Beartales

Hello Bears! Can you believe it is December already? Where has the time gone? The weather is holding fairly well for us so that is a plus. On the few mornings we have had to stay inside, I have had healthy debates with our 5th grade students about whether or not they should still be able to go outside when the real feel is less than 15 degrees!

We continue to keep all of our mitigation strategies in place. Overall, we have been very fortunate at Bryant to be as healthy as we have been. I continue to have positive thoughts that things continue to be that way for us. Our attendance due to illness has never gone above 6 percent.

If you have been watching our Board meetings you know that there have been healthy debates every 2 weeks regarding our learning model. Last week the Board voted to keep the District in school face to face. There will be another Board meeting on Monday, December 14th at 6:00. There has been some conversation about the District possibly returning from winter break in the hybrid model for a few weeks. No decisions have been made but I expect that there will be a motion on the table and a vote by the Board. It would be good for families to do some planning in advance just in case that occurs. We started the school year in the hybrid model which had students going to school on either M/Th or T/F based on their last names. Wednesday morning was a time to get help from teachers and the afternoon was reserved for teacher professional development and additional cleaning protocols. IF the Board changes our learning model you will receive communication from the District so stay tuned.

Thank you for continuing to partner with us. We are working hard each and every day to support our Bryant learners. I hope you all have a safe and healthy December! Here's to a positive 2021 right around the corner.

A Parent’s Glossary of Reading Skills

Below is a list of words and phrases that your child’s teacher may use or that you may read about in the information sent home from school.

Alphabet Knowledge. It’s important that children learn the names of the letters of the alphabet and, ultimately, the sounds that the letters represent. As children begin to make the connection between letters and sounds, they also begin to see that letters work together to form words—including their own name!

Fluency. Being able to read a passage accurately, quickly and with proper expression—fluently—means children can focus on the meaning of the words they are reading. They do not have to work so hard to figure out how to say the words. Building fluency helps children’s reading comprehension.

Oral Language. Oral language refers to speaking and listening, but there’s more to it than that! Children need oral language skills to express their needs and ideas (speaking) and to understand new information being shared (listening). In other words, oral language is an important building block for nearly all other communication, including reading and writing.

Phonemic Awareness. Children who know that spoken sounds work together to make words are taking the first steps in becoming successful readers. Children who have fun with spoken sounds—sorting words by their first sound, saying the first or last sound in a word, blending the separate sounds in a word and separating words into their parts—learn that words are made of sounds and that changing the sounds changes the words.

Phonics. Children hear the sounds of spoken language and begin to connect those sounds to the letters of written language. When children understand this relationship, they are able to recognize familiar words when they are written. They also can figure out how to pronounce and read new written words.

Phonological Awareness. Being able to hear and play with the different parts of spoken words is a skill children need as they begin to learn to read. As children start to recognize the sounds that make up words—for example, beginning sounds and ending sounds—they learn that words are made up of smaller sounds. They also learn that by changing these sounds, they can create new words.

Print Awareness. Children need to make connections between the words they hear and the words they see in print. As children begin to explore all types of printed materials (like books, magazines and signs), they begin to see that pictures and written words represent real things. Children also need to learn how print works, including how English text moves from left to right and top to bottom on the page.

Text Comprehension. Making meaning of written words is necessary for understanding what we read. Children can use various strategies to help them gain meaning from what they read. For example, they can use what they already know (background knowledge) to make sense of what they read, make predictions, create mental pictures, ask questions and summarize.

Vocabulary. We need words to be able to communicate—listen, speak, read and write. The more words children know and understand, the better they are at expressing their own thoughts. Knowing lots of words also helps children’s reading comprehension. Children with a limited vocabulary have difficulty understanding what they read. Children learn words in two ways—by hearing and seeing words as they listen, talk and read and by having parents and teachers teach them the meanings of words.

Writing. Early writing is connected to reading success. Scribbling, drawing and pretending to write are the first steps. Children also may use invented spelling—getting some but not all of the letters correct or leaving out letters—as they begin to make the important connection between the sounds of language and the letters of the alphabet. One of the first words children will want to know how to write is their own name.

(From National Center for Family Literacy-Cultivating Readers) (Click here for the whole article: http://www.flreads.org/Family-Literacy/cultivating-readers.pdf)

Calling all parents and families of children ages 2 through 5 years old (not yet attending Kindergarten), we are excited to announce that we will be offering virtual learning courses and learning kits for interested parents on various ways to help your child get ready for Kindergarten. There is no cost to you to participate. This is a great opportunity to learn more tips and tricks on helping your students prepare for school.

These classes will include literacy skills, mathematic skills, and social and emotional skills during the 2020-21 Fall, Winter, and Spring sessions. These self-paced learning sessions will be available to you through the virtual and safe access of your own homes with approved pre-registration using the "sign in" and "create your account" option, and registering for the current session. Families completing the current online learning course will be shipped a set of “all you need learning tools & toys” to help your child develop imperative ready for school skills.

Go to this webpage to sign up today! Sign up here àt https://www.readyforkindergarten.org/siouxcity

Session Dates:

· #2 Winter (Math) self-paced courses will run from December 18 through February 14.

· #3 Spring (Social & Emotional) self-paced courses will run from February 19 through April 18.

As a partner in your child’s education, we remain committed to keeping you informed about the school boundary discussions that may affect current and future students. Last school year, boundary discussions began with initial changes agreed upon for some of our elementary boundaries. Now, our work continues as we consider changes to boundary areas for the middle and high schools.

Take a moment to view the video on our boundary planning progress, view the current boundary maps, and consider new boundary map options. Share your feedback now using our online portal, ThoughtExchange. Access the ThoughtExchange portal. Through this portal, you can provide feedback, see the feedback from fellow responders, and even weigh in on portal discussions with comments or ratings. Feedback can be submitted through ThoughtExchange until December 13. If you have questions or need assistance with this process, please call our school.

From camps to sports leagues to family services, the SCCSD Virtual Backpack serves as a link between non-profit community partners and our students and families.

Would you like to get weekly updates about events? Sign Up for the Virtual Backpack email list here.

Dec. 8 Tornado Drill

Dec. 22 Early Dismissal for Christmas holiday (2:30)

Dec. 23-Jan. 3 No school-Christmas break

Jan. 11-22 Winter FAST Literacy window opens

Jan. 13 End of 2nd Quarter

Jan. 14 No School--Teacher Work Day

Jan. 25-Feb.12 Winter FAST Math window opens

NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT The Sioux City Community School District offers career and technical programs in the following areas: Business & Marketing, Family & Consumer Science, Health Science, and Industrial Arts, Technology, & PLTW. The Sioux City Community School District is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information (for employment), national origin, religion, age (for employment), disability, socioeconomic status (for programs), marital status (for programs), or veteran status (for employment) in its educational programs and its employment practices. The District is required by Title IX and 34 CFR Part 106 not to discriminate on the basis of sex in its programs, activities, or employment. Inquiries or grievances under Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act may be directed to Jen Gomez, Director of Student Services & Equity Education/Title IX Coordinator at 627 4th Street, Sioux City, IA 51101, (712) 279-6075, gomezj2@live.siouxcityschools.com. Inquiries about the application of Title IX and its regulations to the District may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, or both. Please see District Board policies 103 and 504.4 for additional information on available grievance procedures.

Website: https://www.siouxcityschools.org/bryant
Location: 3040 Jones Street, Sioux City, IA 51104, USA
Phone: 712-279-6819
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bryant-Elementary-School-392305667903892/
Twitter: @bryant_school