School notes

Districtwide

Winter break

Winter break will run from Monday Dec. 24 through Tuesday Jan. 1. School resumes Wednesday Jan. 2.

Red Wing High School

Midquarter day

Friday Dec. 14 is midquarter day. Midquarter grades will be submitted by teachers and then mailed home. Students should submit all coursework prior to Dec. 14.

PAC meeting

RWHS Parent Advisory Council meets at noon Tuesday Dec. 18 in L100. Brian Cashman will share information on his role as gifted and talented coordinator.

Early release

Students will be released at 12:15 p.m. Friday Dec. 21 to allow teachers time for staff development.

Burnside Elementary

Kids Junction

The children made a “dancing snowman” scene to kick off the start to winter. The afternoon children also attended a “No More Bullies” class.

School store

Burnside School Store is now open on Tuesdays and Thursday from 8:35 – 8:50 a.m. in the main entrance. Students will find a variety of items to buy that they can use in their classrooms, such as pencils, bookmarks, erasers and folders. Everything is priced under $2; please do not send bills larger than $5 with your child as we do not always have change for large bills.

Music

Second-grade music classes have been studying the tall tales of Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill and Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett. Then they learned the songs Old Dan Tucker, Lone Star Trail and Oh, Susanna, which also stretch the truth a bit.

Media center

The third grades are learning about biography books and how to find them. The fourth grades have been enjoying poems by Joyce Sidman and are writing their own riddle poems. The second grades have found the beginning, middle and end to the book “Little Raccoon and the Thing in the Pool.”

Collections

We are still collecting the following items: Moola strips, Moola caps, Land O’Lakes caps, Box Tops (sometimes you get a “Bonus Certificate” at the checkout), Our Family labels, EconoFood receipts and Campbell’s labels. We are no longer collecting Kemps caps.

Third grade

Instead of giving gifts to each other, third-graders in Sue Busch’s class aredonating money for a family in need. Students and their families will be making donations through Dec. 14. On Dec. 18, students will be traveling to Target to shop for things the family needs. The gifts will be then wrapped and delivered.

Fourth grade

The fourth-graders in Tim Ford’s class are collecting new pajamas for children in need. The collection is part of The Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive that is coordinated by Scholastic Book Clubs. Over the past three years, Scholastic Book Clubs classrooms have donated more than 180,000 books and pajamas. The class will be part of giving better bedtimes to tens of thousands kids this year!

Twin Bluff Middle School

PAC meeting

TBMS Parent Advisory Council will hold two meetings Dec. 10, one at 12:15 and another at 6:30 p.m. Parents can attend either meeting.

Winter Bash

Winter Bash for sixth- and seventh-grade students will be 7 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 14. Tickets are $5 and will be sold the week of Dec. 10.

Sunnyside Elementary School

Walking Wednesdays

Forty-one students participated in the Sunnyside Sneaker program Dec. 5. It was another brisk morning. The winners were: Tenley Nelson, from Ms. Rak’s kindergarten, and Emma Hennen, from Ms. Dressen’s first grade.

PAC meeting

The elementary Parent Advisory Council will meet at 11:30 a.m. Friday Dec. 14 in the Sunnyside library. All parents are welcome.

Kids Junction

The children made snowmen heads using a paper plate for the face. They decorated it to bring out the personality of their very own snowman. The children also used the large tumbling mats.

St. John's Lutheran Elementary School

Caroling

Students will be caroling to area resident homes Dec 10.

Crusaders

Grades 7 and 8 went to St. Croix Lutheran High School in West St. Paul to participate in Crusader for a Day. Students got a glimpse at what a Christian high school is like.

Feed My Starving Children

The Young People's Society will volunteer at the Feed My Starving Children in Eagan Dec. 27. Each volunteer will pack one box of food that equals 216 meals. Every box cost $50. To donate to this cause, contact the school office.

Scrip

There is still time to order scrip for Christmas gifts; contact the school office.

Great cookie bake

Information on the Great Cookie Bake Dec. 17, which involves grades K-5, will be coming home soon. Parents who would enjoy making roll-out cookies with the children on that morning should contact Alice Danell.

Little Blessings

Preschoolers are working on letter "Gg." The first Bible lesson of the Christmas season is about the news the angel brings from God to Mary.

Kindergarten

Students have started reading the versions of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff." They are noting differences and similarities.

Grades 1,2

Layers of the earth are being studied in first and second grade science classes. First-graders are working on measurement while grade two worked with shapes during math. Busy Bees are Isabella Goeman and Aiden Roper. Penman of the Week is Emma Bohme.

Grades 3,4,5

Math 3 students used a coin toss experiment to demonstrate what they have learned about percentages. Fourth-graders are converting metric units of length. Fifth-graders continue to work with fractions.

Grades 6,7,8

Students continue studying fantasy novels. Students read their "The Secret Life" stories. These were done after listening to "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," a story of a fictional character who daydreams many adventures.

Colvill School

Colvill Kids Mixed Ages

Miss Lila's classes are learning about winter and clothing/ They will read "Froggy Gets Dressed" by Jonathan London. They also will bubble paint frogs, put clothing in order and sort clothes by hot and cold.

Colvill Kids 3’s

Miss Katie's classes are reading “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats. They are exploring the vocabulary words “tracks, old/young, pocket, day/night, empty, and tall.” They are experimenting with shaving cream and making a large snowman mural.

Colvill Kids 4’s

Miss Catie’s classes are reading “Gingerbread Baby” by Jan Brett. They are celebrating Brown Day Thursday or Friday and making gingerbread houses. Parents are invited to the last hour of class to help with this event.

Early Childhood Family Education

The winter/spring 2013 ECFE flyer will be sent out mid-December. Classes begin the week of Jan. 7. Registrations can be mailed to Colvill Family Center or phoned in to 651-385-8000.

Red Cottage Montessori

Holiday season

Red Cottage children are buzzing with excitement for the holiday season. They have begun discussing the different holidays people celebrate around the world this time of year: Hanukkah, Los Posados, Eid ul Fitr, Christmas and Kwanzaa. They realized through holiday songs that Santa Claus goes by more than one name. Others include Kris Kringle and St. Nicholas.

Friends

Students have enjoyed visits from past students over the last couple of weeks. Kingsley visited from first grade on one of his early release days and built maps of every continent with students. Lizzie visited Friday from South Dakota. Red Cottage children were so happy to see their old friends. Next week, students look forward to Liam joining the class.

His Kids Preschool

Sandy's 4-5

The search was on for the letter "Ss" this week as Kindergarten Readiness children went around the room looking for the sound of "Ss.” They played Hide the Snowflake. The theme for December, "It's Good to Give," was introduced, getting children to verbalize what this means to them and understand their wants and needs. A reindeer math problem solving activity was shared.

3-4 Discovery Preschool

Christmas is in the air and the letter "Cc" for Christmas was explored. Children practiced the letter in shaving cream and made a winter wonderland. Children dressed up in holiday clothing. Second step focus this week was helping children name the feelings they have to help them calm down. Teaching them to let a grown-up help them when they have strong feelings is helping our children.

Under the Rainbow

Laurie's Jumpstart Classroom

The students learned all about gingerbread this week. They read books, made gingerbread play dough and built a gingerbread house. They matched patterns and worked on their “Nn” vocabulary.

MaryAnn's Preschool 2

Students explored gingerbread this week. They learned about the color brown, the shape of a circle, the No. 2 and the letter “Gg.” We got to touch and smell ginger and make gingerbread with it. We enjoyed reading “Who took the cookies from the cookie jar?”

Karmen's class

This week they learned about snowmen! We worked on the color white, the shape of a heart, the letter “Gg,” and the number seven. Students sang “Frosty the Snowman” and read numerous books about snowmen. They colored some snowmen, as well as made footprint snowmen for an art project.

Adventures in Learning Preschool

3-year-olds

The students enjoyed game day with the help of Nevaeh's mom. They are learning the nursery rhyme “Little Jack Horner.” The students have started making Christmas surprises for their families.

4-5-year-olds

The students became reindeers after they cut out hand prints. They danced to the “Reindeer Pokey,” ate an edible reindeer and played Pin the Nose on Rudolph. They also have been practicing for the Santa Lucia program for 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Tags: lifestyle, education