Newsletter - December 2022

 

Oakwood School Families,

We want to express our appreciation for your overwhelming support of our recent Scholastic Book Fair/PTO Night.   Your generosity allowed us to purchase a large variety of new books for every classroom in our school.    The support you provide our PTO also brings supplies and opportunities to our school.    This February we will  have an Author visit as part of our One School - One Author!!  - provided by the PTO.

Promoting reading and a love of reading is one of the greatest gifts you can give your child.  On that note, I wanted to take a moment to talk a bit about the books that your child should be reading at home.  At school, we assess to determine a student’s independent and instructional reading levels.  These are two very different levels.  An independent reading  text is one that your child can access very quickly and read with very few errors. Think of an independent level as the highest level you would ask a child to read without help.  These are the books that we would send home with your child.  They are used to build stamina, fluency, and increase their love of reading.   An instructional reading text is a level that requires additional instruction.  The text is a bit challenging for the student and requires support from the teacher.  These are not books we would send home with your child.  These are books we use in the classroom in guided reading, small groups, or one on one conferences.  Please feel free to ask your teacher, our reading specialist Mrs. Gehrke, or myself for any clarification on this information.

We want to take this opportunity to wish you and all of your families a wonderful holiday season.  We look forward to 2023 and all the changes it may bring. :0)

Susan Martin

Principal

susan.martin@oshkosh.k12.wi.us

 

Thank you parents for contacting the office in addition to your child's teacher regarding absences due to illness, appointments, vacations, etc.  

 

Student Council Food Drive

Student Council is currently hosting a food drive to support the Mid-Morning Kiwanis Food Drive. It will run through Tuesday, December 6th. Our school will enjoy a Magic Show presented by the Kiwanis on that day as well. Please continue sending canned and boxed food items to school the first week of December to support our efforts to donate to the Oshkosh Salvation Army. Let’s show our Oakwood Pride and help this food drive with our generous donations! Thank you for your gifts and support!

 

The snow has arrived and the freezing temps are on the way!  Please have your child(ren) prepared to be outside before the morning bell rings at 7:40 and at recess.  Please label coats, hats, and mittens so they can be returned quickly to your child if something is left behind on the playground.  

****Snowpants and boots are strongly recommended to play on the playground equipment and woodchips with snow on the ground.  Without this winter gear on, clothing and shoes may get soaked!

****Students will be inside for recess if the temperature is below 10 degrees or the windchill is below zero.  

Student Council News

Student council members have been busy this month with projects to  help spread cheer to others. We are supporting a Global Academy Project at West High School with a shoe drive. Money raised from our donated shoes will go to the organization Because International to help make “Shoes that Grow”. We will never meet the recipients of these generous donations but many children will benefit from helping to recycle old shoes that we are not using any more. Way to go Oakwood. 

Our other project for the month of November is our annual food drive for the Kiwanis to donate to the Salvation Army. So far we have collected 302 items. We are trying to meet our first goal of 440 to have each child in our school bring at least one item each. Last year Oakwood collected 2,797 items as a school. Let's try to beat this total to help spread kindness for our Oshkosh community. If you are coming to the Book Fair/PTO night, please consider bringing some items to school. There will be collection boxes located in the media  center. Our collection will be held through December 6th. When we meet our goal, our school will be rewarded with a school wide reward. We thank you for your support. 

 

 

As we come to this festive time of year,  it is a great time for families to celebrate traditions.

Here are some ideas to incorporate literacy and math into your family traditions:

• Write about your favorite family tradition or a memory you have made together. This could be a journal entry, poem, list, or story.

• Make lists- grocery lists, gifts, to do lists, packing lists if you are traveling.

• Go back and read some of your family favorite books.

• Cook together. Ask your child to take your recipe and cut it in half or cut it in thirds. Ask your child to help you work out how many more items are needed when cooking or shopping, especially working on getting to 5, 10 and 20. Ex. “I have 2 apples, how many more will I need to make 5?” And “I have 6 apples, how many more will I need to make 10?”

• Play card games and game with dice.

 

Please continue to have your kids bring in the following items and a huge THANK YOU for everything that has been brought in so far!!  

• Newspaper
• Toilet paper rolls
• Cereal boxes (empty)
• New Play-Doh (for Kindergarten)
• New glue sticks
• Pizza cardboard circles

In addition to these items, Mrs. Recker is looking for NEW paper lunch bags.  

Please have your kids return their artwork paper bags to school after they have brought their artwork home. Thanks!

Visit the Oakwood Art Facebook page and check out the wonderful artwork the students have been creating at:   Oakwood Elementary Art

Dear Oakwood Parents,

The kindergarten, first, and second grade students are pleased to present their Winter Concert, “A Night on the Red Carpet”, on Tuesday, December 13th at 6:00pm in the Alberta Kimball Auditorium inside Oshkosh West High School. The students have worked very hard throughout the year and they are eager to share what they have learned.

I have also provided a program for the winter concert should your child want to practice at home.

 

Kindergarten

“The Lion Sleeps Tonight” from The Lion King

“You’ve Got A Friend In Me” from Toy Story

“Nuttin’ For Christmas” (with 1st grade)

 

1st Grade

“Nuttin’ For Christmas” (with kindergarten)

“A Whole New World” from Aladdin

“Try Everything” from Zootopia

 

Second Grade

“Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book

“A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes” from Cinderella

“I Just Can’t Wait to be King” from The Lion King

 

Dress for the concert: 

Though I am not requiring specific attire for the concert, I do request that students dress appropriately for the concert. This means no jeans, no sneakers, and no T-shirts. All of the songs are from movies and I think it would be fun for the kids to feel like movie stars, so feel free to dress them up in their fancy clothes (suits, bowties, dresses, fancy shoes, etc.) It will feel like a true night at the Oscars! 

Before the concert:

Please arrive at the Alberta Kimball Auditorium by no later than 5:30pm. At 5:45pm, please find your child’s classroom teacher and have your child stay with their class. Kindergarten students will meet in the hallway outside the auditorium with their teachers. First and second grade students can find their teacher inside the auditorium. After your child is dropped off with their classroom teacher, please find a seat in the auditorium and enjoy the concert! 

*Kindergarten Parents: Please make sure to save your child a seat. After their portion of the concert, kindergarten will leave the stage and join their parents for the remainder of the concert.

After the concert:

Please wait for your child to exit the stage and return to their class before taking them home. Each class will have a section of the auditorium where you can find your child with their classroom teacher.

Parking:

For family and friends attending the concert, parking is available on the north side of Oshkosh West High School.

Concert Specifics:

1. No food or drink is allowed inside the auditorium.

2. Doors to the auditorium open at 5pm. If you would like to come and find a seat, you are welcome. However, please stay with your child until they meet their teachers at 5:45pm in their designated spots.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (920) 424-0315 ext. 4104 or samuel.joseph@oshkosh.k12.wi.us.

Sincerely,

 

Mr. Samuel Joseph

General Music Teacher

 

Baksteen Valken competed in the Lakeshore Technical College Regional FLL Tournament on Saturday, November 12, with 30 other Wisconsin teams. We are thrilled to report the team won the first place Robot Design award, and is advancing to the Mukwonago Sectional Tournament on Saturday, December 10. 

We are also very pleased to announce that our mentor, Erik Ellifson, was the recipient of the Coach Award for his outstanding dedication to FLL and our students. 

We are so proud of everyone's hard work and perseverance! 

Thanks for all of your support,

Coach Amy