September From Our Teachers
Leawood Elementary School
LEAWOOD TRACK TEAM 2019-20
Calling all 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders! Leawood’s Track Team is assembling once again for this school year, and we would LOVE for you to join us! Leawood Track will begin Thursday, September 5th, and it will be held every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:45 - 5:00 pm, and on Friday mornings from 8:00 - 8:50 am.
Our goal is to introduce students to the sport of track and field, inspire healthy and active habits, and promote positive values such as discipline, perseverance, goal-setting, commitment, and teamwork (among others). Our program will include a variety of track and field practices such as properly warming up, training, setting goals, learning skills in different types of events, teamwork, and sportsmanship.
The track season will end with a culminating activity for our Leawood athletes who have attended and participated in our practices, demonstrated good sportsmanship, followed track practice rules and expectations, and maintained a positive attitude! This culminating activity is the Leawood Invitational Track Meet. The track meet will be Tuesday, October 8th at 11:15a.m., and it will be held at Jefferson County Stadium off of 6th and Kipling. Admission is free.
Leawood Track forms were sent home Friday with your 3rd - 5th grade students!
We are excited for this new track season!
Best ~ Mr. Lomba, Mr. Gonzales, Ms. Braun, Ms. Chasney, Ms. Field, Mrs. Bole
A Message from Band and Orchestra!
It's not too late to join! Follow the link here to our music website www.columbineareamusic.us
Here you can find our Instrumental Music 2019 handbook under the "downloads" tab. Rent an instrument from Music & Arts or bring one from home to our first in school class on Thursday September 5th! Any questions, feel free to email me.
Eric R. Whaylen
Instrumental Music
Columbine Articulation Area
News from PE
The year has started out great and our classes have been so great. We are working on fitness testing with 3rd, 4th and 5th grades and body movement for k-2. Our kids have also be able to do some individual scooter soccer.
We are also getting ready for our annual Leawood Invitational Track Meet at Jeffco Stadium on Tuesday, October 8. This year we will have our 3rd-5th grades participating. We will have more info as we get closer to the meet. It has been so exciting to be back with our kids in P.E.
Thank you,
F.T. Gonzales/Leawood/P.E.
5th Grade Parents
Please visit Leawood’s home page, Family Resources, 5th Grade 1:1 Chromebook Initiative to find a wealth of information about this program, including an optional warranty that you can purchase to protect your student’s device. Four years of unlimited damage protection for $86 is a highly recommended option.
From the Library
Hello, Leawood Lions! My name is Lisa Pepper and I’m happy to be the DTL at Leawood again this year. I am fortunate to have two amazing paraprofessionals working with me in the library, Angela Langowski and Wendy Hyde.
Due to the district 5th grade 1:1 Chromebook initiative, as well as generous support from our PTSA, we have over 100 new Chromebooks in the building this year. This means that grades 3 through 5 have 1:1 devices in each classroom. Angela, Wendy and I have been very busy getting these devices ready for your students!
Our Digital Citizenship focus this month has been student expectations and device care. We are visiting each classroom to teach students how to make sure these devices are well taken care of. Some of the topics we discuss are carrying the device with two hands, protecting the delicate screen, keeping water bottles and food away, charging safely, logging in and out, and keeping passwords safe. To see a sample of the presentations at different grade levels, click on the slide shows below. Each month we will focus on a different Digital Citizenship skill, so stay tuned!
Mrs. Wheeler’s Art News ~ September 2019
We are off to a great year! It has been so great to get to know your kids! The whole school started off by creating their “dot” after reading the book, The Dot by Peter Reynolds. The book is about a young girl who struggles getting started in art class. Her art teacher told her to just make a mark on her paper, so she made a dot with her pencil. The next class, she found her artwork hanging up behind her art teacher’s desk. Determined to make a better dot, she jumped in to making more dots, experimenting with materials and dot designs.
After we read this book, I gave every student time to create their own dot! Please come visit the art hallway to see your student’s dot!
I loved started with this book this year as it is a great reflection on my teaching philosophy:
I believe that my role as an art teacher is to offer my students the tools and opportunities to draw out their creativity that already exists within them. Visual art provides endless opportunities to achieve this. Through building creative problem solving skills and critical thinking skills, students are pushed to think and create beyond first attempts and ideas. Art is a visual language, a tangible medium in which to communicate and to bridge gaps in age, race, culture and literacy. In this way, art becomes a visual narrative that transcends age, language, and culture.
I’m a big believer in choice in art. While I do have a curriculum that I follow, all grades will be given some choice in all their works of art, whether it’s in the materials they want to use or the subject matter they decide to demonstrate their learning. Below, please find is the first trimester curriculum by grade level.
Kindergarten:
Exploring art materials, learning basic shapes and colors. Learning art room expectations.
“I can learn and explore in art.”
First grade:
Using visual vocabulary to tell a story.
“I can tell a story using pictures.” or “I can use pictures to tell a story.”
Second grade:
Observation and Still Life.
“I can create a still life.”
Third grade:
Personal function in art: Individual ideas, emotions and feelings.
“I can create art that relates to me.”
Fourth grade:
Imagination, Invention and Abstraction.
“I can create art using my imagination.”
Fifth grade:
Visual Problem Solving: Design and Composition.
“I can design a composition in art using the Elements of Art.”
SAVE THE DATE!!!
All 3rd and 5th grade students have been invited to participate in a student art show at Pirate Art Gallery for their annual Dia De Los Muertos Art Show!
This will be my 3rd year participating in this student art show and it’s one of the most fun art shows I’ve been to! El Dia De Los Muertos (or Day of the Dead) is a Mexican holiday celebrated from Halloween eve through November 2nd. It’s a happy time where family members remember their loved ones who have passed and celebrate their lives. Pirate does a wonderful job of honoring this holiday with real family altars, student artwork, food, drinks, pinatas, face paint and live Aztec dancers! I HIGHLY encourage all students, families, friends, teachers to join us at the art opening on Friday, November 1, 2019 at Pirate Art Gallery, 7130 W 16th Ave, Lakewood, CO 80214.
*For questions about helping with this art show OR to opt your student out of show their art, please email me.
ART CLUBS!!!
Lastly, I am interested in offering some clay sculpture art clubs this fall and winter! Clay art clubs are TWO sessions; one session to make or sculpt the clay and one session to glaze or paint the clay. I’m thinking October/November art club (in which one sculpting session would be in October and the second glazing session would be in November) would be Thanksgiving themed. And a second clay art club would be November/December and would be holiday/winter themed. *If your student is interested in participating in the art clubs, please fill out this google Art Club Interest Survey no later than September 15th so I know how many sessions to offer to K-2 and 3-5! THANK YOU! Again, please email me directly if you have specific questions or would like to volunteer!
I’m working on my website as well. Please visit the Leawood home page, go to Our School, Staff List and click on my name!
I LOVE having parents in my classroom! Please email me if you’d like to join our class in some fun art-making! I’m so excited for this school year!
Kate Wheeler
Art Teacher at Leawood Elementary School
kate.wheeler@jeffco.k12.co.us