April 2014
Transcription
April 2014
Newsletter - April 9, 2014 Dear Parents and Legal Guardians: The folks here at The Grove believe that having a good working relationship with you, our parents, is not only essential but imperative. According to Coleman (1966), parent’s beliefs, expectations, and attitudes about a education and their children’s achievement have a profound early impact on student’ conceptions of the place of education in their lives. A study by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company found that 97% of students who earned mostly A’s and B’s on their report card reported that their parents encouraged them to do well in school. Among students who earned mostly C’s, 49% said they received little parental encouragement. How you feel about a education is often mirrored in student achievement results. We have a number of parents who give back by helping out whenever they can. To you we say THANK YOU! On that note I must say that we can always use more help. I know times are tough, which makes home schedules tighter. Some folks figure “I don’t really have an applicable skills to offer.” To that I say your presence and any effort is more than enough. Finally as we approach Spring...yes, it’s coming, don’t worry...we would appreciate your help in reinforcing the need to keep up a great work ethic here at school as the nicer weather approaches. This year we have spent a lot of time through announcements and morning meetings talking about Academics and Expectations. We have emphasized the importance of honing all reading and math skills. We have also consistently kept our BG C.A.R.E.S. themes front and center, reinforcing Cooperation, Assertiveness, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control. With home and school on the same page, we can have an outstanding spring here at The Grove. Hope To See You Soon Helping Out At The Grove! Jeff Zastrow Principal Bibliography: Coleman, James S.. et al. 1966. Equality of Educational Opportunity. Washington D.C.: U.S. Office of Education. The Dojo is Open! Magnet Schools of America awards Birch Grove Elementary the 2014 MAGNET SCHOOL OF DISTINCTION The Magnet Schools of Distinction Award recognizes member magnet schools/programs that demonstrate a high commitment to academic standards, curriculum innovation, desegregation/diversity efforts, specialized teaching staffs, and parent and community involvement. CONGRATULATIONS BIRCH GROVE! The piano keyboard lab opened last week for students in grades 1-6 to start Keyboard Karate. Just what is Keyboard Karate? No, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan do not stop by to karate chop keyboards in half; although that would be pretty cool, minus the fact that we wouldn’t have any keyboards left, Keyboard Karate is where students learn the basics of playing piano in a fun and motivating way. Here’s the cool part, the more stuff they learn, the more belts they earn. It’s so cool it even rhymes. Students earn “belts” which are colored pieces of yarn to tie on their folders for every “belt song” they can perform in the lab. Students progress through white, yellow, orange, green, purple, blue, red & brown belts in their quest for the ultimate award ...the BG black belt. It is a very cool program for novice and advanced pianists alike. So the next time you sit down at the dinner table, ask your little grasshopper if they’ve earned any belts yet. If you have a piano or keyboard at your home, students may bring home extra music to practice; all they have to do is ask the sensei (a.k.a. Mr. P. or Mrs. Martineau) If you are just as excited about the keyboard lab as we are, be sure to come to the BG Family Arts Night on April 17 @ 6:00 pm. The dojo will be open, students can earn belts, and you can come jam on the keyboards too, May 2014 1 4:00 Chip Shoppe Pick Up 2 11:20 & 3:15 Peter Rabbit Show (AM Kindergarten) Peter Rabbit Show (PM/All Day Kdgtn) 5 All Day 5th gr to Northwestern College 9 11:30-2:10 5th gr to Ordway 9 9:30-12:00 6th gr Orchestra Symphonic Tour 9 6:00-8:30 SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTS! 14 10:50-3:45 3RD GR Eastman nature Ctr field trip 16 5:00-9:00 School Carnival 26 This document is available in alternate formats upon a 72hour request. Please contact Dean Olson at 763.391.7191/7250 (TTY) to make your request. Memorial Day! NO SCHOOL Counselor ’s Corner BG CARES Corner Helping Children Behave: Discipline vs. Punishment Discipline teaches children self-control and responsibility. Here at Birch Grove, students and adults are Cooperative, Assertive, Responsible, Empathetic, and show Self-control. This leads to a safe, positive learning environment that increases student achievement. BG CARES!! Punishment controls children through fear. The purpose of discipline is to protect your child and teach him or This is our BG pledge and students and staff recite this pledge at least once a week. Throughout the year students are also taught what each of these themes/expectations look and sound like at every location in our building through morning meeting activities/games, teaching, and re-teaching. her socially acceptable behavior. As his or her first and most influ- How Can You Incorporate BG CARES At Home? guidance than punishment. When you set and enforce limits to en- Just as we have come up with a list of expectations that staff and students follow at school, families can create their own set of rules or expectations at home. Having a common set of expectations provides a common language and structure, which can help children and adults succeed. Here is an example of a family plan: ential teacher, you have the responsibility to guide him or her in the right direction. Your child will learn self-control, ways to get along with others, and how to determine right from wrong better through courage desired behavior, you are teaching your child self-control and helping him or her to feel good about him or herself. Discipline does not mean controlling your child. It is a learning process that will empower your child to make his or her own decisions to act responsibly. Strategies for Effective Discipline Provide a positive, supportive and loving relationship between you and your child. You can achieve this by playing with your child and showing him or her warmth and affection. Use praise and encouragement to increase desired behavior. Give your child frequent hugs and praise when he or she behaves well. Take away desired activities or items to reduce or stop undesired behavior. Do Avoid Set limits Accusing Be Consistent Controlling Be Firm Blaming You can also find this example online at http:// suttongrace.blogspot.com/2010/01/chore-charts.html Be Realistic Criticizing Listen Carefully Humiliating Another way to incorporate BG CARES at home is to have a chore chart, which teaches students time management and responsibility. State Expectations Clearly Ridiculing You can find an electronic copy of a chore chart at http:// suttongrace.blogspot.com/2011/03/chore-charts.html If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call or email me. Thanks and have a great month! Tina Czech School Counselor 763-561-1374, ext. 71480 [email protected] Mark your calendar! d! e t i v n re i ’ u o Y Save the d ate! Birch Grove’s 3rd Annual Family Arts Night & Ice Cream Social! Thursday, April 17 Attention all troupe families: Spotlight on the Arts! will be on Friday, May 9th from 6:00-9:00. All troupe members in grades 3-6 will be involved in the evening. This is a ticketed event with dessert, coffee, and raffle. All proceeds from the fundraiser benefit help to sustain arts programming at Birch Grove. Watch for more information about the schedule for the evening and purchasing tickets from your child’s troupe leader. 6:00-8:00 We welcome ALL members of the Birch Grove community to come and share in a night of food, fun, and the ARTS!!!! There will be ice cream, the book fair, many wonderful art activities for you to participate in as a family…and even the chance to win a prize! The event and the ice cream are FREE. Other items will be available for purchase. Look for even more details on the flyer in upcoming Wednesday Envelopes! See you there! Cook’s Choice from the Bobcat Den April 18 Beef Meatball Sub Chips Hot vegetable Fresh veggies Fruit Choice Milk Choice April 23 Pulled Pork on Whole Grain Bun Sweet Potatoes Creamy Cole Slaw Fruit Choice Milk Choice Warm Apple Crisp April 29 French Toast Sticks Tri-tator Turkey Sausage Fresh Veggies Fruit Choice Milk Choice 2nd Grade Program Okay—maybe spring is never coming… But we’re growing anyway! Thank you so much to everyone who made Peter Pan , Jr. a huge success. With 78 students, numerous staff and lots of families involved, it took a village and we are truly grateful! The kids did a fabulous job! Our spring troupe fundraiser, Spotlight on the Arts, is coming up on May 9th. This event is always wellattended, and we are working on planning the event to make it more manageable for families to attend and see the performances and wonderful art displays. Plus—there is dessert! The Drama troupes perform “The Girl Who Cried Wolf,” (3/4) and “Ghost Light,” (5/6) this year. Both troupes are working hard and excited to make this their crowning performance for the year. In class we continue to work on costumes in first and second grade while Kindergartners are gearing up for Peter Rabbit. Third graders will be making radio plays based on 5 Children and It (ask them about listening to part of War of the Worlds!) Fourth graders are working on sound scenes about first contact between aliens and humans, while 5th graders write scenes to match a musical soundtrack. Our 6th graders are designing and acting in a scene from Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, a moral dilemma where a man chooses between doing what is popular and what is right. I was blessed to have the fabulous Amy Sparks as my student teacher for 8 weeks starting in late January, She brought a lot to the program with her dance experience and fun warm-ups and we will miss her. We are lucky enough to have Bre’Elle Erickson join us for the next 8 weeks, we look forward to learning fun drama games and activities with her! This has been a win-win –win for staff, students, and teacher candidates as we all share our best work with each other. Thanks so much for supporting your children’s growth as visual and performing artists at Birch Grove! They are blossoming! So just where is Waldo anyway? Well, next month he will be at Birch Grove Elementary School for the Arts! On Thursday, April 24, the 2nd grade students of Birch Grove will perform a Spring Concert entitled “Where’s Waldo?” This program features a plethora of songs and skits about everyone’s a favorite hard-to-spot guy with the red-and-white striped shirt as he takes a humorous trip through time. The show is stuffed with silliness and comes packed with really great songs like “A Hippo In My Locker”, “The Pumpkin Pie Polka’, “Furry Leez’ and “George Didn’t Wear a Wig” plus skits with goofy characters like Waldo, his sister Wanda, The Crocodile Hunter, Beethoven, Van Gogh, George Washington, and Michael Jackson. It should be a lot of fun, so put Thursday, April 24 on your calendar. The show starts in the BG Gym @7:00pm. Everyone is invited to come and find Waldo. Online Safety Helping kids stay safe online has been a topic we’ve been covering in the library. Knowing what is private information when online, what to do if something makes a student uncomfortable and learning about our “digital footprint” and how we present ourselves online are all important topics to discuss with your child. If you’re looking for good resources for parents, go to http://www.ncpc.org/topics/internet-safety or http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents Overdue Books Overdue notices are sent via email and sent home with students each month. Please help your student return their books on time so they can continue to checkout “good fit” books to improve their reading and build the habit of reading regularly. Students with overdue books have to return or pay for their book before checking out books again. Please contact Joan Magnuson in the library if you have concerns or circumstances to consider.