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Hello Maple Lane Families!

Happy Spring! I want to start by thanking all of you who participated in our Annual Family Night. We began this fun camp-themed evening by announcing that Mikey D. from Room 14 was the Early Bird winner. Then, we simulated the sound of a rain storm in the gym. Next, families proceeded to a variety of activities: craft-making, the game room, reading as a family and group photos. An enjoyable time was had by all!

April marks the beginning of our state assessments. The MSTEP and MI-Access testing will take place for all 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. The specific test your child will take was determined at his or her annual IEP meeting; please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions. You may be wondering how you can help prepare for the spring testing cycle. It’s important for students to have plenty of rest and eat a balanced healthy diet. You can encourage your child that all we expect is for him or her to try his or her best. The testing will take place primarily on the computer, a format we found many students to prefer last year. We are confident in continued student success!

March 4 was our Professional Development day for staff. Our paraprofessionals attended training about the way trauma and loss can impact children. Teachers and ancillary staff worked on developing high-quality IEPs. Then, in the afternoon, we all worked together as a team to score student writing pieces on a rubric. Students were asked to write an informa-tional piece about a topic they know about; scoring their work allowed us to identify areas of strength and areas we need to continue to focus on in our instruction.

Spring conferences have been scheduled for April 14. You will receive more information about available times as this date gets closer. Also, please keep in mind that spring break is April 4 through April 8 and we will not have school during this time.

Please enjoy the month of April, and as always contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Jack Dodd

Principal

April 2016

From Dodd’s Desk...

Maple Lane Gazette

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The Psychologist Is In Dr. Elaine E. Kress

Why Social and Emotional Learning is Essential for All Students Research shows that Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) improves achievement by 11 per-centile points, and increase prosocial behaviors such as kindness, sharing and empathy. Additionally students attitudes toward school improves, and there is a notable reduction in depress and stress among students. At Maple Lane we are trying to develop 5 key skills in our youngsters, using the Zones of Regulation Curriculum. Self-Awareness For our students, self-awareness involves understanding of one’s own emotions, assessing ones strengths and weaknesses and having positive mindsets. High levels of self-awareness allows one to recognize how thoughts, feelings, and actions are interconnected. Self-Management Self-management requires skills that facilitate the ability to regulate one’s own emotions and behaviors; delaying gratification, controlling impulses, manage stress, and persevere through challenges. Social Awareness This is the ability to understand, empathize and feel compassion for those with different backgrounds or cultures. Relationship Skills These are the skills that help Maple Lane students establish and maintain healthy relation-ships with peers and adults. Students must be able to communicate effectively, listen actively, negotiate conflict, and cooperate. Responsible Decision Making Learning how to make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions is a major focus of our effective curriculum. Students are taught to consider safety concerns, risk taking behavior, and how their behavior effects the well-being of others. Students will be more successful in their daily school life and in their community when they know they can manage themselves, understand the perspectives of others, and make positive choices and social decisions.

Be sure to discuss social and emotional thinking with your child at home, demonstrate positive social behaviors, and show compassion toward others in your community.

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GIVING BACK

The Sterling Heights Police Department has been a positive presence at Maple Lane this school year. As a school, the staff reinforces the idea that everyone needs to feel safe at school and in the community.

The officers often stop by just to say hello, and they even bring Chase their police dog. The staff and students

wanted to show the police officers how much we appreciate everything they do for our

school. On March 21st each classroom selected one student to represent Maple Lane

and visit the police department to deliver doughnuts and coffee. We also gave them a

beautiful card that a staff member drew and all the Maple Lane students signed! Sergeant Duprez and Detective Milke took us on a tour

of the department and answered many questions the children had. Chase did not have to work on the day we visited. The next time

he visits Maple Lane we have a big doggie basket filled with toys and homemade peanut

butter treats that R4 made.!

Once again, the students in Room 3 have had a very busy month. We have been learning many new things in science and social studies. Our class has been studying where organisms of all different kinds live and thrive. We are learning new vocabulary words, such as Biomes, Habitats, Ecosystems, Land-forms, and Life Cycles. Our class is learning how to take new information, and put it into written form. So far, we have written informational pieces on deserts, and the forest. During the month of March we ex-plored stories that are "myths", versus "fact-based". We did research on the stories behind the four leaf clover, St. Patrick, as well as the legends of fairies and Leprechauns. On St. Patrick’s Day, we had green hot chocolate, and looked for the pot of gold! Maple Lane had a special visitor that day, and you will NEVER guess who it was?! Oh, Ok- we will tell you.... we had a Leprechaun visit our school! Do you want to know how we know that?? We followed his footprints from the front door of the school, all the way down to our classroom!! The only problem is- we never did find him! Do you think he is still loose running around Maple Lane School?? The students in Room 3 wish you a belated "Happy St. Patrick’s Day" and "Top O' The Mornin'" to ye all! P.S. Happy Easter, too!"

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News Mix From R6

Michael is fully integrated! We had a good-bye breakfast. We miss him. Some students went to see Zootopia with R4. Last week, we decorated cookies and colored eggs to put in the Easter baskets that we made. On Thursday, many of us went to see the play, Charlotte’s Web. In science, we are learning about planets. We all have

different planets that we are writing reports on. We found out that there is a plant like earth, it is called Kepler 9 or Earth 2.0. We all earned a Minecraft party! We got to play creeper beanbag toss and Minecraft bin-go. Then we had cake that had the Minecraft logo on it. We earned it by getting 500 motor money. Our class is now working towards a “Game Day”!

Room 5 News

The students are creating their Safe books. We have been listening to calming music in the morning and afternoon to help relax our bod-

ies. The CD helps us regulate our breathing, notice our heart beats and help our body relax. We have shared

what our safe place looks, and have used the strategy of visualization to picture our safe

place in our mind. Then the students drew their picture, added color and details. This picture will go in their safe book; along with

other pictures of animals that help them re-lax. Please feel free to send in family and or

pet pictures to add to their safe book.

March has been a busy month. We have had many days outside for recess due to the beautiful weather. The students are noticing the

birds and buds appearing outside.

We are working on state reports in Social Studies. The students completed all of their end of semester tests! The fifth grade students

complete their unit in health.

We went to see the play Charlotte’s Web at the Macomb Center and also had a field trip to the cinema to see Zootopia!

We are very excited for our spring break!

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What a crazy month! Snow days and spring all within a couple weeks of

each other! We are so happy to have the warmer weather and the ability to

start getting outdoors for recess. Thank you to all of the families who were able to attend Family Night. I

know it was difficult to attend due to the weather. It is always so nice to see all of the families together. Being able to put a face to the brothers, sisters and relatives our students talk about

helps us staff members to develop more of a relationship with each student.

In honor of Dr. Suess’ birthday we asked the students to tell us their favorite thing about the author:

D’Kin: I like Dr. Seuss because he drew The Cat in the Hat book, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and the last book I like is Green

Eggs and Ham.

Cameron: I like the book The Cat in the Hat.

Keandre: I like Dr. Seuss’ drawings.

Joshua: Dr. Seuss was a good writer.

Lestat: I like all those stories and everything!

Parent Homework (assigned by your children):

Do you sign your child’s ZONE sheet EVERY night and talk to

them about the events that went on that day? Zone sheets are just one way we teach self-reflection on an hourly basis. It goes along with our social skills curriculum The Zones of Regulation. If you

haven’t yet, check out the website: http://www.zonesofregulation.com

/index.html

ENCOURAGE READING! A nightly reading log and books at your

child’s reading level can be sent home upon request. Read to them or have them read to you for 20

minutes each night!

Mobymax- your child has been us-ing Mobymax 15-20 minutes daily at school. The main focus is math

but several children have shown an interest in other subjects as well.

Encourage your child to use Mobymax with you! They all know

their usernames and passwords and are excited about their progress!

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Hands-On Learning

While students continue to work hard in their small reading and math groups, this month they have been investigating forms of energy in

science. Our learning focus has been specifically on heat and electricity. During science lessons students were able to work hands-on with

electrical circuits. They were asked to make hypotheses about the circuits and then test them out. Students understand how series circuits and parallel circuits work. They can name examples of good conductors

and insulators. They were also able to explore how heat energy is transferred from one object to another by creating objects made of

aluminum foil and testing them over a heat source. Students had a lot of fun testing different hypotheses and watching others experiment.

While spending time with your student ask him/her to share general observations and reactions to recent science lessons.

UPCOMING EVENTS

4/11 thru 4/15 Book Fair

4/11 - Hall of Fame assembly and lunch

4/14 - Spring Conferences

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R14 News

Room 14 has really spring into spring! We took a field trip to the Ma-comb Center for the Performing Arts to see a production of

Charlotte's Web - the students loved it!

The class has been working on a new series for Writer’s Express called Flat Stanley. Everyone is enjoying the stories, staff included!

Our classroom has recently welcomed a new girl to our class and she is fitting into the mix nicely!

The kids had a lot of fun going on an Easter egg hunt at the school, due to the rainy weather it was held indoors, but that didn’t deter

the kids!

Have a wonderful spring break! Get some well-deserved rest, enjoy the sunshine (we hope!) and we look forward to seeing you after!

Spring has sprung and so has the fun in P.E.!

We are anxiously anticipating warm weather and dry grass so we can get outside and show off all of the soccer skills we have been work-

ing so hard on. Your students have been passing, dribbling, and trapping up a storm the past few weeks and are ready to put all of their hard work to the test in an actual soccer game!

I am hoping to take classes outside as much as possi-ble over the next few weeks (weather and behavior permitting of course). If you are concerned about your child’s shoes getting muddy please send them

with an extra pair. After soccer we will be on to more outdoor activities including disc golf, kickball, bocce

ball and softball.

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R-5

Kyleigh-jump in puddles

Gabby- spin around and dance

Liam- stay inside and play Legos

Jecari- Wear raincoat and play

Adam-jump in puddles in rain boots

Jacob-swing in the rain

Hunter-jump

Dominique-playing in the mud

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D’Kin: Jump in puddles!

Cameron: Just get wet!

Keandre: Jump around in puddles.

Joshua: Jump around in the puddles and jump on my trampoline.

Lestat: I like dancing in the rain.

What do we like to do in the rain?

Ms. Mero - Jump in muddy puddles with my 2-year old!

Nurse Ruth - sit by the window and read a book.

Mr. Dodd - get under a blanket and watch a movie.

Mrs. Schon - stay inside and curl up with up a good book

Mrs. Konal - stay inside and sleep

Ms. Douma - Watch it

Ms. Jenna - I like to sing in the warm rain

Ms. Crystal - cuddle with my kids & watch a movie

Ms. Fenderson - stay inside and curl up with a good book!