PTO Mtg Thursday 12/1 at 6PM - Want to Get Involved?

Want to get involved at Sacajawea?
Help with Santa's Workshop or with other events or fundraisers.  Please join us for the monthly PTO meeting:
When: Thursday, December 1st, from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Where: The Sacajawea Conference Room (just past the office)
Who: Any parents or community who want to help.

Want to volunteer, but can't come?  Volunteer Form at: bit.ly/sacvolunteer

Questions?  Ask Val Blackburn, our PTO president at: valerie.t.blackburn@gmail.com

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¿Quiere ser envolucrado en Sacajawea?
Ayudanos con ¨Santaś Workshop¨ o con otros eventos.  Por favor viene a la junta del PTO.
¿Cuando?: El Jueves, diciembre 1 a los 6:00 PM
¿Donde?: El Salon de Conferencia en Sacajawea (Un poco pasado de la oficina, cerca de la biblioteca)
¿Quien?: Cualquier padres, abuelos, o comunidad que quiere ayudar la escuela Sacajawea.

¿Quiero ser voluntir pero no puede asistir?  Hay una forma de voluntir al: bit.ly/sacvolunteer

¿Preguntas?  Ask Val Blackburn, our PTO president at: valerie.t.blackburn@gmail.com

Resourcefulness - Character Trait Focus

We purposefully teach and emphasize character traits at Sacajawea because they make a difference for success, both now and as kids grow up.  Character traits like resourcefulness and grit sometimes make the difference between a kid who pushes through to find success in middle school, high school, and college and those who encounter difficulties and give up or want someone else to bail them out.  

This next two weeks we will be focusing on the character trait of <u>resourcefulness</u>.

The trait of resourcefulness makes us able to deal well with new or difficult situations.  We are able to find solutions to problems.  This might include being creative or inventive with unconventional materials like paper clips, duct tape, or baling wire.  It might mean that we know how to find information in the library.  It might mean we are good at knowing who to ask for help with certain problems.  We are able to find resources and we are able to figure out how to use the resources we already have.

As parents, think of ways you have been resourceful.  Sometimes we are able to get by with next to nothing.  That is resourcefulness.

A great example of resourcefulness I can think of is the TV character "MacGyver."  When I was a kid, he was on TV and it seemed like he knew enough to figure out how to do just about anything with duct tape and a little wire.  On top of that, he had a really cool car.

The library is a great place to find resources about a new topic.  This would be a great time to take your kids down to get a library card at the Caldwell Public Library.  Access to the library is free.  You just need a proof of address like a water or power bill to get a library card.

A great way to practice resourcefulness is to give your kids a bag full of junk and ask them to build something creative with any of the contents of the bag.  Another is to give them 20 sheets of scratch paper or newspaper and ask them to build the tallest tower possible (or anything else you can think of).  No glue.  No staples.  No paper clips.  Just paper.  I'd love to get pics of kids and families practicing resourcefulness.

Sacajawea’s Santa’s Workshop

We need your help!

 Please consider donating to Sacajawea’s Santa’s Workshop this year! 

We have several needs:

• New or gently used items for students to purchase for family & friends.
• Small boxes or bags to be used to wrap items.
• Gifts for men & toys for children.

To Volunteer to help, come to PTO Mtg this Thursday 12/1 at 6PM in the SAC Library 

or go to: bit.ly/sacvolunteer

Thank you! Sacajawea PTO

**Please have items donated by the 8th of December.**

Sacajawea's Family STEM Night

Sacajawea Elementary held its Family STEM Night on Thursday, Nov. 10th. Five hundred people from 165 families attended. They enjoyed interactive science projects that included making paper rockets, building harmonicas, making oobleck, making a boat and seeing how many pennies it would hold, breaking open geodes, and making star finders. This event was funded by a grant from Idaho STEM Action Center so there was money for every student in the school to do an in-class science experiment as well. These experiments and information about these experiments were on display in the gymnasium. After doing and viewing the science projects there was a chili dog dinner for families to enjoy.

Several community partners also attended. They were Caldwell Fire Department, Caldwell Police Department, City of Caldwell Waste Water Treatment, West Valley Medical Center, Micron, and Caldwell High School Engineering and Robotics Teams. There were also 15 Caldwell High School students and 11 Syringa Middle School students that attended to help with everything from serving food to helping in the classrooms. It was a fun evening full of joy and science!

Cookie Dough Orders and Money Due Monday - November 14th

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH, 2016

STUDENTS BRING FUNDRAISING ORDERS and MONEY TO THEIR TEACHER

THANK YOU again for your support in our school PTO fundraiser, CRAZY ABOUT COOKIES & CRAZY ABOUT SWEETS! 

Monday, November 14th, the order forms and money must be returned to your child’s teacher to be sure we meet our delivery date. Please make sure the dollar amount returned is enough for the product ordered. 

Turn in your money collection envelopes with the order forms and money enclosed. 

Double check to make sure your child’s name and the teacher’s name are on the order forms and the collection envelopes. 

Cookie dough will be ready for pickup and delivery on Wednesday, December 14th, from 3PM to 7PM at Sacajawea.

Thanks

Family STEM Night - This Thursday 11/10 from 6:00 to 7:30

Don’t forget, Family STEM Night is this Thursday at Sacajawea.

Come and have fun with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). See the inquiry projects presented by each class. The students will be finishing up their work in the next few days.

After participating in one or more centers you may enjoy hot dogs and salad for dinner in the cafeteria (Must present STEM passport after one or more activities).

We are looking forward to inquiry, exploration and discovery for all ages.

Family STEM night will run from 6:00 to 7:30 PM on Thursday 11/10 all over the Sacajawea building.

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No olvide que la Noche de S.T.E.M. Familiar será el jueves, 10 de noviembre en Sacajawea. Reserva la fecha.

Venga a divertirse con S.T.E.M. (ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería, y matemáticas). Miren los proyectos de cada clase. Los estudiantes están orgullosos de su trabajo.

Después de participar en un actividad o más habrá una cena de hot dogs y ensalada en la cafetería (debe de presentar el pasaporte de STEM).

La Noche Familiar de STEM va a pasar de las 6:00 a 7:30pm en el Jueves 10 de noviembre.

October's Skyhawks of the Month

First Grade

Second Grade

Third Grade

Fourth Grade

Fifth Grade

PTO Mtg - Thursday - 11/3 - 6PM - SAC Library

Tomorrow is the first Thursday of the month. That means PTO will be held in the Library at Sacajawea elementary. It will be at 6pm to 7 pm. Lots of fun planning for the holidays. Hope to see you there!

3rd Grade Readers at Sac - Catching The Joy of Reading

The 3rd grade team at Sacajawea started a simple little system for recognizing and tracking how many books they had read and understood in the beginning of October.

Each time they read a book and passed an Accelerated Reader (AR) quiz on it they received a piece of a pumpkin puzzle, which they put up in the hall.  They have to pass with at least 80% correct.  Research shows that students gain the most from their reading practice if they score 80% or more on their AR quizzes.  With each new quiz they got more pieces for their pumpkin and could add many pumpkins to the patch.

These readers caught the fire.  Based on their puzzle numbers, our Sacajawea 3rd graders read 338 books in their reading ranges during the month of October, only counting the ones passed with 80% accuracy.  We are thrilled!

Here are some important things we know about reading and about students:

• Students grow the most in reading when the majority of their independent practice is at just the right level (not too easy or too hard).  In reading, we call that their "ZPD" (zone of proximal development).
• Students are more successful when they are involved in tracking their own goals and their own progress.  
• Students are more motivated by the feeling of success than they are by trinkets or gadgets (Research actually shows that external rewards such as prizes make kids read less, over time).  
• Reading practice makes a huge difference.  Some of our students are already seeing the results of daily reading practice in higher reading levels.
• When students really become successful, reading is its own reward.  They sneak books around with them and find excuses to read whenever possible. 

The great thing is that this reading fire keeps on burning.  This month, instead of pumpkins, third grade will build turkeys.  They start with a naked little turkey and each book quiz they pass they get to add parts to their turkey, until it is complete.  They can add as many turkeys as they earn.

Hide away and read a book every night!  It is fun and it makes a difference.