February CES Newsletter

February 6th: Elder’s Wisdom Children’s Song. 2:00 p.m. in the Hermosa Gym, 6:30 p.m. in the Jr/Sr High Theatre

February 8th: Vision Screening at CES

February 9th: Valentine's for Seniors due

February 13th – 18th: Dakota Players Residency

February 14th: Classroom Valentine Parties 2:30

February 17th: School in session- Snow makeup day for December 13th

February 23rd: End of 2nd Trimester

February 27th: CES 5th Grade D.A.R.E Graduation 3:45 pm- 4:45 pm CES Gym

February 27th – March 2nd: Read Across America

February 27th: Family Fun Reading Night 5:00 – 6:30 pm

If you would like Mrs. Tennyson to walk your child to Custer High School for auditions, he/she needs to have turned in their emergency contact/permission slip. Otherwise, please bring your child and their emergency contact/permission slip to the Custer High School Theatre at 4:00 pm on Monday, February 13. We will have extra copies there if needed.

Auditions conclude promptly at 6:00 pm. Please return at that time for audition results and a detailed rehearsal schedule.

Thank you!

Mrs. Tennyson

This month at CES we are working on footwork, special awareness, and perseverance. We are playing soccer style games mixed in strategy and tag. I know that soccer is a favorite at a young age and with the new addition of soccer in Custer, I wanted to make sure that passion was still there. They will learn how to use footwork to dribble a ball around while being aware of where they are at on the gym floor. Concentrating on keeping control of the ball while trying to stay away from the tagger makes them think constantly and persevere when they do finally get tagged.

I know that some do not enjoy soccer as much as others, which is why I tried to incorporate tag into it and allow them to still get that energy out but work their feet extensively in the process. After soccer we will continue to work on the exercise equipment upstairs, for 4th – 6th grade, and climb on the rock wall for all grade levels.

Climbing is a huge passion of mine, and it really helps those students that have some athletic ability but lack the confidence to build from. Climbing is a great place to see them succeed and not have to worry about the students around them.

To the left you can see the Rockwall is clean and Mr. Parsons and I, as well as some student volunteers, are cleaning the rock wall and setting up some of the new holds that they will get to climb on in a couple weeks!

When we go upstairs to climb, I get very excited because I have extensive background in rock climbing and really want the students to get excited about climbing. Last spring we took a small group of kids outside for a climbing day at Sylvan Lake with the Sylvan Rocks Climbing Co. We look forward to doing that again!

I also wanted to make everyone aware that Kids Heart Challenge will be starting in the month of February and the information will be given in paper form to the students as well as on Seesaw. At the end of the month, we will be doing our annual weeklong obstacle course to finish off the Kids Heart Challenge month!

These easy-to-use literacy ‘Blips’ are short reading tips for parents to use with their children at home.

Blip 1: Picture This
Reading Focus: Phonics (The ability to match written letters with the sounds of speech and apply this knowledge in reading and spelling.)
Grade: K-1, 2-3

Tap into your learner’s creative mind when you hand them a camera and send them on a phonics adventure. Help them spot objects for each letter of the alphabet from A to Z through photos. They can snap pictures of everything from an anthill to a zucchini.

The lesson continues at home when your learner makes their own alphabet book with their pictures.

Change it Up! Try this activity to capture a field trip, family vacation, or a day at home with family.

Blip 2: Letter Races
Reading Focus: Phonics (The ability to match written letters with the sounds of speech and apply this knowledge in reading and spelling.)
Grade: K-1, 2-3

Make some room for letter racing fun! To play this game:

• Put magnetic letters in a bowl on the opposite side of your kitchen to the fridge (or in the other room to really get moving).
• Call out a letter sound. Your learner will find the letter that makes that sound, run across the room, and stick it on the fridge. (For example, call out /b/ and your learner will find the letter B to run over to put on the fridge.

Blip 3: Reading Aloud
Reading Focus: Fluency (The ability to read text aloud and to oneself with accuracy, speed, and proper expression.)
Grade: k-6

Reading aloud to your learner is appropriate across all ages. Try some of these tips when reading aloud to your learner to help them understand good fluency.

• Try reading very fast and rushing through two or three sentences. Ask your learner, “Did that make sense? Why not?” Talk about why reading at a good pace helps you understand the book.
• Try skipping every other word for a sentence or two. Ask your learner, “Did that make sense? Why not?” Talk about why reading all the words helps you understand the meaning of the book.
• Try reading in a monotone voice for a sentence or two. Ask your learner, “Did that make sense? Why not?” Talk about why changing your voice to match what is happening in the story helps you understand the book.

The kindergarten students in Mrs. Kintigh’s class have been working so hard these past few months. Learning how to read and working with numbers. We thought we would take a little break and talk about something that is important to everyone. Since February is known for Valentine’s Day, I asked the students what love meant to them. Here are the perspectives of 5 and 6-year-old children about the meaning of love.

Love means-

-Family and friends and love and forgiveness. Love and cheer.

-Nice and happy and love everybody. Being good.

-Being nice to my family and helping my family do stuff.

-Huggin’ each other. Letting people come to your house to eat with you. Sending a message that I will see you tomorrow.

-Hugging my family and making stuff for my friends.

-Kissing your family. I really like them.

-Holding my baby brother. Holding Nathan when he drinks his bottle. Helping mom take out the trash.

-Being kind and taking care of my baby brothers. Help take the trash out.

-My dad making donuts every day.

-Caring about someone and helping someone up when they are hurt.

-To love my family and hugging people.

-Having friendship and family.

And last but not least, love means-

-To share my blankie with mommy and to see daddy.

Let’s all take a moment and remember the simple things in life viewed through the eyes of a child. Happy Valentine’s Day.

February 6- Elder's Wisdom Children's Song, 7:00 pm @ CHS Theatre

February 13-18- Dakota Players Residency

March 6- Festival Choir, 3:30 pm @ Sturgis, SD

May 1- Fifth and Sixth Grade Band and Choir Spring Concert, 7:00 pm @ CHS Theatre

May 18- Kindergarten End of Year Program, 7:00 pm @ CHS Theatre

Website: https://www.csd.k12.sd.us/CusterElementary
Location: 1415 Wildcat Lane, Custer, SD, USA
Phone: 605-673-4483
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CusterElementarySchool/