LETTER FROM PRINCIPAL ESTRADA
- Encourage regular and active attendance in school.
- Ensure your student(s) get a good night's sleep: Our scholars need a minimum of eight hours of sleep per night... nine hours of sleep is even better.
- Help reduce your student's stress about the assessments: Tips include positive self-talk (“I know I can do this”), remind students that some questions may be challenging and others are easier and that is ok, ("Just take you time and do not rush.) Your Madison teachers have taught you what you need to know. ("Now its your chance to show!")
- Encourage yoru child to read or be read to 20 minutes each night.
- Believe in your student's success: Parents can best support their student(s) by talking and listening about the student's school day actively, and always providing encouragement and support.
We are looking forward to an awesome Spring with your learner. We are looking forward to accomplishing all of our learning goals with you, thank you for your support of Madison!
Principal Estrada
Madison Online School Store!!
Madison School Spiritwear - Purchase your custom school spirit wear apparel and Spiritwear Direct. All purchases will ship right to your door.
When? All year long!
Why? Every purchase helps fund school programs!
Important information: All orders will be shipped directly to your homes! Click the ‘Weekly Specials’ icon on the website to see which items are on sale each week. Please click the link to order.
Happy Shopping Mustangs! 😊
KINDERGARTEN
Hello Wonderful Kinderfamilies,
It was so wonderful to see and talk to all of you at conferences. Your children have grown in their letter knowledge which enables us to focus on blending letter sounds to make words. When you are reading together, please ask your child about sight words and to stretch out sounds and read with you. It’s the sweetest thing as you hear their little voices begin to read!
In school, we will be working on counting to 100 with 1’s and 10’s. Even though we will be learning numbers all the way to 100, we want to slow down and strive for understanding about how to compose and decompose numbers to 10. The better we can immediately find number pairs the easier all the concepts become. Work on counting things at home or at the store. How many do you see? How many more to make 10? How do you know? These are questions that help your child learn and keeps you connected in conversation.
As a reminder, please send your student to school with appropriate winter gear EVERY DAY! Even those days where it seems warmer, the playground is usually wet and muddy. Having boots and snow pants can protect your child’s clothes from getting dirty and wet. Also, please remember to send your student with a different pair of shoes besides their winter boots, as their feet can get very warm throughout the day.
1ST GRADE
Hi Families!
Happy March! We hope you all have a relaxing mid-winter break!
This month we will:
- Spend time learning how to add and subtract two digit numbers.
- Learn the following sight words in phonics: who, what, or, all, your, said, were & the sounds, /ch/ /th/.
- Focus on animals in reading and writing by answering the big question, “What animals do you know about and what are they like?”
- Explore the plant life cycle.
Reminders:
- A new PAKRAT round has begun, please read with your student each night!
- Continue to send winter gear as it is appropriate, students are welcome to leave their winter clothes at school so they have it each day for recess.
2nd GRADE
Dear Second-Grade Families and Friends,
With spring on the horizon, we understand that the weather in Minnesota can be quite fickle. We appreciate your assistance in keeping up with the daily weather updates and how they might affect recess. As Trimester Two draws to a close and the district winter break approaches from March 4th to the 8th, we hope this break will be a delightful time for all families to relax, read, and bond over shared knowledge.
Upon returning from the break, we are excited to ramp up the learning in second-grade, paralleling the rising temperatures outside. Students will delve into measurement and geometry while reinforcing addition and subtraction strategies to prepare for third-grade concepts. In literacy, we will delve into more intricate phonics strategies to decode the English language, aiming to enhance fluency and accuracy in reading. Encouraging your child to read at home and share their newfound knowledge will be instrumental in their growth.
Thank you for your ongoing partnership in nurturing our second-grade students' academic journey. Here's to a season of growth and learning ahead!
Warm regards,
The Second-Grade Team
3RD GRADE
Hello Third Grade Families! As we near the mid- winter break (no school March 4th-8th), and just finished our Winter Conferences, we can see so much learning that has already happened. We look forward to nearing MCA testing and other Spring learning opportunities. In math we are finishing up with multiplication and division facts, word problems and data/graphing. We will start working with fractions after returning from break. In Language Arts we are focusing on Expository texts and will be learning and writing poetry. We have just finished studying archaeology and Ancient Egypt. We will now be moving into learning about the Sun, Moon and Stars in science. Soon after break we will start practicing for the MCA tests which will occur during the end of March and the month of April. More information will be sent home closer to testing days to let you know how to support your child(ren) during this very important assessment. Some classes have already reached their Lexia goals and have earned a pizza celebration. Other third grade classes are very close to hitting the goal mark! Please continue to have your child read at home and to practice multiplication and division facts. Any extra practice at home will help your child as they take the reading and math portions of the MCA test.
As always, feel free to reach out to your child's teacher with any questions or concerns. Enjoy the mid-winter break. Hopefully, your break is filled with rest, relaxation, joy, and fun! We will see your child(ren) again on March 11th!
Madison Third Grade Team
Mrs. Deters, Mrs. Hartwig, Mrs. Hausmann, Mrs. Ortloff, and Mrs. Zheng
4TH GRADE
Hello parents and guardians,
We have some news and updates as we begin to transition into March. MCA assessments will start at the beginning of April. In addition to the core curriculum that we will be teaching your children, we will also be preparing them to take the MCAs. As we get closer, we will give out more information on how students can prepare for these assessments at home.
Math:
We have been studying the relationship between fractions and decimals this past month, and will continue to do so as we move into March. We will start the new month be comparing decimals, and then move into exploring data and graphs.
Literacy:
We will be relooking back at expository texts and realistic fiction. We will continue to explore what the author is trying to teach, as well as, their opinion of the topics and stories they are writing about.
Writing:
We are going to start another research project. For this project, students will pick an animal of their choice to research. Students will take the information gathered and write a paper on their chosen animals. This project will be will be heavily guided with graphic organizers.
Science/Social Studies:
Students are continuing their science and social studies rotations. The rotations are as follows:
Yeh: Social Studies to Life Science
Moline: Social Studies (Civics and Government) to Social Studies (Economics)
Jacobson: Life Science to Earth Science (Water)
Maas: Earth Science (Water) to Physical Science.
As always, if you have any questions, please reach out to your child's teacher.
5TH GRADE
Finalizing February with sunshine and no snow! Now we are moving into March with mindfulness!
Our mustangs are reflecting on classroom behavior and modifying for March. The cold weather has stayed away but with that brings melting snow and a muddy playground. Please make sure your child is prepared to go outside.
In math we will be working on graphing data and Geometry. For literacy, we are working on drama’s and biographies. Science and Social studies varies and rotates around the grade level. Please ask your child what they are currently studying either in social studies or science!
Some questions to ask your child as we move into Mindful March:
- How do your friendships support your success in school?
- What is something you are working on getting better at?
- Why is being successful in school important to you?
-How do your actions affect others around you either positively or negatively?
REMINDER: Students will have off beginning March 4th- March 8th. Enjoy this week with your child.
Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us!
5th grade Team
Greetings Madison Families!
Drumbeats reverberated through the halls of Madison as our fifth graders had the distinct privilege of learning drumming from Brother Ghana Myabe. Brother Ghana was here as part of a four-week residency sponsored by Walker West Academy in St. Paul and District #742. The final performances by our fifth graders were astounding! They were incredible! We will always remember Brother Ghana’s mantra of: Discipline, Respect, Unity, and Music!
Our fourth graders are deep into a drama unit using the play “Hansel and Gretel.” The unit requires memorization, acting, blocking, scenery, transitions, costuming, stage crews, music, DISCIPLINE, and TEAMWORK. The students are doing a marvelous job as they bring the story to life!
Kindergarteners are preparing for their very first concert on Thursday, April 18th at 12:30pm. We are learning so much about singing, movement, and rhythm as we study the alphabet, numbers, days of the week, months of the year, weather, colors, and more. Mark your calendars now!
Third graders are amazing us as they create “equations” using music notation such as the whole note, half note, dotted half note, eighth note, sixteenth note, whole rest, half rest, and quarter rest. All music notation has a mathematical value. The third graders are using very difficult systems and patterns as they advance in their music knowledge.
Our first and second graders are highly focused on reading music notes to create words and sentences. They are advancing as they memorize 25 music symbols which will be used in future knowledge.
The trimester began with the study of the music and story of “The Nutcracker.” We are always delighted by the re-telling and vocabulary which grows immensely in the minds of all grade levels.
It was a trimester filled with lots of learning and growth. We will always strive to create conditions which add to the success of your children.
Keep a song in your heart!
Grace Ryan and Karen Kruse
TALENT DEVELOPMENT NEWS
In addition to working incredibly hard in the classroom - some, beyond their grade levels, 4th and 5th grade students just completed their first Knowledge Bowl practice. We are so excited for the remaining two practices. Once completed, we will have three competitions in March. Parents please add the dates to your planner/calendar and/or on your refrigerator, especially for the Kennedy pick-up days.
There’s a lot going on!
Our 5th graders have been working hard practicing for the Masters of Math Competition, on March 14th. Thank you parents for being so prompt with signing and returning the permission forms. I’ve received them all and appreciate your time.
Before the school year ends, twenty 4th graders will get the opportunity to attend the Young Authors, Young Artists Conference, at St. Benedict’s College. Look out for the permission slips parents, they’ll be coming soon to a backpack near you! 😀
We have a Water Rocket Enrichment Day coming up in May! For that, we will need empty 2 liter pop bottles. You can send them with your child, or drop them off in the office for Mrs. Petersen.
Knowledge Bowl Practice Schedule
(Students stay after school and picked up at 3:30pm)
Friday, February 23 - 2:15-3:30 pm
Monday, March 11 - 2:15-3:30 pm
Monday, March 18 - 2:15-3:30 pm
Knowledge Bowl Meet Schedule
(**Students will need to be picked up by parents/guardians following practice.)
All meets begin at 3:15 pm at Kennedy.
Tuesday, March 12 - 3:15-5:15 pm
Tuesday, March 19 - 3:15-5:15 pm
Tuesday, March 26 - 3:15-5:15 pm
**Students will need to be picked up at Kennedy or home school by parent/guardian following the meet.
There’s so much fun with learning left to be had, for the 23-24 school year!
HAVE A MOST WONDERFUL BREAK!!!
FROM OUR MADISON NURSES OFFICE:
Dear Parents, please pack extra pants and a shirt in your child's backpack due to the spring thaw and a muddy, wet playground.
We have a very limited clothing supply at the health office.
While doing laundry, if you come across clothing with "NURSE" written on the tag, please send the items back to school with your student. Thank you!
Reporting Absences Protocol:
If your child will be absent from school, please call the attendance line at 320-370-6502. When calling into the attendance line, you will only reach voicemail. Please leave a message with your child's first and last name and the reason for the absence. Please note this is a trusted way to report your child's absence as we check this voicemail everyday.
If you prefer to digitally inform us about an absence, you are also welcome to use your Family Skyward Access and submit attendance in this format.
BREAKFAST AND LUNCH MENU
We will also attach our Breakfast and Lunch Menus at the bottom of our family newsletters each month.
