Leopard Tales
November 2021
Book Fair Is Coming
Book Fair is here!
Book Fair hours for the remainder of the week are as follows:
Thursday, Dec. 2 - 7:35 am - 6:00 pm
Friday, Dec. 3 - 7:35 am - 3:00 pm
Please check out the electronic flyer here:
Late Arrival Procedures
When arriving at school after 8:00am and no adult is on duty in the carpool loop, please park your vehicle and walk your child into the front office. This is for your child's supervision and safety. Thank you in advance for your support in this matter!
- Tardies begin at 8:10am. An adult will need to sign the student in at this time.
Excessive tardies will be reviewed under the choice option for attendance to a magnet program.
Just a Friendly Reminder...
Clarke's Corner
Early Components of Reading
The role of phonological and phonemic awareness in learning to read is complex and sometimes misunderstood. Phonological awareness is simply the ability to notice and manipulate sounds in spoken language. These kinds of skills might include being able to tell how many words are in a spoken sentence. Another part of phonological awareness is being able to identify and produce rhyming words. Sharing nursery rhymes together is a great way to support this at home! As students develop their literacy skills, we begin to address the more specific skills in phonemic awareness. Technically, phonemic awareness is still considered a part of phonological awareness, but it includes being able to blend individual sounds, or phonemes, in order to read a word. Phonemic awareness skills also include being able to say, or segment, the individual sounds in a word to assist with spelling a word.
So where does phonics come in? Phonics skills include being able to identify letters and letter sounds to aid in decoding a word. Students need both phonemic awareness and phonics knowledge to be able to decode a word.
There are other scaffolds that aid in the process of early reading that cannot be ignored. Listening comprehension is certainly one that parents can aid with at home. Don’t be afraid to read aloud with your students. Yes, we want them to be able to read on their own, but they also need to enjoy and discuss texts that may be a little beyond their reach right now. Having time to discuss a text that someone else has read is a great way to grow an early reader’s listening comprehension skills!
These few thoughts on early reading are not meant to cover all the complex information and skills that go into the process of reading, but it might give you a little insight into parts of the puzzle. If you have any questions about reading, writing, or word study, please feel free to reach out to Lori Clarke, Literacy Coach-CFK/CFKN. Be careful though, I will talk about this stuff for hours! Next month-What is Balanced Literacy?
Peraza's Place
The Importance of Crossing the Midline
What is crossing the midline? It may be a phrase you are not familiar with. Crossing the midline is when you are able to move your hand or foot across the centerline of your body to the other side. Crossing the midline is important because it incorporates using both sides of your brain. Using both sides of your brain is important for combined movement patterns such as putting on socks and shoes, tying shoes, writing, and cutting. It is also necessary for body awareness and control.
Many simple activities can help improve your child's ability to cross the midline. These include:
- drawing a figure 8 with a pencil, in the sand, or with a toy car
- playing Twister, ball figure 8’s through the legs
- popping bubbles
- playing musical instruments, hand clap games
- windmill toe touches, standing opposite elbow to knee
- wiping the table with one hand
- throwing or tossing a ball
I hope this gives you an idea of various activities to help improve your child’s ability and proficiency for crossing the midline. Please utilize the below resources for a more in depth discussion of what crossing the midline is, why it is important, as well as an invaluable number of fun and engaging activities.
References
https://www.healthline.com/health/crossing-midline#definition
https://therapiesforkids.com.au/importance-of-crossing-the-midline/
https://www.cdchk.org/parent-tips/what-is-crossing-the-midline/
https://otperspective.com/40-crossing-midline-activities-you-can-do-at-home/
Virtual Choice Fair
Please share with prospective families:
Elementary Schools, Tuesday, November 30, 2021 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
Middle & High Schools, Wednesday, December 1, 2021 5pm.-7p.m.
Register on or before event and enter conference the day of the event here... https://rsd2choice.vfairs.com/
Dates to remember
November
11: Veteran's Day Virtual Celebration
22-26: Thanksgiving Break (No school)
29-30: Book Fair
30: R2 Elementary Virtual Magnet Fair
December
1-3: Book Fair
10: Make-up Picture Day
13: Opening Day for Choice Applications
17: Early Dismissal @ 11:30 am
20-31: Winter Break
About us
1043 Muller Rd.
Blythewood, SC 29016
Phone: 803.691.4895 Fax: 803.691.3085
Director: Jessica Agee - jagee@richland2.org
Lead Teacher: Angel Brown - abrown@richland2.org
Office Manager: Bridgette Branson - bbranson@richland2.org