Monthly Wildcat November
All of the news from Woodcrest Elementary!
Principal's Message
Welcome to our November edition of the Monthly Wildcat! I am excited to share all the latest news and updates from Woodcrest Elementary.
November is Native American Heritage Month. This month Woodcrest Wildcats will celebrate and learn about Native Americans and their diverse cultures, traditions, and histories. It is also a time learn and acknowledge the amazing contributions of Native people our country. Students will participate in a variety of learning experiences, such as read alouds, and direct teacher instruction, to learn about different Indigenous people. Our video morning announcements will also feature biographies on different Native Americans who significantly contributed to the American landscape.
This month, we are also focusing on gratitude. Each day we will be sharing in our morning announcements videos of students and staff and what they are grateful for. The last year and a half has been tough for many of you. However, I am so grateful that we are here, in school, in person. I am so grateful for the AMAZING Woodcrest staff and our AMAZING Woodcrest families.
Last month we had a full scale disaster drill for the Great Shake Out. We simulated an earthquake, proceeded to "duck, cover, hold", then evacuated to the grass area. Our staff then simulated a search and rescue, as well as student pick up. The students and staff did a great job and demonstrated they are ready for an emergency.
I am sad to announce that our counselor, Mrs. Diaz, has accepted a promotion in another district. Mrs. Diaz has been instrumental in building our SEL program. Although we are sad to see her go, we are excited for her new adventure! We have already hired a replacement, who will start on November 8th.
On Saturday, October 30th, some students and staff particpated the OC United Pumpkin Run. Thank you to all of our families that joined us. Congratulations to the Perez family for their outstanding run. Mr. Perez came in 3rd overall and 1st in his group and Naomi came in 5th for her group!
In order to keep students safe, morning temperature checks are done without physical contact. If a student has an elevated temperature, they will be given water and a few minutes to cool down and have their temperature rechecked. If the temperature remains elevated, you will be called to pick up your child. Please make sure to not send your student to school if they are sick. For more information on FSD’s safety protocols, please refer to the Fullerton School District website at https://www.fullertonsd.org/apps/pages/Covid19SafetyProtocols.
If you don't already, please check out our social media. We are very active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Follow us on Twitter @WoodcrestFSD
Like us on Facebook: Woodcrest Elementary School
Follow us on Instagram: woodcrestschool
Here are some upcoming dates to remember:
-November 1st- Non Student Day
-November 11th- Veteran's Day- No School
-November 12th- End of Trimester 1
-November 13th- Saturday School
-November 16th- School Site Council
-November 17th- Second Harvest Mobile Food Pantry
-November 22-26th - Thanksgiving Break
Thank you for choosing Woodcrest for your child's education.
Go Wildcats!
Mrs. Rochelle Wolf
Principal
Staff Spotlight: Ms. Rangel
Ms. Rangel is our 4th/5th combo teacher. She is currently in her 10th year of teaching. Not only is she a teacher, she also served as one of the advisors for our student council. She is an alumni of Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona, and Brandman University.
She enjoys reading, getting outside, especially to the beach, and exploring new adventures.
We are so lucky to have your Ms. Rangel!
Classroom Happenings
From Mrs. Alarcon, Preschool
WE are so thankful for all of you!
Our learning community continues on our journey of social-emotional growth. This month, we are fostering kindness and gratitude through literature, peer and adult modeling. We will also continue to review letters, numbers and shapes.
From Ms. Scofield: SPED Preschool
We are thankful for our friends and families. We are learning about sharing and taking turns. Our shape of the month is a triangle and the color is brown. We continue to practice our numbers and letters.
From Mrs. Michaels: Kinder/1st
We are thankful for so many things in Kindergarten: our families, friends, and school. Thank you to all who support us and our educational journeys. For the month of November, we will focus on gratitude and kindness. In ELA, we will continue to learn more letter names, letter sounds, and sight words. We will read many stories and have discussions about our new ELA theme, “Going Places.” Also, we will learn about sentences. In the beginning of the month, we will be taking our ELA and Math benchmarks. In Math, we will continue to discuss the number 10 and begin addition. We will continue to count to 100 by ones and tens and write numbers 0-20. In Social Studies, we will learn about Veterans Day and say thank you to those who have served in the Armed Forces. For Social Justice, we will focus on Native American Heritage Month through read-alouds and activities. “Thankfulness is measured by the number of words. Gratitude is measured by the nature of our actions.”-McKay
From Mr. Ledon
Hello K1 Families! I, for one, am very grateful to be working in person with my students everyday during the month of November! This month, 1st grade students will continue learning 5 sight words a week in ELA and will continue to practice various subtraction strategies in math. Kindergarten students will be starting adding and subtracting numbers within 10 in mathematics. The month will be kicked off by activities such as “Why Día de los Muertos?” and “The 5 W’s of Thanksgiving” for Social Justice/Native American Heritage Month. We will also continue working on our Social Emotional Learning lessons through Second Step as a whole class activity. For writers workshop, students will be completing writing and art projects that express gratitude for the things they value in their lives. Lastly, students will continue to review the basics of phonics to strengthen the skills needed to become great readers and writers! Go Wildcats!
From Mrs. Spencer: 1st Grade
From Mrs. Tran: SPED Kinder/1st
In Room 2, we are very thankful for our awesome students and their families! This is what we’re working on for the month of November:
In ELA, we are reading interactive stories related to Turkeys and our Letter of the Week. In the area of math, we are practicing sorting and classifying and learning about the color Brown. In Social Justice, we will focus on kindness and diversity, especially in gender, disabilities, and Native Americans with our 1st grade buddies. We will also be continuing our mainstreaming with our 2nd-3rd grade buddies and more playground, music, and library fun with our Kindergarten friends.
From Mrs. Kollmansberger, 2nd Grade
From Ms. Pionke: 2nd/3rd Grade
From Ms. Guardamondo, 3rd Grade
From Mrs. Guzman: 2nd/3rd Grade SPED
From Mrs. Wren: 4th Grade
From Mrs. Rangel: 4th/5th Grade
In room 17, we have finished our narrative essays and are preparing for the writing benchmark. Fifth will be writing an opinion piece and fourth will be writing a narrative. We continue to read picture books that touch on Native American Heritage and kindness. In math, fourth grade continues to work on multiplying multi-digit numbers and fifth grade continues to work on long division.
From Mrs. Merrihue: 5th Grade
From Ms. Somoza: 4th/5th/6th SPED
This month in Room 1, we will be starting our Mad Hatter Cafe. Students learn life skills, how to count money, take inventory, and make purchases. We continue to follow our curriculum of Unique Learning system for Math, ELA and Science. For social studies we will be learning about Indigenous People for National Heritage month.
From Mrs. Bergen: 5th/6th Grade
This month in room 21, we have finished our narrative essays and are preparing for the writing benchmark. Fifth will be writing an opinion piece and sixth will be writing an information essay. In math, fifth grade continues to work on long division and sixth grade continues to work on converting fractions, decimals and percentages. Finally, we will learn more about Indigenous People for National Heritage month.
From Mr. Nunez: 6th Grade
From Mrs. Joo: Response to Intervention/ELA
From Mrs. Alcaraz, Response to Intervention/ELA
From Mrs. Graza, Response to Intervention/Math
From Coach Martinez: PE
This month in PE we will be exploring volleying and striking skills using noodles, paddles and rackets. We will also have the opportunity to practice frisbee throws and be introduced to the rules and etiquette of golf while playing frisbee golf.
From Mrs. Adams: Speech
Our Speech and Language Pathologists Mrs Adams is on maternity leave. Her caseload is being handled by a sub until she returns.
Ms. Neri- Speech Teacher
Happy November!
This month we are working on our individual goals. Our 4th to 6th graders in the Wing are starting the Mad Hatter Cafe this month. We will focus on using a lot of the vocabulary we have learned throughout the day, in different settings. We will complete comprehension tasks and work on improving our communication skills using any modality.
Mrs. Hernandez: RSP Teacher
From Mrs. Diaz: School Counselor
Happy November Woodcrest Families! It is with great sadness that I make you aware that I have decided to leave Woodcrest Elementary to pursue a new opportunity outside of the Fullerton School District. My new role will be similar to that which I filled at Woodcrest and will continue to help and support parents, students, and staff. Students have been made aware of this change and counseling services will continue.
Despite this transition, it is my pleasure to inform you that soon you will have the opportunity to meet your new school counselor! Please help our students continue to participate in counseling support by returning back any updated permission slips you may receive in the near future.
Thank you Woocrest families and staff for allowing me to serve your children. It was my privilege.
Mrs. Diaz, School Counselor
Reminders from the Office Staff
Diana Venegas
Patty Sandoval
Diana Arreolla
From Ms. Diana- Office Manager
Hello Woodcrest Families!
This is a reminder that attendance is very important! If your child is sick or you have a family emergency, please call the office as soon as possible to let us know about your child’s absence.
You can also email us at diana_arreola@myfsd.org or diana_venegas@myfsd.org.
Mrs. Reese
Ms. Cherie Hayes
From Nurse Susan and Ms. Patty
Protect yourself and others by wearing a mask. Wash or sanitize your hands often. Eat nutritious food to keep you healthy. STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay well.
From Mrs. Reese- Tech/Media
Remember to check out Sora by Overdrive on the Fullerton School District website at:
https://www.fullertonsd.org/apps/pages/sora
Please encourage your child to read. There is also a Sora app on the iPad.
“Learning to read comes before reading to learn”.
Happy Thanksgiving to all! May you gobble ’til you wobble!