new plants in
science. In social studies, we have finished Unit 2 on
landforms, maps and resources. Next, comes cultures,
ancestors and immigrants and then economics! Finally, we
are becoming addi on and subtrac on EXPERTS! Our second
grade students have focused much of
2nd quarter on addi on facts. This has
helped us to add 2 and 3 digit numbers
with ease. We’ve grown tremendously
in addi on fact fluency and will con nue
working to make our subtrac on facts
just as fluent.
P A G E 1 0
News from 3rd Grade...
3rd Grade Quarterly Newsle er
3rd graders enjoyed their Unit 2 ReadyGen and learned about different cultures and communi es. We recently wrote a sequel to a fun book en tled The Year of Miss Agnes and learned about the life of the Athabascans in Alaska. We were excited about jumping in and learning our mul plica on facts. We learned strategies for finding products and are now working on knowing them quickly in our heads. This also means we know many division facts! During our 2nd quarter in Social Studies, we explored more of our Illinois history and the many conflicts between American Indians, French, Bri sh, and the se lers. All of this will lead to earning our statehood, which is next in our book. We just began our chemical unit in Science. Exci ng mes are ahead as we explore proper es of five unknown common household chemicals. We hope your students have been a en ve and put a lot of effort into their daily work, so that they will do well on their upcoming assessments.
P A G E 1 1
News from 4th Grade...
2nd Quarter Reflec ons ELA 4th grade spent 2nd Quarter reading and writing Narrative stories and tall tales. We read some new titles (Why the Sea is Salty and How the Stars Fell into the Sky) and some old favorites (Pecos Bill and John Henry). We talked about language that authors use and practiced incorporating figurative language and dialogue into our own writing. Theme was also a major concept covered in this unit: What lesson can we take away from the story? The kids had a great time using their imaginations and creating their own stories modeled after the texts we read in class.
Math
Students are learning how to divide with and without remainders. Students should be able to: model division, estimate quotients, divide mentally, and solve division problems that result in 2-, 3-, and 4-digit quotients. Parents can get involved by supporting your children during the nightly homework check. Dividing with multi-digit dividends is a new concept for students and will require some support at home. Moby Max and Prodigy are great resources to use at home to gain more practice with this concept. Students should know their basic division facts and have used or seen the use of base ten blocks. Also, students should be familiar with the vocabulary dividend, divisor, and quotient. Students use 2- and 3-column notes to help them study these terms. They also use their math notebooks to review notes and examples of division problems taken in class. Students then move onto using order of operations to solve problems and later in the quarter working with fractions.
P A G E 1 2
News from 5th Grade...
Fifth Grade News
Old
Post
Fift
h Gr
ader
s Tak
e A
CTIO
N a
t Sc
hool
and
in
the
Com
mun
ity!
Oswego School Board Vice President Visits Old Post 5th Graders to Discuss Careers in the Military
To connect with our AVID goals with college and career readiness, Mr. Banks spoke to Old Post fi h graders about different career paths in the Marines. He also talked about his experiences in college, his current job and being a member of the Oswego School Board. Mr. Banks then turned the ques ons over to our audience members who inundated him with really good ques ons.
Quil ng with Mrs. Lichtenstein Fi h graders began to qui8lt with Mrs. Lichtenstein, a.k.a. Grandma. Each class will be sewing quilt squares to create a quilt that each class will be giving to a well‐deserving Veteran. The students enjoyed sewing their squares while talking with Grandma.
College and Career Readiness Fi h grade students were visited by Mr. Kearns, an Oswego Firefighter, to discuss the path of a career in paramedics or firefigh ng. He discussed the impact of reading and wri ng and how it was an integral part of his day. Fi h graders were also visited by Kristen Funk from the Naperville Humane Society to discuss the different career paths one might take if they like to work with animals.
Veterans Day This year the fi h grade team chaired our Veterans Day Commi ee and provided our wonderful Veterans with a celebratory program and many thanks for their service to our country. Veterans arrived and were greeted by fi h graders, taken to the cafeteria where they enjoyed refreshments while wai ng for the program to start. While a ending the program, Veterans heard some powerful speeches, thanks, and poems from our 4th and 5th graders. A er the assembly, Veterans were invited to the classroom to talk to the students about their military service. A great me was had by all; Veterans, students, staff, and community leaders.
P A G E 1 3
News from Art...
Art News Quarter 2 Hello Old Post Ar sts, We’ve had a blast finishing our fall artworks and diving right into our winter art. Our art room was full of winter trees, polar bears, penguins and snowmen. Students enjoyed their me pain ng and collaging with paper this month in their winter inspired masterpieces. We also had a great art display for the Fall Choir Winter Concert. In December we also celebrated the shipment of your Square 1 Art orders! Thank you again if you were able to purchase your child’s artwork on keepsakes. 33% of your purchases have come back to the Old Post Fine Arts Program to provide extra supplies and materials for your children in Art and Music. Thanks | Mrs. Kueker
Old Post Art on the Web OP Art Gallery on Artsonia at h p://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=6574
Here are some other highlights from all grade levels: KINDERGARTEN: Tracing, collage, pain ng, iden fying pa erns 1st GRADE: Pain ng with tempera, controlling paint strokes 2nd GRADE: collage, color wheel, composi on, texture 3rd GRADE: Geometric vs. free form shapes, cityscapes, symmetry and asymmetry 4th GRADE: Value scales, shading with colored pencils, op cal art illusions 5th GRADE: Composi on, value scale, blending techniques with watercolors and oil pastels
P A G E 1 4
News from Music...
Music News Quarter 2
Hello Old Post Musicians, As fast as 1st quarter seemed, 2nd quarter has flown by even faster! The second 9 weeks of school has been fantas c. I’m cannot wait to see what fun and amazing music adventures awaits us in 3rd quarter.
Here are some other highlights from all grade levels:
KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS…
Listened to, iden fied, and performed music/ sounds that are fast and sounds that are slow.
Related fast and slow sounds to pictures and objects.
1st GRADE STUDENTS…
Iden fied and wrote “Sol” and “Mi” on the music staff; iden fied and sang familiar and unfa‐miliar pa erns using “Sol” and “Mi”.
Related words/ syllables to the music symbols ‐ quarter note and 2 eighth notes.
2nd GRADE STUDENTS…
Created & performed rhythms using quarter notes, quarter rests, 2 eighth notes and half notes.
Learned characteris cs of the string family.
3rd GRADE STUDENTS…
Created & performed rhythms using quarter notes, quarter rests, 2‐eighth notes, half notes, half rests, and 4‐sixteenth notes.
Learned characteris cs of instruments in the brass and string family so that they can visually iden fy instruments of the orchestra.
4th GRADE STUDENTS…
Created & performed rhythms using quarter notes, quarter rests, 2‐eighth notes, half notes, half rests, 4‐sixteenth notes, 2‐sixteenth notes/ Eighth, and Eighth/ 2‐sixteenth notes.
Learned characteris cs of instruments in the percussion and string family so they can aurally iden fy individual instruments of the orchestra from the string, brass, woodwind, and per‐cussion families.
5th GRADE STUDENTS…
Performed rhythms using quarter notes, quarter rests, 2‐eighth notes, half notes, half rests, 4‐sixteenth notes, 2‐sixteenth notes/ Eighth, and Eighth/ 2‐sixteenth notes through an Orff Ensemble (African Noel).
HONOR CHOIR…
Successfully performed in the first Christmas Concert on Thursday, December 15th. Thanks to all who par cipated!
The Spring Session for all 4th and 5th grade Honor Choir students begins on Thursday, January 19th @ 7:35 a.m.
P A G E 1 5
News from PE...
2nd Quarter — Physical Educa on Ac vi es and Sports: Grades K‐2: Students played games and ac vi es emphasizing kicking, throwing, catching, hopping and skipping along with spacial awareness. They also learned about ge ng their hearts bea ng faster, ea ng a rainbow of colorful foods, drinking a lot of water and sleeping 8‐10 hours a night to be healthier. Grades 3‐5: Students worked out with Target Heart Zones (150‐176 beats/minutes), nutri on games, Basketball, Aerobic Bowling, Winter Games and Ac vi es emphasizing coopera on, teamwork and good sportsmanship. Mrs. Ormsbee Physical Educa on Teacher
P A G E 1 6
News from the LMC...
In the Library … We READ. Each week, (Pre-K through 5th grade) visit the library to experience the joy of books. Mrs. Wells reads to us award winning books, books nominated for Illinois state awards, funny books and informative books. We respond to these books by checking out more great books.
We BUILD. Each week, we work in a rotation of learning centers. Each center challenges different parts of our minds. Lego center is the newest where we can create from our own imagination or try to create based on a challenge card. Our favorite part is building with friends.
P A G E 1 7
News from the LMC...
In the Library …
We CODE. Old Post participated in Hour of Code for the second year. This year Ms. Penelope Constanta from FermiLab spoke to us about the importance of learning to code. For the week, Mrs. Wells gave us many coding challenges. Some without any technology! We learned coding is a way of thinking and problem solving. We learned that coding is a growing necessity in everyday life.
We WONDER. We wonder what it would be like to be an author. Mr. John Madormo, author of the Charlie Collier mystery series visited Old Post. He spoke to 3rd-5th grade classes about his journey as a writer. He shared how even he has to edit and edit again for each us his books. We had fun hearing from him and trying out his brain teasers!
P A G E 1 8
News from the Resource Support Staff...
Students read on many different levels and sometimes it is hard to pick out a book that is just the right fit. Here is a little guide to help students become more independent with finding a great book to read. Happy Reading!
EASY
You can read the words fluently (smooth and with inflection)
In fact, your rate may be too quick.
You easily understand every part of the story or information.
Your thinking comes easy as you read the words, and you understand everything that is happening easily.
You know how to pronounce (say) all the words.
O-1 word missed per page.
JUST RIGHT
You can read the words fluently, except in a few spots you are reading the words choppy.
Your rate is just right, not too slow or too fast.
Your thinking may be challenged at times in helping you under-stand the story or information. You may reread sections to understand.
You understand what you are reading.
You can read most of the words on the page.
You figure out the tricky words and still understand the story or information.
2-4 words missed per page.
CHALLENGING
Your reading is choppy more than it is fluent.
Your rate is slow. Your thinking is
confused most of the time, and you don’t understand the story.
You do not under-stand what you are reading.
Many of the words are too hard to decode.
You cannot figure out the tricky words.
You lose focus as you read because it is too much work to figure out the words.
5 or more words missed per page.
E JR C
P A G E 1 9
News from Gifted Education...
Third Grade‐Mul ‐digit Mul plica on and Division Third grade is always an exci ng year for students because they learn the basics of mul plica on and division. Besides learning our facts we learned the mul plica on proper es that help us to solve more complex mul plica on problems. By the end of the unit students had mastered mul plying and dividing mul ‐digit numbers by 1‐digit. Con nue to work on mul plica on facts over break and throughout the year. Fluency with facts is an important skill to have as we move forward. Ask your child to tell you how they solved the problem or ask them to solve a problem while you are driving to visit family and friends. Using mental math will strengthen the skills they already have mastered. Fourth Grade‐Mul ‐digit Mul plica on and Division Fourth grade was mul plying and dividing with mul ‐digit numbers. We had a lot of fun com‐ple ng the math involved in building a hotel. Students were able to prac ce the many steps involved in mul ‐digit computa on by building their own hotel and determining the cost to build it. In the process we learned how important it is to work neatly and show all the steps in the process. Stu‐dents also discovered just how important it is to know your mul plica on facts. Please con nue to work on mul plica on facts at home. In addi on, you can play a quick mul plica on game with dice. Roll 5 dice. Have each person try and create the largest number possible by adding, subtrac ng, and mul plying the digits. Fi h Grade‐ Mul plying/Dividing with Frac ons, Ra os and Percentages A couple of years ago I was at a conference on differen a ng the new common core math stand‐ards for gi ed educa on students. The speaker spoke about how one of the most difficult concepts for a student to understand is mul plying and dividing frac ons. This is because you have to under‐stand the meaning of the number sentence. So that is what we focused our understanding of mul ‐plying and dividing frac ons on. We always started by asking “What does the number sentence mean?” and “What will my answer tell me?” Once we could answer these ques ons then we could decide how to solved the problem and determine if the answer was reasonable. We also wrote and modeled our own story problems. This was frustra ng at mes for many students. In the end every‐one mastered the content and showed incredible gains from their pretest scores. As we move into ra os and percentages all the hard work we put into the previous units is providing a solid base for this new content. Students are making incredible gains. Ask your student to help you determine the best buy in the grocery store or how much you are saving.
P A G E 2 0
News from ESL...
The purpose of the Q Chart is to encourage ques oning before, during , and a er reading. The organizer is a way for students to pose ques ons that further their com‐prehension of texts and media they experience. Some ques ons have answers that are embedded in the text and can be answered with careful reading to acquire facts, and others that require more in‐depth reflec ons based on the text's informa on, message, story line etc. You will no ce that there are ques on pro‐nouns along the le side ( 5 W's and How) and along the top are verbs that develop the ques on further. The verbs along the top such as "is" are conjugated according to the subject ("What are the characters doing about the problem?") or the tense (What was the problem for the Titanic?). You will also no ce that there are quadrants to the Q Chart. Each quadrant iden fies certain types of ques ons that can be posed before, during and a er reading.
To form ques ons:
Aim for the higher level ques ons three and four (predic ve and synthesis). Level 1 and 2 are Factual and Analy cal WHY WOULD the character make that decisions? Is a level 3 ques on asking for higher level thinking? 1. Select a word from the le hand column of the Q‐chart. 2. Select a word from the upper row of the Q‐chart. The axis provides the ques on star ng words.
P A G E 2 1
News from the Psychologist...
The School Psychologist Preview
By Michelle Restko, MS, SSP
Dear Old Post parents:
We are already halfway through the year, and what a wonderful one it has been so far! It is that time of the year when completing big and even small projects seems impossible for students. Here is a short I have been working on with stu-dents in my executive functioning groups that you can reinforce and teach at home to your own children:
Procrastination
Discuss the meaning of procrastination, and what are examples.
Three steps to beat procrastination:
1: Eat an elephant: Teach students to break down projects and assignments into smaller parts.
2: Pick out the goblins instead of going for the big dragon: Teach students to start with something small that they like about the assignment. This creates behavioral momentum to motivate students to continue with the project (e.g., decorate the front of the report first).
3. Ignore the sirens song: Remove all distractions.
It may be helpful for students to identify a list of 5 things that distract them from their work, as well as their 5 priorities for the day.
To reinforce this skill, you may want to follow up with your child. Ask them in one week a time that they ‘beat’ procrastination, or a time that they gave into procrastination-- what should they do differently next time?
Teaching skills like these are great for students now, as well as their functioning in the future!
P A G E 2 2
News from the PTA...
PTA News The days are cold, but this Old Post PTA news is hot off the press!
‐Thank you to all of our families who sent in box tops and soup labels. We made a whopping $818 on the fall drive! This is a huge help to our budget, so keep saving them for the next drive! Also, thank you for bringing your children to shop at our Holiday Shop! We hope they had fun choosing special gi s and seeing Santa and Mrs. Claus. See you next year! ‐Smencilgrams will soon be available to print from the website and to purchase in the office for $4.00. Just like a Pencilgram, only sweeter! Limited quan es available, so order yours as soon as you see them available! Watch our Facebook page for info! Search OLD POST PTA on Facebook and LIKE us! Pencilgrams are always available at oldpostpta.com. These funds support our scholarship program! ‐Volunteers are needed for the Daddy Daughter Dance, Fun Fair and food dona ons. See Facebook and our website for sign‐up forms. Fun Fair sign‐ups will be available 2/1. ‐A en on business owners: The Fun Fair commi ee is seeking dona ons of raffle prizes for adults! Contact us at [email protected] and we will put you in touch with the commi ee! ‐It's almost Elec on season!! The en re PTA execu ve board is up for anyone else to run. There are some incumbents, but no one on the board can fill the same two‐year‐s nt posi on again. So, if you have a mind for leadership, consider how you can use it to guide our PTA to greatness! The board includes the following posi ons:
President, Vice‐President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary and Corresponding Secretary The current board members are Rochelle Fe erly (P), Andrea Velasquez (VP), Melissa Woolever (T), Ari Loghmani (RS), Beth Omar (CS). They’d be happy to speak with you should you have any ques ons about what their roles entail. Come to our mee ngs on the second Thursday of each month (except for adjusted date in April, mee ng 4/6) to be involved in elec ons! ‐We have some open chair posi ons for next school year as well, but these don't require a vote. At this me, they include the following chairs:
Reflec ons, Bingo/Family Fun Nights, co‐chair for Boosterthon, co‐chair for Technology, and possible co‐chairs for Daddy Daughter Dance and Holiday Shop
We need your help to keep our PTA as strong as it can be for our Blue Ribbon school! ‐If you have photos from a classroom party, classroom volunteering or a field trip that you would like to see posted in our PTA display case, email them to [email protected]. Use this address to contact any one of us on the board with ques ons or sugges ons!
‐UPCOMING DATES: *2/3 Daddy Daughter Dance 6:30‐8 *3/17 Fun Fair 5:00‐7:30 *5/10 Bike to School Day
‐Upcoming PTA Mee ngs: Thursdays, 7pm 2/9, 3/9, 4/6, 5/11
