Wooster Elementary

Wooster Elementary School 9 Church Circle | Greenbrier, AR 72058 | Ph: 501-679-3334 | Fax: 501-679-1065
It is the Mission of Wooster Elementary staff to work together toward the common vision of helping each individual student achieve success through effective instructional strategies. We will actively engage the student in learning and promote higher level thinking skills. Teaching all students, as a school, to make responsible decision about themselves, others, and the earth will lead to a brighter future for everyone.
1 Vision + 1 Child + 1 School + 1 Earth = 4 Our Future
Vision: "Whatever it Takes"

WOOSTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
CORE BELIEFS:
All students can and will learn.
Learning should be done in a fun, active, compassionate, and safe setting.
Teachers never stop learning.
Instruction must be differentiated.

Ms. Nokes’ News
from the
Library Media Center:

Did you know when you shop at our semi-annual Book Fairs, you help our library media center add even more books for our kids? Your support of our Fall Book Fair will allow us to purchase $2,838.56 worth of children's literature! Thank you for support Wooster Elementary and for supporting your child's literacy development!

Need information on Accelerated Reader? Follow this link to get summaries, reading levels, and AR points for books.

Get even more library media center information on the Online Public Access catalog for Wooster Elementary.

Did you know Wooster Elementary Staff Members love to read, too???
Guess the readers!

Parental & Community Involvement

A new fundraiser will take place on Saturday, March 9th, in the cafeteria, our first evern "Daddy-Daughter Dance." Contact PTO for more questions.

Our annual Math & Science Night will take on an "All Star Sports Theme" on Thursday, March 14th, and it will be our first ever off-campus parent night. Join us at the GHS Football Stadium and Softball to learn and grow in math with sports! More info coming home soon!

Our 2012-2013 Parental Involvement Plan is now available online through this link as well as in hard copy in the Partnership Place Parent Center (in our school office). Thanks to Megan Girdler, our parental involvement facilitator, and the parental involvement committee, for revising the plan for this school year.

Parental Involvement Informational Packets have been distributed via email if you are on our distribution list and in hard copy to your family if you do not receive daily emails. Hard copies of the packets can be picked up in the parent center, or you can access them on our edline page under Title I Information and Parental Involvement Informational Packets.

Our school maintains a yearly Volunteer Resource Notebook as a tool for our teachers and staff to identify those parents and community members who can volunteer on a regular basis or can provide unique expertise to enhance instruction and learning. Complete the Volunteer Resource Notebook Form and return it to school, and thanks for being willing to volunteer!

Check your child's grades, read your teacher's weekly newsletter, and find out what learning is taking place within your child's classroom at our Edline Homepage.

PTO News:
Next meeting April 9th!
Consider this your child's "3rd Recess" and join us to find out about great plans to finish out the school year!
GHS Beta Club student volunteers will be here to help monitor students while parents and teachers meet.

The Wooster Monthly:

May Newsletter

March Newsletter

February Newsletter

PTO January Newsletter

PTO December Newsletter

PTO November Newsletter

PTO October Newsletter

PTO September Newsletter

PTO August Newsletter

Down to the Core...the Common Core:

May FYI: As we are into year two of CCSS Implementation for kindergarten-2nd grade, Wooster teacher leaders have met with grade level teachers from across the district to review and revise writing prompts, rubrics, and report cards in order to improve their alignment with Common Core. This diligent, district wide, horizontal collaboration is vital in Wooster Elementary assessing your children and planning for their future instruction. 3rd-5th grade teacher leaders will begin the same process over the next few weeks and this summer, showing once again that we are doing "whatever it takes" for our students.

March FYI: One of the “Big Shifts” Arkansas educators and students are addressing during our implementation of Common Core State Standards is the increase of
student reading of informational text. Research shows that students tend to lean towards fictional and fantasy
books, while at the same time shows there needs to be a drastic increase in comprehending nonfiction texts for students to prepared for college and career. Our WIT Leadership Team is composed of teacher leaders, and during the last month we “extended our school’s
story” by including a parent, community leader, and higher education representative in our meetings. The
team has brainstormed a fun and motivating way for Wooster students to improve on this shift with our 2nd annual Nonfiction Challenge. Be sure to read the specific information for your grade level on how your child can work towards a monthly reading goal of nonfiction books, as well as for the great rewards we have planned for them! Thanks for all you do in helping us live our mission and vision.

February FYI: The ability for students to show their mathematical thinking in symbols, pictures, and other representations is more important than ever! Standard #2 for Mathematical Practice states that proficient math students “reason abstractly and quantitatively.” While attending to precision (Standard #6) is still very important, understanding what symbols represent and that other “pictures” or models represent a certain quantity will help students reason in a more abstract way. Encourage your child to make a math story or math equation out of a given picture, or to draw a picture or other model that specifically explain how they solved a problem. Sample lessons and activities for each grade level can be found at http://map.mathshell.org/materials/stds.php.

January FYI: The 5th Standard for Mathematical Practice states that proficient math students “use appropriate tools strategically.” Before students can strategically select which tool would be most
effective to use to solve a certain problem, they must first slowly be introduced to those tools and have opportunities to consider each of their uses and effectiveness. Tools could range from rulers, blocks, and counters to computers and spreadsheets. Will your child always pick the most appropriate and effective tool when first encountering a problem? Probably not. Will your child eventually make deep considerations in the tool they select? Yes, after exposure, after having time to think for themselves, and after comparing their strategies to other students’ strategies, your child will learn to select effective tools and explain why their choice was the best. This relates back to the ever important student-centered classroom, to the classroom where students have some choices in their learning on their way to reaching proficiency. Find out more about Standard #5 at http://www.insidemathematics.org/index.php/standard-5.

December FYI: As shared with you before, there are 8 Standards for Mathematical Practice that are ideal for developing math proficiency. Standard #1 states that proficient math students "make sense of problems and persevere in solving them." They understand that they can change a "path" of thinking if necessary, that there are several strategies and ways to solve any problem, that they can and should check their answers with another strategy, while also understanding how and why other students used a different method. Find out more about Practice #1 at http://www.insidemathematics.org/index.php/standard-1, and encourage perseverance in all aspects of life.

November FYI: Our teachers and students are delving deep into the use of Standard #3 for mathematical practice: construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.  Proficient math students are able to construct arguments, analyze problems, and recognize and use counter examples. They can communicate and justify their own conclusions, while at the same time respond to, ask questions about, clarify, and improve another person's argument in relations to math. While working math problems at home, use some of the questions to encourage your child to talk about his/her thinking: What do you think about what I said about the problem? Do you agree, why/why not? Can you explain? Can you explain why my strategy works and why your strategy works? How is your strategy similar to mine? Can you convince me that your answer makes sense?

October FYI: Each grade level, kindergarten through 5th grade, is working on its Common Core State Standards shared research project developed by teachers across the district during their summer professional development. Teachers used a combination of their CCSS Units of Study, standards focused on research and technology, and the overall focus on nonfiction/informational literacy to develop the project topics. All Wooster students are involved in using technology and media to research and publish a project with various levels of teacher support. Your child will participate in such a project each nine weeks this school year, and the staff members are working to develop rubrics to set expectations for students. We can't wait to share these projects with you!

September FYI: Have you ever been curious if your child is getting the same quality of education as other students across the state and even across the nation? Now you can be certain of this! The Common Core State Standards can help assure you as parents that your children are receiving the same high-quality of education, regardless of the school they are attending. Reality is that we have an ever-changing job market and families are becoming more mobile. Even if your family moves to another state, as long as that state has adopted the CCSS, your children will have the same high
learning expectations that have already been presented to you here at Wooster Elementary School. Find out more about why CCSS is great for you as parents at http://www.commoncorearkansas.org/parents/
-Principal Martin

August FYI: Did you know that Arkansas, along with the majority of the other states across our nation, has adopted and is in the process of implementing the Common Core State Standards? The same high standards will be articulated across these states for all students. This will help ensure that all students, regardless of where they live, will receive a high quality education in preparation for college and/or workforce. Find out more about why Arkansas needed such standards at http://www.commoncorearkansas.org/faq/.

Teacher Leaders Share Expertise from Wooster Elementary School

Wooster Teachers
Communicating in New Ways

Check out the following links for our classroom blogs:

Ms. Cash Mrs. Hammett

Mrs. Uekman & Mrs. Andrus Mrs. Girdler Mrs. Brewer

Administration and
Office Personnel

Kelli McGaha-Martin, Principal
Tally Mars, Assistant Principal
Dianne Walls, Administrative Assistant
Tami Buchanan, Counselor
Kristi Williams, Nurse

Celebration of Students

Congratulations to our Destination Imagination Team!
They will be competing at Globals Competition in Knoxville, TN, at the end of May!

Wooster Elementary | Promote Your Page Too

Interested in receiving daily e-mail announcements?

Email Assistant Principal, Tally Mars, at marst@greenbrierschools.org and include "add to daily announcements" in the subject line.

MAY
CHARACTER WORD
OF THE MONTH:
TRUSTWORTHINESS

MAY
TECH WORDS
OF THE MONTH:
CPU & PRINTER

Wooster Core Belief:
Learning should be done in a
fun, active, compassionate, & safe setting.

Principal Martin's Mentions:

May 1st, 2013As this fabulous school year comes to an end, please take a moment to reflect on the great things our Professional Learning Community, including staff, parents, PTO, community, and school board, has done to take Wooster Elementary "to the next level." We have stayed focused on our mission and vision by developing Core Beliefs, established our WIT Leadership Team, improved online assessments, installed security cameras, added Apple TVs in every classroom and a mobile laptop cart, made new purchases for our playground, hosted multiple, successful family events, and so much more. Stay tuned for summer updates on living our mission and vision, and remember what a great place Wooster Elementary is to teach and learn.

April 1st, 2013One of our main focuses this year in taking our Professional Learning Community to the next level is truly involving all stakeholders, including you as parents. Parents have been invited to take part in our Whatever It Takes Leadership meetings, to help "live" our mission, vision, and core beliefs. Some teachers are blogging so you can get an even closer look into your child's classroom (find the blog links on our website). Perception surveys will be sent out soon, so please take the opportunity to provide input on the happenings at Wooster Elementary. Thank you for your active participation in your child's education!

March 1st, 2013
Persevere, persevere, and persevere, now more than ever! Teachers and students are focusing on high expectations in the months of March and April in preparing for spring testing. We can’t wait to see our students rise to the occasion and show off how much they have learned this
school year. A few things you can help with at home over the next several weeks is establishing a routine that includes a time for homework and plenty of rest, ask your children questions that require more than a yes/no answer so they’ll discuss with you what they are learning, maintain and model a positive attitude about Wooster Elementary and
learning, and talk to them about perseverance.

February 4th, 2013:
To begin this school year, we have reflected on many sources of survey data from our Professional Learning Community. An area we pinpointed as needing improvement was “soliciting student voice.” We are taking new measures this year for students to have input on several school decisions. Students have given input on library book purchases by completing an online reading interest inventory and on technology updates by sharing their expertise on educational apps for iPad updates. Student voice is also helping improve instruction since teachers have received results from their classes Learning Styles Survey administered in the computer lab. Mrs. Mars and I have had the opportunity to informally survey students about the “yeas” and “boos” of this school year during our Picnic with Principals and Hot Chocolate Chat. More opportunities for increasing student voice are coming, and we’ll keep you updated! Thank you for sharing your children with us!

January 6th, 2013:
We are looking forward to a fabulous new year and second semester here at Wooster Elementary School. Our character word of the month is OPTIMISM. As some of the biggest changes in several decades are taking place in the
world of education, the staff at Wooster Elementary School has a definite sense of “we” as we work towards new goals and educate your children. During the first semester and with the largest focus on Common Core State Standard
Implementation ever, our students have completed projects, used technology, defended their thinking, and set their own learning goals in ways that have never occurred before. We are grateful for a staff that has facilitated such teaching and learning, and for our whole school community remaining optimistic and excited about our school’s efforts.
As you recall, our theme for this school year is “Essential Pieces,” and we appreciate our parents and community being vital pieces in every aspect of Wooster Elementary. Take a few minutes to re-read our mission statement, know that we take our mission statement to heart, and please remember that Wooster Elementary School is here to do “whatever it takes” for our kids. We are looking forward to a wonderful new year!

December 1st, 2012: Perseverance, one of Wooster Elementary School's character words, is woven throughout the thinking and work expected of students by Common Core State Standards. As classrooms become more student-centered than ever before, as teachers facilitate learning experiences rather than just provide information, students will encounter authentic, real-world learning requiring them to problem solve, think at higher levels, and persevere across the subject areas. This "stick-to-it-ness" will keep our kids right on track for college and career readiness. Encourage your child to persevere through tasks at home, from homework to multi-step chores, which will help with academic progress and build "Kids of Character" at the same time.

November 1st, 2012:Principal Martin's Mentions: Student centered math lessons are more prevalent than ever, and our teachers are implementing the 8 Standards for Mathematical Practice. This standards, different than our content standards, are meant to capture the process and proficiencies we want students to have. It's no longer solely important that students acquire knowledge and skills, but our focus has expanded to how they use the knowledge and skills. Find out more about these practices by watching the Hunt Institute's video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1rxkW8ucAI or at the website http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/MP3.

October 1st, 2012:
Principal Martin's Mentions: As shared with you over the last year via Common Core State Standards implementation, an increase of nonfiction/informational reading and writing is of utmost importance in your child's education. To help
your child compare and contrast fictional literature and informal text, discuss with them facts versus opinions. As you read various texts, whether a bedtime story or a descriptive brochure at a state park, ask your child to categorize facts/opinions, fiction/nonfiction, etc. In your informational reading, support math growth by drawing attention to charts and graphs and discussing the meaning
with your child. While on the internet, point out that '.com' domains may be more likely to contain fictional or persuasive text than websites with '.org' or '.edu' domains which generally have more factual text.

September 4th, 2012:
Fluency is defined as "being able to write or speak smoothly, easily, or readily," and it is of utmost importance in reading, writing, and math. To build reading fluency, read aloud to your child then have them read along with you. To building writing fluency, set a stopwatch and challenge your child to write their thoughts, a story, a list of favorite words, for 2 straight minutes, then bump up the expectations. Math fact fluency is of utmost importance, including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Search for math fact apps, such as "Sushi Monster," to make fact fluency practice more fun!

August 20th, 2012:
Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year at Wooster Elementary School. We, including the staff, students, parents, and other stakeholders, take pride in being a School of Character, and our hope is that the character trait focus of the month will carry over into your child's classroom, their school work, and
their personal life. Our focus is on the most effective teaching and learning, and we are anxious to continue building our professional learning community with you as parents! Be sure to read this section each month for Principal Martin's updates as well as her "Down to the Core" section, which will provide you with more information about the Common Core State Standards and what your child is learning in school each day!

Curriculum and Instruction

Are you interested in the learning expectations your child will have each nine weeks of this school year? You can view Greenbrier School District's Pacing Guides by grade level, by subject, by nine weeks through the Academics tab on our district website.