Greetings from Cornell Elementary
At Cornell we place a great deal of emphasis on educating the “whole child.” By this we mean that it is our goal to place just as much emphasis on knowing your child as a person, as we do on how much they know and learn. I believe that “kids don’t care how much we know, until they know how much we care.” As our school year progresses, we will continue to provide you with the ways that our AMAZING staff at Cornell get to know our OUTSTANDING students every day.
As I reflect on the information to share with you this month, I want to focus on the importance of making sure our students are at school every day. This year, Cornell Elementary School will continue making a special effort to ensure all students fully benefit from their education by attending school regularly. Good attendance matters for school success, starting as early as preschool and throughout elementary school. By middle school and high school, poor attendance is a leading indicator of dropout. Developing the habit of attendance prepares students for success on the job and in life.
- Your children can suffer academically if they miss 10 percent of the school year or about 18 days. That can be just one day every two weeks, and that can happen before you know it.
- Some absences are unavoidable. We understand that children will get sick and need to stay home occasionally. The important thing is to get your children to school as often as possible.
- Sporadic absences, not just those on consecutive days of school, matter. Before you know it, just one or two days a month can add up to nearly 10 percent of the school year.
- If too many absences occur, whether they are excused or unexcused, they still present a problem because they represent too much lost learning time in the classroom.
- Above all, set an example for your child. Show him or her that attendance matters to you and that you won’t allow an absence unless someone is truly sick. We also ask that you avoid asking older students to help with daycare and household errands on school days.
In order to best support our students and families, we at Cornell Elementary School are striving to establish open lines of communication between school and home. You may be noticing increased contact in the way of emails and/or telephone calls from your child’s teacher regarding his or her absences this year. Please keep in mind that our primary goal is to open our lines of communication and to build positive working relationships with families. We certainly understand there are times when absence from school is unavoidable, such as the flu, vomiting, diarrhea and a fever, but please know that our purpose for early communication is simply to let you know we care and want to support you in any way we can.
Below you may review our policy regarding Cornell’s response to absences:
- After 2 absences, your child’s teacher will send you an email to make you aware of the absences.
- After 3 absences, your child’s teacher will make a phone call to you to discuss the absences and see how the school can support you and your child to help get them to school.
- After 5 absences, you will receive a formal letter from the counselor and principal informing you of the absences and importance of school attendance.
- After 7 absences, the school counselor will contact parents to discuss any support available for school attendance.
- After 8 absences, parents will be called in for a problem-solving meeting with the school counselor, school social worker, and principal.
- After 2 additional absences, the student may be referred to the Polk County Attorney’s office for truancy.
As stated above, many of you know we have already begun the process of reaching out to check on our kids through email or personal phone calls accordingly. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns pertaining to our attendance procedures please feel free to contact me.
In closing, thank you to all of you for your trust and support that you provide to our great school every single day. Our partnership in educating our students goes hand in hand. I hope that you have a great month ahead!
Go Eagles! ~ BE AWESOME TODAY!
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Counseling News
By Anne Pentico (K-2 School Counselor) & Jen Van’t Hul (3-4/Woodside School Counselor)
A message from Mrs. Pentico…
We have had a great start to the school year in K-2 classroom guidance, and I thoroughly enjoy spending the time I get to with your students!
To begin the year, we met “Listening Larry”. Larry is a character we use to teach students to listen to others with their bodies using whole body listening. Not only do we listen with our ears, but we also show we are listening using our eyes, mouths, hands, feet, bodies, brains, and hearts. I encourage you to ask your students to show you what it looks like to use whole body listening and practice it at home. Our next unit covered passive, aggressive, and assertive voices and using an assertive voice to solve problems using “I” statements. An example of an “I” statement might be, “I feel angry when you cut in front of me in line. Please go to the back of the line.” Using “I” statements in an assertive tone of voice encourages problem solving and communicating our needs. We are currently finishing our unit on how we are all different and unique and how those differences are valuable and important.
As always, if you have questions or concerns regarding things we are doing in the classroom or anything else, please feel free to contact me at any time throughout the school year.
A message from Mrs. Van’t Hul…
Third and fourth graders have been learning about the Zones of Regulation, whole body listening, and the dangers of using nicotine.
Third and fourth grade students focused primarily on listening with your brain and heart when discussing whole body listening. We discussed when we listen with our brains, we show we are listening by following the direction given. When listening with our hearts, we respond with empathy. We discussed the example that if a friend says his or her pet died, we don’t respond with “what’s for lunch?” Instead, we talked about more appropriate responses.
During Red Ribbon Week, a week to recognize and celebrate being drug free, we discussed the harmful effects of nicotine products.
The Zones of Regulations help students identify and help self regulate their mood, which impacts their behavior. We encourage students to be responsible to “stay in the green” which is happy, calm and ready to learn. If a student catches themselves in the yellow (frustrated, annoyed, or off task), they are responsible to take action to get themselves back into the green. We discussed what triggers them to leave the green zone and what worked for them to get ready to learn again. The class also discussed the red zone (out of control) and blue zone (tired, sick, sad) and how to return to being a functional student.
If you see your student getting out of the green, please encourage them to get into the green before trying to problem solve a situation. Thank you for your continued support!
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Music
We are off to a great start this year in Music! 3rd and 4th grade have diligently been working on playing instruments as an ensemble member while incorporating new rhythms and concepts. 1st and 2nd grade have been singing the pitches Sol and Mi for accuracy. We have been singing, playing, and creating to explore this concept. Next on our agenda is practicing for our December concert. Kindergarten is learning an alphabet letter song every week. So far we have sung A through G! We are also exploring the different ways we can use our voices.
Please save the dates for our concerts this year. More information will be sent home with your student. Each concert will be held at the Saydel High School Auditorium.
1st and 2nd Grade - December 2, 2019
Kindergarten - February 3, 2020
3rd and 4th - May 4, 2020
Technology
Students have been busy so far this school year!
Kindergarten students have learned how to use and code a BlueBot. They have
diligently practiced typing their names and other words on keyboards, along with
learning how to use and control a mouse. They have just learned how to log in to
the computers and have begun keyboarding activities with Keyboarding Without
Tears.
First graders have been introduced to code.org and are starting to learn about
the world of coding. They have also worked on keyboarding activities. All first
graders have had conversations about being safe while on devices. We will
continue to have those same conversations throughout the entire year. Their
next project is to learn about safe websites for learning and what Google Docs is.
They will apply their keyboarding knowledge to a Google Doc.
Second graders have had conversations about being safe and did a project on
Google Docs, with information they found on pebblego.com. They were able to
add an image to their Google Doc and I printed them for the students. Many
were displayed during conferences. In addition to the Google Docs project,
students have worked on code.org.
Third graders worked hard with a project about themselves. They reviewed how
to use Google Docs and learned how to do a Google Slideshow. All worked hard
on this project. Since that project, students have been working hard on code.org.
Be sure to ask your student what an unplugged activity is.
Fourth graders worked on a similar project about themselves too. However, they
were introduced to wevideo. While some were brave and tried it, others were a
little intimidated by the concept. I enjoyed watching those that wanted to share.
Finally, I have a makerspace in my classroom. What is a maker space? It is a
place for students to gather to create, invent, explore and discover using a
variety of tools and materials; a place for students to make things. I was
fortunate to receive a grant from the state of Iowa and the Science of Center of
Iowa. It has supplied me with everything to get a makerspace up and running. I
may be reaching out to parents for additional materials to restock the
makerspace. I have introduced the maker space to fourth graders to start.
Eventually all students will have time to use the maker space. I am very excited
about this new opportunity for all students!
Art
4th grade had a fun day of learning Friday October 25th and went on a field trip to the Des Moines Art Center and the Papajohn Sculpture Park.
3rd grade is learning about mirrored or reflective symmetry and are design and creating Sugar Skulls.
1st grade has been creating night cat collages, learning about the importance of details and how they help others understand our art!
EB (Emergent Bilingual)
Starting this school year, we officially changed the name of the ELL (English Language Learner) Program to EB (Emergent Bilingual) Program in Saydel. While the state continues to use the names ELL (English Language Learner) or EL (English Learner) to refer to the students that we work with and the program, we decided to change the name for our district in order to communicate the strengths-based lens through which we see our students. We recognize that learning two (or more) languages simultaneously adds extra cognitive demands on our students, but we have the privilege to support them as they develop this highly valuable skillset of knowing two (or more) languages!
In our Emergent Bilingual program this year we are trying a new program model with 2nd grade to see if a collaborative model is a better way to serve our Emergent Bilinguals. In this model, the Teacher of Emergent Bilinguals and our Bilingual Associate are pushing in to the 2nd grade classroom during core academic times (like writing, reading, and math) to provide extra support and accommodations to our EBs. The Teacher of Emergent Bilinguals and the 2nd grade classroom teacher also have a shared planning time one day a week to work together to provide a well-rounded approach to services and supports for those students. In kindergarten, first, third, and fourth grade, our program continues to look similar to years previous where students are served primarily in a pull-out groups to provide instruction based on their language needs.
We are also making plans to continue our “EB Coffee Talks” this school year where we host an informal gathering for family members of our Emergent Bilinguals and teachers. During these meetings we hope to improve communication and connectedness between our families of Emergent Bilinguals and our school district. Last year we hosted three of these events second semester and we are hoping to do the same this year.
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Preschool
Cornell Preschool begins a Great Year of Learning!
Preschool students began the school year exploring their classroom, learning expectations and routines, and meeting new friends! In September we focused on learning what it means to be in preschool. Students learned foundational skills through engaging play, practiced their problem solving skills, and began building friendships during center time. Students also got to know their friends better through sharing their All About Me books they created with their families. Preschool students have enjoyed listening to classic stories such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle to start off the school year.
The month of October has brought lots of learning including our season of fall and pumpkins! It is always fun to incorporate our many different learning objectives with seasonal topics that preschool students can relate too and make it more meaningful for them. A favorite moment in preschool this fall was learning to build Mat Man, which is part of our Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum. We are looking forward to a great year of growing and learning in preschool!
Kindergarten
Kindergarten is off to a great start! We have been working hard on learning about the EAGLE WAY so we can listen and learn at school.
We started the year off becoming storybook readers, and enjoying favorite books, such as The Carrot Seed, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Mrs. Wishy Washy, and Caps for Sale. Students enjoyed talking like the characters and acting out these stories. We hope that families will continue to enjoy reading stories together each night.
The elephant, our class phonics mascot, has been helping us learn our letters as well as our “snap words”, which are our sight words. So far kindergartners have studied the alphabet and a handful of words that they are using in their reading and writing. The kindergartners even brought stuffed animals to school for ABC school, and again for WORD SCHOOL, so they could teach their furry friends all they had learned so far this year.
We can’t wait to see all the things the kindergartners will learn this school year!
First Grade
First grade is off to a great start this year! We have worked to build good habits as readers, and we used those habits to become word detectives in order to solve tricky words. In phonics, we were also word detectives and worked on solving words with double letters, compound words, and contractions. Be on the lookout for these words when reading with your child at home, and encourage the use of these skills!
In math, we’ve worked on shapes, counting and addition strategies. We will use these strategies as we begin to learn subtraction to see how the two align. Please continue to count and add with your child at home to keep enforcing those skills!
Second Grade
We have been so busy in 2nd grade this year! Towards the beginning, we worked hard to grow our reading strategies and to grow our reading stamina. Great readers read more and more! In writing, we wrote small moment stories. We celebrated our writing unit by sharing our published draft with the other 2nd grade classes outside. In math we have been working hard at understanding and solving story problems, working with money (cents) and telling time. In science, we learned all about seeds, pollination, and bees. We are wrapping up our second round of units. For this unit in reading, we have been becoming experts on different topics by reading non-fiction books. In writing we have been doing the same. Students are finishing up publishing their non-fiction books. We will have a museum celebration at the end of this unit, where students will share their writing and books about their topics they’ve become an expert in. We’ve tied science into this unit as well. They used our invention and architecture unit to build a model of one of their topics.
Starting next week, we will begin our reading unit all about characters in the books we read. We will pay close attention to how they act and respond to situations in the books. As always, we will be working on building our reading strategies and skills. Our next writing until ties into reading, as we will be working on writing about what we’re reading. In science, we will begin a unit on the changing Earth! We are so excited for students to continue to learn and grow. They are working so hard and doing great!
Third Grade
Third grade continues to rock this school year! We just finished our unit on Multiplication in math. Students have learned many strategies: making a picture, number line, tape diagram, and arrays and are using these things when applying their learning to real-life situations.
In literacy, we just finished up our mystery unit. Students learned what good readers must do when reading mysteries, and we ended the unit by learning how to transfer those skills to reading all types of fiction. In writing, we worked hard to write persuasive speeches. We kept our audience in mind to make sure they were being addressed, and students ensured they had evidence to convince their readers of their opinion. During science, we learned about force/motion and why it's important to wear seatbelts.
Thank you to all of you who made it to conferences. We enjoyed being able to share students’ progress with you!
Fourth Grade
Our 4th graders have started the year off a little buggy. We have been working hard in science exploring worms and insects. Who knew they were so important in keeping our earth healthy and balanced.
Over the past few months, our students have started growing into amazing readers and writers. They wrote a realistic fiction story and were able to publish their first book as 4th-grade authors. Although writing seems to be one of the highest levels of interest in our 4th graders they are also enjoying learning about other authors. We have started digging into the books we are reading and exploring the author's craft, interpreting the characters and understand the structure of an informational text.
This year we have made the transition to using SFUSD math curriculum. 4th graders have begun to learn some amazing strategies for multiplying multi-digit numbers and are transitioning into division. Over the past few months, our students have had the opportunity to do math in a variety of settings with the main focus on group work.
To top off all this spectacular learning, we had the privilege to attend an art-based field trip. The students went and toured Papa John’s Sculpture Garden and the Des Moines Art Center. The students really enjoyed this field trip and were so excited to see all the different forms of art.
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Art Photos |
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Students in Mrs. Byrd's 4 year old preschool class built Mat Man together. |
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1st grade work on the details and background of their ?Night cat? collages. |
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1st grade work on the details and background of their ?Night cat? collages. |
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1st grade work on the details and background of their ?Night cat? collages. |
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3rd grade working on design Sugar Skulls using mirrored/ reflective |
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4th grade enjoying their field trip to the sculpture park. |
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4th grade enjoying their field trip to the sculpture park. |
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4th grade enjoying their field trip to the sculpture park. |
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Nurse’s Notes
The Nurse’s Office would like to welcome everyone back to Cornell. Below are a few reminders to help keep everyone at Cornell healthy and safe.
Health Concerns – Please notify the school nurse if your student has severe allergies, surgeries, accidents or new health concerns that may occur during the school year.
Medications at school – All medications brought to school must be in the original container, whether they are prescription or an over-the-counter medication. (This includes cough drops.) Also, a signed permission slip must be on file for school to administer the medication. Permission slips can be found in the office and on the Saydel website.
Illness/Absences – Please contact the school office in the morning if your child is to be absent and inform them why your child will not be attending school.
When do I keep my child home from school due to illness?
- If you child has the sniffles, cough, sore throat or mild congestion and they haven’t slowed down at home, they are probably able to participate in school activities. Your child should stay home if they have a fever, are nauseated, vomiting or has diarrhea.
- You child can return to school after being fever free (<100.0) for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications. Please keep your student home for 24 hours after the last vomit/diarrhea episode.
- Students must also stay home for 24 hours after starting medical treatment for pink eye or strep throat.
- Frequent hand-washing is the best way to avoid getting sick and spreading illness.
Head Lice - We have noticed students with head lice. Please be proactive in checking your child’s hair frequently. If you find lice, please treat you child before sending them to school. Wash all bed linens, brushes/combs, jackets/hats, stuffed animals and vacuum well. Contact the school nurse if you have questions.
The nurse’s office is in need of adjustable waist pants sizes 5-12.
Please call or email if you have any questions or concerns.
Dianne Breitbarth RN
breitbarthdianne@saydel.net
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