Thanks  to Mrs. Woods' second-grade student Madison, Nina and Ana Jorge, 6, visited the class Friday, Feb. 17, to teach the class about their homeland, Brazil.

Nina's real name is Bruna, but everyone in the United States calls her Nina. She was an exchange student at Oregon Davis in high school. Nina shared, "I was an exchange student years ago, and I was hosted by Maddie's mother's  family. I graduated in 1993 and am now coordinator at a bilingual school in Brazil."

While visiting, she shared with Mrs. Woods' class a program called Mocking Bird, in which Brazilian students send e-mail messages to the states and American students send messages back. Mrs. Woods's class will participate in this program this year and are excited to learn more from other students. Principal Mills said, "When students are engaged in asking peers questions about new experiences their learning is enhanced. We are excited to share our love of learning with the bilingual Brazilian children. It's a great opportunity for Jefferson to use technology such as Skype on Mac computers to talk to children so far away but still using the exact same computers and programs."
 
 
 
What a great job these Jets did this week for Manners Matter. Saying "Please" and "Thank you," not interrupting, using good table manners and more. Great job! They were all treated to a tasty treat from the PTO.
 
 
Anything look familiar here? Our Lost and Found box is filling up! Please claim your items!
 
 
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Dear Parent,
As you may know, in March of 2010 the Indiana General Assembly passed Public Law 109 requiring the evaluation of reading skills for all third grade students. This legislation was developed to ensure students can read at grade level prior to fourth grade. As many researchers and educators have noted, from Kindergarten through grade three, students are primarily “learning to read.” But beginning in fourth grade, students must be able to “read to learn.” Standards and materials only get more complex from fourth grade forward, and students who cannot read proficiently will struggle to keep up with their peers. In response to this legislation, your child will take the Indiana Reading Evaluation And Determination (IREAD-3) Assessment during the spring of the their third grade year.
To help ensure that your child is making sufficient progress in reading this year, we encourage you to contact your child’s teacher to learn more about his/her reading progress and to gain a better understanding of your child’s reading program.
Best wishes to you and your child for a successful school year!
The Indiana Department of Education
idoe_k-2_literacy_tool_kit_-_note_to_parents.pdf
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iread_spanish_parent_letter.pdf
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Please see the above attached letter and charts on The Five Components of Reading (pg. 2) and Indiana's Reading Assessments (pg. 3). Please follow this link if you would like to see a sample of the I-Read 3 test.
 
 
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One of our PCSC textbook providers is offering a new program called Read For My School. It helps Jefferson win books.  We need you, Jefferson families, to help!
  • BEGINNING Feb.14-March 14 there will be a giveaway of 150,000 books (500 max per school) through www.wegivebooks.org.
  • Parents, students and staff can sign up on the website on Jefferson's behalf. (You need to create a profile -- and be sure you identify your city and state -- that will give you a dropdown menu to chose Jefferson Elementary, Plymouth).
  • Select Read For My School on the campaign page -- check to see that you are campaigning for Jefferson!
  • Now, read a book from the website's homepage. (Our librarian recommends The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind but there are lots to chose from.)
  • The site will give you a button to click that says, "Donate This Book" after you have read it.
  • Clicking "Donate this Book" will count to Jefferson's total amount of books read; once we have 50 books read on our behalf we are eligible for the free books!
Thanks for participating Jets families -- enjoy reading to your little Jet!

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Remember, EVERYONE is invited and enjoy this time with parents and teachers at our monthly PTO meeting. Lots of decisions made and lots of information is given. They are always at 5:30 p.m. first Mondays of the month in the Jefferson cafeteria. Here's the minutes if you missed our last one!
february6th2012ptominutes.pdf
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This is our February Newsletter if you care to take a gander.
jots_feb_2012.pdf
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span_jeff_jots_feb_2012.pdf
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Congrats to our amazing Jets! Their teachers selected them this week for demonstrating the lifeskill of organization!
 
 
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Boy did we all have fun this week eating together at Ponderosa -- it's neat to meet our student's families and the kids seem to like seeing teachers and staff out of their natural habitat. Plus, why not help a local business AND the school. Total sales for the night were about $1,700 (we Jets can EAT, huh?) and manager Tom Blackburne is rounding up and giving us an even $200. PTO funds are hard to come by, but they do so much for the school. Thanks to all the Jets families for joining us! What a great place to be!
 
 
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You may not even know, but Jefferson does something special every Friday -- all kids and staff line up in the hall for our Pledge of Allegiance, moment of silence and National Anthem. It's one of the traditions here that make Jefferson a Great Place to Be!