Rainbows program

                                                                                                                               Sept. 10, 2012

Dear Parents,

            When something significant happens in a family, the entire family is affected. Things like death, divorce, or other types of losses have a profound effect on children, as well as grown-ups. Everyone grieves. Sometimes, because of their age or developmental level, children find it difficult to verbalize their feelings of grief.

            Three years ago, a K-8^th grade program called “Rainbows” was started to help children deal with these losses.  The program will be held at Kalona Elementary School after school hours for grades K-6 and the Middle School for 7^th and 8^th graders during lunchtime. We have caring, well-trained adults who will be sensitive to your child’s needs while they work on helping your child put their feelings into words, build a stronger self-esteem, and accept the changes taking place in the family. Children in “Rainbows’ will be grouped in small groups of similar aged peers. K-6^th graders will meet on Thursdays starting Sept. 27 from 3:45-4:30 pm. There is no fee or charge to join “Rainbows”.  Transportation home after the meetings is the parents responsibility but if you need help with this please call Kelly Galiher at 319-863-3079 (cell). If you are interested in your child(ren) joining “Rainbows” please fill out the form below and the emergency contact form attached to this and return both to your child’s school by Sept. 21, 2012.

             For more information about the program visit www.rainbows.org or contact Janet Ferry at 319-325-2178 or e-mail jferry@kctc.net. You may also contact Nora Kehoe at any of the elementary schools or e-mail nkehoe@mid-prairie.k12.ia.us with questions or concerns.

Child(ren)’s Name(s): _______________________________________________________

Age(s)/Grade(s): _____________________________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________________________________

City: ____________________________ Phone: _______________________________________

Parent Signature: ______________________________________________________________

Please check for your child(ren):

                        (  ) I have experienced the death of __________________

                        (  ) My parents are divorced or going through a divorce.

                        (  ) My loss is _______________________________ (please explain).

RAINBOWS PARTICIPANTS EMERGENCY INFORMATION FORM

(Please print)

Participant’s Name:__________________________________________________________

Nickname:  _____________________________________          Age ____________________

Address _______________________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip ________________________________________________________________

Home Phone __________________________________________________________________

Work Phone _________________________________ Cell ____________________________

Parents/Guardians Names __________________________________________________

Is address same as above?       Yes    No

If no,  please provide address________________________________________________

Person we can call in case of an emergency:

Name ___________________________________________________________________________

Relationship to child __________________________________________________________

Phone numbers  _______________________________________________________________

Allergies or medical information regarding your child we should be aware of? _______________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Other information you would like us to know? _____________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Who has permission to pick up your child? _________________________________

Relationship to child __________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Signature _______________________________ Date _____________

Stations

This week we finished up our math work, working on science and playing some of the games bookmarked on our blog site and on the i-pads.

Math

This week the kids worked on creating bar graphs and creating number boxes.  Number boxes are a challenge, the kids have to come up with ten different ways to write a number.

Hopefully next week we will be able to be more consistent with our homework.  They should have homework every night except Friday.

Science

We continued working on the water cycle this week by doing an experiment on water density.  The loved watching the hot water (red), and the cold water (blue) move in the room temperature water.

Watermelon Fun!

As part of our math unit the third grade classes spend an afternoon working with watermelon seeds.  During this time, the students eat some watermelon, save their seeds and then practice estimating and measuring how far their seeds are spit! J

The kids have a great time, and enjoy the treat.  We plan on doing this activity on Friday, September 21st as part of our stations.  The kids will work in small groups either outside spitting seeds or inside doing class work.  Each station will last approximately 20 minutes. 

In order to do this activity, we need some help!  Parents should arrive by 12:15 to help cut the watermelon.  At 12:30, the kids will begin eating their watermelon and by 12:45 the spitting will begin!  (Only at the target, not at the students!)  We should be finished by the 2:30 recess. 

If you could come and assist us in our day, please complete the following form and return it to your teacher.  If you have any questions, please contact us either through our e-mails or call the school – 656.2243.

This 'n That

Picture Day/Dot Day - September 14
Picture Day is coming up on Friday, September 14.  This is also National Dot Day!  For Dot Day, students will be creating dot shirts using fabric paint. If you'd like your child to wear older clothes (i.e. NOT their good picture duds), please send an old shirt/change of clothing for t-shirt making.

Mile of Pennies Project
Thanks so much to those who have already donated coins for the Mile of Pennies Project benefitting children with cancer.  The kids are excited to fill our classroom containers!

Watermelon Fun!
A letter should be in the Friday Folder today explaining one of the activities we do in third grade.   There is a copy of the letter also on the blog.  Let us know if you can come and help.

Language Skills

This week's spelling words included words with short o and short u sounds.  Students are catching on to finding spelling patterns in the words and using the patterns to help them spell.  Our grammar skill this week focused on identifying/classifying sentences (statements, commands, questions, and exclamations).  We also continued to work on writing sentences and remembering that all sentences need to start with a capital letter and end with an end mark.

Students also began a review of cursive handwriting.  We'll be working our way through the lower case letters first, then will review the uppercase letters.  We are focusing on using correct letter formation and writing neatly.

Classifying sentences on the smart board

Social Studies

What are those lines on globes and maps and what do they mean?  We learned about lines of  latitude and longitude this week, and practiced using grids to locate places on maps.  Students also received their first issue of Time for Kids, a weekly magazine that we will be reading to keep up on current events.

Learning about maps via Brain Pop with Annie and Moby

Using coordinates to label a location on a grid to help understand how lines of latitude and longitude work

Mrs. Hartsock's Reading Group

Our shared reading story this week was The Ballad of Mulan.  Ask your child to summarize the events of this exciting folktale!  We worked on the skill of inferencing, which is sort of like being a detective. One activity we did to practice inferencing was to look in Mrs. Hartsock's school bag to find our what she keeps in it, and then students drew inferences about Mrs. Hartsock.  We also practiced reading for fluency, worked on syllabication skills, as well as comprehension.

Making inferences . . .

 Partner reading . . .

MAP testing

This week and next all KE 2nd - 5th graders are taking MAP tests (Measure of Academic Progress) in the areas of reading and math.  The tests are taken via computer, and the level of difficulty of the test varies by student achievement (if a student is answering the questions correctly, the test will get more challenging).  Students take these tests in the fall and spring.  We'll be sending home a MAP test results sheet in the next few weeks so that you can check out your child's progress.