Rockstars Recognize Each Other

Today, instead of having assemblies, students met with their teachers in classrooms to recognize one another.  Students were all given star beads to help them remember their inner rock-stars and to see each other as rock-stars.  In classes, students will give beads to one another for being a rock-star in some way.  Our community at Elementary Summer Academy has been so important to our ability to create and reach our goals this summer.  We hope the students see this as an opportunity to share their gratitude and also see how they can encourage each other and build each other up.

Students on the bus show off their star beads from their classroom exchange.

Buddies

Sometimes during Elementary Summer Academy, our older students buddy up with younger students for reading and other learning activities.  It is great to see our fourth and fifth graders take on leadership and setting positive examples for our first, second, and third graders.  Our hope is that these relationships and sense of mentorship can continue beyond our summer at Glenridge and carry over into the individual elementary buildings during the school year.  Certainly, one of my favorite things about working in this program is getting to know students of all ages from all over the district. 

Check out this beautiful moment from yesterday when one of our fifth graders led a read aloud with some second grade friends, including asking them comprehension questions.  What a special time! 

Star Power

You may have heard about how we recognize the students by awarding them stars.  We proudly display the stars on the walls of the gym for us to admire when we meet for our assemblies.  Look at all the rockstars we have in just 13 days!  Impressive!

Big News!

Tomorrow, every family in the district will receive an email invitation to our summer Scholastic book fair next week.  This is a buy one, get one free book fair open to all of our district families. 

The most exciting part, though, is that each one of our Elementary Summer Academy students will be visiting the book fair with their classes and teachers.  Our teachers will serve as "personal shoppers" and each student will get to choose two just-right books at no cost, thanks to our elementary school PTOs.  This is a fantastic way to continue all of the amazing summer reading at home that has been underway at Glenridge these past few weeks.  We hope that these two books are just the start to all of the reading the children will do on their own before the next school year begins.  

 

Rockstars Practice

Today in assemblies, we revisited our WOW goals from Friday.  We discussed how important practice is to achieving our dreams.  One person who practices A LOT that we found to be inspirational is a young man who is a break-dancer.  He works hard every day to practice to achieve his dreams and success. 

Check it out:

If we all practice towards reaching our goal, bit by bit, we will succeed!

WOW Goals

Today in our assemblies, we revisited goal-setting and how important it is to achieving success.  We learned that the best kinds of goals are specific, have a timeline, and break plans into small steps.  We call these goals, "WOW" goals.  WOW stands for "Within One Week I will.."

Our fifth grade classes set a fantastic example for us by sharing how they used WOW goals last week to improve their reading fluency.  They spoke in the assembly about not only their goals, but also their action steps.  It was awesome to have their leadership as a model. 

Our second graders made bookmarks of their reading goals.  Check it out:

We will be revisiting our WOW goals next Friday as we continue working on finding our inner rockstar. 

Have a great (and DRY) weekend!!!

Technology Time

During the summer, we have access to desktop computers and iPads just like we do during the school year.  We like to allow the students opportunities to use different applications for learning, especially as a station during small group and one-on-one instruction.  You might want to use these applications at home during the summer before the school year begins.  Enjoy! 

Pattern Shapes
http://www.mathlearningcenter.org/blog/pattern-shapes-app

Thinking Blocks
http://www.thinkingblocks.com/

Kakooma
http://gregtangmath.com/kakooma

Summer reading in full swing!

It is such fun to see our students so excited about the books they are reading!  They are even sneaking their reading on the bus!

Don't forget to fill out the St. Louis County Library Summer Reading registration form so that your child can earn prizes for the minutes they are reading inside and outside of school.  They will be able to choose their books they win at Glenridge from our fantastic librarian, Jude Hagene.  Thank you for all you are doing with your readers at home, too!  Every minute counts! 

Reading with Hercules

 You may have heard about how we recognize the students who are following our "rules for rockin'": do your best and do the right thing even when no one is watching.  Each time an adult wants to recognize a student, they write the student's name on a star.  These stars decorate the walls of the gym where we meet for our assemblies.  For each star earned, students get their name put into a bucket.  During assemblies, we draw two students to choose a book to keep and two students to read with Mrs. Ketzer's baby hedgehog, Hercules.  Reading with Hercules is different for each student.  Sometimes students like to hold him in a pouch; some students are more comfortable sitting next to him.  Either way, it is good for Hercules to meet people and learn about how nice they can be which helps him get over his shyness.  It is fun to see the students react to our little prickly friend.

  

Secrets of Success: Setting Goals

We kicked off our second week with an assembly today focused on the importance of setting goals for ourselves.  Setting a goal gives us a target to work towards and guides our energy on the track we want to follow.  How can we become rockstars unless we make a decision to and set goals?

We got a pep-talk to be awesome from our favorite, Kid President:

Then we made goals for ourselves for the academy.  Some examples shared this morning included: learning all my multiplication facts, reading for one hour a night, and read 30 minutes a day.  We will revisit this goals in our assembly at the end of the week.  Ask your child about their goal today and help them work toward it. 

And, of course, we had to dance:

How long can you stand on one foot?

In today's assembly, we discussed the importance of building stamina.  We began by challenging ourselves to stand on one foot (without hopping or leaning on a friend!) for as long as we could.  After timing one try, we tried again.  Most of us discovered that we were able to hang in longer the second time.  Then we discussed what stamina means: the ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort.  Just like we can improve our ability to stand on one foot for a longer duration, we can build our reading and math stamina by practicing and trying harder each time.  This is so important to our success as students! 

To celebrate building our reading stamina, we are facilitating the participation of all of our students in the St. Louis County Public Library Summer Reading program.  Our librarian, Jude Hagene, shared with all of the students during the assembly that this summer the students can earn one point for each minute they read.  As the children accumulate points, they can accumulate prizes.  Mrs. Hagene is going to aid the students in tracking this electronically in the library during our program this summer!  She will also be the person to help each child choose a book from a list of amazing titles once s/he reaches 720 points earned.  Earning points also allows students to be entered in raffles for tickets and coupons for all kinds of places, from sporting events to museums.  You can help by encouraging your children to read at home and helping them track the minutes they read.  Research shows that the best way to increase reading achievement is by reading just-right books.  After visiting the library with their class this week and working with their teachers, our students are on their way!

If you haven't returned the summer reading program registration form to school with your child, no worries.  We are including new forms in this week's newsletter, which will be mailed to your home.  The newsletter will provide you with more specific details about your child's time at Elementary Summer Academy this past week from your child's teachers.   Thank you for a fantastic first week!  

The Three Questions

Today our friends in the English Language class read one of my favorite books with our counselor, Mr. Henderson.  He spent time with the class reading The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth. 

After reading the story, the students made foldables telling three parts of Nikolai's journey.  I was so impressed by their work.  Check it out all the fun below, and if you haven't read The Three Questions, consider checking it out from the library.  It is a beautifully illustrated book with an equally beautiful story about the importance to our connections with one another.

  

Math In Action

With each day that passes, our routines become smoother.  Today I happened across the fourth grade class working on math, specifically multiplication.  Our math instruction is planned to continue the Math In Focus curriculum from the school year, while zooming in on student needs for particular skills and strategies. 

One of the most important ways we can teach math to students is to use the progression of "Concrete, Pictorial, and Abstract" during instruction.  Concrete refers to using hands-on manipulatives to demonstrate strategies.  Pictorial means making a representation on paper of the math in picture form.  When you get to the abstract stage, you are taking the same information from your concrete and pictorial representations and assigning numbers (or, in the case of algebra, letters) in a number sentence to the math.

This is exactly what I saw in action today as fourth graders were working on multiplication.  They used foam chips to make arrays of multiplication sentences, then they drew a picture of their arrays, and then completed the number sentence.

Building Arrays

Here is the chart they made to use as a guide in the classroom.

The fourth graders are also playing math games each day, as are our other grade levels.  Maybe ask your child about the math games s/he is playing in class and try it out at home?  What a fun way to practice our math skills! 

Webster Practicum Program

Good afternoon, families! 

Did you know that our program has a special partnership with Webster University?  For many years now, our summer program has worked closely with the graduate reading program at Webster.  Their students are all certified teachers who are working towards their reading specialist certification.  For their practicum class, these teachers provide reading specialist support to our Elementary Summer Academy students. 

It truly is a win-win situation!  Our program wins by receiving ten extra teachers to provide individualized reading instruction to our students, and Webster University wins by having a school for their teachers to learn from experienced reading specialists and work with students to fulfill their certification.  This means we have thirteen reading specialists here this summer!  Wow!

We are so grateful to have this opportunity and it is a joy seeing them in action:

Rocking from day one!!!

Thank you, families, for helping us start off our program with a great first day! 

Today in our assembly, we discussed what we mean when we say "rockstar."  Some answers from the students  included: trying your best, persevering, being yourself, being original, working hard.  We can already see that we are ready to rock this program! 

Reading specialists: Lisa Hehner, Nancy Durham, and Darlene Castelli were ready to welcome our rockstars with their own light-up rockstar head bands this morning!

Then students spent time in their classrooms getting to know their classmates and teachers.  As we walked through the building today, students were digging into math and reading.  First grade friends read Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes and then got to pass the guitar and share how they rock in their school shoes to get to know each other.

Oh, and I almost forgot, we definitely took some time today to dance! 

Welcome to Elementary Summer Academy!

Hello, families!

We are so excited about this summer's program!  Mr. Hutson and I have been at Glenridge this week gearing up.  Yesterday and today our amazing teachers came in to prepare for your arrival next week.  We hope you are ready to find your inner rockstar!

Meet our rockin' staff:

Directors: Amanda Ketzer & Steve Hutson.

Special School District Extended School Year Teachers, Reading Specialists, and Webster Practicum Teachers

Classroom Teachers, Counselor, Nurse, and Receptionist

I will be updating this blog daily with information and happenings from the program, and you will receive weekly newsletters via snail mail with individualized information about your child's learning in his/her classroom.

We can't wait to meet you Monday!