13726 N.

State Road 245

Lamar, IN 47550
www.nspencer.org/ltes
twitter: @Lincoln_Trail

Principal:Mr.BenLawalin
Secretary:Mrs.MaryRoos

Phone:(812)9372400ext.5
Fax:(812)5442930

November 6th, 2014

School Happenings
Grandparents/VeteransDayWehaveover350guestssigneduptoeatlunchatLTnext
Tuesday!Thismeansourcafeteriastaffwillbefeedingmorethan700people!Wehaveagreat
programplannedforyou!TheLTChoirwillbeperformingtwosongs,studentswillbereadingpoetry
theyhavewritteninhonoroftheirgrandparents,andwewillpaytributetothesacrificesourveterans
havemadesothatwecanbefree!Keepinmindthesethingsifyouareplanningonattending:
Wewillbeservinglunchesfrom10:3012:00.Allguestshavebeenassignedatimetoeat.
Theprogramwillnotstartuntilaftereveryonehaseaten.Ifyouhavebeenassignedanearly
lunchandwant/needtokillsometimebeforetheprogramstarts,pleasevisitourlibrary.The
LTPTOwillhavecoffeeandcookiessetupforyoutoenjoywhileyouwait.
Pleaseconsidercarpoolingwhenpossible.Thisfreesuppreciousparkingforothers.
Theprograminthegymiscurrentlyscheduledfor1:30.Pleasenote:wearehopingtostart
earlierifwegetallofthemealsserved.Wemustallowtimefortraffictoleavethecampus
beforebusdismissal.
Ifyourchildisleavingwiththeirgrandparent,pleasemakesureyousendinanote.Wewill
notreleaseastudentwithoutwrittenconsentfromaparent/guardian.Allguestsshould
pickupstudentsfromtheirclassroomaftertheprogramtotakethemhome.
SpecialthankstoMrs.Roos,Mrs.Collignon,Mrs.Vaal,theLTcooks,andMr.Lange.These
peoplegoaboveandbeyondtheirnormalresponsibilitiestohelpmakethisdayrunsmoothly.

K2BenchmarksStudentsingradesK2willbebringinghomeaNSCSCBenchmarkReportthis
week.Weaskthatyousignandreturnthesignaturepagesothatweareawareyouhaveseenthis
reportofimportantskills.

AfterSchoolProgramUpdate:BeginningonMonday,November10th,wewillbechangingour
pickupproceduresfortheafterschoolprogram.Nothinghashappenedtowarrantthechange,but
wewanttokeepthesafetyofourchildrenourfirstpriority.Asyouknow,ourcurrentprocedureisfor
parentstoenterthelowerleveldoors(nexttothecafeteria)topickuptheirchildrenbetweenthe
hoursof36.Thosedoorshavebeenleftunlockedandparentswalkin,findtheirchild,andsign
themout.Forthenewprocedure,parentswillenterthesameunlockeddoor.However,ourgates

willbedowninthehallwayandthedaycareroomdoorwillbeclosedandlocked,thuskeepingour
studentsbehindlockeddoorsatalltimes.Parentswillneedtoknockonthedoorandoneofourstaff
memberswillbringyourchildtoyou.Allparentsneedtoreporttothedaycareroomtobeginthe
signoutprocedure.Iappreciateyourpatienceandunderstandingasweworktomakethiseasyfor
parentsandsafeatthesametime.Wewantourschooltobeawelcomingplaceforallofyou,butwe
alsowantyoutoknowthatwhenyouleaveyourchildrenwithustheyaresafe.

YearbooksIfyoudidnotorderpicturesandwouldliketoorderayearbook,formsareavailablein
theschooloffice.Everystudentwhoorderspicturesautomaticallyreceivesayearbook.

BoxTopsWeareonpaceforourbiggestyearyet!Thankyouforcuttingandsendingthesein.
Weshouldsoonbereceivingacheckforover$1,900!HereishowthemonthofOctobercameout:
1st BALLARD 559
2nd VANCE 365
3rd JAHN 300
4th PETERS 256
5th VAAL 249
ThewinnerfortheyearwillgetanafterschoolpizzapartyandabowlingtripcourtesyofourPTO.
Herearethestandings:
1st BALLARD 2,537
2nd SITZMAN 1,305
3rd VAAL 1,267
4th SCHROEDER 1,247
5th PORTER 1,136

Reminders & Upcoming Events

11/6=PTOMeeting@3:30
11/11=Grandparents/VeteransDay,Programtobeginaround1:15
11/19=1stGradeFieldTrip
11/20=5thGradeShots(Round2)
11/21=PictureRetakeDay

Inspire

Challenge

Achieve

Nurture

Lincoln Trail
Elementary
Novemb er 2014

SPECIAL AREA NEWSLETTER

Art
1st. Grade - Our 1st grade students are excited
about art class! They are currently learning
about the primary colors of red, blue and
yellow. When two of these colors are mixed
together, they create the secondary colors of
purple, green and orange. Please take the time
to ask a 1st grader about any of these fun art
equations:
red + blue = __________________________
blue + yellow _________________________
red + yellow = _________________________
2nd Grade - Our farm scene drawings look
awesome! 2nd graders recently heard a
delightful book called Barn Dance! It is written
by Bill Martin Jr. and John
Archambault. The illustrations are by Ted
Rand. This book provides great illustrated
examples of foreground (bottom of the paper
and biggest art), middleground (middle of the
paper and medium size art), background (higher
up on the paper and smallest art) and horizon
lines (where the ground and the sky meet) for
our students to observe and include in their own
drawings. Students are using pencils, black
sharpies, crayons, plus tons of
imagination. Incorporating literature with art
adds interest and is fun!

P.E
Happy fall everyone!! It sure has been nice weather we have
been having here lately. I am a little scared to see what old
man winter has in store for us. With all the nice weather we
have been having my PE classes sure have been taking
advantage of using the great outdoor facilities we have at
Lincoln Trail Elementary School.
The past couple of weeks grades 2-6 have been working on
soccer. Each grade level has had the opportunity to practice
the fundamental skills of soccer such as kicking, passing and
dribbling. Students have practiced these skills by
participating in drills, game scenarios and even some of them
have been practicing during their free time at recess. It is
exciting to see the progress each student has made
throughout the duration of the unit. At the start of the unit
some kids could not even take their eyes off the ball while
dribbling it, now they hardly even look at the soccer ball.
Kindergarten and first grade on the other hand have been
hard at work learning about catching and throwing. Students
were able to experiment with a piece of equipment we call a
scoop in PE. Students used their scoop to catch and throw a
wiffle ball back and forth with their partner. Students were
also given challenges to attempt with their own ball and scoop
during the unit. For example, students had to throw the wiffle
ball up in the air let it bounce twice on the ground before
catching the ball in their scoop. Lastly, students were able to
play a fun game called clean up your room. In this game, there
were two teams. Each member of the team had a ball to start
off the game. Next, students would throw the ball back and
forth not trying to throw at their opponent, but to have their
ball land on the other side of the court. At the end of each
round, the students would count up the number of balls that
were on each side and then come and tell me the number. The
team with the least amount of wiffle balls on their side was
the winner.
Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. It sure
does mean a lot to me to be able to share what your son(s) or
daughter(s) are up to in PE class. Enjoy the nice weather while
it is around for another couple of weeks.

Sophia Schaad, Paige Weaver, Lucas Krzyowski

and Jackson Hunter are working hard on their
farm scene drawings.

Special Area Newsletter Page 2

Library
Did you know we were able to purchase more than $1000 in
books with our profits from the book fair? This is a direct
result of our Lincoln Trail parents seeing the value in books
and reading. Your generosity not only made an immediate
positive impact on your child, but it also enabled us to get
books in the hands of ALL of our students. Ive included a
list of some of the new titles in the library. It would be
wonderful if you could share this information with your
child!
If you like Sports, youll like:
Fantasy League by Mike Lupica
Contract by Derek Jeter
Perfect Game by Matt Christopher
On the Sidelines with the Denver Broncos
If you like Graphic Novels, youll like:
The new series, Explorer, by the author of Amulet
Bad Island- Doug Tennapel
Sisters- Raina Telgemeier
If you like Girlie books, youll like:
Dork Diaries #7 & #8 by Rachel Rene Russell
Wendy Mass books- Pi in the Sky, 13 Gifts, & Finally
Bad Hair Day- Sarah Mlynowski
If you like, Sci-fi &/or Fantasy, youll like:
Blood of Olympus- Rick Riordan
Iron Trial- Holly Black
Tomb of Shadows- Peter Leranges
If you like books based on Movies & TV, youll like:
Boxtrolls-The Movie Storybook
Frozen- New Reindeer Friend
Skylander- The Kaos Trap
Sophie the First- The Curse of Princess Ivy
Doc McStuffins- Doctors Helper
Star Wars Rebels

Technology 3-6
Whats Up?
6th Grade- recently began creating classroom
newsletters. They are becoming proficient in
manipulating various features like columns, borders,
graphs, charts, graphics and short articles. Ask your
student to show you their progress.
5th Grade- adapted modern songs by turning them
into songs for the season. They are continually
improving their typing and formatting skills. We had
some impressive performances (I wish we would have
taped them!), with lots of boys showing off their
dancing skills.
4th Grade- showed their artistic abilities by using the
drawing toolbar to create Halloween scenes. Their
ability to maneuver around the computer always
impresses me! They are also learning about
spreadsheets, charts, and graphs. Surveying their
peers is always a highlight.
3rd Grade- has learned to make customized bulleted
lists. They are also being introduced to the various
writing tools available to them. If you notice your
students vocabulary improving in their writing, they
may be utilizing the online thesaurus.
Tips:
If possible, encourage your student to spend some
time at home on a typing website. The more practice
they have, the better their speed and accuracy will
become. Engaging sites includehttp://www.typingweb.com/
http://www.primarygames.com/arcade/music/upbeat/
http://www.funtotype.com/
Keep a log of your students usernames and passwords
for various sites. You can never be too cautious, and
it is interesting to see your childs interests.
Dont be a dinosaur. Stay informed about any new
devices, apps, and websites your student is using. If it
is something youre not familiar with, ask them to
show you how it works. Kids love to be the expert!

Special Area Newsletter Page 3

Music K-3
\

Preparations for the Christmas program are

underway! If your k-3 child is suddenly singing
Christmas songs at home, it isn't necessarily
because they are in a hurry to be visited by
Santa! Information about the program should
be coming home this week. Please take the time
to read it and mark your calendars.
The composer of the month for October was
Camille Saint-Saens. After listening to one of
his best known works, Danse Macabre, we
discussed how emotion is felt through music.
The students, generally, brought up the same
emotions and feelings even though the
composer died almost a century ago! It is a
remarkable thing in the arts that emotion and
moods can be communicated through so many
years.

Band
Band students have been working hard on
perfecting playing together in an ensemble and
listening to the other players around them. Ask
your band student to put on a mini concert for
you at home to show off their skills! But
remember, they are just beginning! They are
also getting ready for their first performance
at the Winter Program. Make sure to mark your
calendars for December 9th!

Music 4-6
Happy November! It feels like October flew by
and November is full of new topics to cover in
music.
4th graders are learning how to describe music
they hear and put it into a short story. Look on
my website for uploads or stories as they start
to come together. Weve been asking the
questionsDoes the music come firs tor the
movie?
5th graders are getting prepped for learning the
guitar! We will start tuning and playing our first
notes this month!
6th grade is all about Facebook the first couple
weeks of November. They are creating their own
Facebook pages for composers throughout the
centuries. I will be posting these on my website
as wellmake sure to stop in a take a look to
find out all about famous composers!

Choir
Choir is gearing up for our second performance
for Grandparents and Veterans Day. The kids
have been working hard on two sepeate songs
and cant wait to perform them for you on
November 11th. We are also gearing up for the
Winter Program on December 9th! This year we
are hosting a Christmas Present Donation at the
program to give back to families in need! We
hope you will join us and help us Fill the Tree
for others! More information to come!

Music 4-6, Band and Choir: Mrs. Adrienne Collignon

Art: Mrs. Gina Kost
Library and 3-6 Technology: Ms. Becky Gasaway
Physical Education: Mr. Clay Robison
Music K-3 and K-2 Technology: Mr. Ryan Akers