Volume III Issue 6
CASSINGHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
AN IB/PYP WORLD SCHOOL
A NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
March 2014
H. Jeannine Hetzler
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
The Science teachers in the building are reassuring
me that Spring will come along at any minute; a fact
to which many students and I are clinging! In
addition to daffodils Springtime can also bring
student concerns around transitions for the next
grade level and changing friendships. Across our
building teachers and Ms. Goodenow are opening
dialogues around these types of concerns.
Friendship groups and Guidance lessons are geared
toward discussing and practicing positive
relationship skills.
March
Additionally 2nd graders are beginning their playwriting work; keep an eye out for their productions
about how to be a good friend over the next month.
It’s our hope that many of these experiences will
spark some dialogue at home around friendship
strategies.
Please also check out the tree that’s developed
outside the Cassingham office. Students
have articulated ways they feel welcomed,
safe and included here at Cassingham.
This will bloom into our building’s Bill of
Rights over the next school year.
This month’s bookmark highlights some of the
assignment expectations your child will encounter
across all units of study here at Cassingham.
Cassingham teachers have agreed to these common
definitions and we hope that they will be at home
also. For example, what does it really mean to
explain an answer? Please feel free to cut it out,
stick it on the refrigerator, or where ever it will be
handy.
3/1……....….BEF BRAVO Event 7:00-11:00 pm
3/3…...……..Read Across America Day
3/8…………..Montrose Elementary School
Fun-for-All 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
3/11…………Late Start-Doors Open at 9:20 a.m.
3/11................PTO Meeting-6:30 p.m.
3/14………....End of 3rd Quarter
3/17-21……...Spring Break!
3/25.................Market Day Pick-Up 2:45-3:45 pm
3/25...…...Pizza Night at Bexley Pizza Plus
3/28……..Deadline for Ed/Year Nominations
2014/2015 KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
A-L
Tues, April 1
M-Z
Wed, April 2
Cassingham Complex Community Room
(by the Main Entrance)
Both days: 9:00-11:00 a.m. & 1:00-3:00 p.m.*
Students must be 5 years old by August 1 for
the 2014/2015 school year. Please bring the
child’s original birth certificate, immunization
records and all of the following for proof of
residency: proof of home ownership or original lease, personal check, utility receipt and
driver’s license reflecting your Central Bexley
address. These documents will be copied and
kept on file. *Please contact the Cassingham
Office if a time after 3:00 p.m. is necessary.
DID YOU KNOW...
...kindergartners will be inquiring into living things
through a study of All About
writing? Geometry—the study
of shapes will be our focus in
math.
We celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday on
Monday, March 3, Read Across America Day!
...first graders are beginning to step into the
shoes of a scientist? We are starting with
looking at things closely and making
predictions.
...second graders are inquiring into how cultures
may express their beliefs and values through stories
and literary archetypes? As a part of this unit they
will be creating school wide reader’s theater plays
with the help of professional playwrights, artists
and dancers, thanks to a grant through the RL Stine
fund and BEF! We’ll also be attending The Slim
Goodbody Show in March. Thanks PTO for
helping to fund this trip!
...third graders produced a fantastic Cassingham
COSI show, chock full of hands-on energy and
matter demonstrations for visitors? Now they are
moving on with their study of energy, looking at
how well (or not) we use Earth's valuable resources
to make work happen in our lives.
...fourth graders are decoding Earth’s
history by examining fossils? Dale
Gnidovec, Curator of the Orton
Geological Museum at OSU, will
share his fossils with the students on
March 6th.
SAFETY PATROL NEWS
Mrs. Stacy Bell, Advisor
Through May 31, AAA Safety Patrollers will receive a free kids’ meal and 25% off merchandise at
the Hard Rock Café. Cassingham Patrollers received a voucher at their February Meeting.
Gold Badge Winners for February are
Zach Brooks and Henry Lewis. Thank
you for your continued efforts to keep
your classmates safe!
En La Clase de Español
Señora Kristen Konya
First graders are continuing with expressing feelings
in Spanish and learning about the days of the week.
Second graders have been working with family related vocabulary and are now learning about fairy
tales in Spanish. We read “The Three Little Tamales.” Please ask your second grader if it reminds
them of another story…..
...fifth graders will present this week with a
culminating “How the world works” concert?
Artist Michael Bashaw will be working with us to
help create some beautiful music at our
first town meeting of the month! We
will soon begin our “Where we are in
place and time” unit as we explore our
universe and make connections to
ancient civilizations of the Western
Hemisphere!
Third graders are currently learning about homes
and house related vocabulary. Ask a third grader
where “La casa de botellas” is located! It is a home
made entirely from repurposed items, including recycled water bottles….
...sixth graders are busy preparing
their ancient civilization museums
scheduled for Thursday, March 13?
Ancient China, Egypt, and India will
be represented through interactive
displays that cover various elements of
each civilization.
Fifth graders learned about the difference between
the “tú and usted” forms and are learning about
music and instruments from Spain and Latin America.
Fourth graders have been “traveling” all over South
America to see geographical landmarks and to practice basic Spanish greetings and questions with people from South America. See if they will sing the
“¿De dónde eres tú?” song to you….
Sixth graders have reviewed pronouns and will be
working with basic –AR verb conjugation.
Notes from the Music Room
by Mrs. Goodney
Please take a moment to read a quick overview of our K-5 Music program:
 K-1 classes have learned quite a few new song games and hand games that reinforce high and low pitches, and loud vs. soft singing: Doggy Doggy, Lucy Locket, Do You Love Me, and Round De Doo Bop are
just a few of the fun songs you should ask your child to sing.
nd
 2 graders are beginning their study of fairy tales in the regular classroom, and we are exploring fairy
tales in music as well. The students especially like Laurie Berkner’s Lots of Little Pigs from her Buzz
Buzz CD. 2nd graders are also getting to know how to play all the interesting pitched and non-pitched
rhythm instruments in preparation for adding music to their class-written plays, to be performed in
April.
rd
 3 graders are dazzling family and friends with their fabulous new recorder skills! Students have been
working on earning their White and Yellow Recorder Karate belts, and in March will expand their notereading and playing skills to include four or five new notes. They are learning to read musical scores,
with one line assigned to recorder, one line assigned to xylophone, a line for drum and a line for other
percussion instruments. A few students still need to turn in their $5.00 for the recorder they are using.
Please send that in as soon as possible. Checks may be made out to Cassingham PTO.
th
th
 Finally, 4 and 5 graders spent February immersed in Jazz, and the history of Jazz. This included performing jazz improvisation pieces for the class in trios and quartets. Next time, we’ll need to record some
of their compositions – Wynton Marsalis would be proud of some of their work – I know I was! Both 4th
and 5th graders will start class guitar very soon, after the 5th grade spends a week with Michael Bashaw.
A Collage
In The Gym
From Mrs. Ungar’s Art Room
With Ms. McCarthy
It’s difficult to plan for summer programs with the
winter we’ve had this year, however I would like to
inform you of several in our area to check out:



Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) They hold classes all summer for students entering first grade & up. Check their website.
Great program!
Lisa Viney has a wonderful art camp at Maryland Elementary School each summer. Flyers
will be available at each elementary school.
Creative Art Studio on East Main St. (formerly
Children’s Art Studio) is another terrific program.
Our Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart event just
finished. As money is still coming in, our
total
will
be
announced
next
month. Thank you to all who collected
and made donations. I can tell you right
now, we have had another record breaking year in
terms of donations! Thank you Cassingham Community!
Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 will be starting our volleyball
unit, while grades K-2 will be finishing their jump
rope unit and moving on to using hula
hoops. Always busy and active in the Cassingham
gym!
Congratulations to the Cassingham Battle of the Books
team for taking first place in the 2014 Franklin County
Ms. Chris Amspaugh, Advisor Fifth Grade BOB Competition! Fifteen teams from
schools all over central Ohio competed by answering
questions about the fourteen books on this year’s reading list. Students have been preparing for the competition since October, making a big commitment to reading books, attending weekly meetings, and participating in book discussions. Of the nearly 20 students who participated in BOB this year, Tom Nakasako, Gabrielle Nelson, Aden Flora, Luke Smith, Philip Luehmann earned the honor of representing Cassingham on
stage at the competition, cheered on by alternates Matthew Cohn and Talya Lusiak. Congratulations to
them, and to all members of the 2013-2014 Cassingham Battle of the Books team for their hard work and
commitment through the BOB season!
Battle of the Books!
A Dose from the Health Office
Joann Spain, R.N. & Katie Talbott, R.N.
Attention 6th grade parents, you should have received a recent notice from our office about the
need to have your child immunized with the Tdap
booster before 7th grade. This shot is required before starting middle school. Most kids receive this
shot from their pediatrician at their 11 or 12 year
well check up. WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE
THIS DATE ON FILE IN OUR HEALTH OFFICE
BEFORE THE END OF THIS SCHOOL YEAR. If
your child has received his/ her Tdap booster,
please get a copy of the shot record to us ASAP. If
your child still needs the shot, please call your pediatrician to have this scheduled. Thank you for your
help with this matter.
Student Assignments:
CS Common Definitions
Level of thinking
complexity
Define - Give the precise meaning of word,
phrase, concept or
physical quantity.
Level 1
Open House/Art Show
Tuesday, May 6!!!
IB/PYP Particulars
Level 2
The students at Cassingham Elementary are thinking in complex ways daily. Each unit of inquiry includes a summative/final assessment which considers the students’ understanding of the unit’s central
idea. The Cassingham faculty has been evaluating
the levels of thinking that students are asked to
demonstrate within each unit’s activities and assessments. During the first part of this review, we came
to some common definitions of our expectations for
students as they demonstrate their thinking.
IB refers to these expectations as “command
terms”. Basically, these are the skills we’re asking
students to demonstrate across Common Core and
State Standards in Math, Language Arts, Science
and Social Studies. E asked ourselves, “What does
it really mean for a student to explain their thinking, define a term, or describe an event?” Our
bookmark this month shares a number of these
“command terms” or student expectations and how
IB and the Cassingham staff is defining them. We
hope you and your family will find these definitions
helpful as your children are working through or
reflecting upon their assignments.
List - Give a sequence
of brief answers with no
explanation.
Recall - Remember or
recognize from prior
learning experiences.
DATE CHANGE!
Mrs. Jana Clarke
IB Coordinator
Expectation & Definition
Level 3
Apply - Use knowledge
& understanding in response to a given situation or real circumstances.
Describe - Give a detailed account or picture of a situation,
event, pattern or process.
Analyze - Break down
to bring out the essential elements/structure.
To identify parts, relationships, and to interpret information to
reach conclusions.
Evaluate - Assess the
implications/limitations;
make judgments about
ideas, works, solutions,
&/or methods in relation
to selected criteria.
Explain - Give a detailed account including reasons or causes.