SES Eagles Are Buggy About Good Character

February 2015

Eagle Edition

Saukville Elementary School

Greetings Saukville Elementary Students, Parents and Community Members:

I hope you enjoy this issue of the Eagle Edition as it highlights some of the great things happening at Saukville Elementary School. We have just completed an outstanding second quarter and our students are learning and having tons of fun. We once again had a great turnout for our Student Showcase on February 5. Our Showcase is always a perfect opportunity for us to share all the wonderful things our students have been doing at SES in some of our specialty areas like music, art, and physical education. For those of you who could not attend we started off the evening with a “Happy” performance from our fourth grade choir students who give up recess to practice with Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Grover had the Art Café displayed in the cafeteria which was a gallery of student work as well as a banner for everyone to write on what they love about SES. Be sure to stop in the main hallway to see it. Mrs. Piontek kept families active while demonstrating some of the stations students are do doing during gym. The grade level areas all had great demonstrations of some fun things they are doing. The whole building was buzzing and it was wonderful to see so many families in attendance.

Parent/Teacher Conferences are coming up and our staff is very excited to discuss your child’s education and to show how far they have come during the first semester. I am also available if for any reason you would like stop by and discuss anything with me, or just let your teacher know if you would like me to join your conference. I hope to see everyone at conferences, but for some reason you are unable to attend this newsletter should give you an idea of how amazing our students and staff are at SES, and as always… GO EAGLES! Mr. Brakke

The Eagle Way

We do the right thing because it is the right

thing to do.

Trustworthiness Respect Responsibility Fairness Caring Citizenship

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Eagle Art News By Mrs. Grover It was another great quarter in the art room at SES! Lots of creative things going on! The students did a wonderful job with the decorations for the Winter Sing. Not only did they help make the decorations they helped put them up! Soon we will begin working on the set for Storybook Theatre!!

Some of the stand out art lessons from this past quarter at SES:

Fourth Grade students did a printmaking project, with many steps, new techniques and materials. I am so proud of the students and their results. I have never seen so many successful prints result from this project before! Awesome job fourth graders!

Third Grade tackled a radial symmetry printmaking project and again the results were stunning.

I have lots of exciting projects planned for the second semester at SES!

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Tuesday, March 3 3:30-7:30pm

Thursday, March 5 12:00-7:30pm

Conferences are by appointment only.

Upcoming SES Events

3/20—High Interest Day 4/17 – Storybook Theatre 4/26—Cupcake Sale

Watch the Tuesday Tidbits for more info.

Second Graders learned about the artist Wayne Thiebaud and his famous dessert paintings. In the style of Wayne Thiebaud the second graders created three dimensional ice-cream cones using paper mache! The projects look delicious!

First Graders looked at the art of Jim Dine and in his style created beautiful hearts!

Kindergarteners learned about the warm and cool colors and pattern and design. Using paint, oil pastels and other materials Kindergarteners created “Warm Mittens and Cold Skies”.

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Musical Notes By Mrs. Smith

As January began, second, third and fourth grade students reviewed songs from last fall’s Patriotic Unit and added several more. Between units we practiced note writing and percussion playing. Then, we began our second big unit of the school year: Spirituals. During this unit, we sing and play some of the enduring songs that were composed on plantations in the South before and during the Civil

War. Some of these Spirituals contained secret messages as people communicated their thoughts and plans and we have been adding a little geography and history to enrich our understanding. We’ve continued our keyboard note reading, reviewed autoharp and ukulele (3rd and 4th), added some percussion, and are immersing ourselves in a different culture and period of history.

Kindergarteners and first graders will continue working on Valentine and President’s Day Songs, while adding some tone chimes and boom-wackers (tuned plastic pipes) for extra fun!

It was wonderful to see so many students and families in the music room on Student Showcase Night. It is valuable to have a night like this, during which every student is able to show their parents what they have learned to play. This is my favorite night of our school year and I am so happy to be able to share our students’ accomplishments with their favorite fans: their parents, families, and friends!

Physical Education News By Mrs. Piontek Jump Rope for Heart!: Our event was AWESOME! We raised over $5000! Thanks to all the parents that came out to help! Students are sure excited about the new ducks this year! For a $5 donation, students received their first duck!

FUTP60: This has been an awesome adventure for us here. We were awarded a grant for $1000 for participating in FUTP60 and we have an additional $400 given to us for a signing bonus and an additional play we are working on! That money will be used for equipment needs to help keep us active and for “tastings” that we will do during snack time. Don’t forget to play every day for 60 minutes!

Health/Home Fitness: Third quarter, students do a big unit during physical education class on Health and Nutrition! Some of the areas we talk about include healthy eating choices, balancing food with activity, and how sugar can be a problem. We are also sent home a Home Fitness Activity so students can track their 60 minutes of play every day!

Shoes: Many students are forgetting to bring their tennis shoes back to school or they have shoes that are too small, have broken laces, or just don’t velcro close anymore. Take the time during conferences to check out your child’s shoes. It is important to have safe gym shoes that are tight on their feet and have good support so that your child can do their best each class! Also with the snow and wet, please always have an extra pair of socks in their back pack!

Gym Attire: Many students complain of being too warm during physical education class. We talk often about dressing in layers so that they are able to play in a t-shirt if they are hot. Help students dress for physical education days!

Units Covered: Students have been working hard on dance, cooperative stations, volleyball lead up skills and games, throwing, punting/kicking, rolling, catching, sportsmanship, and cooperation! Nutrition is coming UP!

4th Grade News

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Fourth Graders took time out of their busy day on Monday, January 19 to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. We talked about who Dr. Martin Luther King Junior was and the vision he had for our world. We also read a book entitled, “We Dream of a World”. After a brainstorming session, fourth graders thought about what they might be able to do to help carry out his dream in their own lives. They also thought about ways they would like to make the world we live in a better place by coming up with their own “dream”. Take a walk down the fourth grade hallway to read about what a better world looks like through the eyes of a fourth grader.

**************************Sledding Fun in 1st Grade

Thanks Mr. Stenz for the great pics!

Class Quilt: We have been talking a lot about families in January! We learned that families are people who love and care for each other. We have also learned how our families change, and that they can look very different from someone else’s family. Here is a picture of our class family quilts that we made to show the likenesses and differences in our families!

Humane Society: The first grade students learned a lot about the character trait of caring in December. We collected many items to donate to the Humane Society. These items will help all of the animals at the shelter who do not have homes. We also went to the Humane Society and learned how to care for animals, and talked about their wants and needs. Here we were showing how dogs tell you they are happy!

1st Grade News

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2nd Grade News Writing is an adventure in 2nd grade! We’ve been writing about living in a snow globe, going on a desert safari, and exploring a coral reef. Our writing adventures have taught us about new animals and habitats this quarter. We practiced writing main ideas, details, and ending sentences independently. Our writing adventure has been amazing!

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Donuts With Dad

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News from Guidance and the Psychology Corner By Ms. Brown, Psychology/Guidance

As always we have been busy in Guidance since our last newsletter. All grade levels have completed units on Empathy. We did many role plays and discussions regarding how to know how a classmate is feeling and what to do about it. Ask your child to tell you what “clues” to notice. We talked about wrinkles in their forehead=upset, relaxed arms=happy, scrunched nose=disgusted, wide eyes=scared or surprised. We practice being good detectives and using clues to figure out how our friends are feeling. Then we practiced what to do if someone is upset, scared, frustrated, or lonely. I am very proud of our SES Eagles, they are very in tune with their classmates.

We have now begun our unit on Emotion Management. The three steps that the students are learning include:

Use your stop signal For this step each student is asked to think of their own personal stop sign to visualize when they are

upset or experience strong emotions of any kind. Name your feeling

We practice feeling statements each week in class to help students recognize different emotions and build their emotional vocabulary.

I feel_________because ____________. Calm down

We are learning the calming techniques of counting to 10, deep breathing and using positive self talk.

Upcoming opportunities at Ozaukee Family Services, 885 Badger Circle Grafton, WI 53024, 262-376-7774

Let’s Play to Learn, Ages 2 & 3 Learn ways to stimulate your 2 and 3 year olds’ creativity and have fun doing it! Monday, March 9th: Let’s Make Some Music 10:00-11:00 am Childcare is available for children not in this age group.

Raising Your Spirited Child 2 Wednesdays, March 25 and April 1, 6:30-8:00 pm For parents of children who are more intense, persistent, resistant to change or generally spirited than most. Learn positive ways to work with your child’s spirit and temperament. $10 fee for Raising Your Spirited Child Workbook. Facilitator: Kathy Bergmann, Parent Educator, Ozaukee Family Services.

PARENT CAFÉ (Free Dinner and Childcare!) At the Parent Café, we share information and ideas that help us take care of ourselves, raise strong children and build strong relationships with our kids. Meet new people, share ideas and learn about local resources. Dates and Topics Thursday, February 26, 6:30-8: Navigating the Middle School years Thursday, March 19, 6:30-8: Technology and the Family Thursday, April 30, 6:30-8: Supporting Your Young Child’s Development Family Enrichment Center

Eagle Edition

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3rd Grade News

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Kindergarten Kapers

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The Kindergarten children took a trip to the Ozaukee Humane Society here in Saukville. The children learned that animals have their own ways to communicate what they are feeling. The children had a chance to observe and practice these important safety skills while they played with a puppy and a cat.

We are 100 days Smarter!!!

It was a fun day in Kindergarten as the children were invited to dress up as a 100 year old person. There were a lot of mustaches, gray hairs, canes, and even a walker! The children had a busy morning rotating classes and making a 100 day necklace, a 100 day crown and a 100 day snack.

Third Graders are climbing the mountain!! For second semester, third graders will be tracking the number of words read in our Accelerated Reader program. The challenge is to see which third grade class can read half a million words first. Once we reach the top, we will start over again! Watch to see how many times each class can win the “first to the top” blue ribbon!!