FOXY TALESFOXY TALES DOROTHY FOX ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2014

I N S I D E T H I S N E W S L E T T E R

VISUAL THINKING STRATEGIES VTS

WHY MATH FACTS ARE IMPORTANT

FUTURE AUTHOR VISIT

OCTOBER 16 PTA Membership Meeting @ 7pm at Fox Library

OCTOBER 17 Spirit Day—Favorite Sport/Sports Team

OCTOBER 21-22 Nonfiction Author Visit

OCTOBER 24 Picture Retakes

OCTOBER 27-31 Parent Conference Week Early Release

9:00-1:10pm Schedule Each Day

PM Kindergarten Mon 27th, Wed 29th, Fri 31st

AM Kindergarten Tues 28th, Thurs 30th

NOVEMBER 7 Spirit Day—Wear Red!

NOVEMBER 11 NO SCHOOL—Veteran’s Day Observance

NOVEMBER 12 VETERAN’S DAY ASSEMBLY 9:15am

Wear Red, White and Blue

NOVEMBER 20 PTA Membership Meeting @ 9:15am Fox

Cafeteria

NOVEMBER 21 Spirit Day—Pajama Day!

TBA STUFF THE BUS FOOD DRIVE

UPCOMING DATES: (Can go to Fox School Website for Calendar Information) http://schools.camas.wednet.edu)

D o n ’ t F o r g e t t o Tu r n i n Yo u r P TAD o n ’ t F o r g e t t o Tu r n i n Yo u r P TA

M o n t h l y F o x y R e a d i n g C a l e n d a rM o n t h l y F o x y R e a d i n g C a l e n d a r

All Fox students should be reading at home. Families should

record daily minutes read at home. Students earn points to

spend at the Foxy Depot at the end of the trimester.

MESSAGE FROM DR. SORK, PRINCIPAL

Dorothy Fox Elementary is off to a great start

for 2014-15. We welcome back our returning

families and say hello to 149 new students.

We have 496 total students enrolled this year

with about 20 more boys than girls. Our students were born

in 11 different countries and they speak 14 languages in

addition to English at home.

Dorothy Fox welcomes 5 new teachers to our ranks this

year, including a new LEAP Program which represents a

district expansion to a successful Kindergarten Intervention

that we shared with Grass valley last year.

I want to take a moment to honor the time and dedication

of our Fox teachers. Our school has an ongoing commitment

to professional growth and continuous improvement. Our

staff care and support each other and follow best practices

around collaboration and Professional Learning Communi-

ties. FOX ROCKS because of our involved families and our

talented teaching teams!

Last year was the last year of the MSP or Measure of

Student Progress state test for Washington State. Below

represents our student performance on this measure. We

are excited about our continued strength in writing which

mirrors our school’s focus for last year. This year, we are

continuing our Theory of Action and layering in the

importance of critical thinking and supporting ideas with

evidence. These are Common Core Standards that weave

into all

learning in all

areas. We are

also working

to increase

time on

intentionally

aligned

content in

math.

This Spring

our students

in grades 3-5

will take the

Smarter

Balance Exam

for the first

time in 2015.

Dorothy Fox is Serving as a Teaching and Learning Model for Washington State University Vancouver Undergraduate Teacher Candidates

The exceptional leadership and teachers at Dorothy Fox Elementary have been asked by Washington State University Vancouver to serve as a teaching and learning model for the College of Education’s undergraduate teacher candidates.

Teacher candidates, in their first year of the professional program at WSUV, will be on campus at Dorothy Fox one day per week to engage in teaching and learning. Teacher candidates will work to expand their understanding of what it means to be an educator in the 21st century, to en-rich their future teacher identities, as well as develop both verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and cultivate their awareness of what it means to be a teacher leader.

The partnership by dedicated educators, students and par-ents in the Dorothy Fox community will play a vital role in preparing the next generation of future teachers. WSUV is honored to be in collaboration with such a remarkable community of learners and leaders.

DOROTHY FOX PARTNERS

WITH WSU IN 2014-15

FOX CHESS FESTIVAL Thanks to a generous grant from the Camas Educational Foundation, ALL Fox students K-5 learned how to play chess on September 16. Students of all ages learned how the pieces move and capture, and got to play their first game.

Decades of research demonstrate that playing chess improves students’ social skills, mental focus, memory, spa-tial skills, numerical abilities, verbal aptitude, creative think-ing, problem solving, and reasoning skills.

While learning and playing chess in an academic setting provides an engaging exercise in strategic thinking, the most exciting finding that repeatedly emerges is that these intellectual benefits stick and support learners long after the chess boards have been put away. Numerous studies suggest that the thinking skills fostered through playing chess are effectively transferred, leading to overall improve-ments in players’ test scores and school achievement. (Taken

from thinkfun.com)

We encourage Fox students to play chess whenever they can. It is available in the main hall, library and Rainy Day Room at recess.

Spring 2014 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th grade

Fox Reading 87.3% 82.9% 93.8%

District Avg 88.9% 83.7% 87.1%

State Avg 72% 70% 72.4%

Fox Math 77.2% 80.6% 63.8%

District Avg 78.8% 75.1% 65.6%

State Avg 63% 60.8% 63.5%

Fox Writing 80.6%

District Avg 73.6%

State Avg 62.1%

Fox Science 93%

District Avg 85.6%

State Ave 66.8%

* 5th grade scores are adjusted from OSPI web-

site for accuracy. Number of students passed, by

number of students who took the test reported

A L L D O R OT H Y F OX K - 5 C L A S S R O O M S A R E S TA R T I N G V T S T H I S Y E A R TO I N C R E A S E L E V E L S O F C R I T I C A L T H I N K I N G I N A L L S T U D E N T S

WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS PICTURE?

WHAT DO YOU SEE THAT MAKES YOU SAY THAT?

WHAT MORE CAN YOU FIND?

Fox teachers know that students are thinking critically by the things that they say and the things that they write in the classroom.

What is VTS? Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is a student-centered method initiated by teacher-facilitated discussions of art im-ages and documented to have a cascading positive effect on both teachers and students. It is perhaps the simplest way in which teachers and schools can provide students with key behaviors sought by Common Core Standards: thinking skills that become habitual and transfer from lesson to lesson, oral and written language literacy, visual literacy, and collaborative interactions among peers.

VTS provides a way to jumpstart a process of learning to think deeply applicable in most subjects from poetry to math, science and social studies. Art is the essential first discussion topic because it enables students to use existing visual and cognitive skills to develop confidence and experience, learning to use what they already know to figure out what they don’t; they are then prepared to explore other complex subject matter alone and with peers.

Through VTS' rigorous group 'problem-solving' process, students cultivate a willingness and ability to present their own ideas, while respecting and learning from the perspectives of their peers. Engaged by contributing observations and ideas, the students participate in VTS-based lessons in ways they often don’t in others. VTS is a curriculum for schools; as a method of discussion, it is used in many art museums.

Experience with VTS produces growth in all students, from challenged and non-English language learners to high achievers. In addition, teachers enjoy the process and benefit from a new approach that reaches all students and is useful across their practice.

Dorothy Fox brings this program to our school through a partnership between the school, our Fox PTA, and the Camas Educational Foundation. It is a three year $25,000 grant with materials, teacher training and coaching provided each year. Classrooms will implement at least one VTS discussion a month. Teachers started with a day of training at the Portland Art Museum this summer with two follow up trainings on Wednesday afternoons later this year. We have already noticed that VTS is influencing how our teachers ask questions and how students engage in discussion. When students learn to make inferences and support their ideas with evidence orally, we believe they will be able to transfer this information to text. These are required skills of our stu-dents and are essential building blocks to critical thinking.

Special thanks to co-grant writers Cheryl Johnson, Jo Candelore, Cathy Sork, and, Fox Parent, Catherine Epstein.

VTA videos and research findings can be ac-

cessed at: http://vtshome.org/

FOX TEACHERS KEEP TALKING ABOUT MATH FACTS

So what’s the big deal with math facts? Why in today’s day and age – with calculators and computers – do our kids really need to rote learn their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division?

Math facts fluency refers to the ability to recall the basic facts in all four operations accurately, quickly and effortlessly. In young students in primary grades this is with addition and subtraction. In third grade and beyond this is with multiplication and division 0-12. When students achieve automaticity with these facts, they have attained a level of mastery that enables them to retrieve them for long-term memory without conscious effort or attention.

So why focus on math facts?

Math facts fluency leads to higher order mathematics Through automaticity, students free up their working memory and can devote it to problem solving and learning new concepts and skills (Geary, 1994). Quite simply, a lack of fluency in basic math fact recall significantly hinders a child’s subsequent progress with problem-solving, algebra and higher-order math concepts. If a student does not have his/her math facts committed to memory, he/she will spend a disproportionate amount of time figuring out the smaller calculations and not get the mastery they need at higher levels of math.

Fluent math facts mean less confusion Math facts are important because they form the building blocks for higher-level math concepts. When a child masters his/her math facts, these concepts will be significantly easier and the student will be better equipped to solve them faster. If the child spends a lot of time doing the basic facts, s/he is more likely to be confused with the processes and get lost in the calculations.

Less math anxiety Math can be compared to languages in some ways. Just like you have to learn to combine letters into words and words into sentences – and we have strategies like phonics and sight words to help kids to learn to read - math facts are the foundation blocks for learning the next levels of math. There is rote learning involved in both language and math mastery. Math anxiety starts when children fall behind and can’t keep up. To avoid these anxieties, students’ early elementary years should focus on learning the foundation math skills needed for later years – math facts are among those important math skills.

NONFICTION AUTHOR, LIZ RUSCH VISTS DOROTHY FOX IN OCTOBER

Award-winning children’s book and magazine author Liz Rusch will be visiting the students

of Dorothy Fox this month October 21-22 thanks to a grant from the CEF. With topics

ranging from volcanology, astronomy, art, geology, nature, and waves, she will be sharing

her passion for discovery, untold stories, and persistent questions. We hope to open

doors, open minds, and open possibilities for our Fox writers. Many of her books are

available in the Fox library. Students who buy her book off campus and bring it to Fox can

get it signed by the author. You can learn more at: w w w . e l i z a b e t h r u s c h . c o m .

Dorothy Fox Health Room News

Our health room is staffed primarily by health assistants to be used for emergencies/urgent situations.

We do recognize that children may become ill while at school; in that case, you would be notified to pick

up your child. (See “Guidelines for Keeping Ill Children Home from School”). If changes occur in emer-

gency contact information, please notify your child’s school.

Student Health Inventory: Please make sure that you have completed and returned this year’s Student Health Invento-

ry to the health room. We use this to make sure we have the most up to date medical and contact information

for your child in case of a medical emergency.

Head Lice: School is in full session and it is time for parents to start checking their child’s head every day for head lice

and/or nits. If you discover that your child has lice you will need to take steps to ensure proper treatment. You

may refer to the Camas School District’s web page under Parent Corner/Health Services or contact the health

room for a complete list of factual information on head lice and proper treatment, as well as our head lice policy.

We do not routinely check for head lice at school. It may be helpful to discuss some proactive steps for avoiding head lice

with your child at home, such as:

Avoid sharing personal items such as hats, combs, brushes, coats, hair accessories, and pillows.

Consider keeping long hair pulled back in a braid or a pony tail.

Ill Children: Keep sick children at home 24 hours fever free without the use of medications (with a fever of 100° or

above), 48 hours symptom free with vomiting or diarrhea. Please make sure and update the office with any new

contact information or health conditions or concerns.

Medications: Adults must check in all medications to the health room, please do not send medications (even over the

counter medications such as cough drops or Tylenol) to school with your child. All medications, including

over the counter medications such as cough drops or Tylenol, require a medication authorization form

completed by your child’s health care provider to be on file in the health room.

Contact Teresa in the health room with any additional questions or concerns at

360-833-5700 ext. 78986

Attention Dorothy fox Parents and Families!

We need your help! We have received over 100 requests a day to change students’ after school plans over the past few

weeks! This many requests a day present a couple of challenges. The first challenge we face is keeping track of where all

students are going each day. We want to account for all students and make sure they are safe. Secondly, the office staff

is spending over an hour each day communicating the changes to staff. You can help us by doing the following:

Please avoid changing your child’s after school plans if at all possible.

If you are going to change your child’s after school plans, please send the change in writing at the beginning of the

day. Emailing is an option. You must email Kathy Duley by 11:00 a.m. If you do not receive a response, she did not

see your email. If you email your child’s teacher, you must also email Kathy Duley.

If you have an emergency and you have to change your child’s after school plan, please call the office before 2:30

p.m.

If your child attends Camas Extended Daycare, please communicate the change to both Camas Extended Daycare and

Dorothy Fox.

In case of an emergency, a change will be made on a case by case basis.

We appreciate your support in this matter.