It is hard to believe this week is the end of the second quarter which means we are half way through our school year. Yikes...where does the time go.
We have a unit beginning on snow. Hopefully we will have some soon otherwise we will imagine about snow. We will start preparing for Open House which is coming up later this month. Also, we will begin introducing the students to our bullying program. We will start with our first lesson on empathy.
Reading Incentive: Don't forget to turn in your December reading calendars or keep track of your reading minutes online. If you need a new January calendar, please let me know. Here is information about the January reading incentive from Mrs. May.
Our reading program reward for January will be in conjunction with the Read to Succeed program from Six Flags® and Discovery Education. Every student who completes six hours of recreational reading during the month of January is eligible for a free admission ticket valid at participating Six Flags theme parks.
· Each child must complete six hours, or 360 minutes, of recreational reading in the month of January.
· Minutes must be logged in at www.maywattsreads.com by January 31st. (If you don’t know your child’s password, contact me.)
If you want to use a paper calendar, that must be signed by a parent and returned by February 3.
· Your child can read books, magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Kids can read silently, aloud, or with an adult—you can read to your child, or your child can read to you.
· In May, you will receive one voucher for a child’s ticket to Great America along with a discount opportunity for the rest of the family.
Very Important! No late entries will be accepted. Great America is very specific about their requirements.
Young Authors: This is a wonderful opportunity for your child. The information below was sent home prior to break. Here it is again.
Young Authors Program - 2012
May Watts Elementary School
December 19, 2011
Dear Students and Parents,
May Watts will once again be participating in the YOUNG AUTHORS PROGRAM co-sponsored by the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Language and Literacy Council. It was designed as a celebration to honor exceptional writing by Illinois students in kindergarten through eighth grade. All children are encouraged to participate in the program by submitting an original story, essay or a collection of poems.
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place will be awarded at each grade level. The overall school winner will be eligible to attend the Young Authors Conference at Illinois State University. The student will have the opportunity to work in small groups, sharing ideas with other young authors, educators, and noted children’s authors. All District #204 Young Authors will receive participation ribbons to recognize their efforts. We will celebrate all of our Young Author participants at May Watts with a breakfast reception.
Dec. 19th Information letters sent out, and posted on the May Watts’ website
Fri., Jan. 20th Letter of intent to participate returned to LMC
Thurs. March 1st Final manuscripts must be submitted to the LMC
Fri., Mar. 17th May Watts’ Young Author Conference participant is announced
April (date TBD) In-school May Watts’ Young Author’s Celebration
Sat., May 19th The school winner attends the Illinois Young Author Conference at Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL
To be eligible for judging the entry must include:
§ A substantial cover with pages securely attached and a title page.
§ A rough draft
§ A detachable title page including the child's name, grade, and title of the book. (This page will be removed for anonymous judging.)
Please follow these guidelines:
§ The final manuscript should reflect the student’s writing ability and developmental stage. (For example, an excellent kindergarten submission may use very basic language and may have grammatical errors.)
§ Dictated books may be typed or handwritten by an adult, but the language and voice should be the child’s own.
§ Illustrations are optional.
§ Only one entry per student will be accepted.
§ Two students may collaborate on a piece.
If your child plans to participate, please return the permission slip on page 3 to the LMC by Friday, January 20th. Keep this page and the attached evaluation rubric for reference. If you have any questions, please email or phone me.
Sincerely,
Laurie May
May Watts LMC Director
630-428-6707
Paper # | Young Authors Rubric | Score for each category | |||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Planning | No rough draft | Little difference between rough and final draft | Rough draft has been edited for grammatical and spelling errors | Growth from rough to final draft; shows signs of revision and editing | |
| Ideas | Main idea unclear; no details | Clear main idea, but few details and/or topic lacks originality | Clear main idea; some details and/or original ideas are present | Clear main idea; specific supporting details; demonstrates originality | |
| Organization | Random, unconnected thoughts; no paragraphing | Some attempt at paragraphing; Missing or undeveloped beginning, middle, or end | Engaging introduction or conclusion; appropriate paragraphing | Clear beginning, middle, & end; strong introduction & conclusion; appropriate paragraphing | |
| Voice | Robotic tone; flat | Efficient story-telling, but it does not engage the reader. | Some attempt to include emotion; author shows enthusiasm for the topic | Distinct, memor-able characters; strong sense of the emotion in the writing | |
| Word Choice | Basic, repeated use of words; overuse of slang or cliché | A few plain words have been replaced in editing | Shows attempt to use creative word choice throughout paper | Uses specific nouns and powerful action verbs; little or no slang; some words stick in your mind | |
| Sentence fluency | Incomplete or awkward sentences; difficult to read | Sentences make sense, but show little variety. Some transitions are present | Some variety in sentence length and style. Good use of transitions | Easy to read aloud; sentences flow and vary in length & structure | |
| Grammar & punctuation | Frequent errors make reading difficult | Some spelling and punctuation errors, but still readable | Minor errors in spelling and grammar are hardly noticeable | Few or no errors in spelling, and demonstrates strong knowledge of punctuation. | |
| Presentation | No student input into presentation | Neat presentation, with some student input | Student done presentation with attempt at neatness | Student done/Neat presentation | |
| TOTAL SCORE | |||||
RETURN THIS PAGE TO MRS. MAY BY JANUARY 20TH, 2012
I have carefully read this letter and am aware that in order to be accepted for scoring, the manuscript must:
· include a rough draft, in the child’s own language
· be turned in by the end of school on Thursday, March 1st. In fairness to all, NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Please be proactive in your planning timeline.
1) Child’s Name (please print) ___________________________________________________
Grade & Class ________________________________
2) Child’s Name (please print) ___________________________________________________
Grade & Class ________________________________
3) Child’s Name (please print) ___________________________________________________
Grade & Class ________________________________
Parent Signature ___________________________________________________________
Parent Contact email ________________________________________________________
Please return this signed letter of intent to the LMC by Friday, January 20th, 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment