WOODSIDE INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL The Hawk Eye News OCTOBER 2014 **REMINDERS** Monday October 13 th - Columbus Day-School Closed Friday October 24 th ECS/WIS PTO Trick or Trunk @ Pierson Park, 6:00pm-8:30pm
Message from the Principal October 2014 Dear WIS Families, We re Off to a Great Start at WIS! As we begin October, I wanted to let you know that the school year is off to a great start! Our new 3 rd graders are learning how our building operates and already seem right at home! It is wonderful to have these new students in our building. It was impressive to see so many parents at our Open House on September 17. Please remember that the Open House is just the beginning of a year-long relationship with you, your child, and the teacher. Don t forget to communicate regularly with your child s teacher. Be sure to let her/him know if you have questions or concerns. It takes effort and communication to help all of our students enjoy success! WIS Webpage During the summer, the Cromwell Public Schools webpage underwent reconstruction. The webpage is now up and running and we are working on revising the WIS home page and teacher pages. During the month of October you can expect to see the teacher pages come to life with information about the classroom, homework, and other news. You can visit the Cromwell Public Schools webpage at www.cromwell.k12.ct.us. Once you are on the main page look in the upper left corner and choose WIS from under the Select a School menu. Sincerely, Mr. Chris Butwill WIS Principal cbutwill@cromwell.k12.ct.us
FROM THE HEALTH OFFICE In the WIS Handbook, it states that students requesting an indoor recess or an excuse from Physical Education must have a doctor s note. Students who are excused from P.E. on a given day will not take an active part in recess. They will sit off to the side. Students with casts, splints, stitches, or wraps WILL NOT PARTICIPATE in either P.E. or recess. You need to provide a doctor s note for the length of exclusion as well as prior to resuming any activities. Our fax number is 860-613-3970 and those doctor s notes can be faxed Attn: School Nurse. I will be conducting hearing and vision testing during the month of October. Remember that we screen for distance only with regards to vision. Please contact me with any concerns or questions. Happy Halloween! Gillian Hanson, RN BSN School Nurse
Important News from Grade 3 The third grade is off to a great year! In reading we have been working on our first unit, The Launching Unit. The students have been working on learning and refining skills necessary to be a good reader and understanding reading workshop. In math we have been working on place value, rounding, addition and subtraction. In science, we are studying plant and animal adaptations and how they survive in their environments. Finally, in writing we have started the year off with narrative writing as well as looking at parts of speech. Miss Kelley Important News from Grade 4 The first month of school really flew. Fourth graders were busy learning classroom routines. In Reader s Workshop every day routines were established, students have begun to build reading stamina and learn how to become better readers. In Math we are working on place value, rounding, comparing, adding and subtracting large whole numbers. Map skills have been introduced in Social Studies. The parts of the narrative writing piece have been introduced using a narrative diamond. We d like to remind everyone that students should bring a healthy snack to school each day. Also, it is important for students to develop good homework habits at home. All students are expected to read at least 20 minutes each night in addition to math and any other homework assigned. It is important to continue to practice math multiplication facts at home. Here are some helpful sights. www.aaamath.com http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com http://www.funbrain.com http://www.mathplayground.com http://jimspages.com Thank you from the fourth grade teachers.
Important News from Grade 5 The first month of the year has been very exciting and we are looking forward to the next one eagerly! We are wrapping up our Launching units in Reading, having established our protocols, our routines, and what strategies and practices good readers utilize to best comprehend their materials. We are going to be breaking into small groups for Literature Clubs, where students will be reading a shared book and meeting to have rich, deep discussions about it..so much fun! We are also exploring reading and writing memoirs, focusing in on specific events and bringing them to life through vivid description. In math, we are deep in the Place Value unit, focusing on magnitude, exponents, and application through multi-digit multiplication. Just wait to see some of the real-world problems we will be attacking with all of these skills and knowledge! Explorers are on their way to open our social studies unit, and we couldn t be more excited to get to know them. It has been such a pleasure getting to know our students and build our classes into tight-knit communities. This is going to be a wonderful year! Mrs. Wampler
PHYSICAL EDUCATION Welcome Back to Physical Education! We hope that you had an active and enjoyable summer. PE classes are held twice a week at Woodside. Your child must wear sneakers on their scheduled PE day for safe and active participation. If students are not wearing sneakers, they will still earn points for class by reading an article on fitness activities and respond to questions. Students will focus one day a week on fitness and the other day of the week will be on sport skills of various sports in our curriculum. Students have started a unit on Basketball. 3 rd and 4 th grade students will be working on the basketball skills of dribbling, passing, shooting, and game play. We will be practicing our skills during games and activities. Practice activities will include tag games, Basketball BINGO, and modified games for improving basketball skills. Through game play, 5 th grade students will be working on basketball skills they have previously developed. During games, students will hold the role of jobs including coaching, scorekeeping, and newspaper reporting. Teams will participate in a class round robin tournament. Students in all grades will work on positive sportsmanship and teamwork. If your child shows an interest in participating in Basketball for the town, the registration deadline is October 20 th. Please contact the Park and Recreation Department at Town Hall if your child would like to participate. Fitness testing will be taking place as we finish out the month of October. We have been preparing for the fitness tests during class and ask that students continue to prepare for the upcoming CT State Fitness Tests at home. Students will be required to perform tests on endurance (Mile Run, Push Ups, Curl Ups), strength (Push Ups and Curl Ups), and flexibility (Sit and Reach). Your child can practice activities such as jogging long distances, push ups, curl ups, and stretching to be ready for the fitness tests. Mrs. Turner
Art News Welcome to the Art Department here at Woodside Intermediate School. Within their art experience here at WIS students will be enriched with a variety of art mediums. The year has started with the 3 rd grade learning about Pablo Picasso and his particular abstract works of art. Students will create an abstract rooster inspired by Picasso. The 4 th grade team is learning about Alexa Meade and her interesting choice of medium. Through class discussion students learn about Meade s two dimensional portraits and usage of paint. Students will have the opportunity to create an expressive centenarian portrait using lines, colors and value. Fifth graders are introduced to the life and work of Charles M. Schulz. Students are introduced to Schulz iconic Peanuts comic art. Students discover the different parts of a comic and discuss the importance of comic/cartoon making. Schulz creative cartoon will serve as inspiration for students to create their own comic (sequential art). Mr. Segarra Music News Students in grade 3 have started off their year in music with a review of material previously studied at ECS in grades 1 & 2. We have gone over the names of the notes and rests and how many beats they each get and other commonly used symbols of standard music notation such as the clefs, time signatures, and bar lines. We also covered key vocabulary words and their meanings such as steady beat, tempo, B.P.M., and rhythm. Fifth grade general music students have all been deputized as junior musicologists. After learning how to take notes we began our study of a world famous composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. This unit will continue throughout October as we watch a video about what his life was like in the year 1717. Instrumental recruitment kicked off with the fourth annual Meet the Instruments Night and by now students have been assigned to lesson groups and have begun their studies. Information about the instrumental program at WIS and copies of all of the documents (including the schedule for group lessons) are posted on Mr. d Alessandro s teacher website, available through the WIS homepage. Parents, please help your child remember to bring their instrument and all other learning materials in on their lesson day. Mr. d Alessandro
Important News from the Library Media Center Welcome Back to the Library!! It has been a pleasure getting to meet all the students at Woodside and hearing all about their summer! We jumped right into the school year with some library lessons on book care, check-in/check-out procedures and the difference between fiction and non-fiction. We also read an exciting article about Mount Tambora, The Volcano that Changed the World! Library class at Woodside will be different from last year. Each class will come to the Library once every week. The visit will be 50-minutes which will include a weekly lesson and book exchange. Please be prepared for your weekly library class by bringing your book to school on your assigned library day. It is going to be a GREAT year!! Happy Reading! Mrs. Newland, LMS THE READING CORNER Tip of the Month.. As you read to your child: You can assist your child in kindergarten with exercises that help develop skills in sound recognition, letter recognition, simple blending and simple rhyming. In the first and second grades, there is additional focus on the three primary sub-areas of reading; accuracy, fluency and comprehension. By third grade, most children are reading by themselves. It is important to continue reading aloud in order to further develop essential skills with more challenging reading material. When you read aloud, you can read books at your child s listening level, which is higher than his or her reading level. This gives you the opportunity to expand your child s vocabulary. The wonderful, unique words found in children s literature are often words we do not use in every day conversations. A large vocabulary will improve your child s comprehension as he or she reads more sophisticated books. Mrs. Galatie
LIBRARY Helping your child realize the value of education is extremely important. Your presence at school is one way to show your love and encouragement. Our school's mission is to create an educational environment in which students are given the opportunity to reach their full potential, and the academic, social, and developmental needs of each student are met. We are looking for library volunteers to help us with that awesome task. Our school library is in need of your support! Even if you can spare just one hour per week, you can help us provide a stronger library program for your children. We will value you as a volunteer, and appreciate your dedication to the children as a supportive aide, role model, and mentor. We know your time is at a premium, but we hope this invitation will empower you to come in and volunteer. Please fill out the information below and return this form to school with your child. Sincerely, Amanda Newland Teacher Librarian Woodside Intermediate School ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YES I AM INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING AT THE SCHOOL LIBRARY!!! Day(s) of the week you would like to volunteer: Time(s) available: Name: Phone: Email: Best way to contact you: phone or email Best time to reach you:
Breakfast price - $1.25 Reduced price - $.30 October 2014 Woodside Intermediate School Students who qualify for free lunch also receive breakfast free. Pre-pay your child s breakfast at www.mypaymentsplus.com served: chocolate & strawberry flavored skim, and 1% low fat m o n d a y t u e s d a y w e d n e s d a y t h u r s d a y f r i d a y Fresh or canned fruit available daily MENU SUBJECT TO CHANGE Whole grain muffin 1 2 3 Whole grain breakfast bar Whole grain muffin 6 7 8 9 10 Fresh fruit or juice No School Columbus Day Whole grain breakfast bar Whole grain muffin 13 14 15 16 17 Fresh fruit or juice Whole grain breakfast bar Whole grain muffin 20 21 22 23 24 Fresh fruit or juice Whole grain breakfast bar Whole grain muffin 27 28 29 30 31 Fresh fruit or juice
served: chocolate & strawberry skim, or 1% low fat white. Menu Subject To Change October 2014 Woodside Intermediate School Breakfast is available to all students in the cafeteria every morning for $1.25. If a student is eligible for free or reduced price lunch, they are automatically approved for free or reduced price breakfast. Prepay your child s lunch account at: www.mypaymentsplus.com m o n d a y t u e s d a y w e d n e s d a y t h u r s d a y f r i d a y Alternate lunches available: Bagel with cream cheese or butter, yogurt, cheese stick, carrot sticks, and apple. Choice of tuna, ham or turkey sandwich on whole grain bread. WG pasta w /meat sauce Steamed broccoli crowns Wheat roll Hot dog on a wheat roll Baked beans WG pizza 1 2 3 Carrot sticks w/ hummus Oven potatoes Black olives Raisins or fruit choice Crispy chicken tenders Brown rice Sliced bread Steamed carrots NO SCHOOL COLUMBUS DAY WG chicken nuggets Oven potatoes Steamed green beans Wheat roll Cheeseburger or hamburger on a WG roll Mozzarella sticks w/ marinara sauce Breakfast for lunch Mini pancakes WG pizza 6 7 8 9 10 Veggie bites w /hummus Oven potatoes Steamed corn Green beans Turkey sausage links Black olives Lettuce and tomato Hash brown patty Raisins or fruit choice Tomato cup Juice or fruit Popcorn chicken Steamed peas WG pasta w/meat sauce French toast sticks w/ syrup WG pizza 13 14 15 16 17 Carrot sticks w/hummus Wheat roll Steamed broccoli crowns Turkey sausage Black olives Oven potatoes Wheat roll Hash browns Raisins or fruit choice or juice Toasted cheese sandwich on wheat bread WG pasta w/ meat sauce Nacho plate - Seasoned beef and cheese WG pizza 20 21 22 23 24 Carrot sticks w/hummus Sweet potato fries Steamed broccoli crowns Wheat breadstick over tortilla chips Lettuce and tomato cup Black olives Raisins or fruit choice Steamed corn Crispy chicken tenders Honey wheat biscuit Breakfast for lunch - French toast sticks w/ syrup WG pasta w/ meat sauce 27 28 29 Steamed green beans Chicken patty on a whole wheat roll 30 WG pizza Carrot sticks w/hummus 31 Baked potato smiles Turkey sausage links Oven potatoes Black olives Steamed corn Hash brown patty Wheat roll Steamed cauliflower Raisins or fruit choice Tomato cup Juice or fruit fruit choice Lettuce & tomato