December 2015

Grand Prairie News A Word from the Office

Welcome to December and the wonderful hustle and bustle of the holiday season! It is such a perfect time to enjoy our families and the wonderful traditions that our ancestors have celebrated for generations. At Grand Prairie the students and staff are eagerly looking forward to learning about the many different types of winter celebrations and traditions from cultures around the world! Some of the Grand Prairie traditions that are celebrated during December are the All-School sing along ,the second grade tradition of gingerbread house making, and of course our classroom winter parties. No matter what your beliefs are or what traditions and customs you follow, the one thing we can all do is help out someone in need. Regardless of the situations we find ourselves in, most often there is someone out there who is in a tougher one. With this in mind, we want to thank our students and their families for their generosity and thoughtfulness in helping to make the holidays joyful for our troops overseas. Giving to others is a wonderful way to show our children the joys of being generous and supporting the Character Counts pillar of Caring! Finally, thank you all for your efforts to support your child’s educational experience. Together we make Grand Prairie an excellent place to grow and learn. We hope last week’s Parent Teacher Conferences were informative! Remember, your child’s teacher, Mr. Rhoads, or myself are always available to answer any questions you may have concerning your child’s educational experience. Our school is a wonderful learning environment, not because of the physical structure, but because of the people in it, the parents, students and staff. As a staff, we wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season, full of memories and moments that will last forever. Sincerely, Mrs. Nelson and Mr. Rhoads

LOST AND FOUND—Help! Please be sure to put your child’s name on all jackets, hooded sweatshirts, lunch boxes, etc. We collected three tables of lost articles this Fall alone! We can get them back to their owner if we have a name! Thanks for your help in this matter! THANK YOU Grand Prairie students, families, friends, and staff for your support for our troops through your generous donations and popsicle sales. With your help, we were able to fill 46 boxes full of holiday goodies for our soldiers overseas. Students are looking forward to hearing from the soldiers!

Just a reminder, that we will have another popsicle day on Friday, December 11th to help offset the cost of the shipping. Thank you again for your ongoing support of Our Troops! Becky Cleveland and Staff

Important Dates  December 1st—FSP General Meeting @ GP 9:30 am  December 3rd—Band Boosters Hot Lunch @ GP  December 8th thru 11th—FSP Holiday Shoppe @ GP  December 10th—Holidays Around the World @ HCMS 5:30-7:30 pm  December 10th—Athletic Boosters Hot Lunch @ GP  December 11th—All District Popsicle Day/Support the Troops  December 15th—Education Foundation Mtg. @ GP 9:30 am  December 16th—Board of Education Mtg. @ GP 7 pm  December 17th—FSP Hot Lunch @ GP  December 17th—2nd grade Gingerbread Houses - Purple @ 12:30 pm - Green @ 1:10 pm - Gold @ 1:45 pm  December 18th—Winter Holiday Parties  December 18th—Early Dismissal (Extended Day kindergarten 12:30) (Full day kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade at 2:00) PB-No Attendance  December 21 thru January 1— Winter Break (No School)

News You Need to Know for December!! “It’s the holiday season!” Winter parties will be held on Friday, December 18th from 1:00-1:45 This is an early dismissal day so all children will be dismissed an hour early which is 2:00. We are asking that volunteers plan on getting to school no earlier than 12:45 because we have students who are still at lunch. Parties will need to come to a close by 1:45 and all adults will be asked to be out of the building as quickly as possible so we can begin our regular dismissal at 1:55. For the safety of all, we have made it a practice not dismiss bus and car rider students out into the hallways until all adults have exited. Thank you for understanding! The parking lot gets crowed so you may want to carpool if you can! Again for safety, it is imperative that cars are not parked along the curbs in either parking lot so that in the event of an emergency, Frankfort fire, etc. can access, as well as busses and cars having the ability to pick up students on time.

Winter Weather Wear—Dressing to Stay Warm As we approach the colder weather, we are committed to giving your child the opportunity for fresh air and movement each morning and afternoon! It is important that students come to school dressed to go outside for recess. We go outside in the morning and at lunch unless it is determined that conditions are too harsh. Please have your child prepared to go outside every day and remind them to take their coat, hat, etc. to recess each day. Please be sure to put your child’s name in all outdoor clothing! You would be surprised what gets lost! Thanks for your help as we try to make sure our Lost and Found table remains empty!!

Notes from Nurse Jean Dyer! In January, your child will have their vision and hearing screened at Grand Prairie. The Illinois Department of Public Health mandates vision screening for all Pre-school, kindergarten, second grades, special education students, teacher referrals, and students new to the district. Hearing is mandated for all Pre-school, kindergarten, first, and second grade, special education students, students new to the district and teacher referral. If your child does not pass our screening twice, we will let you know if your child will need a follow-up examination by your own doctor. Since academic learning is mainly visual, and eye diseases and vision problems are best detected and treated early, I must inform you the vision and hearing screening is not a substitute for an eye exam by an eye doctor or an inner ear exam by an ENT/hearing specialist. Since academic learning is mainly visual, and eye diseases and vision problems are best detected and treated early, I must inform you the vision and hearing screening is not a substitute for an eye exam by an eye doctor or an inner ear exam by an ENT/hearing specialist. If you have any questions, you can contact me at Grand Prairie School, 469-3366.

News from FSP and Education Foundation 

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The FSP Holiday Shoppe is just around the corner beginning Tuesday, December 8th through Thursday, December 11th. Your child’s teacher can provide you with the day and time they will be visiting the FSP Holiday Shoppe. Back by popular demand—Holidays Around the World will be held on Thursday, Dec. 10 from 5:30-7:30 at Hickory Creek Middle School. All district 157c students and their families are invited to attend this wonderful, festive event! Mr. Rhoads and I will be there to greet you as together we learn about all the traditions celebrated around the world!! This is an event not to miss Grand Prairie! Hope to see you there!!

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“And Now a Word from our classrooms!” Kindergarten Celebrates the 50th day of school

Kindergarten

On Monday, November 2nd, all the kindergarten students at Grand Prairie had fun celebrating the 50th Day of school together. The students came to school dressed up in their 1950’s attire. The students were decked out in poodle skirts, scarves, pony tails, jeans, white t-shirts, and slicked back hair. This helped to set the mood for excitement and celebration. Many 50’s activities took place in the classroom. We made 50 tally marks, counted to 50, 50’s dot-to-dot, and much more. The day ended with a 50’s sock hop. All were dancing to 50’s music and hula hooping. I think Principal Nelson and Principal Rhoads were even spotted doing the twist!! The students and teachers all had a fun time celebrating the 50th day of school together. Before we know it, the 100th day of school will be here.

First Grade

Have you filled a bucket today?!

Mrs. Jorgensen’s First Graders have been busy writing How- To stories! Some books we’ve written include how to carve a pumpkin, how to make cupcakes, how to do a cartwheel, how to play football. Here is an example of our great writing:

If you want to be an awesome first grader, then read this book! First, be a bucket filler and be nice to your friends. Say “good job” and “you are my friend”. Give compliments and include everyone. Second, listen to whoever is talking. They could be saying something very important! Last, you should be responsible! Stay on task, do your work, follow the rules. Now it’s YOUR turn to be an awesome first grader! First grade is the BEST!

Science ROCKS! The 2nd graders in Mrs. Kora’s room did some fun and exciting experiments while learning about Earth science. The students are learning about Earth events, processes that have shaped the Earth’s land, and Earth materials. First, students took a close look at volcanic rock and rubbed rocks together to simulate weathering. Then, they each had a big tub of river rock that they had to sort with various sizes of screens. They had to sift until they had a tub of sand leftover. Next, they observed sand and compared rubbings from different grades of sandpaper. Last, they researched different Earth materials and their uses. The children all made clay beads as a memento of their investigation of Earth materials. We had so much doing science and we can’t wait to share our exciting experiments with the rest of 2nd grade!

Second Grade

Mrs. Kora’s 2nd Grade Class

In the month of November, Mrs. Brannigan, Ms. Dziedzic & Mrs.

Preschool

Oswald have been passing out feathers to all of our preschool

students in preparation for our Preschool Feast. The students learned that the Sioux Indians created the traditional Indian Headdress and only the most brave and powerful of the tribe wore headdresses. The warrior Indians earned a feather each time they did something the tribe felt was a brave act. We put our own preschool twist on how to earn feathers and our students earned them for showing us their good character. Some things to earn feathers are using their manners, being a kind and helpful friend, following class directions, complimenting their friends and working together to always include everyone. To show off their good character, they will be wearing these feathers for our Preschool Feast. We are very proud of all our preschool students for earning SO MANY feathers for all of their wonderful acts and can’t wait to hear about them earning the Golden Pillar Award once they are in Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade!

Curriculum Corner Math Fact Fluency— Woot! Woot! Congratulations to all our students who are working so hard to memorize their math facts. Next visit to Grand Prairie, take a look at our Magnificent Mathematician Wall outside the ELC. Each week we honor students who achieved their goal! Keep practicing!!

The Reading Corner—Presented by the Reading Specialists Do you know the basic differences between a fiction and non-fiction text? For our students, focusing on these differences before, during, and after reading brings more understanding to what is being read. When students are reading a fiction book they should be aware of: - the characters, setting, problem, and main events of the story - the beginning, middle, and end of the story - the pictures - the theme or main idea of the story Before you begin reading with your child, look at the title and pictures in the story. Ask your child to make predictions about the characters, setting, and problem in the story. As your child is reading, have them periodically tell you what is happening in the story. When they are finished have them retell the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Was the problem solved? Was there a theme or main idea to the story? When students are reading a non-fiction book, they should be aware of: - the headings of each section in a chapter - captions under pictures or photos - the highlighted or bold print (important vocabulary) - diagrams or photographs - important ideas and information - questions at the end of each section and chapter - the glossary at the end of the book Before your child reads a non-fiction text, have them scan the material by first reading the title, bold headings, and bold or highlighted vocabulary. They should look at the pictures, diagrams, and photographs, and read the important information or captions that go with them. Last, if there are any, read the questions at the end of the section. These questions usually highlight what’s important in the chapter.

Sneaker Spot

Mr. I, Mr. Seibert, and Mrs. McCurdy

The “2015 Great Stack up” was a huge success! On November 12th, students from all over the United States, including Grand Prairie, participated in speed stacking activities attempting to break the record for the most students stacking at the same time. According to the Guinness Book of World Records 2014, there were a total of 555,932 stackers all stacking at the same time in 2014! That’s a big number! This year, we superseded the previous year’s goal and reached over 610,000 registered stackers. We are so grateful to our students and parents for supporting our stacking challenge! Way to go tigers!

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Emergency School Closings In the event of an emergency school closing the following procedure will take place: District 157-C will utilize an automated calling system. This system will simultaneously transmit a recorded message informing you of a school closing. Please be mindful that there is a 5-second delay when answering the phone before receiving the recorded message and if you have a telephone screening device the system may not perform. In addition to the automated phone call, you will also receive an email notifying you of the school’s closing. If you are uncertain about the emergency closing, please call the school to receive a recorded message indicating that schools are closed. You may also visit our website at www.fsd157c.org. Information is also available through the following media outlets: Radio (AM Stations) WGN

720

WBBM

780

Radio (FM Station)

Television Stations

ZONE 94.7

CBS Channel 2

WGN Channel 9

ABC Channel 7

NBC Channel 5

FOX Channel 32

CLTV News Channel

REPORTING AN ABSENCE Please Remember: If your child is not going to be attending school, it is important that you contact the office to leave the message. The phone number is 1-815-469-3366. Attendance is accounted for in the office and therefore it is very important that you call in your child’s absence to the proper location. Even if you contact the teacher, the office contact is required. When your child is absent please call the office before 8:00am the day of their absence. For your convenience, our phones are on 24 hours a day so you can call at your earliest convenience. Once again, ABSENCES MUST BE CALLED IN, not emailed to the classroom teacher. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated!!

Typing Sites

Looking for something fun to do? Here are some great sites to practice and learn

keyboarding skills. http://www.typingclub.com/typing-qwerty-en.html http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/keyboarding_games.html

Toys at School Please remember that your child should not be bringing toys to school, unless the teacher has made a special request for students to bring something in for a class project. We appreciate your help with following the no toys at school rule.

Car Rider Safety Please make sure to have your children unload your vehicle on the sidewalk side of the curb. We have staff members ready to greet your child and to assist with their safe exit of the vehicle. Please follow dismissal requests to load on the sidewalk side as well for the safety of your child!

Thank you for your help with keeping Grand Prairie a safe and happy place to learn!

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