Corning Elementary School. October .... Corning Elementary. Book Fair. Nov. 11
& 12 7:30-4:00. Nov. 13. 7:30-11:00 ... is a brief snapshot intelligence test that.
Corning Elementary School October 2013
ELEMENTARY NEWS Patty Morris, Principal Many adjustments had to be made this year with our 6th grade moving to Middle School. It took awhile, but it seems like things have finally settled down now and we have more of a regular routine. We have already been very busy with many activities. Students continue to push themselves as they have worked to set academic goals and are working to achieve them. The Kindergarten Goal Sharing Day was a great event as these students were able to verbalize their goals to a parent, grandparent, or other adult. They are always so excited to share things they are doing with anyone who will listen! The PTO sponsored a color walk that proved to be great fun for all the families who participated. We had several students that participated and I think they had a great time. We hope more will have the opportunity to participate next year. PTO is also planning a “Muffins for Mom” event as they invite mothers to bring their child to school and eat a muffin with them before they start their day. Look for information on that to be coming home soon. By the time you get this, we will have also participated in the Healthy State Walk. Last year this was a great day with many community members joining us in our walk around the area. We hope to have another great day to complete this event again this year. Red Ribbon week will be the last week in October as we promote staying drug free to students. A list of “dress up” days will be sent home. It will be capped
off on Thursday, October 31, with a day of showing your good character by being drug free. Students will be asked to dress up as a good character (Disney is our overall theme) but some classrooms have some other ideas as well. I believe one classroom is going to focus on Mickey Mouse, another group is doing Monsters, Inc. and another talked about doing good characters from books the students are reading. You should be receiving a note from your child’s classroom teachers that tells what their theme will be as they have tied that into activities for the day. But overall, it is a theme of being a Good Character! We are completing our fall MAP testing for students in grades 2-5. This was a little later than normal due to some technology considerations. We should be able to give you testing results at conferences. Teachers continue to learn and study as we are involved in a state initiative for improving reading. It is known as Collaborating 4 Kids (C4K) and may sometimes be referred to as Response to Intervention (RTI). There was a letter sent home about this as well as an article in the newspaper. This is just one of the programs teachers in the elementary are learning about during inservice time. They are also being instructed in Learning Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS). Because technology is so important, we have a team of teachers who are attending technology training that will create an action plan and make sure we keep moving forward with integrating technology into our classrooms. The full day inservice the entire district attended also had a technology focus.
We hope to see you all at fall conferences. It takes us all working together for the success of our children.
Fall Parent Meeting Corning’s Title 1 Program has been transformed. We would love to share with you the changes and what that means for students. Come and find out on Tuesday, October 15, at 7 PM in
Picture Retakes – Friday, October 25 at the elementary
Parent – Teacher Conferences Monday, Oct. 28 4:00-8:00 Tuesday, Oct. 29 4:00-8:00
the Title classroom. Early dismissal Oct. 28 & 29
Primary Special Ed. The primary special ed. students are working on a variety of concepts. Besides what the classroom teacher is working on, the students that receive more help are also working on the goals that have been set for them. In reading we are using four different programs. They are each designed to be used for a specific goal. These are used to enhance their phonetic abilities, comprehension, vocabulary, writing sentences, and to enjoy the reading process. In math our goals are to work on counting by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s to 1000; ordering numbers; simple addition and subtraction fasts; reading a clock’s time; counting money; and the thermometer.
No School Friday, November 1.
Corning Elementary Book Fair Nov. 11 & 12 7:30-4:00 Nov. 13
7:30-11:00
Breakfast is Fuel For School! Did you know? Breakfast is served daily at school! School breakfast will give your child a
It has been a busy beginning of the school year. The students are working especially hard to build up their skills.
healthy start to the day. Breakfast at school is affordable, too. If you qualify for free or reduced price school lunch, you also qualify for the breakfast program, with no additional paperwork. Help your child start the day right with school breakfast!
Red Ribbon Week (October 25-31)
as in past years, to identify students that have hearing losses or problems of educational or medical significance.
Dear Parent, As part of Red Ribbon Week celebration at Corning Elementary, we are asking students to participate in the following activities: Friday, (Oct. 25)--"One School, One Goal, Bully & Drug Free"--wear school colors today. Monday, (Oct. 28)--"Smarties Don't Do Drugs"--each student will receive a smarties candy. Tuesday, (Oct. 29)--"Shade Out Drugs"-wear sunglasses today. Wednesday, (Oct. 30)--"I'm A Jeanius', I'm Drug Free"--wear blue jeans today and/or "Hair's To A Drug-Free Life"--wear a crazy hairdo today. Thursday, (Oct. 31)--"Show Good Character by Being Drug Free"--dress as your favorite Disney character. Thank you for helping celebrate Red Ribbon Week.
If you do not want your child to participate in this program, please let the school secretary/school nurse know and they will notify the appropriate AEA staff. If the school is not notified, it will be assumed permission is given for this screening and routine hearing tests. Parents will be notified of test results.
Health Screenings Through out the year, the school district sponsors health screenings for vision, hearing, scoliosis, and height and weight measurements. Students are automatically screened unless the parent submits a note asking the student be excused from the screening. The grade level included in the screening is determined by the type of screening and the appropriateness to that grade level.
Red Ribbon Week Committee
Fall ELP Newsletter All Freshman Students All freshman students must have their dental forms returned to the school by December 1, 2013. If you need another dental form or have questions, please contact Kathy Peterson, B.S.N., School Nurse at 322-4020.
Hearing Screening Audiologists and audiometrists from the Area Education Agency will be working in our school this year screening students for hearing problems and conducting hearing evaluations. This is being done,
Already the year is flying by. Parents, you can always see updates of what we are working on in ELP at our website www.corningelp.weebly.com or from the school’s website as well. We are currently testing Kindergarten and first grade with KBIT2 and will take most of the first semester to test everyone. This is a brief snapshot intelligence test that goes beyond what student knowledge that is normally tested. It measures verbal, school related skills by assessing a person’s word knowledge, range of general information, verbal concept formation, and reasoning ability of the student. The nonverbal portion measures
the ability to solve new problems by assessing an individual’s ability to perceive relationships and complete visual analogies. All of the matrices items involve pictures or abstract designs rather than words. So this test allows us to measure the way the student processes information, not just if they can read or what knowledge they have. We will also test 5th graders in the spring as part of our ID process for Junior High. Kindergarten and first grade will work on a literature unit second semester called Enchanted Castle. The students analyze, compare fairy tales and eventually write and create a video, puppet show or play showing their own fairy tale creation. The students will also work on analogies, mind benders, and various technologies with the IPAD’s as well as Junior Great Books. Ms. Klopp received a $2,000 STEM Grant from the state of Iowa this year and has teamed up with Mrs. Goldsmith, Mrs. Morales and Ms. Bachman to work with all first graders on Engineering Inspired by Nature. The students will learn to identify different Iowa leaves and trees, how their seeds travel, link topics to various books, build a seed helicopter, and design seed parachutes. Third graders chose to work on our Roller Coaster Science Unit where they learn scientific concepts that make roller coasters work and they will design and build their own mini roller coasters. They also work with a physic IPAD app to experiment with design. This unit will take most of the year. They will also work on analogies, our algebra unit Sea Voyage, junior great books and mind benders. Fourth grade is off to an exciting year of science exploration. They are learning to work with microscopes to solve the
scientific Mystery of Peterson’s Pond. Peterson’s pond has fish dying and the owner doesn’t know why. Students learn about water pollution, bacteria and will test various water samples from the pond. Then they will propose a solution to clean up the pond. They also work with National Geographic’s IPAD app Marine Missions to clean up the ocean. Along with 5th graders they are also working on Math City, where the students learn accounting skills, budgeting, and graphic design to develop their own business and sell goods to their fellow students. Second semester they chose the roller coaster science unit. 5th Grade is also working on Math City and Egypt Civilization. Along with the Math City unit students will use the IPAD app Small Street to run a business in a virtual city. In Egypt Civilization, the students learn about the ancient Egyptian society, become a citizen of one of their chosen Nomes, make a Menat, learn to write hieroglyphics, learn about Egyptian clothing, plants, animals, mining, mummies, masks, pyramids, create a tomb painting, build their own pyramid and finish with creating an Egyptian museum and tasting Egyptian food. They will use the IPAD’s to take 3D tours of the pyramids and learn about the ancient gods of Egypt and pharaohs. In between students chose independent projects of Lego Robotics and Music History. Finally all 4th and 5th graders will work with TIME Magazine for kids to discuss world issues and blog their thoughts and reactions to current events and work through Junior Great Book series. As you can see, we have a busy year ahead. Check our website often for picture updates.
