The Shawsheen Shout

Welcome to the March edition of our school newsletter! We are now in the third month of the year, and we have some exciting updates to share. We'll be bringing you news about what our students are learning, the latest updates, and upcoming events. Let's make March a month filled with growth, learning, and positivity!

Sign-in System Update

Starting February if you are planning to have lunch with your student, volunteer or engage in any activity that requires you to sign into our system, please bring your Colorado driver's license or identification card to log in to our new system.

Reminder

During drop and pick-up it is important to prioritize safety. Please drive slowly, remain vigilant, use the crosswalks, and be especially aware of students crossing. Let's collectively ensure a secure environment for our school community. Thank you for your cooperation!

Safety rules to help keep everyone safe, to be courteous neighbors, and to teach our students good safety habits.

1. Always use caution and obey the speed limit in the school zones.

2. Do not park or drop off in the crosswalk zones.

3. Please model good safety practices by using the crosswalks.

4. Children are not allowed to walk through the parking lot without an adult.

5. Never walk through the middle of the horseshoe driveway. Instead, use the sidewalk around the perimeter.

6. The horseshoe and parking lot are closed from 7:28 - 7:40 AM (Monday 8:28 -8:40 AM) and from 2:30 - 3:00 PM. Only daycare vans and buses are allowed in the horseshoe.

7. The left lane of the horseshoe is for through traffic. Please do not park or stop in the left lane. Use the right lane for quick drop-off (not for parking).

8. Do not enter through the exit (east side) of the parking lot. The west side is the entrance.

9. Do not block the neighbors' driveways.

10. Do not park or drop off in the yellow zones (around crosswalks and corners).

11. Do not drop students off in the middle of the street.

12. Do not make U-turns in the middle of the street.

Thank you for your continued support. Together, we can create a safe, courteous, and more efficient system for arrival and dismissal.

Your child is taking part in classroom lessons from Common Sense Education. Common Sense helps kids learn the habits and skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly in school, at home, and beyond.

WHAT IS DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP?

Kids today may seem like experts at using technology, but the digital world requires all kinds of skills and habits that kids don’t just pick up as they go. Digital citizenship helps them learn those skills.

The Common Sense lessons help kids in grades K–2 develop healthy media habits and learn how to be safe online. Lessons for kids in grades 3–5 continue to focus on screen time and online safety. Older kids also learn about how to recognize cyberbullying, what is and isn’t OK to share online, and how to find credible news and information.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

Common Sense Education provides resources to help you support your kid’s learning. As we teach these lessons in class, we’ll be sending home tip sheets, videos, and activities for you to do with your kids. You can visit the Common Sense website at www.commonsensemedia.org for more.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Working together with Common Sense Education, we can prepare today’s kids to think critically and use tech in positive, creative, and powerful ways.

Dear Preschool Parents,

We are excited to introduce our new unit on recycling to your children! Throughout this unit, we will explore the importance of caring for our planet by reducing, reusing, and recycling. Your child will engage in hands-on activities, storytime sessions, and creative projects that promote environmental awareness and responsibility. Together, we will foster a love for the Earth and instill lifelong habits of sustainability in our young learners.

We are having a great time in kindergarten! We are learning and growing so much!

We’re focusing on recognizing, writing, and counting groups with the numbers 0 to 20. We continue to work hard on addition, subtraction, and counting to 100.

In reading, we’re blending sounds, reading them “the fast way” with fluency and accuracy. Students are also working to master letter names, sounds, and sight words. Regular practice at home is important. Please listen to your child as often as possible. Our current goal in writing is to write complete sentences that include strong details and punctuation.

In social studies, we are learning about people, places, and things we can find in schools and neighborhoods and how we can take care of our neighborhood.

Please make sure you are checking your child’s daily folder and Thursday folder for important information. Thank you for all you are doing to help your child learn and grow! We are thankful to be partnering with you!

The Kindergarten Team

Mrs. Duplex, Mrs. Maresh, and Mrs. Z

First Grade Families,

Reading/Language Arts

We are beginning to work in Module 4:In this module, students continue to build on their knowledge of birds from Module 3 as they deepen their literacy skills and build citizenship. Specifically, students explore the module guiding question: “Why should we care about birds?”

MATH:

We are also starting to work in Unit 6: Students measure length and count up to 120 length units. They solve addition and subtraction story problems with unknowns in all positions

OTHER:

Good job on keeping up with the homework that is going home. Please be sure to have your child complete the papers and/or read the stories and return it by the following Wednesday so we can get it all checked and ready to go home the next day. Reading is important! The very best way to support your child in growing his/her reading skill is to read to them or with them each night for about 20 minutes.

Thanks for all you do!!

Mrs. Kotalik, Ms. Beeman, and Ms. Cruz

Hello Fourth Grade Families,

This month in 4th grade, we will finish the third EL Module for literacy. For our EL literacy block we will continue learning about The American Revolution. For our Performance Task students will discuss their opinion of The American Revolution, considering both sides (Loyalist and Patriot) and who they would have supported during that time. After Spring Break, we will begin Module 4. We will be reading the book, The Hope Chest in which we will be learning about the process of ratifying the 19th Amendment.

We will also be wrapping up our sixth unit of mathematics, Whole-Number Multiplication and Division which focuses on students multiplying and dividing multi-digit whole numbers using partial products and partial quotient strategies. Towards the end of March, we will begin Unit 7 in math, Angles and Angle Measurement. This year students will learn to use a protractor to measure angles!

Respectfully,

Mrs. Apparito, Ms. Wikoff and Mrs. Ulrich (Mrs. Apparito’s long term sub for her maternity leave)

Fifth Grade Families,

ELA: We are finishing our third module which has focused on athletes of social change. We have extensively researched Jackie Robinson and his impact on the world through his baseball career. Each student is preparing to write an essay on the differences and similarities between Jackie Robinson and other impactful athletes.

As we finish the module we have several projects that will be completed to show student learning. Our first will be the comparative essay. The second will be a presentation where students will introduce three factors that helped athletes to be successful in social change. They will also have to generate a list of athletes to demonstrate the factors, or qualities, that led to their success. Finally, students will make yard signs that display their quality for success.

Math: We are in the middle of our sixth unit focusing on powers of 10, adding and subtracting fractions. This unit will be completed after spring break. Our final unit will be geometry! In our last month of school, we will begin our final project where students create an animal out of rectangular prisms and find the volume of their animal. We will share our work with third graders.

YMCA: Our parent meeting will take place in April. Please be on the lookout for more information. Our trip is planned for May 13-14. We will leave school the morning of May 13th and return around 3:00 pm on the 14th. We need chaperones! Please be mindful that this is an outdoor experience. We will be hiking and climbing in elevation. We will do this no matter the weather. If this is something you are interested in and capable of doing, please reach out to Ms. Strecker or Mrs. Grover.

CMAS: CMAS testing will take place in the month of April. Please ensure that students get enough sleep and come prepared to work hard during these important assessments.

Sparrowhawks have been working on fine motor skills to increase their hand-eye coordination. Cup stacking has been a fun and challenging way to do this. Many students have made incredible improvements over the course of the unit. I wanted to highlight the fastest times for each stacking arrangement for each grade. Not all arrangements are applicable for all grade levels. These students showed great perseverance and dedication!

3-6-3 Stack: Meliyah G. 12.6, Damen S. 11.2 seconds, Malachi L. 8 seconds, Cataleya S. 8.2 seconds, Tarikey G. 7.1 seconds.

6-6 Stack: Bayne B. 9 seconds, Michelle A. 6.8 seconds, Tarikey G. 7.4 seconds.

3-3-3 stack: Levi S. 6.8 seconds, Meliyah G. 6.6 seconds, AJ A. and Jazmine R. 4.8 seconds, Kyson K. 4.1 seconds, Cayson D. 4.1 seconds, Ovidio R. V. 4.3 seconds.

Shawsheen's library is about to prepare for the summer construction project. We're so excited for our fresh paint and new shelves. At this time, we ask that you and your student ensure that all library books come back to Shawsheen to be reshelved and ordered so that we are ready to go. While we won't be checking out books for the remainder of the year, the library does have discards (books that are old, infrequently circulated, and books with multiple copies) that are being offered to students. The discards may be kept or donated. At this time, they are all in English.

Thanks for all your support!

Kindergarten: Students are working on keeping a steady beat and identifying opposites in music. Try putting on a song on and asking your kinder if they can keep the beat using their body or if they can identify if the music is high/low, fast/slow, or short/long.

1st Grade: 1st graders just learned their musical scale with hand signs as well as Sol, La, and Mi. Ask them to sing you a song using hand signs!

2nd Grade: 2nd grade students are learning mi, re, and do. Ask them their favorite instrument that they have played on recently in music class!

3rd Grade: Students are continuing to learn canons and rounds, as well as more complex rhythms. They are also learning the difference between major and minor. See if you can put on one of your favorite songs and if your 3rd grader can identify if the music is major (happy) or minor (sad).

4th/5th Grade: Students are working on a jazz improvisation unit learning the guidelines for jazz music as well as how to break the rules within reason. Ask them if they prefer to accompany (ukulele) or improvise (xylophones).

SparrowSingers just wrapped up their field trip to the Union Colony Civic Center for the Greeley Evans Elementary Choral Festival on February 27th! We are so proud of our students for all their hard work. Now, SparrowSingers will begin rehearsing for their spring concert on April 2nd at 5:30pm in the Shawsheen Gym! You are invited to attend this free concert!

Big thanks to everyone who purchased Pencil Grams in February! Student Council profited almost $300 with the school fundraiser. StuCo also shared the love by giving Valentine surprises to the Shawsheen staff last month.

Student Council is excitedly preparing a couple fun events in March. First, they will host Shawsheen’s next Spirit Day, “Teacher and Student Swap Day,” on Friday, March 8th. Teachers are welcome to dress up like students, and students are invited to dress up like their favorite teacher on this special day. Please mark your calendars for Shawsheen Movie Night on Friday, March 22nd. More information will be sent home in the upcoming weeks.

Student Council will continue to meet from 7:00 to 7:30 AM in room 1 on the first and third Wednesdays of each month through April. Please see below for upcoming dates.

• March 6

• March 20

• April 3

• April 17

"D6 Rockies Day at the Ballpark" on Sunday, May 12, 2024, at 1:10 pm. (Yes, Mother’s Day! 🌷💐🌺)

- The Colorado Rockies are offering specially discounted tickets to students, staff, and their families. Limit 10 tickets per family. Please do not sell tickets outside of your school community.

- Checks and cash are NOT ACCEPTED! Tickets can be purchased online at www.greeleyschools.org/rockies

- All orders must be completed online by 5 p.m. Monday, April 29th. No late orders will be accepted.

- Parking passes will also be available for order.

- Handicapped seating is available and can be selected on the RevTrak system.