Every year in December, Mrs. Auld and Mrs. Hershberger give a special surprise to the LES second graders. An anonymous invite is delivered to them to take a ride on the Polar Express! Each student is given a "ticket" to come to the library and watch a read-a-long of the book by Chris Van Allsburg. Mrs. Auld and Mrs. Hershberger even dress up for the event!
Mrs. Baumann's afternoon preschool class wrapped up a 6 week unit study on Environments! They began by discussing their environment inside the classroom, expanded talk to the school building, local community and finally globally by focusing on the Coral Reef for the final 2 weeks.
The students created various projects with nature, reducing waste, recycling, and reusing by turning 'trash' into "treasure". They personalized their creations to reflect the creatures they were studying in the ocean. The students' work included those animals that worked as a team to survive, such as the relationship between the ClownFish and an Anemone.
They read fiction and nonfiction, determined differences between authors and illustrators, and made observations of many similarities in various environments, all while incorporating number recognition, letter identification, phonological awareness, problem-solving solutions, and so much more.
Our final display (all student created!) can be seen in the hallway and will later be shown at the SAC office through most of December.
You are invited!
Happy Thanksgiving from USD 379!
It was float building day in Mrs. Shannon's class on Monday in preparation for the 3rd annual Cubs Day Parade that took place the next day. Adult helpers and kindergarten students worked together building and decorating their floats. It all started with an idea and a sketch that students brainstormed the week before.
Then it was time for a parade! Thank you, adults, for taking the time to participate in this memorable day. You are appreciated!
Each quarter we create a video for staff, parents, and community members who have signed up to be a USD 379 Academic Ambassador. These videos highlight different academic curriculums used in the district and how they impact our kids. (go to usd379.org/academics to sign up)
We decided to share the latest video with the general public. It dives into the district’s 5-year plan to improve reading scores, which is taking place across all grade levels. We wanted to showcase the hard work and dedication ALL staff have put into making sure our students have the best ELA education in the state of Kansas!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT5V0KUKzP8
Lincoln parents, do you have a child enrolling in the LES kindergarten class next year? If so, please take five minutes to complete this survey to give us some more information. Thanks for your help!
https://forms.gle/W8gTW9BL3i1b2xcA8
On National Substitute Appreciation Day, we celebrate and say THANK YOU to our dedicated substitute educators!
Mrs. Bruggeman's students got some hands-on work in today with representations of numbers by building turkeys with the appropriate numbers of feathers.
Similar to every other grade level at LES, all 3rd graders go to a small group reading intervention time based on their individual needs. Some groups are smaller and some are larger. Today in Mrs. Peterson's small group, students were working on a grammar lesson changing singular nouns ending in -y to the plural -ie version.
Each day, Mrs. Siebold carves out time in her schedule for "Writing Clubs". Students are divided into groups and complete tasks like handwriting, letter/word recognition, and organizing words to complete sentences. The students rotate through these stations throughout the week so that all standards are met for each student.
We hope to see you at the next edition of Mr. Nelson's Coffee Talk this Friday at Happy Hippie!
Mrs. Weller's 2nd grade class was learning fast and furious during Core ELA today. First was a grammar lesson on compound sentences. These quick 5-10 minute lessons take place daily. Next, they learned some new vocabulary words for the week, which included visualizing and acting out each word. These vocabulary words will be revisited throughout the week.
Mrs. Carr's first grade students were hard at work during Core (whole group) reading time today. They started by reviewing vocabulary words and then made predictions on what would happen in their fantasy story, "The Black Rabbit". A Key component to reading is not just recognizing and reciting the words on the page. It's also about being able to comprehend the text. Both were happening in Mrs. Carr's classroom!
It was students teaching students today in Ms. Brownell's class! Mr. Walsh's 7th grade Tech Time class came to Lincoln to teach Ms. Brownell's 3rd graders how to use a program called Tinkercad to design and create items that will be made using their 3D printing machine.
Meet Mrs. Davies! She is the behavior specialist at Lincoln Elementary! This is a new position at LES. What is her role?
- Mrs. Davies helps ALL students. This is not a Special Education position, but she can help when needed there as well.
- Whenever possible, her goal is to intervene before any discipline referrals to Mr. Kimmi are necessary, ensuring that your child receives the guidance they need.
- When a student encounters behavioral challenges, she works closely with them to address the issue and develop effective strategies for the future.
- If students continue to escalate or if major infractions occur, Mrs. Davies will send students to Mr. Kimmi.
- Mrs. Davies tries her best to communicate with parents when students come to her. She will also communicate the intervention technique. It usually involves Think Sheets, social stories, movement/sensory breaks, role playing, etc.
- She has also worked on proactive measures, including relationship building, small group social discussions, developing behavioral plans with student input, and classroom observations.
- Mrs. Davies' ultimate goal is to create a positive learning environment where EVERY student can thrive.
Lincoln November BOE Report
It was Ellis Island week for third graders at Lincoln! Students learned all about the immigration process in early America, and then it was time for them to be the immigrants! They created their own profile and passport and then went through an Ellis Island simulation. Some were quarantined, some were deported, and some made it through!
This morning was a beautiful day for a Leaf Hunt in Mrs. Kristi's Pre-K classroom!
All elementary grade levels in USD 379 use Into Reading curriculum. Today, Mrs. Payne's second grade classroom was talking about conflict within the characters of the story. This was part of the "Essential Question", which is asked at the beginning of each unit. There was lots of thoughtful discussion going on in the classroom!
