|
|
|
|
Priorities of the
Upper Elementary Division
|
|
|
Appreciation of Individual Excellence
|
|
|
Philosophy of Gentle Guidance
|
|
|
Creation of “Communities of Excellence”
|
|
|
Strengthening of foundation built during primary years
|
|
|
Fostering exploration of individual talents
|
|
|
Every Decision with the Child in Mind
|
|
Contact Information
|
|
|
Dr. Lynda Csaszar
Head of Upper Elementary School Division
Parish Episcopal School
4101 Sigma Road
Dallas, Texas 75244
(972) 852-8778
email
|
|
|
Upper Elementary News August 2008
Page 1 | 2
Fourth Grade Events
“Happy Birthday, Milton Hershey” Day begins the fourth grade year deliciously! Held on his birthday of September 12, the day celebrates the life of Milton Hershey, chocolate scientist, and all things chocolate. It is an activity held in conjunction with the study of the process skills unit in science class. Students will dress up either as Milton or Kitty Hershey, or they will be able to choose to come attired in the colors of chocolate. Each discipline focuses on a chocolate activity that day, and students get a chocolate treat in each room. In math class, each child will do a crossword puzzle using math clues and chocolate vocabulary, while social studies classes will focus on the history of chocolate, beginning with the Aztecs. In language arts, students will do a writing journal story from chocolate themed story starters, while the reading classes learn about the life of Milton Hershey in stories and poems. The day will culminate with a showing of the vintage Roald Dahl “Willy Wonka” movie and one last sweet treat.
“Shop Til’ You Drop Day” will be on December 5. It will be a day of fun that will culminate our math unit on adding and subtracting decimals. Students will prepare a holiday shopping list in math class using their calculation skills, and they will study the history of money in social studies. During science, they will manipulate numbers and data to form a conclusion about a lab problem. In their language arts and reading classes, they will write about their dream mall and read an accompanying story. The day will end with a “shopping” exercise and a themed movie. When we are finished, we will be well educated and experienced mall runners just in time for the holidays!
“Snow Day” will be a culmination of our first fourth grade novel study, Snow Treasure, by Marie McSwigan, and will occur on February 13. The children will be asked to wear pajamas and slippers and to create a hat from marshmallows to model in the Snow Day Parade. From the entrants in the parade, our audience members will cast an individual vote for their favorite boy's and girl's creation. The votes will be tallied and a Snow Day King and Queen will be announced later in the day. In addition to the Marshmallow Hat Parade and the crowning of the royalty, other activities will include Marshmallow Bingo, a Snowman Competition, and Marshmallow Olympics.
“Texpert Trail and Texas Pioneer Day” will be on May 26. The Texpert Trail portion of the day will be held in the morning. Third through sixth grade students will be invited to attend and meet the characters from Texas history researched by the fourth grade students earlier in the spring. Texpert Trail will be the culmination of the research process involving skills in note taking, outlining, composition, and oral presentations. Each fourth grade student will create a report on his/her selected character. Students will dress as the character that they researched and give a brief presentation. This will be followed by our Texas Pioneer Day celebration. During the afternoon time, we will have a pioneer lunch, learn some of the games played by schoolchildren in the 19th century, and celebrate our Texas heritage.
Upper Elementary Outreach
One of the outreach programs Upper Elementary students have been a part of since the war in Iraq started is the adoption of a soldier on the front lines over there. So far, we have adopted six different soldiers, all with a personal connection of some sort. We began with Marine Sgt. Barrett Horak, a native Texan who was in the first wave of troops entering Iraq, and Marine Captain Julie Eastland, a Parish alum. After they returned safely, we adopted Army Sgt. Adam Robbins, a local Dallasite. When Adam’s tour ended safely, Barrett got sent back again, so we “re-adopted” him. After serving another year, Barrett returned, and we adopted Army Major Troy Leach. Major Leach’s wife has a cousin at Parish, and he is from the 4th Infantry Brigade based in Ft. Hood. At his request, we also then adopted Major Leach’s replacement in Iraq, Army Major William Hickok VI, a direct descendent of Wild Bill Hickok! While Major Leach was in our care, Adam was sent back again and was re-adopted also! Both Major Hickok and Sgt. Robbins returned safely from their tours of duty during the 2007-2008 school year. At that time, we adopted our first female pilot, Army Captain Julie Perry. She attended college with one of our former third grade teachers, and she is a helicopter pilot! She will be the soldier your children will take care of this year, until her tour of duty ends. Each of our soldiers has visited the school to thank the children for their support, and we encourage you to look at the display case directly across from Dr. Csaszar’s office to see the gifts and mementoes they have shared with us.
Each soldier’s complete story, communications and pictures can be found here.
We are committed to this program of adoption as long as we have soldiers on the front lines in Iraq or Afghanistan. We look forward to continuing our support of our soldiers with our prayers, letters, and boxes of love from home, and we hope you will join us in this important project.
Special Thanks
I’d like to extend a special message of gratitude to all Upper Elementary faculty members for their contributions to this writing and their efforts in making these events special for the students of the Upper Elementary Division.
Mark Your Calendar
August 20
Back-to-School Day
August 21
Lynda’s Coffee with 3rd Grade Parents, 9:00am, LGMR
August 22
Midway Student Orientation:
Upper Elementary (3rd-4th), 11:00-12:30, Chapel
August 22
Reception for All New Parents—6:30-8:00 pm Midway Atrium
August 26
First Day of School!
August 28
Study Skills Presentation (Lisa Fuchs), 6:30-8:30pm, LGMR
September 4
Class Pictures, 3rd Grade
September 5
Class Pictures, 4th Grade
September 9
Lynda’s Coffee with 4th Grade Parents, 8:10am, LGMR
September 11
Parents’ Night for Upper Elementary & Middle School (3rd-8th)
September 12
Milton Hershey Day, 4th Grade
September 16
Lynda’s Coffee with 3rd Grade Parents, 8:10am, LGMR
September 26
Mothers’ Visiting Morning for Grades 3-12 (Full day of school for students)
Page 1 | 2
|
