There are many more details to come. For now, please add these dates to your family calendar and confirm with me by March 1 that your child will be traveling with the Wolves. As always, please be in touch should you have questions.
The Wolf class spring trip is on the calendar! From April 17 - April 20, 2017, we will be visiting Camp Edwards YMCA Camp and Conference Center in East Troy, WI. During our stay, we will participate in numerous environmental learning programs, including the climbing wall, low ropes, and zip line activities. Please note that students will not attend school on Friday, April 21.
There are many more details to come. For now, please add these dates to your family calendar and confirm with me by March 1 that your child will be traveling with the Wolves. As always, please be in touch should you have questions.
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Willowwind is pleased to announce our annual Authors' Cocoa, now in a new location! This event is a celebration of our students as writers. Read carefully below for information regarding the changed location and expanded audience for the event. Each student will share the stage with their partner family and read an original piece of writing for the entire Willowwind community and beyond!
You are invited to come and listen to our wonderful poetry, stories, and songs. Authors' Cocoa Who: Willowwind Friends in Grades K-6 What: Sharing Writing When: Tuesday, December 20, 10:30 – 11:30 AM and 12:30 – 1:30 PM Please click here to find your child’s presentation time. Where: Old Capitol Town Center, near T’Spoons Coffee Shop Why: To share our love for reading and writing with you. Enjoy hassle-free parking and a great public location for our annual celebration of Willowwind authors. We are excited to share our students’ writing with the wider community. Come early to purchase a warm drink from T’Spoons to sip while you enjoy listening to our students share their work. There will be a reserved seating area near the coffee shop for Willowwind families. Students will travel to the mall with their class on the city bus. Parents are welcome to eat lunch with their child(ren) between 11:30 – 12:30 PM at the mall. Please let your child's teacher know if you'll be joining your child for lunch or taking them to enjoy lunch together at an area restaurant. In honor of our student authors, Jimmy Jack's Rib Shack in Old Capitol Town Center will be generously donating a portion of purchases made between 11:30 - 12:30 on December 20 to Willowwind! Students may also bring a sack lunch and eat with their teacher and class. Cocoa for students will be served immediately following the conclusion of the 12:30 presentation. Children may leave with parents after cocoa if they check out with the classroom teacher. Teachers will chaperone students back to Willowwind on the city bus for regular 3:15 pick up or ASP. We are in need of parent volunteers to help with moving sound equipment to and from the mall, set up and tear down of the space, and to assist with serving cocoa. A Willowwind classroom teacher will be on site the morning of the event to assist with set up needs. Click HERE to sign up to help. Thank you for your ongoing support of our students’ growth as writers and performers. We appreciate you! Spanish:
Estimados Padres, Since my last update, we have continued with the Unit: “La Hora” and they have practiced the Spanish vocabulary doing dialogues and working with partners. Another topic that I added this month was “El día de Acción de Gracias” (Thanksgiving Day). For one week, they worked writing a book of giving thanks in Spanish. They did a very good job choosing the most important things and people that they wanted to be thankful for. We just started The Unit: “Los Animales”. This week they did a description about their pets or an imaginary pet using Spanish verbs and adjectives. We are going to continue adding more vocabulary and new verbs and we are going to do different activities to practice them. Also, the week before the Holidays we are going to talk about how Latin America people celebrate Christmas and New Year. If you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to write me at. [email protected]. Physical Education: Willowwind strives to develop students who are willing to follow their goal. I’m preparing students to develop as leaders in the classroom and the community by challenging them to embark on their journey for knowledge and exercise as lifelong goals. By creating opportunities for students to learn discipline and dedication, I nurture them into becoming open-minded in heart, body, and mind. As their Physical Education teacher I provide a safe, supportive and caring learning environment which challenges and supports students to become confident, adaptive and productive lifelong learners. Therefore, I believe that honesty, respect, and responsibility are character traits. Students are continuously learning the names of the major muscle groups and bones in their bodies during their fitness class. Students are participating in physical cardiovascular workouts each time our class meets. We are know moving across the street into our indoor location. Walking and jogging to our new location is building endurance along our journey. Safety is continuously being implemented and reinforced. Physical Education Procedures and Expectations:
The physical education program is designed to offer a wide variety of experiences and exposure of different games and activities for all students. The focus is on success, a high level of participation, enjoyment and development of cooperative skills to enable our students to work well with others and to achieve group goals. Students are learning about sportsmanship, leadership, and cooperative learning is stressed. Students participate in a wide variety of activities from individual manipulative skills to team sports, it is hoped that these activities will help develop the health and vigorous energies of the students. Social and emotional development is recognized as being important adjunct in the educational process. A main concern is to instill a love for physical activity along with and understanding of the health benefits to be gained from involvement. Vision: Healthy Lifestyles for All Goal: The goal of physical education is to develop physically literate individuals who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthful physical activity. Mission: Provide all students with the opportunity of learning to move, moving to learn and experiencing the joy of living a healthy lifestyle. Student Learning Expectations: The students will be able to demonstrate a variety of locomotor movements in fitness/game activities. Students will demonstrate their eye-hand coordination through manipulating objects. The students just finished learning to demonstrate their passing, catching, throwing, punting, and kicking of a football implementing fine and gross motor skills. Building confidence and character along the way. Students continue to learn about their resting heart rate and what happens to their hearts when cardiovascular is implemented into their workout. Students are continuously learning about the principles of anatomy and physiology during their warm ups. Therefore, I believe that honesty, respect, and responsibility are character traits. Music: Ms. Katherine has posted new updates about music class. Please check it out by following the link! Music Class Blog The Wolves have begun our annual poetry unit, in preparation for Author's Cocoa in December. In order to prepare these creative and expressive learners for their readings, we began with a source of inspiration - videos of amazing spoken word poets presenting their art! Here are some performances we really connected with (please note that these may or may not appear if you are viewing this from the e-mail version; you may need to visit the blog page to view the videos). Taylor Mali: Totally, Like, Whatever, You Know "What has happened to our conviction?" Michael Ellison: Mezeker Means to Remember "I don’t need the grand prize for pity I can go overseas or simply ride thru the city and see that my standard of living is better than nine tenths of the planet." Dylan Garity: Rigged Game "She has been a teacher since she was smaller than they are but since when does being a teacher mean having to swear not to help?" Idris Goodwin: What is They Feedin' Our Kids? "Vanessa is 15 years old, and Vanessa is eating Red Hot Cheetos at 10 o'clock in the morning!" Suheir Hammad: What I Will "I will not dance to your war drum. I will not lend my soul nor my bones to your war drum. I will not dance to your beating. I know that beat." G. Yamazawa: Elementary "I noticed that words have gravity. I’ve seen them crush people, from a first person perspective. Felt a phrase fall out my mouth like an atom bomb." Sarah Kay: Brother "I would recognize you anywhere from the hiccup in your swagger tell me; where in the world did you find all that thunder?" Noah St. John: The Last Mile A poem about a Honda CRV...or is it? P.S. Noah is only 15 years old!! With everyone's inspiration activated, we'll be spending the next weeks writing, writing, writing, and writing some more. We will be exploring the literary elements of poetry and incorporating them into our own spoken word pieces. We will also be diving into the freedom of using poetry as a form of self expression; a way to explain who we are, what we believe, what we love, and to unpack experiences we've had in this world.
As we begin writing, we will focus on three guidelines for spoken word poetry: 1. Start with what you know to be true. 2. Write about being you. 3. Everyone has stories that others can learn from. With the creative energy that's been present in the room during the last week, I can't wait to see the final poems. The Wolves will be sharing their work with everyone at Author's Cocoa in December (details of this event to come!). November Parent-Teacher Conferences
Conferences will be held on Friday, November 11 and Thursday, November 17. Please note that there will be no school on the 11th to provide time for teachers to meet with parents. If you've not yet signed up for a conference time, please be in touch. Thank you! Annual Thanksgiving Feast Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away! A cherished tradition that we have at Willowwind is to participate in our school feast for K-6 students. Each class is responsible for planning and preparing dishes for our annual potluck style lunch. It is a great chance for students to cooperate and work together to enjoy a meal and celebrate thankful hearts with everyone. This year, we have combined all class needs onto one spreadsheet. Please check what dishes your child's class is making. Keep in mind that we are planning on feeding about 100 people! Please click THIS LINK if you are able to help contribute any items. On the spreadsheet you will also see whole school needs listed, as well as volunteer opportunities to help with serving and clean-up that day (scroll to the right to view). Our feast will be taking place on Tuesday the 22nd before Fall Break. We will need all ingredients and materials at school by MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21st. Feel free to sign up for any spots that are open. We can't wait to enjoy our whole school community and relish in all that we are grateful for. THANK YOU for all your support. We could not make this special event happen without you! Spanish October Updates 5-6 grades:
Estimados Padres: We just finished the unit: “Reflexives verbs”. The kids are doing a wonderful job putting together Spanish sentences and talking about themselves. One of the activities they did this month was to write about their favorite activities, hobbies, and sports. They wrote a schedule with times and activities. After that, I read each writing without saying the name of the student and they had to guess who was the person. That was a lot of fun for everyone. Also, we just started the Unit: “La Hora” and they started learning how to ask few questions in Spanish (formal and informal situations) and we are practicing this by doing a lot of dialogues in couples and groups. We have played different games to practice the verbs and vocabulary. Also, they have listen an audio every class to practice the listening comprehension. Next month, we are going to continue with “La Hora” and I will add new verbs to their vocabulary. If you have any questions, please contact me at your convenience at: [email protected]. Ximena Campos Spanish Teacher at Willowwind School Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grade Physical Education October 2016: Willowwind strives to develop students who are willing to follow their goal. I’m preparing students to develop as leaders in the classroom and the community by challenging them to embark on their journey for knowledge and exercise as lifelong goals. By creating opportunities for students to learn discipline and dedication, I nurture them into becoming open-minded in heart, body, and mind. As their Physical Education teacher I provide a safe, supportive and caring learning environment which challenges and supports students to become confident, adaptive and productive lifelong learners. Therefore, I believe that honesty, respect, and responsibility are character traits. Students are continuously learning the names of the major muscle groups and bones in their bodies during their fitness class. Students are participating in physical cardiovascular workouts each time our class meets. We are jogging around our oval parking lot and jumping rope at their own pace also while building endurance along our journey. Music: Check out Ms. Katherine's music updates at her class blog: http://willowwindmusic.weebly.com/. 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!
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! |
Rachel DeMaris5/6 Teacher Archives
May 2017
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