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Priorities of the
Upper Elementary Division
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Appreciation of Individual Excellence
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Philosophy of Gentle Guidance
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Creation of “Communities of Excellence”
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Strengthening of foundation built during primary years
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Fostering exploration of individual talents
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Every Decision with the Child in Mind
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Contact Information
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Dr. Lynda Csaszar
Head of Upper Elementary School Division
Parish Episcopal School
4101 Sigma Road
Dallas, Texas 75244
(972) 852-8778
email
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Message from Dr. Csaszar
August 2007
The only way to live is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle, which is exactly what it is: a miracle and unrepeatable. - Storm Jameson
Dear Parents of Upper Elementary Students,
We thought you might like to read about some of the wonderful and significant events that the third and fourth grade faculty members have created for your children. I am constantly amazed at the skill and creativity of the Upper Elementary team, and I know you will enjoy anticipating both the fun and the learning that the students will experience as a result. Outlined in this newsletter are four events per grade level that are either core curriculum or fine arts related, and we also wanted to add our soldier outreach initiative because it is a program in which we all participate together. Some of the events occur in classrooms on the designated day, and other events are special programs or performances for parents and/or students and teachers of other grade levels.
Third Grade Events
“Reading Runway” - On November 16, third grade students will have a new opportunity this year to bring their favorite fiction storybook character to life! “Dare to imagine” is what we will say as we prepare third graders to make their Reading Runway character presentations to their fourth grade friends! Creating signs, posters, descriptions of character traits, and coming to school dressed as their characters will be a few of the ways students can express their creativity. We look forward to seeing the many ways in which students become inspired about reading. We know it will be a contagious experience!
“All Roads Lead to Rome” has become a tradition in third grade, and this year, social studies classes will be participating in their 5th annual production. This historical musical production is the culminating event for the Ancient Roman history unit each year. All third grade students will have solo speaking parts as well as numerous acting, singing, and dance parts throughout the production. “All Roads Lead to Rome” is a living timeline beginning with the founding of Rome and ending with the fall of the Roman Empire. History is alive and well in third grade. Parents and second grade students and teachers will be invited to join the fun and learn about Roman history on January 25th at 1:00 p.m. on our beautiful Midway campus. See you on the Via Appia!
Inventor Presentation - Our third grade students will have the opportunity to learn about inventors and their inventions, and on a designated day they will present their research. In each homeroom, each student will tell about the life of the inventor he or she has researched, explain the invention, and report if the invention is still used today. Students will include any interesting facts they have learned during their research. Students will act as the inventors, dress like the inventors, and possibly display the inventions! Student presentations will be the result of the third graders learning to use the resource materials in the Parish library, visiting other libraries, and incorporating some use of particular sites on the Internet. This project combines skills used in reading and science. This is a great learning experience, and the students enjoy having the chance to present their information as if they are really the inventors!
Fourth Grade Events
“Happy Birthday, Milton Hershey” Day begins the fourth grade year deliciously! Held on September 14th each year, the day celebrated the life of Milton Hershey, chocolate scientist, and all things chocolate. It was an activity held in conjunction with the study of process skills unit in science class. Students dressed up either as Milton or Kitty Hershey, or some chose to come attired in the colors of chocolate. Each discipline focused on a chocolate activity that day, and students got a chocolate treat in each room. In math class, each child did a crossword puzzle using math clues and chocolate vocabulary, while social studies classes focused on the history of chocolate, beginning with the Aztecs. In language arts, students created a writing journal story from chocolate themed story starters, while the reading classes learned about the life of Milton Hershey in stories and poems. The day culminated with a showing of “Willy Wonka” and one last sweet treat.
“Shop Til’ You Drop Day” will be on December 14th. It will be a day of fun that will culminate our math unit on adding and subtracting decimals. Students will prepare a holiday shopping list in math class using their calculation skills, and they will study the history of money in social studies. During science, they will work on a forensic bone mystery, and try to figure out what happened to the shopper whose skeleton was discovered. In their language arts and reading classes, they will write about their dream mall and read an accompanying story. The day will end with a “shopping” exercise and a themed movie. When we are finished, we will be well educated and experienced mall runners just in time for the holidays!
“Snow Day” will be a culmination of our first fourth grade novel study, Snow Treasure, by Marie McSwigan, and will occur on February 26. The children will be asked to dress in pajamas and slippers and to create a hat from marshmallows to model in the Snow Day Parade. From the entrants in the parade, our audience members will cast an individual vote for their favorite boy's and girl's creation. The votes will be tallied and a Snow Day King and Queen will be announced later in the day. In addition to the Marshmallow Hat Parade and the crowning of the royalty, other activities will include Marshmallow Bingo and Marshmallow Olympics.
“Texpert Trail and Texas Pioneer Day” will be on May 27. The Texpert Trail portion of the day will be held in the morning. Third through sixth grade students will be invited to attend and meet the characters from Texas history researched by the fourth grade students earlier in the spring. Texpert Trail will be the culmination of the research process involving skills in note taking, outlining, composition, and oral presentations. Each fourth grade student will create a report on his/her selected character. Students will dress as the character that they researched and give a brief presentation. This will be followed by our Texas Pioneer Day celebration. During the afternoon time, we will have a pioneer lunch, learn some of the games played by schoolchildren in the 19th century, churn butter, and celebrate our Texas heritage. Parents will be welcome to stop by on a “come and go” basis and see the Texpert Trail and Texas Pioneer Day fun on the third and fourth grade playground area of the Midway campus.
Upper Elementary Outreach
One of the outreach programs Upper Elementary students have been a part of since the war in Iraq started is the adoption of a soldier on the front lines over there. We have adopted three different soldiers, all with a Texas connection of some sort. We began with Marine Sgt. Barrett Horak, a native Texan who was in the first wave of troops entering Iraq. After he returned safely, we adopted Army Sgt. Adam Robbins, a local Dallasite. When Adam’s tour ended safely, Barrett got sent back again, so we “re-adopted” him. After serving a year, Barrett returned, and we adopted Major Troy Leach. Major Leach’s wife has a cousin at Parish, and he is from the Army’s 4th Infantry Brigade based in Ft. Hood. While Major Leach was in our care, Adam was sent back again and has been re-adopted also. We look forward to continuing our support of our adopted soldiers with our prayers, letters, and boxes of love from home.
Special Thanks
I’d like to extend a special message of gratitude to all Upper Elementary faculty members for their contributions to this writing and/or their efforts in making these events special for the students of the Upper Elementary Division.
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