Thanksgiving is a beloved holiday in the United States and Canada, and it is typically celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It's a time to reflect on the year, be thankful, and celebrate with family and friends by enjoying a delicious meal together. ~daysoftheyear.com

The History of Thanksgiving

"The origins of Thanksgiving can be traced back to the 1620s, when a group of English settlers, known as pilgrims, arrived in what is now Massachusetts. After a harsh winter, the Pilgrims were able to harvest a bountiful crop thanks to the help of Wampanoag Native Americans. In gratitude, the Pilgrims held a feast to give thanks for their survival and the abundance of food. This event is often considered the first Thanksgiving in America." ~daysoftheyear.com

Fall Recess Begins November 20 - November 24, 2023

Sieden Prairie’s Vision: To provide a safe, clean, nurturing and learning filled environment that exudes a sense of family and is rich in character, content, challenge, diversity, and iSTEAM. Whereas, we uphold and believe in having high expectations for learning, building relationships and engaging the learner. Furthermore, it is our commitment to develop and educate the whole child to become a lifelong learner who is first-class in a world class society.

We are keeping things simple and back to basics as we focus on our ABCs.

A= Academics

B=Behavior

C= Climate & Culture

Our Sieden Prairie Pledge: As a proud and dignified student of Sieden Prairie School, I solemnly pledge to respect my teachers, other adults, my fellow classmates, and myself daily. I will also show compassion, responsible and be determined as I attempt to be the best person possible.

DEREK CURTIS, NEW 5TH GRADE TEACHER (HOMEROOM 5B)

MARISSA SANGSTER, CO-NURSE

First graders have been hard at work in the first quarter. We have been engaged in reading new stories, using HMH and Educational Epiphany to enhance our learning and improving our sight words and phonics skills. We enjoy our daily Heggerty phonemic awareness videos with Ms. Vanhekken. We are learning about working together in communities and our roles as students in our very own classroom. We enjoy reading our themed monthly books on MYON and working on reading for comprehension .

We are also building our mathematical vocabulary with new math concepts and using them during our math centers.

Students are learning concepts in our new science curriculum STEMSCOPE and are enjoying all the hands-on experiments. We are looking forward to our STEM center visits this month.

The visit from Southpaw about Striking Out Bullying reminded us the importance of practicing PAWS. P for practicing confidence. A for always using your voice. W for walk away. S for standing up for others. Practicing these skills will help us prevent bullying.

First graders have been following the rules of the classroom and school by being respectful, responsible and safe. Our daily Second Step lessons have been a great support for dealing with our emotions and giving us ways to keep calm and focused. We are all looking forward to the fun learning experiences coming our way!

Los alumnos de primer grado han trabajado duro durante el primer trimestre. Hemos estado involucrados en la lectura de nuevas historias , utilizando HMH y Epifanía Educativa para mejorar nuestro aprendizaje y mejorar nuestras palabras reconocibles a la vista y la fonética . Disfrutamos de nuestro video diario de conciencia fonética de Heggarty, con la Sra. Vanhekken.

Estamos aprendiendo sobre cómo trabajar juntos en comunidades y nuestros roles como estudiantes en nuestra propia clase. Disfrutamos leyendo nuestros libros temáticos mensuales sobre MYON y trabajando en la lectura para la comprensión.

También estamos construyendo nuestro vocabulario matemático con nuevos conceptos matemáticos y usándolos en nuestros centros de matemáticas.

Los estudiantes están aprendiendo conceptos en nuestro nuevo plan de estudios de ciencias STEMSCOPE y disfrutando de todos los experimentos prácticos. Esperamos con ansias nuestras visitas al centro STEM este mes.

La visita de Southpaw sobre Striking Out Bullying nos recordó la importancia de practicar PAWS. P por practicar la confianza. A por usar siempre su voz. W para alejarse. S por defender a los demás. Practicar estas habilidades nos ayudará a prevenir el acoso.

Los estudiantes de primer grado han seguido las reglas del salón de clases y de la escuela siendo respetuosos, responsables y seguros.

Nuestras lección es diaria de Segundo Paso han sido un gran apoyo para lidiar con nuestras emociones y brindarnos formas de mantener la calma y la concentración . ¡Todos esperamos con ansias las divertidas experiencias de aprendizaje que se avecinan!

Greetings Sieden Family,

In Sieden Prairies Library we welcomed representatives from Amazon into our reading corner to share their love of reading with our students. Children in grades K-2nd have/will receive three paperback books, book marks, activity sheets and a bookbag from their organization.

We learned about Indigenous People’s Day and why it is celebrated on Columbus Day. We learned that we must respect all people. We learned about fire safety during Fire Safety Month. Do you and your family have a plan and a meeting place in case there is a fire?

November 16, 2023 is Family Reading Night here at Sieden Prairie. We will forward additional information as well as our scheduled time. Please look out for this information coming to you soon. We look forward to seeing you here.

Ms. L. Campbell/Sieden Librarian

Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Relationship Skills for all K-5 grade levels.

We Watch, We Listen, We Think

Tuesday, November 7: No Student Attendance

Friday, November 10: Veteran's Day (Observed) - No School

Thursday, November 16: National Reading Night - "Real Men Read Day"

Friday, November 17: SP's Student & Staff Incentive

Monday, November 20 - Friday, November 24: Fall Recess - No School

Wednesday, November 29: SP's PBIS Professional Development

• 1/7: No School
• 11/10: No School, Veterans Day
• 11/15: BOE Meeting 7:30 pm Open Session
• 11/17 Progress Reports
• 11/ 20-24 Fall Break
• 12/4-12/7 Genius Week Hosted by the STEAM Team
• 12/13 Curriculum Open House 9:00 am -2:00 pm

BE SAFE, BE RESPECTFUL

& BE RESPONSIBLE

Sieden Prairie Scholars have been working together to earn points for this month's PBIS school incentive. Each day classrooms can earn points for showing expected behavior. We reached our goal of 1,000 points well before the end of the month. Students will be participating in an Anti- Bullying assembly with a surprise celebrity guest. Students have been given clues so they can guess who they think is visiting us. Students have guessed the following: A basketball player is coming, a singer, someone that worked with the president, and someone that works at a tv station. After the surprise occurs , we will share who came to Sieden Prairie. Lastly students have been earning Mustang Loyalty punches on their card so they can pick different rewards on the Mustang Menu by showing respectful, responsible and safe behavior at school. Some students are saving their punches for bigger rewards. The students' faces light up when they are acknowledged in a positive way. This month a total of 21 students and counting"cashed" in on some rewards from the menu. The PBIS team is working on stocking the Mustang Reward Menu with more rewards to choose from.

Congratulations to Sieden Prairie's STAR Award Recipient

Mrs. Nicole Cornelious

Mrs. Cornelious is a smooth operator, and a team player. She is confident, poised, humble, and has a sweet spirit. She is leader inside of the classroom and outside of the classroom.

Her smile is contagious, and she is passionate about teaching and learning.

Mrs. Cornelious loves children and she works hard to ensure their success.

It's truly a pleasure working with Mrs. Cornelious.

~Principal McCaskill~

Here is what Mrs. Cornelious' mentee had this to say about her:

"Mrs. Cornelious is such an awesome mentor! She is always willing to help and give pointers of what she has learned along the way that might help me succeed. I appreciate her consistency and humble approach to speak with me and be a solid source of guidance. She's great with her students and she's passionate about teaching and being a trusted, and resourceful avenue that they need. I appreciate her presence in our building, and I look up to her as she is such and humble and sufficient leader!"

~Ms. Gibbs~

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Congratulations to Dominique Watson

for her nomination for the American Teacher Award

Sponsored by Iota Phi Lambda Sorority

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CONGRATULATIONS TO All of SIEDEN PRAIRIE'S STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

for the FIRST QUARTER

Sofia Medina Diaz

Aaryn Dunlap

Aveon Jackson

Jazmine Mazin

Jazmin Meza

Stephen Stone

Jayla Thomas

Liliana De La Torre

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A SPECIAL THANK YOU to ALL students, parents, and staff

for helping to make Sieden Prairie Great!

~Sincerely,

Principal McCaskill & Assistant Principal Willard

Happy Birthday to the following staff members who will celebrate a birthday in November. Blessings for many more birthdays to come! Enjoy your day!

Ms. Schultz - November 2nd

Ms. Mison - November 20nd

Ms. Benson - November 21st

Ms. Sanchez - November 23rd

Ms. Vagena - November 24th

Beat the Bell!

Schools Begins at 8:30 a.m. at the K-5 Buildings

Student Absence Notification: Arrival & Dismissal and Tardiness

K-5 Buildings - Student Absent Notification and Tardiness:

• A student can arrive to school as early as 8:00 a.m. for breakfast.
• A student is considered tardy after 8:30 a.m. for breakfast and must be accompanied by a parent to enter into the building.
• Students are dismissed at 3:05 p.m.

The following interventions will be implemented for students who are chronically absent or tardy:

• School will attempt to connect with the family of the absent student by phone, letter, or email
• Home/Wellness checks and resources provided to assist any family in need
• Mandatory formal parent conference
• Student referred to the South Cook Regional Office

If your child has to be absent for a day, you must report the absence to the front office by 8:00 a.m. If the school is not contacted regarding an absence, an automatic call will be placed to the parent at 10:30 a.m.

The Parent/Guardian may contact the main office at 708.720.2626 to report any information regarding attendance.

Reference the Parent/Student Handbook Online

We approach discipline by way of using restorative practices. We are concerned with the student(s) and their well-being. We have restorative practices in place in which we impress upon the student(s) the importance of taking responsibility for their own actions and to work together with other students to find ways to resolve conflict and make better choices. We also follow three PBIS rules which are Be Safe, Be Respectful, and Be Responsible.

Adios