GES NEWSLETTER January- March 2012 From Mr. Martyka... Six Pillars of Character Throughout the year we have been focusing on our Six Pillars of Character (Responsibility, Respect, Fairness, Caring, Trustworthiness, Citizenship). For six week periods students learn about each trait through an all school assembly, classroom lessons and buddy activities. I have been impressed by hearing students using words from our six pillars of characters as they have been attempting to work out problems with peers. We are currently completing work with trustworthiness and will be moving on to citizenship in April. Enjoy your Spring Break We are off from Friday, April 6 th to Sunday, April 15 th. Classes will resume on Monday, April 16 th. Inside this issue: The Principal 1 Early Childhood 2 Kindergarten 2 First Grade 3-4 Coats and Warmer Weather As the weather warms up the students often ask if they can take their coats off at school. To avoid being asked this question repeatedly we have the 60 degree rule at school. That means that whenever the temperature is below 60 degrees students must wear their coats outside. Second Grade 5 Third Grade 6 Fourth Grade 7 Upcoming Dates Fifth Grade 7 Music 8 April 6 th 15 th April 20 th May 7 th 11 th Spring Break April Madness Basketball game in the GHS Gym Teacher Appreciation Week LMC 8 Reading 9 PTA 9
Early Childhood - Mrs. Viesselmann, Mrs. Dufner, and Mrs. Ebel. In Early Childhood the children had a great time doing activities and reading books written by Dr. Seuss. They also were read a lot of books about Leprechauns and St. Patrick s Day. AM Early Childhood Dr. Seuss Sam Jacoby-I like Dr. Seuss books. I like The Cat In The Hat. Kristin Hackbarth-We made Green Eggs and Ham, I do not like Green Eggs and Ham. Cameron Schmunk-I like Dr. Seuss s ABC book. Vincent Hansen-I like the Foot Book. PM Early Childhood Leprechauns Matt Sauer-You better watch out because Leprechauns can play tricks on you and make a big mess. Tatum Wieidenhaft-Leprachauns are shoemakers and can make any kind of shoes you want. Madison Inman-Leprechauns are two feet tall that s two rulers together. That s not too tall. Aiden Maher-The Leprechauns left us chocolate coins. You can t spend them you eat them. Samantha Hackbarth-The Leprechauns favorite color is green. They like Shamrocks. Will Brouillette- Leprechauns come from Ireland. I think they are make-believe but I m not sure yet. Nigel Walls-Leprechauns are green and sneaky. Elizabeth Drescher-I would like to catch a Leprechaun and find his gold. I think he keeps his gold by a rainbow. I learned the rainbow colors they are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. I like purple Kindergarten - Mrs. Shanks and Mrs. Jarvis. From Mrs. Shanks Class... In February, we learned about presidents. We learned about some of the things that a president does and where the president lives. The kindergarteners were asked to finish the sentence, If I were president These were the responses: Avery- I would be a nice president. I would make every people be nice to other people. Ashir- I would make lots of money. Abby- I would clean up the park. I would ride on a horse. I would wear a black hat. Brison- I would be rich. Brogan- I would live in the White House because I like to do work. I like movies, too. And I like bowling, too. Elijah- I would take care of our country. Page 2 Jacob- I would buy a book. Johnathan- I would run the city. Joseph- I would help people all around. Kayziah- I would be a big mermaid. Kristin- I like the presidents. Layla- I would take care of our country. Maya- I would go to a movie theatre. Olivia C.- I would help the country and it would be helpful. Olivia R.- I would buy a book. Reese- I would pick flowers. Sneha - I could be rich. Shawn- I will be rich. Taylor- I live in the White House. Tommy- I would have the party in the White House. Tyler- I would be rich. Zachary- I would get 1000 dollars. Zaimah- I would help the other presidents.
First Grade - Mrs. Lennon and Mrs. Neubauer. How to Catch a Leprechaun Stories by Mrs. Neubauer's First Graders! Tricky Little Leprechaun By: Brooke Brezavor It s time to go leprechaun hunting. First, I will get my stuff and go to the woods. Then, I will catch him. Next, I will ask him where his gold is. Finally, he tricked me because the pot is EMPTY! Maybe I will catch him next year. How to Catch a Real Leprechaun By: Gwen Grumley A leprechaun is smart, but I am smarter. First, I will make a trap. Then, the leprechaun will get caught in the trap. Next, I will ask him, Where is your gold? Last, if he lies I will put him in a jar in a bag so that I know where he is. That is how you catch a real leprechaun. What to do With a Leprechaun By: Shubham Saxen Hi, I am finding a leprechaun. First, I will get a net and put shiny stuff in it. Then, I will grab the leprechaun out of the net and ask him where he keeps his pot of gold. Next, the leprechaun will give me all of his gold. Last, now I can buy anything I want. What would you do if you caught a leprechaun? How You Get a Leprechaun By: Melayna Wardall Today is Saint Patrick s Day. First, I will find a leprechaun. Then, I will put him in a tank. Next, I will take three pieces of his gold. Last, I will set him free. What would you do if you got a leprechaun? Getting Tricked by the Leprechaun By: Taylor Schnell I will catch a leprechaun, even if it takes forever! First, I will be sneaky. Then, I will catch the leprechaun! Next, I will make him tell me where the gold is. I love gold! Last, he tricked me. He is very smart. I looked everywhere and I couldn t find the gold. But, I still like leprechauns! How to Catch a Leprechaun on Saint Patrick s Day By: Jordan Guerra Today is Saint Patrick s Day. I will catch a leprechaun. First, I will catch a leprechaun. Then I ll ask him where the gold is. Next, I will be rich! Last, I will let him go home. Maybe next year I will catch him again. How to Catch a Leprechaun on St. Patti s Day By: Kiran Bangalore I am going to catch a leprechaun on St. Patti s Day. First, I am going to put cheese on the outdoor s floor. Then, I will glue the cheese on the floor. Next, the leprechaun will eat the cheese. Finally, I will grab him and put him in a jar and never let him go until I find his gold. What I will use the gold for is helping poor people. How to Outsmart a Leprechaun By: Suhani Goswami If you want to catch a leprechaun, you better keep an eye out for one because they are very cleaver and they can trick you. First, I am going to find a leprechaun in the woods. Then, I am going to set up a trap. Next, I am going to put a pot of fake gold in the trap. Next, I am going to quietly hide behind a tree and wait. Then, a sparkle caught my eye. Next, I quietly tiptoed over there and I saw real gold! I said, I am rich! Suddenly, something popped out of a bush. I looked closer and I saw that it was a leprechaun! He said in an angry voice, Why are you trying to steal my gold? I said, I am not trying to steal your gold, I was admiring how shiny your gold is. You must be a very lucky leprechaun. Next, I told the leprechaun everything that I had done, but I didn t tell him about the trap and the cage with fake gold in it. Then the leprechaun backed up and said, Well, I must go now. He backed up right into the cage and he said, Help! Help! Then he disappeared leaving his gold behind. Page 3
Mrs. Neubauer s class continued... How to Catch a Leprechaun s Gold By: Rachel Herron I was watching TV on Saint Patrick s Day. I heard a noise. I checked and I saw a shiny thing. It was a piece of gold. There might be a leprechaun in here! I am going to catch the leprechaun. First, I put sticky paper everywhere. If the leprechaun comes, he will get stuck on the sticky paper. Then, I looked for tiny cracks between the sticky papers. If there aren t any cracks, the leprechaun will surely get stuck. In the morning I looked to see if the leprechaun was stuck. There he was! I asked the leprechaun to promise to show me his gold. I looked and looked forever. My bones were hurting. I looked in the corn field. The gold was supposed to be in a farm. I looked by the cows. I looked in the hay. I looked in the mud. I looked in all the farms in the state. I finally found it! Hip hip hooray! My Idea to Catch a Leprechaun By: Sam Teplin Today is Saint Patrick s Day. First, you find the woods. Then, you grab a net. Next, you catch the leprechaun. Last, you ask him to show you his gold. That is my idea about how to catch a leprechaun. How I Caught a Leprechaun By: Chase Norton Hi, it is Saint Patrick s Day. First, I walked in the woods. Then, I saw a pot and in it is gold. Next, I grabbed the leprechaun. Then I said, Leprechaun, you listen! I want your gold! Finally, he gave the pot of gold to me. See you later. For the First Time Ever, I Caught a Leprechaun! By: Bryanna Mursch I will catch the leprechaun even if it takes forever. First, I took my GPS and it tells me where leprechauns are. Then, I caught the leprechaun with a net. Next, I made him tell me where the gold is and I got the gold. I caught the leprechaun. I love gold and I like chocolate! I looked at the gold. It shined in my eyes. I will share it with the world. I m Going to Catch a Leprechaun In My House By: Lukas Bellin I am going to catch a silly leprechaun in my house. First, I will put some money in the bathtub. Then, I will add water to the bathtub. Next, I am going to tie a rope between the two glass doors. Last, I will make the leprechaun tell me where the pot of gold is. If he does not tell me where it is, I will flush him down the toilet. How to Catch a Leprechaun By: Devin Yang Today is Saint Patrick s Day. First, I will go to the rainforest. Then, I will make fake gold and put it on a net. Next, I will catch the leprechaun. Last, I will have the gold. Catching a Leprechaun By: Rebecka Dart First, I set up a trap. I took a string and a cage to make the trap. Then, I got a ladder. Next, I tied the string to the cage. Finally, I climbed the ladder and set the string over the beam on the ceiling. I put gold in the cage. Then I heard a click, click sound and I heard the cage close. I went over there and do you know what I saw a leprechaun! I asked very nicely and said, Where is your gold? Can you please tell me where your gold is? He said, Yes, and showed me where his gold was. The end. Page 4
Second Grade - Mr. Lazovik and Mrs. D Amico. Mr. Lazovik s class wrote summaries about stories read in class. Everyone learned about setting a summary up with Who, What, But, Then, So, Finally. A summary of How I Spent My Summer Vacation as told by Cooper Clague. Wallace Bleff was going to his Aunt s house on a train. But, he got kidnapped by cowboys. Then, he decided to stay with the cowboys. So he goes to his Aunt s grill out and he saves everybody from a stampede. Finally, he tells his story to his class. A summary of Dear Mr. Blueberry as told by Geetika Thutupalli Emily and Mr. Blueberry write letters to each other. Emily thinks she has a whale in her pond. But Mr. Blueberry says you can t have a whale in your pond. Then, Emily says that she wants to keep the whale. So, Mr. Blueberry writes a letter that says you can t keep the whale. This makes the whale leave. Finally, Emily sees her whale at the beach. A summary of Cool Ali as told by Katelyn Brandt Ali takes her chalk outside on a hot summer day. But her whole neighborhood is hot. So, she takes her chalk and draws cool pictures that will take their minds off the heat. Then it rained and all of her drawings were washed away. She was so sad. Everybody lifted her on their shoulders and she felt better. Mrs. D Amico s class wrote poems about spring. They learned what an acrostic poem was. Spring Is Here! Sunshine Pretty colors Rain drops Imagine Nature Growing leaves By: Hannah Kendzor Spring! Summer is near Pouring Rain Rain Imagination No snow Green Grass By: Joshua Damsteegt Page 5
Third Grade - Mrs Gaulke, Miss Suhr, and Ms. Zozak. From Mrs. Gaulke s Class How We Would Spend our Dream Leap Day Nathaniel= I would go to the Indonesian Rainforest and hang out with the Krat brothers and see the Draco lizards and watch them glide. Maddie= I would go to the American Girl Store in Chicago and spend time looking at all the dolls and accessories like shoes, clothes and glasses. Lily= My dream Leap Day is to go to Disney World for the whole day. I would go with my friends in Florida. We would go on the rides and see some shows since it s open for 24 hours on Leap Day! Briana= My dream Leap Day is to go to an island paradise in Hawaii. I want to see all the beautiful sights like the tropical animals and plants. I want to learn how to hula dance and wear a grass skirt. Michael= The day would be filled with fun and games. I would cancel school and turn it into a one day long carnival. I would climb a tree for the first time and see Jurassic Park in 3D in a theatre. Jack G= If I had a dream Leap Day, I would go parachuting and the parachute would say Leap Day Yeah! I would do that a million times. Dylan= My dream Leap Day would be a big fishing trip. My fishing trip would be in Canada. We would fish for walleye. Morgan= My dream Leap Day would happen every four years. I would get enough money for concert tickets to see Taylor Swift. I would like to go backstage to get her autograph. Hopefully I would get front row seats and I would like to take my friend Lily with me. Jack K= I would like to have my clock go back so I could sleep longer. I then would use magic to make the day longer so I could spend more time with my family and go shopping. I then would like to go to Tae Kwon Do class and have a longer class. Emma= I would like to travel and visit some of the states that I haven t visited and learn more about the different cultures. Page 6
Fourth Grade - Mrs. Shepard and Mrs. Sladky. On Thursday, March 8 th, the fourth graders went to Riveredge. We went to learn that maple trees produce a sap that can be boiled to make maple syrup. We reviewed photosynthesis and we went in the sugar bushes to tap three maple trees. Plus we had pancakes with fresh maple syrup and dill pickles! On Wednesday, March 7 th, the fourth graders in Mrs. Shepard s class went to Jumping Country. They won the party for bringing in the greatest number of Box Tops during the PTA sponsored Box Top Challenge. Thomas Lamb won the individual Grand Prize of 5 tickets to Jumping Country because he brought in 465 box tops. In Social Studies we made projects for the Southwest region of the United States. Gracie Bellin did her project on San Antonio, Texas. She learned the Alamo is located in San Antonio. Jon White did his project on cowboys in Texas. He learned that there are still cowboys in Texas but today these cowboys use technology in their business. They use electrical gates and computers to keep track of their herds. Duncan Suddarth researched the football team the Texans. He learned that Reliant Stadium is the home of the Texans. One of our parents, Mrs. Voss, is teaching both classes about the regions in the United States. We are learning about different resources; human, capital and natural resources. She is doing this as part of Junior Achievement. Fifth Grade - Mr. Girmschied and Mrs. Heinz/Mrs. Risic. Over the past three months the fifth graders have learned and experienced so much. Science has been so exciting this year, we ve done so many fun things like building and launching rockets to the top of the ceiling. We had to find a way to get the rocket up without using our power. A lot of kids used a type of pulley system, and others used things like balloons or a train. Now we are working on a power point presentation on things in space. Planets to stars to black holes. Ms. Risic has been a great long term sub for Mrs. Heinz, who left for maternity leave. We are so excited for her to come back. In social studies we just finished studying the Revolutionary War. Now we have moved on to the Civil War. In music we are watching a great musical called NEWSIES! It s about young boys selling papes (papers) in New York. The boys go on strike because Pulitzer (richest man in New York) raises the price of the papers. The boys got really angry. Some of the things that we re excited about are the fifth grade raffle. Also we are very happy to be playing in April Madness. Get ready Kennedy and Woodview! We have had a great time in fifth grade so far. I hope it continues! By: Payton Riddle, Corbin Woessner, and Carter Day Page 7
GES Music - Ms. Andrews. 4 TH Graders have taken music literacy to the next level with learning to play recorders. Here s what they have to say about it (acrostic style)! Read notes (Maddy Hillner) Excellent & Exciting & Education (Marley Dolberg, Grace Hahm, Blake Olson) Creative & cool (Kirsten Van Ryzin & Sydney & Molly Biebel) Outstanding (Grace Hahm) Really fun (Halena Gehrke) Do your best (Brianna Rapp) Everyone will enjoy it (Eli Bolker) RECORDERS ROCK! Mark your calendars: GES Singers Rehearsals start: Tuesday April 17 th 7:30am Music Room (Last rehearsal May 22 nd ) GES Spring Concert-Rock and Roll Forever Friday May 25 th 1:00pm GHS Auditorium Featuring all kids in Grades K-5 Library Media Center - Mrs. Steffens and Mrs. Cibulka. By: Riley Balistrieri, Adam Schnell, and Karsen Wise. This year, fifth graders got an opportunity to help out in the library. We got to choose from 2 jobs: computer shut-down and help clean up the library. One person goes to the computer lab 5 days a week to shut down computers before dismissal. Some people on Friday s donate some of their recess to help clean up the library and complete different projects. Also, a small group of people comes in and checks in books and puts them away. In addition, during library class, the fifth graders are working on PowerPoint for Caldecott Medal books. These PowerPoint projects include 6 slides, one including a page about them. They got to use pictures of their choice. Each kid got an opportunity to use the scanner to scan their book cover. It took us a long time but they all turned out awesome. The class evaluated each PowerPoint. Pretty soon we are going to present the PowerPoint projects to the class. All the fifth graders thank the librarians for letting us have such big responsibilities. Page 8
Reading - Mrs. Wargolet. Book Adventure is a free, online reading program for children in grades K-8 brought to you by Sylvan Learning. The goal is to help kids learn to love reading through interactive tools, games and motivational rewards. The site makes it easy for children to find a book, take quizzes, and win prizes for their reading success. Plus, the site is packed with tips and resources parents can use to boost reading skills and track progress. Check out the website at www.bookadventure.com. There are great resources for kids and parents. PTA sponsored events to look forward to! Earth Week 4/16-4/20 Scholastic Book Fair 4/23-4/27 Turn off the TV Week 4/30-5/4 Teacher Appreciation Week 5/7-5/11 From everyone at GES have a wonderful spring break! Page 9