SUNNYSIDE SCOOP APRIL, 2019
Principal Points April 2019 Educating an Original Thinker “The mind that opens to a new idea never returns to its original size.” - Albert Einstein I was recently watching a TED Talk from Professor Adam Grant of Wharton Business College (yes, this is what I do over my spring break), and found it interesting to learn about the surprising habits of original thinkers. I wanted to share with you some of his findings, and how as parents we can help incorporate these skills into our own kids. • Originals are nonconformists people who not only have new ideas but take action to champion them. They are people who stand out and speak up. Originals drive creativity and change in the world. They’re the people you want to bet on. • Procrastinating can be a vice for your productivity, but it can be a virtue for your creativity. Many great originals are quick to start but they’re slow to finish. To be an original you don’t have to be the first one to have the idea, you just have to be different and better. • Often original people can look confident, but behind the scenes, they feel the same fear and doubt that the rest of us do. They just manage it differently. There are two kinds of doubt: self-doubt and idea doubt. Self-doubt is paralyzing. But idea doubt is energizing – it motivates you to experiment and refine. The key to original thinking is not to see failure as a dent on our ability. But rather we need to remind ourselves that first attempts are often not right, and that we’re just not there yet. • Originals are also afraid of failing, but what sets them apart from the rest of us is that they’re even more afraid of failing to try. They know that failure can come not only from a business that goes bankrupt, but also by even failing to start a business in the first place. Ultimately our biggest regrets are not our actions but the chances not taken. • Originals also have lots and lots of bad ideas. The greatest originals are the ones who fail the most, because they’re the ones who try the most. And if we want to be more original, we have to generate more ideas. • You can boost your creativity by being quick to start and slow to finish. And you can motivate yourself to try by doubting your ideas, accepting the fear of failing, and knowing that you need many bad ideas in order to get a few good ones. So how can we incorporate these ideas with our kids? • Have our kids listen to the messages they tell themselves with they fail. Instead of seeing failure as a negative, view it as an opportunity to develop and grow. Teach kids to tell themselves they are not there YET, and learn from their mistakes. • Have our kids ask themselves what kind of doubts they experience - self-doubt or ideas doubt? Have them turn their selfdoubts into idea doubts, and notice the difference it makes in their energy to keep trying harder. • Help build their confidence by taking action, especially when it involves risk and failure. Having kids step outside of their comfort zone. Sometimes this idea can feel overwhelming for a child, but by teaching students to focus on their actions it can also kick-start their confidence. Have students start with small challenges that allows them to grow, improve and gain confidence. Keep asking them, if you fail, how you can do it better next time and try again. This information aligns with our thought processes at Sunnyside, we work to create and develop growth mindsets in our students. This doesn’t happen naturally, and can be guided by the adults in their lives. The more they hear us telling them to see failure as an opportunity to learn and grow, the more resiliency we build in them to become stronger adults. Partnering with you, Dr. Flansburg
Important April Dates: Monday, April 1 Grade 1 Music Program - Altringer Grade 2 Music Program - Kuny Tuesday, April 2 Grade 1 Music Program - Bohn Grade 2 Music Program - Patricelli Wednesday, April 3 Chalkboard Capers Performances Begin Grade 1 Music Program - Schwebach Grade 2 Music Program - Young Thursday, April 4 Grade 1 to Springbrook Nature Center Grade 1 Music Program - Maury Grade 2 Music Program - TerEick Friday, April 5 No School! Monday, April 8 Junior Coach Meeting Wednesday, April 10 Junior Coach Meeting Thursday, April 11 Grade 4 and Grade 5 Music Performance at Edgewood, 6:30pm Friday, April 12 Student Leadership Team Meeting at 7:35am District Pow Wow Monday, April 15 5th grade to visit Edgewood Tuesday, April 16 Glee Club Spring Concert, 6:30pm Thursday, April 18 ISI at Edgewood Friday, April 19 No School! Tuesday, April 23 April Birthday Lunches with Principal Flansburg Thursday, April 25 SEPPAC Celebrate Success 2019 Event at District Center Friday, April 26 Math Masters Competition PTA Carnival
April Specialist Update! 1st Grade: Music - See music announcement page for program details! The rest of the month students will continue to explore combining rhythm with basic high/low melodies to compose and perform. Art - Building Printmaking and Paper Strip Sculptures Phy Ed - Hand -eye coordination with racket games Science -Science Tools (balance, microscopes, graduated cylinders), Dinosaurs
2nd Grade: Music - See music announcement page for program details! The rest of the month students will continue to explore the new rhythmic value of half note as well as begin exploring the melodic pattern of mi, re, do. Art -Henri Rousseau inspired Jungle Landscapes and Alexander Calder Maquettes Phy Ed - Hand-eye coordination with racket games Science - Using Science Tools (balance, measurement, microscopes), Flight
3rd Grade: Music - Students will continue to practice identifying half note and half rest as well as explore the melodic pattern of mi, re, do. Art - Birch Tree Painting Collages and Gelli Printmaking Phy Ed -Hand-eye coordination with racket games Science - Sinking/Floating (Clay boats), Sound Technology - Conditional Formatting, Digital Storytelling
4th Grade: Music - Students will prepare for the upcoming Spring Program as well as continue practice identifying the notes of the treble clef staff. (Looking Ahead: Spring Program April 11 6:30pm) Art -City Scape Printmaking Project Phy Ed - Hand-eye coordination with racket games Science - Density (experiments and calculations), Flight-forces
5th Grade: Music - Students will prepare for the upcoming Spring Program and building ukulele skills. (Looking Ahead: Spring Program April 11, 6:30pm) Art - Linear Perspective and Oaxacan Animalitos Wooden Sculptures Phy Ed - Hand-eye coordination with racket games Science - Science Fair alternate assignment, Water, MCA Review
Band News:
The 5th Grade Band is
sounding great! Keep those kids practicing for lessons and on their music. We're looking forward to a great concert on May 16th. Look for more information closer to then. All 4th grade students will be trying band instruments on April 15th. They will get to see and hear some instruments before then. Be thinking about which 2 instruments are your favorite! We'd love to have another strong group at Sunnyside. More information will be sent home in the near future. Please feel free to send questions at anytime to Mr. Blinn at: nathan.blinn@moundsviewschools.org. We'd love to help anyone and everyone become part of the Sunnyside band tradition of excellence!
Congratulations to the following Sunnyside students for winning the Chalkboard Capers 2019 coloring contest! Grade 1 (2nd place winner); Sofia Priore Grade 2 (1st place winner); Abbie Jo Johnson
Message from the Health Office Students can be exposed to a variety of infectious conditions at school and in the community. Our responsibility in the Health Office is to team around surveillance and appropriate notification of conditions that are affecting our school population. Below links to current exclusion guidelines. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the health office. Thank you very much. For more complete information consult the following document: https://bit.ly/2YAkcfB Title One at Sunnyside Elementary School Sunnyside Elementary is a Title One School. Title One funds are used to support additional literacy needs. Sunnyside Elementary wants to ensure that all children are making growth and are meeting their academic goals. Teachers work together as a team and make decisions on how best to meet the literacy needs of each and every student. One way we help to ensure that children are making the needed growth, is by providing an additional small group in reading for those students who would benefit. In this small group, students meet with a reading intervention teacher for literacy instruction at his/her instructional reading level, in addition to meeting with their classroom teacher.
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