DEAR Day / PJ Day - Friday, March 3

In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, Willowwind students (along with students all over the world) will

Drop Everything And Read.

On Friday, March 3rd, students are invited to wear pajamas to school on this day and bring ONE cozy item to cuddle up with while we spend the afternoon reading in the Gathering Space.  Stuffed animals or blankets have been popular choices in past years.  Please help your child make decisions that will allow them to be comfortable without being distracted.

In addition, DEAR Day will kick off our upcoming Dr. Seuss author study.  We can't wait to learn more about Dr. Seuss and use his books and stories to inspire us in our own reading and writing.  On Friday, March 3, we will also be celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday with a yummy Dr. Seuss themed treat and a Dr. Seuss movie - Horton Hears a Who.  The movie is rated G, but please let me know if you have concerns about your child viewing this film.  In addition, our K-6 friends will be enjoying a special lunch & a movie that day where there will be watching a number of Dr. Seuss's short films.  I believe these are not rated, but please let me know if you have questions about these movie selections.

Kindergarten Cleaning Supply & Pop Tab Drive

In honor of sharing our Acts of Kindness with the community at Willowwind's upcoming Spring Learning Showcase on Thursday, March 9th, the Kindergarteners are hoping each family could bring ONE cleaning supply to the Iowa Children's Museum with them on March 9th to support our Kindergarten partnership with Iowa City's Ronald McDonald House (RMH).  Kindergarteners are hoping to use this evening as an opportunity to spread their acts of kindness in our community and beyond.

RMH's desired cleaning supplies include:

• hand soap

• high efficiency laundry detergent

• dishwasher detergent tabs

• sink cleaner

• dish soap

• toilet bowl cleaner

• paper towels

• dryer sheets

• Swiffer Wet Jet refills - pads & liquid

• Clorax disinfecting wipes

• Pledge

• multi-surface cleaner

Families can drop off items at the entrance of ICM as they check in to the Spring Learning Showcase on March 9th (6:00 - 8:00pm) or in Willowwind School's Front Entry or Kindergarten Classroom anytime between now and March 9th.  In addition, Kindergarteners will be collecting pop tabs for the RMH throughout the remainder of the school year.  Please drop off pop tabs at the Front Desk, in the Kindergarten classroom, in your child's classroom, or at the Spring Learning Showcase on March 9th.

Thank you for spreading kindness to families in need.  If you have any questions please contact Michelle Beninga, Kindergarten Teacher, at michelleb@willowwind.org.

VIP Day - Friday, March 31

Willowwind PreK-6 grade students are looking forward to our annual VIP Day.  Please read carefully as some changes to our tradition have been made.  In efforts to further “Connect.  Collaborate.  Think Critically.”, this year’s VIP Day will take on a new vision as we continue to work to show our broader community what makes Willowwind unique.  On March 31st’s VIP Day, each PreK-6 classroom will invite one dynamic community member to Willowwind to share our school’s unique learning philosophy and how it comes to life within their classroom.  Each classroom will use the coming days to brainstorm together community members they feel would make excellent VIPs for their classroom.  Then, students will reach out via written and verbal communication formally inviting their classroom’s VIP to Willowwind throughout the day on March 31st.

While VIP Days of the past have opened doors to our students’ family members we hope that our Willowwind families will see the value the changes in 2017’s VIP Day will present our students as they continue to connect and collaborate with the community larger than Willowwind School.  With the changes being made to VIP Day, we want to remind Willowwind families that our doors are always open to visitors, and students’ personal VIPs are welcomed to visit at any time (with prior discussion with child’s classroom teacher).

Our annual Spring Music Concert will conclude our VIP Day where all family members and friends are invited to attend.  For the Spring Music Concert, please join Willowwind students across the street at the River Community Church at 1:45.

Finally, please note, I will be absent this day due to my Grandma's upcoming funeral in Minnesota.  I'm so sad to miss both our VIP and the Spring Music Concert (and all of our students hard work), but Ms. Erin will be here and is ready for the fun this different day will bring.  The Kindergarten class has sent out an invitation to our special VIP and we hope that her schedule will allow her to come to Willowwind on the 31st.  We will keep you posted on who this special VIP is.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Additional Time Test Tuesday Information

Some wonderful questions have come my way regarding our new "Time Test Tuesday" Math routine.  I thought I would create a blog post to provide some additional insight on to this exciting new adventure in our classroom.  The students are absolutely loving it and as we practice our current math facts (doubles up to 9+9) during our daily Morning Meeting it is clear that they have been practicing the "Double Rap" at home given their desire to give not only the correct answer to a double fact but the catch phrase that follows.  :D  It's cheesy but it works.  We will work on other strategies to remember math facts as we introduce new "fact families" in the weeks to come.

Below is some additional information to help with at home practice & to help you better understand our weekly routine.

Nightly Practice

Each Monday, new flashcards will go home.  This week was an exception to that rule as we are taking two weeks to focus on Doubles facts.  The reason for this is that the Doubles family is one of our hardest fact families so as we ease into the routine we move through this fact family slowly.  Beginning next week, fact family flashcards (either addition or subtraction) will go home weekly.  

Important to note, students are not required to "master" each fact family each week.  I recommend that you practice 5-10 math facts at a time working on those until mastered before moving on to the next.  When practicing, create two piles... 1) mastered pile; 2) needs practice pile.  Practice the "practice" pile daily and pull in facts from the "mastered" pile frequently to ensure continued mastery occurs.  This new routine should only take 2-3 minutes each day.  Over the next few weeks you will collect a number of flashcards.  Hold onto these and use these flashcards as a resource and practice them as your child experiences readiness through the routine recommended above.

Doubles facts may give your child difficulties - if this is the case practice them over the course of the next couple of weeks, setting aside & saving the other fact families that will go home weekly for later.  If over the next few weeks, Doubles facts are still difficult, take a break from them beginning to focus on the other fact families.  This will give your child a break from their challenge and give them a chance to experience success with "easier" facts like +0 / -0, +1 / -1 etc.

Beginning next week, I'll add a line to the Monday section of our Cottontail Communicator that highlights which fact family is going home that week.  Please note, that while your child will take home a new set of flashcards each week - the pace they set for learning and mastering these facts is what is most important.  Again, your child does not have to (nor is expected to) master a new fact family each week.  It's possible, but is not required. 

Time Test Tuesday

Each Tuesday, your child will take a 3-minute time test that is appropriate for their readiness level.  Students will begin to focus on different tests on different fact families based on a variety of reasons (mastery of fact families through past assessments, more practice need with a particular fact family, an absence on a Tuesday, etc.)  it is important that students understand the pacing is set by them and no one else.  They are often oblivious to the fact that they may be at a different spot than their peers and this is important to keep in place so that students find success (and challenge) at a level appropriate for them.

The following Monday (when we fill our Take Home Folders), students will take home their Time Test.  If they "pass" (2, 1, or 0 wrong) they will have a sticker on their page and/ or no or minimal markings and will be able to move on to the next time test the next week.  If they score 17 out of 20 or less, then they will repeat that fact family's time test the next day (Tuesday).  When sending these home, take a look at their test from the week before to know whether or not they have experienced mastery (18-20 correct problems in 3 minutes) of that fact family or if they need continued work.  Our time tests will focus on new fact families with each new test but will also "spiral" back to past fact families to ensure continued mastery.  This past Monday, your child took home their first time test.  Next Monday, they will take home this week's (the second time test) and so on each Monday from here.

Since we start with Doubles fact (one of the most difficult "families") if your child does not experience mastery in the next few weeks with Doubles, I will make note of this and move on to other fact families to provide them opportunities to move beyond one set of facts.  In doing so, we will refocus on Doubles facts at a later time.

In addition to this blog post, please feel free to look to our prior blog post about Math facts as well as yesterday's Seesaw post re: Time Test Tuesday.

I hope this added information helps.  As always, let me know if you have additional questions.

Save the Date: Spring Learning Showcase - Mar. 9

Willowwind's much anticipated annual Spring Learning Showcase (formerly known as Community Night) is just around the corner.  Each spring, our preschool - 6th grade community gathers to celebrate the unique learning happening in each classroom.  We are thrilled to announce a new venue and learning partnership for this event – The Iowa Children’s Museum (ICM)!  You may have been to the museum before, but never like this.  Our K-6 students will exhibit their work in the playful learning environment of the ICM, including using the science-themed exhibits to demonstrate their knowledge.  Our Preschool friends are invited to attend the evening event to see K-6 projects and share in the fun after demonstrating their own works to families during the school day (more Preschool specific information to follow in PreK newsletters).  Read carefully below for information regarding the changed location and expanded audience for the event.

Spring Learning Showcase

Who:  Willowwind Friends in Grades PreK-6

What:  Classes present culminating projects highlighting Science and Social Studies project-based learning.

When:  Thursday, March 9, 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Where:  The Iowa Children’s Museum

Why:  To share our love of learning with you!

Schedule of Events

6:00 - 6:15 Welcome to the Iowa Children’s Museum. Check in at the front desk and find your presentation spot. Once you’re settled in, you may explore in the museum until presentations begin at 6:15. Please reserve museum play for before and after Showcase Presentation times.  From 6:15 - 7:30, our students will be thrilled to have you as an attentive audience and will keep you engaged in their amazing projects! Preschool families are welcome to join us at any time to see the work our older friends are sharing.

6:15 - 7:00 K-2 Showcase – Explore the learning happening in our K-2 Classrooms.

• Kindergarten will present a timeline of Kindness in the Celebration Room on the Upper Level. Visitors will walk away with an opportunity to spread Willowwind Kindness throughout our community through Random Acts of Kindness.
• First and Second Grade will serve as exhibit guides in Notion of Motion, helping our families learn all about balls, ramps, forces, and motion (Lower Level).

6:45 - 7:30 3-6 Showcase – Discover how our 3-6 graders are growing through their project-based learning experiences.

• Third and Fourth Grade will share their innovative thinking in the Blue Room, the home of the ICM’s Imagination Playground. Each learner will present his or her Invention Convention research and product prototype (Upper Level).
• Fifth and Sixth Grade will present the results of their independent Willowwind Science Fair experiments in Take Flight, the aeronautics gallery that celebrates science, technology, engineering, and math (Lower Level).

7:30 - 8:00 Parent Supervised Play. Celebrate our learning achievements by playing and learning together! Please enjoy this time to play with your child as we enjoy the unique learning environment that the ICM offers.

This evening is an incredibly important event as it allows students to accept challenges and take risks as they perform and work on public speaking and presenting skills. Your role as an audience member is crucial in providing all Willowwind students with a real-life, authentic experience in speaking and sharing to a large group.  All Willowwind students are expected to participate and are looking forward to having you as a part of this event.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our students’ growth as scientists, thinkers, inventors, and agents of kindness. We are so excited to share our work with you!

5/6 Grade Science Fair Projects - Student Help Needed

A message from the Wolf class:

 The Wolf class is currently designing and completing experiments for our science fair project. We have some very creative ideas and are excited to complete our studies! Four students are in need of data that can only be collected from school friends, and are thus requesting your permission to have your child participate in these science experiments.  

All four projects meet the standards for a Waiver of Informed Consent by the Intel Science and Engineering Fair (the parent fair of the State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa). Regardless, we felt it best to share the students’ plans and give all families the option to deny consent for their child(ren) to participate.

Here are the four experiments:

1.  Gender Stereotypes and Young Children - The student researcher is interested in how age and gender

impact the development of gender stereotypes. She will show a picture of an infant and ask each participant

to select six adjectives from a provided list to describe the baby. Personal information, other than age and

gender, will not be collected. Time needed: 3-5 min per child.

2.  Perception of Time - The student researcher is testing if the level of enjoyment one feels while completing an activity affects the amount of time the participant feels has passed. Activities will include basic school tasks, such as math problems, reading, drawing, or writing. Each participant will complete the activity, rate their enjoyment, and predict the time spent. Personal information, other than age and gender, will not be collected. Time needed: 10-15 min per child.

3.   The Stroop Effect - The student researcher is exploring how age and gender impact the Stroop Effect. The Stroop Effect is tested with the well-known task using the names of colors printed in colors that don’t match the name. You are required to say the color of the word, not what the word says. For example, for the word RED, you should say "Blue." Each participant would complete a computer-based task designed to test the Stroop Effect. Personal information, other than age and gender, will not be collected. Time needed: 3-5 min per child.

4.  Sugar in Soft Drinks - The student researcher is conducting a survey to measure children’s understanding of sugar levels in soft drinks. She will display a variety of soft drinks and ask participants to predict, using sugar cubes, how much sugar is contained in the given volume of each drink. Personal information, other than age and gender, will not be collected. Time needed: 3-5 min per child.

All experiments will take place at Willowwind between February 13 – February 23, 2017.

Thank you for your consideration of these young scientists’ project needs. Should you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at racheld@willowwind.org. If you do not want your child to participate in any or all of these experiments, please contact both your classroom teacher and me (e-mail is sufficient) to withdraw by Friday, February 10. If you are comfortable with your child participating, no response is required.

Many thanks for your support of our scientific endeavors!

Rachel DeMaris, 5/6 teacher

and student researchers Claire, Miranda, Rosie, and Ruby