Kimball School

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Home of the Kiotes and WiLdKats

PAWS for NEWS Testing Season Mr. Reindl; Professional School Counselor Students in grades 3-8 & 11 will be taking the state mandated Smarter Balanced test in the upcoming weeks. This test measures student progress in English and math. Students in grades 5, 8 & 11 will take a science test also. Each year students across the United States take accountability tests. In South Dakota we use what is called the Smarter Balanced test. This test is designed to establish high expectation for the education of students, identify students who may need extra help in reading, math, or science, help schools, teachers and parents monitor achievement, and improve the accountability of the state’s educational system. Student scores from English and math count towards the school districts accountability and SPI (School Performance Index) score. Parents and educators share the responsibility for educating children. Students learn best when they know that their efforts are supported at home and at school. Here are some ways you can help your child do his or her best in school:  

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Be a model: Parents are a child’s first teacher. If you show that you value learning, chances are your child will benefit! Your child needs to know that you think school is important. Provide support: In order to do his/her best in school your child needs your support in many ways. This means making sure your child has enough sleep and is eating well-balanced meals. You can also show your support every time you offer your child encouragement and set reasonable expectations for his or her achievement. Stay informed: Ask your child about school activities and learning experiences. Get to know your child’s textbooks and take time to look at his or her homework assignments. Keep in touch with your child’s teachers and the school. Attend PTC or other academic functions! Refrain from talking negative about the test, school, or your past experiences that were negative. Let your student form their own opinions.

There are many ways you as a parent can help out with the education of your child. The most important one is communicating and being encouraging! Smarter Balanced test results are only a snapshot of what your child is doing in school so please feel free to talk with the school about any other concerns or success! We are wanting to continue to work together to help all students succeed! If your child gets excited or nervous for testing there are several things you can do. One, understand that it is normal to get overly excited for testing. Two, normalize the feelings of anxiety by understanding that test anxiety is exactly what it is…..being anxious for a test! We can all be anxious about things…..the weekend, a big assignment or project, or what to do after high school. Anxiety is a normal feeling just like anger, happiness or sadness. It will come and go. In fact according to the surgeon general’s mental health report on panic attacks and anxiety; panic/anxiety attacks on average last only 30 minutes. Within those 30 minutes here are a few things that will help you take control. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Self-Talk - Negative to Positive: Turn negative statements into positive statements. Example ( I can’t do this.) Tell yourself…. (This will not hurt me, I will do the best I can.) Breath: Slow deep breaths. Visual Imagery: Just like in sports where you use mental imagery to see yourself performing at a high level, use visual imagery to imagine you taking control of the test and performing well. Talk It Out: Talk with a friend, teacher, school counselor or parent about what you are stressed about and how to work through those stressors.

2016 Quarter 3

Do You Hear What I Hear? Mrs. Larson; Reading Specialist

Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual SOUNDS in words. It has nothing to do with the printed letters or words. We know that a student's skill in letter sounds is a good predictor of later reading success or difficulty. Why is this such a vital piece of reading? The brain’s phonological processor usually works unconsciously during listening and speaking. It is designed to do its job automatically during communication. Phonemic awareness is necessary for learning and using the alphabet. The reader must realize that the sequence of letters in a word on a page represents sounds in a particular pattern that make up familiar words, and those same letters in a different order, make a different word. Phoneme awareness refers to the specific understanding that spoken words are made up of individual phonemes. Children with phoneme awareness know that the spoken word bend contains four phonemes, and that the words pill and map both contain the phoneme /p/. They know and understand that phonemes can be rearranged and substituted to make different words. English uses an alphabetic writing system in which the letters represent sounds. Strong readers can take apart words into sounds, recognize their identity, and put them together again. Those skills show a strong foundation skill for using the alphabetic principle. Without phoneme awareness and phonemic awareness, and phonics, students may be confused by the print system and how it represents the spoken word. Students who struggle with phoneme awareness may not even know what is meant when asked, “What does the letter ‘r’ sound like?” They can usually hear well and may even name the alphabet letters, but they have little or no idea what letters represent. If asked to give the first sound in the word dog, they are likely to say "Woof-woof!" Students must be able to identify /d/ in the word dog, dish, and mad and separate the phoneme from others before they can understand what the letter ‘d’ represents in those words.

2016 Quarter 3

Happy Spring Mr. Rieckman; District Supt/Elem Principal Here we are talking about the end of another school year, while everyone is anxious and ready for summer. I look at the to do list that I have on my desk and it seems like every time I complete one item, two more get added. The last day of school for the students is set for May 18th with seniors graduating the Saturday before, on May 14th. Spring is a busy time for the school so I would advise everyone to please check the school calendar for events. We do our best to keep it as current and accurate as possible. I am sure that elementary classes will be scheduling field trips for the spring. When they do, information will be coming home with the students. April is also “testing season”. Mr. Reindl has been working with the staff on completing the schedule and training for the teachers and assisting them with getting ready in the classroom. As parents, you can help by making sure that students are well rested on testing days. We are currently working on the school calendar for 2016-2017, and it is my hope that the school board will approve a calendar at the April board meeting. I don’t see any major changes to the school calendar, maybe just a few minor adjustments. We also currently have 3 teaching positions open that we are advertising for and hoping to have filled in the near future. We wish Mrs. Bowman, Miss Whitlach, and Mr. Stoneback the best of luck in their new ventures and thank them for the job they have done with our students and in our community. They will all be greatly missed and tough to replace. As always, my office door is open. Please stop in and say hi. Check out what great things are happening in the Kimball School.

2016 Quarter 3

Math Extravaganza

2016 Quarter 3

Spring Activities Mr. Sommervold; MS/HS Principal

We have entered the final quarter of the school year. With less than 9 weeks of left in the 2015-16 school year I am preparing for next year. The students pre-registered for classes during the month of February and will officially register in the coming weeks. A parent/guardian signature is required on the registration forms before the student is officially registered for the 2016-17 school year. The current 8th graders will have freshman registration on March 22nd at 7:00pm. All current 8th graders and their parents should be at this meeting. Every spring brings nicer weather and the standardized testing season. The Smarter Balance testing for the Kimball students will being March 22nd and finish in mid-April. The tests will be completed by students in 3rd-8th and the 11th grade. The Smarter Balance test is aligned with the Common Core standards and has performance tasks, constructed-response, technology-enhanced items and selected response items. All of the students will spend class time preparing for the test. April is possibly the busiest month for the students in Kimball. Here is a list of events coming up: April 1 —5th-8th Grade Vocal Contest in Wessington Springs April 2nd--Kimball Prom. The Grand March is scheduled to start at 8:00 and doors will open at 7:30. April 3rd-5th--Kimball Student Council will attend the State Student Council Convention in Sioux Falls. April 9th--Kimball School will be proctoring the ACT test for any student interested. April 10th-12th--Kimball FFA members will be attending the State FFA Conference in Brookings. April 17th-19th--State FBLA Conference is being held in Aberdeen. April 24-26th--Kimball FCCLA Chapter will attend the State FCCLA Convention in Sioux Falls. April 27th—5th-8th grade instrumental contest in Platte April 28th—The 7th and 8th grade students will attend Camp Med in Chamberlain *This is not including any track or golf meets. st

We encourage all students to be involved in extra-curricular activities. During this time of the year, many of these students will miss several days of school because of activities. The school supports these students but we also know it is very important for all students to keep up with school work and be present as much as possible. Enjoy the rest of the school year!!!

2016 Quarter 3

2016 Quarter 3

2016 Quarter 3

2016 Quarter 3

Priceless Resources Mrs. Bosworth; Math Specialist

As an educator, I subscribe to blogs and newsletters relevant to the field of mathematics education. There are times that I come across some gems that I just want to share with everyone out there. So, the ideas included here today are not my own and I cannot take credit for them. I will try to give proper credit where it is due! First, one of my favorite anchor charts about fractions comes from Math Coaches Corner. This site is hosted by Donna Boucher and it speaks to all things relevant in math. I recommend checking it out just to keep up to date! We all get involved with fraction work. This chart is an awesome reference to keep handy! Strategies for Comparing Fractions 1. 2.

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Same Denominator: Same size parts, so you want more parts Same Numerator: Same number of parts, so you want the bigger parts Compare to one-half: Is the numerator more than, less than, ore equal to half the denominator?

4/6 > 2/6 2/3 > 2/8

3/8 < 4/6

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Are they one unit fraction from a whole? The smaller unit fraction is closer to a whole.

2/3 < 7/8

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Create an equivalent fraction so they have a common denominator.

2/3 is equivalent to 4/6 which is