Wise Owl Weekly
School Family Update: April 24-28
Celebrations! What's good?
- My Goddaughter is getting married...next weekend! ~ Lundberg
- Will & Bill won their first AAA baseball championship! ~KHill
- Congratulations to Tracey who will be our new Attendance Clerk next year and Sally who will be the Registrar! Spring will be moving to the Kinder team in TK and we will welcome Julie Rogers to Math and Sierra Merenda to first grade.
Wish Wells
- All the young people making big life decisions as they leave the public school system that has (hopefully) prepared and taken good care of them!
- Those dealing with illness and wellness concerns
Shout Outs
- Thank you Ashley your beautiful art work on my bulletin boards. ~ Nurse Gina
- Katie is leading us through the Literacy Endorsement with expertise and passion.
- People who brought solutions to the table for the master schedule.
- Williams for hosting a staff gathering!
- Maly, Nowell, Peret, Zortman & PTSA for planning & executing our spring campus clean up. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to our students!
- Everyone that helped out with the all the students on Friday afternoon
Peek at the Week
Monday, April 24
- Open Enrollment for Benefits Meeting after school
- K-5 Math Benchmark Opens
- Katie, Jackie, Nicole & Kandie off campus for PD
- No Math Groups this week-they will be kinder and first grade testing.
- Multilingual Learner Family Literacy Night at Dreaming Summit ES 5:30-7:30
Tuesday, April 25
- 2nd and 5th Grade PLT collaboration
- K-3 testing today
- Governing Board Study Session
- Tell a colleague something you appreciate about working with them.
Wednesday, April 26
- 4th Grade and Kinder PLT collaboration
- Administrative Professional Day (Thank you Lucy, Colleen and Sally!!)
- Kinder, 1st, 2nd, 5th testing today.
- Let's Talk Reading @ 2:40 in RR (let Katie know if you're coming)
- Multilingual Learner Family Literacy Night at DSE 5:30-7:30
- 1st and 3rd Grade PLT collaboration.
- Kinder, 1st, 4th and 5th testing today
- LESD Steam Fair at MPE 4:30-7:30 (LES students have over 30 entries!)
- MAZE Due today (3rd-5th)
- Happy Birthday Ms. V!
- Happy Birthday Spring Hammer!
Looking Ahead
- May 1st-5th- Acadience Testing (K-5)
- May 1st-May 5th 2-5 Reading Benchmark
- May 1st Principal Appreciation Day
- May 1st-5th Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week
- May 4th-2nd/3rd Grade Child's Play Performance
- May 5th School Lunch Hero Day-Thank you Cafe!
- May 5th IReady Diagnostic All Grades
- May 8th-May 12th Book Fair
- May 10th School Nurse Day
- May 10th-DNO Old Chicago
- May 10th- Pride Awards & Retiree Celebration
- May 11th Hoot and Holler 4:00-6:00 PM (Classrooms 4:30-5:30)
- May 17th-DNO Freddys
- May 18th Talent Show (info coming soon)
- May 19th-Retiree Get Together @ Old Chicago RSVP
- May 26th 10:55 Dismissal
- August 2-All teachers return/ Preservice
Coach Collaboration
Reading Room ~ Katie Hill
Thank you to everyone for your involvement in our 3rd Literacy Block session. I hope you felt validated in knowing your hard work this year is aligned to what is best for our students! If anyone would like to meet to follow up, I’m available WEDNESDAY, after school (I changed the Let’s Talk Reading invite on our Google Calendar to that date). Please let me know if you’d like to meet.
Here are some resources from Friday’s PD (reach out if there is anything else you’d like):
LES MOY Acadience Data (I will share your grade level data by class)
Videos by Allison about Wonders resources- #1 & #2
Wonders Padlet (password= wonders2020)
Tier 2 Resources (resharing from previous PD- has lessons/passages we use in RR)
Just a reminder this is our last week of reading groups before we start EOY assessments. Students will come at their regular times this week (except for my students, I’m out Monday for PD and Friday). The week of May 1st, we will start Acadience testing (SCHEDULE) and then follow up the next week with EOY Phonemic Awareness/Phonics Screeners.
Social Emotional Learning ~Maxwell
Old "mis" behaviors may start to pop up... NOW!
Testing is coming to a close. Graduation is on the horizon. Easy summer days will soon be here. As the school year starts to unwind, some misbehaviors believed long gone, may suddenly appear.
First, we'll talk about why. Then, we'll talk about what TO DO:
Why??? Didn't we nip that in the bud... in October???
The end of the school year is the start of a transition. Think about the student who still struggles to transition from school to home, from reading centers to recess or from lunch back to work.
The end of the year means moving away from:
A familiar group of classmates
An ingrained daily routine
A known dynamic with a known teacher
And moving towards:
A new group of classmates
A new routine that may be more demanding
A new relationship with a new teacher
Yikes! That can feel overwhelming! These children are probably not aware of their feelings. They are not going to say, "I feel anxious." Instead, they act out.
This week's Conscious Commitment:
I'm willing to see old misbehaviors resurfacing as communication that a child may feel anxious.
Once you commit, here is what TO DO:
1. Encourage your students to help themselves by helping others. Discuss what students moving up may be feeling and questions they may have.
2. Use the discussion from #1 to create class made books welcoming next year's students and answering some of the questions they may have about being in that grade or having that teacher. We have seen examples of classes creating class made books on how to do their School Family jobs!
3. Have your students write friendly letters to the students in the above grade level asking for more information about that grade. "Anxious" is seeking information! This activity may help Anxious start to feel calm!
4. Increase rituals to connect. Increase moments of eye contact, touch, playfulness and presence (student to student and teacher to student).
5. Plan and/or prepare end of the year rituals. Create ways to celebrate every member of your School Family and their unique gifts.
6. Shift your language from, "I will miss ___," to "I will remember ___."
I hope you find this helpful. ~Heather
PTSA
Here is the link to the PTSA newsletter.
Upcoming Dates
May 10th- DNO at Old Chicago
May 17th- DNO at Freddy's
May 17th- PTSA meeting- 6pm (Google Meets LINK)
Summer Institute
LESD will have its first Summer Institute, for VETERAN teachers (basically that is anyone who has been teaching in the 22/23 school year). Also,DOUG FISHER WILL BE HERE for a FULL DAY WORKSHOP! If you are a current teachers who may want to learn and grow in July & get paid! July Summer Institute Training
Hoot and Holler May 11th
Report your Plans HERE
Please let us know what plans you have for Hoot and Holler through this link.
Multilingual Learner Family Night April 26 @ DSE
Litchfield Elementary School
Our mission at Litchfield Elementary is to provide a customized learning environment where we nurture one another, make connections with all members of the community, and empower individuals to do their personal best. Through commitment and collaboration, we will build a strong foundation for social, emotional, and academic growth.
Email: lundberg@lesd.k12.az.us
Website: www.lesd.k12.az.us
Location: 255 East Wigwam Boulevard, Litchfield Park, AZ, USA
Phone: 623 535 6100