Happy Thanksgiving

The Estes faculty and staff would like to wish all of the Estes families a Happy Thanksgiving. We would also like to thank you for all the support you give your children. During this holiday, we want all of our students to enjoy the break and recharge their brains. Parents, we would like for you to enjoy every minute of this holiday with your children. As a parent of the three children, I see how precious our  time is with them. It is our job to love them and give them all the tools they need to be successful in this world. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The ABC's of the First Thanksgiving

All of our first grade classes performed a play of the "ABCs of the First Thanksgiving" for some kindergarten students. Pictured here are some of Mrs. Blevins' and Mrs. Wahler's students. All of the students that participated did a wonderful job with their presenting skills.

Gobble, Gobble!

 The Estes family celebrated an early Thanksgiving meal. We hope everyone enjoyed the food and fellowship. We are truly blessed to have great families at Estes Elementary!

Pass the Butter, Please

Mrs. Oldham's class learned about butter. They didn't just learn about butter-they made it! If you run out of butter on Thanksgiving, call one of these fine butter makers to make you some!

Future Teachers

The Estes faculty and staff would like  to thank the wonderful students of Western Kentucky University's Owensboro campus for working with our students this fall. We hope they continue their education and their journey to become teachers. The future belongs to the educated! Pictured below is future teacher Ms. Parker with Mrs. Wahler's class.

Leader in ME Luncheon

The November leaders of the month celebrated lunch in the Bulldog Bistro. The students listened to Mr. Williams sing karaoke while they ate. I don't know if this was a treat or a punishment! When the students finished their meals, they were able to color and also sing karaoke. We are so proud of our leaders!

Reading and GRIT

Ms. Manqueros sent Stormie to the office the other day. Don't worry she wasn't in trouble! Stormie was sent to the office for showing GRIT. Stormie has been showing GRIT with reading. She has gone from a non-reader to a reader by showing GRIT and listening to her teacher. A big thank you goes to her mom for helping Stormie with her reading at home. To have successful students there needs to be three things happening. 1st-students need to be willing to work hard. 2nd- teachers need to be willing to challenge students. 3rd- parents need to help their children at home. When you have all three thing going on, you will have a successful student.

Is There a Gas Build Up?

 Mrs. Crabtree's class completed a science experiment about gases and completed the scientific process to determine what happens to a balloon when you add pop rocks to soda.

Get Your Hot Chocolate Here!

Our fourth grade students hope to see the Estes Bulldog Community at the Owensboro Christmas Parade. Why? Let me tell you why. The fourth graders have accepted the challenge from Junior Achievement of Owensboro to enter an entrepreneur competition. The challenge went out to 12 schools and we are one of four to be competing in the challenge.
The fourth students have been divided into three teams: business, marketing and construction.  Each team is learning about what it takes to be successful in the business world. This is an example of project based learning at its finest. At Estes we just don't push worksheets all day long. We want our students to know what the real world has in store for them. It is our job to give them the skills and knowledge to be successful students and citizens in the world. We want students to be collaborators, be creative, be able to communicate their thoughts and be critical thinkers.
Come out this Saturday to the parade and see and taste our final product. I don't want to give away too much, but I can tell you it will be a truly unique experience. Also, make sure you buy from us-don't be fooled by the competition.

Who's In Your Corner?

After watching a series of 4 videos, Mr. Sorce's class developed a unit on success.  He had the students create a “Success Village” web so they could think about who was in their corner.    Mr. Sorce also had the students use hard copy “Tweets”  to show their definition of success. Here at Estes we know Success doesn't come easy and that is why our students are learning about Grit. We want our students to know we will always be in their corner and support them.

If things came easy the world would be full of successful people. The question is- How bad do you want it?

Learning Experiences in Fourth Grade

Our fourth grade students are expanding their knowledge on many subject areas. They recently took a field trip to listen to the symphony. I believe we could one day see a few Estes students performing for the Owensboro Symphony.
The students then had the opportunity to learn about Native Americans. As you can see from the picture, there was much to discuss and learn. We want our students to have a great education and be well versed in different cultures.

Get Your Math On!

Mrs. McCarty's class is learning what it takes to solve math problems. Yes, they could just tell you the answer, but we want them to prove their answer is right. These students are getting a grasp on what it takes to solve problems. We are so proud of the hard work and Grit these students are showing in their math class!

Expanding Their Knowledge

Take a look at a couple of students in Mrs. Lancaster's class who figured out how to multiply 2 digit by 1 digit numbers on their own. These students are showing Grit by not giving up and trying more complex problems on their own. The future looks bright in Mrs. Lancaster's room.

Can You Smell What the Ladies are Cooking

The ladies at the 4H extension came to Estes to show off their cooking skills for our 4th grade students. The ladies taught our students about nutrition and how to cook. Parents with your supervision I think your child could cook you a mean omelet.

Let the Reading Begin

Kindergarten students are learning to read independently. As students
learn to read fluently, they have the opportunity to read their book to
the class in the teacher chair. This takes GRIT! Students must practice
and persevere before they can read to the class. Students look forward to
hearing their peers read to them. Congratulations to Gerard Dague our
first reader this school year.

Writing at Home

Whether I was teaching first graders or third graders parents would always ask me for tips to do at home to help their children become better writers. There are various things you can do at home to help your child become a better writer. Here is a list of things you can try:
1. Tell your child to slow down and take his or her time.
2. Have your child put the pencil down and explain to you what he or she is writing about.
3. Have your child draw a picture and label things in the picture. Next, have your child write about the picture. If your child writes about a dog, have your child describe in detail the dog.
Example: The dog is walking down the street. Ask your child to expand on the dog. The little dog is walking down the street. Next, ask your child what kind of street. The little dog is walking down the dark street. The point of this exercise is to have your child become more descriptive in his or her writing.
I will be adding more tips each month.

Go Vote

Today is election day and it is your civic duty to go out and vote. Whether your registered as a Republican, Democrat or an Independent Party go and vote for the people you would like to see make a difference in our wonderful country. We live in a country where we have choices and one of the main choices we can make is who we want representing our state, county and city. Make your voice heard and go vote. Look for a candidate who shows GRIT and you believe will fight for you. A wise man once told me that you can't complain about the government if you didn't go vote.

Mrs. Alley's Kids Are Getting Gritty

Mrs. Alley's kindergartener students are using grit, even at home! Her students are given homework to complete and return each week. At the end of each month if they have completed their homework for the entire month, they get to be in the 'homework club'! This means they get to eat with Mrs. Alley and they earn a GRIT ticket! 17 students out of 20 qualified to be in the homework club for the month of October!
We are so proud of our little GRITTY kindergarteners, but we also want to recognize some other people showing GRIT. Who are these other people? These other people are YOU! Yes, we want to recognize our parents for showing GRIT. We recognize that you all live very busy lives and still manage to help your children with their homework. If we could, we would give all of you parents out there that our helping your children succeed a GRIT ticket. Go Bulldogs and Go Bulldog Parents!

A GRIT Sighting!

There was a GRIT sighting in Mrs. Jewell's class last week. Mrs. Jewell's class along with the rest of the third grade and fourth grade classes at Estes took a KPREP embedded scrimmage assessment. These embedded assessments are used to prepare our students for the big tests in May. The assessments are timed and follow the format of the KPREP test. Our scrimmage assessments cover what has already been taught in class.
Now after explaining all of the ins and outs of the scrimmage I want to get to the GRIT sighting.  Mrs. Jewell emailed me about a young man in her class who showed GRIT during the scrimmage. This young man doesn't have the highest MAP scores, know the most sight words or have the highest DRA scores in his class. Do you know what this student has? He has heart and GRIT! He scored the second highest grade in his class! He wants to do well and wants to use what his teacher is teaching him and make a great life for himself. Who is this young man? This young man is Eddie!
Eddie, I want to thank you for taking on a growth mindset and showing GRIT. You are what Estes is about. Eddie, you would be the first pick on my team if I were picking a team of students to show what GRIT can do for a student. Go Bulldogs!