Teaching the Writer

Teaching reading and writing is one of the most important things that happens in any elementary school, don't you think?  That said, there are lots of different curricula out there to help teachers do just that.  As many of you know, Lakewood City Schools has adopted The Teachers College Reading & Writing Project Reading and Writing Workshop as the framework for teaching our students these important skills.

If you venture to this organization's website (http://readingandwritingproject.org/about), you will see what a "deep" resource it is.  In order for Lakewood teachers to learn how to use these tools for the benefit or our students, some serious professional development is taking place right here in our schools.  It is taking place in stages, so that each session is a targeted, small group learning opportunity for our classroom and curriculum/technology teachers, as well as administrators.

Last week, the 3rd-5th grade Horace Mann teachers and I attended sessions on writing with an amazing staff developer from The Reading and Writing Project.  Our developer, Simone Fraser, taught us many things, and I'll share two of them here.  First, she emphasized the importance of choice for students as they are practicing their reading and writing skills.  Another gem she shared is that we need to teach the writer, not the writing.  That means we are considering the writer's skills and matching our instruction in the key elements of writing at that grade level to his/her needs.  This is powerful stuff!

I hope you are enjoying talking with your child about reading and seeing the pieces of writing s/he is creating.  I know I am :-)

Kids Love Musicals, Art Therapy & Valentine's Parties

Our awesome Horace Mann PTA made a lot of magic happen here at school this week.  The beginning of the week featured Kids Love Musicals, an opportunity for our KG - 3rd grade students to perform songs from favorite shows such as The Jungle Book.  Songs, choreography and costumes are all used to bring the shows to life for students.  Big thanks to our Artist-in-Residence, Molly,to the PTA Volunteers who helped Molly and HMES music teacher Mr. Aaron Waryk with the whole operation!  Double thanks to PTA who funds the whole experience each year!

Music and movement took center stage mid-week, too.  Courtesy of a Horace Mann PTA grant--and the efforts of Intervention Specialist Mrs. Cristina Smith--Creative Arts Therapies at The Beck Center sends a music therapist to HMES to provide wonderful experiences for our students with moderate-to-intensive disabilities.  This week, parents and other special guests were invited to watch students sing, play instruments and have sensory/music experiences as they do during the weekly sessions.  A good time was had by all!





















The week closed with an old favorite that made its return at Horace Mann for the first time in years: classroom Valentine's parties.  PTA room parents provided a small treat and age-appropriate activities for students--in addition to the tradition of passing out valentines to classmates.  Friendship and fun were bountiful on all three floors of our beautiful school!

Thank you, Horace Mann PTA and everyone else who made this a full and fantastic week in February!

School Spirit & Star Students

STAR STUDENTS:
Each month, a new group of Horace Mann star students is chosen.  These students have been safe, respectful and responsible and are entered into a drawing for the additional perks that come from being Star Student of the Month.  If you visit our school, look for their pictures posted in the gym hallway.  January's Star Students are:

5th Grade:  Danny Lavelle and Rinesa Beqiri

4th Grade:  Amalija Marich and Mar Lar Prae

3rd Grade:  Mark Magda and Connor Pierce

2nd Grade:  Caitlin Pesta and Alexandra Adamov

1st Grade:  Gianna Careccia and Lennox Wallace

Kindergarten:  Peyton Diemert and Evan Catteau

SCHOOL SPIRIT:

Even in elementary school, we want our students to be thinking about their options for post-secondary education.  One fun way is to wear college/university clothing and talk about why it is your favorite.  Although the Buckeyes were the most common pick, there was pride in lots of other schools, too!  Here are some great pictures showing kids--and staff--in their spiritwear:

Open Up and Say Ahhh

It was all about the mouth this week at The Mann.  Thursday was Marco's Pizza Day, a fundraiser for Horace Mann PTA.  Thank you to all families who made it Pizza Night!  In addition to donating a portion of the profits to the participating school, Marco's also provides a pizza party for the class whose families bought the most pizza.  Last time around, it was Mrs. Cramer's 1st graders who enjoyed the cheesy reward.  Who will it be this time?

On Friday, everyone's mouth got a different kind of attention.  Dr. Edward Hadaway, a local dentist, made his annual visit to Horace Mann.  Continuing a routine that started more than 10 years ago, Dr. Hadaway asks each and every child to open up his/her mouth for him to take a quick look.  He simply shines a light in kids' mouths to see if there are any obvious problems, and if there are, parents are contacted.  According to Dr. Hadaway, this service to Lakewood began when it was discovered that about 15% of students had untreated cavities that were surely causing pain and making it hard to concentrate!  Happily, Dr. Hadaway indicated the teeth here at Horace Mann are in much better shape than that :-)  That said, we can always tune up our brushing and flossing habits, right?

Celebration of Success!

On Friday afternoon, Horace Mann students, staff and families celebrated the safe, responsible, respectful 2nd quarter we had before winter break  With too little snow for a "Play in the Snow" day this year, we went with another popular event to mark the occasion:  Pajama and Movie Day!

While we can't share the name of the movie for copyright reasons, it is worth noting that the choice was made by students.  In the days before the movie, all the kids had a chance to vote for one of three kid-friendly films.  The winner won by a landslide, and solid student attention while it played signaled it really was "a winner!"

Big thanks to the Horace Mann PTA for helping make this event a blast in so many other ways, too, They made signs to get kids excited, sent flyers home to help parents know what kind of PJs would be appropriate, and provided popcorn and mini water bottles to each child for a movie-time snack.  Lots of parents turned out in PJs of their own to relax and watch the movie, too :-)

Keep up the great work, Horace Manners!  We look forward to our next Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) quarterly activity on Thursday, March 17th.

Linking Learning--and Fun-- to Life

The K-Kids had their monthly meeting on Monday, and they had a ball creating valentines for the residents of Ennis Court Skilled Nursing Care Center on Detroit Avenue.  Student grade level leaders worked with Kiwanis adults, Horace Mann staff, St. Peter's Aftercare staff and parent volunteers to help each student create several sweet cards for the residents.

Special thanks to Mrs. Diemert for bringing Paper Trails resources (fun stickers, pretty patterns, etc) and providing instruction and models to inspire our students' work.  We are so proud of our K-Kids for spreading love throughout the year, all over our community!

Another Horace Mann link to real life came from Mr. Fakan's classroom.  Mr. Fakan's brother--visiting Ohio on break from his university on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia--brought "Nemo" to school as part of a behavioral reward and link to curriculum.  Students had a great time feeding Nemo his breakfast!

Thanks to both Mr. Fakans for providing this opportunity to some of Horace Mann's students :-)

Student Fun & Serious Safety

First, the serious stuff:  Our staff had ALICE safety training with Lakewood Police Officer George Rasch last week.  ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate, and is the philosophy that guides adults as we decide what to do in the event of an intruder in our school.  Soon, a committee will be meeting here at Horace Mann to discuss our next steps in practicing the ways we can deal with an unwelcome guest.  If you have any suggestions or questions for the committee, please contact me at 216. 529.4257 or merritt.waters@lakewoodcityschools.org.

Google Expeditions:  Last week, Horace Mann (and Grant) students had a wonderful opportunity to take a tech-y field trip.  Many thanks to our Curriculum & Technology Teacher Mrs. Chanter for making it happen!  Check out the story on our buidling web page:  http://www.lakewoodcityschools.org/9/Home

How To:  As part of the Writing Workshop curriculum, Horace Mann 1st graders are writing "How to Blow a Bubble," and they are having a great time!  It is so neat to see their sentences and illustrations as they decide what steps are needed first, next and last.  Even more fun is watching their teachers, Mrs. Harkness and Mrs. Cramer, follow the steps as written to see if a pink bubble is produced.  I'm also proud to say students were responsible with being allowed to chew gum in school (can you imagine?)!  Here is a picture of Mrs. Harkness' class holding up their pieces: