SCS Beginning Band Roll Out

SCS BEGINNING BAND (Concert Band) ROLLOUT SCHEDULE:

THURSDAY, 8/31:  Instrument Demonstration, 8:30-9:15.  All 5th graders attend

FRIDAY, 9/1:  Beginning Band meeting, 10:20-11:00.  Interested 5th graders attend.

TUESDAY, 9/5:  Beginning Band enrollment forms due by the end of the day

WEDNESDAY, 9/6:  Beginning Band meeting, 10:20-11:00 (enrolled students only)

THURSDAY, 9/7:  Beginning Band meeting, 10:20-11:00 (enrolled students only)

Ellis Music Instrument Delivery Night, 6:30pm, cafeteria (all enrolled students attend)

FRIDAY, 9/8:  Lesson groups and schedule begin (students have two quick lessons in 6 school days, then a lesson approximately every two weeks.

MONDAY, 11/27:  Concert Band rehearsals begin (Monday, Tuesday, & Fridays, 10:20-11:00)

1st Day of School! Welcome to 2017-2018

Dear Families,
     Welcome tot he 2017-2018 school year!  5th Grade had a collaborative start to school today!  As a 5th Grade we spent time in our own classroom as well as in our new learning commons, at Lunch and Recess and at our Essential Arts Classes.  Our class had Art with Mr. Boardman and were amazed to see his new organized and cleaned out space!  It looks amazing!  We spent the class drawing ourselves as CATS!  We are all SCS CATS!  It was intriguing to see the different perspectives we all took to draw our cats ( side view, head on, with a body, just the face)  These will be displayed in the hall and is a project being done by grades Kindergarten thru 5th Grade!





5th Graders spent the morning participating in many team building activities that reacquainted us with one another!  We played Rock, Paper, Scissors and crowned three team champions, Tamiyah, Ella and Isaiah!  We worked to respect our new learning commons by "Leaving No Trace."  Spaces should be kept as clean as we see them upon arrival each day.  Look at how beautiful our new cubbies and hooks are!  We practiced Leave No Trace in the cafeteria today, too.  Students cleaned up all their trash, checked the floors and listened respectfully to all of Principal Celmer's directions and requests!  Outside at recess 180 students listened to Principal Sivo's expectations for the playground and had one of the best recess I have seen in a while.  New boundaries were explained, students made wise choices and many adults were there to walk around and engage the students in Safe, Responsible and Respectful play!

 This afternoon we used our new white board tables to find Uncommon Commonalities!  I overheard the most thoughtful, polite conversations for over 30 minutes!  Not only did we find out our commonalities, we came up with some expectations for team work! Students demonstrated these expectations:     1. Take turns 2. Listen to the speaker 3. Find consensus 4. Respect every idea 5. Stay on task 6. Compromise 7. Take care of materials 8. Celebrate decisions 9. Keep a positive attitude 10. Support everyone in the group! This was a great way for us to get to know our new friend Tessa and for us to teach her all about us!  Lastly, I hope that your students shared about their day with you!  I look forward to learning and growing tomorrow!      



   

Meet Vasanthi!

Summer Reading!

Dear Class and Families,
    I hope your first 2 weeks of Summer Vacation are off to a great start!  I just wanted to write to say I finished two really good books!  How to Speak Dolphin by Giny Rorby and ECHO by Pam Munoz Ryan.  Both of these books were recommended and passed on to me by Gigi.  That's enough to let you know they are both really good books.  Just a quick gist on each book.  How to Speak Dolphin is book similar to Rules and tells the story of a young girl and her autistic half brother.  ECHO tells 3 stories in one an you must read to find
out what connects all three main characters.  Full of adventure and suspense! The book is thick, but the font is pretty big and you can get through it quick! I hope you have all visited the library and are enjoying some good outside play time!
Vasanthi

Summer Reading!

Dear Families,

It is hard to believe that fourth grade is almost over. Your children have worked hard this year and have grown in so many ways. As you look ahead to summer, I hope that your calendars are filled with rest, relaxation, and fun. I also hope your summer is filled with reading!

As we close out our school year, the fourth grade will be hosting a book exchange to encourage, excite, and get new titles in the hands of kids. Over the weekend, please help your child look through their shelves to find gently used books that they are no longer interested in, but would be a great book for a friend.  Have them bring them into school by Wednesday, June 14th. On Thursday June 15th, kids will exchange them!  

As an added layer of excitement, we will be helping children create summer book boxes.  In it will be new books acquired from the book swap, a calendar, and a list of 4 titles they would like to read over the summer.  Please send in one empty shoe box ASAP that your child can use for this purpose.  Over the course of the next week we will have book talks to build excitement around new titles.  We hope to get everyone energized and organized about summer reading!  We will even have a visit from Katie, the Pierson Library Librarian!

Please let me know if you have any questions. I am looking forward to the exchange and summer reading!

Fondly,

Vasanthi

Dates to remember:

ASAP-- a shoe box

Wednesday, June 14 - All books that will be exchanged should be at SCS

Thursday, June 15th- Our book exchange!

Did you know…?

• The best predictor of summer loss or summer gain is whether or not a child reads during the summer.  And the best predictor of whether a child reads is whether or not he or she has access to books. (Allington, McGill-Franzen, 2003)
• Children who read four or more books over the summer fare better on reading-comprehension tests in the fall than their peers who read one or no books over the summer.  (Kim, 2004)
• The two largest contributions to reading achievement are access to interesting books and student choice of the books they read. (Guthrie and Humenick 2004)
• Check out this article!