April 10, 2026

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Shout out to the College and Career committee! (Lindsey, Klair, Steph N, Teresa)  What a fantastic week you provided for our students and the proud community members that got to come in and connect with our students as well.  I appreciate your work soooo much!

• I want to make sure that I publicly acknowledge and thank Brad and Todd for all of the hours they put in to planning and executing steps to make sure our staff and community were well informed of the details of the referendum. Behind the scenes, there were many conversations, google docs, edits/rewrites, etc. that amounted to a lot of work. While there were many people helping along the way, their leadership was instrumental in the success of the communication.  Thank you so much!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Saturday, April 11
• Happy Birthday Melissa Caine-Arnes!

• Monday, April 13
• Dress in Floral patterns or pastel colors to Welcome Spring!
• Morning Duties:
• Blacktop/Playground: Miller, Bingen, Zastrow
• Breakfast: Donovan, Vertz
• 3K/4K Playground: CaineB, Wagner
• Lunch Duties:
• 12:00 - Schuett
• 12:30 - Miller
• 1:00 - Klink
• PM Duties:
• Circle Drive: Huelsman
• Blacktop/Playground: Huso, Lucht

• Tuesday, April 14
• Happy Birthday Mary Jo!
• Jenny in meeting from 9-11am
• Social Media Posts due to Jenny: Huso, Caine

• Wednesday, April 15
• Happy Birthday Bethany!
• Workout Wednesday
• Lunch Detention Duty: Huso, Ellefson, CaineT
• 4th Gr. Field trip to Horicon Marsh 8:30-3pm
• Jenny in a meeting from 8:30-10:30am
• Talent Show Try-outs after school

• Thursday, April 16
• If you are so inclined, let's add a Brewers Day!  :-)

• Friday, April 17
• Happy Birthday Lexi!
• Author Visit from 9:15am - 1:15pm
• Act 20 testing should be complete by today for grades 4K-3

Nitty-Gritty

• Author Visit
• On Friday, April 17, Diane Nienas will be visiting to share an important message regarding kindness through the lens of her books. I am looking forward to her visit and think it is a fantastic opportunity for our students to hear the same message they hear from all of us every week from a new person!  Plus, her books are very good too!  The schedule is HERE.

• Professional Development is April 22
• Looking ahead: The schedule for the day will be out next week, but please know that there will be time to work on the reading comprehension module from Act 20 on Cox Campus, as well as some time to work together on digital citizenship/digital continuum. The Den will be open that day as well in rooms 109 and 102. If you have any questions, please let me know!

• Budgets for 2026-27
• As we look toward next year, it's time to begin identifying your classroom needs. We will share the formal budgeting process and deadlines next week, but in the meantime, please start thinkning about the essential items you'll need.
• We want to make sure we're spending our money wisely on the things that really make a difference for our students. Go ahead and start your lists now so you're ready to go when we send out the forms next week!

Recess Information (from Jenny)

We’ve reached that time of year where "spring fever" is in full swing! Our students are struggling a bit more with unstructured time, which means our presence at recess is more important than ever.

To keep our playground a "low-stress" zone for everyone, please make every effort to be at your duty station on time. If an emergency pops up and you can't make it, just give Patti a quick heads-up so we can get someone out there to help.

Once on duty, let’s focus on active supervision. By spreading out and moving through the groups rather than congregating in one spot, we can catch those "teachable moments" and prevent injuries before they happen.

Thanks for being such a proactive team and for looking out for our kiddos!

Below is a slide I've used before. While there is nothing new here, there are some good reminders for us all.

TechKnow Tip

ClassDojo has made posting your creations even easier!! They now have integrated Canva into their Story postings. To get started, follow the directions on the picture below. After allowing the appropriate permissions, you can click on the Canva button and all your recently created posters, assignments, or slide decks will appear! Let Christina know if you need a bit of help getting started.

ML Information

Student-Led Projects: Letting Multilingual Learners Lead the Way

Want to boost engagement and language growth simultaneously? Give your Multilingual Learners (MLs) the steering wheel. When students choose their own project topics, they transition from "doing school" to "sharing their world."

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The Three-Step Approach

• Reflect: Start with Passion
  Let students pick a topic they love (e.g., video games, cooking, or animals). This lowers anxiety and makes them want to find the right words to express themselves.

• Refine: Build the Scaffolds
  Students lead the topic, but you provide the tools. Use graphic organizers to map ideas and sentence frames (like "I am researching... because...") to help them structure their thoughts.

• Look Ahead: Connect to Growth
  Ask students how their project relates to their future goals. This helps them see themselves as capable, bilingual experts.

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Why It Works

Feature	Benefit for MLs
Choice	Increases motivation and "bravery" in using new English words.
Relevance	Vocabulary is learned in context, making it easier to remember.
Agency	Builds the confidence needed to participate in all subjects.

Quick Tip: Start small! Try "Genius 15"—fifteen minutes on Fridays where students research any topic they choose.

The Bottom Line: When we let students lead, we don’t just teach them content; we teach them that their voices and interests have a seat at the table.

The result? You’ll see students who aren't just learning English, but using English to teach us about what they love.

Friday Funny

So I really wanted the Friday Funny to be the mouse story from Room 117, but I did share that at the staff meeting. It's so great, I decided reliving it here is good for us all! In case you missed it, you just have to talk to Ms. Vertz and team! Shanalyn's retelling is the absolute best and I could never do it justice.  However, I do know who I will be calling if god forbid I need help with this problem!  And HUGE shout out to Virgil and Kari who then "re-homed" the little creature!  If you want to see the picture again, it's below.