April 2014

Newsletter - April 9, 2014
Dear Parents and Legal Guardians:
The folks here at The Grove believe that having a good working relationship with you, our parents, is not
only essential but imperative. According to Coleman (1966), parent’s beliefs, expectations, and attitudes
about a education and their children’s achievement have a profound early impact on student’ conceptions
of the place of education in their lives. A study by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company found that
97% of students who earned mostly A’s and B’s on their report card reported that their parents
encouraged them to do well in school. Among students who earned mostly C’s, 49% said they received
little parental encouragement. How you feel about a education is often mirrored in student achievement
results.
We have a number of parents who give back by helping out whenever they can. To you we say THANK
YOU! On that note I must say that we can always use more help. I know times are tough, which makes
home schedules tighter. Some folks figure “I don’t really have an applicable skills to offer.” To that I say
your presence and any effort is more than enough.
Finally as we approach Spring...yes, it’s coming, don’t worry...we would appreciate your help in reinforcing the need to keep up a great work ethic here at school as the nicer weather approaches. This year we
have spent a lot of time through announcements and morning meetings talking about Academics and
Expectations. We have emphasized the importance of honing all reading and math skills. We have also
consistently kept our BG C.A.R.E.S. themes front and center, reinforcing Cooperation, Assertiveness,
Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control. With home and school on the same page, we can have an
outstanding spring here at The Grove.
Hope To See You Soon Helping Out At The Grove!
Jeff Zastrow
Principal
Bibliography: Coleman, James S.. et al. 1966. Equality of Educational Opportunity.
Washington D.C.: U.S. Office of Education.
The Dojo is Open!
Magnet Schools of America
awards Birch Grove Elementary
the
2014 MAGNET SCHOOL
OF DISTINCTION
The Magnet Schools of Distinction
Award recognizes member
magnet schools/programs that
demonstrate a high commitment
to academic standards,
curriculum innovation,
desegregation/diversity efforts,
specialized teaching staffs, and
parent and
community involvement.
CONGRATULATIONS BIRCH
GROVE!
The piano keyboard lab opened last week for students
in grades 1-6 to start Keyboard Karate. Just what is
Keyboard Karate? No, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan
do not stop by to karate chop keyboards in half; although that would be pretty cool, minus the fact that
we wouldn’t have any keyboards left, Keyboard Karate is where students learn the basics of playing piano in a fun and motivating way. Here’s the cool
part, the more stuff they learn, the more belts they
earn. It’s so cool it even rhymes. Students earn
“belts” which are colored pieces of yarn to tie on
their folders for every “belt song” they can perform
in the lab. Students progress through white, yellow,
orange, green, purple, blue, red & brown belts in their
quest for the ultimate award ...the BG black belt. It is
a very cool program for novice and advanced pianists
alike. So the next time you sit down at the dinner
table, ask your little grasshopper if they’ve earned
any belts yet. If you have a piano or keyboard at
your home, students may bring home extra music to
practice; all they have to do is ask the sensei (a.k.a.
Mr. P. or Mrs. Martineau) If you are just as excited
about the keyboard lab as we are, be sure to come to
the BG Family Arts Night on April 17 @ 6:00 pm.
The dojo will be open, students can earn belts, and
you can come jam on the keyboards too,
May 2014
1
4:00
Chip Shoppe Pick Up
2
11:20
& 3:15
Peter Rabbit Show (AM Kindergarten)
Peter Rabbit Show (PM/All Day Kdgtn)
5
All Day
5th gr to Northwestern College
9
11:30-2:10
5th gr to Ordway
9
9:30-12:00
6th gr Orchestra Symphonic Tour
9
6:00-8:30
SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTS!
14
10:50-3:45
3RD GR Eastman nature Ctr field trip
16
5:00-9:00
School Carnival
26
This document is available in alternate formats upon a 72hour request.
Please contact Dean Olson at 763.391.7191/7250 (TTY) to
make your request.
Memorial Day! NO SCHOOL
Counselor ’s Corner
BG CARES Corner
Helping Children Behave: Discipline vs. Punishment
Discipline teaches children self-control and responsibility.
Here at Birch Grove, students and adults are Cooperative,
Assertive, Responsible, Empathetic, and show Self-control. This
leads to a safe, positive learning environment that increases
student achievement. BG CARES!!
Punishment controls children through fear.
The purpose of discipline is to protect your child and teach him or
This is our BG pledge and students and staff recite this pledge at
least once a week. Throughout the year students are also taught
what each of these themes/expectations look and sound like at
every location in our building through morning meeting
activities/games, teaching, and re-teaching.
her socially acceptable behavior. As his or her first and most influ-
How Can You Incorporate BG CARES At Home?
guidance than punishment. When you set and enforce limits to en-
Just as we have come up with a list of expectations that staff and
students follow at school, families can create their own set of
rules or expectations at home. Having a common set of
expectations provides a common language and structure, which
can help children and adults succeed. Here is an example of a
family plan:
ential teacher, you have the responsibility to guide him or her in the
right direction. Your child will learn self-control, ways to get along
with others, and how to determine right from wrong better through
courage desired behavior, you are teaching your child self-control
and helping him or her to feel good about him or herself. Discipline
does not mean controlling your child. It is a learning process that
will empower your child to make his or her own decisions to act
responsibly.
Strategies for Effective Discipline
Provide a positive, supportive and loving relationship between
you and your child. You can achieve this by playing with
your child and showing him or her warmth and affection.
Use praise and encouragement to increase desired behavior.
Give your child frequent hugs and praise when he or she
behaves well.
Take away desired activities or items to reduce or stop undesired behavior.
Do
Avoid
Set limits
Accusing
Be Consistent
Controlling
Be Firm
Blaming
You can also find this example online at http://
suttongrace.blogspot.com/2010/01/chore-charts.html
Be Realistic
Criticizing
Listen Carefully
Humiliating
Another way to incorporate BG CARES at home is to have a
chore chart, which teaches students time management and responsibility.
State Expectations Clearly
Ridiculing
You can find an electronic copy of a chore chart at http://
suttongrace.blogspot.com/2011/03/chore-charts.html
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call or email me.
Thanks and have a great month!
Tina Czech
School Counselor
763-561-1374, ext. 71480
CzechC@District279.org
Mark your calendar!
d!
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Save
the d
ate!
Birch Grove’s
3rd Annual
Family Arts Night &
Ice Cream Social!
Thursday, April 17
Attention all troupe families:
Spotlight on the Arts! will be on
Friday, May 9th from 6:00-9:00. All troupe
members in grades 3-6 will be involved in the
evening. This is a ticketed event with dessert,
coffee, and raffle. All proceeds from the
fundraiser benefit help to sustain arts
programming at Birch Grove.
Watch for more information about the schedule for the evening and purchasing tickets
from your child’s troupe leader.
6:00-8:00
We welcome ALL members of the
Birch Grove community to come
and share in a night of food, fun,
and the ARTS!!!! There will be ice
cream, the book fair, many
wonderful art activities for you to
participate in as a family…and
even the chance to win a prize!
The event and the ice cream are
FREE. Other items will be
available for purchase.
Look for even more details on the
flyer in upcoming Wednesday
Envelopes! See you there!
Cook’s Choice from
the Bobcat Den
April 18
Beef Meatball Sub
Chips
Hot vegetable
Fresh veggies
Fruit Choice
Milk Choice
April 23
Pulled Pork on Whole
Grain Bun
Sweet Potatoes
Creamy Cole Slaw
Fruit Choice
Milk Choice
Warm Apple Crisp
April 29
French Toast Sticks
Tri-tator
Turkey Sausage
Fresh Veggies
Fruit Choice
Milk Choice
2nd Grade Program
Okay—maybe spring is never coming…
But we’re growing anyway!
Thank you so much to everyone who made Peter Pan , Jr.
a huge success. With 78 students, numerous staff and lots
of families involved, it took a village and we are truly
grateful! The kids did a fabulous job!
Our spring troupe fundraiser, Spotlight on the Arts, is
coming up on May 9th. This event is always wellattended, and we are working on planning the event to
make it more manageable for families to attend and see
the performances and wonderful art displays. Plus—there
is dessert! The Drama troupes perform “The Girl Who
Cried Wolf,” (3/4) and “Ghost Light,” (5/6) this year.
Both troupes are working hard and excited to make this
their crowning performance for the year.
In class we continue to work on costumes in first and
second grade while Kindergartners are gearing up for Peter Rabbit. Third graders will be making radio plays
based on 5 Children and It (ask them about listening to
part of War of the Worlds!) Fourth graders are working
on sound scenes about first contact between aliens and
humans, while 5th graders write scenes to match a
musical soundtrack. Our 6th graders are designing and
acting in a scene from Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the
People, a moral dilemma where a man chooses between
doing what is popular and what is right.
I was blessed to have the fabulous Amy Sparks as my student teacher for 8 weeks starting in late January, She
brought a lot to the program with her dance experience
and fun warm-ups and we will miss her. We are lucky
enough to have Bre’Elle Erickson join us for the next 8
weeks, we look forward to learning fun drama games and
activities with her! This has been a win-win –win for
staff, students, and teacher candidates as we all share our
best work with each other.
Thanks so much for supporting your children’s growth as
visual and performing artists at Birch Grove! They are
blossoming!
So just where is Waldo anyway? Well, next
month he will be at Birch Grove Elementary
School for the Arts! On Thursday, April 24, the
2nd grade students of Birch Grove will perform a
Spring Concert entitled “Where’s Waldo?”
This program features a plethora of songs and
skits about everyone’s a favorite hard-to-spot guy
with the red-and-white striped shirt as he takes a
humorous trip through time. The show is stuffed
with silliness and comes packed with really great
songs like “A Hippo In My Locker”, “The Pumpkin
Pie Polka’, “Furry Leez’ and “George Didn’t Wear a
Wig” plus skits with goofy characters like Waldo,
his sister Wanda, The Crocodile Hunter, Beethoven, Van Gogh, George Washington, and Michael
Jackson. It should be a lot of fun, so put
Thursday, April 24 on your calendar. The show
starts in the BG Gym @7:00pm.
Everyone is invited to come and find Waldo.
Online Safety
Helping kids stay safe online has been a topic we’ve
been covering in the library. Knowing what is private
information when online, what to do if something
makes a student uncomfortable and learning about our
“digital footprint” and how we present ourselves online
are all important topics to discuss with your child. If
you’re looking for good resources for parents, go to
http://www.ncpc.org/topics/internet-safety
or
http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents
Overdue Books
Overdue notices are sent via email and sent home with
students each month. Please help your student return
their books on time so they can continue to checkout
“good fit” books to improve their reading and build the
habit of reading regularly. Students with overdue books
have to return or pay for their book before checking out
books again. Please contact Joan Magnuson in
the library if you have concerns or circumstances to
consider.