NOVEMBER From Our Teachers
Leawood Elementary School
Holiday Support
Is your family in need of some help this holiday season? Please reach out using this confidential google form to let us know how we can support you! Leawood provides annual Thanksgiving Boxes, with contributions from our staff and PTSA. During December, we organize collections of new toys, games, books, and winter clothing for kids. Items can be picked up at school or delivered to your home during the week of December 14th. All family information is kept confidential with our school social worker, Jennifer Magri, who you can contact with any questions, at (303) 982-4765 or jennifer.magri@jeffco.k12.co.us.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Our students have been learning more skills from our Second Step curriculum. They have been practicing focusing attention, effective listening, using self-talk, and empathy. This month we will be looking at the social-emotional strengths of each K-5 student to continue to build the most effective social-emotional supports and skills in our school.
Just a reminder if you haven’t yet, please create a free account on www.SecondStep.org to learn more and connect with your child’s social-emotional learning. In creating the account, you will need to enter a 12 digit code, based on your child’s grade. Here are the codes (do not need to enter spaces) for the Second Step:
• Preschool/Kinder: SSPK FAMI LY70
• 1st Grade: SSP1 FAMI LY71
• 2nd Grade: SSP2 FAMI LY72
• 3rd Grade: SSP3 FAMI LY73
• 4th Grade: SSP4 FAMI LY74
• 5th Grade: SSP5 FAMI LY75
Remember that a great way to learn more about what your child is learning is to ask questions and create some space to share your thoughts with each other. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns you may have.
Thank you,
Katie Weaver (Ms. Katie)
Social Emotional Learning Specialist
Katie.weaver@jeffco.k12.co.us
303-982-5519 (voicemail)
A Message from Band and Orchestra!
Our students are hard at work learning the fundamentals of instrumental music performance. Keeping a steady beat while reading our notes and rhythms will continue being one of the most important things for any musician to learn.
Orchestra students have begun working with their bow, and are practicing a challenging bow hold and straight line bowing motion. They already know five notes on two strings, and will be learning the rest of their first scale (D Major) at their next class meeting.
Band students are getting used to creating good musical tone by mastering the concepts of posture, breath support, embouchure, and articulation. Each instrument in the band has its own unique challenges at first. Woodwind instruments have many different keys and buttons, while the brass need to perfect a strong and accurate BUZZ to get out any sound at all.
If you have a student in band or orchestra please encourage them to practice two to three times a week for fifteen to twenty minutes. Practice is more important than ever because of our more infrequent in school classes, and even a short amount of time reviewing what we have done will improve your student’s musicianship. They should be practicing their most basic sounds, instrument assembly/hold, and their easy songs.
The band and orchestra students are planning to join our Leawood Cocoa+Carols event on December 11th at 5pm in Leawood Park. Stay tuned for more information coming soon!
Leawood Band/Orchestra Days Until Break
November 3
November 9
November 17
December 4
December 17
Eric R. Whaylen
Instrumental Music
Columbine Articulation Area
From the Library
Thank you to all of the families who visited our online book fair. We will be able to add several new books to our library collection with this year’s proceeds!
Fifth Grade Parents:
Each month, we focus on a new Digital Citizenship skill. October’s focus was Cyberbullying. Please visit our 1:1 Chromebook Website to learn about these topics and see family ideas for home discussion.
From the Instructional Coach
The Importance of Reading to Your Child
Parents often ask what they can do to help their child at home. The number one answer from an educator will always be, read to your child. Even after they have learned to read on their own, research shows the benefits will continue as your read to your children throughout their childhood.
1. Reading exposes your child to rich language and diverse content. Books allow parents to expand the language environment as they become their children’s first and most important teachers. They help parents to immerse their children in rich and varied language.
2. Reading with your children helps prepare their minds to succeed in school. The benefits of shared reading know no age limits. Babies are soothed by their parents’ voices; school children reading to parents can show their new accomplishments or seek their parents’ help. Children are used to listening to language for its meaning, but reading demands that they also pay attention to the sounds of language. Hearing words in terms of syllables, consonants and vowels encourages phoneme awareness, which is the first step towards reading phonetically.
3. Reading with your child can enrich family ties and intimacy. Its virtues are strongest when parents read ‘dialogically’ by taking the book as an opportunity to enjoy a conversation. Reading together is family time; it is fun time, cuddle time, a time to share your passions, perspective, and your values but also a time to listen. It creates a time for children to express themselves as well as an opportunity for parents to show their willingness to listen. When we build a conversation around a book we encourage our children to communicate with us.
Happy Reading!
Jamie Kelley, Instructional Coach