Friday
December 18
Early Dismissal
11:45am - PS/PK/K
Noon - Grades 1-5
No Aftercare
December 21 - January 1
Winter Break!
No School!
Monday
January 4
School Resumes
Friday
January 8
Spirit/Pizza Day
Admissions Deadline - Jan. 14
Does your child have a sibling at home that might attend Westside next year? The time to apply is now!
December 17, 2009
Annual Giving - So Close!
Technology, Math and 3rd Grade
Start Thinking About Proucrement
Westside Memories
Pre-K's Making Bread
Art Update
Annual Giving - We're So Close!
Technology, Math & 3rd Grade
By Stuart Scolnik, 3rd Grade Teacher
In 3rd grade, we use technology to improve our math skills, stay challenged and develop a positive attitude about math. One example of how technology augments our curriculum is the “First in Math Program” (FIM). I was introduced to this website based program several years ago while working with the Prince Georges County School District in Maryland, one of the largest in the country. FIM was totally unlike any other program I had ever seen, and the kids took to it unlike any other. It adapts to their level; children proceed at their own pace – mastering facts and increasing problem solving, critical thinking and pattern recognition skills. FIM addresses all the math standards, and serves students all the way up to high school across the country and around the world. Each student receives his/her own user ID and password. It’s easy for the students to use at home, too.
Here’s some more good news; our 3rd grade team is first in the state of Washington, and 92nd in the nation. We have 12 students in the top 100 scores in the state, and one student is number 5!
I correlate classroom instruction with various bonus games on the First In Math site to reinforce skills. Playing the Passing Time game allows students to practice the calculation of elapsed time, a skill they often struggle with. The Equal Pay game reinforces decimals in standard, expanded and word form, and is another example of a direct correlation to state and national standards. This direct reinforcement of curriculum has resulted in dramatic performance results. Weekly test scores have improved and, as a result, students are more confident and enthusiastic about math.
For more information, visit www.firstinmath.com or come drop by our classroom for a demonstration, we love to show off our math skills!
You May Not Need More Time, Just More Planning...
By Kate Petrich & Roshele Allison, Auction Procurement Chairs
When we return from winter break in January, Westside auction procurement season will begin. We often say we’re “launching” procurement season; however, the first definition of “launching” is “to throw or propel with force; hurl”. Who wants to be “thrown with force” or “hurled”? Instead, here are some auction ideas to keep in the back of your mind this holiday, so that when you come back in January, you already have your donation sorted out or even completed before auction fever hits, and you hopefully won’t feel “thrown with force or hurled.”
For example:
• Use idle time in airports or while traveling to knit or craft your masterpiece
• Talk to potential donors you might run into about donating an item or service to the auction, e.g., monthly children’s haircuts, fresh flowers each month, daily latte’s for a year, behind the scenes at the zoo, Boeing, Microsoft, Starbuck’s or one of Seattle’s chocolate factories...
• Re-gift a great item you already have or can do without. “Mon Dieu! Quelle Outrage!” Don’t be silly, re-gifting has come a long way from the Seinfeld days, (there’s even a Beginner’s Guide on the web). So go green, and re-gift a gift to another happy Westside home.
Know that less can be more - especially if you’re crafting your donation. The beauty of “unique” is that the value of your fabulous one-of-a-kind item goes up exponentially when there is only one. Past auction catalogs are available in the administration house if you’d like to look through them.
Questions? Ideas? Contact Kate or Roshele:
katepetrich@gmail.com, 206-988-5820 or daveroshele@comcast.net, 206-938-1989.
Westside Memories
By Renee Smith, 1st Grade Teacher
A former Westside School student, Ben Vo, needed to complete Community Service work for his middle school. He asked if first grade could use some extra help, and we said yes. That is how it happened that we got several hours of organizing the classroom library from Ben.
I remember when I first saw Ben Vo! He was the cutest little thing in Nancy’s class! We were rehearsing for Winterfest. His sister Annie had been in my second grade, so I was watching the younger Vo with interest. But not just me: everyone was watching that cute little guy with the button eyes who was hopping up and down in the front row, just singing his heart out. I could hardly wait until he was in second grade. I wanted to watch him grow.
It is a pleasure to see a student who is (almost) grown up. Ben looks great, does well in school, and has fond memories of his years at Westside School. Because his sister Annie also went to Westside, the Vo family was a familiar fixture around here for six or seven years.
Ben remembered details about second grade with me, and also first grade with Margie. He was interested in our continent reports, and remembers his state report in second grade! The pleasure he got from reminiscing was evident, and gave me a lot of satisfaction.
After Ben’s last visit, we had our annual Winterfest celebration. When my class was finished with their songs I was free to watch the other students. Look at those fifth graders! Remember when they were in my class? Remember when they were mine?
Pre-Kindergarten’s Making Bread!
By Claudia Ross-Weston, Pre-K Teacher
Pre-Kindergarten, along with Nancy’s class, has been studying grains, primarily corn, wheat, rye and oats. We noted the different grains in the cereal we eat in the mornings. We ground grain to make flour and then used the flour to make bread. We made cornbread from our hand-milled cornmeal, pretzels from regular unbleached flour and our whole wheat flour was one ingredient in the loaves we made last Friday. We read about breads from around the world and made some important science observations. We observed the dough rise as the yeast gave off gas to create bubbles. We noted the changes that occurred when the batter or dough is cooked.
Two families in our class are closely associated with bread or pizza making. We have been able to enhance our curriculum by visiting these two sites. Last year we visited The Grand Central Bakery owned by the Moorhead family. This year we took a field trip to Osteria da Primo owned by the White/Guida family, “Primo’s restaurant,” as it is referred by the children. This wonderful Italian restaurant is located at 631 B SW 152nd Street.
We all loaded into cars and made the short trip to Burien. The class was divided into three groups. Each group had the opportunity to help make pizza dough in the large mixer. Then the children moved to help make pizzas. Each person had a chance to spread the dough for pizza. Next we smoothed on the thin layer of tomato sauce. Finally a few students sprinkled on the cheese. We made seven pizzas and then we ate them! They were delicious and disappeared quickly. Each child went home with a piece of dough they helped make to share with their families.
If you would like to see pictures of our trip, go to Claudia’s web page and look for December 11, 2009. Next week they will be moved to the archived link on the right side of the web page.
Our experiences on the field trip enhanced our understanding of food production. Our students are building foundational knowledge of the various food groups and learning where our food comes from.
Art Update
By Margery Lamden, Art Teacher
The exuberant feelings shared by our Westside students during art class are evident by the imaginative drawings and sculpture that either went home or are on display throughout the school. Come visit the art/music room and see the colorful and expressive cityscapes by grade 1, clay sculptures of owls by grade 2, and various animals that pioneers would have seen while going west by grade 3.
As the students continue to practice and develop their skills in drawing and how to ‘see,’ the 4th and 5th graders completed a lesson creating a tone or value design using pencil. We looked at some drawings and discussed how surface tones create a three-dimensional illusion while outlines only define the edges and do not tell us anything about the light and dark. I demonstrated ways to control the movement of a pencil and how the pressure on the pencil creates different tones. Following this, every student practiced the technique of controlling the movement and pressure of their pencil strokes. After a lot of strokes and focus their designs were completed. A student said, “Wow, my design really looks three-dimensional.” Some of the drawings dominated by light tones tend to look delicate or misty. Dark tones tend to make the designs look somber or mysterious. These skillful drawings will be on display the day you come back to school in 2010.