This has been a crazy week with math benchmark assessments, the wind, and Red Ribbon Week.
As part of the Red Ribbon Week activities, classrooms decorated their door with their commitment to be DRUG FREE. Students were very creative. Take a look at our video!
Lyrics: (sung to the tune of "Addam's Family") They're scary and they're spooky They sometimes make you pukey They're altogether ookey So drugs are not for me!
They make your brain all icky They really make you sicky And stopping them is tricky So drugs are not for me!
I'm healthy, as you can see And life is happy for me I am and always will be So proud to be drug free!
On Friday, October 16th, about 200 volunteers from surrounding Target Stores came to Victoria to put finishing touches on our library. After checking in, the volunteers had lunch and were welcomed by Heart of America, Target Leaders, and Victoria students. Our students sang them two songs of thanks.
VICTORIA’S LIBRARY READesign
(Tune: America the Beautiful; Lyrics by: Nancy Kaptain)
Oh beautiful for brand new paint
For colors bright and bold;
For beanbag chairs on carpets fresh;
The shelves no longer old.
Two thousand books,
A brand new look,
Our library’s so cool.
It’s sharp; it’s smart
Thanks to your heart,
The jewel of our school.
Oh beautiful for sleek new shelves
To hold the books we love,
New chairs and tables set the scene
To hear the reading of
A Harry Potter Hogwart’s tale
Or Horton Hears a Who
We take delight with gratitude
To find the old in “new”.
You Really Have Heart
(Tune: from "Damn Yankees" Lyrics by Nancy Kaptain)
You've really got heart.
Yes you really have a heart.
Look at all the lovely things that you've done,
Makes for a fun new start.
You really have heart.
Miles and miles and miles of heart.
So we want to sing you,
"Thank you so much for your special touch.
We're looking smart."
Yes you really have heart. You really have heart.
Yes, you really have heart. Yes you really have heart.
Yes you really have heart.
Target volunteers worked frantically to finish the library in time. All of the tables still had to be assembled, pictures hung, more bookshelves to be built, and books shelved. At 2:10, Mrs. Read still didn't have a desk! It was just like on the TV designer shows - working right up through the last second! But they got it all done - just as they said they would.
At the same time, other volunteers were putting stickers in books and collating them into sets of five to be given to students at the celebration after school.
Other Target volunteers delivered a book bag with two books to each student.
While other volunteers completed items on the teachers' "TO DO" lists.
THANK YOU HEART OF AMERICA AND TARGET!
For not only the new paint, furniture, books, and fun, but for setting the example of volunteering and helping to make a difference in our community. To our students, you are Hero's of the Heart!
There has been so much going on at Victoria this week in preparation for "Mrs. Read's Party" - as the students have been calling it.
More Target and Heart of America team members arrived today and got right to work!The Target "event team" spent all day preparing activities for the students to participate in tomorrow. They figured out how they will transform the playground into a celebration fit for this wonderful occasion.
Tomorrow, about 200 more volunteers from Target Stores throughout the Inland Empire will join us. After they eat lunch and attend a short welcome program (where our students are going to sing to them..as a surprise...shhh), they will divide up into three teams. One team of volunteer, the Classroom Buddies, will assemble book bags (canvas bag with two books for each child) and deliver them to the classroom. They will help students with a few fun activities and read a story or two to the class.
The second team, the Renovation Team, will work to assemble tables, bookcases, Mrs. Read's desk, shelf books, etc. and put the final touches on the library. They will also plant a colorful flower garden in front of the library.
The third team, the Teachers' Task Force, will help our teachers with anything they need - copying, bulletin boards, making flashcards, pumping up balls, filing, weeding the garden, etc.
This experience has been truly wonderful! I can't wait to see the final product and see the students' excitement as they see our fabulous new library and as they participate in the celebration. What an awesome message they are receiving! Not only the importance of reading and literacy, but also knowing that they are special kids!
Only 2 days to go... Today, about thirty volunteers from Target, along with Heart of America staff, worked to put our library back together! Will they be done on time?
At Back-to-School Night, Mr. Kaufhold and Mrs. Gonzales hosted a booth presenting Parent Involvement opportunities.
This year, Victoria is offering various "Parent Academy" workshops. Several have already occurred.
September: How to Help Your Child With Homework? Parents learned a few strategies to encourage students with their homework. Parents made a custom student centers to take home to use with their child.
October: Kindergarten Literacy Mrs. Gonzales introduced "AlphaFriends" and taught parent several games to play with their child. Parents left with several games, including identifying letters and sounds, manipulating letters and sounds to form words, and segmenting words to identify sounds and spelling. Parents also received a set of sound/spelling cards, a book, and stickers.
November: Parents in ELAC made Study Centers for their children. Parents were able to design theirs to meet the specific needs of their child and his/her grade. Resources mounted on the boards included: Sound/Spelling cards, D'Nealian penmanship models, high frequency words (to assist students in writing), hundreds chart, multiplication chart, math fact flash cards, maps, etc.
December: Family Math Night - 12/10/09 - Look for more information to come home!
On October 1st, eleven students from Victoria walked to the RUSD Staff Development Center (on the corner of Lincoln and Horace) to help train elementary principals. Students ranged from first to fifth grade.
Principals practiced administering and scoring a Word Pattern Inventory. The Word Pattern Inventory is a tool used by classroom teachers to identify encoding and decoding skills of students. Teachers use this information to plan direct instruction on phonics and fluency.
The activity begins with a spelling quiz to assess students' understanding of encoding (spelling words). Teachers use this information to identify specific spelling pattrens that a student may need further instruction - for example long vowel words like cake or kite or knowing the correct r-controlled vowel in words like bird and shower.
The Word Pattern Inventory is also given as a decoding (reading) assessment. Again, teachers are able to identify patterns that need to be targted for additional instruction. Systematic phonics instruction is provided during Universal Access or small group. Students have daily practice with the needed patterns. The goal is for students who struggle with speecific skills to become accurate and automatic in the process of reading.
I am the principal of Victoria Elementary School in Riverside Unified School District. I have been in education for many years as a classroom teacher, categorical program specialist, assistant principal, and principal. It is my honor to serve the Victoria community of students, parents, and staff.
This has been a crazy week with math benchmark assessments, the wind, and Red Ribbon Week.
