Grand Prairie February Newsletter

Happy February, Grand Prairie Families! It's hard to believe we're already in the second half of the school year. Let's hope the worst of winter is behind us and that the groundhog brings good news on the 2nd!

This month, we're excited to celebrate Black History Month. In keeping with our Superhero theme, students will learn about the success behind the Marvel Studios record-breaking film Black Panther. We will be highlighting the role Chadwick Boseman had on the film’s success while being the first black actor to headline a Marvel film. This work of art is just one of the many important contributions featuring a predominately African American cast that helped break down barriers and strengthen diversity and representation in our culture. We're also highlighting the pillar of perseverance, and students can join in by wearing red on Thursdays!

FastBridge reports for first and second graders will be sent home on Friday, February 7th. Please check your child's backpack for this important information.

We have two big events this month! On Thursday, February 6th, we will celebrate our 100th day of school—100 days of learning and growing! Students can wear their 100th day t-shirts, bring collections of 100 items, and write about what they would do with $100. Please remind them to avoid dressing as if they were 100 or bringing props like walkers or canes.

Friendship parties are scheduled for Thursday, February 13th for our preschool friends (AM classes 9:45 am - 10:45 am and PM classes 1:25 pm - 2:25 pm) and on Friday, February 14th for our K-2 students from 10:00 am - 10:50 am. Remember, the 14th is also an early dismissal day. Car riders and walkers will be dismissed around 11:10 am to ensure buses leave by 11:25 am. Please note that preschool will not be in session on February 14th.

There will be no school on Monday, February 17th for President’s Day. We hope that families enjoy the extended weekend!

Finally, we want to extend an enormous thank you to our Grand Prairie families for adjusting to our new dismissal procedures for our walkers. We appreciate your patience as we continue to look for ways to ensure that this process is safe and efficient!

We hope everyone stays safe and warm!

Happy New Year! Our second graders are starting the year off strong after an exciting December filled with fun and learning. A highlight of this month was our much-anticipated trip to Chelsea, where our students met their 3rd-grade pen pals. The second and third graders worked together to write a creative story about snowmen!

As we begin the third quarter, our second graders will dive into their Opinion Writing unit. Students will explore their thoughts on characters, favorite parts, illustrations, and the lessons they've learned from the stories they love. In math, we are transitioning to a new module that focuses on addition and subtraction within 1,000, as well as solving word problems up to 100. In reading, we will continue to develop our understanding of how illustrations enhance our comprehension of characters, settings, and plot. The goal is to help our students see how pictures work alongside the text to create a richer understanding of the stories they read.

We are looking forward to the new year and all the new challenges it will bring!

First Graders in Mrs. Jorgensen's class have been having fun building fact fluency while playing math games. Games are a wonderful way to work on math skills, social skills, and beat the winter blues! The students have also loved learning about measurement this month. They've used centimeter cubes and paper clips to measure many classroom items.

Kindergarten celebrated our 100th day of school by hosting a “100th Day Fashion Show”. To participate the students decorated t-shirts with 100 items and then wore them to school on our 100th day. Many decorated their shirts by using pom-poms, buttons, googly eyes, sequins, and even stickers. They were so creative!

Kindergarten also spent the month of February learning about penguins and is preparing to celebrate their Penguin Unit with a presentation party. At the party, students will present their research projects to their parents and then lead them to various penguin centers to show them all the hands-on research we did as a class! The research was super impressive!

This month has been very exciting in preschool. The theme of snowmen and anything related to snow (snowballs, snowflakes and snow globe) was very engaging for the students. Students created snowflakes out of Play-Doh and put them on their penguin plates pretending to bake them in the pretend kitchen oven. In the Early Childhood classroom, students built a snowman discussing the different parts such as the buttons, eyes, carrot nose, scarf and hat. Vocabulary words such as ‘put’ and ‘on’ have been incorporated into the students play when creating their snowman and discussing winter clothes (e.g., put on our coat).

The last week of January the students will be introduced to artic animals. The classroom will be targeting prepositions with the artic animals IN and ON the igloos (behind, under, in front of) etc... Books related to snow, snow animals and the winter weather have also been integrated into the classroom library/book bin area. Preschool has been embracing this season and all the fun themes that accompany it.

Winter Health Tips:

Stay Hydrated

Even in colder weather, it's crucial to stay hydrated. Drink water regularly, as the cold temperatures, dry air, and indoor heating can contribute to dehydration. Don’t like water? Try foods with high water content like cucumbers and oranges. Dry skin can be a sign of dehydration. Remember to nourish your skin to prevent dryness and itching. Wash hands with moisturizing soap and warm water as hot water can strip away natural oils. Use moisturizers to keep your skin hydrated. Helping your child to apply lotions after bathing will improve skin condition. Have ChapStick or Vaseline available to apply to lips daily or more often to prevent cracking and bleeding. Students may keep ChapStick in their book bags or pockets and use it throughout the day.

Winter Nosebleeds

If your child suffers from winter nosebleeds it may be from the dry air. Try using a cold air humidifier at night. Saline nose drops or petroleum jelly may help too. If severe, consult your pediatrician.

Physical Activity Indoors

Physical activity is important, even when it's cold outside. Consider indoor exercises and activities to keep everyone moving during the winter months. Some ideas for home workouts are doing circuits with jumping jacks, squats, pushups, lunges, and crunches or even computer fitness games. Other indoor activities include dancing, stair climbing, housework like vacuuming and sweeping, mall walking, bowling, roller skating, yoga or other fun group classes at your local gym, studio, or community center. Dress Appropriately Proper clothing is key to staying warm and healthy during winter. Hats and gloves help prevent heat loss from the head and hands, which are particularly vulnerable to cold exposure. Dress in layers to stay comfortable both indoors and outdoors.

Germs! Germs! Germs!

It's the time of year when many viral and bacterial infections are occurring. Although it may seem like catching one of these illnesses is inevitable, there are many things you can do to prevent them!

Here at Grand Prairie, we follow the Illinois Department of Public Health recommendations regarding common illnesses.

• If your child is ill, please keep them home until they are 24 hours fever, vomit, and/or diarrhea free.

• Fever reducers, such as Tylenol, are great tools to lessen the symptoms of some illnesses, but this medication should not be used in order for the child to attend school that day due to a fever. If you administer a fever reducer in the morning for a fever, please keep your child home.

• Please practice effective hand washing habits! This is the BEST way to prevent illnesses.

• If you have any questions regarding your child's attendance due to an illness, please feel free to contact the school nurses.

Thank you for beginning or continuing to partner with the Grand Prairie staff in implementing the concepts of the ZONES of REGULATION curriculum at home. Last month, we gave an overview of feelings in the blue zone and different strategies that your child can utilize!

This month we want to focus on the RED ZONE and some language and strategies that might be helpful at home to help your student identify how they are feeling and then get back to the GREEN ZONE (happy, calm, and ready to listen/learn). In the Zones of Regulation Curriculum, the red zone represents emotions that cause your body to be out of control or have higher energy than the YELLOW ZONE. Feelings in the RED ZONE are MAD, ANGRY, TERRIFIED, ELATED/OVERJOYED, and PANICKED. Strategies that can be helpful for the RED ZONE are going for a walk, taking a break from a person or situation, talking to an adult, getting a drink of water, doing wall pushes, squeezing a stress ball, or taking deep breaths. These are strategies that help to decrease energy, get big feelings out, and slow down negative thoughts. Trying different strategies is important to determine which strategies help YOUR child’s body regulate. One child might need to get the energy out by moving his or her body while another child may calm down more easily by moving and breathing slowly. When your child tries a strategy, you can ask them questions such as, “How does your body feel now?” This will help them notice whether the strategy is working and helping them move back into the GREEN ZONE. All strategies may not work, and that is okay! You can make this a fun activity by playing charades to have your child guess your RED ZONE emotion and then allowing your child to suggest strategies for you! Let your child be the leader of the game and enjoy the fun. Remember, it is expected that everyone is in the RED ZONE sometimes! Tell your child about times you’ve had to use strategies in the RED ZONE too. The important part is to help your child recognize how they are feeling and choose strategies that will help them stay safe, be a good friend, and be an awesome learner! Make it common language in your home to ask, “What Zone are you in?” Having a visual handy for when emotions are high or low can be helpful so that your child can point to the color or emotion. The more you talk about the Zones of Regulation in your home, the more you will help your child learn to notice how their body is feeling throughout the day. Below is the link for additional resources and visuals that can be utilized within your home on the Zones of Regulation website!

Resources | The Zones of Regulation

February 6 - Hot Lunch - Education Foundation

• 100th Day of School

February 7 - Fast Bridge Reports to go home.

February 10 - Bully Presentation

February 13 - Hot Lunch - Athletic Boosters

February 14 - SIP Day 11:25

• Valentines Party

February 17 - No School - Presidents Day

February 20 - Hot Lunch - FSP

February 26 - 1st Grade Cup Stacking

February 27 - Hot Lunch - Band Boosters

• 2nd Grade Cup Stacking