Hello Again...

It's been some time since I've posted anything, and I wanted to share a few things before the end of the year.  First, Betty Slater. Betty Slater. Words cannot express how thankful I am that she stepped into my classroom and did such a stellar job.  This was a very difficult year for me, but I knew she had my back and that she was focused on what was best for your kids.  She will never know how thankful I am.

Today, I graduated from physical therapy after seven and a half months.  Learning how to walk again was one of the most challenging things I have ever done.  I've been walking with a cane for 16 days, and I still have a long road ahead, but I'm seeing the light again. My surgeon, Dr. Evan Dockerty, and my physical therapists Mary and Kevin, put Humpty Dumpty back together again and I am forever in their debt.

Missing a year of school is still unthinkable to me, and I am so sorry that all of this happened. I missed so many moments with my tribe of PA and TD learners this year.  All I can say is use the handrail on the stairs everyone.

Being on a medical leave from school means that I cannot come back to say my goodbyes or visit with you kids.  I totally understand, I'm not yet ready to come back, but I hope you guys in fifth grade are!  I'll be at the Meet and Greet in August and I want all of you there.  Have a great summer.  I'm headed to Sister Bay to continue rehab, rebuild confidence and stamina so that next year will be a great one.

Thank you for all the kindness you have shown me this year. The students, parents, and staff of Brookdale Elementary School have helped me through this rough year, and I will never forget the kind acts, large and small. I'll see you all again in a few months...

An Update from Mr. Schumann

As you all know, two weeks ago I fell down the stairs at my house. During the fall I fractured the femoral head of my right thigh bone, dislocated my hip, and fractured my acetabulum inside the hip socket. I've had three surgeries to repair the injury and now have a metal plate and several screws holding me together. The kindness of every person at Good Sam and Marian Joy has humbled me and  shown me the amazing things doctors and nurses do every day. They are an amazing group of people.

I'm working hard in physical therapy and occupational therapy, four hours each day, learning how to walk again and move around in a wheelchair and a walker. I'm amazed at the progress I've made, again thanks to the team supporting me with each step.

Thank you all for the incredible acts of kindness you have shown since my injury. The offers to help with meals and shopping once I'm back home did not surprise me because I know how wonderful the Brookdale community is, but you'll never know how much it means. My hospital room is decorated with sweet notes from you and your kids. Please let the kids know that their love, prayers, and support have made a difference in my recovery. Keep them coming. I'm not in pain and am getting better every day.

I'm not sure how long I will be away from school at this time, but the recovery from this type of fracture takes time, it's a rare fracture mostly seen in motorcycle accidents. So, there's the update. My attitude is very positive and hopeful, and I'm looking forward to doing the hard work that awaits. Although I would love to have visits from students, the heavy medication I'm on and the intense therapy schedule makes visitors impossible right now.

Thank you all!

PA and TD for the Week of 9-18

There will not be PA or TD on Monday for the final day of CBM testing.

PA Curriculum Night is Thursday from 6:00-7:00 in the LMC.

KTD will continue making dots this week.  I will be finishing up with KP and moving on to KJ.

1TD will continue working on making pages for the grade level ABC book based on The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg.  The creativity I have seen from the first graders has been fun to be a part of.  This week, I will move on to 1K and 1R.

2TD will be completing the toothpick logic problems with me this week.  I will be meeting with the second grade team this week to develop the first small group that will be seeing me regularly for the first quarter of school. Groups are developed collaboratively using classroom observations and assessments, my experience working with these students in the past, and we will review the recent CBM data as well.  TD groups in K-2 are flexible and the students will rotate throughout the year based on what needs the classroom teachers are seeing everyday for higher-level literacy instruction.

3PA will continue to explore the fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling" written in 1844 by Hans Christian Andersen.  Our focus will be looking at the story through multiple perspectives and finding elements that contribute to the theme of the classic story.

4PA began the Isaac Singer short story "The Power of Light" on Thursday, and we will be looking at elements of the writing for most of the week.  We created a list of new vocabulary words that we will sift through to start the week.  The kids will be looking for examples of our PA change generalizations in the text, and then I will be sharing a novella by Michael Morpurgo titled The Mozart Question. This is the story of a group of musicians who were forced to play music at German concentration camps as prisoners were loaded off the trains.  It is a story about hope, light in the darkness, and the power of shared experiences.  We will be looking for connections between the two texts as we share this reading experience. 

5PA only had time to begin seeing what America was like in the early 1950's when Ray Bradbury was writing some of the texts we will be exploring this quarter last week, so this week we will continue to build background knowledge and then dive in to "All Summer in a Day" on Tuesday.  We will be having our first Socratic Seminar this week to discuss the story.

PA PTA

You will hear more about the Indian Prairie Project Arrow PTA at PA Curriculum Night, 9-21 @6:00, but you can find the meeting schedule, and more information at the link below. I will have membership forms for you all on the 21st.

http://ipsdweb.ipsd.org/IPPC/Default.aspx/ProjectArrowPTA 

International Dot Day 9-15

International Dot Day, a global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration, began when teacher Terry Shay introduced his classroom to Peter H. Reynolds’ book The Dot on September 15, 2009.

The Dot is the story of a caring teacher who dares a doubting student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to “make her mark”. What begins with a small dot on a piece of paper becomes a breakthrough in confidence and courage, igniting a journey of self-discovery and sharing, which has gone on to inspire countless children and adults around the globe.

And each year on International Dot Day – with the help of people just like you –the inspiration continues. What started as a story in the pages of a book is transforming teaching and learning around the world as people of all ages re-discover the power and potential of creativity in all they do.

All of the Kindergarten students have spent time in Mr. Schumann’s Talent Development classroom during the first weeks of school reading this story and making their own dots.  

Brookdale Kindergarten Students should wear something with dots on September 15^th to celebrate making their mark! 

PA and Talent Development for the Week of 9-11

I will be giving CBM tests to all of our kindergarten and first grade students on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday this week.  These are one one one assessments that can take up to 30 minutes per student, so I will only be seeing my students on Monday and Thursday this week.

Kindergarten TD has been making amazing dots as we prepare for International Dot Day on Friday.  We would like all the kindergartners to wear dots to school on Friday as we celebrate creativity at Brookdale.  The kindergartners are going to make their mark and see where it takes them. 

First Grade TD will continue our work with the ABC book The Z Was Zapped. Students will be coming to see me in small groups to work on their own page for a grade level book.

Second Grade TD will continue with whole group lessons this week.  During our time this week, I will be asking the kids to solve complex logic problems using toothpicks.  Yes, it is going to be challenging, and frustrating at first, but I know that with some time and logical and creative thinking, the kids will feel successful.

3PA will finish up our work with "Shells" by Cynthia Rylant and begin reading the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen "The Ugly Duckling" written in 1844.  The kids and I will be looking for story elements that contribute to the theme. 

4PA will be learning about allegories this week.  The kids and I will be reading an allegory by Eve Bunting titled The Terrible Things. An allegory is a story with a hidden meaning, usually a moral or political one.  This story will lead us into the next few weeks of reading. 

5PA will be entering the fantastic world of Ray Bradbury this week.  The 5th graders the last three years have devoured Bradbury's writing.  We will begin our unit with some context of the time when Bradbury was writing the stories we will be reading, early 1950's America.  Then, our first piece will be a short story titled "All Summer in a Day" about a special day on Venus. 

PA Curriculum Night is the 21st from 6:00-7:00 in the LMC.

PA and Talent Development For the Week of 9-4

Our first week back went very well at Brookdale.  It was great to see the kids jump back into working in collaborative groups so smoothly.  Here is what we will be working on this week in PA and TD.

Kindergarten Talent Development: Small groups of students will be coming to my room for the next few weeks to make their "dot" inspired by one of the books I read to our new friends last week.  September 15th is International Dot Day, inspired by the Peter Reynolds book The Dot, and the kindergartners and I are going to make dots that show how creative and unique the kids are.

First Grade Talent Development: Last week, I had the chance to meet with every first grade classroom twice for 25 minutes.  During one of the lessons, we read The Z Was Zapped, and used inferences to figure out what the text was going to say on each page.  For the next several weeks, small groups of first graders will be visiting my room to make their own page for our own versions of this ABC book.

Second Grade Talent Development: The second graders will all be visiting my classroom this week to do a reading lesson, but with a twist.  Students will be looking at several sentences through a different lens, looking for hidden words inside of a sentence.  Then, teams of students will try to write a sentence of their own that follows the pattern.

3PA will begin our week by examining the concept of change.  What types of things change? How do they change? What causes change? The kids will be grouping examples of change into different categories and then looking for examples in the short story "Shells" by Cynthia Rylant.  The students will also take a formative assessment on literature using a fable.

4PA will begin our journey by reviewing a variety of literary elements that we will be learning about all year long.  The kids will search for examples of the elements in two different poems, Birdfoot's Grandpa by Joe Bruchac and Famous by Naomi Shihab Nye. Later in the week, students will be writing their own version of Famous and taking a short formative assessment on different literary elements. 

5PA will be spending the week with an amazing picture book, The Collector of Moments by Quint Buchholz.  

This is a complex text that will take several hours to read and dissect searching for the theme.  The fifth graders will also be taking a formative assessment based on a poem titled Autobiographia Literareria by Frank O'Hara.  

PA Curriculum Night

Project Arrow Curriculum Night will be on 9-21 from 6:00-7:00 in the Brookdale LMC.

Stay Connected

If your child is in PA, and you did not get an email from me this week, please send me an email (brian_schumann@ipsd.org) so I can add you to the PA list.  Thanks. 

Welcome to the 2017-18 School Year

Our First Week Back

Welcome to The 2017-2018 school year everyone!  This is what we will be up to during our first two weeks of school.

Kindergarten: I will have two 25 minute times with each of the kindergarten classes to welcome them to our school, introduce myself to the kids and explain my job, and to share a few of my favorite picture books.  We will be reading I Want my Hat Back by Jon Klassen and The Dot by Peter Reynolds.  In the next few weeks, I will be meeting with small groups of students until each kindergartner has come to my classroom to make their own "dot" for International Dot Day on 9-15.  

     

First Grade: Every first grade class will also be coming to my classroom twice in the first few weeks of school to read my favorite alphabet book of all time by my favorite author Chris Van Allsburg.  I will be reading The Z Was Zapped to all of the kids and then challenging them to create their own page for the sequel.  

Second Grade: Every second grader will be spending 50 minutes in my classroom to start off the year.  We will be reading a picture book with a great message about not giving up, facing obstacles, and how to foster creativity.  What Do You Do With an Idea by Kobi Yamada shows how ideas grow and change.  The second graders will be creating an abstract image to show an idea they have in their amazing minds. 

3-5 Project Arrow is going to begin our journey by working together to design and modify a city for superheroes.  Teams will be developing special features for the special residents of this city.  How will the city be hidden? What gadgets will it have? What will the metropolis look like?  These and many more questions will need to be discussed as we build our creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills.  We work together a lot in Project Arrow, so these skills are going to be essential for a successful year.  

Project Arrow Schedule

3PA 1:45-2:30

4PA 9:20-10:20

5PA 11:10-12:10