Wildcat ROAR 2-3-2025
Help your child become college and career ready!
Dear Parents,
From what I hear in the media, Punxsutawney Phil woke up on Groundhog Day and saw his shadow, meaning we are destined for six more week of winter, according to legend. Living in Michigan, and as I was growing up in Nebraska, this makes me laugh, because we all know we are going to have six more weeks of winter. Right? So....please make sure your child is prepared for being outside during the school day, because as long as the temperature is 0 degrees or higher, the students will be going outside twice during the course of the school day.
Reading to your child, with your child, and having him/her read to themselves and others is so very important in his/her academic development. Check out the visual below to see how reading impacts students over time.
In a few weeks we will be kicking off the Book Blast program. Watch for details coming home with your child and in our newsletter.
I look forward to seeing you around school.
Sandie
Positive Behavior Support
February 3 - 13
Playground
Be Safe
- Appropriately enter and exit the playground
- Wait your turn
- Keep wood chips, snow, and ice, on the ground
- Hands to self
- Have good sportsmanship
- Use playground equipment as intended
- Line up when Whistle blows 3 times
- Use appropriate language
- Follow directions and procedures of adults
Be Responsible
Return all equipment
Pick up after yourself
Report problems to an adult immediately
Many classes have reapplied for their “Wildcat Cards." If they did not qualify for their cards the first time they had a chance to earn it over the last six or seven weeks. If they have been doing well in the areas of sportsmanship, attitude, and effort in PE, they have proven they deserve to keep their “Wildcat Card." If they have been getting warnings or time outs since the last application they may have lost their “Wildcat Card” and will have to earn it back over the next six or seven weeks. Most students have their cards and are working hard to keep them. If your child does not have their card, encourage them to work toward earning it.
We just finished up our unit on tennis in grades 3-5. Tennis is challenging. We just worked on the forehand strike. If your child is interested in tennis there is a summer tennis program in Whitehall at the tennis courts at the high school. During this unit we have been discussing the importance of respect. Treating others with value is very important in sports and in life. Without respect your relationships with teammates and opponents, as well as classmates, suffer greatly. Without respect, arguments and frustration become a problem and ruin the games or sports for others.
First and second grade have been discussing the importance of cooperation and compassion. Working together on a team helps your team be more successful and showing compassion to others on your team and to the opponents is a super important lesson. If you don’t show compassion it leads to fighting and tears during games and activities.
We are finishing up working on catching rolling balls and throwing underhand with the younger students and will be moving on to dribbling basketballs.
We have also played Flickerball, Dr. Snowball, and Capture the Flag, which are games used to practice throwing, catching, teamwork, strategy, cooperation, compassion, and respect. I focus on winning graciously and losing graciously. We high five after each win or loss. This shows the students you can have fun and be nice even when you lose. We have also talked about mindfulness. (Being present in the moment.) I am teaching two strategies to help students calm themselves when they are stressed or angry. One is finger breathing and another is a gratitude activity. These are valuable strategies that should help students in and out of my classroom if they use them.
It’s been a good start to the new year in music for our students at RRO. Our first graders completed their Christmas concert and have moved on to learning more music concepts. We recently started identifying quarter notes and eighth notes and practicing how they look. We used pipe cleaners to hear the rhythm patterns and make them. Students had fun with this! We recently have been playing a game with cats and mice, to practice tempo and how music makes us go fast or slow. See if they can sing this one for you at home.
Our second grade students hit the ground running as we came into the new year learning songs for our upcoming Valentine’s Day music program. It’s been great to see the students giving their all into singing their songs, and I love seeing their personalities shine. Students are learning how to use good posture when singing and how to stand in front of an audience. Students are having fun listening to each other, thinking about their sounds blending, and following the conductor for music cues.
Third grade students are just beginning recorders! You may have seen (or heard) some of these coming home. It is a lot to learn a new instrument and it’s great to see their enthusiasm for it. We are talking about how to not give up when things get hard, and to continue trying even when you make mistakes. There are many techniques to learn when playing a new instrument and we learn it one little piece at a time. Outside of recorders, third graders are continuing to expand rhythm patterns, and using a lot of speech/syllable rhymes to help as we begin more difficult rhythms.
Fourth graders, at the start of the new year, began learning songs for their LinkUp field trip to the Frauenthal Theater in May. This program is wonderful, as they will have the opportunity to play recorders, sing, and dance with the West Michigan Symphony. More information will come home about this as the date approaches. We are learning recorder songs and music from different genres and cultures. Students are going to see professional instrumentalists come and share their experience in the orchestra and then experience it personally for themselves. Many students are already very excited about this!
Fifth grade students began the year reviewing instruments and their families. Many students are beginning to think about what instrument they might like to play when they are sixth graders in the Fall. We are also working on music meters. I gave them a challenge in January to practice and play a song in 5/4 meter, or five beats to each measure. It was difficult, but students were able to practice and play in this meter; it’s a hard one! We then we played a xylophone piece and discussed playing and singing in a canon or a round. It was confusing at first, but students didn’t give up! At the end of January we introduced Jumping Bands. This is a great way to help students internalize the beat and understand the rhythm through movement. There are some great videos of this on YouTube if you want to check them out!
Looking forward to more music in February!
Early Release Wednesday
Every Wednesday in Montague Area Public Schools is early dismissal. RRO dismisses one hour early, at 2:55 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Breakfast and Lunch
All students get free breakfast and lunch during the 2024-25 school year! Click on the link below for the menus for RRO.
February
Week of February 3
3 - Kick off February by wearing red, pink, purple and/or white!
3 - Personal Safety Presentations (rescheduled from December)
4 - PTO Mtg, 6:00 PM, RRO CAT Lab
5 - Early Dismissal, 2:55 PM
6 - Kick Start to Career Deposit Day
7 - Pickles & Popcorn
Week of February 10
10 - MAPS Bd of Ed Mtg, 6:00 PM, MHS CAT Lab
11 - School Wide Assembly, 2nd Grade Concert, 9:00 AM, Gym
11 - 2nd Grade Concert, 2:30 PM, Gym
12 - Early Dismissal, 2:55 PM
14-19 - NO SCHOOL for Students and Staff - Mid-Winter Break
Sandie Lundquist - Principal
E-mail: lundquists@mapsk12.org
Website: https://www.mapsk12.org/rroelementary/
Location: R.R. Oehrli Elementary School, 4859 Knudsen Street, Montague, MI 49437
Phone: (231) 894-9018