December 2017
Dear Tate Woods Families,
Thank you for attending Parent/Teacher Conferences. We are pleased to share that 93% of Tate Woods parents attended conferences. Thank you for helping us get very close to meeting our goal of 100% participation! Strong parent-community-school ties is one contributing factor to advancing student achievement. We are thankful to have such supportive and caring families helping us grow our very special students.
Please review our December information below, paying special attention to our "Dates to Know" section.
All of us at Tate Woods wish you and your family a healthy holiday season filled with joy and special traditions.
Love and Hug One Another,
Mrs. Gosselink, Principal
1st Grade Music Program
Our first grade music program will be Thursday, December 14th at 7:00pm at Lisle Jr. High School Auditorium. Enter the main doors at the Jr. High School. Leave your children with the teachers in the cafeteria (to your left). Please take your child's coat and go to the right to find the auditorium. Parking is always a challenge. Please carpool and arrive early if possible. All students need to be there by 6:45pm to be lined up. Students should wear festive/nice clothing.
Leave Toys at Home Please
Please make sure that your children leave their toys and any items that may be valuable to them at home. The students are not always right with their backpacks throughout the day, and we want to make sure nothing gets taken. In particular, please leave any small toys that hang from backpacks at home. These are often times very tempting to other children. Thank you.
Kindness Bags will be built by our students during an in-school activity on Dec 22nd. A kindness bag is a small bag full of items like a toothbrush, small toothpaste, hand sanitizer, cheese and crackers, etc... that is passed onto someone that might need it. This is one way that we are working to spread kindness during the holiday season at TW. We will ask for students to bring a small item to add to bags. Items assigned to each class include:
Peterson & Polmanteer - travel size toothpaste and $1.00 bills
Pupillo - toothbrushes and $1.00 bills
A. Miller & L. Miller - travel size shampoo and $1.00 bills
Madonia - small hair combs and $1.00 bills
Jandt & Pfaff - mini/travel size hand sanitizer and $1.00 bills
Grau, Cyrus, Toby, Johnson - Cheese & Cracker Snack Packs and $1.00 bills
K-5 Teaching and Learning:
What guides daily instruction?
Teachers use a variety of assessments to plan for instruction, set goals and differentiate lessons. These formative assessments can vary in length and can be isolated to one or two concepts or skills so students can demonstrate mastery. Formative assessments can be observational or anecdotal and can help grade levels identify specific needs for students who need additional help or are ready for extension.
What students are reading matters?
Most of the reading students will encounter in the real world is compelx informational text so our K-5 students are reading lots more of it throughout the year! Informational text explains the natural or social world. There is often specialized or technical vocabulary associated with it and may feature diagrams, charts, tables, photographs or realistic illustrations.
Bridges Math
We are seeing success with our new Bridges Math Curriculum during the first trimester of 1st and 2nd grade. Both grades are currently beginning Unit 3. Bridges provides information for parents as a part of their tools. Please use the links below to learn more about Bridges Mathematics in Unit 3 for Grade 1 and Grade 2.
Parent Info.Bridges.Grade1.Unit3
Parent Info.Bridges.SPANISH.Grade1.Unit3
Parent Info.Bridges.Grade2.Unit3
Parent Info.Bridges.SPANISH.Grade2.Unit3
Literacy (Reading and Writing):
Students at Tate Woods continue to work in Unit 3 of reading and writing units. Lisle Community School District #202 K-5 schools utilize a Balanced Literacy approach to literacy instruction. This research-based approach supports students by providing direct instruction from the teacher, protected time for reading and writing by the student, small group instruction and individualized instruction. This model encompasses the following things:
- Students reading books at their level and utilizing taught strategies to grow as readers.
- Teachers providing whole group instruction paired with small group and individualized instruction.
- Small and individualized instruction provided based on formative assessments
- Students reading and writing for 60-90 minutes per day to improve their skills as readers and writers
- Students and teachers accessing large quantities of texts at multiple levels and across genres and subjects
- Students provided instruction in writing with choice regarding content that interests them
Grade 1 Units of Study for Reading:
Unit 1: Building Good Reading Habits
Unit 2: Word Detectives Use All They Know to Solve Words
Unit 3: Learning About the World: Reading Nonfiction
Grade 1 Units of Study for Writing:
Unit 1: Small Moments: Writing with Focus, Detail, and Dialogue
Unit 2: Writing How-To Books
Unit 3: Nonfiction Chapter Books
Grade 2 Units of Study for Reading:
Unit 1: Second Grade Reading Growth Spurt
Unit 2: Becoming Experts: Reading Nonfiction
Unit 3: Studying Characters and Their Stories
Grade 2 Units of Study for Writing:
Unit 1: Lessons from the Masters: Improving our Narrative Craft
Unit 2: A How To Guide to Nonfiction
Unit 3: Writing Gripping Fictional Stories
Dates to Know...
December 1st - EC/PreK Field Trip (contact teacher for information)
December 13th - 1st grade performance practice at Lisle Jr. High School (students only during the morning)
December 14th - 7pm First Grade Program @Lisle Jr. High School
December 18th - 7:30pm Board of Education Meeting
December 21st - Winter Parties, 2pm
December 22nd - last day of school (3:15pm dismissal)
Winter Break: Dec 23-January 7th
January 8th - school begins at 8:45am