Newsletter E. Hale Curran Elementary School December 2015 Principal s Message The Transformative Power of Reading Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and the author of Raising Kids Who Read, published earlier this year states, Kids who read more get better at reading, and because they are better at reading, it s easier and more pleasurable so they read still more. Kids who read well don t just do better in English class it helps them in math, science and every other class, too. I d go even further Reading tugs them outside of themselves, connecting them to a wider world and filling it with wonder. It s more than fundamental. It s transformative. To be ready for college, workforce training, and life in a technological society, students need the ability to gather, comprehend, evaluate, synthesize, and report on information and ideas, to conduct original research in order to answer questions or solve problems, and to analyze and create a high volume and extensive range of print and non-print texts in media forms old and new. The need to conduct research and to produce and consume media is embedded into every aspect of today s curriculum. To meet these rigorous demands our students need to be proficient readers. Proficiency in reading requires our students to engage in daily reading of both fiction and nonfiction text. Over the holidays I encourage students to continue their daily reading routine as it is essential to their growth as readers. -Mrs. Roden EHC Principal Important Dates December 3rd: Barnes and Noble Night 5:00-7:00pm 4th: Coffee with the Counselor, 9:00am, library 7th: Early Out 8th: Band/Strings Concert 7:00pm, MPR 14th: NO EARLY OUT 16: Family Bingo Night, $1.00 18th: EARLY OUT All Kinders 8:30-11:40am 1st-3rd Dismissed at 1:45pm 4th & 5th Dismissed at 1:50pm Dec. 21st Jan. 11th- Winter Break January 2016 Jan. 11th: Staff Development Day-No Students Jan. 12th: Students Return
Counselor s Corner Stress Relief in Children As your child continues to adjust to a new grade with higher expectations, you might see changes in their attitude, behavior, and emotions. Here are a few tips for helping your child manage their stress: Ashley Kruger E Hale Curran RAIN Counselor 951-696-1405 ext 2271 Recognize that a negative attitude or poor behavior choices can be a result of stress. This doesn t mean that your expectations for respectful behavior should change. Acknowledge your child s stress. Let them know you understand that change can be hard. Listen to your child. Let them tell you about their school day, the good parts and the bad parts. Help them identify their feelings. Are they frustrated, mad, sad, confused, overwhelmed? Finding the correct feeling word(s) can help reduce stress. Validate their feelings. Never tell them they shouldn t feel a certain way. Tell your child about the importance of school and doing their best, even when it s hard or they don t want to. Hold firm to your expectations. Try not to take away their stress for them by letting them stay home from school or doing their homework for them. This will not help them in the long run. Talk about stresses they can control vs. stresses they can t. Write them down and get rid of the ones they can t change (rip them up, throw them away, put them in a box). Help your child develop a growth mindset and positive self-talk habits. When they re stressed, they can begin to talk themselves through it I can do this, I am good at this, I ve gotten through this before, or I ll try my best. Ask your child if they can come up with workable solutions to his stressful situations, such as doing homework earlier if doing it later doesn t allow enough time. Your child will feel empowered if they solve the problem. They will be able to draw on that problem solving ability in future stressful situations. School Counseling in the classroom In November, we focused on the Boys Town Skill of Identifying Your Emotions and Calming Down Anger in 3rd and 4th grade. Students learned how to identify their strong feelings as well as what happens in their bodies and brain when strong emotions take control. We have also begun small groups to target social skills, positive choices, and academic skills that students may need additional practice with.
A Note from the Library: Our 7th th annual Barnes & Noble Family Night will be Thurs. Dec. 3rd from 5:00 7:00pm. It will be held at the Temecula Barnes & Noble by the Promenade Mall. Teachers will be reading their favorite Christmas/Hanukkah stories. There will be lots of fun and door prizes! A portion of the sales will go toward purchasing new books for our library. Bring the family for a fun night out and start your Christmas shopping! Our 2 nd incentive for Reading Counts will be ending on Dec. 18 th. Students that reach the 50 point goal will receive a 20 minute free recess with a juice pop. Students also receive charms for each 10 point goal they make. Lastly, one of the real joys of the holiday season is for the opportunity to thank all of our wonderful volunteers and to wish all the Curran families a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Enjoy your holiday season! -Mrs. Russell 5th Grade Bingo Night Fundraiser December 16, 2015 6:00-7:30pm E. Hale Curran MPR Tickets: $1.00 at the door Baked Items and Coffee for Sale Win Prizes!
With the holidays approaching you may be wondering what you can do with your child. Here are 10 tips to help! 10 Tips to Help Your Child Be a STEM Thinker 1. Be alert for opportunities to talk with your child about STEM-related topics. For example, talk about gravity when your child tosses a ball in the air. Discuss fractions or percent when you slice a pie. (Warning! Depending on the topic, you may need to do some brush-up research.) 2. Encourage curiosity and questioning. Rather than giving an answer or a solution to a problem, encourage your child to research information and/or to come up with several possible solutions for a problem. 3. View science and technology TV and videos with your child. Talk together about the program you viewed afterward. 4. Make your home a STEM-friendly place. Be enthusiastic about ideas that your child wants to test (within reason). Set up a place for experimenting and building prototypes. Provide materials for experiments. These don t have to be expensive. Materials might include things like paper cups, craft sticks, glue, etc. 5. Organize groups of kids to participate in a STEM Invention Club. The Time to Invent website has all the information you need to guide kids in exploring and experimenting together. 6. Promote cooperation and teamwork as kids work together on STEM challenges. Before they begin working in teams, ask them to share behaviors they value in other team members. Guide them to develop a list of ground rules they will follow, based on their valued behaviors. 7. Search out STEM-related recreational activities such as a trip to a local science museum or a visit to an Exploreum. Visit robotics competitions or Maker Faires and encourage your child to ask questions and/or participate. 8. Stay in touch with your teacher and offer to help with STEM activities at school; or enlist help if needed with your STEM activities at home. 9. Direct your child to these websites for information and STEM fun: Design Squad This PBS site features creative activities, engaging video, interactive games, and exciting contests. Discover Engineering At this site children can view videos, play interactive games, and design Cool Stuff. National Geographic Education This website features educational activities and videos, including some STEM activities. 10. Display curiosity about things you see and show your own interest in learning. This may be the most important tip of all. Your enthusiasm will be the greatest motivator for your child s interest in STEM. Your children can help change the world At its heart, STEM is about solving real-world problems. The world is going to need more and more graduates with the skills to identify problems, visualize solutions, design prototypes and implement solutions. Your children could be among these graduates, helping changing the world for the better. Now there s a goal that teachers and parents need to work together to achieve
Yearbook: The Force is strong with our 2015 2016 Yearbook! Don t miss out - The deadline to place an order is April 7th, 2016. The online portal to purchase is NOW OPEN! Visit www.memorybook.com/parentpay and enter your pay code 78562. Only $28 each! If you would like to send us your photos, we would love to see them: ehc.yearbook@gmail.com Yearbook Dedication forms will be sent home in January 2016. Spirit Wear: The online Curran Spirit Wear orders will be delivered during the 1st week of December. Square 1 Art Fundraiser: Thank you to everyone who participated in our Square 1 Art fundraiser! Orders will be delivered before Winter Break. Reflections: The 2015-2016 Reflections program at Curran is now complete. We truly enjoyed seeing all of our participants involvement and creativity. We had 4 students continue on to the District level judging and Ceremony: Danica Hobbs for Literature, Isabelle Mellado for Photography, Leah Bailey for Visual Arts who placed 3rd in the District, and Elyse Duckett for Visual Arts - who placed 2nd in the District. We are so proud of all our participants and we look forward to seeing what our students create next year! Join Shoparoo: It is the most hassle-free way to raise thousands of dollars for our school. Shoparoo is a free mobile app that turns grocery receipts into fundraising dollars for schools. Users shop normally and then simply take a picture of their receipt with Shoparoo for an instant donation to be made to their chosen school. To sign up or get more information: http://www.shoparoo.com/ Disneyland Raffle: The drawing for the PTA Membership raffle for 4 Disneyland tickets will take place during our General Association Meeting on Friday, December 18th. Please join us for our meeting and raffle drawing, taking place at 9am in the MPR. Want to stay updated? LIKE us on Facebook! https://m.facebook.com/ehalecurran.pta