Turtle Tales THE NEWSLETTER OF TURTLE LAKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
NOVEMBER 2016
Principal Perspective November, 2016 Life these days can be pretty hectic for a kid Every once in awhile, life circumstances cause you to stop for a moment and reflect. For me, this happened one evening last week. As some of you may know, while I am an elementary principal by day, I am a husband and father by night. My wife, who is a kindergarten teacher in the St. Paul Public School District, keeps it all rolling for our family of four, which also includes our two sons who this year are in fourth and eighth grade. My moment of reflection came after a week of after school meetings, multiple nights of hockey practices and games for both boys, and a weeknight family event. Exhausted, having finally ushered the boys through the evening routine, my wife and I crashed on the living room couch and let out an exhausted sigh. We were both feeling the stress of raising two school age children in today’s busy world. I wonder if any of you have ever felt like that? After we chatted for a bit and collected our thoughts, we started to discuss our core beliefs about what our priorities were related to how our children spent their time during the week. Here is what we came up with as our pillars: 1. Reading each night is important, no matter their age. You don’t need to look far for the data to support this practice. Twenty minutes each night. Sometimes they read independently, sometime we read together. When I am able, I model for them my joy of reading. While they rarely take an interest in my books on public school administration, they do notice that I am reading. 2. Time for free choice (PLAY) is encouraged. I’m not talking about a practice run by a coach or a 30 minute piano lesson, I’m talking about allowing children the chance to create, explore, build, invent, collaborate, design, and problem solve on their own or with a sibling or friend. Kids can do AMAZING things if we give them some space and time. Building living room forts, although a bit messy, definitely checks a lot of these boxes, for example. 3. You need to keep up with your schoolwork. For different families, how this gets accomplished looks a bit different. Some kids need to burn off some energy after they get home, and other children do better by getting their homework done right away. Generally speaking, the ten minute rule (3rd grade = no more than 30 minutes a night, for example) for homework still applies. If your child is regularly spending more time than that on homework each night, please contact your child’s teacher. While each family has their own priorities, schedules and expectations, it is important to keep the bigger view in mind. Academic growth, while very important, represents only a part of the bigger picture of whole child development. Life indeed can be pretty hectic for our kids these days. As parents, you ultimately have the final say as to what this looks like in your home. Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership.
Turtle Lake Kindergarten Fun! Here at Snail Lake our Turtle Lake Kindergarteners have been very busy engaging in new learning experiences and school wide fun. We began our year with new challenges, first year school pictures, and learning the structure of a full day classroom. We have come together to celebrate some fun Spirit Days: Dot Day & Future Mustang Day. The students acknowledged Fire Safety Week with a visit from the Lake Johanna Fire Department and LifeLink Helicopter.
Wes Erwin, a local author of the book, “Boundary Waters ABC, � paid our students a visit in their Specialist classrooms.
Our students also had a wonderful time parading around the school in costumes, playing bingo, and participating in a dance party to celebrate Fall.
Grade 1 Superheroes searching for nouns - Ms.
Roberts class donned superhero masks to go in search of nouns throughout school!
1st graders dressed up in costume and celebrated fall by playing games!
ABOUT OUR SCHOOL
Grade 2
Turtle Lake Elementary 1141 Lepak Court Shoreview, MN 55126 Darin Johnson, Principal Renee Carlson, Associate Principal Beth Sahli, Student Services Assistant
School Hours School day begins: Students enter building: School dismissal:
8:45 a.m. 8:30 a.m. 3:25 p.m.
Office Hours 8:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.
Important Phone Numbers Office...........................651-621-7700 FAX..............................651-621-7705 Attendance...................651-621-7701
Children’s author Mac Barnett visited courtesy of Barnes & Noble in Roseville to share his newest book, The Magic Word, which was illustrated by Elise Parsley. For more about Barnett, visit his website. In science, students have been using the engineering process and a variety of materials to create structures. One lesson focused on following an architect's design to create an arch bridge out of wooden blocks and test it for stability and strength.
firstname.lastname@ moundsviewschools.org
District Website www.moundsviewschools.org/ moundsviewschools
Turtle Lake Website www.moundsviewschools.org/ turtlelake Click HERE for staff information and teacher webpages.
In art class, they created clay turtles.
Grade 3
CALENDAR November 21-25 No School - Thanksgiving Break
Monday, November 28 7:30 a.m. 5th Grade Orchestra Third grade students visited the Wildlife Science Center. Students were able to observe, learn, and make connections between nature and science.
Tuesday, November 29 Vision & Hearing Screening 7:30 a.m. 4th Grade Orchestra, Violins 7:30 a.m. 5th Grade Choir Wednesday, November 30 Vision & Hearing Screening 7:30 a.m. 4th Grade Orchestra, Cellos & Violas 7:30 a.m. AME Ensemble 7:30 a.m. AME Chorus Thursday, December 1
School Spirit & Food Drive 7:30 a.m. Band, Orchestra Room 7:30 a.m. 4th Grade Choir The future Mustangs received a visit from Mounds View students during Homecoming Week.
Friday, December 2 7:30 a.m. Chess Club 9:00 a.m. Gibbs Farm, 2nd Grade
REMINDERS
Please call the Attendance Line if your child will be absent from school. 651-621-7701 Changes to student’s end of the day transportation should be made no later than 3:00 p.m. to ensure the information is given to teachers in a timely manner. Thank you for helping make our drop-off and pick-up time as efficient as possible. Students are allowed to enter the building at 8:25 a.m. Supervision is not provided before this time. The final dismissal bell rings at 3:25 p.m. and students should be picked up soon after and no later than 3:45 p.m. Our staff have after school obligations which creates lack of supervision. DATES TO REMEMBER Thanksgiving Break No School November 21 - November 25 Winter Break No School December 22 - January 2
Grade 4
GO! Turtle Lake Style In physical education this Fall, students were able to play the Turtle Lake version of Pokemon Go. They practiced working together to find Pokemon hidden under cones and then battle other teams with Pokemon they found. Teams worked on improving their fitness during the battles by performing exercises depending on the outcome. It was a fun way to get the students moving! Note: please keep personal Pokemon Cards at home as they are not allowed at school or on the bus.
4th Graders participated in the annual Kindness Retreat which included high energy activities focused on creating empathy and preventing bullying.
Grade 5
5th Grade Students had the opportunity to receive a visit from Justice Alan Page, former Minnesota Viking and Minnesota’s first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Justice Page spoke about the importance of education and perseverance. He read from the books he co-authored with his daughter, Kamie Page. This visit was made possible by the generosity of two Turtle Lake grandparents.
5th Grade Art & Information Literacy classes learned about the artist Andy Goldsworthy. Students then had the opportunity to create and photograph their own sculptures with natural materials.
5th grade students spent three days and two nights at the Laurentian Environment Center in northern Minnesota in early September. Students went bog stomping, explored a meteor sight, studied the boreal forest and Ojibwa lifestyles, played games, went rock climbing, and tried their hand at archery. The class visit to Laurentian is a unique opportunity to experience life science first hand and study natural systems while practicing working together and building community.
More Halloween Fun!