The Special Edition
A monthly newsletter covering exciting events in our art, band, chorus,
LMC, music, orchestra and Physical Education classrooms.
Volume 1, Issue 1
SEPTEMBER 2013
Welcome to our first edition of the new Special Edition. This
newsletter features what is going on in all of the Specials
classrooms here at Isaac Fox. For our first letter the teachers
wanted to tell you a little bit about themselves and what we have
done in our rooms to start off the year.
Music Notes
Hello! I am Becky Fuller and along with my
colleague Adam Hjerpe I have the pleasure
of teaching music at Isaac Fox. Every student
from 1st grade to 5th grade has music twice
a week for 30 minutes. In that time we work
on the fundamentals of music making and
music appreciation. In the music room we get
to use and grow our brains in very different
ways through singing, dancing, instrument playing, listening and playing games.
On September 23 our students had a great treat– the LZHS Marching Band came to
perform for us! IT was a great way for our young musicians to see where music can
take them!
- Ms. Fuller
We’d Like to Hear
from YOU, too!
Do your children share stories
about their special classes? Are
they excited about a fun
project or a new skill? We
would love to hear stories from
home about what your children
are enjoying in our classes.
Please email any one of the
specials teachers and perhaps
your story will be shared in a
future issue of “The Special
Edition”!
Specials
Teachers
Art
Karen Harwood
Library Links
Band
Dan Keilman
It has been a pleasure working in the Isaac Fox Library Media Center for the past
twelve years. Although our media center has changed throughout the years in regards
to the technological tools we can provide students, one thing remains constant- the push
to put books in the hands of students that will ignite the love of reading. In addition to
exploring literature, students are also utilizing technology to demonstrate knowledge
of curricular objectives and building information literacy skills.
LMC
Anne Kuehl
Students begin the year learning to locate resources in the media center and practicing
the selection process of finding good fit books. Fourth and fifth grade students are
assembling Battle of the Books teams. We are preparing for our Summer Reading assembly on October 11 and for kindergarten and first grade families we will hold Literacy Night on October 16. Visit the LMC webpage for additional details on upcoming
programs and activities including my Monthly Media Messages newsletter.
-Mrs. Kuehl
Music & Chorus
Becky Fuller
Adam Hjerpe
Orchestra
Cathy Schmidt
Physical Education
Don Boudreaux
Volume 1, Issue 1
The Special Edition
SEPTEMBER 2013
The Art Room
My name is Karen Harwood and I see your child once a week (forty-five minutes) for art . Kindergarten is not included. Art, like other disciplines brings different ways and levels of learning that contribute to a student’s overall development. Most children love art and it contributes greatly to skills applied in higher level thinking.
I have been teaching elementary and college art for many years. I have an undergraduate degree in art education from
the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a graduate degree from California State-Sacramento, and started a doctoral program at Florida State-Tallahassee. Teaching art in District 95 is an honor. I am at Isaac Fox Tuesday-Friday and May
Whitney on Mondays. On average I see 600 students a week. It is my great pleasure to get to know every student in
grades 1-5.
-Mrs. Harwood
On the Move In Physical Education
Hi, I’m the Physical Education Teacher for Isaac Fox Elementary School, Donald Boudreaux. I have been teaching Physical
Education for over 18 years. Your child’s safety and well-being are very important to me. In the first semester we will be
focusing on physical fitness and soccer skills. There is a Physical Fitness test, consisting of four major tests; 1) Pacer testwhich is a cardiovascular endurance test 2) Push-up test-upper body strength 3) Curl-up-Abdominal test and 4) Sit and
Reach-flexibility test. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me via email at donald.boudreaux@lz95.org
or call at 847-540-2793. Thank you.
-Mr. B
Orchestra Notes
Greetings from the Isaac Fox Orchestra! Students in 4th grade
who enrolled in Orchestra this year will have their first morning
rehearsal here at Isaac Fox on Tuesday, October 1st. They will be
starting to prepare for their first performance, which is December
10th. Right now they are focusing on plucking out tunes on their
instrument, much like a guitar player does. They will all be graduating to playing those same tunes with the bow shortly. Students
who play in the 5th grade Orchestra began morning rehearsals
back on September 12th at Middle School South. Their focus is on
some pretty exciting winter and holiday music, which will be
played in the Performing Arts Center of LZHS on December 6th. In
classes they are studying new rhythms, including single eighth
notes, eighth rests, and dotted quarter notes. Add to that some
fancy bowings, and you have a recipe for some pretty amazing
music! We are making progress on our instruments and becoming
better musicians with consistent effort outside of class. Our homework is making music so we can have fun with friends!
- Mrs. Schmidt
Chorus Comments
Chorus is off to a great start this year! The first few
rehearsals we have been preparing for our District
Choral Festival on October 26 which we are very
excited about. During this festival we are going to
get to rehearse and perform with students from 4th
to 12th grade. Also, we will participate in a clinic
with Paulette Boddy, a master at working with children’s choirs. Not only will this really help us with
our singing– but it will show us some of the opportunities open to us if we keep singing in choir!
As always I am looking for volunteers for the next
couple months to help with door holding in the mornings and our Chorus Breakfast once a month. Please
email me if you are interested at
Becky.Fuller@lz95.org.
-Ms. Fuller
The Special Edition
Volume 1, Issue 1
SEPTEMBER 2013
Band Notes
The 2013-14 5th Grade Band is well underway since we got the ball rolling last spring during our recruitment
season. The 5th South Elementary Band consists of students who attend Isaac Fox, May Whitney, and Sarah Adams. This year the band has around 105 students, with 50 students from Isaac Fox. Students just recently received their band instrument a couple weeks ago. All the students received an introductory class the second
week in September in the evening at May Whitney School. The classes were held for each instrument separately along with parents, clinicians, and high/middle school assistants. All classes were successful in getting the beginners to start off on the right foot.
Students are now bringing their instruments to school once a week for a sectional class and presently learning
some basic fundamentals on their instrument: assembly, playing position/posture, producing proper tone, articulation (tonguing), basic rhythms with simple note analysis/performance. As we are just beginning the band is
preparing for their first full band rehearsal this Tuesday, October 1 at May Whitney. The students are all excited and curious to find out how the band will sound on this first day. There is so much to learn and the students
are very excited to experience this new venture of music and being in band!
-Mr. Keilman