Ludlow Taylor Community News
September 9th, 2024
Did Someone Say Lunch?
Lunch at Ludlow
I don't know about you, but I still have very fond memories of the tater tots in my school lunch. This could explain why they are still a comfort food for me!
We have received a few questions about lunch this year and I wanted to share some insights into lunch. To maximize supervision and instructional time, together with our teacher leadership team, we decided to move from 3 lunch periods a day, to 2. This allows for more staff to be on duty, for us to finish lunch faster which contributes to more time on task for our students. We currently have 1 lunch period from 11:25am -11:55am with our Kindergarten through second graders. Our Kindergarten students eat in the dance area and students in 1st and 2nd, utilize the rest of the cafeteria. For our 3-5th grade lunch period, from 12:00-12:30pm, our 5th graders get the dance studio and 3rd & 4th have the rest of the cafeteria.
We do have more students in lunch than in pervious years. However, teachers spent the first week going to the cafeteria outside of lunch time, reviewing expectations. We have also taught our students a universal signal for quiet. A staff member raises their hand and states, "Give Me 5". When students hear that, they raise their hands and get ready to listen by stopping conversations, and turning their body, eyes, and ears toward to speaker. We also practice this signal with students in the cafeteria to make sure we all know the signal.
Today at the K-2 lunch, students were finished so early, we were able to get everyone lined up early and out to recess. Our 3-5 students also have extra tables available if they want to spread out. We have heard that some students report they do not have time to finish lunch. So far, we have not had an issue with time running out. We do know that for most students, lunch is a wonderfully social time of the day and conversations with friends can be way more interesting than a sandwich. Today, Angelo Johnson had a magic trick that enthralled his table and we had to remind them to eat. We have been so pleased that our students have picked up the lunch routine so quickly.
If your student is reporting they do not have time to eat, please reach out to their teacher so the lunch staff can encourage them to eat during the time. We know that everyone needs energy for all the learning they do all day. So far, all students have enough time to each - as long as they are not watching themselves dance in front of the mirrors in the dance studio (true story!)
Our First Whole School Assembly!
Whole School Sings the Academic Warrior Song!
Our students gathered on Friday i the gym to present an important school rules. We introduced rules that were important for the whole school to follow so we can learn, have fun, and be safe. We are putting the rules together for our whole school rules.
Ludlow PRIDE
We show our PRIDE with our politeness, respect, integrity
determination and empathy. These character values are important to our community and help us to grow and learn together.
Back To School Night
Come one, come all to Ludlow Taylor's Back to School Night (BTSN) on Tuesday, September 10th. At BTSN, we will give our community an overview of how we learn and develop as a community this year. We will start at 6:00pm in the cafeteria with all community members for an overview from Principal Miller, members of the school wellness team, and our content specialists. Then, beginning at 6: 25pm and ending at 6:45, we will start the first of 2-20 minute rotations. Caregivers may attend sessions with grade level teachers, team, or specialists. During this time, you will hear directly from those staff who plan for, work with, and love your student. There will be another rotation from 6:50 to 7:10pm. After that, there will be time for a 3rd rotation to meet with teams you would like to. - our Wellness team, our specialists, special education teams, or myself or AP Watson. For caregivers with multiple children, there are multiple sessions so you can hear from multiple teachers.
Childcare and pizza is being coordinated so you can focus on the presentations from staff instead of being distracted by your gorgeous children.
Just a Little Mathematical Thinking
1st grade math with Ms. Currier
In the first unit of the 1st grade math curriculum, students are using what they know about numbers to add sums up to 20. Here, you see students are visualizing the number 8 into the parts of 5 and 3. The 10-frame helps students build visual models of mathematics. The boxes you see are called a number bond and represent the relationship between 3, 5, and 8.
More 1st grade math
Here, a student modeled the relationships of numbers to build 9 and 7. 5 is important, as it is the first set of numbers in the 10-frame. This strategy of counting on or counting up helps students visualize mathematics, and gives them strategies to build bigger numbers accurately.
Kindergarten math with Mrs. Corbin-Johnson
In Kindergarten, students are exploring attributes of objects - relationships between and among objects as well as the language used to describe objects. This language is the foundation of noticing similarities and differences as a way to describe and conceptualize the relationships between and among numbers. This step is vital for developing language and vocabulary to explain mathematical concepts later on in the year - and beyond.