Oct From our Teachers
From the Instructional Coach
Whether you are a teacher or a parent, we share a goal of helping children learn and be successful. As you know, parent teacher conferences are coming up the second week of October. These conferences are crucial in establishing an effective home-school partnership, which is a benefit to all. These are just a few tips to prepare for a successful conference:
Be on time. The teachers are on such a strict schedule these evenings and they want to give you your full time, but will need to cut the conference off for the next waiting parent.
Prepare a list of questions you want to ask your child’s teacher.
Be ready to collaborate. Teachers will often give you ideas of ways to help your child at home.
Offer your perspective. It is helpful because you’ve known your child longer than your child’s teacher has!
Listen carefully. This is such a short time teachers will often share a lot of information with you!
Make a plan for future communication. Whether email or phone call, let your teacher how you like to keep in touch.
We look forward to seeing you October 10 and 11!
Aimee Crispin, Instructional Coach
Student Leadership Team
We are so excited to be rolling out this year's Student Leadership Team. Thanks to this year’s staff sponsors: Mrs Magri, Mrs Stelmach, Mrs Burnham, Mrs Shehan, and student teachers Ms Cable and Ms Dougherty.
The team will support planning and running events which encourage school‐spirit and community service. Some activities planned for this year may include but are not limited to:
* Planning and running Trick-or-Treat Street at CHS, Saturday, Oct 27th
* Planning and promoting spirit days
* Planning and organizing community service events like food drives
* Supporting school store, our school recycling program, valentine grams or flowers
* Helping with PTSA events like Veterans Day, Holiday Workshop, and Dr Seuss Day
Interested students are preparing their nomination speeches to be given this week. Each classroom hopes to elect 3 team members.
For more information, please reach out to Mrs Shehan at martha.shehan@jeffco.k12.co.us
Knitting Club
Knitting Club is starting on Wed. Oct 17 for any 6th grader interested in learning to knit. We will meet Wednesday afternoons in Mrs. Story’s classroom from 3:45 to 4:45. Look for a permission slip to come home in 2 weeks with more information on it. This is a great opportunity to learn a new skill, and parents and grandparents are invited to come also.
Track
Our athletes have been working hard and having fun! Mrs. Bole has been working on balance and core strength conditioning. Ms. Braun and Ms. Chasney are taking our distance runners to our very own “rain forest” for a run down to the creek. They are up to 1 ½ miles and we will reach our goal of at least a 3 miles in the next few weeks. Mr. Lomba and Mr. Gonzales head up our field events, with long jump and shot put respectively. Mr. Lupo brought out the batons this week aiming to get our “mojo” going for the relays! If you ordered a shirt, they will come in the Friday before the meet and will be passed out then. Please remind your athletes to bring water bottles to practice!
Leawood’s Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
Positive Behavior, Interventions and Supports is a research based, school wide approach to managing behavior that many Jeffco Schools use. It involves having consistent school wide behavior expectations and continually modeling and reinforcing those behaviors throughout the school year. Leawood has three school wide expectations: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe. Each of these expectations is outlined with more specific behaviors for each environment in the school, including the classroom, hallways, cafeteria, playground, etc. Our goal is to teach these behaviors, recognize students who are demonstrating these skills, and re-teach students who may need more practice. If students experience ongoing struggles in any of the three areas, a behavior reminder or an office referral may be written. The purpose of these forms is to communicate the situation to the family, as well as determine where, when, and under what circumstances a child may be struggling. We can use this documentation to better understand what further strategies or interventions may help a student be successful.
New this year is the implementation of Mystery Behavior! Each week, the staff are looking for one specific behavior (including others, materials ready to learn, etc.) and will recognize random students who are demonstrating this behavior that week with a yellow Mystery Paw Print. Students will not know what they are being recognized for until Friday morning announcements, when the behavior is revealed and all names of students who received a Paw Print that week will have their names read aloud. Students will also have their pictures taken as a group to be hung on our Mystery Behavior Bulletin Board outside of the cafeteria.
From the Library
Our fall Scholastic Book Fair is quickly approaching. Please come visit the fair to find a variety of fun, interesting, and award winning books for children. We depend on proceeds from the book fair to purchase new books for our school library.
Scholastic Book Fair Sale Hours:
Tuesday, Oct. 9: 8:30-9:00, 3:45-4:45
Wednesday, October 10: 8:30-9:00, 12:15-1:15, 3:45-7:45
Thursday, October 11: 8:30-9:00, 3:45-7:00
We need help unpacking books and setting up the fair on Thursday, October 4th between 1:30 and 3:30. Please use the link below if you would like to volunteer.
Thank you in advance for supporting our book fair!
Mrs Pepper, Digital Teacher Librarian
Music Happenings!
On Wednesday, October 24th the Columbine High School Show Choir will be performing at an assembly for 3rd-6th grade.
4-6th graders have been excited about learning how to play ukelele. 5th and 6th graders took our ukeleles into the computer lab to learn how to read and research tab notation. 4th graders are learning how to keep a steady beat and play together as a team singing the Bob Marley song “Three Little Birds”.
1st-3rd graders are learning how to be creative movers. The “No Flossing” sign outside Mr. Zigman’s door has generated quite the buzz around school. That’s because in music class we have to find interesting, unique, outside-the-box ways to express ourselves using our bodies! We’ve been creating class lists of movement vocabulary and exploring the difference between “self-space” and “general space”, as well as non-locomotor vs locomotor movements, while singing and playing hand percussion instruments.
Mr. Zigman, Music Teacher
From Instrumental Music:
What have we been learning?
Advanced Band: We have been reviewing our ARTICULATION and how it can create different moods in our music. Students have been assessed on their ability to accurately play their SLUR and ACCENT. Please be practicing the sheet music for our NOVEMBER 13 CONCERT: Marching On, and Imperium.
Advanced Orchestra: We have been practicing our bowing technique, as well as using our pinky finger to get out high notes (for violins and violas). We have also introduced new notes on our low G string! Students have been assessed on their pinky finger notes, and the new notes G, A, B, and C. Students should be practicing one of their new pieces for the NOVEMBER 13 CONCERT Medieval Kings.
Beginning Band: We have been working very hard to create good TONE on our new instruments! This involves three things: (see if your students can name them!) POSTURE, or how we sit, BREATHING, and EMBOUCHURE, or how we form the muscles of our face. Students have been assessed on their first three notes on page 8 of their book.
Beginning Orchestra: We have learned our two open strings A and D, as well as notes E, F#, and G. These are played by placing fingers on the tape which is located on the instrument’s neck. We have been assessed playing Rolling Along on page 8 of their book. There has been a huge focus on proper playing posture and shoulder rest position in order to get the best tone from our instrument. Remember… NO BOW playing yet!
CONCERT NOVEMBER 13th @ CHS
Band students arrive at 5:00 for a 5:30 performance.
Orchestra students arrive at 6:30 for a 7:00 performance.
Attire: Columbine area Music T Shirt, black pants or skirt, and black shoes.
Advanced students – find your tshirt from last year
Beginning students – you will receive a tshirt order from during the week of October 1st
More information can be found at
http://www.columbineareamusic.us/