SHAWSHEEN SHOUT OUT! May 2017

Shawsheen Elementary4020 W. 7th Street, Greeley, CO 80634www.shawsheen.greeleyschools.org Telephone: 970-348-2300

Superintendent Chat

Dr. Deirdre Pilch, our Superintendent of Schools, is coming to Shawsheen tomorrow, May 5, from 2:30-4:30. Please drop in if you are able. She’d love to meet you and hear from you. Get your questions answered and offer your suggestions.Summer Time

We thank you for sharing your child with us this year. We wish our 5th graders continued success in Middle School. Please enjoy your summer with your family. Encourage your child to read, write and practice math facts so they don’t get rusty. If you’d like suggestions for summer work please ask your child’s teacher.Spring Carnival

Although the weather did not cooperate as much as we would have liked we had a great time at the Carnival. We hope you did too! Thanks to all the volunteers who made our day such a success!New School Hours!

For the 2017-2018 school year elementary school hours are changing to 7:50-3:10. We will provide before school supervision at 7:30. Our first bell will ring at 7:45 and students must be in their classrooms at 7:50 to be on time. This schedule will be the same Monday through Friday. Pre-school is coming to Shawsheen

We are excited to announce Shawsheen will have Pre-school starting in the Fall. More information regarding registration soon! Also, help us spread the word. Parent Surveys

Recently 238 of you received a school survey. We’d like to thank the 8 of you who took the time to provide us with

Upcoming EventsMay 5

May/June/July Birthday Snacks (Optional)

May 11

Field Day – Kindergarten Only

May 12

Field Day – 1st -5th Grades

May 18

Thunderbird Singers Concert 6:00pm

May 24

Last Day of School for Students

Something Fun!Q: Why do bananas have to put on sunscreen before they go to the beach?A: Because they might peel!

Q: What gets wetter the more it dries?A: A towel!

Q: What's a pirate's favorite letter?A: Arrrrrr!

feedback.

More Important News

Kindergarten RegistrationIt’s not too late to register your Kindergartener for school next year. Stop in at the office for the registration packet.

On time. All day. Every day.

If they aren’t here they can’t learn. Being punctual is a life skill. Thank you for helping us teach your child the importance of being on time, staying at school all day, every day. Out of 156 school days we’ve only made our school-wide goal of 98% attendance or higher 21 times. Please help us improve on this.

News from the Teachers!Greetings from your Special Education team!   Happy May! We cannot believe we are in our last month of school! If your child qualified for Extended School Year the district will be in contact with you. We are excited for field trips and field day! Be sure to enjoy your summer, read lots of books and practice math facts! If you want additional resources for your child please contact us!PE News:Field Day for Kindergarten is Thursday May11th (Weather Permitting) Miss Swigriss class will be in the morning from 9:00-11:15 and Mrs. Koehler and Mrs. Duplex class will be from 1:15-3:30. Parents are more than welcome to come have fun and watch their children participate! Please dress the students in Tennis Shoes!Field Day for grades 1-5 is Friday May 12th (Weather Permitting). The morning session will be from 9:00-11:15 and Afternoon session will be from 1:15-3:30. You may also have lunch with your child as well but must leave during our break and are welcome to come back. Parents are NOT permitted to be in classrooms during break! Make sure to turn in permission slips for the inflatables before Field Day as well. Students who do not turn in permission slips will have to sit out during the inflatable stations! 

Upcoming EventsMay 5

May/June/July Birthday Snacks (Optional)

May 11

Field Day – Kindergarten Only

May 12

Field Day – 1st -5th Grades

May 18

Thunderbird Singers Concert 6:00pm

May 24

Last Day of School for Students

Something Fun!Q: Why do bananas have to put on sunscreen before they go to the beach?A: Because they might peel!

Q: What gets wetter the more it dries?A: A towel!

Q: What's a pirate's favorite letter?A: Arrrrrr!

VolunteerYou can become a volunteer at Shawsheen! Simply come to the office and register on-line. We need all different kinds of support. No matter what your schedule is, we can use your help! Don’t forget to attend the next Parent Teacher Group meeting in April. That, too, is a GREAT way to support your child’s school.

Six for 6 Parent Commitments

1. Encourage my child to do his or her best in school every day and make graduation the goal.2. Promote reading for 30 minutes a day.3. Honor the start and end times of the school day.4. Talk daily with my child about school, including homework and activities.5. Communicate regularly with my child’s teachers.6. Support the school rules and dress code.

Lets hope for good weather and lets have a great 2017 Field Day! If you have any question give me a call at   970-348-2358 .

Library News:Happy May from the library-

Please make sure that you have all Shawsheen Library books back by May 19th.•Check out the summer reading program through the High Plains Library http://www.mylibrary.us/

Enjoy a summer full of READING!Art News:The Art show will start May 24th and will stay up until May 8th 2017 at the Administration Building downtown.  We will be finishing up all the projects we are working with and all the project will be sent home.  The ones that are in the art show will get sent later.  I wish you and your family a restful summer. Music News:Mr. Marin and a group of 4th and 5th grade students have started T-Bird Singers. An evening performance is scheduled for May 18th at 6pm. Kindergarten News:We are learning and growing so much in Kindergarten!! In Math we are working on higher numbers. This includes teen numbers and counting all the way to 100. We are also working on addition and subtraction and number sentences. In Reading we are reading story books and reading whole words and sentences at a time. Reading every day is very important, please read with your child as often as possible. During Writing, we are continuing to add to our word wall and add words every week. We are writing sentences and stories with more detail! We have been writing opinions about lots of subjects. In Handwriting, we are working on pencil grip. We will keep practicing writing uppercase letters and learning letter names along with numbers. Please work on letter names at home. We will have DIBLES one last time in May. Please practice reading words the fast way, letter names and saying all the sounds in a word. May and summer birthdays will be celebrated on May 5th at 3:25 p.m. If your child has a birthday during May or in the summer months, your child’s teacher will be in contact with you. Field day for Kindergarten is on May 11th. Ms. Swigriss’ class will go in the morning. Mrs. Duplex’s and Mrs. Koehler’s class will be in the afternoon. We would love to invite our kindergarten moms to come on May 15th at 8:30 to 9:00 am for “Muffins with Mom Day”! We will be sending home an invitation soon. Please RSVP no later than May 8th. Last day of school for all students, including Kindergarten, will be May 24th.

Thank you for all you do!! We have a lot to celebrate in Kindergarten this year!!

First Grade News:We are so excited that the year is winding down.   Please know that our Dibels test is on Tuesday.  This is their end of year reading test and we are asking that they come rested and ready to read.  Please continue to check their RMSE homework folders every night.  We cannot express enough how proud we are of these first graders.  They are a wonderful group!!  We look forward to watching them grow through the years at Shawsheen.

Second Grade News:

A 2nd grade farewell…Thank you for sharing your child with us this year. We have loved getting to know your child and now share a special bond with them! If they will remain at Shawsheen next year, we will look forward to seeing them frequently in the hallways and on the playground! We hope they will seek out a special hug from their 2nd grade teachers!

To wrap up the school year, we will be super busy in May! In Science, we started learning about Force and Motion. Ask your child about how they balanced a crayfish on their finger using clothespins as a counterbalance! We have many more investigations to complete before the end of the year including working with rolling cups and spheres as well as zoomers and twirlers!

In Math, we have wrapped up Mission 7 and will finish off the year with Mission 8, Shapes, Time and Fractions. You can support your child at home by helping them learn how to tell time on an analog clock, learning how to read the hour and minute hands correctly. In second grade, we are responsible for telling time to the nearest 5 minutes.

In literacy, we will finish off the year by completing Unit 5. The Big Idea we are focusing on in this Unit is “How Can People Make a Difference?” We will be talking about our everyday heroes – firefighters, police officers, doctors, teachers, moms, and dads – to name a few!

In writing, we are wrapping up our poetry unit and will begin opinion writing soon! Ask your child what they learned about rhyme, rhythm, and repetition during our poetry unit. Birthdays for May and the summer months will be celebrated this Friday, May 5. Please check with your child’s homeroom teacher if you need clarification.

Thank you for your continued support returning T-time reading cards and Math Homework every Thursday! We appreciate your support.

Third Grade News:3rd Grade Class PicnicWe will be walking to Westmoor Park on Tuesday, May 23rd for our annual class picnic. Reading: Unit 5 – Take ActionStudents will continue to work on their reading skill of identifying the narrator’s or author’s point of view and distinguishing their own point of view. In addition, we will be finishing the year with a novel study.Writing: Poetry & Writing CommunityWe are wrapping up our poetry unit and will be revisiting our writing community. We will take a look at how far we have come as writers this year as we look through our writing portfolios. Math: Module 7 – Geometry and Measurement Word Problems We are well into our final module in math. Module 7 offers many hands-on experiences with geometry and perimeter. In addition, students get intensive practice with word problems.Thank you for a great year!Fourth Grade News:May 12 is Field Day.May 18 is the Thunderbird Singers' concert at 6:00 PM.May 23 is our Field Trip to the Poudre Learning Center. We will see how our seed balls have "sprouted"! May 24 is the last day of school. Dismissal will be at 3:45, as normal. The Awards Ceremony will be from 9:00-10:00 in the gym. Fifth grade graduation will be from 1:30-2:30. It is CRUCIAL that your child works over the summer on their math facts and reading. Your students can get on Zearn and/or Kahn Academy on the computer. Do you know what the "summer slump" is??? It refers to when your child, over the summer, doesn't practice any skills or engage their brain on activities like math, writing, reading, and healthy choices. If your child does not practice these activities over the summer, they regress. This means they don't hold on to all the learning they did during the school year. So in turn they start 5th grade behind. It can take months for them to "catch up" to where they were when they left 4th grade. It is imperative to your child's academic success for them to not be a victim of the "summer slump". Some suggestions for fun family activities: visit your public library (library cards are FREE!), play family math games, keep a family journal of summer activities, help children cook healthy meals for the family, exercise daily (take a family walk!, ride bikes!), help your child count money (count change, add up totals at the store, take their allowance money and go shopping). Thank you for sharing your child with us this year. We feel they have grown a ton! Have a wonderful summer!

Fifth Grade News:PartiesAll May Birthdays will be celebrated on Friday, May 5th, please note the time for birthday celebration 3:30-3:45. Please send treats to school or drop them off by 3:30.EventsFIELD DAY is May 12th all day. Details will be coming soon on schedules.5th Grade will be going on the end of year picnic with 1st grade classes. It will be a walking field trip to Pheasant Run Park on May 19th. Look for a permission slips to be coming soon. Parents are invited to join us.You are invited to:Celebration of our 5th Graders on May 24th from 1:30-2:30 in the gym.Learning - Wow! It’s our last month!Math-Our last math test will be the week of May 8thWriting-We will be wrapping up functional writing and working with poetry.Literacy-Our last ELA test will be the week of May 15thSocial Studies- In Social Studies, we will continue learning about the early settlers and the Revolution. HomeworkEncourage your student to continue to read nightly, 20-30 minutes each night and continue to work on their homework packets. Students also have access to websites, Zearn, Khan Academy, and Xtra Math to work on math concepts at school and at home.