Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Snow Clothes

If it is a cold, snowy winter day.....please send your child to school with appropriate outdoor clothing. This includes coats, boots, hats and gloves.  Snow pants are an added plus to stay warm and dry. We will continue to go outside even if there is snow on the ground, and sometimes when it is snowing.  Students thrive on fresh air and exercise and we want to give them all they can get!  (We watch the weather carefully and when wind chill is too cold, we always have the students stay inside.)

5th Grade Math Talk




Teachers are excited about the new math curriculum Shoshone Elementary recently adopted. One of the pieces of our new program is called "Math Talk".  Math Talk is way to help students become mathematical thinkers.  Students solve problems on their own, and then explain how they reached their answer to their fellow classmates. 

Shoshone Elementary Pride Store




Students attended our third Pride Store today, and cashed in more than 1,000 tickets earned for good behavior. We are so proud of our students!

A Snowy Day









Students had a fantastic time playing in today's snow.  Those who chose to, stayed in the library and enjoyed the warmth.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Christmas Spirit Comes to Shoshone Elementary












We had great fun celebrating the Christmas season on Dec. 21st.  Santa even made an impromptu appearance.

Chocolate Assembly

The World's Finest Chocolate Asembly was held on December 19 to celebrate the success of our chocolate fund raising.  We are very proud of our students' sales abilities, and we wanted to reward them for their hard work to benefit the school.


















The top seller from grades K-2 was Rhyland Turner, top seller for grades 3-5 was Patti Fitzgerald, and the top seller from the entire school was Lane Frandsen.  The class who sold the most chocolate overall was Mrs. Bennett's class. Thank you to ALL the kids who participated, and an even greater thank you to the wonderful community who supported our fund raising efforts!  The proceeds from the sale will help us provide students with opportunities in the future.

ZAP Club

“Zeros Aren’t Possible”, is a new homework policy established for Shoshone Elementary School students.  We are committed to ensuring every student’s success in school, and as part of that commitment we have established “Zap Club” to help students complete all their missing or unfinished homework assignments.   Therefore – “Zeros Aren’t Possible”.

Homework is an important component to your child’s learning.  It provides extra opportunities to learn math concepts taught during the school day, and it provides practice for becoming excellent readers.

Shoshone Elementary teachers understand students have been in class each day for a long period of time, and know they are tired when they get home. With this in mind we have set the following limits on daily homework assignments.   For the average student in grades K-2 homework should take approximately 20 minutes to complete.  For the average student in grades 3-5, daily homework should take approximately 35 minutes to complete.  Your child may take shorter or longer time to finish their homework based on their ability and age.

Shoshone Elementary teachers also understand not all students are able to complete homework due to many different circumstances.  For example; parents may arrive home late from work and time is limited, students may be unmotivated to do their homework, or parents and students may be confused on how to do the homework.  We want to change that!

If your child has unfinished homework (for any reason), they will attend “ZAP Club” during their scheduled lunchtime.  They will get their lunch tray and report to the classroom of the supervising “Zap Club” teacher.  Their lunch period will be spent eating and finishing homework.  This process will be repeated each day until all missing homework assignments are completed. We will not be contacting parents prior to students attending “ZAP Club”.  We want to take immediate action so that missing or unfinished homework is completed as quickly as possible.  Your child will be responsible for letting you know they attended “Zap Club” that day.

“ZAP Club” will help your child in several ways.  Homework will be completed, their grades will improve by having no zeros for late assignments, and they will be practicing the skills necessary to become a successful student.

“ZAP Club” will begin meeting on January 9th and will continue for the remainder of the school year. Thank you for supporting this new program.  As we work together as partners in your child’s education we can do great things!