The Round Up - Meade School District

The Round Up
Meade 46-1 Schools Whitewood Elementary
“To Build Knowledge and Skills
of Success Today and
Tomorrow”
Inside this Issue:
School Info
2
WOM
Library News
3
Kindergarten News
4
1st Grade News
5
2nd Grade News
6
3rd Grade News
7
4th Grade News
8
5th Grade News
9
6th Grade News
10
Music News
Counselor’s Corner
11
Intervention News
12
Resource Room News
Nurse’s Notes
13
Whitewood School is now
collecting
Box Tops
Used Printer
Cartridges
Land-O-Lakes Milk Jug
Caps
Money raised will be used for
student incentive programs
January 2015
Goals
Everybody knows someone who has made a resolution or goal for the new year. Whether a goal gets
met depends on one’s determination to accomplish that goal. Often, others’ support can be the
motivator to make that goal work.
The Meade School District underwent a strategic planning process where input was taken from
students, staff, community members, parents, and those in the area of business. From that process
came a set of goals that have been proposed to the school board. The next step is for groups
representing school staff, parents, and the community to discuss these goals and give input. From that
input the board will determine if it wishes to adopt them. The identified goals are as follows:
1. The Meade School District will provide a positive climate that engages students through rigorous
academic curriculum and the opportunity to participate in co-curricular and extra-curricular
activities that prepare each graduate to be academic and workplace ready.
2. The Meade School District will develop a comprehensive professional development program for
faculty/staff.
3. The Meade School District will develop personnel policies that will improve working conditions
and retention of faculty/staff.
4. The Meade School District will develop a comprehensive facility master plan that will guide all
infrastructure and technology decisions.
The collective support of these goals—from staff, from parents, and from the community—will ensure
that the Meade District remains a progressive, effective, and efficient organization committed to
offering its students the best education possible.
Mrs. Rosenboom
The Round Up
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January 2015
BIRTH TO AGE SIX SCREENING
AND KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
Tuesday, March 10, 2015 from 2:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 from 7:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
Please call the Whitewood School office at 269-2264
or stop by to make an appointment.
Mark Your Calendar
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February 5, 2015
February 6, 2015
February 16, 2015
February 17, 2015
February 19, 2015
February 20, 2015
February 23, 2015
February 24, 2015
February 27, 2015
February 27, 2015
Assembly by World of Reptiles
Dare Graduation
No School-President’s Day
Parent Teacher Conferences 4-7pm
Parent Teacher Conferences 4-7pm
End of Trimester
PTO Meeting
Free Vision Screening by Lions Club
Spring Pictures
Report cards go home
World of Reptiles Assembly
The Whitewood PTO is providing the
funding for a “World of Reptiles Assembly.” It will be held on February
5, 2015 at 10:00 AM in the school
gym. The assembly lasts about 45
minutes. The presenter is Scott
Shupe, a professional naturalist. He
has presented to school audiences
all over the United States. The
“World of Reptiles Assembly” is an
extension of the Kentucky Reptile Zoo. We
want to thank the Whitewood PTO for bringing
this science-related assembly to our school.
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January 2015
@ your library
Has your child received some great new books
lately? You may want to check out this site at
the South Dakota Department of Education.
https://doe.sd.gov/octe/readsd.aspx
The video talks about Summer Reading and how important it is
to keep reading all summer long. Why not start now to get in the habit of reading 20 minutes
every day? To develop lifelong readers let your child see you reading each day and discuss
what you are reading with your family.
The Find a Book feature at this site will help you to choose a book that interests your child and
is “just right” according to their reading ability.
“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”
–Emilie Buchwald
Mrs. Mendenhall
Character Traits
January: Respect
A feeling of admiring someone or something that is good, valuable,
important, etc. A feeling or understanding that someone or something is important, serious, etc., and should be treated in an appropriate way~ Webster’s Dictionary
January Wranglers
of the Month
K– Brody Bulat
1st– Audrey Gifford
2nd– Laine Schroeder
3rd– Tessa Garry
4th– Ryker McGrath
5th– Gavin Smith
6th– Ashlyn Coffield
Congrats!!!
Pictured are, from the back left, Ashlyn Coffield, sixth grade, and Gavin Smith,
fifth grade; middle left, Laine Schroeder, second grade, and Tessa Garry, third
grade; front left, Brody Bulat, kindergarten and Audrey Gifford, first grade. Not
pictured is Ryker McGrath, fourth grade.
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January 2015
Happy New Year!
Here’s what 3rd grade has been up to in the New Year!
Snacks – Snack provided Tues.-Thurs.
P.E. is Mondays and Thursdays.
Please wear appropriate shoes.
~Friendly Reminders~
 Please be sure to read at least 20
minutes a night.
 Don’t forget your recorder and book
for music!
Mark your calendar
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No School (Presidents Day): Feb. 16th
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Conferences:
o
Tuesday, Feb. 17th 4-7 p.m.
o
Thursday, Feb. 29th 4-7 p.m.
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End of trimester: February 20th
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PTO Meeting: February 23rd
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Report cards go home: February 27th
Happy Birthday this month to Rio!
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Students studied the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., his famous
“I have a dream..” speech, and all he did during the Civil
Rights Movement. The students then created posters
illustrating their favorite line in his speech.
Math - Investigations:
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Perimeter, Angles, and Area/Volume: Students are
studying attributes of 2 and 3 dimensional shapes. They
are also learning about measuring angles, perimeter, area,
and volume.
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Multiplication and Division: Students are studying the
meaning of multiplication and division, reasoning about
numbers and their factors/multiples, using arrays for
multiplication, and learning the multiplication
combinations with products up to 50.
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Please check out this website for free interactive online
games through Investigations:
http://investigations.terc.edu/families/doing_math/Games_
index.cfm
Daily 5:
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Spelling:
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Questioning (comprehension strategy)
Opinion writing
Nonfiction features packet
Reading groups
Raz-Kids (works with our fluency)
Working with words with oy/oi sound, ch digraph, adding
endings -s, -es, -ing, -ed.
Contractions, long vowel sounds, and the ow/ou sound.
Spelling City.com has all our word lists on their
interactive website. Play games or study your words! It’s
FREE!
Science:
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Moon phases
o
Made a moon phases project with Oreos!
o
Social Studies: Junior Achievement
We have been lucky to have Holly Mortensen
volunteering in our room for Junior Achievement!
The students are learning many things such as the
characteristics of cities and how they are shaped by
zoning. Students are also learning about the
importance of money to a city; how banks help
businesses and people; and how the media is an
important part of a city's life. Students will also learn
what an entrepreneur is by exploring what it takes to
open a restaurant.
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January 2015
4th Grade January News
Math: We just completed a unit on fractions and decimals. We have
since turned our attention toward multiplication and division of two, three,
and four digit numbers.
Science: We have been exploring the Solar System and we each did a
report on the different planets. After looking at the Solar System we took a
closer look at Earth. We are exploring our oceans, learning about the
atmosphere, and getting a better understanding of the Earth’s core.
Reading and Writing: We have continued to use Raz-Kids for our
classroom reading activities. As we get more comfortable with this
application, we have been recording our reading and then listening to
ourselves. We just started a writing assignment about our favorite activity
Social Studies: We finished our South Dakota Road Trip with a trip to the
Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth Air Force Base.
Korbin and Deron enjoying the sites at the
South Dakota Air and Space Museum
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January 2015
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January Sixth Grade News
In sixth grade we have been really busy. We have
been working on genetics in Science and learning about
dominant traits and recessive traits. In Math, we have
been working on enlarging and reducing objects. By
doing that, we made a dragon mascot and named it
“Diesel.” It’s challenging, but we are doing the best that
we can. In Social Studies we’ve been learning about
China and displayed some Chinese artwork in the
hallway. In Language Arts we’ve been working on
adjectives, nouns and pronouns. We are finishing reading
mystery novels from Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and
Encyclopedia Brown series.
Congratulations Ashlyn Coffield for being Wrangler
of the Month. We have two birthdays this month Zia
Wallace January 6th and Rose Smith January 17th .We will
have a band concert and play with all the 6th graders in
band in the district on January 26th. Martin Luther King
Day was on the 19th. We will have our last Junior
Achievement.
–reporters Mya Rindelaub and Ava Heisinger
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January 2015
Counselor’s Corner
Rick Meyerink
In the K, 1st, and 2nd grades we have been
investigating different ways to remember
instructions and follow directions. We
practiced repeating directions in our
heads while trying to find the hidden
“Martian.” We also drew numerous pictures that had a progression of difficulty
to reveal if we could maintain concentration. It is amazing how powerful many of
our minds are.
3rd and 4th grades completed a unit on self
-assessment. We took inventory of things
we could already do well, and things that
we could use improvement. We also
spent a few lessons on methods of decision-making. We discussed identifying
the problem, thinking about choices and
possible outcomes, then deciding what
was the best option.
5th and 6th grades explored the decisions
they make every day, and some factors
that influence our decisions such as; parents, friends, teachers, and the media.
This was a great segue into decisions
about tobacco use.
Life is 10% what happens to me and
90% of how I react to it. –Charles
Swindoll.
Spring Pictures
February 27th
Music Notes by Mrs. Kotab
The music room is brimming with special projects for January. The 6th graders are experts on
Johann Sebastian Bach. We have listened to
“Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” a famous Bach
piece used at many weddings.
The 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades are well into playing
the recorder. I am impressed with the skill the
upper levels have retained since last January.
Good job recorder players.
The 2nd grade is speaking a little French as we
study the musical suite by Camille Saint-Saens
called “The Carnival of the Animals.” They have
learned about the sense of humor this composer
had and how music can describe the animals
without a word being spoken.
The 1st graders are experiencing the many instruments of the orchestra. We listened to the oobadooba tuba and the curly French horn. Today
they heard about the woodwinds and many saw
the piccolo for the first time. My hope is that
they become lovers of many genres of music and
continue to have the arts in the lives.
March 2nd will bring the Elementary Choir Festival in Sturgis. We have 12 students from Whitewood this year. They will practice all day at the
Community Center and present a concert at 3:30
p.m. for the public. Please plan to attend and
support our young singers.
The 6th band performed their first major concert
on January 26th with the other 6th grades from
Sturgis and Piedmont. What a fine job they did.
Please encourage them to stay in band – both in
Middle School and High School. I am always
sad to see any of them drop out after they have
worked so hard here at Whitewood. It can be a
lifelong activity for them.
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January 2015
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January 2015
NURSE’S NEWS
FREE CHILDREN’S VISION SCREENING
For Whitewood Elementary
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
This is for 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade students. Signed parental consent is REQUIRED. This screening is done in
about 30 seconds, and the results are more accurate than the screening done by the school nurses. Your
student will be bringing home the consent form. When you receive it, please sign it and send it back to school
with your child by Wednesday, February 11th. School nurses screen all 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders in Meade
School District each year, even if they are seen by eye doctors. The Northern Plains/Lions Club screenings help
school nurses save time, and your child will spend less time out of class.
ResourceRoomNews–January2015
QuestionstoAskatYourParent-TeacherConference
Check out this list of must-ask questions to make the most of the 15 minutes you have with your
child's teacher. You might also want to ask your child if there is anything else he/she would like
you to discuss with his teacher.
1.
What subjects and skills will my child be expected to master this year?
2. Is my child working to the best of his ability? How is progress measured?
3. How much time do you expect students to spend on homework assignments? Is homework
graded for completion or for accuracy?
4. What does he need to work on and how can I help? Get specific feedback, such as "has
difficulty combining sentences" or "has difficulty summarizing stories," as well as specific
information about how you can tackle any issues.
5. What standardized tests will be administered this year? And how much class time will be
devoted to preparing students for them?
6. How do you evaluate students? Do tests, attendance and homework all count towards
grades?
7. How can I support your teaching program at home? How can I monitor my child's
completion of assignments on a daily basis?
8. Are there any support programs to help kids who need a little extra attention? When are
you available if my child needs extra help?
9. What is your preferred method of communication with parents (email, telephone, notes
home, Web site, etc.)?
10. Does my child seem happy and engaged in school? Who are her friends? Is she showing
good behavior with classmates and adults? R