Sylvan Park Paideia Design Center

As my first year at Sylvan Park is coming to a close, I have been thinking of all the fun times from this year and I am reminded of how lucky I am to be a part of this family! This past week we celebrated Earth Day with papermaking, shaving cream art, and learning how to recycle art materials. I am only going to see each class a few more times before summer break, but here are some things we have been doing and will do in the art room:

4th: Collaborative Murals

3rd: Pop Art Onomatopoeias

2nd: Imaginative Ice Cream

1st: Picasso Study and Bug Jars

K: Coffee Filter Art and Watercolors

I am offering the Safe@Last personal safety program in your child’s class. This program teaches children skills that will help keep them safer from dangerous and abusive situations. I have offered this class for the last 10 years. Children also learn to ask for help when they need it. Training will be completed by the end of the year. The program will focus on the following:

· Personal Safety – teaching children rules that will help keep them safe in potentially dangerous situations.

· Touching Safety – teaching children to identify safe and unsafe touches and to say “No”. Children are also taught not to keep secrets about touching.

· Assertiveness and Support – giving children a chance to practice getting out of unsafe situations and asking a grown up for help if they need it.

If you have further questions please contact me at – Marvetta.smith@mnps.org

We are nearing the home stretch of the 2015-2016 school year! This has been an exciting year with many new things in music and a few more to come.

The 3rd and 4th graders are both working on writing their own song lyrics through the Words and Music program with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Students are learning about the different parts of a song as well as theme, rhythm, and rhyme schemes. In a few weeks, student lyrics will be submitted to the Hall of Fame and a professional songwriter will choose a few lyrics from each class to set to music and come perform at the school during a performance and Q&A with the students. It has been awesome to see the students’ creativity grow in this process! In 2nd grade, students are working on playing accompaniments to folk songs. Students are also working on layering different ostinatos, or musical patterns, to play with a song or as an instrumental piece. This takes a lot of concentration to be able to play one thing but sing another and the students are doing great! 1st graders have started composing their own music on the music staff. Their melodies are really great for a group of 6 and 7 year olds. Students are also working on describing music and how it makes them feel, whether that be with words or by moving in response to the music they hear. Kindergarten is also working on moving in response to music and played a fun game of classroom instrument bingo to become more familiar with everything we have available in our classroom. These students are also composing on their own using a variety of different sounds. I love seeing the creativity all of the students in every grade have!

As many of you may know, our 4th graders are performing The Lion King Kids this May! Please mark May 13 at 6:30 and May 14 at 2:00 and 6:00 on your calendar and attend one of our performances with your family. The students have been working so hard and I know the show is going to be amazing! As always, thank you for continued support of your student’s musical learning!

This nine weeks 1st-4th are continuing hockey. Kindergarten is doing tumbling skills and cooperative games. I want to thank everyone who participated in Jump Rope for Heart. Sylvan Park raised $4, 694.75! Our annual field day is planned for May 6th. All are invited!

As always, safety of all of our students is most important to us. Please remind your children the necessity of following the physical education rules consistently. The rules are as follows:

1. Be safe. (Stop. Look and listen on whistle signal).

2. Be able to cooperate with others.

3. Be respectful to others and equipment.

4. Work hard.

5. Have fun.

Thank you for your support at home.

The year has passed quickly and summer is just around the corner! However, there is still much to accomplish. Thankfully, the last nine week’s learning includes some of our children’s favorite topics, animals, outdoor fun, mysteries, and adventure. In K-3, the 4th nine weeks vocabulary theme is “Adventure in the Amazon.” Students will explore words related to jungle animals, camping, and the outdoors. In 3rd and 4th grade, students will learn how to express everyday needs such as hunger and thirst in Spanish as well as identify basic directions. In all grades, students will investigate Mayan math, Mayan mysteries, and Amazon expeditions.

The 4th nine weeks is also a time to review vocabulary, numbers, and concepts learning throughout the year. Review differs slightly in each grade. Kindergarten will review calendar, colors, numbers, shapes, face, and family words. In 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, review will include numbers, family, weather, seasons, vocabulary. 3rd and 4th grade will also revisit concepts such as gender and cognates.

Finally, 4th grade Spanish students will be involved in our annual Latin Fair on May 10th from 5: 30-7:30 p.m. in the school gym. The theme of Latin Fair is the Amazon Rainforest. Each 4th grade student will showcase a project about a special interest from this lovely part of the world. All are invited!