october coyote call 2016 cottonwood elementary school...
TRANSCRIPT
October 2016
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 1516 17
School resumes-Welcome Back
Lego Club, Choir & Heart & Sole,
2:15pm
18
Reading Ambassadors,
Art Club & Computer
Science Club, 2:15pm
19
Kindness Club, Guitar Club & Heart & Soles,
2:15pm
20
Bucketfilling Assembly
5th Grade Living History Parent Night, 6:00pm
21
PTSA Fall Festival,
5:00-7:00pm
22
23 24
Red Ribbon Week Begins-Wear Neon
Today!
Walktober Walk to School Challenge
Boosterthon Assembly
Boosterthon Fundraiser Begins!
(10/24-11/4)
Lego Club, Choir & Heart & Sole,
2:15pm
25
Red Ribbon Week- Wear your Favorite Team Colors
Walktober
Reading Ambassadors,
Art Club, KidzArt, Crazy 8 Math Club &
Computer Science Club,
2:15pm
Governing Board Meetng,
7:00pm
26
Red Ribbon Week-Wacky Wednesday
Walktober
Kindness Club, Guitar Club & Heart & Sole,
2:15pm
27
Red Ribbon Week-Wear
CWE shirt or school colors
Walktober
Family Reading Time, 3:00pm
28
Red Ribbon Week-Wear
Bling or Super Hero Gear
Walktober
Fall Picture Retakes & Class
Picture Day
Coffee with Mrs. Mayeux, 7:35am
29
30 31
Author Visit Assembly
Lego Club & Choir, 2:15pm
DearCo(onwoodFamiliesandCommunityMembers,
AsIreflectonthepastquarter,Iamthankfultoacommunitythatissuppor@[email protected],buttheturnoutforeventsistrulyimpressive!
IwouldliketothankourparentsandstudentsforbeingengagedinoureventsatCo(onwood.WekickedoffouryearwithourWelcomeBackNightforparentsandstudents.WesuccessfullyheldschooleventssuchasFamilyReadingTime,Parent/TeacherConferences,StudentCouncilElec@ons,FamilySpagheODinner,andanincredibleReadingUndertheStarsNight.Greateventssetthetonefortheyear!Ilookforwardtothemanyexci@ngupcomingevents,suchastheFunRunonNovember4th!
Iwouldliketoencourageyouandyourfamiliestopar@cipateintheupcomingBoosterthon.ThefundraiserwillbetakingplacefromOctober24–November4thandissponsoredbyourdedicatedPTSA.ThestatenolongerprovidesanadequateamountofcapitalfundsandourPTSAworksdiligentlytocollectfundsforvariousitemsthatwenolongerhavethefundingtopurchaseitemslikecomputers,books,[email protected]@ngtoreplacetheoutdatedcomputersinthelabwithamobilechromebooklab.
Thankyoutoallthestudentswhoa(endedintersessionthefirstweekofbreakandtotheteacherswhoprovidedinstruc@on: Mrs.Brobeck,Mrs.Catalan,Mrs.Cornejo,Ms.Salerno,andMrs.Su>on
Onadifferentnote...you’veprobablyseensignsaroundourcommunityaboutProp449,calledforbytheVailSchoolDistrictGoverningBoard.Overridefundingmustbereauthorizedbyvoterseveryfiveyears.Ourcurrent10%overridefunds100teacherposi@oninVail.TheDistrictwillbeaskingforarenewaloftheoverrideat12.5%Ifsuccessful,Prop449willcon@[email protected]%salaryincreaseforVailteachersandnon-administra@vestaff.Prop449isbeingaskedforontheNovember8elec@on.Furtherinforma@oncanbefoundonourwebsite,h(p://cwe.vail.k12.az.us.Iencourageyoutoreviewtheinforma@ontomakeaninformeddecisioncomeNovember8.
IwouldliketothankyouonbehalfofthestaffofCo(onwoodforyourcon@nualsupportandforpartneringwithus.
YourPartnerinEduca@on,
Bobbi Mayeux,MA,MEdPrincipal
Mission: The Cottonwood community is proud to provide a quality, nurturing environment where we strive to motivate every student in developing their greatest learning potential.
Vision: At Cottonwood, our vision is to inspire a passion for learning and to create innovative thinkers who will be successful in their future endeavors.
October 2016
Coyote Call Cottonwood Elementary School
9950 E Rees Loop * Tucson, AZ 85747 (520) 879-2602 * www.cwe.vail.k12.az.us
Word of the Month-SPORTSMANSHIP
Volume I Issue 66
Spotlight on Specialists PE
Physical Education October 2016
,,,,,,,,,,
Running Club upcoming dates:
Monday-October 17th
Wednesday- October 19th
Monday-October 24th
Wednesday- October 26th
If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Sutton or Mrs. Malm.
The Pyramid Workout for Kids
20 -Jumping Jacks 15 -Frog Jumps 10- Push Ups 5 -Walking Lunges 10- Push Ups 15- Frog Jumps 20 -Jumping Jacks
Grades 1-2- Students will be focusing on balancing, large object manipulation, transferring body weight, and non locomotor movements.
Grades 3-5- Students will be learning about the history of volleyball and key terms used in volleyball. Students will also be learning different techniques such as passing, setting, underhand serve and applying their skills in a game setting.
Mileage Club
Contact the Teacher
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: (520) 879-2668
Heart and Sole Running Club
What Are We Learning in PE?
Mileage Club is in full swing and students have set their goals for how many miles they would like to accomplish running this quarter. Please remember students should be running/walking on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the morning and lunch recess.
Fitness
OCTOBER MUSIC NEWS
HAPPY 2ND QUARTER
I hope you all are having a restful Fall Break. When we return to music we will be off and running with many upcoming performances before the end of the year. So please be on the look out for information on seeing our amazing little coyotes sing and perform.
What are we doing this month in music class? 1st grade We will be learning all about sol and mi our high and low notes and singing and playing music with patterns. We will also be learning about Fall through our poetry and songs.
2nd grade We will be preparing for our AMAZING performance coming up. Students will practice how to rehearse and what a performance looks and sounds like.
3rd grade We will be taking our musical writing skills to the next level. We will be writing our own compositions using both pitch and rhythmic ideas as well as starting some compare and contrasting exercises using music from the Peer Gynt Suite.
4th grade We are finally starting recorders! Students will be exploring the history of the instrument and learning posture and breathing to begin playing their first songs. Be sure to ask them all about Recorder Karate Belts.
5th grade Band and Orchestra will be getting ready for their first performance of the year and practicing performance behavior on stage. Our General music group will be wrapping up their jazz unit and starting to look at the folk music of Africa.
Questions? – Call or email Mrs. Morris @ (520)879-2616 or [email protected]
UPCOMING EVENTS Upcoming Performances:
2nd grade Veteran’s Day Performance:
-When: Nov. 3rd, 2016 @ 6pm
-Where: Cottonwood’s MPR
5th grade Band and Orchestra Concert:
-When Nov. 22nd, 2016 @ 6pm
-Where: The Vail Theater of the Arts
Spotlight on Specialists Music
The next Site Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 1st at 4:30PM in the conference room. Meetings are open to the public and your attendance is encouraged.
The Site Council serves in an advisory capacity to the principal at Cottonwood. Site councils give parents and community members of each school site the opportunity to provide input into the decision-making process. In addition, school employees are given representation on the site council.
PTSA NEWS OCTOBER 2016
PTSA News
October 2016
WELCOME FALL!!! COTTONWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Fall Break is already here! We hope you are enjoying it. We have a lot to look forward to when school resumes…
Fall Festival Our very first Fall Festival is planned for Friday, October 21 from 5-7pm. We can still use some volunteers to prepare for the festival and help set up the haunted house in the MPR the day of the festival. We also need pumpkin donations to be used for the “Pumpkin Walk”. If you can help out with the Fall Festival or have any questions, please contact Pilar Baker at [email protected]. Thank you!!!
Boosterthon The PTSA main fundraiser of the year is coming up quickly. The Boosterthon pep rally is Monday, October 24 and the Boosterthon Fun Run will be during school on Friday, November 4. More information about the Fun Run will be going home soon! We need volunteers to help hand out water to the kids during the Fun Run! Please contact Tasha Blum at [email protected] if you can help out!!!
Coffee with the Principal The PTSA sponsors monthly “Coffee with Mrs. Mayeux”. Please join us for
coffee/tea/juice and learn about upcoming school events, as well as ask questions, and get to know Mrs. Mayeux. Please join us on Friday, October 28 at 7:45am in the Library.
PTSA Meeting Our next PTSA meeting is Monday, November 7, at 2:15pm in the library. If you would like to be involved in your child’s education, support Cottonwood and the students and teachers, meet other parents & staff, help with upcoming events, and be a voice in decision making, please join us at the meeting. We are excited to see you there!!!
Father Daughter Dance Cottonwood’s annual Father Daughter Dance is coming up on Friday, December, 16 which means we will start planning for it in November. Be on the lookout for planning date and time. We will post this information on our Cottonwood PTSA Facebook page, as well as send home emails to those PTSA members who have expressed interest in helping us plan. If you would like to help plan the dance, please email Meridy Twilling at [email protected] Thank you!!!
Thank You Jill VanAsdlan!!! We want thank Jill for being a liaison between the teachers and the PTSA. Jill has helped coordinate things for the upcoming Fall Festival, and we could not have organized it without her!!!
Thank You Fall Festival Volunteers!!!! We would like to thank all of the parents and teachers who have volunteered their time and talents in helping us plan and execute everything for the Fall Festival. Putting on the Festival is a pretty big job, and without our wonderful volunteers, there is no way we can do it. From making signs, to donating pumpkins, to assembling goodie bags, to making phone calls, we appreciate all of your help. Thank you!!!
Thank You Sarah Vickery!!!! We would like to thank Sarah in the front office for helping sell tickets to the Fall Festival. Sarah has taken on this task in addition to her other job duties---and we are so thankful!!!
Upcoming PTSA Sponsored Events & News
Tracey Kurz, Parent Member & Chair Mary Helen Douglas, Parent Member & Clerk
Amanda Jensen, Parent Member
Tom Kruszewski, Parent Member
Annabelle Pearson, Certified Member
Chrissy DeBono, Certified Member
Carol Saldana, Classified Member
CONGRATULATIONS MRS. DEBONO!!
The Arizona Educational Foundation (AEF) announced the five Ambassadors for Excellence and five Semifinalists of the Arizona Teacher of the Year program Friday. One of the five
ambassadors will receive the coveted title of 2017 AEF Arizona Teacher of the Year at the annual awards luncheon and be in the running for the National Teacher of the Year title. AEF’s annual Teacher of the Year program is the only statewide program to spotlight and
honor Arizona’s public school teachers.
Kelly Simons, Title One Reading Jill VanAsdlan, Title One Reading [email protected] [email protected] 520-879-2651
A Note From Title One:Making Non-Fiction Text Fun Reading nonfiction text can be a bit tricky for students. Below are some fun activities to help your reader get excited about reading nonfiction!
1. Create a comic strip version of the book or informational text. 2. Act out one or more important parts. 3. Make a game board of significant events or information in the text.
4. Write an imaginary (or real) interview with the author. 5. Draw and label a step-by-step process. 6. Create a poster that summarizes and advertises the book. 7. Take a survey of your family’s knowledge about the topic then graph it.
Here are some ideas for how to find nonfiction text they will enjoy!
• Your child probably has a passion for something—jokes, animals, cars, ballet, and so on. Look for nonfiction on your child's favorite subject.
• Make connections with what's happening in your child's life. Are you about to take a vacation? Find books, maps, or websites about where you are going. Is there a national election in the news? Get books about presidents, pets in the White House, or famous leaders from long ago.
• Consider the fiction your child likes and find books of nonfiction to match. Is your child a Martha Speaks fan? Find books about helper dogs, or how to care for puppies, or the Iditarod sled dog race.
See www.pbskids.org and www.readingrockets.org for more information.
Happy Reading!
Greetings from Cottonwood STEM! We are all well underway with the beginning of our first STEM design challenge projects:
1st and 2nd graders (Chemical Engineers)Our 1st and 2nd grade students have just finished up their research projects for The Creative Juice Company’s new juice flavor. Each class brainstormed three colors they believed would be the most appealing to consumers for a new strawberry-orange juice. We asked fellow Cottonwood students to vote in the surveys. After the voting, students complied the data, analyzed it, and then created bar graphs to include in a letter to the president of the juice company. We will use our knowledge of product research to determine what features of play dough make it high/low quality and why consumers find high quality play dough better than low quality.
3rd graders (Optical Engineers)The 3rd grade classes have moved forward with their light experimentation. We have spent several class periods observing how light behaves and the properties of light. Students have been practicing making intense beams of light that can be reflected with multiple mirrors. We also learned about the angle of incident and angle of reflection and how to create and measure that angle using a protractor. Next, students will learn to measure the intensity of a light beam and how to keep the light as intense as possible so that it can be reflected from multiple points around our “Egyptians tombs”.
4th graders (Mechanical Engineers)The 4th grade students have spent their time in STEM class creating and testing sail designs. Our objective was to determine what material, size, and shape of sail catches wind the best. Students were offered several different materials to create their designs in any shape or size they wanted. Students tested their sails by attaching them to a raft which was blown by a fan over a track made with fishing line. Students then measured the distance the raft traveled. When all groups have finished testing their sails we will come together to draw some conclusions about which materials, shapes, and sizes make the best sails.
5th graders (Aerospace Engineers)The students in the 5th grade classes have just finished up their spacecraft designs. Students were required to research the features of celestial bodies in our Solar System and design a space craft that could potentially travel to that planet/moon. Students considered such things as the atmosphere of the planet, the location of the planet in our Solar System, the type of surface the planet has, and the size of the planet. Students not only had to explain their designs to the class but also justify its design based on the destination and mission of the spacecraft.
Karen Cross, STEM [email protected]
VOLUNTEER NEWS
October
Volunteer Opportunities
Fall Festival: October
Boosterthon Fun Run: October
Walk-Tober: October
Veterans Day Performance: November
Help in The Health Aides Office: On Going volunteer needs
Specials: Art and STEM- On Going Volunteer Needs
Holiday Shop: December
Daddy/ Daughter Dance: December
Please contact me if you are interested in volunteering for any of these
events.
Thank You
Natalia Skillicorn
Volunteer Coordinator/ Parapro
(520) 879-2619
Mrs. Camden’s Corner:
Fall Greetings Coyote Families!
Welcome back from Fall break!! This is my favorite time of year! I love the crisp mornings, festive energy, and most exciting… the holidays are approaching!!
Did you know that we have many wonderful programs available to assist our families? Among these are The Food Backpack Program, Holiday Baskets, and the Angel Tree. While some of these programs take place year-round, several of these wonderful programs help us to support our students and families in need during the holiday season. As the season approaches, I’d like to remind our families of these programs and encourage you to reach out if your family or a family you know within our Cottonwood community might benefit from one or more of these programs. All inquiries and/or participation in any program are strictly confidential.
▪ The Food Backpack Program: ▪ The Food Backpack Program offers supplementary food to families over the
course of each weekend. A bag of food is sent home with participating students every Friday and is filled with easy to make meals and snacks. This program can be very helpful for families going through financial hardship. This program is available to families both long and short-term.
▪ Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter Baskets: ▪ Sponsored by St. Rita's in the Desert, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter
baskets are "baskets" of food to help provide families with meals for the holidays. Funds and supplies are limited so if this may be a fit for your family during any of these holiday seasons, please contact Mrs. Camden as soon as possible.
▪ The Angel Tree: ▪ Cottonwood's Angel Tree program helps to supply clothing and gifts to students
in need over the Christmas holiday. This program is particularly special as 80% of donations come from teachers and families right here at Cottonwood. This program is run very specifically to maintain the privacy of every participating student and their families.
*For more information regarding any of the above programs please contact Mrs. Camden at 879.2641 or by emailing [email protected].
Building a Mathematically Fluent Student- Math Moments with Mrs. DeBono
Perhaps you’ve spent this past quarter helping your child with their math homework and noticed at what speed your child was computing their basic facts. If you spend time in your child’s classroom during math instruction, you will see a variety of computation rates. Becoming mathematically fluent and proficient is a natural process in developing a greater understanding of math concepts and will provide many benefits to your child.
What does it mean to have math fluency?In it’s simplest definition, math fluency is one’s ability to accurately and quickly recall basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts (Burns, 2005; McCallum, Skinner & Turner, 2006). It is often determined by a student’s correct amount of digits per minute for a specific set of facts. Here at Cottonwood, math fluency is determined daily through Daily Math Skills (DMS) and is also assessed three times a year during STEEP screening. Students who are fluent in math can recall facts no longer than two seconds before responding with the correct answer. Students with automaticity solve problems faster through recall than performing a mental algorithm. After receiving instruction on how to add, subtract, multiply and divide, fluent mathematicians understand these concepts and possess strategies to determine the answers to math problems (counting strategies, number lines, models) and use them when necessary.
What benefits come from being mathematically fluent?While there are numerous benefits for having automaticity with facts, here are the big ones. According to McCallum, students who recall their basic facts accurately and quickly have greater cognitive resources available to learn more complex tasks and concepts. What does that mean? Well, if Joey knows his division facts with proficiency, then he has more cognitive resources available to learn and acquire new skills for problems such as 3,456/45. In addition, students who are fluent have more opportunities to respond because it takes less cognitive effort to complete a task. When a student has more chances to respond, their skill acquisition and generalization increase and have a positive impact on whether or not a student chooses to engage in their assigned math work. Fluency lessens students’ anxiety and increases confidence.
How do I help my child become fluent?Some interventions available to help develop fluency are: flashcards, songs, raps, games worksheet drills or timed tests. Due to variations in the components of each intervention, it’s not beneficial to say one method is more effective than another. The best results come from the interventions that prove to hold your child’s interest and increase their motivation to perform. Most parents and teachers find drill practices to work well with memorization of facts. Identifying patterns and repeated reasonings and structure in math (another mathematical practice) has also helped students with fact recall- these students focus on efforts such as skip counting. When identifying what works best for your child keep in mind that fluency does not happen overnight. With dedicated practice and continual support from parents and guardians, students learn the importance and necessity in math fluency. Spend time over the fall break working to improve your child’s math fluency.
I would love to hear how you implement a love for math with your child. Please know I am available for all Cottonwood families as a resource for building math fluency with our students. Feel free to reach me via email at [email protected] Have a wonderful, restful break.
Chrissy DeBono, Advanced [email protected]
HellofromtheHealthOfficeIwantedtotakethistimetoremindyouaboutCareDocs,ourmedicalprogram.It’sthebestwayforyou,theparent,tohelpCottonWoodhelpyourchild.OnCareDocsyoucanseewhenyourchildcomesintotheHealthoffice,giveuspermissiontogivecertainoverthecountermedicationsandkeepusinformedofanychangesinmedicalconditionsormedications.Atthebeginningoftheyearyoushouldhavereceivedanemailinvitefromthedistrictoffice.IfyouneedanewinvitepleasecallthehealthofficeandIwillsendyouone.WorkingtogetherwecankeepallourcoyotesfeelinggoodanddoingwellatCottonwoodElementary.LaureenaMorgan,HealthAide(520)[email protected]
A Note From the Achievement Office
Happy Fall! When our students return from Fall Break, they’ll be jumping right back into their school routines- working hard to master their learning objectives and extending their knowledge on their first quarter standards. It’s always so amazing to see their growth from when they first began the year to now!
With our AR Reading Program changing to Reading Counts (RC), there have been a lot of questions. Rather than jump right in, we thought we’d give our students some time to get acquainted. Our first goal was such a success! We asked students to read, take a test (AND PASS!) and tell their teachers all about it. Way to go Coyotes!! You rocked your first goal!!
Our next goal, Excellent Earth will be from Sept. 23-Nov.10th. This is a school-wide challenge! We are asking classes to compete for the most RC tests taken and passed! Can’t wait to see which classes will be our top achievers!
Thank you so much to everyone who helped us raise $2,062.61 at Papa John’s Night! We truly hope you enjoyed your dinner and having us lovely ladies come deliver to you! We certainly had a blast! Get excited for our Fall Festival! It’s coming soon.
Happy Reading everyone!
Stephanie Magnuson Student Achievement [email protected]
VOLUNTEER NEWS
October
Volunteer Opportunities
Fall Festival: October
Boosterthon Fun Run: October
Walk-Tober: October
Veterans Day Performance: November
Help in The Health Aides Office: On Going volunteer needs
Specials: Art and STEM- On Going Volunteer Needs
Holiday Shop: December
Daddy/ Daughter Dance: December
Please contact me if you are interested in volunteering for any of these events.
Thank You
Natalia Skillicorn
Volunteer Coordinator/ Parapro
(520) 879-2619
Mrs. Bonnie Bordner Art Specialist Cottonwood Elementary [email protected] 520.879.2639
2016Cottonwood Elementary
CWE ART
WITH MRS. BORDNER
October 2016
What we’re up to…
1st grade: We are learning about space shuttles and how they are designed. They will create their own spaceship artworks using LINE.
2nd grade: Pinwheels for peace was a great success! We are now reading a book called “Alien School” and creating our own clay aliens based on a character we identify with. Students can come up with their own design and character traits for their aliens.
3rd grade: We are creating “Expressive Self Portraits” using a watercolor splatter technique! Students learn about how facial features express different emotions in a variety of artworks and get to create their own!
4th grade: We started a new projects that is designing a spaceship as well as learning about art composition. Our spaceships literally look like they’re blasting off the page! They also learned about other elements in a space landscape
5th grade: We are finishing up our personal mixed media self portraits. What a great job on facial features they’ve done already!
Art Club:
Field Trip November 8!No art club that day after school.