GUEST AUTHOR: MS. GRABEL

Remember the Roots

Fall is such an exciting time of year – fun field trips, cooler weather, changing leaf colors, and exciting holidays. Fall is when we build foundations; literally place down roots, put bulbs and transplants in the ground, prepare plants and vegetables for a long winter and their reappearance in the spring. Fall is a time for harvesting and preparing for (re)birth. This same concept is applicable in our classrooms as well.

As a first grade teacher, we spend the first half of the year hammering in phonics, focusing on reading, and preparing our students for a huge growth with the arrival of spring. We create a classroom environment that is safe and nurturing. We help our students with social challenges and encourage them to build friendships with their peers. We teach number knowledge so students can move on to grasp larger math concepts throughout their education. We build the foundations so our children can put down their roots and prepare to blossom, just like our plants in the garden.

I think it is important in every sense to remember our roots. As part of the Gardening Club here at OHE, I’ve seen how important it is for children to have their hands in the dirt and to have something that they can grow and call their own. As a teacher at OHE, I see the same importance in becoming part of a community, a family, a safe place to call “home”. Fall is a time to create new habits, nurture old passions, and pass those on to our children.

We all must remember that without good soil, consistent watering, the correct environment, and a little TLC; nothing will grow. What better metaphor than that of plants and fall to use for the education of our students? The more time we put into building a strong foundation and fostering the roots, the more likely we are to see tremendous growth and transformations when we awake again in the spring. 

GUEST AUTHOR: MS. GARZA

Ms. Garza's lovely new kinder class is kicking off to a great start!

This past week we have been learning all about shapes. These kiddos have gone over numerous shape books including: "Monster Knows Shapes." We then created our monster shape book and it didn't stop there. At the end of the week, I thought it would be a great idea to start the month of October with our very own Jack-o-lantern. We first discussed what type of shapes can be used for a Jack-o-lantern and the students came up with rectangles, squares, triangles, and circles. As I carved the pumpkin, we talked about whether a pumpkin was a vegetable or a fruit, and what you can create with a pumpkin. I then had my wonderful students put their senses to the test and help dig out the lovely pumpkin seeds. They said the pumpkin smelled gross, the insides felt squishy, and the color was orange. Once all the seeds were out, we counted the number of seeds we had....289!! ( That's a lot of seeds!) My class and I voted and came up with the shapes we were going to use for our pumpkin. We decided 2 triangle eyes, 1 triangle nose, and a rectangle mouth. We sure do love our shapes and will continue learning while having fun.

GUEST AUTHOR: MRS. BOND

Whole Brain Teaching In Progress at Oak Hill

Do you remember sitting through class while your teacher stood up front and talked for 45 minutes? When it was time to do an assignment afterwards, was it easy to recall or apply the information? A few of the teachers at Oak Hill remember sitting through those exact lessons and then not being able to retain that information.  We want to do everything we can to change that.  This is why a few of us have adopted a method called Whole Brain Teaching.  

What is Whole Brain Teaching? It is an integrated method that combines effective classroom management with pedagogically sound approaches to student engagement that are effective with a wide range of student learning populations. Basically, like I tell my Second Graders,   “Whole Brain Teaching is using all parts of our brain (our whole brain) to learn and teach each other”.

Mrs. Bentley, Mrs. Hernandez, Ms. Kittredge, Mrs. Thompson, and I all attended a very informative Whole Brain Teaching Conference this summer in hopes to apply this strategy in our classrooms.  We have been very successful so far.  The kids are able to use physical motions, repetition, images, spoken language, and the brain’s emotional core to help with learning. 

This is Mrs. Bond’s Class. The back row is holding the punctuation mark while the front row is showing the motion we do for that punctuation mark. 

Mrs. Bentley’s class is showing us the Place Value Power Pix.  Each subject has a picture, question, answer, and gesture that goes along with it.  All of these come together to allow the students to utilize many different ways to remember the information. 

 These two are showing part of how we do oral writing.  At this age, we are trying to make sure the students are using capitalization, punctuation, and sentence extenders.  He is showing us the motion of a capital letter and she is showing us the sign we use for because.  Students come up with their own sentences and share them with the class.  They use the proper motions while presenting the sentence to us.  This is also reflected in their journal writings.  Since their brain is using multiple ways to remember what to do, it is also applied in their writing. 

Mrs. Kittredge's class reviews the class rules. 

Obviously, there is a lot that goes into Whole Brain Teaching.  I can tell you that the results I have seen are wonderful.  The kids get so much more involved in learning because most of it feels like a game.  They teach their partner’s about what we have just learned.  They apply the skills/concepts we have learned into their everyday work, and then they beg to do more Whole Brain Learning.  

GUEST AUTHOR: MRS. PALMER

Did you know that OHE is a CATCH School?

Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) is a health program that promotes healthy habits and brings a school community together to teach children to be healthy for a lifetime. We recently had our annual CATCH Kick Off Week.

There are 4 key parts to CATCH:

Classroom curriculum

Students are taught the importance of good health behaviors. To accomplish this, health lessons are taught throughout the year. In addition, opportunities for physical activity is incorporated into the daily schedule. Both structured (WOW) and unstructured (recess) physical activities are supported.

Some examples of WOW activities: playing soccer and Gaga

Examples of recess activities.

Marathon Kids is a school-wide fitness program at OHE. All students Grades 1st – 5th are challenged to jog/run 104.8 miles throughout the year during the school day. Pre-K and Kinder students are encouraged to set a goal of 25-50 (or more) miles.

Students jog/run the track for 10 minutes most school days

Physical Education curriculum 

The P.E. curriculum teaches students physical skills and activities.

Cooperative People Alphabet activity from PE class

Nutrition services

Nutrition services prepare and promote healthy food choices at school.

The cafeteria offers healthy food choices including a salad bar option two times a week.

Family and Community

Family and our community encourage healthy habits in the home and community.

What can you expect from OHE’s CATCH Culture?

• Students are offered meals that are nutritious and follow the Dietary Guidelines from the cafeteria.
• Students will participate in Physical Education classes that are interactive and teach the values, knowledge, and skills needed to adopt a healthy, active lifestyle now and for the rest of their lives.
• Physical activity is included in the classroom throughout the day, including WOW, recess, and brain breaks. Recess is offered at all grade levels on a daily basis.
• OHE hosts events and activities that promote healthy eating and physical activity for students, parents and staff throughout the school year.

What can parents do to help support CATCH?

• Send healthy food choices for snacks and/or lunch.
• Encourage drinking water instead of sugar-sweetened drinks.
• Participate in physical activities with your child(ren).

GUEST AUTHOR: MRS. CHOUDHURY

Helping students develop positive self-esteem and confidence include showing them how to be sensitive and empathetic to the identity expressions of their peers.

In social studies, Ms. Choudhury’s fabulous 3rd grade class has been learning about diversity, identity, tolerance and different cultures that exist in our classroom. We read the book “The Name Jar” which is about a little girl from Korea named ‘Unhei’ who accepts her own Korean name and identity.

For Language Arts and Writing, students wrote the origin and importance of their own name. They were amazed to discover different origins of their name…Swahili, Indonesian, Indian, West Bengal, French, Swedish, Mexican, Bangladeshi, Canadian, Belgian and many more. Using technology, students went above and beyond by further researching the origin and meaning of their name.

We talked about and began to understand the meanings of the words Diversity, Tolerance, Culture, Unique, Identity and Acceptance of others, we built a community in the classroom and signed a compact of our “Classroom Rules” based on these words.

My hope is that this lesson will help my students to accept themselves and others for who they are, have respect for each other and build tolerance in the classroom and beyond. They are a great group of students!

Ice Cream Social

On Friday night, we had many Oak Hill families come out to join us at the Ice Cream Social. This was only my second time at the event, but I do think it is quickly becoming one of my favorite events- and I don’t even like ice cream! However, I love seeing the students who do like ice cream- some going back multiple times, the ones who enjoy being able to spend time playing and laughing with their friends,

  
  

and the students who have left OHE, but have come back to visit. Even our chicken friends came to check out the ice cream social!



It is such a "sweet" way to start the year!

   

Thank you so much to our wonderful PTA who works so hard to organize this awesome event for our school. Special thanks to Monica and Ophelia for taking the lead. Thank you also to our wonderful staff who comes out to help serve ice cream at the event. We could not do this without our teachers or the PTA!

 

Parents of 3rd- 5th graders, don't forget that Back to School Night is this week on Tuesday night from 6-7pm! We look forward to seeing you there!

Back to School Night for K-2 is next week on Tuesday, Sept. 20th from 6-7.

School Lunch

As we settle into classroom routines and get the school year rolling, we don’t have a lot of special events to post on, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to share with you some information about our cafeteria and some of the healthy and great changes that have been made by Austin ISD.

School meals help provide students with the nutrition and energy they need to excel in the classroom each day. The Austin ISD Nutrition & Food Services team are committed to supporting the academic achievement of all students by providing nutritious, appetizing meals that promote health, well-being and learning. There are many positive changes happening in our school cafés helping to make them a healthy dining destination for our students each day.

Here are a few ways our cafés are changing the perception of school cafeteria cuisine and the student dining experience:

- We offer a nutritious breakfast served in our café each morning. Breakfast options include healthy protein and grain options, as well as fresh fruit, 100% fruit juice and low-fat milk. This year’s menu includes many scratch-made items and features seasonal fresh fruit.

- Both breakfast and lunch menus will be on a seasonal rotation to offer a variety of flavors to our students, as well as local produce.

- With the help of our district chef, as well as nationally and locally recognized chefs, more global cuisine will be incorporated onto our menus to accommodate our diverse student body and expose students to new flavors.

- A minimum of three local items are on our menus each day. Programs like Farm to School and Farm Fresh Fridays will continue this year, which will feature produce items from local farms like Johnson’s Backyard Garden.

- We’re committed to providing food with high quality ingredients. Our menus are free of any high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and trans fats. Student favorite, chicken tenders, are made-from-whole-muscle meat and free of any antibiotics, and our hot dogs are nitrate-free turkey hot dogs.

- Vegetarian options are offered daily.

- Our café features a made to order salad bar two days each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Salad bars feature local produce options and allow students to choose their protein, vegetable and grains. Every two weeks, salad bars rotate through themes such as Chef, Fiesta, Asian and Mediterranean.

Please note: the prices of Austin ISD school lunch will increase for the 2016-17 school year by $.10, as a requirement of U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations.

- Elementary lunch prices will increase from $2.60 to $2.70
- Secondary lunch prices will increase from $2.75 to $2.85

Our menus provide the best value option for a tasty and nutritious meal for children.

Breakfast meal prices will not be affected and will remain at the current cost of $1.50. The price increase will have no effect on students who qualify for federally subsidized meals.

Does your household qualify for free or reduced price meals? Find income guidelines and free and reduced price meal applications here: www.austinisd.org/nutritionfoodservices/meal-applications. A new meal application must be submitted each school year.

If you haven’t visited our school café recently, I encourage you to do so. I know you will be pleasantly surprised with the nutritious and tasty food offered each day. The salad bar is a favorite among the students and the staff. Last year we averaged about 150 students who ate the salad bar each day it was offered. When you come have lunch with your child, come on a salad bar day and enjoy one yourself!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back Oak Hill Families! We hope that everyone had an incredible summer and a great first week of the new school year. We are thrilled to be back at Oak Hill with our fabulous students. We had a busy and exciting first week of school. I love seeing all the returning students ready for a new year and meeting all of the new students eager for an adventure at their new school.

At our weekly Friday assembly this week, we recognized the grade level winners of our Summer Reading Challenge. Our school read a total of 1,791 books and 174,944 pages. We are so proud of all of the students that took part in the challenge and read over the summer! If you happen to be in the cafeteria, you can see the awesome display of students that participated.

The first week of school is always thrilling and fun, but can be tiring as well as we get back into routine of waking up early. I hope you got some extra rest this weekend.  We will see you all tomorrow, recharged and ready for another week of learning. We look forward to working with you to make sure it is an awesome school year for your family!

Back to School and Recess

Hope you are all enjoying your last weeks of summer! We are busily prepping the building for the students' return in 2 weeks (First Day is August 22nd!). I just wanted to update you on a few things.

Eagle Encounter/Meet the teacher will be on August 19th from 3:30-5. At 3:30 you can join the PTA, buy school gear and visit with other organizations in the air conditioning in the cafeteria. At 4:00, the doors will open for you to go meet the teachers. You can find out who your child's teacher is on Thursday, Aug 18 at 5:00. Class lists will be posted on the walls of the front porch of the main building for all students. Please note that the school will be closed at that time, so there will not be access to the building for restrooms or water. Please be sure you are subscribed to the Eagle Eye for the most up to date information. Go to our website at http://oakhillelementary.org/ and click on the Subscribe button to stay informed!

Did you see the news about extra recess for students in Austin ISD. Here is a link to the news article in the Statesman Recess article  While this change still has to be approved by the board and will not begin until sometime in the fall, this is an exciting change. We will keep you posted about the specifics once we have them and once the recess goes into effect, you will receive a new daily schedule for your child.

Don't forget to log your books for the summer reading challenge. See you soon!

Happy Summer!

I hope your family is having a great summer so far.   Before they left school, I challenged all of the students to learn something every day during the summer. They can do this through experiences, by watching something interesting on TV, or reading a book. It doesn't even require them to go anywhere- they can learn something on a walk or by playing with a friend. I look forward to hearing about everything they learn and the places they go to over the summer.

I also hope that you are participating in the Summer reading challenge. You can access the online books through https://www.myon.com/ Your password and user id were sent home with your student on a flyer. If you can't find it, their username is S followed by their student ID number (for ex. S1000475) and the password is aisd. You can find their student number on their report card. I just checked the account for our school today and it looks like we have had a lot of people using it. Oak Hill Elementary has logged over 150 hours of reading time and first grade has read over 300 books!  WAY TO GO! I'm super proud! If your student was in PK or K, you can log on too and read to them. It counts.

Check out the amounts below:

Once you read a book from www.myon.com or any other book, be sure you go to the OHE summer reading challenge page to record the number of pages you read. I already finished a book and logged it. You can find the Reading log here: http://summerreading.ohepta.org/

I hope you all continue to have a wonderful summer. Get some rest, get some exercise for your body and your mind, and have some fun! See you in August!