November brings many

exciting activities to the

Grant Community.

We have two very exciting

assemblies planned this

month.

Veteran’s Day

Assembly, Friday,

November 5th at 9:15

am

Student of the Quarter

Assembly, Wednesday,

November 10th at 2:00

pm

November is also a time for

reflection and giving

thanks. We celebrate

Thanksgiving as well as Anti

-Bully Week, giving our

students an opportunity to

be thankful for all that they

have and to reflect on how

they can make a difference

in our efforts to eradicate

bullying in our schools.

Anti-Bullying Week is

November 15-19, 2010 and

the theme is ―Taking Action

Together‖. The Grant

Community will take part in

several activities to spread

the word about bullying

prevention and have fun

while we are doing it. We

will celebrate the week

with our families on

Thursday, November 18th

during our potluck dinner,

where families can bring in

a dish that represents and

celebrates their culture.

The teachers at Grant have

been working hard to

implement research based

strategies to reach all

learners in our school. We

have a building wide

intervention program where

students are given

individualized instruction

based on their learning

needs. Teachers are also

collaborating in Teacher

Based Teams (TBTs) to

make instructional

adjustments or plans based

on real-time student data.

Both of these strategies are

already proving to be

successful as we make gains

in our learning community.

Happy November Grant!

Roxann R. Ramsey

Principal

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

PARENT CONFERENCES

Parent conferences this year are scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 10, through Friday, Nov. 12, 2010. If you have not made an appointment with your child’s teacher, please call the main office to schedule a

time to meet. Parents will receive their chil-dren’s report cards at these conferences. This is also the time to dis-cuss your children’s pro-gress so far this school year.

Schedule of Conferences Wed., Nov. 10th —4:00 pm—7:40 pm Thurs., Nov. 11th —12:20 pm– 7:40 pm Fri., Nov. 12th—8:20 am—10:40 am

CHALK TALK

Principal: Roxann R. Ramsey

Secretary: Jenifer Machock

November 2010

Volume 1, Issue 3

Class Updates 2-3

ODE Recognition 4-5

PTA News 7-12

Bully Prevention 13-15

Home School Connection 16-19

Lunch Menu 20-21

District Message 22

Inside this issue:

Important Dates:

Tuesday, Nov. 2nd—PTA Bake Sale

Tuesday, Nov. 2nd—Reflections,

3:05 pm

Friday, Nov. 5th—Veteran’s Day

Assembly

Tuesday, Nov. 9th—PTA Meeting,

9:15 am

Tuesday, Nov. 8th—Reflections,

3:05 pm

Wednesday, Nov. 10th—Student of

the Quarter Assembly 2:00 pm

Wednesday, Nov. 10th—12th—

CONFERENCES (NO SCHOOL FOR

STUDENTS November 11th or

12th)

Tuesday, Nov. 16th—Reflections,

3:05 pm

Wednesday, Nov. 17th—PICTURE

RETAKES

Thursday, Nov. 18th—Taking

Action Together Family Pot-

luck, 6:00 pm

Wednesday, Nov. 24—Nov. 26—

Thanksgiving Holiday NO

SCHOOL

GRANT

ELEMENTARY

SCHOOL

toward tapping out short

vowel words, consonant

diagraphs and spelling

sentences. Our STAR

block groups continue with

reading leveled books and

retelling projects. The

first grades are writing

fiction stories about fish.

In social studies we are

beginning our family

unite, which includes

learning about the

Thanksgiving holiday.

Mrs. Miles

Miss Nelson

Busy times in first grade!

We are working on

learning patterns, telling

time in half hour and

counting with dimes. We

now know how to use a

number line to add and

subtract.

Our reading is moving

The Kindergarten classes

are enjoying working in

our afternoon STAR Block.

We are looking forward to

attending the Veteran’s

Day Assembly on Friday,

November 5, 2010. The

Kindergarten classes,

along with Mrs. Revy, will

be decorating the Grant

School main office display

case. It will be a tribute

to our veterans using a

patriotic theme.

Mrs. Keane

Ms. Tovtin

drawn cart. I liked the trip a lot

because my mom was there. A lot

of other moms came too. Lastly, it

was time to go. I didn’t want to

leave, but I was pooped. So I sat

next to my mom on the bus and fell

asleep. It was an amazing day.

By: Nola Williams-Riseng, grade 2

On a sunny day in October my sec-

ond grade class went to Lake Farm-

park. First, we went into the bal-

loon room. Next, we made apple

cider. It tasted very good. We had

lunch outside on the picnic tables.

We played on the playground. Af-

ter lunch we milked a cow. A bor-

der collie dog showed us how he

The Second Graders First Field

Trip!

On a sunny, warm day in October

my second grade class went to Lake

Farmpark in Kirtland, Ohio.

First, we went to the balloon room.

Then, we went to a field where a

woman showed us how a border

collie dog got the sheep where she

wanted them. Next, we made ap-

ple cider by pressing apples. Later,

we milked a cow. It was fun, but no

milk came out for me! Then, we

visited the sheep, llamas, and pigs.

Finally, we met the bunnies, tur-

keys, and chickens. We learned

about the many things we get from

corn. We went back by a horse

works with sheep on the farm. It

was awesome. We dug up pota-

toes. There were horsed, pigs,

llamas, and goats on the farm. We

sat on a wagon. We learned about

corn too. It was a fun day!

By: Tomaserin Laroque

Master Artist of the Month:

Wassily Kandinsky

Second graders will be introduced

to Kandinsky, complete an art pro-

ject, and write about this famous

artist. For more information, visit

the teacher website.

FIRST GRADE UPDATE

KINDERGARTEN UPDATE

SECOND GRADE UPDATE

CHALK TALK

Page 2

Volume 1, I ssue 3

It’s hard to believe that we are wrapping up the first quarter of school already! Your children are well into the swing of things by now. We just finished up Unit 2 in math and are ready to move on to Unit 3 which focuses on linear measures and area. We will be studying government and community life in social

studies, and in science, we are finishing up our study of life cycles. Our author of the month for November is Beverly Cleary, and our artist of the month is Norman Rockwell. We are really looking forward to meeting with all of you at conferences. Please look for reminder slips to come home in your

child’s Thursday

folder. See you soon.

Mrs. Finnegan Mrs. Hickey

thanks to contacts of our

media specialist, Jennifer

Johnson. The students have

all been working really hard

and the books are looking

fantastic! It will be exciting

when they all arrive bound

and ready to send home this

Apollo fourth and fifth

graders have been busy

working on a book making

project this month. The

books are about themselves

and their families. The books

will be typed, edited,

illustrated and published

spring! Congratulations to all

the soon to be authors.

Mrs. Day

Mrs. Holland

Mrs. Mansell

THIRD GRADE UPDATE

FIFTH GRADE & GT UPDATE

Page 3

Congratulations Grant! The students, families and staff

are all Excellent with Distinction!

GRANT PTA NEWS

Thanks to everyone for a great Book Fair and Fall Dance!

Friday, October 29th: 2:30pm: Classroom Holiday Parties

Monday, November 1st: PTA Reflections Library Program (to be held in the classrooms) - Please see

the November Chalk Talk for additional information about the PTA Reflections Program.

PTA Reflections Workshop Schedule:

Tuesday, November 2: After School Visual Arts Workshop: 3:05 pm - 4:15 pm

The Reflections Committee will host an after school workshop and provide materials to

help students begin, continue or complete their visual artwork for submission.

Tuesday, November 9: After School Photography Workshop 3:05 pm - 4:15 pm

Students will learn basic techniques of using original photographs to create art. Students will

have the opportunity to take some photographs of their own for submission.

Tuesday, November 16: After School Literature Workshop 3:05 pm - 4:15 pm

The Reflections Committee will host an after school workshop to encourage and support

students to begin, continue or complete their literature entries for submission.

Your student must have a permission slip to attend any of the PTA Reflections workshops.

Please be sure to check the new ChalkTalk on-line at http://www.lakewoodcityschools.org/

school_newsletters.aspx?schoolID=5 starting Monday, Nov 1st.

Tuesday, November 2nd: Election Day Bake Sale: if you are interested in working the table that day

please contact Karen Burns at pants@themonkeyhouse.us

All bakers are welcome to send in goodies.

TAKING ACTION TOGETHER

As part of the elementary bullying prevention program, Grant will be taking part in the national

initiative, Taking Action Together, the week of November 15. As appropriate to the grade level, we will focus our attentions on what bullying is, how to handle it, and the role of bystanders. We will also provide resources for parents to use with

their children.

TAKING ACTION TOGETHER A Community Celebration

Come join the Grant Community as we celebrate diversity, culture and tradition.

We will host a family potluck where families are encouraged to bring a dish that

represents their culture or a family tradition. Grant embraces our differences

and our focus will be to accept one another for all of our unique qualities as we

―Take Action Together‖ against bullying during anti-bullying week.

Please join us!

When: Thursday, November 18, 2010

Where: Grant Elementary School

Time: 6:00 pm—7:30 pm

Who: All community members who are interested in bully prevention and

celebrating diversity

R.S.V.P. To Sue Wilhelm at 216.227.5536 or Roberta Marcinek at 216.529.4705

by Friday, November 12, 2010

Return to Grant Elementary by Friday, November 12, 2010

Family Name:_____________________________ Number Attending:_______

(PLEASE PRINT)

Grant School Mission

Grant School is a community of learners

committed to excellence. In partnership with

the family and the community we provide:

A nurturing, peaceful school climate,

Meaningful curriculum reflecting real life

connections with high standards and

challenge for all,

Appropriate individualized instruction, and

Preparation for success in middle school and a

desire for life long learning

some class sizes throughout the district are still larger than we would like, we are grateful to have received money from the federal Education Jobs Fund that allowed us to hire 7.5 teachers in September. These teachers were placed in elementary classrooms that had the largest number of students thus alleviating some of the problem. It is important to remember that this money is one-time money that will cover the teachers’ salaries for this year and next school year only. Despite our district’s challenges that I laid out at the meetings, student achievement continues to improve in our schools. For example, earlier this fall academic honors were announced for the National Merit Scholarship Competition and the Advanced Placement Scholars program. Lakewood High has a long history of turning out stellar scholars who are recognized by these prestigious programs and this year was no

Thank you to those of you who attended one of our Community Conversation sessions in October. It is very helpful for us to keep in touch with your thoughts. I will continue to share my thoughts with you here and in my Superintendent’s Message that can be found on our district web site, www.lakewoodcityschools.org. Part of the discussion at these meetings dealt with Ohio’s budget problems in our current economy and the potential impacts on our future state funding for our schools. There are many forces beyond our control that could negatively affect our bottom line as far as state funding goes. I also shared that we are not alone as a school district in experiencing these difficulties and that districts across the country are struggling in the same way. Some of the concerns from the meeting participants centered on class sizes. I shared with the audience that although

exception. Four LHS seniors were named National Merit Semifinalists, three were named National Merit Commended Scholars and 35 were named AP Scholars. The National Merit Semifinalists – Brian Brink, Michael Pizzo, Kevin Ritter and Carter Strong – scored in the top 1% of PSAT scores in the state and are now eligible to compete for more than $16 million in scholarship money. Congratulations to these students who are among many that make our community proud! Dr. P. Joseph Madak Superintendent Board of Education Betsy Shaughnessy, President Matthew John Markling, Vice President Linda Beebe Edward Favre John Kamkutis

DISTRICT MESSAGE

1470 Victoria Avenue

Lakewood, Ohio 44107

Phone: 216.529.4217

Absence Line: 216.529.4302

Fax: 216.227.5535

Website: www.lakewoodschools.org

―Be the Best You Can Be Even

When No One is Looking‖

GRANT ELEMENTARY

SCHOOL