Jennifer Pacheco Principal Inside  A Note from the Principal  Notes from the Nurse  Upcoming Events 

Art Room Happenings

 Early Dismissal  Box Tops  Chess Club  No School  Picture Day

Gotcha Winners Natalia I. Sean S. Artan L. Luv D. David R. Emilaine C.

Find us online! www.emsd63.org/Melzer www.facebook.com/EMSD63 twitter.com/EastMaine63

Melzer Newsletter Emma S. Melzer School  847.965.7474 A Note from the Principal Dear Melzer Families, It was great to have some of our parents join me for the Parent Coffee this past Wednesday. I appreciated hearing some feedback and suggestions on how we can improve and strengthen the school to home connection. One way to expand upon the home to school connection is to become involved. Our first PTO meeting is on Tuesday night at 7:00 in the library. PTO is a great way to become involved in your child’s school life. And believe it or not, your child is excited to see you in the school helping out! We do have future chats being planned and I would love to hear some feedback about times that would be most beneficial to our parents and topics that would be interesting to our parents. Look for a link on our school website later next week. One of the concerns that was discussed was regarding math homework. Sometimes it is hard to determine the difference between students who are truly struggling with the topic and those that are just not interested. Knowing the signs of frustration in your child will be helpful in determining your next steps. While all children have different ways of expressing frustration, these are some common signs: · Tensing of face and hands · Writing harder than normal or erasing frequently · Sighing or grunting · Expressing feelings of anger or hopelessness When your child is frustrated, it is important to acknowledge their efforts and encourage them to keep trying. However, if after several minutes there is still no progress, this is a sign to our teachers that they need to reteach. We will pick up the lesson again the next day and try again. Your child can work on math facts or review the lesson on the Zearn website (teachers will be sending home information about this website). Thank you for your continued support of your children and of Melzer School!

Sept 2, 2016

When: Thursday, September 8 Dismissal Time: 12:10PM Grades 1 - 6 Kindergarten classes will follow their normal school day schedule. However, there is no afternoon bus or TLC. Preschool classes have Parent Participation Day. This is a day to come to school with your child and do a fun activity together. AM Class 9:20AM - 10:00AM PM Class 10:15AM - 10:45AM Parent Participation Day is optional and no siblings are allowed.

Welcome back to school Melzer families! As always, our school will be participating in the Box Tops for Education program for 2016-2017. Clipping Box Tops is an easy way for you to help Melzer earn cash. To help our school, just look for pink Box Tops on products, clip them, and send them to school. For more information on the Box Tops for Education program, including a list of participating products and our school’s progress, visit www.BTFE.com.

Your partner in Education, Jennifer Pacheco

Upcoming Events Empowering all students to succeed in a changing world.

September 5 No School - Labor Day September 6 PTO Meeting 6:00 - 7:00

September 8 Early Dismissal - Grades 1-6 12:10 Kindergarten - Normal Day Preschool Parent Participation Day AM Class 9:20 - 10:00 PM Class 10:15 - 10:45

September 16 Fall Picture Day

Melzer Newsletter Empowering All Students to Succeed in a Changing World

Notes from the Nurse Backpack Safety: It’s Time to Lighten the Load When you move your child’s backpack after he or she drops it at the door, does it feel like it contains 40 pounds of rocks? Maybe you’ve noticed your child struggling to put it on, bending forward while carrying it, or complaining of tingling or numbness. If you’ve been concerned about the effects that extra weight might have on your child’s still-growing body, your instincts are correct. Backpacks that are too heavy can cause a lot of problems for kids, like back and shoulder pain, and poor posture. While we wait for solutions like digital textbooks to become widespread, there are things you can do to help prevent injury. While it’s common these days to see children carrying as much as a quarter of their body weight, the American Chiropractic Association recommends a backpack weigh no more than 10 percent of a child’s weight. When selecting a backpack, look for:  An ergonomic design  The correct size: never wider or longer than your child’s torso and never hanging more than 4 inches below the waist  Padded back and shoulder straps  Hip and chest belts to help transfer some of the weight to the hips and torso  Multiple compartments to better distribute the weight  Compression straps on the sides or bottom to stabilize the contents  Reflective material Remember: A roomy backpack may seem like a good idea, but the more space there is to fill, the more likely your child will fill it. Make sure your child uses both straps when carrying the backpack. Using one strap shifts the weight to one side and causes muscle pain and posture problems. Help your child determine what is absolutely necessary to carry. If that’s not essential, leave it at home. Chess Club Monday Afternoon After school 3:40 - 4:40 Grades K - 6 All levels welcome! 12 week session September 12 - December 19 All forms must be turned in by September 9th

Monday, September 5th Labor Day

Friday, September 16th Don’t forget to send the picture order form with payment

Art Room Happenings The Kindergarten artists have been learning about different ways to think and work as artists. They have been drawing many types of lines: thick, thin, long, short, zigzag, wavy, spiral, dots, dashes, straight, horizontal, vertical and slanted. They will discover that they can tear or cut paper and have made collages. They will end the trimester learning about the different paint brush parts, brushstrokes and painting shapes. The 1/2 Multiage classrooms have been studying about lines, free-form shapes, geometric shapes, pattern and texture. They compared lines and shapes in two paintings by Andre’ Derain: Mountains of Collioure and London Bridge. They will be drawing, printing, collaging, and using clay this trimester. The 3/4 Multiage artists have compared and contrasted Frida Kahlo’s Self-portrait with Ixciuntle Dog and Sun painting and her Frida and Diego Rivera painting. The artists will be studying these concepts this trimester: portraits, self-portraits, expression, mood, proportion, poses, positive and negative shapes, visual rhythm, and overlapping. They will be drawing, sculpting, collaging, and printing. The 5/6 Multiage classrooms have been studying Grant Wood’s American Gothic and Parson Weems’ Fable. They have also been analyzing portraits by a variety of artists. This trimester they will studying portraits and proportions, contour drawing, profiles, value and shading, expression and texture, drawing from observation, style and technique, armature and form, mixing colors, genre painting, composition and color, and asymmetrical balance. Please ask your artist about what they have been learning. All of the concepts the Melzer artists are studying ties into our Core curriculum. Many of the concepts connect cross-curricular to math, science, reading, writing and history. Your child will bring home their art at the end of the trimester. You can also keep up with what’s happening in the art room by visiting my teacher page. You can see my web page by visiting the Melzer website and clicking on teachers’ web pages, and then clicking on Mrs. Teeter. On my welcome page you will find the classroom twitter posting (you can follow us at @MelzerArtclass) and can catch up on some daily activities. I look forward to continued success in the art room.

Make the Connection . . . with East Maine School District 63  Visit us at www.emsd63.org for a wide range of information.  Choose your Constant Contact lists at www.emsd63.org/Domain/844 including your child’s school. You’ll also receive East Maine Update, our e-newsletter.  Follow us on social media at www.facebook.com/EMSD63 and https://twitter.com/EastMaine63.