whispers september 2011

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Wekiva WhispersWekiva Elementary School

1450 East Wekiva Trail

Longwood, Florida 32779

Phone: 746-3150 Fax: 746-3163September 2011

Principal: Marjorie Adamczyk Assistant Principal: Michelle Baker

Seminole County Public Schoolswww.scps.k12.fl.us orwww.wekivaelementary.com

Principals Message

The attendance for our Curriculum

Nights was wonderful. Thank you for

coming to learn about schedules,

subjects and procedures. If you did not

have a chance to be here, please try tomake an appointment for a teacher

conference.

This newsletter has bits ofinformation from all grade levels,

exceptional education, English

Language Learners and other special

areas on our campus. Feel free to

contact other area teachers for moreinformation if needed.

As you probably know, students

have been taking a variety ofassessments depending on their grade

level. These assessments help give the

teacher(s) guidance and direction for

lesson planning. You will be contactedif the teacher feels your child will

need additional support. In some

cases, we can use our WOW (Work-

out Wekiva) time for even more

instructional time. Teachers would

only make this decision with you.Mr. Maldonado and Ms. Clodfelter

are on a leave of absence and we wish

them both a speedy recovery. Ms.

Long is assisting our custodial staff

for now. Ms. Katya Malespin is

working with Ms. Clodfelters class.Other new staff members include:

Amber Taylor, SLD; Stephanie Eger,

Kindergarten; Miriam Santiago,

Cafeteria Assistant; Nilda Colon,

Paraprofessional; Mary Trawick and

Cindy Bock are also returning

paraprofessionals.The Entertainment Book fundraiser

has almost ended (see PTA News).

Thank you to our PTA ladies for all of

their hard work collecting anddistributing them. I wonder who won

the chance to slime me.

Until next time

Ms. Adamczyk

PTA News

Families and students, Thank you for

purchasing an Entertainment Book

from your student and thank you for

selling books for Wekiva Technology!

Please sell any remaining books andreturn orders to school. Any unsold

books can be returned through

classrooms or the front office. Pleaseknow: Entertainment books are NOT

free and are available for purchase,

only.

With Entertainment Books behind

us, only one PTA fundraiser remains.The awesome Boosterthon Fun Run!

The Boosterthon Fundraiser Kicks-

Off Tuesday, Nov. 1! If you'reavailable to cheer and pour drinking

water on Thursday, Nov. 10, during

your student's hour of the

BOOSTERTHON FUN RUN, pleaseemail

[email protected] .

Fun Run times are:

Grades Pre-K through 1 = 8:45 a.m.

Grades 2 and 3 = 9:55 a.m.

Grades 4 and 5 = 11:05 a.m.*Please check-in at the front officeand arrive at the side field 10 minutes

before start time. Volunteers must be

approved dividends.

Thank you helping Wekiva students

through your fundraising sponsorshipsand purchases! EVERY PENNY

COUNTS when it comes to our

students!!

Membership is at 287 and climbing.

Grade Level News

KindergartenKindergarteners are excited and

eager to learn. In math, we are

learning to represent & compare

whole numbers 0-20, and to join and

separate sets.

In reading, we are connecting thoughts

and ideas to both fiction and non-fiction text, recognize and use letters,

sounds and popcorn (sight) words. We

are looking forward to our Ice Cream

Sundae Social on Grandparents Day,

September 14 from 12:45 1:15.

Kindergarten will be full of fun as we

learn about the fabulous five senses in

our grade level rotations. Playing and

working together each day issomething we all look forward to!

First Grade

Curious scientific minds abound in

First Grade! We have learned about

the scientific process and different

tools scientists use. In math, addition

and subtraction strategies are a plus indeveloping number sense. We had a

fun day wearing hats to school after

reading our story "The Hat" andwriting purr-fect stories about cats

from our story "Sam and the Bag".

Thank you to all the parents who have

donated to our grade fund and whohave sent in the money for our

upcoming trip to the theater.

Second Grade

Second grade is hard at work this

year! In reading, we are currentlydiscussing narrative elements of astory, the difference between fiction

and non-fiction, and the main ideas

and supporting details. We hope to

start chapter books very soon! In

writing, we are focusing on theWriting Trait called Ideas by using

fun lessons and picture books to get

our students thinking creatively! We

are really enjoying our new science

curriculum and will begin our study

on Earth's surface later this month.

Personal History is very importantand our students are looking forward

to their first oral report next month!

Be sure to keep reading and studying

math facts each night for homework!

Third Grade

The third grade teachers are gearing

up for an amazing year. Parents,

please be sure to check your childs

SPB (Student Plan Book) nightly to


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help your child stay on track with

homework and other important

classroom news. Some things we will

be working on in September are Nate

the Great Detective Unit,

Understanding Place Value, Addingand Subtracting Greater Numbers,

Graphing and Organizing Data, The

Government, and the Nature ofScience. A special thank you goes out

to all of our wonderful third grade

parents who have volunteered their

time to work as Dividends in our

classrooms and at home. We lookforward to working with you. Also,

thank you to all parents who have

donated items for our classroom andfunds toward our third grade activities.

Fourth Grade

Fourth graders have enjoyed theantics of Suds and Joey in reading

Fourth Grade Rats while learning

about plot and character analysis, and

experiencing the creative writing of

well-known author Jerry Spinelli. As

writers, the students have exploredwriting poetry and self-reflection,while being exposed to 6 + 1Traits

Writing. In math, they are completing

a chapter on multiplication and

division, and preparing to apply these

concepts to solving algebraicexpressions and equations. They are

also learning to use science tools and

skills to understand our natural world.

Soon, they will be studying Earths

place in space.

Fifth GradeLithology, myrmecology,

rhinology...If you are a 5th grade

student at Wekiva, you might know

the definitions of these words. Thescience classes are discussing the

careers and responsibilities of being a

scientist. We have discovered

scientists are more than people who

wear goggles and white coats!

The math classes are learning there is

a plethora of ways to divide! Everyone

loves choices from kinds of ice cream,

to shoe fashion, so why not have some

choices when it comes to math.

The language arts classes arebeginning their first novel study along

with reading the short stories from the

Harcourt text. Look for your child tobe discussing such topics as theme,

plot, protagonists, and resolution.

Along with reading a good book, they

are actively working on developing

the 6 Traits of Writing.Rounding out the curriculum is the

study of early civilizations in social

studies. Students are learning abouttheir culture, practices, and how they

helped shape our country.

The fifth grade is filled with active

learning each day. Ask your childwhat new facts they learned today. By

the way, the definitions are: the study

of rocks, the study of ants, and the

study of the nose. How did you do?

From Ms. JohnsonThe goal of the ESOL program is to

meet the immediate communication

needs of the English Language

Learner (ELL) students by teaching

English as expeditiously as possible,

so that he/she can function effectivelyin the regular academic program. We

make sure to provide our diverse

learners the necessary tools to ensure

academic success. Most of our

homeroom teachers are ESOL

certified/endorsed; therefore, they are

highly qualified to reach theirlinguistic as well as their cultural

needs.

From Mrs. Closson

The Wekiva Elementary Guidance

Department provides a comprehensive

developmental school counseling

program that assists families, students,

and teachers in many areas, with

special focus on academic

achievement and personal/social skill

development. Academic achievement

includes test interpretation,

advisement, study skills, organization,

test taking skills, academic and

behavioral goal setting, and schooltransitions. The area of personal/socia

skills concentrates on violence and

drug prevention, anger management,resources for grief and loss, groups for

divorce and changing families,

mentoring, and making and keeping

friends. Please feel free to call if you

believe we can be of assistance. (407-746-3154)

From Ms. Kelly-Bubon/Ms. Taylor

Students with SLD, Specific

Learning Disabilities, are identified as

having a normal to above normal

intellectual quotient, however,struggle with grade level academics.

Instruction is supported in the general

education classroom provided by Mrs.

Kelly-Bubon and Mrs. Taylor.

Students are taught a variety of

strategies that help them in Reading,Math and Written Language areas.

From Ms. Roffe

Students in Ms. Roffes K-2 class

are learning a variety of skills in the

following curriculum areas:Expressive/Receptive/Spontaneous

Language, Functional Routines, Pre-

academic Concepts, Play Skills, Socia

Interaction Skills, and Academic

Skills as determine by individual need

The four main methods instruction

used to teach these skills are DiscreteTrial Training, Pivotal Response

Training, Functional Routines

Instruction, and Direct Instruction

(these methods are all based on thescience of applied behavior analysis).

From Ms. K (Kavaliauskas)

I support the general education

teachers and their students with ASD.


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The type of support provided is

completely based on the students

needs. Social skills groups are also a

support implemented to help facilitate

social thinking and peer relationships.

From Ms. Ashcraft and Ms. Keiffer

Speech and language skills are the

basic building block we use tocommunicate in all arenas. Speech-

language pathologists address

difficulties with: 1. Speech-the way

we talk; our voice (too nasal or too

hoarse), articulation (sounds inwords), or fluency (lack of stuttering)

and 2. Language what we say; our

vocabulary, content andgrammar/structure. After a referral,

evaluation process and determination

by a student study team, students may

qualify to receive speech and/orlanguage services to improve their

communication skills.

From Mrs. Kranz

The music room is up and running!

Fourth and fifth grade returningstudents should be locating theirrecorders for this school year. The

school store will be selling Yamaha

recorders for $5 to 4th and 5th graders

first, along with 3rd grade students

participating in Koala MusicKidz. Aletter will be sent home regarding

loaners, should you decide to opt out

of that opportunity.

We are looking forward to a fun-filled,

musical year!

*Advanced Chorus (4th 5th) Tuesday

3:15 4:15 p.m.*Advanced Instrumental Wednesday

7:55 8:35 a.m.

*Beginning Chorus Thursday

3:15 4:00 p.m.

From Ms. Gabrovic

Super Scientist dates are as follows:

Round #1 - December 1-December 8

Round #3 - April 26-May 3

If you are interested in helping Mrs.

Gabrovic on your childs science lab

day, please email Mrs. Gabrovic at

[email protected]

Critter Care Club will begin thismonth for all interested fourth graders.

Each class will be assigned a month to

take care of the Science Lab critters.If you have not turned in your form,

please do so as soon as possible.

Additional forms can be found on

Mrs. Gabrovics website.

From Coach Prose and Coach Gray

P.E. would like to welcome you and

your children back to another schoolyear! We have many exciting

activities planned for your children

this year. We just finished bicycle

safety and cooperative games and arestarting a Geocaching/Letterboxing

lesson. Geocaching and Letterboxing

are fun activities you can do with your

children, which involves searching for

cache on the computer and then using

a GPS to find the location. Thelocation could be locally or on theother side of the world. In the near

future, look for information about a

Family Bike Ride/Hike at Wekiva

Springs State Park and permission

slips for your child to join our CrossCountry Club that starts in October.

From Ms. Cook

Recycling Program

Throughout the year, we promote the

recycling of the followingitems: empty inkjet, laser, fax and

copier cartridges, laptops, used cell

phones, digital cameras, PDAs/Palm

Pilots, iPods, GPS devices, VideoGame Consoles, Video Games and

DVD Movies in their boxes. Please be

sure to include any cables with your

electronic devices. We do not accept

desktop computers or printers since

we ship our recycled items to the

company. Best of all, our school earns

cash that is used to purchase our

online subscriptions. Help us

RECYCLE & REUSE! If your

business would like to participate in

our recycling program, please contactMrs. Cook at 407-746-3151.

Parent Pick Up

Parents waiting in the car line; the

school has received phone calls that

the driveways to our neighboring

homes are blocked.Also, it is not the school policy topark and pick up children in the car

line area. We have created a policy to

keep your child safe. Picking them up

does not assure that they are going

home safely because we cannot

account for it. If you wish to pick up

your child, you must come to the front

office and check them out before 2:30

(1:30 on Wednesday). Thank you foryour assistance in this matter. Safety

and security is our number one

concern.

Read Every Day for Homework!

Seminole County

Sheriff Office

Crossing Guard

Corner

Did You Know

The first weeks of school are always abit chaotic as we embark on new daily

routines. Please allow yourself

additional travel time whencommuting near or through school

zones and be especially mindful ofreduced speed limits, school crossings

and our Crossing Guards. Remember

to avoid distractions in your vehicle.

Parents, it is very important that you

make use of the pick-up/drop-off

traffic plans in place for your school.They are designed with the safety of

your child, the Crossing Guards and

all others who rely on alternate means


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of transportation. Lets have a safe

school year and dont forget to Buckle

Up!

Annual Book Sale

Wekiva will be hosting its annualUsed Book Sale and Ice Cream Social

on September 20th. We will be

collecting book donations fromSeptember 6th through September

16th. Please send in any gently used

childrens books you would like to

donate to the sale. Books can be

dropped off in the media center. Allproceeds from the sale will go directly

to support reading at Wekiva

Elementary. The used book sale willbe at the first PTA meeting on

September 20th at 7:00. This is a

great opportunity to clean out your

shelves, pick up some inexpensivebooks, and enjoy some free ice cream

with your children! If you have any

questions, please contact Mrs. Hull at

407-746-3137 or

[email protected].

Important Dates

9/7 5:00 SAC 6:15 PTA

7:00 Sign Up for Boys Scouts

(Media) & Girl Scouts

(Cafeteria)

9/12 Robotics Club begins9/14 12:45 1:45 Grandparents

Day in Kindergarten

9/15 Picture Day for Grades

Pre-Kindergarten through 2

*Chick-fil-A Night

9/16 Picture Day for Grades 3 -5

Picture Day is for theyearbook too!

9/20 Ice Cream Social at 7:00 p.m.

PTA General Meeting

Book Sale!!!9/28 Papa Murphys Night

9/29 No School

10/4 4th Gr. Museum Field Trips

Ms. Raby/Ms. Castro

10/5 Progress Reports Go Home

5:00 SAC

6:15 PTA

10/6 4th G. Museum Field Trip

Ms. Russell/Ms. Crenshaw

10/7 4th Gr. Museum Field Trip

Ms. Hewitt/Ms. Lindsey

On September 2, Major Robert Hurd and his daughter Emma said the Pledge of

Allegiance on KNN. Major Hurd is now stationed at Fort Bragg, NC with the

82nd Airborne Division. He has served in Iraq twice before and is getting ready

to go to Afghanistan again later this month, for a year. Wekiva is going to

adopt his division this year.

This Sunday is Patriots Day, in remembrance of 9/11, September 16 we shareConstitution Day, and during the week of September 26 30 is Freedom Week.

School Board MeetingSeptember 13, 2011

Educational Support Center

at 2:30

Budget Open to Public

whispers september 2011

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