Halloween Costumes
On Thursday, October 31st, we will be celebrating Halloween at school. Each year we have a costume parade and an assembly and classroom party for students only. There will be more information about the festivities as we get closer to the end of October. In the meantime, however, costumes are ready for purchase at local retailers. When preparing a costume for your child to wear at school, please adhere to the following guidelines.
*Costumes must be appropriate for school
*No masks, blood, super scary stuff, general iciness, or weapons
*No cigars or cigarette items
*No bare tummies
*Please keep hair and make-up simple
Specials Class Update - News from Music Class
Every Prairie student receives music instruction twice a week for 30 minutes. Here is what each grade is currently working on:
1st Grade is working on musical contrasts. We are learning to sing piano and forte (soft and loud). “Lucy Locket” was a game that we played where students sing soft if a student is far away from a hidden object, and louder as they get closer! We had a lot of fun taking turns and helping our classmates find the hidden pocket by only using our voices! Students are also working on hearing single and double sounds with our first music notes (quarter note & eighth notes)!
2nd Grade is working on their elements of music! We have practiced dynamics and tempo! Dynamics are the volume in music and tempo is the speed. We are learning vocabulary words like piano, forte, largo, and presto! We are performing rhythms and changing the elements based on the different symbols!
3rd Grade is working on musical form. Students perform given musical form and are creating their own as well! This week, “Down to the Baker’s Shop” is a song students learned with an ABA form. Students keep the A section the same, and are performing the B section differently!
4th Grade is working on elements of music and musical form. We reviewed our notes on the staff from last year and are using the song “The Staff Has Five” to practice the different elements (rhythm, pitch, dynamics, tempo). Using the different elements, the class can perform different musical forms.
5th Grade is working on elements of music and musical form. Students reviewed the different notes and rests, including sixteenth notes. We learned how to say “tikitiki” when performing the notes within a rhythm pattern. Using the different given rhythms or our own rhythm creations, students are performing the different elements within a form.
Concert Dates for the Year
Talent Show: Friday, December 6th
Choir sings at Sedgebrook: Thursday, December 19th; 7:00pm
5th grade concert: Thursday, January 30th; 6:30pm
2nd grade concert: Thursday, February 13th; 6:30pm
4th grade concert: Tuesday, March 10th; 6:30pm
Choir sings at Chicago Wolves Game: Sunday, March 15th
Choir & World Music Club concert: Thursday, May 14th; 6:30pm
PTO News
Parents the PTO needs your help! We are still in need of volunteers to help on school store days and to coordinate/plan other events throughout the year. If you are interested in volunteering please sign up through Membership toolkit. If you have any questions please reach out to the PTO at [email protected]. Thank you!
Help Prevent Missed Emails from School District 96
Some District 96 parents reported they did not receive their student's MAP scores sent by email (from [email protected]) on Sept. 6. Delivery by several specific email service providers proved to be problematic.
The District has received the following specific instructions to help prevent missed emails for parents/guardians who use one of the following email service providers: MSN, Outlook, Hotmail, or Live
• Log into MSN, Outlook, Hotmail, or Live from a computer workstation.
• Click the PEOPLE icon in the extreme lower left-hand corner of the page (next to the Mail and Calendar icons). A new window will open.
• On the new window, click NEW CONTACT.
• Type in Jeanne Spiller into the First Name and Last Name fields.
• Type in [email protected] into the email address field.
• Click CREATE.
(Ms. Spiller is the District's assistant superintendent for teaching and learning.)
Repeat this process multiple times as you wish, creating contacts for your building principal (names/email addresses follow) and E-NEWS 96: Betsy Fresen, [email protected]
Principal Names/Email Addresses:
Willow Grove: Jennifer Smith [email protected]
Country Meadows: Meghan Bird [email protected]
Ivy Hall: Robert Hanrahan [email protected]
Kildeer: Vail Kieser [email protected]
Prairie: Christine Pfaff [email protected]
Twin Groves: Jessica Barnes [email protected]
Woodlawn: Greg Grana [email protected]
If you use another service provider for your email than those listed above, you might consider following your service provider's instructions for adding contacts to your address book.