GameDay at the School

All students and teachers will be participating in GameDay at the School this week. This is a standards-based physical education program designed for elementary schools. Miss Rachel is training us on how to organize, manage, and teach P.E. specific skills.


Today, students learned basic warm-up and cool down prodecudes and a new game. Our kindergarters learned a game called "Banana Split." First and second graders learned how to play "Minnow Express." Student in grades 3-6 learned "Flag Pull Top Gun."

Students and teachers had fun learning these games and playing them during P.E.!

Jump Rope for Heart

Today at Victoria we held our annual Jump Rope for Heart event.

Girls jumped.

Boys jumped.

Even teachers jumped!!!

We all had fun, got exercise, and helped raise money for the American Heart Association!

http://www.jumpropeforheart.ca/ (Visit this site and you can "jumpify" yourself)

Kindergarten Registration & Open Enrollment

Do you know of anyone who will be starting kindergarten in the fall? Do you know of families who would like to attend Victoria, but do not live in our boundaries? If you answered yes to either of these questions, read the very important information below.

Kindergarten Registration for Victoria School will be held the week of March 22-26 at the Riverside Unified School District Central Registration Center (CRC) located at 5700 Arlington Ave.

Items you will need to bring with you:

• Completed Registration Packet (you can pick one up from the school office)
• Proof of student's birth
• Current Immunization Record
• Two recent documents verifying your residence address
• Verification of Physical Examination and Dental Screening
• Parent/Guardian Photo ID

Victoria is also open for Intra-District transfers at all grade levels for the 2010-2011 school year! The time frame for open enrollment is very limited, as paperwork will only be accepted March 15 - April 2. You may download the Intra-District transfer application form along with the transfer letter from the District's website at http://www.rusdlink.org/. Families who are interested in transferring to Victoria may call our office at 951-788-7441 or the CRC at 951-352-1200.

HEARTS FOR HAITI

Victoria students in grades 3-6 thought globally this Valentine's Day. Rather than spending money to purchase store-bought Valentines, students brought in money to contribute to their "Hearts for Haiti" project. The money collected was donated to the Red Cross and to a Haitian orphanage, along with baby formula and rice cereal. Students collected well over $600.


In lieu of a Valentine's Party, students made Valentines to send the Haitian children at the orphanage with messages in Haitian Creole and French:

• Pran swem tèt ou. Bon Valenten = Take Care. Happy Valentine's Day.
• Nous pensons à vous. = We are thinking of you.
• Nous nous soucions de vous, nous espérons que vous êtes bien. = We care about you. We hope you are okay.

When one student was asked why they were doing this, he replied, "To bring joy." Another responded, "So maybe [the Haitian people] will trust the U.S. Army a little more because we're helping them."

Thank you Victoria students and teachers for making the world a better place by caring about others!

Fluency Focus

Victoria staff and students are concentrating on reading fluency this year. We know that students who read fluently - comprehend more and score higher on reading assessments. Working to this end, Mr. Kaufhold and Mrs. Gonzales offered a special parent workshop on reading fluency today. Approximately twenty-three families attended one of the two sessions - offered at Victoria School in the morning and at the Casa Blanca Library in the afternoon. Parents received information about reading fluency and how to help their child improve in reading fluency.

If you would like more information about this topic, contact your child's teacher or ask to speak to Mrs. Kaufhold or Mrs. Gonzales. Below is some of the information shared at today's workshop.

Approximately every six weeks, our teachers assess students' reading fluency and compare scores against benchmark goals. End of the year reading fluency goals are:

• Grade 1 = 80 word per minute (wpm)
• Grade 2 = 124 wpm
• Grade 3 = 142 wpm
• Grade 4 = 152 wpm
• Grade 5 = 168 wpm
• Grade 6 = 177 wpm

Fluency is more than reading quickly. "Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately and quickly. When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read. Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural, as if they were speaking." Put Reading First, p. 22

FLUENT READERS:

• Focus their attention on making connections among ideas in the text and their background knowledge
• Recognize words and comprehend at the same time
• Divide words into meaningful chunks so that they are able to read with expression
• Score higher on comprehension assessments

NON-FLUENT READERS:

• Focus their attention primarily on decoding individual sounds or words
• Spend their energies trying to “figure out” the words not the meaning
• Read in a slow, deliberate, and labored manner often pausing at inappropriate places
• Score lower on comprehension assessments
• Fluency and automaticity are often interchanged, however they are not the same thing.

Fluency means reading with accuracy, pacing (automaticity), and expression (prosody). "The fluent reader sounds good, is easy to listen to, and reads with enough expression to help the listener understand and enjoy the material." (Clark, Read All About It, p. 282)

Automaticity is the fast, effortless recognition of words that comes with a great deal of reading practice. "As a result of extended practice, an important change takes place: students learn to decode the printed words using significantly less attention. Because they require so little attention for word recognition, they have enough left over for comprehension." (Samuels, Schermer, Reinking, Read All About It, p. 269)

Prosody is reading with intonation and expression that sounds like normal speech.

What does scientifically-based reading research tell us about fluency practice? (From Put Reading First, pp. 21-31 and Read All About It, pp. 251-287) Repeated and monitored oral reading:

• Substantially improves word recognition, speed, and accuracy
• Improves reading comprehension
• Improves the reading ability of all students throughout the elementary school years
• Helps struggling readers at higher grade levels

How can you help your child become more fluent readers?

• Read aloud to your child
• Have you child read to you
• Encourage your child to read books that are at their independent reading level (like their Accelerated Reading or AR level )

Remember, fluency practice isn't just about speed. Practice doesn't make it perfect -- perfect practice makes it perfect!