Woods Road School Paw Pride
April 2020 - Volume 7 - Issue 8
Special Points of Interest
- April 01, 2020: Wellness Week - Scavenger Hunt Wednesday, dress up as an explorer
- April 02, 2020: Wellness Week - Throwback Thursday, wear your favorite sports jersey
- April 03, 2020: Wellness Week - Fun Friday, wear school spirit wear
- April 06, 2020 – April 10, 2020: SPRING BREAK – SCHOOL CLOSED
- April 13, 2020: School Resumes
- April 16, 2020: Marking Period 3 Ends
- April 17, 2020: Marking Period 4 Begins
- April 20, 2020: No PreSchool Monday
- April 22, 2020: Earth Day
- April 23, 2020: Take Your Child to Work Day
Dear Families,
We hope this correspondence finds you well and looking forward to some well-deserved downtime with your families during Spring Break. Enjoy! We appreciate the difficult work you are doing with your child(ren) and your ongoing support. I think you would agree, the teachers and staff have performed beyond our expectations. Hillsborough is a wonderful community and together, we’ve got this!
Starting Monday, April 13, 2020, K-4 elementary teachers will be using Google Classroom as the main platform to deliver instruction. We’re hoping this will make things easier, as it provides a “one-stop shopping” experience for students, making it easier for you to support them. Additionally, this will give students better access to Google which we’ll be using for our district-wide Flexible Learning Platform.
For many of you, we know this is new, and we are here to help. Your teachers will be able to assist you in getting Google Classroom up and running, if they have not done so already. Additionally, for your convenience, here is the LINK TO GOOGLE CLASSROOM HELP the district has put into place to assist you in navigating this platform. The HTPS Technology Team has developed PARENT TECH AT HOME WEBSITE for your reference.
Some teachers may use a variety of methods including live video and/or audio/video recordings to instruct and support their students.
We appreciate your patience and understanding while we work through equity issues and reach as many children as possible.
Today is Ms. Pescatore's last day with us as the Long-term Substitute Reading Specialist and we thank her for her service to our school community. On Monday, April 13, 2020, we will welcome back Mrs. Susan Piloto from her leave of absence. She is very excited to get back to working with everyone.
During Spring break, please be sure that you and your family take time away from technology devices and truly relax and recharge during the break. You all have been rockstars in the way you have been helping your children with the flexible learning plan. The staff and I truly appreciate your efforts. I hope that you continue to be well.
Sincerely,
Jodi L. Howe, Principal
World Autism Awareness Day was April 2, 2020. Joined by the international community, hundreds of thousands of landmarks, buildings, homes and communities around the world, light blue in recognition of people living with autism.
https://www.autismspeaks.org/world-autism-awareness-day
Read more about helping children understand autism.
Please click here to check out our teacher's pictures on twitter.
Counselor's Corner
by Mrs. Guastella
Change is something that is never easy for any of us. We grow accustomed to our daily routines and patterns from day to day. Through the past three years, I have had the privilege of getting to know you and your children at Woods Road. It has been such a wonderful experience and although no job is perfect, I truly do love my job and getting to do what I do. With that being said, it’s very bittersweet to let you know that I will be transferring buildings from Woods Road School to Amsterdam Elementary in the upcoming months. I aim to make this a seamless transition and work closely with the new Woods Road counselor so that they can be introduced to the students and continue working with them without missing a beat. Please know that you can always reach out to me with any questions. If anyone would like to discuss anything in particular about the transition, particularly if I regularly meet with your child, feel free to reach out and I will gladly discuss a plan so that we are all on the same page. Thank you to all of you for welcoming me into your Woods Road family and letting me be a small part of your children’s lives!
Nurse's Corner
I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. We continue to navigate our way through this challenging time together. Remember, it is important to spend this time with your families and take some time out for yourselves. Try to get outside as much as possible while following the social distancing guidelines.
Attached, please find helpful information to consider and share with your family. One attachment provides facts, symptoms and prevention tactics for the novel COVID-19 virus. The other attachment focuses on How to Talk with Children, both are excellent resources to consider.
The Somerset County of Department of Health is offering daily status updates about the coronavirus (COVID-19). Residents can call (908) 231-7111 to listen to daily updates about the status of the coronavirus in Somerset County.
When looking for information on COVID-19, follow trusted sources of information such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov and the Somerset County Department of Health at www.co.somerset.nj.us/health.
Along with spring approaching, so are seasonal allergies. Please keep in contact via phone with your primary care provider for any concerning symptoms and make sure to follow your asthma/allergy treatment plan. https://www.allergyasthmanetwork.org/
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at any time. If you need assistance in any way, do not hesitate to contact me, I am more than happy to assist in any way that I can. Stay Healthy!
Library
by Mrs. Stoff, Media Specialist
This month, WRS students in Pre-School will be hearing stories and playing games related to the themes of space, the farm, and the zoo. Students in K-2 will continue to hear the Irma Black Award finalists and vote on their favorite book. Third and fourth-grade students will continue to hear the Cook Prize finalists and vote on their favorite book. Follow the library on Instagram @wrslibrary
REACH
Third and fourth grade REACH students at Woods Road have been involved in an exciting year of learning. Third graders recently created and illustrated interesting round word puzzles on a variety of subjects and then invited their parents into school for our annual Rounder-Solving Event. Fourth-grade students have been immersed in a unit called Codes and Secret Messages. After learning all about various types of codes and ciphers, each of the students devised an original cipher and will be challenging their classmates to decipher their messages. As we move into the spring, both grades are focusing their attention on topics of personal interest as they embark on a voyage of self-directed learning in our Passion Project unit.
Writing
At Woods Road School, we will teach your child to craft narrative, opinion/persuasive, informational and poetry writing. Our reading and writing programs go hand and hand. Studies show that one of the most important ways to get better at writing is to read, listen to and study exemplar texts. So in our writing curriculum, there isn’t a single unit where the children are not also reading.
We use the workshop model to teach writing. This approach centers on independent student work in combination with teacher modeling, one-on-one, and small group guidance. Woods Road School students have time to write every day. During this time, students cycle through the stages of the writing process and receive feedback that is essential to their growth. During the writing workshop, students observe, collect ideas, draft, revise, edit, and publish narrative and expository texts.
A typical writing period will begin with students receiving direct instruction in a mini-lesson. This occurs when the teacher explicitly names a skill proficient writers use that is within reach for most of the class. The teacher then demonstrates the skill and provides students with a brief guided practice using it. Students then have time to write, applying the skills and strategies they’ve learned while receiving feedback from the teacher through one-to-one conferences and small group instruction designed to move them along developmentally. Since all students are writing at their own level during workshop teaching, the design makes this format perfect for differentiation.
For more information on how you can help your child with their writing, check out the following websites and free app below:
- http://www.readingrockets.org/article/developing-writing-and-spelling-home,
- http://www.readingrockets.org/article/how-parents-can-support-common-core-writing-standards
- https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/support-writing-home
Toontastic - https://toontastic.withgoogle.com/
Description - An app that allows students to create stories and tales of adventure in a variety of settings including galactic or underwater adventures.
Purpose - A great app for families that want a fun way to encourage all writers, especially students who might need a little encouragement. Fun and easy to use as a family.
Cost - FREE
Happy writing!
Caroline Cave
Literacy Corner: The Value of Repeated Reading
by Mrs. Barrood, Academic Support Instructor
It feels as if we are living in a whole new world as of just a few weeks ago. Schools are closed and learning takes place at home through Flexible Learning. Parents are quickly learning all about Google Classroom, Flip Grid, Raz-Kids, Read Works and Get Epic, just to name a few. While these digital tools provide access to valuable resources such as digital libraries, keep in mind that children need time away from a screen and often find comfort in rereading their favorite books from home.
Parents often express concern when their child requests to hear the same book read over and over again. Repeated reading of a familiar story is valuable to young children because the predictability of the story is comforting to them. They also love revisiting their favorite characters. Not only is rereading a favorite book a great opportunity to interact with you, but encouraging a habit of rereading is worthwhile for several reasons.
Repeated reading is a habit that benefits children of all ages. Children in the early elementary grades build fluency as they reread simple, familiar books. Research shows that children improve in reading when given books with which they have success reading independently, whereas reading books that are too challenging can actually slow progress. Furthermore, children are better able to focus on the meaning of the story when they are not struggling to decode the words.
As children transition from learning to read, to reading to learn in the third and fourth grades, repeated reading builds comprehension. An essential reading habit that defines proficient readers in this age group is those who monitor their comprehension and reread to clarify misunderstandings and regain meaning when it is lost. Repeated reading is also an essential skill for the important work of critical reading, or examining the text and thinking deeply about the message(s) the author is trying to convey.
Eventually the practice of rereading will evolve into an automatic behavior for adolescents as they use rereading as needed to analyze and interpret text. Therefore, let your child choose any book to read with you, even if it’s the same book every day for a month!
Parents, as you continue to take on the role of teacher and facilitator, the good news is that we are all in this together. We will be fine. The children will be fine. When they return to school, we will meet them where they are academically and we will teach them. We've got this!
Woods Road Elementary School
Website: www.htps.us
Location: 401 South Woods Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844
Phone: (908) 431-6600
Twitter: @WildcatsWRS