A Big Week Ends with Start With Hello

Whew - last week was a flurry of activity at Horace Mann!  We had tons of fun with Spirit Week (Friday's Hat Day was my personal favorite).  Thank you parents for helping kids participate in our theme days.

PTA was very busy setting up the Book Fair and Doughnuts with Dudes - two of our favorite things, right?  Seriously, though, all of us at The Mann so appreciate parents giving their time to put on and participate in our family engagement opportunities (special thanks to committee chairs Kristy Gibbons, Amanda Whaples and Katie Steinmuller).  A shout out to Donut Pantry for partnering with us for the delicious bakery to start our day sweetly 🍩 

We topped the whole thing off with Star Student of the Month announcements and positive behavior focused assemblies on Friday.  The Sandy Hook Promise is a program developed to foster inclusivity in schools.  The elementary version is called Start With Hello, and has three steps:  1)  See someone alone, 2) Reach out & help, 3) Start with Hello.   We engaged students in mixed grade socializing through pairing 5th grade with 1st and Pre-K, 4th grade with kindergarten and 2nd grade with 3rd.  The turn-and-talk opportunities to practice conversational icebreakers were priceless 🙂 Kids were encouraged to ask "Why?" when a new friend indicated a favorite thing, as the best way to keep the conversation going and find commonalities.  Sincere appreciation goes to Intervention Specialists Jessica Farmer, Jennifer Frank and Heather Woods for leading the assemblies.

Weeks like this show the amazing balance that happens at our school.  We work hard on academics, we attend to social-emotional growth, and we have a good time.  Thank you for joining us in this journey of growth we are on together!

Horace Mann Makes a Sweet Community Connection

One of the neatest things about being part of a Lakewood elementary school is our strong community connections as a result of being structured as a neighborhood school.   It is a sense that is ever-present; at the same time, there are special occasions when it really come to the forefront.

Our Ice Cream Social last week was one of those times.  We had a beautiful evening and an incredible turnout.  Parents shared they felt a real sense of belonging and pride as they walked up to the school (their kids ran for the ice cream), seeing the scene of joyful chaos surrounding the annual gathering organized by our prolific PTA.

The event had a new guest star this year:  Addicted Ice Cream and Coffee (https://www.addictedcoffeebar.com/).  Of course, there were the usual sprinkles on the side, but everyone waited in line with anticipation for funky flavors like Peanut Butter, Superman and Cookie Monster.  Plus, who doesn't love a food truck?!  Big thanks to our new friends at Addicted for partnering with us to make the evening special :)

School/community partnerships are vital to the success of a school.  We are always open to exploring new offers of support for students' academic, physical and/or emotional growth.  If you have ideas about how we can further connect with our community, please be in touch!

We're Loving Book Buddies at The Mann!

Being a 5th grader at Horace Mann has lots of perks and opportunities:  playing an instrument, being on Safety Patrol, working on News Crew...and being a Book Buddy.  If you've been at The Mann for awhile, you might already know about Book Buddies, a sweet collaboration between our 5th grade and kindergarten teachers that gets the two grade levels together each Friday morning for read alouds. 

Students are matched with the same student(s) each week, and 5th graders choose picture books from our rich library they think their little buddy will enjoy.  They use skills gained from being read to, themselves, to help the kindergarten kids engage with the story.  The teachers get a kick out of pairing up students who will have compatible personalities and then watching as they kids read with enthusiasm and joy!

Activities like Book Buddies are one of the special gifts of a district like Lakewood that has neighborhood schools.  In districts I experienced prior, a "campus" set up was used, meaning there were only 2-3 grades per building.  While cross grade partnerships can happen in those settings, it is easy to see how the larger age difference makes this experience better.

While we value the reading, itself, the benefits of Book Buddies goes far beyond.  It contributes to a caring culture in our school, where kids have friends outside their grade levels.  It lets older grades teachers connect with our younger students, and builds partnerships between teachers who might not otherwise even see each other very often in the building.  The ethic of kindness is well-served by Book Buddies, since bigger kids need to be patient with the younger ones.  This is evident not only in the reading, but also in the way the 5th graders model the way to behave in the classroom.

We are grateful to our kindergarten and 5th grade teachers:  Mrs. Martzolf, Mrs. Rini, Mrs. Robinson and Mrs. Sloan for arranging Book Buddies again this year.  Best wishes for lots of fun learning ahead :)

Gearing Up for Intervention at Horace Mann

As we head into the 4th week of the 2018-19 school year, students and staff are really getting traction in their work here at Horace Mann!  Kids are familiar with classroom/building procedures and are feeling comfortable with their new classmates and teachers.  Staff members are gaining a strong sense of who their students are as learners and whole human beings, figuring out how to reach each one where s/he is. 

When we think about child development, we know it is natural for kids to be moving along at their own pace.  We recognize that some are surging ahead and others are striving to meet the standards set for a grade level.  Often the gap can widen in 3rd grade, due to the need for greater independence with work completion and the level of academic skill expected in the standards.

Thankfully, we have structures in place for intervention in both reading and math, our most essential subjects.  For reading in grades K-5, we have the opportunity for small group instruction for students who need additional support each day for 40 minutes during Intervention/Enrichment time.  We are in the process of completing the assessments that will help us place students in flexible groups, and parents will be alerted when/if your child will be receiving small group instruction (including a Reading and Improvement Monitoring Plan (RIMP). 

Based on data collected over time, and the statewide assessments, we have found a need to address math in grades 3-5.  During the school day, there are times when individual and small group math assistance will be provided on topics such as basic facts.  After school, we will again offer intervention groups 1x per week for grades 3-5 for targeted math review and practice in a fun atmosphere.  We hope you will encourage your student to participate if invited (invites will go out soon).

It is our hope that we will continue to see student academic growth and a sense of confidence for each child through our core instruction and these reading/math interventions.  If you have any questions about your child's skills or interventions available--or how you can help at home--please contact his/her classroom teacher.

Inspiring Our Writers at Horace Mann

As I strolled through classrooms this week, it was easy to see that academic teaching and learning is well underway!  I saw kids doing math using various apps on their Chromebooks, learning to form individual  letters, reading leveled books in comfy seating, and creating "All About Me" displays.

Lucy Calkins, TCRWP

How do "All About Mes" fit into this picture?  Well, they form the basis for students' personal narratives, the first Unit of Study in our Writing Workshop.  It is confidence-inspiring to write about something we know--and certainly kids know about themselves--making this a perfect place for writing to begin.

As you may know, Lakewood elementaries have been teaching reading using the Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) curriculum for several years now.  We usually refer to them as Reading and Writing Workshop, based on the large chunks of time given for students to read and write while receiving feedback from their teacher.  This has been proven time and again as the best way for kids to build their English Language Arts skills, and we see plenty of evidence here at Horace Mann.

Lucy Calkins is the founder of the TCRWP, and there is no one more passionate about these topics.  On one of my classroom visits, I was lucky enough to join the children in watching this video of Lucy.  As an aspiring writer myself, it was a happy synchronicity :)  I hope you have 9 minutes to watch the video, too, either with your child or on your own.

Lucy Calkins Speaks to Young Writers