Welcome back to the 2014-2015 School Year!

Can you believe summer is slowly coming to end, which cues up the start of school? I can't! I had a wonderful summer, traveling and relaxing. It went by a little too quickly for me!

It was wonderful to see everyone at the ice cream social on Monday. It's such a fun way to kick off the start of the school year and it's always exciting to hear about everyone's break. Curriculum night is coming up Tuesday, August 26th at 6:30 pm.  Please join the Evendale staff as we provide information about our school curriculum.  Also, we are off school Monday, September 1st for Labor Day. The first PTA meeting is on September 9th at 6:00 pm, so come and join us as we talk about what's happening for the upcoming school year!

I look forward to another amazing school year and please pass this link on to other Evendale families!

Last day of school!

It's here! The last day of school for the 2013-2014 school year has arrived. Summer is on our doorstep and I know the kiddos are excited! In my last post I linked several activities to do over the summer. I wanted to also provide you with information on various camps and workshops happening all over Cincinnati. 

Cincinnati Family Magazine's List of Camps

Cincinnati Museum Center Summer Programs

University of Cincinnati R.E.C. Summer Camp

The Cincinnati Zoo Summer Camps

These are a few that I found and I'm not being paid to endorse any of them! If you've had any experiences with any found on the list, good or bad, please feel free to share. 

I also shared in my last blog information on TenMarks, an online math program to keep your kiddos in the math mode over break.  Here is the summer access code: S14EES7907.  This information was also sent home in your child's summer work packet. 

Here are a couple tentative dates to remember for the fall. The ice cream social is scheduled for Monday, August 18th, time TBD.  Open house is scheduled for Tuesday, August 26th, time TBD. I hope to see everyone there! Enjoy the summer break!

It's that time of the year.....

It's almost the end of the 2013-2014 school year and I am not ready! While I'm not ready to let your children go for the summer, there is also too much to do before June 2nd! This school year has been filled with learning, fun, and inspiration to be the best student possible. Your children have worked hard and I wanted to give you some ideas for keeping that hard work going throughout the summer.  

1.  For math and reading practice, you are able to access Study Island to view videos and go through lessons with your child.  It should be up all summer and those rainy days or the ones where it's too hot to go outside are perfect opportunities to review last year's material.

2.  Lisa Carter, our academic coach, passed along this website to check out for math.  The website states all it takes is 3 times a week, for 20 minutes each time to strengthen your child's math skills. Check it out!

3.  Parents online magazine has a list of fun things to do outdoors with your family.  While learning from books and discussions are important, play is important as well.  Team building, children guided discovery, and physical exercise are all a part of a well rounded education. Here is another site with more summer activities for kids of all ages. Click on the link to take you to the directions for the specific activity.  Take advantage of the beautiful weather when you can!

4. Science experiments are a great way to conduct research, ask questions, make predictions and have fun at the same time! There are several sites out there to explore so you're welcome to look on your own.  Here are some great experiments I found to conduct with your child this summer:

M&M Candy experiment

Baking soda fun

overnight crystal garden

Which will freeze first?

Exploring the effects of hot and cold air

Which solids dissolve in water?

5.   I love cooking! Making things with kids can be fun and educational at the same time.  Kids use math without realizing it (it's like sneaking zucchini into their brownies!).  Ask them to double a recipe or cut it in half.  Use measuring cups and spoons and have them convert fractions when they can! 

Recipes:

smores pops

fish and sand cups

quick summer fruit salad

ice cream in a bag

watermelon rice krispies treats

brownie fruit pizza

I hope everyone has an enjoyable and restful summer! I will be checking my email over the break so email me if you have any questions!

Summarizing using a Story Map

Currently in SFA we are working on the skill of summarizing. We have moved out of clarifying (although we still do this on a daily basis) and the focus in on how to get the students to identify what is most important about what they've read. If you've ever asked your child what a movie was about, you probably get the extended version! They want to tell you every detail (because it all seems great!) but what they don't know is they're losing their audience. In SFA, we have 3 steps to summarizing. The first is to retell the important events or ideas. This includes using the main characters, the setting, story problem, important events, and the solution and ending. The second step is to leave out less-important information.  The third step is to keep it short.  I'm sending home today a couple story maps with each student in my SFA class for you to copy and use at home. If your child isn't in my class, feel free to ask his or her teacher for a story map. We all have them and teachers are happy to share! Use these story maps as your child reads a book. The events should always connect to the problem.  It's a great way to prepare to write a summary and of course, great preparation for the OAA! Here is a a couple links to similar story maps that we use in class:

Story Map

Story Map Organization  You will have to save this one to your computer before printing it

Happy Mapping!

Practicing for the OAA's

As you know, the OAA's will be here before you know it! If you have a 4th grader in my SFA class, just ask them how many times I mention the OAA in class. It's more than they would like to hear but everything we're doing is helping them prepare for this assessment! Many parents ask how they can support their child's preparation at home.  If you click here you will be brought to the Ohio Department of Education's website and you will find practice tests for your child's grade level. If you click here you will be brought to the released test materials page where there are actual tests from past years. You may see these examples come home with your child on a practice sheet but it's nice for you to know where they are in case you want extra practice for your child.  Another great way to prepare for the OAA is completing assignments on Study Island. These questions are set up like OAA questions so they give the students a real feel for what the test will be like.  If you have any questions about the resources listed in this post, feel free to contact me at djoseph@princetonschools.net or 864-1216. 

Reminders!!!!

Tonight is the last night of parent teacher conferences. They are from 4-8pm here at school.

My SFA class has their book project due tomorrow.  If a student does not turn in a project, he/she will relinquish his/her recess until it's finished. The students have been informed they will work during their recess time if they do not turn in a project.  They've known about this project since December so they all should be turned in tomorrow!  Please contact me with any questions: 864-1216 or djoseph@princetonschools.net

Parent Resources

Happy (almost) Valentine's Day! January flew by with much fanfare due to all the delays and snow days and put us right in February without a thought! Before we know it, April will be here and the kids will be taking the OAA. I'll talk more about OAA preparation later!

I receive the NEA magazine and this month's issue included 10 free websites for teachers. I wanted to share this website with you because it has a parent section.  The website is Read, Write, Think and it has interactive materials to help kids with writing.  The skills range from organizing and summarizing, to writing poetry to learning about language.  There is a great parent section that I think you should explore and your kids can take advantage of, especially on a snow day!

I was perusing the NEA website and saw this article on the top 10 tech trends students say change education.  With all the technology utilized during a school day, it's interesting to get a kid's perspective, along with other school personnel, as to what is assisting them in education. Check it out and let me know what you think!

February Calendar

Thursday, February 13      Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-8:00

Friday, February 14           Valentine Celebration 2:55-3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 25        PreK & Kindergarten Registration Night

Friday, February 28           Princeton Gala