Living,
learning and
leading
together !
Edgewood Primary
School
News Flash
CALENDAR OF
EVENTS
Fall Break—No
School
Oct. 26
7:00 pm 1st Grade
Music Program
Oct. 30
6:30 pm PTO mtg.
Nov. 1
6:30pm Movie Night
Nov. 9
8:45-9:30 Veteran’s
Day Program and
Breakfast
Nov. 12
7:00 pm Board Mtg.
Nov. 19
Thanksgiving Break
Nov. 21-23
10:00-10:45 am
Roundabout Opera
Nov. 30
9:00-11:00 am Santa’s Breakfast
Dec. 1
6:30 pm PTO mtg
Dec. 6
Book Swap
Dec. 13
Volume 6, Issue 3
November, 2012
The Journey From Spoken Word to Printed Word
Learning to talk comes naturally to most children. As babies they begin speech by cooing and
gurgling, by age 3 they are speaking in sentences and within a few short years are asking for the
keys to the car! Scientists do not have definitive answers on why we have this seemingly innate
ability to learn spoken language so naturally. We do know, however, that reading does not
come as naturally as speaking. Reading is an acquired skill. There are many societies in the
world today who have a spoken language, but still do not have a written language. It took our
ancestors many years to develop a form of written language.
Teaching reading is one of the most important, fundamental responsibilities of a school. Every
other aspect of a child’s educational success depends on whether or not they can read and comprehend fluently. That is why each day at EPS your child spends 90-120 minutes involved in
the process of linking sounds to letters, letters to words, words to sentences, sentences to paragraphs, paragraphs to stories. Our goal is to teach students the skills of decoding words so well
that their brain’s energy can focus on the meaning of the text they are reading.
One of the tests we give students in each grade level is called Nonsense Word Fluency. You
may wonder why it is useful for students to be able to read words that are not real such as fop,
toc, suf. The answer is because we know that if students are able to read nonsense words well,
they are able to make quick and accurate association of sounds with symbols allowing them to
move on to the meaning of the text they are reading.
How fast should a kindergartener, 1st grader, 2nd grader be able to read? A minimum goal for
oral reading fluency can be found by taking the child’s age and multiplying by 10. A typical
kindergartener should be able to read anywhere from 50-70 words per minute, a first grader 6070 and second grader 70-80 words per minute.
How can parents help at home? Enjoy reading each night with your child(ren). Take turns
choosing a book, partner read (they read a page, you read a page), allow them to re-read favorite books each night for a week until they are able to read the book fluently. To encourage
comprehension, read a page or two, then ask your child to retell or summarize what was just
read.
Mrs. Faust, our reading specialist, frequently shares a quote with parents from Emilie Buchwald
that is a favorite of ours, “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” Between
the laps of parents and the explicit instruction at school our students will become fluent readers!
Hats On for Riley!
By wearing hats on
Friday and bringing
a .25 cent donation, students have
raised $187.54 for
Riley so far this
school year!
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Family Resource Center
Our EPS parents are very involved!
Over 180 of our students and EPS
families turned out for our 2012 Fall
Make-n-Take. What a great way to
start the year! Watch for more great
family engagement activities in the
upcoming months.
Also we have added another playgroup date and time. Each Wednesday (except the 1st Wednesday of the
month) from 10-12pm we hold Tiny
Tot Play time. With activities, music
and special
topics specifically geared
toward birth
to 2. Our next
event is:
Nov. 14 from Southern Indiana
Pediatrics on developmental
milestones.
We still have our marvelous Preschool Playgroup on Tuesdays and
Thursdays also from 10-12pm.
Program
Scholastic Book Fair
Nov. 5th-Nov. 9th
Every Reader Is A Star!
Monday, Nov. 12th, 8:40
Shopping Hours
Veterans’ Day
We invite family members and friends of
EPS and EIS students who are veterans,
or currently serving in one of our armed
forces, to join us on Monday, November
12th at 8:40 a.m. around our large flagpole between schools. We will celebrate
and honor the men and women who serve
our country through the armed forces. A
short program will be followed by a light
continental breakfast for our guests. Students whose family members or friends
attend the program may also attend the
breakfast. Please let your child’s teacher
know how many guests will be attending
our breakfast so that we can adequately
plan.
Mon: 8:00-4:00
Tues: 8:00-4:00
Wed: 9:00-6:00
Thur: 8:00-4:00
Fri: 8:00-4:00
Original Works!
On Oct. 31st, PTO will send home information
about Original Works. This program allows you
to have your student’s artwork reproduced onto
products such as magnets, tiles, mugs, etc. A
display of the choices is set-up in the front office. This is a great way for you to share your
child’s artwork with family and friends and support our PTO. Mrs. Savage collaborates with
the PTO so that the artwork is done at school.
Please join us and tell you friends.
Also check out additional information
in our Parent to Parent Monthly
Newsletter.
Remember the Family Resource Center is open
any time the EPS building is open. It is full of
free check out materials, community resource
information, and fun activities to do when you
are in the room. Have questions, need information? Contact Beth Krouse, Family Engagement Coordinator , 876-9600 ext 2828 or email
[email protected].
Parent Reading Information
Session
Tuesday, October 30th
6:00-6:45 pm
Science Project Room
Would you like to know a little more
about DIBELS, our reading assessment that we give 3 times each year?
Interested in our math mCLASS assessment that we also give 3 times
each year? Perhaps you want to
make sure your child is prepared for
the IREAD test given at the end of
3rd grade. We’d love to share information about each of these! Join us
for a conversation and question/answer time. Child care provided.