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THE WOLF'S HOWL WEEK 22 - FEBRUARY 2, 2018

GREAT WEEK OF LEARNING

This was a great week of learning! As always, Wass teachers work hard to plan and facilitate great learning opportunities. I spent a lot of time in first grade Writer's Workshop this week and enjoyed observing our students writing convincing arguments with lots of reasons. Watch out, parents - your children are becoming very persuasive!!!

This was also a great week of learning for our staff. Every year, we host our own Wass Teachers' Lab. This year, we held a Cultures of Thinking Lab where teachers delved deeper into Visible Thinking routines to help students develop their critical thinking skills in all subject areas. On Wednesday, students had the afternoon off while teachers spent time collaborating and deepening their own understanding of our writing curriculum.

WRITER'S WORKSHOP

WASS CULTURES OF THINKING TEACHER LAB

ALL PRO DAD

Wow! What a kickoff for the All Pro Dad program on Thursday morning. We had exactly 99 parents and students attend. That is remarkable! Special thanks goes out to Mr. Chris Fritzsching, Program Leader, for delivering our inaugural message. Parents spent time introducing themselves and their children while stating what it is that they are proud of their child. Congrats to the dads and moms that were able to attend. The main lesson of this meeting was INFLUENCE. Three discussion questions were used to explore this message:

  • How can you positively influence someone in your life?
  • Who have been the greatest influences in your life and why?
  • How can we (together) use our influence to positively impact someone's life this week?

Here is a list of books that you could choose to read with your child to reinforce the topic of INFLUENCE.

Mr. Fritzsching gave each of the parents a 30-Day Challenge. I loved the way he delivered the challenge - "If Mr. Cavataio can ask our kids to complete a 30 day Activity Challenge, then we need to step up and complete a 30-Day Challenge of our own as parents." You can print the 30-Day Challenge from the link below.

30 Day Challenge

The next meeting is on Friday, March 2 from 7:45-8:30 AM. You are welcome to join us again or begin attending if you were unable to make the All Pro Dad Kickoff this week. If you register with the link below, you will be able to get an All Pro Dad Tip of the Day emailed to you. They are pretty cool! Again, mothers are welcome to attend if a dad is unable to be there for any reason. Special thanks also goes out to Julie Zurawka and Vikki Fritzsching for donating and serving the coffee, hot chocolate, water, and coffee cakes for our program.

RSVP LINK

RETELLING CAN IMPROVE YOUR CHILD'S READING COMPREHENSION

You’ve just finished reading a story with your child. One of the best ways to check comprehension and boost his understanding of the story is to ask him to retell it.

Retelling a story requires your child to think about the details and decide what’s really important.

Give your child these three rules for retelling a story:

  1. Tell what’s important.
  2. Tell it in a way that makes sense.
  3. Don’t tell too much.

Your child should be able to tell you what happens at the beginning, the middle and the end of the story. He should also be able to name the main characters.

You can prompt your child by asking open-ended questions, such as, “What happened next?” It’s OK if he doesn’t remember all the details. That gives you a chance to say, “Let’s go back and look at that part of the story again.” Revisiting parts of the story will show your child that he sometimes has to read things more than once to gain a thorough understanding.

Studies show that this simple activity will help your child become a more thoughtful reader. He will start to pay attention to words whose meanings he doesn’t know. He will focus on the story structure and pay more attention to important details. All of these things will improve your child’s reading comprehension and make him a better reader—and a more successful student!

Reprinted with permission from the February 2018 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2018 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc. Source: B. Taylor and J. Ysseldyke, Effective Instruction for Struggling Readers: K-6, Teachers College Press.

WASS ARTWORK ON DISPLAY

Congratulations to these students who have their art on display at the Stage Nature Center in Troy. The artwork will be on display February 1st through February 27th.

INATTENTIVENESS CAN AFFECT YOUR CHILD'S ABILITY TO LEARN

Everybody’s mind wanders now and then. But if your child regularly “zones out” at school, it can impact his ability to learn and retain new information. Studies show that younger students who can’t focus tend to become older students who can’t focus. And that can mean big trouble for your child’s education.

To help your child keep his eye on the ball at school, strengthen his attention skills at home. Here’s how:

  • Break down large assignments. If he has a book report to write, show him how to divide it into smaller steps. “First, think about what you want to say. Next, make an outline of your thoughts. Then, start writing.”
  • Encourage breathers. Don’t force your child to work for long periods of time. Instead, set a timer for 20 minutes and have your child take a five-minute break when it goes off. Frequent short breaks help your child clear his head and refocus on his work.
  • Remove distractions. Keep the TV and other screens off while your child works. Keep noise to a minimum. Homework shouldn’t have to compete for his attention!

Remind your child to use these tools in class when possible. Even a 30- second break (maybe by closing his eyes and breathing deeply) could help him buckle back down and tackle the worksheet in front of him.

Reprinted with permission from the March 2018 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2018 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc. Source: A.J. Lundervold and others, “Parent Rated Symptoms of Inattention in Childhood Predict High School Academic Achievement Across Two Culturally and Diagnostically Diverse Samples,” Frontiers in Psychology, Frontiers Communications.

Come join Mr. Cavataio and start your morning off with some family exercise on Tuesdays. Waking Up with the Wolves takes place on the Wass Indoor Track from 8:00-8:30 a.m. during the winter months.

SAVE THE DATES

Here is a list of important dates for school programs and activities that you might consider placing on your calendar.

  • Feb. 6 - PTO Meeting - 7:00 PM
  • Feb. 8 - Bingo Night - 6:30 PM
  • Feb. 14 - Valentine's Class Parties - 2:30 PM
  • Feb. 15 - 1st Grade Music Informance - 6:30 PM
  • Feb. 19-20 - Mid-Winter Break
  • Feb. 26 - Grades K-2 Reading & Writing Parent Night for all TSD Parents @ Troy Union Elementary - 6:30 PM
  • March 14 - Kindergarten Information Night - 6:30 PM
  • March 15 - 3rd Grade Musical - 7:00 PM
  • March 20 - PTO Meeting
  • Mar. 29 - April 8 - Spring Break
  • April 9 - School Resumes
  • April 12 - 5th Grade Camp Meeting for Parents - 6:00 PM
  • April 19 - Wass Restaurant Night at Noodles & Oberweis - 4:00 PM to Close
  • May 8 - PTO Meeting
  • May 16-18 - 5th Grade Camp

KROGER REWARDS & AMAZON SMILE

The Wass PTO raises significant funds every year through your normal purchases at Kroger and Amazon! These funds go right back into the classroom, directly impacting all Wass students. If you have not registered yet, simply click on the link to find out how. Please consider asking family and friends to sign up for this FREE benefit for our Wolves. Thank you for supporting the Wass PTO.

KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS

AMAZON SMILE

Have a great weekend! #WassKindness #WassTeammates

Matt Jansen - Principal - Wass Elementary

Created By
Matt Jansen
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