Westridge Wildcat News
October 16, 2020
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month
Userway is Lake Oswego School District’s primary accessibility tool. When you see this graphic (or “widget” shown to the right) on our district webpages, click on it to view a variety of accessibility tools, e.g., keyboard navigation, screen reader, pause animations, text spacing or color options. You can add this tool to your own computer at WCAG 2.1 AA Website Accessibility - Accessible Websites with UserWay | UserWay. Userway does not store information on users and is COPPA, FERPA, HIPAA, GDPR and ADA compliant.
Assistive Technology … Did you know?
Technology is changing and improving the school experience for students with dyslexia. Text-to-speech and speech-to-text software, calculators, and note-taking apps are common examples of “assistive technology”. Many of us enjoy audiobooks for pleasure reading, but audiobooks also can serve as a vital piece of assistive technology for those with learning differences such as dyslexia.
With audiobooks everyone can acquire new vocabulary, expand their knowledge and love of books, and enjoy complex or intriguing storylines. Because dyslexics have great listening comprehension, audiobooks enable independent access to school curriculum through “ear-reading” of complex or voluminous textbooks and novels.
The Lake Oswego Public Library has many audiobook services here:
LOSD assistive technology and audiobook resource information can be found here:
LOSD Audiobooks & Read-Aloud Tools
If you have questions or concerns regarding your child’s learning, please contact the school principal and/or literacy specialist. Another great parent resource would be to contact your school’s Student Services Parent Advisory Committee (SSPAC) representative. Please see here to learn how to contact your school representative.
Coffee & Connection
Our next coffee will be offered on Wednesday, October 28th from 9:00am - 9:30am. This is an informal time to just connect, ask questions, and learn together as we go through the school year. This next session, join myself and Mrs. Bates, our RTI Coordinator through the link below. Bring a cup of coffee, or just call in and let's connect!
ID: 89488956670
Password: 537256
(US) +1 929-205-6099
Passcode: 537256
A Message from Mrs. Bates
Hello Westridge, parents.
My name is Brittanie Bates. I am the new RTI Coordinator here at Westridge. Before joining your school, I worked in global online education as a teacher, staff coach, and a student and family education coach. A big part of what I did was help families with the transition to online learning. I have created a quick Tips and Tricks video for you. Hopefully, it will give you some ideas for making online learning work better in your home.
I look forward to getting to know all of the students better and making the best of this school year.
Early Release 10/30 is now Asynchronous
Our original 2020-21 school calendar listed Friday, October 30 as an 11:00 a.m. early release day to allow elementary teachers time to prepare for conferences on November 5-6. With our distance learning model in place, Friday, October 30 will be an asynchronous day (independent learning and practice that has been assigned by their teacher). All lessons will be posted for all students (AM and PM cohorts) by 8:00 a.m. Science, Health and Social Studies lessons will also be posted by 8:00 a.m. depending on the rotation schedule.
A Message From Our School Counselor
Dear parents,
I am excited that students have been engaging in my weekly SEL lessons for the past 4 weeks. Since students may not have a lot of experience viewing Google Slides presentation, I wanted to provide the following tips. Each slide in the presentation has audio narration which really helps convey the message. This works best when the slides are viewed in Present mode. Here are some instructions to use Present mode for both iPads and Chromebooks:
View a presentation (iPad)
- On your iPad, open a presentation in the Google Slides app.
- At the top, tap Present Present on this device.
- To change slides, swipe left or right.
- To exit, double-tap the screen. Tap Close .
View a presentation (Computer or Chromebook)
To present a full-screen presentation in Google Slides:
- Open a presentation in Google Slides.
- In the top right, click Present. For best results, present with Google Chrome.
- From the current slide, the presentation will become full screen. To change slides, use the arrow keys on your keyboard or click the arrows at the bottom of the presentation.
- To exit full-screen, press the Esc key.
Thank you, and please take the time to join my SEL classes if you haven't already:
Grades K-2: 76wnd6p https://classroom.google.com/c/MTUzODYzNDMwODgz?cjc=76wnd6p
Grades 3-5: q53zivt https://classroom.google.com/c/MTUzODYzNDMwOTI3?cjc=q53zivt
Red Ribbon Week October 23-30
October 23-30 is Red Ribbon week. Red Ribbon week is a national event to encourage students to stay drug free. The theme this year is "Be Happy, Be Safe, Be Drug Free". This year, we are holding a poster contest to encourage students to think about staying safe and drug-free. The rules of the contest are
- Include the 2020 Theme of "Be Happy, Be Safe, Be Drug Free"
- Be drawn on a 8x10 sheet of paper
- 3 winners: K-2, 3-5, and overall winner
- I'll make a certificate and email it to the winning students
- Posters need to be submitted to kieserg@loswego.k12.or.us. by October 30th.
The Red Ribbon Week website also has activities to do at home https://www.redribbon.org/activities/parents/.
Tech Support:
Tech Information Sessions
LOSD hosted two Tech Information Sessions covering the “how tos'' for getting started with distance learning. The session recordings and presentations are posted on the district site under Resources/Tech Support for Families.
Tech Support Ticket
A majority of tech concerns can be resolved by submitting a Tech Support ticket -- the link is on all school and district homepages for easy access to help with passwords, log-ins, hardware fixes, etc.
Google Classroom Guardianship
By now all parents and guardians should have received an email requesting you to accept guardianship of your student's Google Classroom. If you need assistance with this request, please submit a request through the Tech Support button. Note: accepting guardianship simply gives you the option of selecting how often you would like to receive summaries (weekly, daily, or no summary) of your student's Google Classroom activity. Only student accounts have access to Google Classroom.
ODE State Assessment Notice
Westridge Elementary
Email: kari.montgomery@loswego.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.losdschools.org/wr
Location: 3400 Royce Way, Lake Oswego, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 534-2371