Friday Focus
5/6/16
Wonderful World of Westside!
Great things happened at WES this week! Our students celebrated success, celebrated moms, planted gardens, learned about different cultures and even went to Nigeria and visited the Smithsonian... and much, much, more.
We continue to maintain an academic focus while providing authentic learning experiences for our students! Keep teaching bell-to-bell and pulling every ounce of potential out of the students. With our help, the sky is the limit!
We are working on a DECADE of EXCELLENCE! Push through until the #lastbell!
Reading is more fun with a buddy!
Reading Buddies are awesome!
We love our Reading Pals!
Reading Buddies make reading fun!
A+ Celebration and Playground Ribbon Cutting
Thank you to everyone that came out to support the Playground Ribbon Cutting and A+ Celebration. The students and parents had a great time! We are working on a DECADE of EXCELLENCE!!!
Celebrating Moms!
Our Teachers Go... Beyond the Textbook
Story Analysis in Pre-K H
Compare and Contrast
Cinco de Mayo and 4th of July
Math Research Projects
Real-world math application
Fairytale Book Reports
Making books come to life!
The Zoo
Educational field trips.
Gardens
Hands-on science.
and Around the World!
Cinco de Mayo Celebrations
Tastes from Mexico to conclude a Mexican Studies Unit.
Virtual Field Trips
4th graders visited The Smithsonian and the Statue of Liberty.
Biome Projects
5th graders researched different biomes and created presented to their classmates.
1st and 3rd Graders Learn about Nigeria
Whoot Whoot!!
- We have several teachers that have been hitting Study Island hard. Mrs. Brocchi's class has over 100 blue ribbons! That is awesome!
- Many classes are celebrating success by having compliment parties. Teachers around campus use a variety of compliment incentives (gems, apples, brownie points. etc.) to encourage and reinforce good behavior. If you are interested in using this strategy, Janice and I will point you to some classes that are using it successfully!
- I saw a wonderful use of daily data. Instead of having each child move their magnet, the teacher asked the students to work the problem out on a sticky note and place the sticky note in the appropriate circle to prove their knowledge and for accountability.
- 18 more wake-ups!
- The Archery Team leaves Thursday to compete at NATIONALS!!!
- The Buddy Bench is in! See Cherisse's email for more details.
- Teacher Appreciation week was awesome! We all gained a few pounds because of the delicious treats that PTO provided. Thank you PTO!!!
- 1st grade had a great field trip!
- The Walk-a-Thon was a success!
- Students are still racking up the AR points!
- Many teachers are using AM to reinforce skills and to accelerate learning.
- Janice and I noticed teachers working collaboratively to create lessons, problem solve and tackle tough issues with students. Great job!
- Many teachers are going beyond the textbook in math by utilizing real-world math lessons and research projects. What a great idea!
- Several teachers are allowing their students to complete inquiry-based research projects using available classroom technology and are having the students present. Way to get those speaking and listening standards in!
- The Math Bee Team and Gracie Thomas (Tropicana Speech Contest) represented Westside well at competitions this week! We are proud of them. Keep up the good work!
Technology Corner
Have you gone on a virtual field trip? Virtual field trips are an exciting way to help students connect with the world around them. You can visit volcanoes, oceans, eagle nests, museums, etc. The sky is the limit!!! A great resource is Pinterest. Just search virtual field trips and a plethora of ideas come up.
Don't forget to keep the positive posts coming on Facebook and Twitter and remember to use #weswildcatpower to tag your posts!