W.I.S. September Newsletter

by Craig Patzel

September 01, 2010

What's New text

Great Start to the School Year

The 2010-11 school year started out on a great note during Meet Your Teacher Night, as it was very well attended. We appreciate your support and involvement! Teachers and students have focused the first few weeks of the year developing a sense of community and building relationships within the classroom. Through this process, students learn how to handle situations/problems as a class and work together to solve them. They set classroom routines and expectations and practice routines until they feel they have mastered them as a class. Attention is also given to the idea of building stamina at the start of the school year. After a summer away, it is difficult to have students begin reading 20-30 minutes in one sitting. To address that issue, and help them be successful, teachers start them off reading and writing for as little as 3 minutes per sitting. Then, they gradually increase the time until the students are able to sit and read or write for a full 30-45 minutes in one sitting. Another benefit of this process is that it teaches the students, in manageable chunks, to develop the strategies and skills necessary to become independent learners that can focus on a task without constant redirection. Throughout this process, classroom teachers begin to gather data related to student performance in a variety of ways (i.e. observation, conferring with students or listening to them read, benchmark assessments, etc.).

Before and After School Drop-off and Pickup

The students enter and exit the building through two doors in the morning and after school. Bus students exit through the main entrance and wait for the buses to arrive on the north side of the building. Due to the number of buses and supervision, students that walk home or get picked up enter/exit on the west end of the building. Following these guidelines helps improve the flow of traffic and our children's safety.

Schoolbus

Structure and Focus of the Reading Block

This past school year, we were deeply engrossed in reading, learning, and applying what research says most benefits students as they become readers, writers, and lifelong learners. As a result, the structure of our literacy block will begin to look and sound a little different and we are excited!

It won't be long until you hear your child talking about "The Daily 5," if they haven't already. The purpose of this letter is to fill you in on what The Daily 5 is all about, so you don't have to nod your head while wondering what in the world your child is referring to.

The Daily 5 is a way of structuring the reading block so every student is independently engaged in meaningful literacy tasks. These research based tasks are ones that will have the biggest impact on student reading and writing achievement, as well as help foster children who love to read and write. Students receive explicit whole group instruction and then are given independent practice time to read and write independently while classroom teachers provide focused instruction to individuals and small groups of students.

When it is up and running smoothly, students will be engaged in the Daily 5, which are comprised of:

Read to Self
Work on Writing
Read to Someone
Listen to Reading
Word Work

There are very specific expectations that go with each Daily 5 component. We will spend our first weeks working intensely on building our reading and writing stamina, learning the routines of the Daily 5 and fostering our classroom community. We will also spend time learning about your child's strengths and greatest needs as a reader in order to best plan for each student's instruction.

Your child will be taught to select "Good Fit Books" or books they can read, understand and are interested in, which they will read during Daily 5. They will be spending an increased amount of their time actually reading, which research supports as the number one way to improve reading. We have observed motivation and enjoyment of reading increase as children have started to choose their own books while engaging in extended practice and specific reading instruction.

We are excited about giving your child the opportunity to be involved in a structure that will have a positive effect on their education.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

"Adapted from Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, The Daily 5"

Reading Club

Now that September is upon is, Reading Club is up and running again. This year, Reading Club will be located in the library. Mrs. Hestermann and Miss Zach will be supervising students before school from 8:00 – 8:25 a.m.

There will be a few changes in Reading Club this year besides just the location. We will be keeping track of student attendance at Reading Club to provide activities and prizes for students who utilize this time to become better readers.

In addition to silent reading, we will offer opportunities for the children to learn about different genres, authors, and popular book series. We will have read-aloud time for
children who prefer to relax and listen to a story as well as quiet areas where students can quietly read their “Good Fit” books.

Students attending Reading Club on Tuesday and Friday mornings may also check out or return library books if time allows after Mrs. Hestermann completes Reading Club activities.

All Waverly Intermediate School Students are welcome to come to Reading Club any day of the week. We look forward to sharing many exciting literary activities with the children
this year!

Mrs. Hestermann and Miss Zach

Book 1

Reading Club Flyer

Walking Club

Hello all!

Walking Club is in session at Waverly Intermediate School! This club is one of the choices that students have in the mornings before the bell rings at 8:25. Students walk or run around the track depending on their energy level! Students keep track of how many days they walk in their classrooms and receive tickets for every 10 days that they walk. They then turn their tickets in to earn prizes. The prize table will be set up about once a quarter. Their tickets that they turn in for their prize are kept in a container for additional drawings at the end of the year. Some prizes from last year included an iPod Shuffle, diving sticks, water bottles, jump ropes and pedometers. These prizes may vary year to year so students have new goals to walk toward. So the more tickets you earn, the better your chances of getting a big prize!

Mrs. Flodman

Track Track 2