Principal's Message 11.30.12

Highlight of the Week

This week, the Principal's Lunch Showcase classroom was with Miss Cotter's fifth graders.  As you recall, I dine with each homeroom during lunch at a special table setting complete with table cloths and a prominent location in the MPR.  Students shared out their most recent favorite piece of work.  Many students shared story wheels from a recent book report and technology based weather projects.  This is a great way for me to spend some informal time with the kids.  I really enjoy it and the kids do too.  The get very excited about showing off the great work which then gets displayed on the Principal's Lunch Showcase bulletin board in the hallway near the kitchen.  Next week I will be dining with Mrs. Knuth's classroom.  

News from the Nurse...

As winter weather has arrived, now is a good time to remind your children not to share hats, headbands, scarves or earmuffs with their friends as this can lead to an increased transmission of head lice.  Head lice continues to be one of the most common communicable conditions among children, and outbreaks are possible whenever and wherever children gather.  Since the onset of head lice is typical this time of year, it is a good idea to watch for signs that your child may have lice such as frequent head scratching. If your child has lice, there are a variety of treatments available.  Please check the District website, www.kcsd96.org, under the  “Family Resources,” “Student Health” link for specific information on head lice and District 96 practices.

Student Council News...
Student Council is doing a "Chores for Change" community service project.  Prairie students will be making the holidays brighter for 5 families in need by purchasing holiday dinner baskets.  The goal is for each homeroom to raise $50.  With the money, Student Council will be purchasing non-perishable food items, gift cards, and decorations for a delicious holiday meal.

Here is how it works:
*Kids will be responsible for completing chores at home
*Parents decide how much the kids earn for each chore
*Kids donate their earnings to school by December 7th
*Need some chore ideas???.... clean out the car, empty the trash, straighten books on a bookshelf, make lunch for school, make the beds,  and/or walk the dog.  There are so many possibilities.

Student Council hopes the activity will help kids learn the importance of helping others by taking responsibility for earning the money.  If you have any questions, you may email the Student Council sponsors Mrs. Spivack or Miss Steinberg at lspivack@kcsd96.org and ssteinberg@kcsd96.org.  To see the complete flyer for this activity, click here.  Thank you for your support.


Click here for the PTO Newsletter.

WOW Names Called this week during announcements...

Grade 1:  Lindsay G., Lindsey C.

Grade 2:  Dan J., Jacob D. 

Grade 3: Lydia S., Jasmine L., Mark M., Sophie E., Kayle S.

Grade 4: James X., David S., Julia D.

Important Dates

*Wednesdays - School Store

*Fridays - Ice Cream Fridays
*Wednesday, 12/12 - Beginning Band Concert at 7pm

*Thursday, 12/13 - Rhythm Band Concert at 6:30pm

*Winter Break - 12/24 - 1/4

Principal's Message 11.16.12

Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday Next Week!

Enjoy the time with your family!

Highlight of the Week
Thank you to all the families that came out this Thursday for Family Reading Night.  This evening is always such a great success and so much fun for everyone.  Students and parents enjoyed moving to and from different locations in the building where they read stories from around the world, did flashlight reading, word games, and enjoyed some reader's theater.  Thank you to Miss Katie Hewitt, ICT Center Teacher and Instructional Coach, for her hard work and dedication to making this evening such a success.

Backpack Check
Your child's report card came home today.  Take some time this weekend to review your child's progress with them in preparation for next week's parent-teacher conferences.  

Positively Prairie Assembly
 On November 9th, we had another Positively Prairie assembly.  The focus of this assembly was responsibility, specifically expected hallway behaviors.  Our Positively Prairie Student Leadership Team rocked it once again with an awesome video of what expected hallway behaviors look like.  Take a minute to watch this fun video that PPSLT put together.  Thanks to the kids who do this important work and their staff leader, Miss Erin Sauer. 

GOOD NEWS FOR D96 PARENTS WHO PREPAY THEIR STUDENTS’ LUNCHES ONLINE

District administrators shared your feedback with the staff of MealsPlus and the following improvement is the result: The $100 payment cap on LunchPrepay.com has been removed. Parents will no longer need to make multiple payments for amounts over $100. (Note: The $1.95 transaction fee per payment still applies, however.)

Parent-Teacher Conferences are November 19th and 20th

• Monday, 11/19 from 5-7pm 
• Tuesday, 11/20 from 2-7pm  
• Your child's teacher will be sending a reminder home with your appointment date on Monday, 11/12.  
• We do hope that you will be able to attend conferences in person.  If you cannot, you may request a phone conference with your child's teacher and team members when appropriate.  It is not the expectation of the District for teachers to recreate the conference experience outside the dates/times identified on the District calendar.

Babysitting for Parent Teacher Conferences

Twin Groves 6th Girl Scout Troop 41416 (former Prairie School Girl Scouts) will be providing babysitting services during the upcoming Parent-Teacher Converences. Please help Troop 41416 feed the hungry by utilizing their services.  For 1 hour of babysitting Troop 41416 kindly requests 1 non-perishable food item or $2 donation per child (for children over 1 year of age only, please).  Food donations will be given to the Vernon Township food pantry.  Your support helps the girls of Troop 41416 earn their Silver Award. This award is the highest Girl Scout service award for Junior Girl Scouts.  Locations are as follows:

Monday, November 19: 4:45 - 6pm in room 19

Monday, November 19: 6 - 7:15pm in the gym

Tuesday, November 20: 1:45 - 7:15pm in the gym

Children should be older than 1 year (we will not be changing diapers), parents cannot leave the school and must provide a cell phone number and a conference room number.

For additional information regarding babysitting please email Nina Strezewski at nina_strez@yahoo.com. 

Click here for the PTO Newsletter.

WOW Names Called this week during announcements...

Grade 1: Vageesh R., Seth A.
Grade 2: Jaden P., Lila B.
Grade 3: Anuj S., Brandon M.
Grade 4: Julia F., Blake F., Noah B.
Grade 5: Abby S., Ria K.

Important Dates

*Wednesdays - School Store

*Fridays - Ice Cream Fridays

*Monday, November 19th - Early Dismissal at 2pm.

*Monday, November 19th - Parent Teacher Conferences 5pm - 7pm

*Tuesday, November 20th - No School for Students

*Tuesday, November 20th - Parent Teacher Conferences 2pm - 7pm

*Wednesday, 11/21- Friday, 11/23 - No School - Thanksgiving Break
*Winter Break - 12/24 - 1/4

Principal's Message 11.9.12

The Prairie School Community would like to send a BIG thank you to the men and women that serve our country!

We are honored to know so many Veterans and recognize each one on Veteran’s Day!  We are forever grateful for your service.

We would like to specifically thank Mr. Ron Ericson, our crossing guard, for his service in the U.S. Coast Guard 

   

Family Reading Night

Save the date! Family Reading Night is just around the corner. On Thursday, November 15th, Prairie will be hosting our annual Family Reading Night "One World, Many Stories". Family Reading Night is a statewide event sponsored by the Secretary of State, Jesse White. This event promotes and encourages families to spend quality time reading together. Your family will be able to enjoy a variety of reading stations that will be hosted by Prairie staff and student council. You are invited to join us at 6:30PM to browse and shop at our book fair. Family reading night runs from 7:00pm-8:00pm. We look forward to seeing you and sharing an evening of books, reading, and fun!

Cold Weather Wear

Please send your cuties to school with their mittens, scarves, and hats as needed.  They love being warm when they are outside for recess.  Thanks for your help.  

Parent-Teacher Conferences are November 19th and 20th

• Monday, 11/19 from 5-7pm 
• Tuesday, 11/20 from 2-7pm  
• Your child's teacher will be sending a reminder home with your appointment date on Monday, 11/12.  
• We do hope that you will be able to attend conferences in person.  If you cannot, you may request a phone conference with your child's teacher and team members when appropriate.  It is not the expectation of the District for teachers to recreate the conference experience outside the dates/times identified on the District calendar.

Babysitting for Parent Teacher Conferences

Twin Groves 6th Girl Scout Troop 41416 (former Prairie School Girl Scouts) will be providing babysitting services during the upcoming Parent-Teacher Converences. Please help Troop 41416 feed the hungry by utilizing their services.  For 1 hour of babysitting Troop 41416 kindly requests 1 non-perishable food item or $2 donation per child (for children over 1 year of age only, please).  Food donations will be given to the Vernon Township food pantry.  Your support helps the girls of Troop 41416 earn their Silver Award. This award is the highest Girl Scout service award for Junior Girl Scouts.  Locations are as follows:

Monday, November 19: 4:45 - 6pm in room 19

Monday, November 19: 6 - 7:15pm in the gym

Tuesday, November 20: 1:45 - 7:15pm in the gym

Children should be older than 1 year (we will not be changing diapers), parents cannot leave the school and must provide a cell phone number and a conference room number.

For additional information regarding babysitting please email Nina Strezewski at nina_strez@yahoo.com. 

Book Fair 

We hope you will visit Prairie’s Book Fair throughout the week: Monday, Nov. 12 – Thursday, Nov. 15; whether during your child’s classroom visit or any other time the Book Fair is open, including extended hours for Family Reading Night on Thursday, Nov. 15th  7-8pm. 

Can't make it to the Book Fair...Be sure to visit Prairie’s Online Book Fair:http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/prairiebookfair.
It is open for three weeks, November 4-24, and includes an expanded selection of books and other items. The best part is that all orders ship to Prairie for FREE, and each purchase directly benefits our school.

Prairie’s Book Fair Days/Times

Monday, November 12 at 8:30am-2:30pm Tuesday, November 13 at 8:30am-2:30pm  Wednesday, November 14 at 8:00am-1:00pm  Thursday, November 15 at 8am-1pm and 6:30-8:30pm

Click here for the PTO Newsletter.

WOW Names Called this week during announcements...

Grade 1: Anthony Z., 

Grade 3: Leo K., Korey O., Simon J., Aman N., Max F., Samarth A., Lucas C.

Grade 4: Chloe S., Alex S., 

Important Dates

*Wednesdays - School Store

*Fridays - Ice Cream Fridays

*Friday, November 9th - End of 1st Trimester

*Tuesday, November 13th - SEL Book Talk in the Ivy Hall MAT Room at 9:30am, books 

available for check out in the Prairie School Office

*Monday, November 19th - Early Dismissal at 2pm.

*Monday, November 19th - Parent Teacher Conferences 5pm - 7pm

*Tuesday, November 20th - No School for Students

*Tuesday, November 20th - Parent Teacher Conferences 2pm - 7pm

*Wednesday, 11/21- Friday, 11/23 - No School - Thanksgiving Break

*Tuesday, November 13th - SEL Book Talk in the Ivy Hall MAT Room at 9:30am, books 

available for check out in the Prairie School Office

*Monday, November 19th - Early Dismissal at 2pm.

*Monday, November 19th - Parent Teacher Conferences 5pm - 7pm

*Tuesday, November 20th - No School for Students

*Tuesday, November 20th - Parent Teacher Conferences 2pm - 7pm

*Wednesday, 11/21- Friday, 11/23 - No School - Thanksgiving Break

Principal's Message 11.2.12

Click here for the PTO Newsletter.

Highlight of the Week
It goes without saying that our Halloween festivities were the highlight of the week.  It's always so much fun to watch our joyful kids dressed up in their favorite costumes enjoy a parade around the school with so many adoring parent & grandparent on lookers.  We hope that you also enjoyed our annual staff costume.  This year, if you hadn't gathered, we were a "school of fish."  Mrs. Spivack headed the theme and Miss Sauer designed the costumes for Prairie's grown up kids.  Thanks to everyone for coming out on Wednesday to join in this perfectly elementary tradition.  

Once we got back into school, we had a blast at our annual Halloween assembly where Mrs. Knuth, Mrs. Lehtman, and I were wrapped up like mummies in none other than "TP."  A huge thank you goes out to Mrs. Androjna for putting this assembly together as she has done for so many years.  Finally, a big thank you to the PTO Room Parents for hosting such great parties in each classroom.  Your time and talents are truly appreciated in making this a special afternoon for the kids.  Click here to see pictures of our fun afternoon.    

It's Getting Chilly
Please make sure that your child comes to school with outerwear that is appropriate for the weather such as coats, scarves, and gloves.  Talking with your child as well about the importance of being responsible and properly dressed for recess will help ensure that child is warm and protected from the elements during recess.

Parent-Teacher Conferences are November 19th and 20th
We are looking forward to sharing your child's progress with you so far this year at our upcoming Parent-Teacher conferences to be held Monday, 11/19 from 5-7pm and Tuesday, 11/20 from 2-7pm.  You likely scheduled your conference at Curriculum Night in September.  Your child's teacher will be sending a reminder home with your appointment date and time soon.  We do hope that you will be able to attend conferences in person.  If you cannot, you may request a phone conference with your child's teacher and team members when appropriate.  It is not the expectation of the District for teachers to recreate the conference experience outside the dates/times identified on the District calendar.

Common Core Standards- What are they?

You may have heard reference to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to which our learning standards in District 96 are directly aligned.  As indicated on the CCSS website (http://www,commoncorestandards.org/), the Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers.  The CCSS are a more rigorous set of standards than previous Illinois State Standards which we have historically used to develop our learning standards and curriculum frameworks.  The chart below illustrates the standards in place for 3^rd graders prior to the 2011-12 school year, which is when the elementary schools began implementation of the new targets.  This list of reading standards was based on the past version of the Illinois State Learning Standards:

Reading Standards- 3rd Grade

Utilize contextual clues to determine meaning (within and across sentences).

Determine the answer to a literal or simple inference question regarding the meaning of a passage.

Draw conclusions or generalizations about text and support them with textual evidence and prior knowledge.

Identify the author’s purpose for writing a fiction or non-fiction text (to inform, to entertain).

Identify setting (place and time period)

Identify the following forms of genres (tall tales, folktales, fiction, non-fiction, poetry).

Identify the main idea and supporting details of a selection.

Describe and compare character traits citing support from the text.

Identify events important to development of the plot including the problem and resolution.

The chart below illustrates our current standards for reading at the 3^rd grade level. The complexity of what we expect students to do is at a higher level than those in the past. These are the meets level, 3.0, targets for ALL 3^rd graders in District 96.

CCSS- Aligned Reading Standards- 3rd Grade

LITERATURE

Answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Answer inferential based questions to demonstrate understanding of a text referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Recount stories, including fables, folktales, or myths from diverse cultures

Explain how the central message, lesson, or moral from stories, fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures is conveyed through key details in the text.

Describe characters in a story (traits, feelings, or motivations)

Explain how a character's actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters.

INFORMATIONAL TEXT (NON-FICTION)

Answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Answer inferential based questions to demonstrate understanding of a text referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Determine the main idea and recount the key details of a text.

Determine the cause/effect of a historical event or scientific ideas/concepts. (From social studies)

Use information gained from text features and illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).


Clearly, the rigor and clarity have increased, which is good for kids! Now, consider the fact that, for  learning standards where it is appropriate, we have created scales to clarify what it looks like for a student who has already mastered the standard to truly extend their learning. This "4.0" thinking helps us differentiate to truly take our students to new levels. Our new reporting format will allow us to clearly articulate for students--and parents--what specific standards students have mastered, where they need additional instruction, and where we have been able to extend their thinking. This level of specificity will truly impact student learning and take our communication to new levels!

WOW Names Called this week during announcements...

Grade 3: Gina M., Kelly M., Wyn T., 

Grade 4:  Sophia P., Zach S., 

Grade 5: Tyler D., Jun I., Ketna K., Lara K., Andrew C.

Important Dates

*Wednesdays - School Store

*Fridays - Ice Cream Fridays

*Tuesday, November 6th - No School, Institute Day

*Wednesday, November 7th - An Evening of Floral Design at 7pm, Twin Groves
*Friday, November 9th - End of 1st Trimester

*Tuesday, November 13th - SEL Book Talk in the Ivy Hall MAT Room at 9:30am, books 

available for check out in the Prairie School Office

*Monday, November 19th - Early Dismissal at 2pm.

*Monday, November 19th - Parent Teacher Conferences 5pm - 7pm

*Tuesday, November 20th - No School for Students

*Tuesday, November 20th - Parent Teacher Conferences 2pm - 7pm

*Wednesday, 11/21- Friday, 11/23 - No School - Thanksgiving Break