Author visit
Yangsook Choi grew up in Korea. She started drawing at age 4 and loved telling her grandma scary stories. After moving to New York to pursue her art, she has written and illustrated many books for young readers including, The Name Jar and New Cat.
We are fortunate to have her visit our school in November. She will be seeing all first and second-grade students. (Later in the year our older students will also have an opportunity to visit with an author) If you are interested in an autographed copy of her books, please fill out this form and send to school by October 28th.
PTO News
We’re so excited about our upcoming Monster Bash event on Friday, Oct. 25th from 6pm - 7:30pm. Many fun activities are planned. The cost is $10/child. Kids under 3 years and adults are free. Please click Prairie PTO MONSTER BASH for full details.
Family Educator Conferences
Our fall Family Educator Conferences will be held on Nov. 25th from 5pm-7pm and Nov. 26th from 2pm - 7pm. Sign-ups for conferences will be sent via email on Nov. 5th. An approximate time for the receipt of the Nov. 5th email will be shared in an upcoming Principal’s Message. The format of our fall conferences is teacher-led. In the spring, students will lead the conversation about their learning. Please know that if you cannot attend a conference during the scheduled days, your child’s teacher will work with you to set a time for a 15-minute phone conference. Babysitting services will be available during Family Educator Conferences. We will also be offering parent education sessions. More details will be coming soon about these.
Vacation Homework Requests
Though removing students from school for vacations is generally discouraged, we recognize the importance of family vacations and the experiences they provide for students. Please know that specific assignments replicating classroom instruction are not provided. Students are encouraged to read and journal while away from the classroom. Please read the Student Absence Due to Vacations section of our Parent/Student Handbook for full details.
Specials Classroom News - Music Update
1st Grade is continuing to work on musical contrasts. Students are performing and discussing contrasts: piano/forte dynamics, high/low pitches, ta/titi (quarter/eighth notes) sounds and symbols. We are using Halloween songs to practice identifying, performing, and discussing the contrasts! We are learning “Criss-Cross Applesauce” and “The Spider Thing”.
2nd Grade is continuing to work on their elements of music! This week students were practicing rhythm by dictating the symbols as they listened to a new song (“Must Be Halloween”). Students are playing instruments on the different notes and practicing different dynamics and tempos!
3rd Grade is continuing to work on musical form and elements of music. We are using songs that help prepare us to read music for recorder while practicing these vocabulary words!
4th Grade is continuing to work on elements of music and musical form. “Only in October” helps us connect music with emotion while working on rhythm, pitch, and melody.
5th Grade is continuing to work on elements of music and musical form. We are focusing on the respond target and how context influences different responses. We use our vocabulary to describe how performances change with emotion.
Want to see pictures & videos from the music room? Follow me on Twitter @MissKMcShane
REPEAT INFORMATION
Picture Retakes
Picture retakes are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 23rd. If you would like your child’s picture retaken, please send in the original package. If your child was absent on our first picture day, please send in the picture package payment on Oct. 23rd. Your child will give the payment to the photographer.