November 30, 2006

Dear Lower School Parents,

"Mean by Accident": Fourth Graders' Social Relationships

Social dynamics often undergo considerable change in Fourth Grade. Old friendships wane, best friends expand their relationships, children may feel they are "too popular" or have "no friends at all". Some children tease or are teased. And all of this may fluctuate day to day.

Acknowledging this dynamic, Dr. Heidi Marben and Assistant Principal Delia Hernandez hosted a conversation with Fourth Grade parents entitled, "Navigating the Social Challenges of Fourth Grade". Delia and Heidi followed up on their work with students by offering parents a developmental overview and setting them to work creating their own "parent strategies" - tools and practice to have at the ready.

In addition to developmental passages, Fourth Graders are also the oldest members of the Lower School, the "been there, done that" class. And, while they enjoy their position on top of the heap, they are also poised to become the youngest, newest members of the Middle School. Fourth Graders have a lot to grapple with. Here is how they describe it:
"In 3rd grade and 2nd grade kids are still trying out friendships and in the 4th grade those friendships become stable and root themselves into the ground."

"Old friendships sometimes get lost."

"You have a lot more friends with people who are your gender."

"By 4th grade kids have a lot of friends and it’s hard to spend your time equally between different friends."

"Your friends will stick up for you."

"Sometimes friends get tired of being with you and your feelings get hurt."

"In 3rd grade kids are very close to their parents, but in 4th grade kids also really rely on their friends like family."

"You can’t really tell who’s your friend and who’s just being nice."

"Sometimes you are mean by accident, and people don’t want to be your friend any more."

And we think recess is just fun!

Elaine

This Week's Attachments:

Diane and Lisa's Early Kindergarten

First Grade

Gina and Rebecca's First Grade "Word Wall"

Jamie and Bonnie's First Grade "Word Wall"

Jamie and Bonnie's First Grade Park Project

A Message from Helen to Fourth Grade Parents

A Letter from Afterschool

Notes on Fourth Grade Parent Meeting

Easing the Teasing Strategies

This Week's Announcements:

Book Week
Book Week is almost here! During the week of Dec. 4th through 8th, authors will be visiting all grades to read from their work and talk to the kids about books. The annual Book Fair will take place from Wednesday, Dec. 6th, through Friday, Dec. 8th, in the Sixth Avenue auditorium, with books on sale for all ages. Please click here for more information on Book Week. This year's Literary Evening will be on Thursday, December 7th, in the Charlton Street PAC. Please click here for more information on Literary Evening.
For these events to be successful, the Literary Committee needs help from parent volunteers! Please sign up in the Sixth Avenue lobby to help with all aspects of Book Week, or e-mail susiemarples@yahoo.com.

Book Week

Literary Evening

Holiday Concert

Please join us for a longstanding LREI tradition:
The Glass Menagerie Chorus Holiday Concert
Susan Glass, founder and director (former LREI music teacher, current LREI parent)
Friday, December 8th at 8:00PM
St. Joseph's Church in the Village
371 Sixth Ave. (2 blocks south of 8th Street.)

POCOC Breakfast

The divisional Parents of Children of Color Groups will be hosting a potluck breakfast for the parents and children of color in all three divisions on Tuesday, December 5th from 8:00AM-8:30AM in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria. Please attend and bring a breakfast treat to share. See you there.


In the Upcoming Weeks...

12/4-12/8- Book Week

12/5- POCOC Breakfast, 8:00AM

12/6- First Grade Assembly, 8:45AM

12/6-12/8- Book Fair

12/7- LGSA Parent Meeting, 8:45AM

12/7, Literary Evening, 7:00PM

12/8- Adoption Committee Meeting, 8:45AM

12/8- The Glass Menagerie Holiday Concert, 8PM

12/12- LS POCOC Meeting, 8:45AM

12/14- Lower School Parent Rep Meeting, 8:45AM

12/15- Winter Assembly (students only). Early Dismissal for Winter Break, School closes at 12:00 (11:45 Fours through First Grade) No Afterschool.

Dear Lower School Parents,

Talk about a busy week…

• A Third and a Fourth Grade class each held a farm breakfast complete, with student readings, slide presentation, singing and, in the Fourth Grade, a class-made book.
• Fourth Graders and their parents enjoyed their first musical assembly of the year, playing recorders as well as singing.
• First and Second Grade families collaborated on experiment after experiment during Tuesday evening’s Family Math and Science Night.
• Second Graders traveled to Hoboken to look at Manhattan from "the other side" and, in addition to loaded barges and other river traffic, watched a fish being caught, then returned to the river – or to "mother earth" in a Second Grader’s words.
• Kindergartners and First Graders visited the Farmer’s Market, to gather fall produce and interview farmers.

And all the while, NYSAIS visitors observed classes and met with faculty, parents and administrators, prospective parents toured, final parent/teacher conferences were held, parent reps convened and teachers met in divisional and grade level configurations. Librarian Stacy Dillon offered faculty a power point presentation of the library’s many resources. Teachers made plans for upcoming visits with their "Big Buddy" classes and discussed baking projects for next Wednesday’s Thanksgiving Assembly. Whew!

On that note … Next Wednesday morning, during our half day, the entire Lower School, Fours through Fourth Graders, will gather in the auditorium to sing about Native Americans, harvests and (of course) turkeys. The center of the space will be strewn with fall produce from the Farmer’s Market – brussel sprout plants, carrots, cabbages, leafy vegetables - and amidst these will be a collection of baskets. Each class will bring with the them a beautifully wrapped loaf of bread they have baked to be donated to St. Joseph’s Soup Kitchen. Representative children "present" their class bread and, by the end, breads and greenery together are a feast for the eyes. This community gathering is followed by a mini-feast as each class shares a sampler tray of the Lower School’s baked goods. A day to look forward to and much to be thankful for.

May next week bring with it the peace and serenity we all need to balance our lives. And may you enjoy your very wonderful children during this holiday!!

Elaine

This Week's Attachments:

Kelly and Ayanna's Third Grade

From the Reading Team

High School Basketball

Parent Rep Meeting Notes

A Letter from Phil

This Week's Announcements:

LREI in the News:

LREI featured among Gay Friendly Schools.

Click Here

A Word from Afterschool:
Dear Parents,
The Afterschool Office is in the midst of planning for the upcoming winter/spring session. If there is an Enrichment class that you would like to see continued on the schedule, or if you have suggestions for other class offerings, please let us know by contacting the Afterschool Office.
Regards,
Cari Kosins
Director of Afterschool
ckosins@lrei.org

Benefit Concert for Darfur Hear Our Voices:
Please come to a Broadway benefit concert to aid the victims in Darfur.
When: Monday, November 20th, 2006 - 6:30-8:00pm
Where: 40 Charlton St.
Tickets on Sale:
Lower School lobby every morning from 8:00-9:00.
High School with Violeta Picayo
Why: We can make a difference!
Organized by LREI High School students.

Click Here

Thanksgiving Arts Project:

Hi all,

This Saturday the Parents Association Community Service Committee will be going to the Fulton~Community Center of Hudson Guild to~join with some of the seniors to make centerpieces and decorations for the Hudson Guild's Annual Thanksgiving Feast. The flyer with details is attached.

This event is open~to students in~all divisions as well as parents, teachers and staff. As an added benefit, this~is a community service opportunity for High School students. More importantly, it is a wonderful intergenerational event that affords the opportunity to meet some very interesting senior citizens who live in our area. It's really a lot of fun. There will be bagels, juice and coffee.

Philip Kassen

Click Here

In the Upcoming Weeks...

11/20- MS Tour for Fourth Grade Families, 8:45AM

11/21- Kelly and Ayanna's Farm Breakfast, 8:30AM

11/22- School Closes at 12:00 For Thanksgiving Break (11:45 Fours-First Grade)

11/28- Fourth Grade Parent Meeting, "Helping Your Child Navigate Peer Relationships," 8AM

11/29- Fours & EK Assembly, 8:45

12/6- First Grade Assembly, 8:45

12/6- Book Fair

12/14- Lower School Parent Rep Meeting, 8:45

12/15- Early Dismissal for Winter Break, School closes at 12:00 (11:45 Fours through First Grade) No Afterschool.

"Tell me about assessment."

Dear Lower School Parents,

Not infrequently, I open the door to my office to find a teacher sitting on the rug with a Kindergartner or First Grader. They often have math cubes lined up in front of them ready to be counted or sorted and a book or sheets of words to be read. Typically, the teacher has with her a clipboard on which she’s making notes. They are engaged in our own process of "formal-but-friendly" individual assessment. Screenings such as these take place all over the school; teachers and students find quiet places to work together at pivotal points in the year – in early fall, before conferences and reports, and at year’s end.

Additionally, Lower School teachers use a range of tried-and-true individual reading assessments such as the DRA (Diagnostic Reading Assessment) and the QRI (Qualitative Reading Inventory). Along with other information, these indicate student reading levels and an appropriate range of books for individuals to choose from. Our math program, TERC Investigations, also has within it a series of checkpoints and assessment activities. As stated above, teachers return and re-screen to measure growth and to judge the effectiveness of intervening interventions and supports.

As students mature, we turn to assessments within a more formalized, whole class structure. In Fourth Grade, for example, students prepare for and take the three-day ERB (Education Record Bureau) achievement test, officially called the Comprehensive Testing Program 4 or "CTP4". This is an experience with timed test taking, #2 pencils and bubbling. The test is scored outside of school and mailed to us; we, in turn, mail them to parents. The results of this test remain in a student’s file.

All of these experiences allow teachers to measure student progress as it is reflected in a testing situation and to gauge the effectiveness of their programs. Assessment helps to inform future instruction: teachers can look at the scope of their class and see where gaps and strengths lie. In a systematic way, they can identify areas needing to be revisited or reinforced as well as those mastered by the group. Teachers may decide to skip or add a lesson based on these findings.

Only rarely do screenings hold great surprises because, before any testing begins, teachers have a solid grasp of their students’ conceptual understanding and performance levels - this because the practice of informal anecdotal assessment is daily and ongoing. It occurs as students participate in classroom discussions, as they compose a rough draft, construct a math strategy, choose a book and complete a homework assignment. Teachers take notes, recording them later in a log or journal. Whether students exceed grade level expectations or frequently require support, teachers speak with them about their process, asking them to prove the accuracy of their results, pinpoint an area of difficulty or simply describe their thinking.

The request "Tell me about assessment." is one frequently posed by touring prospective parents – and I respond as I have in this letter. I take it to mean more than how we as teachers chart our students’ progress, but how do you as parents get the information and how does your child – the learner – know how they are doing? Information gathered has value only as it is deconstructed, communicated and used as a basis for further learning

Elaine


Congratulations to the High School students and faculty on being named to the Blackboard High School Awards Honor Roll for excellence in three areas:
· Teaching of Reading and Writing
· Teaching of Math and Science
· Respect by Students for Each Other
There are so many other areas of the high school program we could recognize. After this past weekend’s performance of Ragtime it is hard not to mention our tremendous arts program. In addition, I invite all to join our digital arts students next Tuesday, November 14th at 6:30PM, at the Apple Store SoHo for a showcase of work from LREI. Finally, please join us on Monday, November 20th for a student-organized concert to benefit relief efforts work in Darfur. Tickets are on sale now in both buildings. We are proud of your hard work and of the incredible learning community you have created on Charlton Street.

Philip Kassen

Director


This Week's Attachments:

Tasha and Romy's Class Trip

Fourth Grade Parent Meeting

A Message from Phil About NYSAIS


Announcements:

Parent-Teacher Conference Childcare will be provided tomorrow Friday, November 10th, from 11:45 to 3 o'clock in the Big Room. The cost is ten dollars and pizza will be provided. For more information and to sign up, contact Kate at Kgreathead@lrei.org, 477-5316 ext. 215.
Please remember there is no Afterschool tomorrow and Childcare ends promptly at 3PM.

Benefit Concert for Darfur Hear Our Voices
Please come to a Broadway benefit concert to aid the victims in Darfur.
When: Monday, November 20th, 2006 - 6:30-8:00pm
Where: 40 Charlton St.
Tickets on Sale:
Lower School lobby every morning from 8:00-9:00.
High School with Violeta Picayo
Why: We can make a difference!
Organized by LREI High School students.

Click Here

We invite you to the LREI High School Arts Showcase at the Apple Store SoHo. This will be a wonderful opportunity to see our talented High School students' artistic and technological successes. Join us to experience their photography, film and multimedia creations.
November 14, 2006, 6-8pm
Apple Store, SoHo
103 Prince Street
www.apple.com/retail/soho

A Word from Afterschool:
Dear Parents,
The Afterschool Office is in the midst of planning for the upcoming winter/spring session. If there is an Enrichment class that you would like to see continued on the schedule, or if you have suggestions for other class offerings, please let us know by contacting the Afterschool Office.
Regards,
Cari Kosins
Director of Afterschool
ckosins@lrei.org

Shop News
Fourth Graders' pathways are in the lobby display case! Using chisels, mallets, rasps and files and many materials, children carved out their pathways, smoothed them and created a personal vision.
Thanks. Peggy

Lost and Found
Please be aware that at the end of next week, 11/17, all clothing from our Lost and Found box will be donated to God's Love We Deliver. Please check for your children's lost items.

Scooters
Scooters cannot be left under benches in the main hall - this according to the school's health and safety practices. Please store your child's scooter in their cubby or ask their teacher to indicate a storage area near the classroom. Thank you.

Photo Retakes
If your child missed photo day, retakes will be held on Thursday, November 16th.


In the Upcoming Weeks...

11/10- Lower School Closes at noon for Parent-Teacher Conferences. No Afterschool.

11/14- Gwen and Thomas' Farm Breakfast, 8:30AM

11/14- First and Second Grade Family Math and Science Night, 6:00PM

11/15- Chap and Meredith's Farm Breakfast, 8:00AM

11/15- Fourth Grade Assembly, 8:45AM

11/16- Photo Retake Day

11/16- LS Parent Rep Meeting, 8:45AM

11/20- MS Tour for Fourth Grade Families, 8:45AM

11/21- Kelly and Ayanna's Farm Breakfast, 8:30AM

11/22- School Closes at 12:00 For Thanksgiving Break (11:45 Fours-First Grade)

11/28- Fourth Grade Parent Meeting, "Helping Your Child Navigate Peer Relationships," 8AM

11/29- Fours & EK Assembly, 8:45

12/6- First Grade Assembly, 8:45

12/6- Book Fair

November 2, 2006

Dear Lower School Parents,

As we look forward to tomorrow and next week’s Parent / Teacher Conferences, here are a few thoughts to keep in mind:

• The starting point – and always the goal - is that teachers and parents work as partners in the education of your children; that we can learn a great deal from each other.
• Especially at this fall conference time, teachers will be eager to hear your insights. They may ask about home routines, likes and dislikes, and previous school experiences. They will also appreciate learning what your child is saying to you about school.
• Expect to hear about some of the ways your child participates in classroom life: how they respond to limits and routines, social demands, group discussions, lunch time, and rest for younger children; specials for older students.
• You’ll hear about your child as a learner: how s/he approaches a task, responds to instructions, when s/he engages critically and creatively, and the extent to which teacher support and guidance help your child get the most from school.
• Your child’s teachers will also outline goals for the year; areas where she/he would like to see specific growth. Now is a good time to discuss and address these areas jointly.
  

We encourage you to:

• Arrive punctually. This is a courtesy to both teachers and other families.
• Be honest with teachers and expect them to share openly with you, knowing that we share the same goals.
• Allow teachers ample opportunity to describe your child’s progress and participation, then reflect with them on ways to enhance this year’s experience.
• Raise whatever questions you may have about classroom expectations and instruction.
• Ask questions that help to clarify what teachers are describing. Common understanding is the best basis for an ongoing collaborative relationship.
• Enjoy this opportunity to focus on your child and learn more about him or her in a situation outside of home. Then, enjoy the unfolding of this school year!
  

The parent/teacher conference is just one moment in your relationship with your child’s teachers. Please touch base again whenever new questions or thoughts arise. Easy communication between us all enriches children’s school experience – and hopefully their parents’ as well.

My best,

Elaine

A word of thanks to the Halloween Fair Committee for creating such a zany, entertaining, piraty event for families! It was vibrant, welcoming and, despite its size, sensitive to young children’s worlds. A real winner!

This Week's Attachments:

Fours, Early Kindergarten and Kindergarten

Tasha and Romy's Second Grade

Community Service Calendar

Early Admission


Announcements:

Parent-Teacher Conference Childcare will be provided on Friday, November 10th, from 11:45 to 3 o'clock in the Big Room. The cost is ten dollars and pizza will be provided. Parents should sign up in advance if they plan on leaving students after dismissal. For more information and to sign up, contact Kate at Kgreathead@lrei.org, 477-5316 ext. 215.
Parents please note: there is no After School on this day.

We invite you to the LREI High School Arts Showcase at the Apple Store SoHo. This will be a wonderful opportunity to see our talented High School students' artistic and technological successes. Join us to experience their photography, film and multimedia creations.
November 14, 2006, 6-8pm
Apple Store, SoHo
103 Prince Street
www.apple.com/retail/soho

Attention Book Lovers:
On Tuesday, November 8th join the Literary Committee as the LREI librarians present, "East Meets West," an evening of youth books that feature culture clashes and truces, diverse viewpoints and changing perspectives.
Each year our nationally recognized librarians share their literary suggestions for students in all grades, Fours-12th grade, with the LREI community as they do with other school and professional audiences throughout the school year. All three of our full time librarians have served, or are presently serving, on American Library Association panels responsible for selecting prize winning books. Join this evening as Stacy, Jennifer and Karyn share their book selections with us, along with LS library teacher and graphic novel reviewer, Jesse Karp (LREI '87), who will give his suggestions for the best in graphic novels.

Click Here

If your child missed photo day, retakes will be held on Thursday, November 16th.


In the Upcoming Weeks...

11/3- Lower School Parent-Teacher Conferences. LS closed. No Afterschool.

11/7- Third and Fourth Grade Math and Science Night, 6PM

11/8- Suzanne and Caroline's Farm Breakfast, 8:15 AM

11/8- Kindergarten Assembly, 8:45 AM

11/8- East Meets West, 7:00PM, PAC

11/10- Lower School Closes at noon for Parent-Teacher Conferences. No Afterschool.

11/14- Gwen and Thomas' Farm Breakfast, 8:30AM

11/14- First and Second Grade Math and Science Night, 6:00PM

11/15- Chap and Meredith's Farm Breakfast, 8:00AM

11/15- Fourth Grade Assembly, 8:45AM

11/16- Photo Retake Day

11/16- LS Parent Rep Meeting, 8:45AM

11/20- MS Tour for Fourth Grade Families, 8:45AM

11/21- Kelly and Ayanna's Farm Breakfast, 8:30AM

11/22- School Closes at 12:00 For Thanksgiving Break (11:45 Fours-First Grade)

11/28- Fourth Grade Parent Meeting, "Helping Your Child Navigate Peer Relationships," 8AM

11/29- Fours & EK Assembly