Email: jkeever@bluebullets.org
Website: www.bluebullets.org
Location: 106 Pleasant Ave, Knoxville, IL, USA
Phone: 309-289-4134
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MableWoolseyElementary/

Please make sure to check the district website regularly. The "live feed" is updated often with important information. If you click on the "calendar" tab at the top you can see events scheduled for each school. This has been updated with the most current information.

Mable Woolsey Vision Statement: We will build a nurturing community of life long learners while fostering opportunities for social, emotional, and academic growth to ensure that we help create productive members of society.

Mable Woolsey Mission Statement: We will provide a safe and stimulating environment. We will nurture a rigorous and adaptive learning community. We will support a child's natural desire to learn. We will inspire students to discover their fullest potential.

Dear Families,

I hope that everyone has a wonderful break!

I added an article about building background knowledge below this week to the reading resources already listed. Building background knowledge improves reading comprehension. The more students know, the more they will be able to comprehend when they read.

Please make sure as the weather gets colder next week to send your child with a coat, hat, and gloves. We will still go outside for recess each day, and many students have recess in the morning. If you need help with gloves and a hat we do have extra at school. We go out at feels like 15 degrees. Anything below that is inside recess.

This week, I am planning on washing my own children's coats, backpacks, and jackets! This will make sure to get rid of any germs and ensure that we can have a healthy break.

Thank you,

Mrs. Keever

Look for this form this week in your child's folder! If you have any of these items they can be sent to the office. You can also message me on SeeSaw if you are able to volunteer.

Thank you to everyone who donated for our last spirit day. We were able to donate $159.18 to the Wounded Warrior Project.

In May 2023, the State of Illinois began the process of Medicaid renewal after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The state is finding that many are losing their healthcare coverage because the policy holders have not done the renewal process or they no longer qualify. In the three years since the last renewal process people have moved, changed phone numbers, forgot about the renewal process or are new to the program and don’t understand what the renewal process is.

The Knox Community Heath Center has been asked to assist with getting the word out about the renewal process.

Below are our raffle ticket winners from Friday! Thank you for being safe, respectful, and responsible at Mable Woolsey.

Congratulations to these students! They earned positive office referrals this week. The challenge for November is to get 10 in a row, and the students and teachers in that row will get a reward! Our board is filling up quickly!

Check out the information and links below for reading ideas at home!

The key to comprehension is metacognition. Without it, the information goes in one ear and out the other. It doesn’t matter if you are listening or reading; if you do not interact with the information in some capacity, it will not stick. This happens when you meet someone, but do not remember their name 3 minutes later. You did not think about it or attach meaning to it. It happens when you read a page to the end and realize that although you read the words, you have no idea what it was about. No metacognition took place; therefore, you did not comprehend.

Our staff is completing LETRS training, and we are focusing on providing reading support for each student in each area of the reading rope pictured below. I will share more resources for each part of the reading rope throughout the year.

Decoding, phonological awareness, and sight recognition is where reading begins. The article and website below has more information on these strands of the reading rope.

The article below explains the next strand of the reading rope, vocabulary.

The article below talks about background knowledge and the best ways to build this for students.

The uppermost strand of Language Comprehension represents background knowledge. When a reader knows a lot about a topic, that background knowledge strengthens their comprehension of the text.

Students bring prior knowledge to school, including their cultural experiences and practices, exposure to related content, and previous instruction. As students learn, their prior knowledge grows. It is important to note that students’ prior knowledge may be incomplete or include misconceptions.

Students bring a diversity of prior knowledge to school. English language arts curricula should strategically select, sequence, and repeat key topics and ideas to help students build specific background knowledge for reading. Building background knowledge ensures all students can access new content, regardless of the depth or accuracy of prior knowledge.

Today’s background knowledge is tomorrow’s prior knowledge—once students develop their thinking and commit their knowledge to long-term memory.

In Scarborough’s Reading Rope, the Language Structures strand refers to semantics—how word choice develops meaning—and syntax, the grammatical rules of a language.

The language structures used in writing often differ from how we speak, so building a strong knowledge of semantics and syntax helps readers comprehend challenging texts.

Reading Buddies is an excellent series on YouTube to help with pre-reading skills and spelling! Check it out with your child at home.

Take a look at the article below for tips to help your child with reading comprehension at home! These are easy strategies you can use to ask your child questions after reading at home.

Check out the links below for math ideas at home!

This resource is free, and many teachers use this at school to practice math facts.

Our amazing Art Teacher, Mrs. Parrish, has items linked below that she can use for art projects in her classroom. If you would like to donate any of these items, please click the link below!

Download the Knoxville CUSD 202 App and turn on notifications! This way you will not miss any announcements. When news is shared on our website "live feed" this will go straight to the app. The app also has a live view of the calendar of events.

Please make sure to download the SeeSaw family app and scan the QR code provided by your child's teacher! This will connect you to the classroom so that you can message your child's teacher and get important updates.

We still are raising money so that we can continue the program for many years to come!

If you would still like to donate money check out the link below! After clicking the link make sure to enter our school name, Mable Woolsey Elementary, and the money will go to our school.

Here is the address to mail donations to-

Please make out all checks to “Blessings in a Backpack” and send to the following address:

Blessings in a Backpack Lockbox

P.O. Box 950291

Louisville, KY 40295

*If you’d like to designate your support to help feed children at a current program site, please include the program’s name on the check’s memo line.

We have updated our Peanut Policy at Mable Woolsey. We will now be offering individually wrapped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at lunch and allowing nut products in student lunches. Nut-free items will still be required for classroom snacks. Read the letter linked below for more information.

Letter