The Westmoreland Wrap Up
December 16, 2022
Holiday Concerts, Friday December 16th
Our holiday concerts were outstanding! An enormous and heartfelt thank you to Mrs. Knitel and Miss. Cohen for their collaboration and planning! A special thank you to all of our classroom teachers and paraprofessionals who spent endless hours practicing songs and reinforcing lyrics! Each performance was excellent. Students were truly shining! We hope the sound of the children singing put you in the holiday spirit!
We look forward to a spirit week with more holiday fun next week! Please be sure to check the flyer below outlining optional dress up days next Monday-Friday!
Please also remember next Friday, December 23rd is a 12:45 dismissal!
Wishing all of our families a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season!
Our monthly focus...Diversity and Holiday Traditions
This week, Mrs. Dell'Aglio has been visiting classrooms to share her second principal's read aloud of the year entitled, Red and Green and Blue and White written by Lee Wind. Inspired by a true story, this is a tale of a community that bands together to spread light. This story has taught us you don't need to be an adult to make a big difference!
New Ways to Help Others!
HOLIDAY COLOR WAR! WHICH TEAM WILL WIN???
PTO News and Upcoming Events
As we move into January, the PTO will be providing books for our One School One Book event! An additional fundraiser which ties in with the book as well as a family movie day are in the works!
Thank you for your support!
The Westmoreland PTO
One School One Book January 2023
It's that time of year! One of our favorite annual projects! ONLY 24 DAYS UNTIL WE REVEAL THIS YEAR'S ONE SCHOOL ONE BOOK TITLE!!!!! Can you name some of the titles we have read together in past years?
- Charlotte's Web
- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
- Mr. Popper's Penguins
- Apple Blossom the Possum
On Monday, January 2nd, students will attend our 11th ANNUAL ONE SCHOOL ONE BOOK TITLE REVEAL assembly! We are sure you will hear all about it! Each family will receive a copy of our selected book to read together throughout the month.
Your child is not expected to read this book independently, as it may not coincide with his/her reading level. Parents should read the chapters aloud to their child(ren). Reading aloud at home is valuable because it better prepares your child to be an effective reader. It is also a fun, worthwhile family activity.
With the One School, One Book program, we aim to build a community of readers at our school. Everyone – students, parents, teachers and administrative staff – will be participating and we can all reap the many benefits.
A tailored reading schedule will accompany the book. Your family will be asked to read one chapter each evening (Monday-Thursday) which is approximately 10-15 minutes per night.
In school, your child will be invited to answer daily trivia questions to encourage and reward attentive listening.
I would like to personally thank the Westmoreland PTO for continuing to sponsor this program and allowing this wonderful reading journey to take place.
This unique opportunity would not have been possible without you!
We look forward to talking about this great story with both you and your child during the month. “When a whole school reads a book, there is a lot to talk about.” With your help, we are truly building a community of readers at Westmoreland School.
Notes from the District Literacy Team
This update seeks to share our efforts to develop students’ foundational reading skills in the primary grades as we continue to look for ways to enhance our approach to literacy curriculum and instruction.
- Our primary literacy curriculum focuses on developing reading skills that enable students to decode (read) words, relate those words to their oral (spoken) language, and read connected texts with engagement accurately and fluently to understand what is read.
- Our classrooms use a workshop framework to teach content through explicit strategies while giving students ample practice opportunities guided by feedback.
- Teachers are trained in the Orton Gillingham approach in Grades K-3 to explicitly teach decoding and word study.
- We adopted evidence-based approaches to decoding and encoding many years ago as an essential addition within our reading and writing workshop.
Our framework is balanced with respect to the five components of literacy (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension), and we continue to utilize assessment to drive instruction and track learning needs early in students’ schooling.
Please address any questions for our district literacy team to Gary Pankiewicz, K-12 ELA Supervisor, gpankiewicz@fairlawnschools.org
REACH Updates from Mrs. Kelly
During trimester 2, the following REACH/Enrichment Programs will be offered to students:
Kindergarten and Grade 1 will participate in a Primary Thinking Skills Push-In Program. This is a Type 1 REACH Program offering. Weekly lessons are provided to the whole class using the P.E.T.S. (Primary Education Thinking Skills) which is a systemized enrichment and diagnostic thinking skills program that serves a dual purpose of helping in the identification of academically talented learners and teaching students higher-level thinking skills. Through stories and a series of whole class activities, students are encouraged to practice and develop four different thinking skills: convergent, divergent, visual, and evaluative.
Grade 2 Small Group Program:
This is a Type 3 REACH Program offering. Identified students will meet weekly for further work focusing on the higher level thinking skills introduced during the PETS push-in program. Students are challenged with a variety of advanced activities that deepen the students' ability to use convergent, divergent, evaluative and visual/spatial thinking.
Grade 3 and Grade 4 Literacy Seminars:
These are Type 3 REACH Program offerings. Identified students will meet weekly to read a text and a selection of non-fiction resources. Students will discuss the text and resources where they will analyze, infer, explore and explain the overarching themes of the texts as well as make connections between metaphorical and real-world problems.
Kind Regards,
Mrs. Michelle Kelly
REACH Enrichment Specialist
Henry B. Milnes and Westmoreland Schools
LinkIt! Literacy and Math Assessments
Students take LinkIt! literacy and math benchmark assessments three times each year to monitor student progress, inform class instruction, and support course placement in English, Social Studies, and Math.
In early January, students will take the Form B LinkIt! benchmark assessments.
Any questions may be directed to the district subject supervisors:
• ELA Supervisor Gary Pankiewicz, gpankiewicz@fairlawnschools.org
• Social Studies Supervisor Derek Khoudja, dkhoudja@fairlawnschools.org
• Mathematics Supervisor, Lauren Gimon, lgimon@fairlawnschools.org
Upcoming Important Dates:
December
19th: Wear your fave holiday headwear!
20th: Wear your PJS!
21st: UGLY SWEATERS
22nd: Dress as a holiday character
22nd: Report cards released
23rd: HOLIDAY COLOR WARS!
23rd: 12:45 dismissal-no lunch served
26th-30th: Holiday Break