Take Time to Read Aloud~

            When I was young, my mother would read aloud to me whenever she could.  As I a child, I remember being so excited to go to the library every week with my mom, filling my book bag as full as I could!  That was a tradition that stuck with me throughout my teen years and into adulthood.  I still am an avid reader, finding time to read every day.  It is one of my favorite things to do!

            That tradition carried on with my own children.   My husband and I made a point read to our children every day throughout their elementary years. I found myself taking them to the library, just as my mom did with me.  I think I could have bought stock in Scholastic and Barnes & Noble for all the books purchased and read throughout their childhood.  But, it was an activity we all loved and it gave us some quality time together each night.

            Reading aloud to your children, of any age, is so important!  Reading aloud will increase a person’s value of books and inspire motivation to read on your own.   Taking the time to read aloud not only gives you quality time with your child but also, lets the parent be a great role model.  It shows the parent is excited about reading and children model their parent’s behaviors; they catch the excitement!  Reading aloud also provides exposure to language that we don’t see on television, in movies, or even in our daily interactions within families.  When we encourage reading and read aloud with our children, they develop a larger vocabulary, stimulate their imagination, and are often able to increase their attention span!  Don’t wait for the next rainy day, read with your children tonight!

Mrs. Scoblic

Reading & Math Corps

We are fortunate to have Minnesota Reading Corps and Minnesota Math Corps programs at Lester Prairie School.  Ms. Alyssa Silvers is our Minnesota Reading Corps Member, and Mr. Carter Berkelman is our Minnesota Math Corps Member.  Both members are full-time, and complete about 40 service hours each week.  Their service year began in August 2015 and ends in June 2016, for a total of 1720 hours.   Ms. Silvers and Mr. Berkelman both received training in Minneapolis to learn specific interventions to help students improve their reading and math skills. 

Ms. Silvers provides tutoring in reading for Kindergarten through third grade students.  Ms. Silvers works with a caseload of 15-19 students, tutoring the students individually for 20 minutes every school day.  She uses specific reading interventions to help our students become more fluent readers.  Ms. Silvers has an on-going support system from her Master Coach, Jeana Wibstad from Minnesota Reading Corps, and Krystina Peterson, Title I Instructor at Lester Prairie School.  Together as a team they decide which reading strategies Ms. Silvers will use, and progress monitor the students’ growth each week.  Minnesota Reading Corps has been an asset at Lester Prairie School to help our elementary students become proficient readers. 

Mr. Berkelman uses the Minnesota Math Corps curriculum, interventions, and manipulatives when tutoring math students at Lester Prairie School.  The Minnesota Math Corps curriculum focuses its lessons on the Minnesota Math Standards, emphasizing the areas of number sense and algebra.  Mr. Berkelman has a caseload of 24 students in fourth through eighth grades.  He tutors math in small groups of 1-2 students, 2-3 times per week, for a total of 75-90 minutes each week.  Mr. Berkelman works with Paul Schullo, Minnesota Math Corps Master Coach, and Krystina Peterson, Internal Coach and Title I Instructor at Lester Prairie School, to ensure the Minnesota Math Corps curriculum is taught with fidelity and monitor students’ progress.  Minnesota Math Corps has been beneficial at Lester Prairie School, and has helped increase proficiency in our students’ math skills. 

Lester Prairie School is in the process of recruiting one full-time Minnesota Reading Corps Member and one full-time Minnesota Math Corps Member to complete 1720 service hours during the 2016-2017 school year.  Interested candidates may inquire more information by contacting the Lester Prairie School Principal, Nathaniel Boyer, at 320-395-2521 or boyer@lp.k12.mn.us.  Additional information and applications are found online at www.MinnesotaReadingCorps.org and www.MinnesotaMathCorps.org.

First Graders and Reading

Learning to read opens your life to a wide world of possibilities.  Parents play a critical role in helping their child learn to read as well as experiencing the pleasure of reading.  All first grade students at Lester Prairie are expected to read at least 350 minutes at home each month.  The following students met (or far surpassed) our challenge to read 500 or more minutes last month: Ayla Bebo, Brielle Christen, Maya Eckstein, Gracie Hintz, Clayton Hoof, Eli LaMott, Alivia Otto, Natasha Petersen, Deegan Rolf, Jordan Rehmann, Hannah Smith, Scott Wolfe, Addison Bornmann-Adams, Kaison Walstrom, Kendall Zabel, Colton Novotny, Ella Bebo, Nestor Garza, and Mitchell Peterson.  Thirteen of these students read more than 650 minutes, three of them read well over 1000 minutes, while one read more than 2000 minutes!  Their teachers, Miss Murphy and Mrs. Brandel, know that the time and effort spent reading together at home is paying big dividends for the students and their families now and in the years to come.  First graders’ reading and writing skills are improving tremendously, and students are discovering loads of things you can learn, the enjoyment that you can find in each story, and the delight in sharing books with family members.  We hope the students are developing a habit of reading that will continue for a lifetime!

submitted by Connie Murphy, First Grade Teacher

Lester Prairie Second Graders Are Weather Watchers

During the month of April, the second graders at Lester Prairie Elementary School learned how to measure the weather.  They went outside to take daily temperature readings that they recorded and turned into a graph. Each child made a rain gauge to take home so they could measure the rainfall.  They learned how to measure wind using an anemometer and also made wind vanes.  During this weather unit they also observed the water cycle in the classroom first hand by watching water evaporate, condense into tiny droplets, and then rain back down again.  

Axel Bahena-Vega and Mallorie Torry check the temperature

Erica Kolander and Joanna Cervantes make a rain gauge

Eli Zebell and Joslyn Alsleben check the temperature.

Oliva Radtke and Gavin Lorentz make a rain gauge.

PARENT DRIVER’S EDUCATION CLASS RESCHEDULED

The 90 minute Parent Driver’s Education class held at Lester Prairie High School has been rescheduled for Thursday May 12^th from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in Room 126 at LPHS.  Novice drivers are required to log 50 hours of practice driving before they attempt their road test (15 of these hours must be at night).  If a parent attends this class, the number of practice hours logged drops to 40 (15 must be at night).  Please preregister with Mr. Bjork at LPHS before May 9^th so that we make sure we have enough materials on hand.  A minimum of 10 parents need to preregister in order for the class to be held.  Mr. Bjork can be contacted at LPHS at (320) 395-2521 or at bjork@lp.k12.mn.us

LP Current Events Class Holds Primary Elections

If you pass through the halls of Lester Prairie high school you might see some Presidential candidate posters on the walls. This coming November our great nation will elect a new president. Leading up to the November election the Democratic and Republican parties hold primary elections in many states. These election results will help those two political parties select their final nomination. With the Presidential race currently dominating the news, this gave the LP Current Events class a prime opportunity to learn more about the election and election process.

With the primaries currently taking place, the class decided to create a mock primary election at LP. They made posters for each of the five remaining candidates in both the Democratic and Republican parties. Posters were made for Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich. The posters were created to inform the voters, 6th -12th grade students, about these candidates. The goal is to educate the voters without influencing their votes. The Current Events class will make a ballot listing all five candidates, and distribute these ballots to the Social Studies classes and staff members, voting will be optional. The Current Events class’ goal to get a strong  and diverse voter turnout.

The Current Events class will then collect the polling data and analyze it. Finally, they will report the winner and compare it to the most recent national polls. The LP Current Events class is very excited to do this school project. They would also like to remind you, the reader, to stay informed on everything current and make sure when next November's election comes around to be informed and participate in your civic duty of voting!

SPRING PLAY - "The Last Gladiator"

Rehearsals for the LP/HT Spring Play, The Last Gladiator, a comedy written by Martin Follose and directed by Julie Olson, are underway at the Lester Prairie School. Performance dates are April 15 and 16, 2016, at 7:30pm at the Lester Prairie School’s stage. Admission for the play is $5 for adults and $3 for students. There will also be a matinee for students on Friday, April 15.

The Last Gladiator is a fast paced comedy that will have the audience rolling on the floor with laughter. While the emperor is away at war with almost all of the other senators and men of the city, playful peasant thieves ransack the market place, the annoying senators’ wives invent silly promotions to raise war-time funds, and the princess searches in vain for a husband. If she can’t find a suitable match, her father has decreed she must marry the last gladiator standing in the upcoming games. That’s the last thing this headstrong, intelligent feminist princess wants! To make matters worse, top-ranking Senator Altilis is breathing down her neck to choose him as the one lucky senator to control the affairs at the home front. He deviously schemes to get her out of the empire’s affairs by moving the day of the gladiator games up, thus burdening the princess with planning her dreaded wedding. Meanwhile, peasant thieves, Gladis, Minimus, and Julie sneak into the royal palace disguised as handmaidens. They are promptly caught in a hilarious scene, almost becoming lion food until the princess gets an idea. If she trains Gladis to compete in the games, she can avoid marrying Brudis, the brainless brute favored to win. A hysterical scene follows when Minimus and Julia’s plan to the rig the games to save Gladis blows up in their faces. Find out who is the last gladiator standing in the side-splitting comedy.

This play is produced by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama Services, Inc., Englewood, Colorado.

Cast for “The Last Gladiator”

Gladius ... Andrew Jackson

Minimus ... Logan Groff

Lady ... Trisha Nyberg

Julia ... Jamie DeBruyckere

Princess ... Grace Jeurissen

Maid ... Maggie Piehl

Altilis ... Cameron Bolf

Messenger ... Harley Hentges

Impella ... Olivia Sanders

Verbalina ... Delaney Sebora

Sasilla ... Emily Williams

Laffina ... Paige Hausladen

Attendant ... Maggie Piehl

Brudis ... Rodrigo Medina

Fina ... Paige Hausladen

Emperor ... Erik Hentges

Mob/Spectator #1 ... Erik Hentges

Mob/Spectator #2 ... Landon Groff

LITTLE LEARNER PRESCHOOL RECEIVES FOUR STARS

Little Learners Preschool, at Lester Prairie School, is excited to announce that we have received a Four Star Parent Aware rating through the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)! To get a Parent Aware rating, schools fill out an application about the curriculum and assessments used in their preschool programs. Districts are required to use curriculums and assessments that are on an approved list. Once the application is filled out, MDE reviews it and awards the program a rating. A four star rating is the highest rating a district can receive!

Little Learners Preschool uses The Creative Curriculum. This curriculum has several studies to choose from on a wide variety of topics. Some of the studies include: balls, clothing, roads, trees, and pets. We also use Word Time, to help develop new vocabulary; Numbers and Math, to help build different math skills; Language and Literacy, and Handwriting without Tears. All of the aforementioned are part of the Get Set for School Curriculum offered by Handwriting without Tears.

The assessment tool we use throughout the year is the Teaching Strategies GOLD Objectives for Development and Learning for Children Birth through Five. The Teaching Strategies GOLD objectives are embedded through the Creative Curriculum so that we can use the goals when lesson planning. We use the assessment tool to show parents where their child is at developmentally when we meet for parent-teacher conferences.

A typical day in Preschool includes: saying The Pledge of Allegiance, calendar time, small groups so that we can work more closely with the children on skills, several large groups which are focused on the studies and use a combination of the curriculums which were mentioned above, snack, free play, music and movement time, and outside time.

Little Learners Preschool serves children ages 3-5 and has two different class options: Monday and Wednesday morning class with the option of adding Friday mornings or Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. The morning section is typically for children who are age three or an early four year old and the afternoon section is geared for children who will attend Kindergarten the following year. The Lester Prairie School district offers free bussing for children to and from preschool. Little Learners Preschool is combined with Heartland Head Start.  

If you are interested in registering for preschool, learning more about the Little Learners Preschool of Lester Prairie Public School, or simply seeing the classroom, please feel free to contact Mrs. Helen Lester at 320-395-3223.