National Breakfast Week

I've been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, yet it's so difficult to get our students to eat in the morning.  They need food to power their bodies and brains, particularly since for most of the students there is almost 5 hours between breakfast and lunch!  According to Allina Health, it's not just if they eat, but what they eat that matters!  (For more information, visit https://www.allinahealth.org/healthysetgo/thrive/rise-and-dine-the-importance-of-breakfast-for- .) U-46 provides meal service for students every day. This includes breakfast and lunch that follow the recommended nutritional guidelines.  Meals are sent home daily with all in-person learners and available for all students through a drive-through pick-up in front of the school daily from 7:00 am - 10:30 am.  For more information on meal service, visit U-46 Food Services here. 

Exercise is important too, and unfortunately this pandemic and caused many of us, including children to become sedentary.  This week we are kicking off a new Move It/Read It Challenge. We are encouraging students to read for 15 minutes every day and move at least 15 minutes every day with some intentional exercise.  See the information linked here for how you can join in the fun and win a "Zoom ticket" to the weekly celebration. 

At school, we are finally able to get outside and enjoy the playground and some exercise. While we still must socially distance, at least we get some fresh air and movement!

 

Bringing in March

The first week of March started off with loads of fun.  The warm weather and melting snow put smiles on our faces, although we had to keep them behind our masks!  On a personal note, my 5 grandsons posed for a new photo wearing rainbow colors. It was a nice surprise for grandma and grandpa! I just had to share this one!

I was lucky enough to spend time reading to Mrs. Svec's class on March 2, Read Across America Day.  I always enjoy spending time with the students.  My book of choice was, She Persisted, 13 American Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton. I chose this book since March is Women's History Month.  The students send me thank you notes and video messages which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Aaron Valdez offered to repay the favor by reading a few books to me. I was delighted to have him join me on Friday via Zoom. He read 3 books, one of which he read in both English and Spanish. He was a delight!  Thank you, Aaron, and all of Mrs. Svec's class for spending time with me!

Students in Mrs. Diaz-Blanco's class got a surprise fun day this week! A very safe version of the XL Jenga game! They used gloves and of course masks and we made sure to social distance while we played! So much fun!

Mrs. Peto's 4th-grade class has been learning about different forms of energy. This week they read about thermal energy and did an experiment to see how heat energy can be transferred through the use of a conductor.  3 cups were used - 1 with cold water, 1 with room temperature water, and 1 with very warm water.  Spoons were dabbed with butter and placed in each cup.  Students made predictions about what would happen to the butter and observed every min for 10 mins.  Afterward, they were asked to respond to the following questions:  Which cup of water had the most thermal energy?  What were your observations?  Did your predictions match your results?

In Ms. Scarpino's Kindergarten class, students are working hard on story sequencing. What an amazing job they are doing.  I'm sure the first-grade teachers are excited to see all that they have learned. They are almost ready to move on to first-grade!

 

February Fun

This week was a mix of learning and celebration.  Thank goodness for that!  The extreme cold temperatures and piles of snow could not get us down!  

While we had to skip our traditional Valentine's Day celebrations, Mrs. Svec's class along with many others made the best of it through virtual parties.  Those who were in person did crafts and some were lucky enough to receive a treat or 2 from their teacher.  Just another way that we had to adapt this year.

Authors have been so generous with their time throughout the pandemic. This week author Alan Gratz joined us for a virtual visit. The students had a great time learning about his writing process and his newest novel Ground Zero and popular read Refugee. https://www.alangratz.com/

   Kaylee Williams - 2nd Grade

Pramathesh Katakam - 4th Grade

                                                                                   Giada LaBarbara - 2nd Grade

I'm always amazed and the beautiful artwork from our talented young people.  Just look at the detail and hard work they put into these pieces.

We also have some very talented musicians at Glenbrook. Our 5th graders have been co-writing music online using Chrome Music Lab.  This lovely piece was written by Sophia Lee and Sarina Ninan. 

                                                     Click here to play the song. 

 

Finally, several of our classrooms learned about the Lunar New Year, this year the Year of the Ox.  Happy Lunar New Year!

 100th Day Celebration

Friday, February 5th marked the 100th day of the 2020-2021 school year. It has been an interesting school year for sure, however, there are some traditions that we can't let go of. Kindergartens love to practice counting to 100 and celebrating that they can accomplish this task by the time they get to the 100th day of school.  Check out the fabulous work these little ones shared with us!