Wow! Where has the time gone?
Next week will be the end of the first quarter of school already! Oh, how the time flies!

Quality classroom instruction......
What does quality classroom instruction look like? It can include many different things; however, one of the main elements that the teachers at the Lone Tree Elementary School are beginning to incorporate on a more consistent basis is the use of goal setting and analyzing data with their students. Students are learning to set learning goals, graph their progress, and celebrate their successes with their classmates.

Why is goal setting and data collection important for students? We are trying to teach students to work toward something and identify whether or not they have achieved or met their goal. When students meet their goal, they are then able to create a new goal to work toward. If the goal is not reached, the teacher and the student revisit the goal and decide what practice might be needed in order to reach the goal. For example, all students need to be proficient, or reach a grade level expectation, in the area of math fact practice. If the students do not know what the classroom goal is and do not monitor their progress, how will they ever know if they are improving? Letting students know the expectation and helping them goal set and monitor their progress keeps students motivated to make progress and meet their goals!

Thank you....Thank you....Thank you!

Our running club was a huge success! We had over 90 kids that stayed after school to exercise with some of our staff members. Thank you to Molly Pierson for helping with the healthy snacks. Also, thank you to the following teachers for VOLUNTEERING their precious after school time: Katie Graf, Tina Feldman, Barb Wilson, Sarah Pourroy, Allison Staak, Kelsey Lage, Kelsey Teubel, Kylie Ronan, Kari Cushion, and Kylie Schipper.

From the community......

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all you did to make Running Club a huge success! The time and energy you put into each day was fabulous! Between the shirt and the snacks, I truly think $15 was a steal! Thanks for caring about the children and their health!!! 

Looking forward to the Spring club!

PBIS............SPORTSMANSHIP IS IMPORTANT!!

For the past eight weeks, the elementary has been focusing on practicing good sportsmanship at recess and in the classroom. What does good sportsmanship look like? Sometimes it is easier to give examples of what is poor sportsmanship, but in PBIS, we focus on teaching kids by giving them positive examples. The positive examples of good sportsmanship include giving your best effort at all times, being respectful to teammates, opponents, referees, and fans, celebrate respectfully, and showing encouragement to all athletes. Below are our PBIS Sportsmanship winners!

Community visitors.......

Thank you to the Lone Tree and Fire Rescue for taking the time to allow our Preschool students a tour of the firehouse and for coming to our school to teach all of the students about Fire Safety!

And teachers just wanna have fun.........
Every Friday, the teachers have a "Friday Theme Day". What is Friday Theme Day? Well, all the staff in the elementary secretly do something that is the same. All day long, the students try to figure out what is the same with everyone. Can you figure this one out?

What do teachers do when we get out of school early on Wednesdays....
Each Wednesday, the teachers meet in a group called a Professional Learning Community or a PLC. For eighty minutes, the teachers are collaborating with a focus around leadership, curriculum and instruction, assessment, and student learning. During this time, there are four essential questions that the group focuses around. These questions are 1) What is it we expect students to learn? 2) How will we know when student have learned it? 3) How will we respond when students don't learn it? 4) How will we respond when students already know it? Although this is just the beginning of this work, we are hoping to see some great changes in the classroom that will benefit all of our students.

From the community....
A parent sent a note about an incident that happened at the bus pick-up this week. A car neglected the school bus stop sign and arm even though our bus driver, Terry Kruse, had pulled into the center of the road to try and inhibit any traffic from going through. She just wanted to make sure and thank him and our school district for everything we do to keep our kids safe. Terry has always been wonderful to our kids and today she cannot thank him enough for watching out for them!

PBIS focus of the month....
This month the elementary kids will be focusing on Sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is an aspiration that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors. Sportsmanship is so important in the lives of our children and the behaviors associated with sportsmanship begin at such an early age. The focus for our students will be to 1) accept the decisions of the officials, 2) encourage all players, 3) model appropriate language and behaviors at all times, and 4) follow the rules of the games at all times. The staff will be looking for students displaying these behaviors throughout the next month.

Practice makes perfect….

Four times a year, we as a building, the students will walk through the fire and tornado procedures to better prepare in case of an emergency. If you drove by the school last Tuesday, you would have seen the students exiting the building as they practiced the first fire drill for the year. In addition to fire and tornado drills we will be adding an evacuation drill this year. On the afternoon of  September 23rd,  the students will walk through the procedures that the school has in place if the building was ever in need of evacuation during school hours. Please remember that this is just a drill and like all drills will prepare us and help our students feel confident in their actions if the need arises.

We are on a roll......

A new thing coming.....
The Lone Tree Running Club is new this year! How exciting to have an after school club for the elementary students! Ms. Pourroy and Ms. Staak have devised a plan to teach kids about healthy eating and get some physical exercise at the same time. We are offering a fall session as well as a spring session. At the end of the spring session, we will be hosting a 5k run for the Lone Tree Community. More information will to come in the spring so be watching.


What? Fresh fruits and vegetables...
Mrs. Pierson is incorporating fruits and vegetables of the month into the lunch program. Each week a fruit or vegetable will be featured and next week, the fruit is cantaloupe or muskmelon. Did you know that while cantaloupe can be called muskmelon, but not all muskmelon can be called cantaloupe? The name muskmelon comes from the sweet fragrance of the ripe fruit. The term musk comes from a Persian word for perfume, and melon is a French word derived from the Latin melopepo, which means "apple-shaped melon". There are many different types of muskmelons, with a wide variety of shapes, sizes, flesh color and flavor.

6 Awesome things we can learn from children.....
1-Play: Doing something just for the sake of doing it can stimulate your brain and creative juices.
2-Failure is not an option: From the first time a child starts to walk, there is sheer determination that he/she can do anything.
3-Stay curious: Life is a big adventure for children. Be it as big or little as you want, but try something different and live in the moment!
4-Forget it and move on: If something has not worked out, let it go and move on.
5-Don't judge: Children only judge others based on what they have been taught or have observed from adults. Although challenging and probably impossible to its fullest, take the time to remind yourself not to prematurely judge others or their situations.
6-Laugh: Laugh more to enhance your mood. Give yourself permission to have fun and laugh!

Important facts about school attendance.....
1-Students who attend school regularly are more likely to pass reading and math assessments than those students who don't.
2-Your commitment to school attendance will send a message to your child that education is a priority for your family, going to school everyday is a critical part of being successful at school, and it is important to take your responsibilities seriously.
3-Students who arrive late to school typically miss reading instruction and feel uncomfortable entering class after it has started. Arriving late is a disruption for that students as well as the teacher and other students.
4-Consistency in schedules and routines can directly affect the way children perform in school.

The School Year Begins....

What is happening this year at Lone Tree Elementary? There is so much going on and it is so exciting for the students and teachers. All of our teachers returned this year and only one of them in a different position. Mrs. Daufeldt is now teaching 4th grade. We have new students! Several of them as a matter of fact and they are all going to be a great asset to our school!

The teachers are going to be learning right alongside the students. Every Wednesday, during early release time, the teachers will be taking the time to learn through Professional Learning Communities (PLC). Teachers will be working together to look at student work and learn how to make adjustments to their instruction to meet the needs of all students in the classroom.

Ronald McDonald visited the Lone Tree Elementary students and talked about what it means to be a good friend. The kids always enjoy Ronald coming to the school to share his thoughts about being a friend or how to stop the bully on the playground. Did you know that Ronald was once a bully to some of his friends?

PBIS....We will continue to spend time teaching students about respect, responsibility, citizenship and safety. These are all great attributes to learn as a child and carry through out adult life. The approach we take is to teach, model, and reinforce students for displaying positive behaviors. We usually provide reinforcements by giving the students a positive comment. For example, "I like how you are walking quietly in line!"

A WORD FROM A VISITOR.....
There was a visitor in our building this past week and on more than one occasion, she commented about several things. First, she commented how quiet the hallways were even though they were filled with children. How is it that the hallways are full yet quiet. We have behavioral expectations in the hallways. We walk and use quiet voices because the students in the other classrooms are still working. She also commented on how nice our building is. We do have a very nice building! Thank you to the custodial and maintenance staff as well as our students and teaching staff for respecting our building.

TOUCH MY HEART....

It was the middle of the afternoon and I was just “doing my thing”….. stuffing envelopes, answering the phone, updating PowerSchool and of course answering the door when visitors buzz for entrance….when in walks one of our new students.  He must have been the “runner” for the class as he had a check from one of his new friends for ice cream.  He politely told me what the check was for and placed it on the front counter.  Now since you all know me you know that no student gets in and out of the office without a chit chat session with Mrs. Feldman, and this student was no exception.  I asked him how he was enjoying Lone Tree.  This young man, who was on his way out, turned on his heel came back to the counter with a smile on his face and he said  “I love it…..in all my life this is my favorite school.”  Then he kept saying “I love it, I love it!”  I jumped from my chair to give him a high five.  I asked about his teacher and if he was making new friends.  Of course, the answer was….love her and yes.  After a few more exchanges I sent the young man back on his merry way.