Orchard Drive Elementary
April 2019
Wilson's Words
Coming up very soon is i-Ready testing (K-4) and MAP testing (3rd & 4th grade) on April 30-May 3. Please encourage your child to get a lot of rest and eat healthy too. Pediatricians recommend 3-6 year olds should have 11-12 hours of sleep each day/night. Even children ages 7-12 are encouraged to have 10-11 hours of sleep daily/nightly. Check out myplate.gov. for appropriate amounts for your growing children. Hopefully, you will have a chance to review this with your child.
Our next PTO meeting is April 16 at 6PM in the library and our very own Tribe Tones (Orchard Choir) will be performing! This is also where we will select our executive board for next year. Hope to see you there :).
Happy April!
Shanna Wilson, Principal
Simmons' Scoop
Greetings Orchard Families,
I am so happy that spring is here and we are starting to see many more signs that warmer weather is here to stay. With summer break fast approaching, we are still pushing our students to reach their potential and reach their goals for this school year. From September to January, we saw a 21% increase in students reading on grade level. This is great progress and shows you how hard our students and teachers have been working to reach their goals. We will continue to work on these goals up until the last day of school in May. In order to have continued success, we need your help.
We are asking for your help to ensure your student is here every day and on time to receive instruction. If possible, please schedule appointments and vacations when school is out. In most classes, reading instruction begins promptly in the morning. Students go to their classrooms at 7:50 AM each morning to begin their day. Teachers are working diligently to teach the curriculum set by our state and district while meeting the student at their learning level. With your help, we can all work together to help our students reach their goals. Please feel free to call the school or email me if you ever have any questions.
Mrs. Jessica SImmons
What I Need [WIN]
- Make up rhyming words (bunny, funny)
- Read street signs and billboards
- A-Z - Find signs for each letter in the alphabet in ABC order
- Search for vowel sounds (a,e, i, o, u) in spoken and written words
- Count syllables in spoken and written words (cupcake = cup/cake = 2)
Counselor's Corner
Counselor Corner
March has definitely flown in and out very quickly! We have been busy learning about how to make/keep a friend, working as a team, and good communication skills. In the month of April, we will be working on emotional regulation, coping and problem-solving skills.
TESTING:
Throughout the months of March/April, our third and fourth-grade students will be preparing for the MAP test, our state assessment. If you are the parent of a third or fourth-grade student, please mark the following dates on your calendar:
MAP Testing Dates--3rd and 4th Grades
Tuesday, April 30 ELA 8:30-11:00 AM
Wednesday, May 1 ELA/Math 8:30-11:00 AM
Thursday, May 2 ELA/Math 8:30-11:00 AM
Friday, May 3 ELA/Math 8:30-11:00 AM
We will be testing in the morning, so if you have any appointments to make, please keep these dates in mind. It is always better to take the test with the class rather than during a make-up session.
We will be testing in the morning, so if you have any appointments to make, please keep these dates in mind. It is always better to take the test with the class rather than during a make-up session.
ORCHARD PRIDE BANNER
WORK HARD DO YOUR BEST SHOW YOUR ORCHARD PRIDE! Each Week a staff member picks another staff member to receive the Orchard Pride banner. It is given to the staff member whom they think shows PRIDE here at school every day. The banner hangs outside their classroom door or area for the entire week and a new staff member is announced during the Monday morning announcements.
Birthday Book Club
March Thomas Wilson 3 Gentry Etta Carrasquillo-Wilkinson 7 Bardot Paxton Gentry 10 LaFave Mystique Claussen 20 Dotson Orlando Herrera 21 Wren Ayden Marshall 24 Burr Lila Bohnert 26 Wren Gracie Huffman 30 Dotson New addition Carter Freeman June 7 Weisbrod April is National Poetry Month. Reading poems can be a fun and different way to enjoy reading as a family!
Choir news
Orchard TRIBE Tones
Orchard's 3rd and 4th Grade after school choir is singing wonderfully and we can't wait to perform! We have been invited to perform at the April PTO meeting on Tuesday, April 16 at 6:00. Please meet in the music room by 5:45.
Our last performance will be on Tuesday, May 7 at West Lane Elementary at 7:00.