1

JLS Beacon Issue # 5, January 2015

Important Dates

Jan 5 School Resumes

Jan 9 1st Grade trip to planetarium

Jan 16 3-Hour Early Release

Jan 19 No School – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Jan 23 End of 2nd Quarter

Jan 26 Winter MAP testing begins

Jan 26 Dr. Chu’s Dental Screenings

Jan 28 Winter Strings & Choir Concert

Jan 29 Winter Strings & Choir Concert

Jan 30 Club Photos for Yearbook

Feb 2 Chuck E. Cheese Family Fun Night

Feb 13 2-Hour Early Release

Note these upcoming events at JLS.

Dear JLS Families,

Happy 2015 and welcome back! December has come and gone very quickly. I hope you all had a wonderful Winter Break with your families.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the PTA for their continued support. We have received 2 laptop carts as a result of that support. We truly have the best families at JLS and it continues to enrich the programming we are able to provide for our students.

January will prove to be a busy month. Our second quarter ends on January 23rd. Report cards will be sent home via backpack mail on January 30th. We will also begin our second round of MAP testing at the end of the month. We are excited to see how many students will meet their MAP goals. Please remember to support their learning at home by allowing them to access First in Math, Reading A-Z, and our new exciting Odyssey program. Finally, our new JLS Basketball team will begin their games this month. I am looking forward to seeing the team play.

I hope 2015 will be another wonderful year for you and your family. My family will be welcoming a new baby girl at the end of April. My 4 year-old twins are anxiously awaiting her arrival. This will mean that I will not be at Jefferson for the end of the school year. Please be assured that arrangements are being made for my absence and I will be returning before the start of the school year.

As always, thank you for your continued support. I am honored and blessed to serve the staff and families of Jefferson Lighthouse.

Be well, Mrs. Cascio

Principal’s Note FROM THE OFFICE

Please be cautious and patient when dropping off and picking up students. We have implemented rules to keep students and adults safe and at the same time keep traffic moving as safely and quickly as the narrow streets allow. Please respect the rules and the adults supervising as the safety of the students is top priority. Dismissal is at 4:00 pm. If students are not picked up by 4:10 pm they are brought to the office. Please be prompt when picking up your student and keep your contact information current in case we need to call you. After school childcare is available, information is available in the office. Attendance line - 664-6905, voicemail available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please call in each day that your student will be absent or late.

2

JLS Beacon Issue # 5, January 2015 K

inder

gart

en In Kindergarten we have been working

hard on our transdisciplinary theme “How the World Works.” Our central idea is: Gravity and Force Create Motion. We have been reading books, watching interesting videos, and experimenting with gravity and force. Students brought in push-pull toys from home to demonstrate how toys are an example of force.

We are currently working on our third Transdisciplinary Unit, How We Express Ourselves. In this unit, we are exploring ways that culture and personal experience inspire expression. Some of these ways have included poetry, music, literature, and visual art. For the summative assessment, students will present an artistic piece of their choice and describe how that piece relates to them. Please watch your child’s planner for more details. We will also be going to the Racine Zoo for their “Wildlife Explorers” indoor program at the end of January. The children will be able to see animals up close and then create habitats. Look for more information on specific dates coming soon.

3rd

Grad

e 1

st G

rade

We have just begun our Transdisciplinary Unit, How the World Works. In this unit we will make predictions about the sun, Earth, moon, and stars. We will also inquire about patterns that occur naturally in space and time. There will be many hands on activities that the students will enjoy. Please have discussions with your child about the daily patterns we see (ex. time, calendar days/dates, and moon phases). We will also be going to the Planetarium on January 9th. If you need a new permission slip, please go to our website https://sites.google.com/a/rusd.org/first-grade-at-jls/.

We are into our second week of our Transdisciplinary unit “Sharing The Planet”. We are examining communities, the relationships within and between them, and access to equal opportunities with a focus on Wisconsin. We will continue with this unit when we return from break. The end of the second quarter is just around the corner on January 23rd. Please remind students to dress appropriately for the weather as everyone will be expected to go outside for recess and the playground does not get plowed. Thank you to all the parents that were able to join us to the Milwaukee Museum. Hope you had a great break!

4th G

rade

2nd G

rade

Second grade is enjoying learning about traditions and customs in our families. You should have seen a home-school connection come home before break. This assignment is to conduct an interview with someone in your family or community. Your child should ask questions to learn about the person’s past or traditions. We hope you enjoy guiding your student with this project. An opportunity has arisen for us to continue our learning from our previous unit “How The World Works”. McKinley Middle School has a rock wall which will provide students with the opportunity to be risk takers. We will be going the week of January 12th and January 19th. Look for more information from your child’s teacher regarding specific details of this field trip.

Welcome Back. Hope everyone had a restful and peaceful Winter Recess. Fifth grade will be concluding our unit on Who We Are. The Civil War will continue to be our focus.

5th G

rade

3

JLS Beacon Issue # 5, January 2015

-After we return from break we will start screening for vision and hearing for grades K, 1, and 3. If you prefer we not screen your child please let the health room know. We will send home a form letting you know if your child did not pass the test.

-We are officially in “Flu season.” Please remind your child to use good hand washing. If your child is ill please keep them home to prevent the spread of the flu. Your child needs to be fever free 24 hours before returning to school. For more information regarding the flu please use the link to the CDC’s website.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/school/index.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/freeresources/updated/a_flu_guide_for_parents.pdf

-One last note from the Health Room, please remember Head lice is common in school aged children. It is helpful to remember to check your child’s hair throughout the entire school year. Also you may want to consider having your child place their coat, hats and belongings in a bag to prevent their items from close contact with other children. Please use the link to the CDC’s website. This is a useful and informational link. http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/gen_info/faqs.html

From the Health Room

Connect with JLS Jefferson has a Facebook page with news and pictures of things going on in and for the school. Check it out at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jefferson-Lighthouse-School/682034048557894

You can also follow news from the JLS PTA on Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/584882701542022/

Finally, JLS is getting a revamped website. Look for the new site with information about our school, staff and more at:

http://www.rusd.org/jefferson

Music Notes Click below for Mrs. Bieneman’s latest news and notes.

http://goo.gl/UbI0qz

4

JLS Beacon Issue # 5, January 2015

From Mrs. Strain What is a “Unit of Inquiry?” For each grade level there are six themes: One unit of inquiry usually lasts for 6-8 weeks. For example, during the unit, “Sharing the Planet”, students may look at the resources we have in the world and how various countries share and dispose of these resources. Students will answer questions like: How do these resources connect people around the world? Or how are these resources changing? These concepts and questions move across all subject areas, where applicable, and apply to real life and the world around us.

It’s always good to have our students wondering and posing questions wherever they are. Children seem to grow intellectually in homes where we hear these kinds of questions and statements:

I wonder…

What do you suppose would happen if…?

Let’s see if we can figure out why…

I’m curious about…

This type of language in the home results in children becoming more attuned to possibilities, problems, and solutions. It’s easy to fall into the pattern of giving answers to your child, but how valuable it is to wonder together, when none of us necessarily knows the answer.

From

Mr.

Ven

ne

New technology has arrived in the library media center! Sixty Mac laptops are now here at JLS. Teachers will be able to sign up for times to use these with their class. These laptops will be utilized for all of the online activities RUSD provides as well as great inquiry activities. This addition to the building is going to enhance learning for all of our students. Huge thanks to the PTA to provided the funding for the laptop charging carts!

Thanks to the generosity of many, the LMC has 4 Kindles with a selection of ebooks for students to read. As of now they are being used during recess by Battle of the Books participants, but they will be available schoolwide in the near future.

Social Worker Notes: Our 5th grade Peer Mediators are anxious to help others if they are having friendship problems or are not getting along with another student. Please encourage your student to sign up. It is a positive way to resolve a conflict. Forms are in the office area and in the hallway near classrooms.

Attendance continues to be an important part of your child’s success in school. Please be sure that your child gets to school on time and is in attendance unless they are sick. The state says that students should miss only 10 days in any school year. We are required to send out attendance letters. Please call if you have any questions.

Have a wonderful break with your family.

Mrs. Redfearn

IB PYP SELF STUDY EVALUATION We are looking for parent volunteers to participate in study groups for our evaluation visit next year. This will consist of reading and discussing IB standards and procedures from a parental perspective. Study groups will meet this Feb.-June. If interested please contact: Mrs. Strain 664-6900 or email colleen.strain@rusd.org

5

JLS Beacon Issue # 5, January 2015

From Mrs. Strain

6

JLS Beacon Issue # 5, January 2015