Family Literacy Night: The Big Pumpkin

N I C K L I N

L E A R N I N G

C E N T E R

November Newsletter

DAT ES T O

N OTE :

11/12 Picture

Retakes

11/26 Nicklin

Thanksgiving Feast

11/27-29

Thanksgiving Break

12/14 Breakfast

with Santa at

Nicklin 9-11

12/18 Holidays

Around the World

12/20 Christmas

Sing-a-Long and

Class Parties

12/21-1/5 Winter

Break

1/6 Classes Resume

Thursday, October 17th was Nicklin’s first Family Literacy Night. The entire evening’s activities centered

around the book “The Big Pumpkin” by Erica Silverman. Students and their families decorated pumpkins,

named their pumpkins and collaborated with their families to write a story about the pumpkin they creat-

ed. The staff at Nicklin acted out the story of “The Big Pumpkin”. Each child who attended the event

received a copy of the book, “The Big Pumpkin” for themselves. The books and materials for the evening

were purchased using our Title I Parent Involvement funds. Our next Family Literacy event will be Break-

fast with Santa on December 14.

Breakfast With Santa Breakfast with Santa is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 14th. Students and their families are invited to

come eat breakfast at school. Santa Claus will be here and students can sit on his lap and have a pic-

ture taken with him if desired! We will also have several craft activities and story telling planned as

well! This is always an exciting and fun day – we hope you will plan to attend! Please watch for infor-

mation to be sent home and be sure to send in your RSVP if you plan to attend!

October Reading Assembly Congratulations to our Star Students

for October: Raegan Heitkamp, Austyn

Potter, Trevor Henson, Olivia Gutierrez, Myla

Elliott, Kaylei Flannery, Andon Laughman,

Bella McGraw, Josie Hill, Rachael Jansen,

Ethan Garrison, Rylan Block, Kyndra Staton,

and Kylan Hughes.

Congratulations to our Tee-Shirt Win-

ners for October: Anthony Wilmer Jr.,

Alixzander Mueller, Jack McMaken, Kalee

Williams, Briana Cox, Kiera Penny, Azreal

Riddle, Cohen Brown, Ryan Holwadel,

Reagan Fugate. Jayden Shannon, Zack

Boeke, Kyndra Staton, Kairi Krauss

Congratulations to the following clas-

ses for winning the Clifford/ Toto

Award for October: Mrs. Patrizio’s Class

81%, Mrs. Widney’s Class 86%, Mrs. Scott’s

Class 86%, Mrs. Krouskop-Smith’s Class 81%,

and Mrs. Wesbecher’s Class 86%

Way to go!!

On November 5, Nicklin held it’s October

reading assembly. The following accomplish-

ments were recognized:

Students who read 30 books or more

during the month of October. 5 classes had 80% or more of the stu-

dents meet their family reading goals

and earned the Clifford/ Toto Award. Star Students (chosen by classroom

teachers) who showed they knew how

to get the teacher’s attention appropri-

ately. November’s skill: Following the

teacher’s directions. All students who celebrated October

birthdays. Mr. Ford, Mrs. Robart, Mrs. Wall, Mrs. Hines,

and Mr. Murray from the Piqua Rotary Club,

Nicklin’s business partners, gave a birthday

book to each child who had a birthday in

October . All students received a toothbrush

at the assembly from the Rotary Club in

conjunction with the Miami County

Dental Clinic.

We also gave away reading tee-shirts. Each

class had a winner!

Reading

Volunteering

We value our parent volunteers. We need your help and

support for field trips, parties, activities, our library and in

the classrooms. If you have the time and interest you will

need to be fingerprinted (for free) by the Board of Education

Office and approved by our Board of Education prior to volun-

teering.

Hours for fingerprinting have changed. Please

refer to the Nicklin Website for details.

2013 DEADLINES FOR FINGERPRINTING:

November 8 (Board Meeting: November 21)

December 6 (Board Meeting: December 19)

Cookie Dough Fundraiser

Thank you to everyone who supported our fundraiser! We made over to

$16,000 dollars! The money raised will go to support several special

programs for the students including an Artist in Residence, a puppet

show for this spring, Thanksgiving Feast, our Family Literacy Nights,

Travel the World, Bubble Day and many other special assemblies and

activities throughout the year! The Walmart Gift Card Winners will be

announced on the November 8 One Call Now message.

Cookie Dough Pick Up is Wednesday and

Thursday , November 6-7 from 4-8PM during

conferences in the Nicklin Cafeteria.

Morning

assembly

Tee-Shirt

winners

Morning

assembly

Star Student

recipients

Afternoon

assembly

Tee-Shirt

winners

Afternoon

assembly

Star Student

recipients

Mr. Murray

from the Piqua

Rotary Club

passes out

birthday books!

Book Notes From the Library

Thanksgiving Feast Classroom Halloween Parties

Thank you to all of the parents and family members who donated

items for our Halloween Parties on Oct. 31st! The students had many

great treats and activities planned for them! Thanks to all the parents

who volunteered and came in to assist in the classrooms! Your

generosity is greatly appreciated!

Tuesday, November 26th is our annual Thanksgiving

Feast Day! You will receive a flyer with information and a volun-

teer sign up sheet for items to donate or to volunteer to set up,

serve food, or clean up.

Any leftover food from the Feast will be donated to the

local food pantries/Bethany Center to help those in need. Have a

wonderful Thanksgiving!

This fall, we are learning about fiction and non-fiction books. After I read our book for the week; we discuss what form of art was

used by the illustrator. Our most unique form so far has been photography and chalk, the children recognized the unique art right away!

We are also beginning to dig deeper into our fiction stories by discussing the beginning, middle and end. You could do this at home asking

about the beginning of the story: Who is the story about? Where does the story take place? In the middle of the story ask: Is there a problem?

What are the important events? Ask at the end: How does the story end? Does the character change?

Our first fluent language non-fiction book was Elephants Can Paint Too. We learned so many details about elephants! Did you know

that baby elephants suck their trunk just like babies suck their thumbs? We are learning that a non-fiction is informational text. The author’s

purpose is to inform, teach and learn. We’ve had fun with our elephant book, non-fiction books are fun to read too!

As you read a story to your child, please try to incorporate these important reading skills. You’ll be surprised at how much they are learning

about their books!

Please remind your children to put their library books back in their back packs when they are finished reading them. We have many

overdue and lost books at this time.

In the late May, we will be having a used book sale in the library. Proceeds will go toward buying new books and to replace lost books

for the library. If you have books in good condition that you no longer want, I will be taking donations beginning in March for our sale.

As always it is a joy to read to your children each week, I love my job!

Mrs. Susan Hopkins, Librarian

Please remember to check your

child’s folder each night. This is our

main communication tool between

school and home.

Practice tying shoes, zipping coats,

and reciting their address and phone

number. These self-help skills are necessary for

your child to have.

We will go outside even in the cold weather. Please

make sure you send your child with coats, hats and

gloves.

Please send extra clothing to keep in your child’s

bookbag in case of an accident or spill. We are

quickly running out of loaner clothes.

If you have boys pants sizes 6, 8, or 10 that your

child has outgrown, we could use those items.

Notes from the Nurse

Cold versus Flu?

The flu and the common cold are both respiratory illnesses but they are caused by different viruses. Because these two types of illnesses have

similar flu-like symptoms, it can be difficult to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. Special tests that usually must be

done within the first few days of illness can be carried out, when needed to tell if a person has the flu. In general, the flu is worse than the

common cold, and symptoms such as fever, body aches, extreme tiredness, and dry cough are more common and intense. Colds are usually

milder than the flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems,

such as pneumonia, bacterial infections, or hospitalizations (CDC, 2012).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges you to take the following steps to protect yourself and others from influenza (the

flu):

Take time to get a flu vaccine (IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO GET A FLU SHOT OR FLU MIST).

CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against this serious disease. While there are many differ-

ent flu viruses, the flu vaccine protects against the three main flu strains that research indicates will cause the most illness during the flu sea-

son. The vaccine can protect you from getting sick from these three viruses or it can make your illness milder if you get a different flu virus.

Getting a vaccine is very important for people at high risk for serious flu complications, including young children, pregnant women, people

with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart or lung disease, and people 65 and older. People who live with or care for those at

high risk should also get a flu vaccine to protect their high-risk contact.

Take everyday preventive actions.

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

If you get the flu, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

When can I send my child back to school after having the flu?

Keep your child home from school until his or her temperature has been normal for 24 hours without the aid of Tylenol

(acetaminophen) or Motrin (ibuprofen). Remind your child to cover their mouth when coughing or sneezing, to protect others, and to

wash their hands often while at school.

For more seasonal influenza information, visit www.CDC.gov