Hello Jefferson Families,

As I write this, we are right on the eve of spring break and the conclusion of parent/teacher conferences. When we return, we will enter the final stretch of the school year, filled with a number of activities, including field trips, annual state assessments for our 3rd-5th graders, our final Charger Champion assemblies, fifth grade outdoor education camp, and other fun traditions. In addition, we will continue support the growth and achievement of each of each Jefferson student.

One message we are continually promoting with our students is that of a growth mindset. As we move into this last stretch of the school year, we will continue to encourage and inspire Jefferson students to believe in themselves and their ability to grow and become improved versions of themselves. A few years ago, I was part of a professional book study on the book Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's Learning by Peter Johnston. While the target audience is educators, I believe there are many things we can take away as parents.

Johnston shares how we need to continually be saying to kids, “Yes, I know you can do this.” We do this so students believe, yes, I can imagine myself being able to do this. Teachers and parents must view children as competent and imagine the possibilities for them. Children need to believe there is a reason we are asking them to do important things – these are things that will help them in life. With self-talk, we want students to think, “I’m the kind of kid who can figure things out.” Things like an unknown word, what to do at recess, how to solve a problem with a classmate, and more. Of course, we need to teach them how to do these things, but they need time to practice, and most importantly, how we talk about and around kids or even allow ourselves to talk inwardly about kids has an amazing impact on how we interact and treat them in terms of our stance towards their learning. The way we think about a challenge really dictates how we will overcome or solve it, or not, such as the case may be.

Here is some helpful takeaways right out of Choice Words:

Language we can use when a student needs time and support in thinking:

• Keep going, I think you’re on to something.

• What else?

• Say more about that.

When a student’s sharing is not clear or able to be understood by others:

• Are you saying?

• Is this what you mean?

• This is what I think I heard you say. Do I have it right?

When a student’s thinking is way out there:

• Wow, I never thought of it like that before!

• So help me out here. What’s the evidence in the text that leads you to draw this conclusion? What in your experience makes you think about in this way? (Hold

them accountable for thinking that is connected to the text)

To broaden or expand the thinking:

• What might be another way of thinking about this?

• Who has another point of view?

• Now let’s look at this a different way. What if?

To help students become independent workers/problem solvers:

• What’s your plan?

• What will you do next?

• Have you encountered this kind of problem before?

To support metacognition:

• How did you figure that out?

• What exactly did you do?

• What did you learn about yourself as a reader, writer, mathematician, or scientist today?

Here is to all of us parents and educators as we strive to support the children in our lives in meaningful ways.

Sincerely,

Steve Hopkins

Hello from the Jefferson Library

In the library we continue to focus on routines that help students build independence while developing the love of reading! Our library has a wonderful collection of books that grows and changes from year to year. Speaking of new books, thanks for supporting our Scholastic Book Fair. Jefferson students all benefit from book fair purchases through earning Scholastic Dollars, which are used to purchase library materials for our school. One last reminder to please read it, love it and return it. Our books are a great resource for our students to share.

Ms. Klujber

Ms. Heather

Happy Spring Jefferson Families!

It was great seeing so many families around Jefferson during parent teacher conferences. We hope connecting with your student’s teacher was valuable and gave you a great deal of information about your student’s learning progress in all academic areas. As we look toward spring and summer it’s a great time to reestablish routines at home including setting up a nightly reading time.

Reading stamina results from developing a simple reading routine at home and sticking with it! Find a consistent time, like right after dinner or before bed and start with a goal of 5 minutes of distraction free reading. Add one minute on each night and soon your child will be at the goal of reading for 20 minutes each day. With this increased focus, your child will begin to enjoy reading, develop reading independence, and read for longer periods of time.

Here are a few tips to help your child develop reading stamina:

• Allow for variety in how the reading is done. New or struggling readers benefit from listening to reading and reading with or to someone. Try reading in different ways on different evenings or even asking your child to read independently for a couple of minutes followed by listening to a story read aloud.

• Choose appropriate books based on your child’s ability. For reading on their own, help your child choose books in which they can decode nearly every word in the book correctly. If your child is reading with you, choose books that are highly engaging.

• Recognize your child’s reading success! Celebrate your child’s time spent reading each night, share progress with other family members and friends, discuss favorite books and consider trips to the library to find new and exciting books.

If you’d like help in choosing appropriate books for your student, or help in creating reading habits with your child, please contact us!

Winter Graham, K-2 ELA & Math Coach

wgraham@everettsd.org

Jessica Lundgren, 3-5 ELA & Math Coach

jlundgren@everettsd.org