For more great pictures go to: http://coolidge.cr.k12.ia.us

Coolidge courierCOOLIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DECEMBER 2015

COUGAR LUNCHEONCongratulations to the following students who attended the Cougar luncheon on Novem-

ber 19th: Garson Hiles, AJ Weaver, Maddux Armstrong, McKenna Deeds, Aliya Riggenbach, Parker Malamphy, Ryan Panoch, Rylie Kingus, Jon Robinson, Avery Loomer, Barrett Mieras, Rylie Erbacher, Catrin Rhodes, Leah Schmidt, Penelope Fritz, Javier Lozano, Evan Goede-ken, Xavier O’Shea, Sude Ahmad, Harrison Reed, Sanja Woerner, Nathan Hawkins, Brayden Gearhart, Mya Shackleford-Tischer, Sarah Jungling, Mason Akers, Dominic Marinez-White, Austin Deal, Angela Truitt, Nate Mayer, Zaria Larsen, and Noelle Wilson.

The District offers an online Virtual Backpack site to support the efforts of community orga-nizations wanting to share information about educationally-based programming.

Individuals or organizations wishing to post material on the Virtual Backpack submit items electronically and approved materials will ap-pear online for families to access.

Organizations will � nd a link to submit � yers for consideration on the District homepage at www.cr.k12.ia.us . Families can access th e Virtual Backpack from their school Web site.

VIRTUAL

BACKPACK

Non-Discrimination PolicyIt is the policy of the Cedar Rapids Community School District not to illegally discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age (employment only), marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and socioeconomic status (students/program only) in its educational programs and its employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. District employees with questions or a grievance related to this policy should contact Jill Cirivello, Director of Human Resources, 319-558-2421; jcirivello@cr.k12.ia.us. Students and others should contact Ken Morris, Manager of Student Equity, 319-558-1504; kmorris@cr.k12.ia.us. The District mailing address is 2500 Edgewood Rd NW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52405-1015.

IMPORTANT DATESJANUARY4........................................................... Classes Resume7.........................................................SCRIP Sent Home8................... Coolidge Pride Day – wear Black and Gold11..................................................................SCRIP Due14......................................7:00 PM – PTA Meeting - IMC15......................................................... SCRIP Delivered18..............................................................NO SCHOOL21.......................................................SCRIP Sent Home22................. Coolidge Pride Day – wear Black and Gold25..................................................................SCRIP Due28...... PTA Family Fun Night Ice Skating – CR Ice Arena29......................................................... SCRIP Delivered

Follow the District on , @crschools, and

MEADOWVIEW OUTINGStudents from Mrs. Determan’s Kindergarten

classroom decorated holiday cookies with Mead-owview Memory Care residents in December.  Stu-dents and residents enjoyed conversation, laughter, and eating tasty treats!

CONGRATULATIONS COOLIDGE COUGAR FAMILIES!!!

Your donations to the Cedar Valley Humane So-ciety have helped continue their mission to support animals and pets. Coolidge really appreciates your donations and support (over 10 large boxes full were donated)!

Thank you so much, -The Student Council from Coolidge!

INTERNET SAFETY TIPS FOR PARENTSBy Kathy Goedeken, Teacher Librarian

Children have access to in-depth information, games, activities and communication through the Inter-net, but there are also risks. Here are some important internet safety tips for parents. For more helpful information to keep your child safe online go to http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents

Monitor your child’s Internet use consistently. This is not a violation of your child’s privacy; this is a safeguarding measure and part of your responsibility as a parent. Have children use computers and mo-bile devices in high-traffic areas of your home, so you can easily monitor them.

Monitor the apps that your child downloads to mobile devices. For example, a Cedar Rapids parent reported that his daughter downloaded the “Kik” app on her phone which allowed strangers to text her.

If your child belongs to a social networking site look closely at what information they have posted in their member profiles and blogs, including photos and videos. Predators, bullies, profanity, and threats often occur in these types of sites.

Know who is connecting with your child online and set rules for social networking, instant messaging, e-mailing, online gaming and using webcams.

Stay in touch with your kid’s online activities. Know who their online friends are (and who is on their buddy list), just as you would their other friends.

1. Talk to your child about your Internet safety concerns in a positive way and give them the opportu-nity to make safety resolutions that you can both live with (examples: How much time can be spent online? Are chat rooms permitted?).

2. Explain that your kids should: NEVER give out personal information (name, address, phone, school name), NEVER meet anyone from online without your permission, NEVER open e-mails from unknown senders, and NEVER share their photo with strangers over the Internet. Shared photos are an easy way for a predator to find a child or modify your child’s image for pornographic use.

3. Encourage your children to bring anything strange or upsetting to your attention and don’t over-react when they do (fear of losing Internet privileges is why kids don’t tell parents about problems – and why they may start surfing the web somewhere else.

4. Learn how filtering and monitoring software can assist you in protecting your children (check with your Internet service provider to find out if filtering or monitoring is available for free with your provider). However, don’t rely completely on software to protect your chil-dren. Education and parental involvement are the primary methods of prevention.

5. Internet accounts should always be in the par-ent’s name. The parents should maintain the primary e-mail account and be in charge of all passwords and parental controls. Kids should never share their passwords with anyone other than their parents.

6. Notify the police if someone your child met online starts calling them, sending gifts, or try-ing to lure them from home.

7. Check your credit card statements each month for unusual charges that may indicate that a stranger or your child is making unau-thorized purchases.

8. Don’t think of the Internet as a babysitter. Kids on the Internet need adult supervision. Keep the computer in a public area of the house.

CONGRATULATIONSTO THE FOLLOWING COOLIDGE COUGARS WHO WERE SELECTED TO SING IN A CHORUS THROUGH THE ORCHESTRA IOWA SCHOOL THIS YEAR!

Harmony (K-1):Reilly Kingus, Dakota McCoy, Alaina Gah-

ring, Brennen Dockendorff, Liam Karau, Jay-don Manning, and William TeBockhorst.

Odyssey (2-3):Grace TeBockhorst, Madelyn Goebel,

Kaitlyn Burco. Annabelle Prignitz, and Celeste Manning.

Discovery (4-5):Mya Shackleford-Tischer, Megan Bumpus,

Cade Chism, Ben Drzycimski, Brayden Gear-hart, Ben Goudy, Allison Kingus, Ava Miles, Kelly Morgan, Mary Morningstar, Sydney Proc-tor, Yuna Song, Hayley Stowe, Angela Truitt, and Taylor Whidden.

SAFETY CONCERNSCedar Rapids Community School District takes your safety seriously and welcomes your input.  Please

contact your building principal/administrator and report any safety concerns that you may have.  Thank you for helping us keep staff and students safe.

SECOND AND THIRD GRADERS WINTER PROGRAMThe Coolidge second and third graders did a wonderful job of paying tribute to Germany, Japan,

Australia, Mexico and South Africa in their winter program, “It’s Christmas Everywhere!” We would like to thank our outstanding volunteer, Margaret O’Banion for all of her help with costumes and props, and for taking pictures for us. We hope you enjoy these pictures of the program.

KINDERGARTEN NEWSEach kindergarten classroom had an elf named by the class (Elfie, Sugar, and Buddy) delivered to the

classroom after Thanksgiving break.  The kindergart-ners are working very hard on their writing as they journal the adventures of our classroom elves.    We are so impressed and proud of their growth with their writing.  We are also studying gingerbread men and houses.  We will be decorating gingerbread houses soon which is always a favorite kindergarten memory!  There are many different versions of the story that we read to the children.  We compare and contrast the stories and the children love to point out the similari-ties and differences.  We have also been working on beginning middle and end while reading our stories.  This is certainly a magical month in kindergarten!

5TH GRADE TECH LEADERSHIPBy: Jacob S and Tyler B

In Coolidge’s Information Tech Club (ITC) 5th graders are making PowerPoints, videos, writing articles, and much more. The outcomes of which appear around the building in different areas for various reasons. For example, some projects Tech Club have already completed this year are:

• PBIS Videos reviewing common area expectations

• Articles for Coolidge Website (don’t forget to check the important dates posted weekly)

• Building of the WeekWhen fifth graders come to tech club, it is an

open world and by that we mean you come in grab a computer, Surface Pro, or iPad and pick a just right project that would suit you. Do you know who makes the building of the week? Well that’s some-thing we do here in tech club! With the help of Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Rummel we are able to get things done very fast. With the permission of their teach-ers, fifth grade students are welcome to work on their projects throughout the day when they have time. Thank you to our teachers for being so flex-ible and letting students work on these Tech Club projects!

Every other Monday is Student Council. The days they don’t have Student Council will be ITC. We will have ITC on December 14th and that will be our last day before Christmas Break. We will start back up in February. (February 1st is the next ITC time we will have after the break.) We encourage other fifth grade students to join us! Schedules will be posted on the Coolidge website and will be posted at the beginning of each month.

FOURTH GRADEThe Fourth Grade has been very busy lately!

In reading we have been learning about Greek Mythology. Students compared several myths, learned some vocabulary, and even examined a few famous characters from the myths. A “hercu-lean” effort was given by all.

In mathematics the children have been learn-ing about 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication. This is a very important skill in the fourth grade. Students were shown two different ways to solve these types of problems, “The Turtlehead Method” and the “Area Model”. As we move forward we are begin-ning the next big skill, long division! The students are excited to face this next challenge!

We just wrapped up our new science unit titled “Living Systems”. Students were able to see how smaller things work together to perform a task. We analyzed systems all around us; from household items, plants, animals, the human body, and even our planet! The fourth grad-ers witnessed a model heart, examined how decomposers interact in an ecosystem, and raised caterpillars into Pink Lady Butterflies!

As December wrapped up, we went through our next Unit in Social Stud-ies, Regions. We discussed the regions of the Unit-ed States. We learned about the people, cultures, products, land, and attractions of each region. Students worked on an at home project about a region of their choice. Each student wrote a short paper, and created a pamphlet, poster, PowerPoint, or Powtoon on their region.

3RD GRADE HAPPENINGSRight now all of the 3rd graders are gearing up for their big 2/3 Musical Performance on Dec. 10th

for the parents and on Dec. 11th for the whole school. It takes a lot of patience and collaboration as Mrs. Hanisch is trying to put the whole show together. We are learning many important qualities as we work together as a team. It’s a good experience for all of them to get up there and perform on stage at such an early age. We are excited for the big day!

Believe it or not, 3rd grade is doing a unit on Division already! We just completed our Multiplication Unit, so now we will turn to Division. Everyone is learning that they will need to master those facts in or-der to do well in math. Learning those basic facts is an important and essential skill. Any help that par-ents can give their child in this area would be much appreciated!

We are also studying about the SE region of the United States. We are learning about the culture, the natural resources, the agriculture, and businesses in that region, so we can begin to understand how and why slavery came to be in the United States. After we are finished studying the SE region, we will turn our attention to the Slavery and Segregation unit. This is very important unit of study. Hopefully by teaching this period in history, we can ALL learn to live in a society where everyone should be valued and treated with great dignity and equality!

3rd grade is a very busy year for our students. In 3rd grade we are learning and studying some very important skills that will help us all throughout our lives. It’s also a time when we learn how to be a suc-cessful, independent learner! It’s a wonderful year of growing, changing, and learning together!

COOLIDGE HOME COOL TOOLUsing the computerExpectation: Do Your PARRTPurpose of the lesson? Why it is important:1. To teach children to use computers properly. 2. To teach children to use computers safely.Teaching Examples: The following presents situations that your child might find

himself in. Use these examples to discuss with your child how to make good deci-sions when using a computer.

Your child is using the computer and became thirsty. Your child went to the kitchen to get a drink and brought it back into the room in which the computer was in. The drink was set down near the computer. Talk to your child about what could happen if the drink spilled onto the computer equip-ment. How long does it take to repair a computer? How much does it cost? Ask your child if it is worth taking a chance that it might spill.

Your child is using your home computer to look up information on Japan. As your child is read-ing some interesting information an instant message appears from somebody that your child does not know. Tell your child your expectations about responding to instant messages from strangers. Talk about why you have these expectations. Discuss your expectations for using the Internet in general

(ex. which sites your child is allowed to use, how long can your child stay on the computer at a given time). Discuss the fact that using the computer is a privilege. Let your child know that you have to trust him/her to follow your expectations in order to have the privilege of using the computer inde-pendently.

Kid Activities/Role Plays:1. Discuss your consequences for misusing a computer.2. Spend some time on the computer with your child to model for him/her appropriate computer

use.  Follow-up/Reinforcement Activities:1. Remind your child of your expectations before he/she uses the computer.2. Thank your child for following your expectations for being safe on the computer.

BAKING IN AKThe sweet smells of gingerbread

and cinnamon have filled the air in AK as our dramatic play center has been transformed into the AK Bakery. With an apron and a bak-er’s hat, our AK friends are ready to demonstrate their baking skills! This center is filled with bowls, spoons, spatulas, hot pads, baking sheets, muffin tins, and even gingerbread play dough to roll out and cut into gingerbread boys and girls. A pretend oven is available for the students to bake their delightful creations. This center gives children an opportu-nity to interact with one another and build friend-ship skills, along with using language, math and motor skills. Each day we look forward to seeing what our AK bakers are stirring up! Mrs. Brown also helped our AK friends understand what it is like to be a baker when she did a demonstration on how to frost cupcakes. She showed us all her baking tools, talked about what it is like to work in a bakery and frosted and decorated cupcakes.

Happy Holidays from the AK Team!Mrs. Bergert, Mrs. Jenn, Mrs. Law, Ms. Laurie,

Mrs. Sara & Mrs. Brown

EARLY LEARNING NEWS The Early Learning classes have been hav-

ing fun with gingerbread throughout the month of December.  We have been reading many different versions of The Gingerbread Man, including The Gingerbread Girl, The Gingerbread Baby, and The Gingerbread Pirates.  Our students enjoyed retell-ing and acting out the story.  During centers, stu-dents made their own gingerbread person, and as a group, we decorated a gingerbread house.  Every-one did a nice job being creative and unique!

During our literacy time, we have continued to work on recognizing let-ters and finished learning to print let-ters A-Z.  When we return in January, we will begin Jolly Phonics.  In math, we’ve been focusing on identifying numbers, counting, and quantifying.  This month, we have also practiced sorting, classifying, and seriating ob-jects.

Coming up activitiesOur winter party will be on Friday,

December 18th (AM party will start at 10:45 and PM class will begin at 2:45).  Parents are welcome to come and join the fun! 

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