1

Feelhaver Elementary School

Newsletter TOGETHER WE RISE: Raising the Bar, Closing the Gap, Believing All Kids Do Well If They Can

March, 2019

Dear Feelhaver Families,

We wanted to thank those families, who were able to participate in our first ever Family Engagement Night! We hope it helped give you an update on your child’s progress; helpful strategies; helpful materials; and a chance to meet other families. If you were not able to make it, please touch base with your child’s teacher.

On a separate note due to the unpredictable weather, I wanted to remind everyone to please drive carefully. In fact, I have been asked to remind everyone to please not drive through the east side parking lot to drop off and/or pick up students. There are blind spots in the parking lot where you might not see children or staff. We want everyone to be safe.

In addition, our new State assessment for students is called the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Pro-gress (ISASP). It replaces the Iowa Assessments as the accountability test for all Iowa students. The test will help assess the following subjects and elementary grade levels:

Mathematics: Grades 3 & 4 English-Language Arts, including reading and writing: Grades 3 & 4

We plan to administer the tests to students, during April 1 – 12, 2019. Here are some guidelines I encourage you to follow:

Please avoid scheduling any dental, medical appointments, vacations or other intrusions during these

dates.

Make sure kids get an appropriate amount of sleep prior to the tests.

Students should come to school well fed.

Let us know if unique circumstance come up at home (i.e. child is sick, etc.)

Thank you,

Ms. Nancy Cross, Principal

Lunch with dad Makerspace Lunch with mom

2

Kindergarten Mrs. Gaul and Mrs. Stepan

Mrs. Gibson has begun coming to our

kindergarten classroom for Project Discovery.

During her time with us, we are working on

using creativity to think about the world around

us and solve problems. The latest lesson was

pretending that a box could be any number of

things!

Project Discovery

First Grade Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Winter

One component of the EL Modules that we teach in first grade is “Lab” time. There are four labs that the students rotate through. In the Research Lab students learn about the sky using research materials. Students go to Google Classroom on their chromebooks to listen to songs, stories, and read nonfiction books about the sun, moon and stars. In the Explore Lab students engage in an open exploration of light and shadow with flashlights, different types of paper, shadow pictures, and the globe. In the Create Lab students blend colors together with paint to create the colors of the sky at different times of day. The Imagine Lab allows students to collaborate with others and bring stories to life by acting out books we have read.

Painting the colors of the sky Learning about the sun, moon and stars

3

2nd Grade Mrs. Hinton and Mrs. Hora

We finished our reading unit on Paleontology by writing a narrative about finding a fossil. We will begin our next unit on “The Secret World of Pollination”. We will be reading many non-fiction texts about pollinators and what their job is. The unit will also begin new labs for us to work in each day.

In math we are continuing to work on fact fluency within 20. Each student works in a math group every day to help practice these facts and then works with a partner to use the skills while playing a fact fluency game. We also learned about measurement and practiced using different tools such as a ruler, yard stick and tape to measure objects around the room.

Measuring with a ruler

3rd Grade Mr. Stanley

Thank you, parents, for attending parent night on

February 28th. I hope that you found the evening

helpful. In Reading module, students are

considering what they can learn from reading

literature classics through a case study of Peter

Pan by J.M. Barrie. I am pleased that the children

are enjoying the book. Students continue to be

instructed at their reading level in small groups. In

math class we have been learning about fractions

and telling time. We will be moving on to area

measurement.

Reading Peter Pan

4

3rd Grade Ms. Alstott

Students have been learning about frogs and their special adaptations. To end Module 2 they made Freaky

Frog Books. To celebrate our books being done they partnered up with a fourth grader and read their book

to them.

Sharing our Freaky Frog Book

Measurements

4th Grade Mrs. Angstrom and Mrs. Nordstrom

In fourth grade, we are finishing up our Animal Defense Mechanism unit by

writing narrative choose-your-own-adventure stories. These stories have a

beginning, middle, and a choice for the ending. In math, we are continuing

learning about fractions. We have been adding, subtracting, and multiplying unit

fractions. We have learned about fractions greater than one and mixed numbers.

Please continue to have your child read twenty minutes daily.

.

Mrs. Cross reading her favorite book to 4th graders on World

Read Aloud Day

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES

March 11 - Dental Screening

March 12 - Kindergarten Roundup

March 21-25 - Spring Break, No School

March 26 - Hearing Screeings

April 1-16 - Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress

5

Here are the Cool Tools taught in February. We will continue to intro-duce several cool tools each month and revisit previous Cool Tools as needed throughout the year.

February 4 Hallway Expectations Students will be safe in the hallway by walking and keeping the floors

clean. They will use a zero voice level and close lockers quietly so oth-ers can learn.

Voice Level We also reviewed appropriate voice level this week.

February 11 Listening and Following Directions Learning how to follow directions is an important life skill needed for many situations including education, work and being a lawful citizen. It is important to know what your teachers and classmates are saying/ doing.

February 18 Appropriate Play in the Snow Now that we have fantastic snow hills and lots of snow to enjoy, we re-viewed how to appropriately dress and play in the snow safely.

Due to snow days and late start schedules, we spent the rest of the month reviewing cool tools as needed.

Thanks for supporting PBIS at Feelhaver,

The PBIS Team

Here is our complete School Discipline Policy for your review.

PBIS News March 2019

Lunch rewards Maker Space

6

The Fort Dodge Community School District is implementing family engagement events in our schools. These events will help increase the awareness families have of our academic expectations, will build the capacity of families to sup-port their students’ learning and will create a strong partnership between families and our schools. These interactive events will offer families the opportunity to practice skills and strategies they can use at home to support and extend their students’ learning. Family members and school staff working together will better support stu-dent learning and help students achieve their dreams. Ongoing research shows that family engagement in schools improves student achievement, and reduces absentee-ism. Students with involved parents and/or caregivers earn higher grades and test scores, have better social skills and show improved behavior at home and school. Our family engagement events will take place on Thursday, February 28, 2019, from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. at Feelhaver School. These family engagement events will serve as our spring conferences for families. Please mark your calendars ac-cordingly and plan to attend. Teachers will reach out to individual families for additional one-on-one conversations as needed. Family is the most important influence in a child’s life, therefore involving families in the education of our students is critical to their success. We will continue to work to build more meaningful and personal connections with our families to better support our students in their learning and for their futures. We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming family engagement event. Together We Rise!

It is the policy of the Fort Dodge Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ancestry, age, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, physical attributes, religion, political party preference, political belief, socioeconomic status, veteran’s status, actual or potential parental, family or marital status in its programs, services, and employment practices. If you have questions or grievances related to this policy, please contact Stephanie Anderson (Director of Student Services - Elementary), and Dr. Kirsten Doebel (Director of Student Services - Secondary), Central Administra-tion Office, 104 South 17th Street, Fort Dodge, IA 50501, (574-5678) or contact the Civil Rights Midwestern Division for U. S. Department of Education Of-fice, 500 W. Madison Street, Suite 1475, Chicago, IL 60661-4544. (Alternate for Section 504 is Lynnae Harvey, Director of Special Education/Special Needs, 515-574-5675) . The District’s Designated Investigators of Physical/Sexual Abuse of Students by School Employees are Stephanie Anderson (Director of Student Services - Ele-mentary), and Dr. Kirsten Doebel (Director of Student Services - Secondary). They can be reached at 576-1161 or 104 South 17th Street, Fort Dodge, IA 50501. The alternate is Corey Moody. He can be reached at 574-5469 or 819 North 25th Street, Fort Dodge, IA 50501. The District’s Officers for Harassment Complaints and Allegations are Stephanie Anderson (Director of Student Services - Elementary), and Dr. Kirsten Doebel (Director of Student Services - Secondary). They can be reached at 576-1161 or 104 South 17th Street, Fort Dodge, IA 50501. The District’s Compliance Coordinator for Affirmative Action is Robert Hughes. He can be reached at 574-5657 or 104 S. 17th St., Fort Dodge, IA 50501.

7

8

Students in the Arts - Fall Art: Olivia Archibald, Gabrielle Owens, Iris McAtee, Aubrey Alstott, Jillian Cook

Music: Grayson Hoshaw, Breylin Feeley, Alindia Bass, Naom Zaharia, Sevy Redel

Students in the Arts - Winter

Art: Tyrone Campbell, Leo Grantham, Chi Naijsha Altman, Lavin Crouse, Tristin Stein

Music: Everett Hill, Zoey Bell, Shayley Butrick, Easton Minkoff, Olivia Daniel

Go Big for Kids and support the Fort Dodge Community Schools Foundation Annual Fundraiser Go Big,

Go Dodgers.

In 2018, your support helped add the following to our district:

Wrist heart-rate monitors for FDSH PE

Sensory rooms at Cooper Elementary and FDMS

MakerSpace equipment for elementary libraries

Outdoor classroom at Riverside Early Learning Center

Metalworking machinery and tools at FDSH

Instruments for FDMS

and more!

The Big event is Friday, April 5, at 6 p.m. at Fort Frenzy. There will be live music by Lone Tree Revival, a

live auction, food, tailgating games, a cash bar and more!

Tickets are $40 per person ($20 for FDCSD employees and one guest). Go to www.fdcsfoundation.org to

purchase tickets or make a donation.

9

Dodger 4th graders

You are invited to a viewing of…

COCO

Friday March 8

Doors open 6:30

Movie starts 7:00

Fort Dodge Middle School Auditorium

(enter through auditorium doors)

Despite his family's generations-old ban on music, young Miguel dreams of becoming an accom-plished musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. After meeting a charming trickster named Héctor, the two new friends embark on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

Please bring this flyer and your family and join us for a FUN, FREE night complete with popcorn and a movie! All children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Walk-throughs of FDMS will be available from 6:30-6:50.

Contact Ms. Bodholdt at kbodholdt@fdschools.org or Ms. Alstott as maalstott@fdschools.org with questions.