Reminders for this week: 

• Our adult fundraiser to support our intern program is tomorrow night (Saturday) at Pinstripes. I'm a strong supporter of the cause (and of having fun!) so I'll see you there. 
• Kindergarten information meetings will be held soon. Look for notices in your mailbox. 
• First semester conferences will start Monday, November 25. Please find time to meet with your student's teacher(s).

Travel To France 

One Normandale tradition is our Back-to-Back program: an opportunity for 5th grade students to travel to France. The Back-to-Back trip was initially intended to be an exchange experience; French students and their teacher(s) would come to MN and stay with host families and attend school with their correspondents. The Normandale students would then travel to France with their teacher(s) and do the same. 

After 9/11, the company that initially arranged the exchange discontinued connecting French and American Schools. A local company, Language and Friendship, resumed connecting French schools with Normandale. 5th grade parent volunteers coordinated the exchange since school district policy did not (and currently still does not) allow for elementary students to travel abroad. The trip became an "after-the-school-year-ends" option. 

This year, 5th grade families were offered the opportunity to consider sending their child to France on a trip organized by Intercultural Student Experiences (ISE). Students will visit Paris and have a family stay in Evreux, a town about an hour north of Paris. Megan Botham, a Normandale third grade teacher, will be one of the chaperones.

Last week, another travel opportunity for families was presented to me. Arlette Gerber, a native French speaker, organizes trips to France for families. She has proposed a Paris & Beyond Walking Tour for families to consider. There are no home stays included in this trip, but Mme Gerber would enrich the immersion experience by speaking French to the 5th graders. She has left information in the office and will be sending us brochures soon. Parents with children in any grade are welcome to request these travel materials at the front desk. 

Proposed Common Expectations for Outerwear and consequences for not having appropriate outerwear:

1. A visual display in each classroom will help students understand what they need to wear to recess on a given day.  Classroom teachers, along with recess supervisors, will help reinforce expectations. 

2. Students will hang their coats before lunch when coats are required for recess.

3.  If it is below 40 degrees students have to have a coat.  (If they are hot, they unzip their coat.)

4.  Snowpants and boots are required when there is accumulated snow on the ground.  No snowpants or boots means that students have to stay on the blacktop.  Teacher can restrict where students can sit or walk in the classroom if they have wet apparel.

5.  Boots worn outside cannot be the same boots worn inside.  For example, if girls choose to wear Uggs or fashion boots in school, they need snow boots for outside. If boys have shoe/boots, they must have separate shoe/boots for outside.

6.  Hats, mittens, etc., are required when it's below freezing (32 degrees). No coat, hat/hood, mittens means that students deal with being cold and the teacher chooses whether or not to contact the parents.

Return to Owner

We have only one volunteer so far! 

We are looking for volunteers to help unload the Innisbrook delivery truck on November 20th and to help distribute orders in the auditorium on November 21st, 22nd and 25th. Please use the  Google sign-up document for dates and shifts. There will be some lifting involved for the truck delivery shift but we will have dollies to wheel the boxes into the auditorium. For the shifts involving product pick-up, children are welcome to help (along with a parent).

 

Feel free to sign up for more than one shift! Please contact  Jennifer Scott or Beth Ann Monsen with any questions.  Thank you!

 

Volunteer Sign-Up Sheet

Save the Date! 

What: Barnes and Noble Bookfair

When: Friday December 6th, 9 AM - 10 PM

Why:  Support Normandale's intern program by purchasing books, games and more at Barnes and Noble all day. A portion of each sale goes directly to Normandale. Complete some of  your holiday shopping and support your child's classroom in the company of friends from Normandale!

Details: More info to come... but look forward to an evening program including entertainment by our interns!

Looking for a way to support your beginning reader? Try rhyming!

You can help your children develop their reading skills at home even if you don't speak French. Rhyming - identifying the sound at the end of a word - is one of the fundamental skills a beginning reader needs to develop. Rhyming is practiced daily through songs, poetry, games and books in your child's kindergarten and first grade classrooms. The great news is, you can practice rhyming at home in English, and this practice will support your child's development as a reader in French!

Developing a child's phonological awareness is an important part of developing a reader. Young children's ability to identify rhyme units is an important component of phonological awareness. Research shows that students benefit from direct instruction on rhyme recognition paired with fun activities that target this skill.

Rhyme is found in poetry, songs, and many children's books and games. Most children also love to sing and recite nursery rhymes. Words that can be grouped together by a common sound, for example the "-at" family - cat, hat, and sat - can be used to help children identify rhyme and create their own oral list of rhyming words.

Play oral rhyming games with your child:  Say, "If I say fat, rat, mat do you notice how they all sound the same at the end? They all end with the "at" sound. Give me another word that rhymes with fat, rat, mat." Go back and forth, even if they are nonsense words, to find as many rhyming words as possible. This is a great game to play in the car, while waiting in line, or while you're making dinner.

Reread rhyming stories like Dr. Seuss. Track the text with your finger so that your child's eyes follow along and point out rhymes. Ask your child if he can find rhymes.

You can find more information about the importance of rhyme, more rhyming activities to do with your child and children's books to use with this strategy, visit the Reading Rockets website.

And remember, the best way you can support your child as a reader is to read aloud to them in English every day! Whether picture books or chapter books, read a lot to your child and talk about the story, ask questions, think about what will happen next.

Happy Reading!

Jennifer Johnson and Laura Hanson

Normandale Learning Specialists

VEAP (Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People) is an organization in Bloomington (at 9731 James Ave S, 55431) that provides services and a food pantry to residents of Edina, Bloomington, Richfield and certain parts of south Minneapolis. They also have a Holiday Toy Program for children ages up to 18 who still live with the family. If you need help and want to register, you will need to call and make an appointment; the phone number is (952) 888-9616. Call or go to the VEAP program guidelines webpage for more information. Registration is through December 6th.

Finally, take care of yourself. There are a multitude of ways to calm oneself down; it just depends on your style. Things that help me include 

• Exercise
• Art projects
• Making videos
• Cooking/Baking
• Listening to Jazz or Reggae
• Eating out with friends
• Computer activities
• Time with my Grandchildren

School Social Worker 

952 848-4108     

FINAL DATES: Fiddler On The Roof, 

presented by the Edina High School Thespians

Matinee Performance: Saturday, November 16 at 1:00 p.m. 

(this performance is General Admission only)

Edina Performing Arts Center

6754 Valley View Road, Edina 

Click Here For: TICKET INFORMATION

Stay connected with Edina Public Schools by visiting the EPS website, 

and/or the EPS Facebook Page.