Hanukkah is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE. Wikipedia

Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. Wikipedia

Kwanzaa is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called Karamu, usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West and Southeast Africa. Wikipedia

Christmas Break: December 25 - January 5, 2024

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.

Brandy Bryant - New Instructional Assistant

LaTanya Taylor - New Instructional Assistant (Promotion)

Marissa Sangster - New Nurse #2

Greeting to all,

In ELA/Reading, our essential question is “How does exploring help understand the world around us?” Students learned to describe and identify historical and scientific events in order to make connections and further develop reading fluency and comprehension.

Mathematically speaking, we have immersed ourselves in understanding number patterns to count and add numbers. Students are working diligently to demonstrate their understanding of skip counting adding, and recognizing number patterns within even and odd numbers.

As we explore the unit of Plant and Animal Dependency in Science, students are understanding how plants and animals depend on each other in order to survive and carry out the process of pollination. We learned how animal and insects depend on plants for food and shelter. We also learned how pollen and seeds are carried from the animal and/or insect leaving one plant source in order to grow more plants and trees. This lesson was right on time considering our exciting visit to Brookfield Zoo, where students could explore first hand how plants and animals depend on each other. We had the opportunity of observing various animals in their habitats and learning about how their characteristics aid in their survival.

As a grade level we also had the pleasure of observing and growing our basil and lettuce plants by way of our hydroponic plant system. Students were able to partake in the responsibility of growing plants and learning how plants thrive with the correct amount of sunlight, water and nutrients from the soil. At the end of our growth, students were able to analyze the growth patterns and literally taste their progress! LETTUCE just say that one of our green veggies was more popular with the students’ tastebuds;-)

Lastly in Science, students have had the awesome opportunity to visit our District 159 STEM Center to learn about coding and engineering a habitat for our digital bug as well as our Hexbug. We learned how to code clay mold products in order to produce the correct lighting circuit to our class clay circuit bugs!

In Social Studies we are currently in our Civics and Government Unity of Study. This unit encompasses communities, rules and laws, principles of democracy, local government services and citizenship in order to expand our understanding of the world around us.

Thank you Second Grade Families for all your support and encouragement throughout this first semester. Please remember to read with your scholar nightly and to ensure to dress them appropriately for recess considering the winter season and cold temperatures. We would like to wish you a Safe, Happy & Healthy Holiday Season! See you all in the New Year!

Educationally yours,

The Second Grade Teachers

The Sounds of November

First, Third, and Fifth grade has been busy preparing for the Winter Concert! Each grade is preparing music to perform on Friday, December 22nd! Second grade has been learning about singing and playing instruments.

Fourth Grade has been learning to break down music into different parts and recently has been practicing playing melodies and countermelodies on the xylophone. We have also used musical flash cards to practice form.

Kindergarten has been working on learning musical opposites like high and low sounds, loud and soft, fast and slow, up and down, and same and different.

On December 14, 2023 Mrs. Courtney Purciarello will conduct classroom presentations on Constellation Nuclear Energy to all of K-5 students.

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

We Watch, We Listen, We Think

We are so very grateful for our continued partnership with Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated (Tau Alpha Zeta Chapter). The beautiful women of this sorority continue to support and render their services to help us with the following:

• Family Reading Night
• Family Math Night
• Candy Donations for Book Character Dress Up Day
• Backpacks filled with school supplies
• Thanksgiving baskets
• Etc.

We are thankful and appreciative of all of their efforts, support, and services. We love you Zeta Phi Beta! Thank you for everything! Blessings to you all!

To the Chi Sox Organization,

On behalf of the Sieden Prairie Families, I sincerely thank the Chi-Sox Foundation for their generous donations, 19 Thanksgiving turkey baskets. We wish your foundation continued blessings as you "Give back through life-changing experiences." You All Rock!

Friday, December 1st: Sieden Prairie's PBIS Goal: Friendship & Caring

Friday, December 8th: 1/2 Day of School: 11:45 Dismissal

Thursday, December 14: Nuclear Science Presentations to K-5 by Ms. Courtney Purciarello

Thursday, December 14: SP Groundbreaking Ceremony @ 1:00 p.m.

Monday, December 18: Stocking Stuffer Parade Day for students (in gymnasium) @ 2:25 p.m.

Tuesday, December 19: All School Assembly: Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra @ 10:00 a.m.

Thursday, December 21: SP Staff Potluck and Staff PTO Treat Day

Friday, December 22nd: Staff Winter Luncheon - Sponsored by Principal McCaskill & AP Willard

Friday, December 22nd: Winter Sing Concert/Assembly at 1:30 p.m.

Friday, December 22nd: Ugly Sweater or Holiday Sweater day

• 12/4-12/7 Genius Week Hosted by the STEAM Team
• 12/20 - Board Of Education Meeting @ 7:30 pm (Open Session)

BE SAFE, BE RESPECTFUL

& BE RESPONSIBLE

The month of November Cool Tool was appreciation and service. Students worked on thank you cards for staff, friends, and family. The students also learned about the Veterans and acknowledged appreciate for their service. Our Mustang Reward Store became fully stocked by Donors Choose program and students were introduced with Mustang Merits that all staff are able to give out so they can go shopping on Fridays when the cart comes around. The Mustang Merits are like money and they should be responsible for holding on to it at school. Guest teachers are also able to give out Mustang Merits but theirs are worth five instead of just one. Here is the link to the Mustang Rewards Store so you can see what they can shop for. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1c-mcYyZiBZoOM4L-FuEP8m2EO7Jm8jBJR-baUbI0rKM/edit?usp=sharing

December's Cool Tool will be Friendship and Caring. We are excited to embrace this short month with positivity and acknowledgement for expected behavior. Students and Staff will have an opportunity to be entered into larger prize raffles too.

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 December. Blessings for many more birthdays to come! Enjoy your day!

Mrs. Albertino - December 9

Mrs. Karnavas - December 10

Mrs. McCaskill - December 30

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