October Newsletter
McKinley Elementary School
McKinley School
Mile Run
Cheering On The Runners!
Hi McKinley Families!
It is hard to believe it is already October! We have spent the month of September reconnecting with all of our students and getting to know our new kindergarten friends. We have settled into our classroom routines, and teaching and learning is fully underway. We have so much in store for this school year, and look forward to supporting you and your child(ren) as they continue to learn and grow!
As fall continues to settle in, it is also time for Fall Progress Reporting. Our amazing teachers spend many hours after school discussing the best way to measure students' academic progress, possible ways to continue and improve student success, and how to best share this information with families.
Due to COVID, we have made adjustments to our Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences. Rather than hosting conferences in the traditional manner, teachers will be connecting with families virtually. Teachers will be contacting you later this week to make arrangements for a virtual meeting during the week of October 19th. Please note that a face-to-face conference will be available by request only.
During our fall conferences, teachers will touch on your child's progress during the first month and a half of the school year, in addition to their performance on our first round of benchmarking assessments.
It's important to pause here for a minute and describe what these assessments consist of at an elementary level. Rather than give students a paper-and-pencil based test in a whole-group setting, our teachers test each student individually in the following areas:
- Skills the child has for solving unknown words (such as sounding out words or using context clues). Teachers refer to these skills as phonological awareness, phonics, decoding, etc.
- How accurately and quickly a child reads. Teachers refer to these skills as word accuracy and fluency. Kids need to be able to read accurately and at a consistent pace in order to understand what they are reading.
- How much a child understands what they are reading. Teachers refer to these skills as reading comprehension.
- If a child can add, subtract, multiply, and divide accurately and fairly quickly. Teachers refer to these skills as math fact fluency or math fact automaticity. Kids need to be able to quickly and accurately recall their math facts.
- If kids understand how numbers work. Teachers refer to this as number sense. Mostly we are looking for kids' understanding of place value. This understanding extends from understanding numbers such as zero and ten, all the way through understanding fractions and decimals.
Next, teachers use this information to compare student performance to other kids in the school, in the district, in the state, and in the nation. We do this to determine if kids are performing the same as their age-alike peers. We call this "benchmarking." A benchmark is where most of the kids in the grade are performing.
Finally, teachers use all of this data to design instruction for their students. This includes providing interventions for kids who might not have reached the benchmark yet, or providing continued support or extended support for kids who are performing as expected or who are exceeding expectations.
It's important to restate that teachers just finished this testing last week. They will spend this week designing instruction for kids. While teachers will be sharing the results of these assessments with families during the month of October, we have not yet had the opportunity to work closely with students on the instruction the teachers have designed for them. In other words, the assessments we have administered demonstrate what a child learned last year (and retained over the summer), these assessments do not reflect this year's learning.
We look forward to seeing everyone at conferences in two weeks!
Warm Regards,
Gretchen
What's Going On?
Muskie Spirit
Helping Out
Good Listeners
Reminders & Resources
Riverbend Mobile Food Pantry
Keep an eye out for information coming through school messenger regarding the monthly mobile food pantry event that takes place at the board office.
Salvation Army Christmas Information
The Salvation Army is taking appointments starting October 5th
Call 563-263-8272 to set your appointment
Bring with you:
Adults: ID
Children: birth certificate or Medical card
Address: utility bill
Income: food stamp card
With cold and flu season coming up be sure to get your flu shot. Remember to wash your hands and be sure to cough into your elbow!
Parents, if your child has a fever, please keep them home from school.
Questions? Call the office!
Stay Safe!
Hello all! My name is Ms. Wilson and I am so excited to be McKinley’s school counselor again this year. Getting to see my old McKinley friends and meeting new friends has been such a joy this year!
Let’s talk about self-care! During a crisis or stressful time, we often find ourselves putting our personal mental and physical well-being on the backburner in favor of others around us. While it does feel good to know you are supporting others, you must also make sure that you take time for yourself; no matter how small that time may be! There are many ways to practice self-care. It can be as simple as making sure to eat a good lunch and drink lots of water or getting a good night’s sleep, or even as big as participating in a yoga class or going to the gym. Self-care can take many forms. Finding time throughout your day to pause, self-reflect, and then do something for YOU can understandably be hard to find, but it is still important to do. Remember, you can fill someone else’s cup if yours is empty. Do something for you! Find that something, or many somethings, that makes your mind, heart, and body feel good; that’s all it takes! Practicing daily self-care will allow you to see improvements in your physical health, emotional health, and even your personal relationships with those around you. I’ll be sending you positive vibes on your journey for practicing self-care! If you would like more ideas on self-care or have any questions, please feel free to contact me at logan.wilson@mcsdonline.org! Logan L. Wilson, MS Ed. School Counselor McKinley Elementary
In The Classroom
Classroom Spotlight: Mr. Yerington's 6th Grade Class
Mr. Yerington shared some great things about his class, read more to find out what they are up to in 6th grade!
What are three things your class is learning right now?
Physical and Chemical Properties
Chemical Reactions
The 50 States
What is something your class is excelling at?
Being Helpful
What are some things your students are excited to learn about?
Cells
Classroom Spotlight: Ms. Penkofer's 1st Grade
Questions? Call us!
Email: rebecca.fillmore@mcsdonline.org
Website: http://www.muscatine.k12.ia.us/mck/
Location: 621 Kindler Avenue, Muscatine, IA, USA
Phone: 563-263-9049
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mckinleymcsd