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PARKSIDE ELEMENTARY

January 2013

Wild by Nature

1 HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2 SCHOOL REOPENS 7-11 MAP TESTING GR 2-5 9 PTL MEETING

6:30 PM 16 SCHOOL BOARD STUDY SESSION

7:30 PM 18 11:15 EARLY DISMISSAL 18 VARIETY SHOW

7:00 PM @ SVHS 21 NO SCHOOL

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY 23 SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

7:30 PM 24 PROGRESS REPORTS MAILED 24 MATH AFTERNOON

3:45 PM 25 5TH GR WINTER BLAST

6:00 PM

January Calendar Dear Parents,

Happy New Year! Parkside Elementary staff and students are

looking ahead to a second trimester filled with academic

opportunity.

Many Parkside students participate in extracurricular activities

before, during and after school to enhance their skills.

For example, the morning computer program is a designated time

for students to practice math and language skills. This popular

program runs Monday through Friday beginning 8:30 a.m. in the

computer lab; if your child is interested in participating please see

the information on the Parkside website. Elementary music and

band programs are packed with students who practice before

school to hone their musical talent. Math 24 students in grades

four and five give up recess two times per week to sharpen

mental math skills in preparation for the District Math 24

Tournament. The Parkside Reading Olympiads meet every

Thursday morning to read and discuss literature in preparation for

the Delaware County Reading Olympics Competition. Student

Council, Safety Patrol and Newspaper members meet at various

times before and after school throughout year. The after school

program, which also offers practice in math and reading skills is

filled to capacity and will run Tuesday and Wednesday until the

second week of March. Our extracurricular programs are

overflowing with exceptional students eager to learn and grow.

On another academic note, this month students in grades two

through five will complete the winter session of MAP testing.

Testing will begin on Monday, January 7 and continue through

Friday, January 11. Once testing is complete, teachers and the

reading specialist will meet to analyze results and design

instruction to meet the needs of our students.

Best,

Mrs. Ford

Parkside Principal

Academy of Natural Sciences Parkside Elementary received a grant from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel

University. Through the grant, the Academy of Natural Sciences visited Parkside Elementary

and facilitated a program titled, Amazing Adaptations. The students learned about a wide

variety of animals and discovered features and behaviors that help animals survive. The

excitement of the museum came to the school complete with specimens, live animals and a

naturalist expert. The science program was in alignment with Parkside Elementary school

theme, Wild by Nature. Thank you to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

for providing a stellar science program!

Thank you to the Academy!

Parkside Elementary Chorus Kudos to Parkside Elementary choral students for their outstanding performance at the Parkside

Elementary Winter Concert. Family and friends were treated to a heart-warming night filled with

songs of the season!

Thank you to Parkside music teacher and choral director, Mrs. Laura O’Kane, for her outstanding

efforts to make certain Parkside students receive a top-notch education in music.

Parkside Elementary Band

Kudos to Parkside Elementary band students for their outstanding performances at the

Parkside Elementary Winter Concert and the B Band Concert. Family and friends were

treated to a heart-warming time filled with songs of the season!

Thank you to Parkside instrumental music teacher and band director, Mr. Justin Heimbecker,

for his outstanding efforts to make certain Parkside students receive a top-notch education in music.

Spotlight on the Curriculum By Anne Dudley and Rosemary Fowler, Curriculum Supervisors

Technology… Transforming Teaching and Learning

Writing… Making Meaning on the Page

Writing is a craft that requires the student to use specific words, in a specific order to create specific effects.

Students write in countless ways to communicate, express, question, persuade, synthesize, and teach. It

takes years to gain mastery over written language. The technology which is available today offers

opportunities to both teacher and student to be better able to develop this craft.

The document camera, also known as a visualizer, is a real-time image capture device. The teacher or

student places the document under the camera and it can be projected to a large audience. When a teacher

wants to show students the style of a particular author, he can put the page under the camera and share

with the class. The students can see and hear the selection. A teacher can put a blank piece of paper under

the camera and write for all the students to see. Students can also project their pieces of writing and work

on peer revising together as a community of writers.

The writer needs to follow a process when writing a new piece. The computer provides the “paper” for the

initial draft, followed by a more efficient means of revising and editing. The final stage in the writing process

is publication. The computer provides the student with the opportunity to give his piece of writing a

professional look. He can design a brochure, add tables and diagrams as well as graphics. Reference tools

are available for the writer. While working on an informative piece, the internet is handy to check on facts

and figures. My Big Campus, an on-line social learning platform, gives students an opportunity to

collaborate and discuss their writing. More than ever, our students are writing across the curriculum. The

technology which is available to them provides an invaluable resource.

Home/School Connection

Link to recommended apps:

http://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101/writing/literacyapps_writing/

Evernote – Free app available to use on various devices. Great resource when you want to keep track

of your ideas and begin writing.

Story Builder - a multi-purpose app designed to teach story structure. In the process, students learn

sentence structure, sequencing, and inferencing.

Music, Music, Music… At Parkside Elementary we are fortunate to be surrounded by teachers of music. Two special

music events that happen each year at Parkside are the Kindergarten Bell Show and the

Brass Band. The kindergarten students perform a bell show with the help of a very talented

Parkside resident, Mrs. Harmon. The Brass Band performance is a blend of music teachers who

are inspirational and share their gift of music with students and staff.

Thank you to Mrs. Harmon and all members of the Brass Band!

Percy’s Picks

As part of an ongoing positive behavior support program,

Core Essential traits are introduced to students each

month at Parkside Elementary during school-wide

classroom meetings. The purpose of this and other PBS

programs at Parkside is to ensure a positive school climate

for all students. The students listed below were selected

by Percy the panther for exhibiting the Core Essential trait

of compassion throughout the previous month. Thank you

to our guidance counselor, Mrs. McCarty, for work on this

and other PBS projects at Parkside Elementary.

Michael Amad

Allison Walters

Breanna Bennington

Maya Harris

Emily Bartholf

Lucas Rowley

Samuel Murray

Landen DiRocco

Gianna Maina

Isaac Fisher

Percy the panther will be on the prowl through the month

of January for students who exhibit the Core Essential trait

of determination.

Sheila McNear Angel Toogood

Jenna Owens Jon Fitting

Skylar Curry Madelyn DelVacchio

Nate Podberesky Alyssa Lofthouse

Anthony Manning Brian Pirotta

Kendall McKnight Dylan Waters

Ruby Bonilla Jaden Porter-Melrath

Anthony Jones Elise Butler

Andrew Hooper Kirsten Hansen

Gabriel Ross

Reading Counts The Reading Counts program is a tool used to support independent reading at Parkside Elementary that allows

students to self-select books of interest on their independent reading level and monitor progress. The amount of

independent reading a child does has a direct correlation to vocabulary growth, reading comprehension, verbal

fluency, content knowledge and higher levels of achievement. Independent reading happens daily at school and

is assigned nightly. Reinforcement of reading at home will help to increase your child’s achievement levels.

Parkside Elementary students are wild about reading!

Jayming Liu 1,204,537 Julianne Cadden 1,068,620 Emma Mansfield 942,771 Hailey Lipka 926,939 Leanna Dankel-Paylor 818,860 Michael DiFurio 798,451 Ruby Bonilla 681,636 Jenna Johnson 666,582 Emily Woznicki 635,254 Isabella Rapposelli 618,589 Layla Fagone 567,223 Damarys Oxendine 547,934 Brian Pirrotta 507,686 Hagen Thomas 481,399 Kevin Bartholf 459,603 Filip Kishta 434,852 Andrew Kmett 434,633 Allison Walters 426,421 Ryane Cornog 388,953 Dominic Drais 367,186 Sarah Shanahan 355,215 Samuel Dykes 354,869

Congratulations 200,000+ Readers

Zara Wahdan 342,506 Daniela Evans 341,375 Alyssa Hansel 334,592 Alanya Pro 325,187 Derek Crockett 307,462 Alyssa Laird 286,984 Justin Cassidy 283,322 Abigail Doyle 259,170 Jayden Wood 254,452 Anthony Jones 251,496 Alayna Lloyd 250,629 Isabella Rowley 238,059 Nabryia Mayfield 235,195 Brianna Kanefsky 234,675 Jessica Phillips 230,328 Gelsey Maina 227,881 Rylee Bennett 216,269 Alexa Timlin 215,769 Tatiana Bailey 212,852 Samantha Saunders 210,080 Vyshann Tucker-Wadley 206,666 Lindsey O'Rangers 204,456