February Hoops and Dance Parties

      As part of the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program at Horace Mann, there is a reward menu.  Students earn stars for exhibiting expected behavior in all areas of the school, and then cash in the stars to "buy" rewards from the menu.  Do you know what reward your favorite student(s) are saving for?  Ask them!

 Last week, we had our PBIS monthly Hoops and Dance Parties.  Before you ask...Yes, they were two separate parties!  Music figured prominently in both of them, though, as you can imagine. Students shot baskets with 3rd quarter Phys. Ed. Teacher Mr. Manderfield in the gym and boogied down to the sounds of Just Dance projected on the Promethean  board by Music Teacher Mr. Waryk.

     Actual photos were taken of our students enjoying their earned rewards...unfortunately the photos were too blurry to post.  We look forward to more hoops and dancing at the end of March...along with our 3rd quarter school wide reward:  A visit by Jungle Terry sponsored by PTA.

100th Day and PARCC, Hooray!

     On Wednesday, February 18th, Kindergarten students in Ms. Sessin's and Mr. DiFilippo's classes celebrated their 100th day of school.  In addition to all the fun and interesting things our five- and six-year-olds do on a daily basis, they also made some really cool 100th day glasses.  They had a great time coloring and cutting their "special specs"  and then going to their teacher to have a custom-cut headband stapled on to hold them in place.  

     We also kicked off the first round of PARCC assessments on Wednesday the 18th.  Fourth graders successfully used laptops to complete the first section on the English Language Ats test.  If you want to learn more about PARCC, here is a link to their website:  http://www.parcconline.org/.  Based on the snow days, we have two sections of 4th grade testing to make up.  Here are the other planned testing dates:

February 25, 26, 27:  5th Grade English Language Arts

March 3, 4:  4th Grade Math

March 5, 6:  5th Grade Math

March 10, 11:  3rd Grade Math

March 12:  4th Grade Social Studies

March 13:  5th Grade Science

March 16-20:  Make up testing

If you have any questions about the statewide tests, please contact your child's teacher or the main office.  

Kids LOVE Musicals!

     Horace Mann (and McKinley before it) has a long, rich tradition of emphasizing the arts in students' educational experience. Over many years, our PTA has been very supportive of this priority.  This year, PTA again generously funded the Kids Love Musicals! residencies through The Musical Theater Project (http://www.musicaltheaterproject.org/).

     Prior to the residencies (sounds so official, doesn't it?) students prepared by watching videos of the musicals they would perform and had lessons in music class related to the experience.  A special note of thanks goes to our music teacher, Mr. Aaron Waryk, for his essential role in facilitating the Kids Love Musicals! experience.

     Over the past two weeks, Horace Mann students in grades K, 1, 2, and 3 each participated in a two-day residency with a professional performer. The shows they did in class were as follows:

Kindergarten:  Peter Pan

1st Grade:  The Wizard of Oz

2nd Grade; Cinderella

3rd Grade:  The Jungle Book

     The students had a blast, but also were good listeners. I think you can see evidence of both in the pictures below!

     We hope this experience fosters a love of music and the arts in our students.  If you have any feedback about the residencies and/or your child's experience, please share them via a blog comment or email to merritt.waters@lakewoodcityschools.org.

PTA Leads the Way

     In spite of a serious shortage of parking caused by BIG snow piles, the Horace Mann PTA's Doughnuts with Mom event was a huge success on both Thursday (last names A-L) and Friday (last names M-Z).  This tradition is loved by all, and gets our days off to a sweet and social start.  Many thanks to committee chair Laura George (second from left in the first picture, below) and her crew of wonderful volunteers.

     PTA didn't just have fun at Horace Mann this week--they did some important research.  This year, the PTA Playground Committee has been hard at work on some ideas for a significant playground renovation at our school.  On Wednesday during recess, PTA members Debbie Baker and Nora Katzenberger, as well as landscape architect Jayme Schwartzberg, provided an opportunity for all Horace Mann K-5th graders to vote on how they would like to play on a dream playground.  After school, they met with teachers and other staff members to get more input.  Please join us at the PTA meeting on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 at 7:00 pm in the library for your chance to give suggestions and hear what is in store!

Fun in the Snow

Fun on the West Clifton Lawn

     On Friday afternoon, over 300 Horace Mann students enjoyed Fun in the Snow outside and hot cocoa inside.  With the help of our energetic and creative PTA members, our K-5 students, their families and teaching staff celebrated all the safe, responsible and respectful behavior demonstrated at Horace Mann during the 2nd quarter.  Please see more pictures below.

     We are so proud of how the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Star Program is encouraging our students to be the best they can be every day.  We believe that taking time out to recognize efforts in the social domain of development is critical to student success.  Plus, who doesn't appreciate having some fun at school?!  

     Many people helped this event go smoothly, but three people, especially, deserve our thanks for planning and facilitating things:  Mrs. Heather Facaros (PTA President), Ms. Carla Adamov (PTA Programs Chair), and Mrs. Anne Schleicher (PTA Recording Secretary).  We LOVE our PTA!

     Looking ahead to the end of the 3rd quarter in March, our PBIS quarterly celebration will be an all-school assembly with Jungle Terry.  It should be wild!  We hope parents will join us--watch for the flyer when the time draws near.

Our Clip Chart

The Horace Mann Clip Chart

     This year, as part of our Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS) program, all Horace Mann classrooms are using the same system for tracking student behavior.  It is the "clip chart" with an example pictured at left.

     All students start the day on green, or Ready to Learn.  In grades K-2 students either stay on green or, if they have difficulty following behavioral expectations, may go down to yellow, orange or red.  Students in grades 3-5 may clip down, but also may move up the chart to blue, purple and pink for exemplary behavior.

     During the first semester, while we all got the hang of the clip chart, each classroom tracked student behavior separately, and places like the lunchroom, recess and car line were not included.  After just one semester of using the clip chart, our staff and students are doing so well that the PBIS Committee decided we were ready to take the next step...

     Starting on Monday, January 26th, the clip chart will "carry over" throughout a student's entire day on the Horace Mann campus.  Teachers and other staff members will communicate with each other to have behavior demonstrated in all settings reflected on the homeroom clip chart.  We anticipate that students who sometimes have difficulty following the behavioral expectations in settings outside the classroom may be encouraged to do so based on this carry over.

     Although the use of the clip chart is expanding, other elements of the PBIS program will remain the same.  We will continue to use Project Wisdom daily broadcast messages/monthly classroom lessons, star tickets, weekly rewards, star students of the month and quarterly reward activities. We hope to see you at our upcoming  quarterly reward activity--Fun in the Snow--on Friday, January 30th from 2:00 - 3:00 pm!

Buckeyes & Bees

O-H-I-O

     It seemed like the whole school--and state--was in the mood for football last Monday night.  Horace Mann staff and students donned their scarlet and gray to show support for the Ohio State University Buckeyes.  The sounds of the OSU fight song were even heard coming from one 5th grade classroom!  Although there were some "Tired-eyes" on Tuesday morning, we were happy for the win over the Ducks.







     On Friday afternoon, the Horace Mann 2nd graders had an educational, entertaining, and edible treat.  They were visited by a local beekeeper (or apiarist).  Although I personally did not see the presentation, I talked with two of Mrs. Wynne's students, Kelci and Erta, afterwards.  They told me the bee keeper brought in a bee box style hive, showed a short video, and had great discussions with students about bees, especially why they are important for human life. I was impressed with their newly found knowledge.  They also told me they got to taste just a little honey (on a toothpick).  Did honey win the taste test?  It was a 1-to-1 tie :-)