What a wonderful first trip into the wilderness for the Wolves! We couldn't have asked for a better way to spend time outdoors learning about ourselves and building our classroom team. The weather was cold but manageable, the work hard but rewarding, and the time spent together was full of laughter and connection. We loved our trip and look forward to spending time learning together outdoors again...hopefully soon!
Our First Camping Trip! What a wonderful first trip into the wilderness for the Wolves! We couldn't have asked for a better way to spend time outdoors learning about ourselves and building our classroom team. The weather was cold but manageable, the work hard but rewarding, and the time spent together was full of laughter and connection. We loved our trip and look forward to spending time learning together outdoors again...hopefully soon! Thank you for giving us the gift of this time together. It is so critical for building our classroom team into a group who can - and will - accomplish BIG things together. A huge thank you also goes out to the families who graciously loaned us tents and donated supplies to the cause. It is greatly appreciated!
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The Willowwind community will be celebrating Halloween the afternoon of Monday, October 31st. Please visit THIS sign-up sheet if you wish to donate snack items & help with day-of set up and serving. Each snack donation is worth 30 minutes of volunteer time. Set up & serving is worth 45 minutes of volunteer time.
Students will be asked to bring their costumes to school. We ask that costumes not be too scary. No weapons, blood, or gore will be permitted. We understand that costumes often include these things, but please save them for trick-or treating to avoid the disruption at school. Students will change into their costumes for our afternoon celebration, but are expected to wear their normal clothes to school for morning activities. Families are invited to join our festivities from 2:00 - 3:15 for our K-6 Halloween parade and celebration. During the hands-on portion of our Halloween festivities (2:15-2:45), we encourage parents to use the time to interact with their child(ren) and participate in the school wide fun (pumpkin guessing & Halloween activities). In addition, each year, Partner Families cherish the Halloween season as it gives them opportunity to spend time and work together. Preparing for Halloween, each Partner Family spends Group Discussion time creating a "top secret" pumpkin character. Beginning yesterday, Partner Families met to plan out their pumpkin character and outline the pumpkin materials needed. Please check-in with your child to see what supplies they may be responsible for in creating their pumpkin character. All supplies should be brought to school by THIS Friday, October 21st. I'm jumping up and down with excitement for our first camping trip this week. However, the weather is putting a small wrench in our plans. There is a chance of scattered showers on Wednesday morning, so pack accordingly. We will go rain or shine, and we'll be outside as long as conditions are safe. There is a predicted low in the upper 30s for Wednesday evening, which could be quite chilly for novice campers (particularly if it is wet). We do have access to a large lodge near the group campsite. If the adults feel it is unsafe to remain out, or the group feels more comfortable moving indoors, we will set up tents in this space to maintain the camping feel while still keeping our toes warm. :) All other activities will take place outdoors.
I owe you all a HUGE thank you for your help with donating or purchasing our supplies. You are all amazing! Please be in touch should you have any questions about the agenda or packing needs. I sent an extensive e-mail on Thursday with all the nitty-gritty - please be in touch if you did not get that message. Iowa Assessments
The Iowa Assessments will be given October 17 through 20. Testing will happen from roughly 8:30 to 10:30 each day. The rest of each day will be a normal schedule. Please be sure your child gets a good night's sleep and an extra good breakfast on those days. I will give less homework that week to help make that possible. It is a longstanding tradition that the students at Willowwind are allowed to chew sugarless gum during the testing time. It will not be allowed after the test is over. Please send enough to have a piece of gum at the beginning of each testing session. Finally, please have your child at school by 8:20, so that we can begin promptly at 8:30. Please be in touch prior to 8:20 if your child is sick on a given day, so that we do not wait for your child. Thanks in advance for your cooperation. Field Trip to Hancher Auditorium On October 21 we will celebrate the end of a week of testing by attending an event for students in the brand new Hancher auditorium. Miss Katherine has arranged a wonderful music experience for the Owls and Wolves, who will be attending a performance by Step Afrika! The performance we will see is The Migration, described as "Step Afrika!’s new signature work, based on Jacob Lawrence’s iconic series of paintings charting the African-American movement from south to north in the early 1900s. Each piece incorporates the images, color palette, and motifs of one or more of the paintings to tell the migration story through body percussion and dance." I know the Wolves will love the connection to their body percussion work in music class, as well as the link to Chains, the novel about slavery we just finished reading. What a great treat after a week of hard testing work! Dear Parents and Friends,
September and October is a very exciting month because of a special activity that occurs for our students in grades K - 6th. Students in these grades have the opportunity to participate in Jump Rope for Heart. Jump Rope for Heart is a successful educational event held every year in thousands of schools throughout America. It is sponsored by the American Heart Association and the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America). Each student obtains sponsors who make contributions based on that student's participation. The proceeds are used to fund cardiovascular research and educational programs that help prevent heart and blood vessel diseases; America's number one killer! Proceeds collected will stay in Iowa City. It’s a great way to introduce students to the concept of community service while learning how to take care of their own hearts. Events will be held during Physical Education classes from September 22nd, through October 18th, 2016. Although all students will participate as part of their regular Physical Education class. In an attempt to encourage ongoing physical activity, each participant who collects donations will receive a variety of gifts. What does your child get out of participating? Your child learns about the importance of the heart - how it works, and how to take care of it: Your child reaches out to friends and family: The safe online tool makes it easy for your child to set up a web page and send emails to support their fundraising efforts and share and to share life-saving information. Your child feels good for making a difference in people’s lives! Funds raised support the heart association’s research and education initiatives that save lives in our community. I hope you will encourage your child to participate. Students who have been involved in previous years have found this to be a productive and fun way to help others fight heart disease. Please feel free to contact me by email at [email protected] should you have any questions. Sincerely yours, Susan Toth K-12 Physical Education/Health/Driver’s Education Teacher Estimados Padres,
I want to extend our warmest welcome to the Spanish class to all and our students in particular to the new ones we have this year. We are beginning an exciting journey together where new students will begin to learn a different language, also other cultures and traditions of Spanish-speaking countries. We just finished two important topics in Spanish class called “Action Verbs” and “Reflexive verbs” (Los verbos de acción y los verbos reflexivos) and the kids are doing a wonderful work putting together Spanish sentences and talking about themselves. One of the activities they did this month was a personal writing where they had to write about their daily routine. In this project, they used the reflexive verbs and action verbs to write about what they do in a regular week day. During the class, we work a lot on listening comprehension and the students are doing a great job answering oral questions. Every day, we listen to songs and audio dialogues to help them to understand what are they listening to in Spanish. In October, we are going to start with the Unit: “La Hora” (The time). They will be able to read the time in Spanish, understand time expressions and to use it in a short conversation. If you have any question please contact me at your convenience at: [email protected]. Ximena Campos Spanish Teacher at Willowwind School. |
Rachel DeMaris5/6 Teacher Archives
May 2017
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