Upcoming Events

Nov. 20: Lost and Found donated in the afternoon Nov. 21: Applebee’s Pancake Feed 7:30am-10am

Nov. 24: Direct Donations extended till today

Nov. 25 - 27: No School (Fall Recess)

Dec. 1st : LH Swim Night at the indoor Aquatic Center from 5:30-7:45pm - 5th Grade Committee Meeting 6:30pm Library Dec. 8th : PTO Meeting at 6:30pm Dec. 18th : Winter Parties 3:00pm in classrooms Dec. 21st – Jan. 5th: No School (Winter Recess) Jan. 6th: Classes Resume Jan. 15th: Langston Hughes Movie Night 6:30pm

A note from your principal: Jacquelyn Mickel

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES If you did not have an opportunity to meet with your student’s teacher during conferences, please schedule a time to meet with him/her for a few minutes. PLEASE COMPLETE OUR PARENT SURVEY If you have not had a chance to take our School Survey,

please take a moment before Dec. 1st to complete it. We

value your thoughts and opinions.

Click the link below to start the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JBYGN3X

The data collected in the survey will be reviewed by our Building Leadership Team our Site Council and then with the entire staff. The results of the survey will be posted on the school website in January. PARKING LOT REMINDERS

Load and unload in the orange zone. If your

car is in the orange zone your student should

be exiting or entering your vehicle.

Siblings and car pools, should stand with the

youngest student in their grade level line.

All students should enter and exit their car

curb side-they should not exit street side and

parents should stay inside the vehicle. This may

mean car seats need to be moved.

Vehicles should stay in the line. Please do not

pull out of line.

Please Do Not Turn Left when exiting the

parking lot between 8:30-9:00 and 3:30-

4:00. Turning left during these times really

slows down the parking lot traffic.

At the: Indoor Aquatic Center

Dec. 1st 5:30-7:45pm

Music Programs for 2015-2016

October 27th: 5h Grade 6:30 p.m. March 1st: Kindergarten 6:30 p.m.

November 17th: 3rd Grade 6:30 p.m. April 19th: 1st Grade 6:30 p.m.

4th Grade 7:30 p.m. 2nd Grade 7:30 p.m.

PTO Direct Donation Fundraiser has been been extended through Tuesday, Nov 24

Please mark the outside of the envelope for the

Fundraiser if not already preprinted.

Alternatively, you may use Paypal through our

Langston Hughes PTO Facebook page

www.Facebook.com/LangstonHughesElementaryPTO

to donate toward our 2015 goal of $9,000!

Thank you so much for your generous donations!

Counselor’s Corner: 1.) The holiday season can be very stressful for some of our kids. It is a time that can create a hyper focus on the loss of someone they loved, loss of a pet, grief over divorce, or sadness over someone who moved. If your children are experiencing any of this stress and you think I might be able to help, please don’t hesitate to contact me. While I don’t have a “magic wand”, I may have some strategies or ideas that could be helpful. 2.) If your family is in need of food, toys for the holidays (Toys for Tots), utilities, or at risk of being homeless, PLEASE contact me. I am happy to share community resource information and help you get hooked up with helpful agencies. Admittedly, resources are much more scarce but they are there. We will work together to try to find them. 3.) The world events recently, including the terrorist attacks in Lebanon and Paris, and the earthquake in Japan, can affect our children. Even when we try to protect them from seeing it, they still may hear others discuss it elsewhere and be concerned. This is a very helpful link to check out http://www.heysigmund.com/how-to-talk-to-kids-and-teens-about-world-trauma/. It provides tips for having developmentally appropriate discussions with children about world trauma. As always, I’m happy to talk with you as well. Kim Jennings Counselor, Langston Hughes Elementary School Contact information is kenning@usd497.org or 785-330-2362.

NEW SCHOOL FACEBOOK PAGE

If you like Facebook, check out our new Langston Hughes Elementary

School Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/LangstonHugheselementary/

I you have a moment,

please …

Congratulations to Mike Kelly, Our Langston Hughes

Friends of Education 2015-2016 Award Recipient.

Mike, Thank you for all you have done for our school!

Nov.23 – Nov.24: Timothy Bateman, Daniel Benally

Nov. 30 – Dec.04: Jeff Kimmel, Erik Sartorius, Adam

Staszkiewicz, Rick Goscha, Billy Mehojah

Please arrive at 8:25am and check in at the office

with your student(s). If you do not have a Watch

D.O.G. shirt, you may borrow one for the day.

Please call 785-832-5890 to sign up to be a Watch Dog.

Marathon Club News:

Marathon Club continues to meet Monday mornings at 8am and Wednesday afternoons after school until Wednesday, December 9th. On Monday, December 7th we will have hot chocolate and muffins, and on Wednesday, December 9th we will have a “Jingle Run” to celebrate the end of the fall season (weather permitting). It is starting to get a bit brisk on the trail….so, remember your layers, hats and gloves. Also, be checking your email for any marathon club cancellations due to inclement weather. Don’t forget your “BOBCAT TRACKER,” but if you do forget your tracker please still come to marathon club and we can help you out.

- See you on the trail!

www.Facebook.com/LangstonHughesElementaryPTO

Langston Hughes 5th Graders Present:

Pancake Breakfast

Nov. 21st, 2015 | 7:30-10:00AM Applebee’s | 3900 W. 6th St., Lawrence

It’s not too late, you can buy tickets at the door!

Candid pictures needed for yearbook! We are collecting candid pictures to possibly be used in the Yearbook. Candid pictures may include pictures of parties, music programs, field trips, special events, etc. Pictures that include at least 3 kiddos are fantastic! Higher resolution pictures work the best Please email pictures to Angela Randall orangeku01@hotmail.com or submit online directly to Lifetouch: community.lifetouch.com (access code is MAPBHF). Please label all pictures with grade and teacher. Thanks in advance! Yearbook Committee

*All proceeds benefit the 5th Grade Class at Langston Hughes Elementary School.

$6 Per

plate

PTO News:

Please join us for our next PTO meeting on December 8 at 6:30 in the library. Bring the kids along for some free winter fun. They will be enjoying hot chocolate and cookies while watching THE POLAR EXPRESS. There will also be a fun craft project for them. Don't miss out on this fun! The PTO board has moved to make a slight adjustment to the PTO bylaws. Currently the PTO president, VP, treasurer, and school secretary are permitted to sign checks issued by PTO. It has been purposed to change this to allow the PTO president, VP, treasurer, and (PTO) secretary to sign checks. This will be voted on for change at the next PTO meeting. Langston Hughes Family Swim Night at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center will be December 1 from 5:30-7:45. We hope to see you there! Langston Hughes Family Movie Night will be January 15 at 6:30 at the school. Please join us for some family fun! We are still in need of a Carnival committee chair and someone to organize concessions for carnival. Please contact Sarah Hoskinson (sarahhoskinson@yahoo.com) if you are interested. Keep sending in those Box Tops We will collect box tops right after Thanksgiving break, so don't forget to bring those box tops to school. The class with the most box tops will get a treat courtesy of PTO! Sarah Hoskinson – PTO President 785-979-1690 / sarahhoskinson@yahoo.com

Here’s what’s happening in the Learning Commons! Kinders – Letter Stations are still continuing, but we’re getting closer to the end. In between some of our Letter Stations, students worked hard on memorizing and illustrating a poem from Truckery Rhymes by Jon Scieszka. In the event you missed viewing your student’s project at conferences, be sure to go to the Learning Commons website to access a link for it!

1st – For first grade classes, we’ve been incorporating the science unit on animal adaptations for the past few weeks of library. After reading aloud What Would You do with a Tail like this? and discussing various features and adaptations classes have previously studied, students picked the features for body covering, feet, and mouth randomly from a bucket. Next, they determined how this particular feature helps an animal. Students then used these features to create a new type of animal and draw a picture of it. Their picture and animal description was presented through an app called Audioboom as a way to share their projects via media. Be sure to go to the Learning Commons website in case you missed your student’s project at conferences!

2nd – These friends have continued to work on their Kevin Henkes “mouse books” projects. For this activity, students read one of the “mouse books” and identified the main character, the problem, and the message or lesson of the story. After turning their responses into a paragraph and creating an illustration students were instructed on how to navigate through the AudioBoom app. Students then had the challenge of recording and uploading their project INDEPENDENTLY! If you didn’t have they opportunity to view them at conferences, be sure to go to the Learning Commons website!

3rd – Students in third grade have spent several weeks writing their own creative stories as a tie-in to their butterfly unit in science. We began this process by first viewing an ebook about the butterfly life cycle and then reading aloud a fiction story called Houdini the Amazing Caterpillar. Like Houdini, the main character in the book, the main character in students’ books also go through the life stages of a butterfly. They individually wrote their rough drafts and created sketches during various library lessons prior to publishing their stories using an app called My Story Creator for Kids. These projects can be seen on the Learning Commons website in the event you weren’t able to see them during conferences.

4th – We have been very busy exploring and discussing topics that tie into the “Creating Kansas” unit of 4th grade. This first began with tying economic terms into trails/pioneers through the picture storybook Dandelions by Eve Bunting. We then spent a couple weeks on Native American perspective in relation to westward expansion and trails/pioneers; a perspective which might not often be presented as students learn about this topic in our nation’s history. Students were able to carry their new knowledge and perspective into our most recent lesson, which integrated the right to vote and how various groups have attained that right and responsibility throughout the years. Please be sure to take a look at our 4th grade renditions of Alphabet School that were inspired by our famous illustrator visit, Stephen Johnson. You can access them through the Learning Commons website if by chance you didn’t have the opportunity to watch them at conferences.

5th – Our oldest bobcats have been putting their knowledge of being good digital citizens to use by creating their final animated presentations about being safe, respectful, and responsible online. They have also been working on their “someday” activities based on the storybook Someday by Eileen Spinelli. Be sure to view their internet safety animations on the Learning Commons website if you missed them at conferences. Enjoy your books! ~Mrs. Williams http://langstonlearningcommons.weebly.com/

November Safe Routes to School note:

Let’s get visible

Daylight Savings Time means that the days will get darker earlier – but that doesn’t mean you have to stop walking and biking to school! Just make sure that you are taking extra care to see others and make sure others can see you.

Here are suggestions to help keep you safe while walking and biking: Wear bright, reflective clothing and shoes when walking or biking.

Be aware of vehicles around you. Make eye contact with the driver before crossing in front of vehicles.

Don't assume that cars see you or are going to stop.

Always use crosswalks and signals. In one Safe Kids study, teens who had been hit by a vehicle, or had a close

call, more frequently reported crossing in the middle of the block and running across the street than teens

who hadn’t been hit or had a near miss.

Drivers: Expect and slow down for pedestrians in popular walking areas, around schools and parks, and

near crosswalks

Always look up and pay extra attention when using headphones, cell phones or electronic devices. Make it a rule to put devices down when crossing the street. For headphones, pull them down or turn off the volume before crossing the street. Walk with your friends! Encourage your friends and neighbors to continue walking and biking to school together all year round. Grab your reflective gear and we will see you on the route to school!

Learn More: http://www.safekids.org/sites/default/files/documents/ResearchReports/skw_pedestrian_study_2014_final.pdf http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/sites/default/files/TeachingChildrentoWalkSafely.pdf