In this issue: page

Community Coffees 2

Black Bear House News 3

PTO Update & K-Kids 4

Counselor’s Corner 4

28 Multiplication Facts 5

Yearbook Order Form 6

Happy Holidays 7

Prairie Winds Elementary

790 King’s Deer Point East

Monument, CO 80132

Ph# (719) 559-0800

Hawk Tales

Newsletter

lewispalmer.org/pwes December 7, 2017

Calendar of Events

December

Dec. 13 2nd Grade Field Trip - Denver Dec. 19 6th Grade Band rehearsal at PRHS Dec. 19 6th Grade Band Winter Concert, 7PM, at

PRHS (rehearsal during day) Dec. 20 K-Kids Mtg., 8AM, in Mrs. Locke’s room Dec. 21 Winter Parties, 2:30PM Dec. 22 Teacher Work Day – NO SCHOOL

Winter Break: Dec. 25 – Jan. 9

Jan. 10 Students return!

Dear Prairie Winds Families, Traditions at home and at school (like the Turkey Trot) are important to our children. They connect us to special memories and to each other. The weekend following the actual Thanksgiving holiday, I prepare another full Thanksgiving meal that is shared among my children and their friends. Having fulfilled their family commitments on the previous Thursday, friends are available to join us for what has become our favorite part of Thanksgiving. I call it, “all of the fun and none of the stress.” One year, after traveling for the holidays, I decided I was too tired to cook an entire meal again. I didn’t think anyone would notice, much less care. That’s when my son Scott exclaimed, “What?! No SECOND THANKSGIVING??!!” And so the tradition was named, and I learned the important lesson that kids notice, and it does matter. Now, on to math facts-the greatest key to success in the subject. (Don’t worry-I’ll connect the two paragraphs momentarily.) I was talking with Mr. Wise, our 6th grade math teacher, about this, and he believes that math facts are to math what letters are to reading. We’d never dream of letting our kids grow up without knowing their letters. Can we challenge each other, both school and home, to tackle math fact memorization with the same tenacity with which we tackle letters and sounds? I am including a multiplication facts chart in this month’s newsletter to show that there are really only 28 facts that have to be memorized-that’s just two more than the number of letters in the alphabet, as simple math will show. :)

May your blessings be multiplied this holiday season!

Aileen Finnegan

Community Coffees

Prairie Winds Elementary School cordially invites you to attend our Community Coffees this year. Each Community Coffee is hosted by one of our Prairie Winds parents, who has volunteered to open up her home to visit with other parents in our school community. Tea and coffee, along with a light snack, are served. Our principal, Aileen Finnegan, will be present at each coffee to chat or answer any questions you may have. This is a social event with no meeting agenda. RSVP to the front office. At that time, we’ll share the address of the hostess with you. The Community Coffees are scheduled on the following dates: It is our hope that you will have a chance to attend at least one of our Community Coffees.

Prairie Winds Elementary is honored to announce its role as a collection site for American Flags that need to be retired. This 2nd annual effort is in partnership with our local VFW Post 7829 and runs from Veterans Day through Flag Day on June 14th. Please check your closets and talk with your neighbors to identify old, tattered American Flags/State Flags that need to be replaced. All community members and businesses are welcome to participate and bring their old flags to the collection site near the entry of our school. Tractor Supply Co. is offering a 10% discount on new flags for those that contribute. Together, we can promote and model good citizenship for our children.

PWES Birthday Invitation Policy Invitations may be passed out at school ONLY IF all students of the same gender are invited. If both boys and girls are being invited, invitations may be passed out at school ONLY IF all students in the class are invited.

At Prairie Winds, we love dogs, however, we need to keep them away from our students during arrival and dismissal! It’s too tempting for kids to approach and pet, and the risk, however minimal, is one that the school can’t take! Here are some options:

Walk your dog only to the campus boundary Keep your dog in the car Hold your puppy snugly in your arms and away from all students but your own Do not allow any student to pet your dog, even if they ask first! Make arrangements ahead of time with your child’s teacher to bring your pet into school for sharing-

time

Monday, January 29, 2018 10:00-11:00AM Wednesday, March 14, 2018 10:00-11:00AM

Our Lost & Found is overflowing! Please stop by and

see if you can claim any of your belongings.

All items remaining after December 21st will be donated to our clothing drive.

News from the Black Bear House

Wow! This school year is flying by! The Black Bear Den is buzzing with excitement as our hard working little elves wrap up the first half of their awesome first grade year. We are about to begin our adventures of the Gingerbread Man, journey into states of matter, blast off into space with math facts, and turn into teachers as we write our “how to” books. The Black Bears are turning into dynamite readers; please continue reading with your little Bear . . . you are truly making a difference. Thank you for all of your support!

Mrs. Ciocca & Mrs.Temple

We have been such busy Black Bears in Mrs. Melzer’s Multi-Age classroom that it’s hard to believe that almost half of the school year is done! It didn’t take long for us to become a cohesive community of learners. We continually work on our school’s CARES philosophy of demonstrating cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy and self-control. In addition, with so much diversity in our classroom, we all find that flexibility and independence are important daily skills as we spend a great deal of learning in small group learning. However, the most important thing we try to do each day is laugh and keep our humor when things don’t go as planned! Most days, we begin our school day with writing, using Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study in Narrative, Information and Opinion Writing. I am in awe at the volume and quality of writing all the students are producing. We have been enjoying several novels and are looking forward to beginning an in-depth unit of study in poetry soon. We have a special poetry presentation planned for our winter festival party on December 21st! Everyone is finishing up their studies in life science and will begin units in either physical or earth science in December/January. Thanks for helping and encouraging your students to practice their math facts and typing at home. Happy holidays!

Mrs. Melzer’s Multi-Age Classroom (3rd, 4th, 5th Grades)

PTO Update:

The PWES PTO Fall Book Fair & Read-a-Thon was another great success! We had the best

year ever – your generous support and love of reading helped raise $1,800 cash for the PWES Library and $1450 worth of books from Scholastic. Many of our teaching staff received book donations for their classrooms, which is always greatly appreciated. Many thanks to all our volunteers who helped work the Fair – we cannot do it without you. And a special THANK YOU to the Book Fair Committee for their hard work and dedication: Jen Arellano, Jodi Delnickas, Christin Horky, Robin Liontas, Laura Pacheco, and Whitney Snow. Keep on reading! This has been a great year as far as fundraising! Below are the totals for the semester: Fun Run - $19,600 Book Fair - $1,800 in cash, $1450 in books from Scholastic Holiday Shop - $1482.32 Restaurant Nights –

Chick-Fil-A $151.65 Papa John’s $140.00 Texas Roadhouse Rolls $425.00

THANK YOU PWES!!!!! It is our privilege to serve you as the PTO! Thank you for supporting us!

Counselor’s Corner:

Attention 4th, 5th, and 6th grade Hawks!

The next meeting is December 20th, at 8:00AM in Mrs. Locke’s room in the Raccoon House

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * K-Kids Coat and Boot Drive is in full swing and lasts until the end of January. They will accept all sizes . . .

from infant to adult! A collection box is located in the commons area. All items collected will be going to an Indian Reservation in South Dakota. We are so fortunate to be able to get new coats, so please go through your out-grown winter gear and get ready to send it in. All unclaimed items remaining in

our Lost & Found after Dec. 21st, will be donated to this worthy cause.

Toiletry Drive . . . please consider donating your

extra hotel toiletries to Tri-Lakes Cares. We will be collecting shampoos, lotions, soaps, razors, etc. all year, and the items will be delivered to Tri-Lakes

Cares by our K-Kids Director. There will be a collection basket in the front office for all donations.

Thank you, families, for all you do!

Our classroom guidance topic for December is “Stop and think, and know how to recognize red flag warnings.” This is Wise Way #3 from the BrainWise Curriculum.

~ Holly Jones, PWES Counselor

Visitors are Welcome at our School!

We are proud of our school! We encourage parents to visit the building and to volunteer

in their children’s classrooms, browse through our library or just talk to the

principal about ideas for improving our school. We request out of respect for the

learning environment, that all unscheduled classroom visits be pre-arranged with the principal, and that visitors check in at the

office upon arrival.

X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1

2

3 9 12 15 18 21 24 27

4 16 20 24 28 32 36

5 25 30 35 40 45

6 36 42 48 54

7 49 56 63

8 64 72

9 81

10

3x3=9 4x4=16 5x5=25 6x6=36 7x7=49 8x8=64 9x9=81

3x4=12 4x5=20 5x6=30 6x7=42 7x8=56 8x9=72

3x5=15 4x6=24 5x7=35 6x8=48 7x9=63

3x6=18 4x7=28 5x8=40 6x9=54

3x7=21 4x8=32 5x9=45

3x8=24 4x9=36

3x9=27

2017-2018 Yearbooks

Price - $20.00 per book

Make checks payable to PWES.

We cannot be assured that there will be

yearbooks available to purchase at the end

of the school year. Yearbooks will be

distributed in May.

ORDER YOURS TODAY!

Student Name Teacher Grade

Total Payment Attached $

Yearbook Order Deadline: January 31, 2018

For order forms and/or online orders!

www.jostensyearbooks.com