What's Happening
Osborn School District #8
Encanto School (Preschool -3rd grade)
Come see why Osborn is
the best kept secret!
First Grade Students Visit Phoenix Art Museum
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First Grade teachers Heidi Guerra, Michelle Doherty, Nicole Arteaga,
Vicki Anagnopoulos, Nancy Sanders, Dual Language teachers Sandra Nelmida
and Gabriella Solerno took their classrooms to visit the Phoenix Art
Museum. Students were given tours in small groups by Museum Docents and
learned much about how an artwork is used to communicate stories, ideas,
and emotions. They discussed themes, subject matter, and symbols to aid
in their appreciation of the fine arts. |
Museum Docent teaches students about scuplture |
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Students Create "Fractured" Fairytales: Transforming
Boring into Invigorating Writing
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Karla with her fairytale about Principal Zach |
Students in Renee Hamill and Kelly Kesterson-Walker's
third grade classrooms participated in a innovative
writing project: They wrote and illustrated their own
'Fractured' fairytales. The two classrooms were
recipients of Osborn Educational Foundation's Teacher
Mini-grants, which provided additional funding to
purchase support materials used to illustrate students'
tales.
First, students read a number of different versions of
familiar fairytales. The teachers discussed necessary
story elements, i.e. characters, setting, problem, plot,
and solution. The class created storyboards of the
fairytales, analyzing each variation. Students then
created a storyboard for their own imaginative version,
a "fractured" fairytale, or their own original tale.
After their piece had been drafted, revised, and edited;
they created puppets of the characters. Students then
took photos to match their illustrations from the
storyboard. Students typed final drafts, creating
publications with photographic illustration. Finally,
students shared their stories with an audience. The
result was a staggering array of original and fractured
fairytales with titles such as ‘Caterella’, ‘Ginger-Witey’,
‘Principal Zach’s New Clothes’, or ‘The Elf Who Learned
Something New’. Students understood and enjoyed the
writing process. Students' Voice and Word Choice, in
particular, were much improved through the exercise. |
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The Incredible Years “Dinosaur School”
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Osborn School District has received
a second federal grant to support a Counseling program in
each of our schools. One of the elements is a research based
intervention that helps build social skills, develop the
ability to manage emotions and practice problem-solving
strategies so children can be successful in school and with
friends. This program, “Dinosaur School”, has been
implemented in the district as a prevention program for
whole classrooms and now as a small group intervention. A
friendly, elderly dinosaur known as “Dina” teaches students
the rules to success in school. They also learn to be caring
and gentle with Dina and share their successes each week
with her. Children also develop connections within the group
and two other puppets, Wally and Molly, who help them learn
to deal with feelings and use positive solutions. Parents
see positive changes in their children. Parents also learn
about Dinosaur School themselves so the benefits of the
group can be enhanced through the continuation |
“Dina”
& Linda Wiskerchen, School Based Family Counselor, Encanto
School
of the lessons. Dinosaur
School helps everyone learn basic strategies that help
students feel more in charge of themselves and more
confident in their daily activities.
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Dual Language Program
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Encanto
Dual Language Student |
half in Spanish. Non-Spanish
speakers learn to read, speak, and comprehend Spanish in a
short period of time. All students improve their English
skills at the same time.
One exciting aspect of the Dual Language Program is that
it increases student achievement as documented by consistent
increases in AIMS and District Trimester Benchmark scores
when compared to English fluent peers in English-only
classrooms.
Longview’s Dual
Language program was featured on Noticias Univision 33 last
Sunday, December 9th. The segment featured Lisa Kowalski’s
4th grade dual language class. Two of Longview’s dual
language students, Antonio and Christopher L., and their
mother Beatriz L., expressed how pleased they were with the
dual language program and why they believe learning academic
subjects in both Spanish and English is important. Noemi
Cortes, Language Acquisition Specialist for Osborn School
District, as well as Longview’s dual language lead, Jenny
Tejada briefly outlined the program requirements and
curriculum. If parents are interested in the dual language
English and Spanish program, they may contact Noemi Cortes
at (602) 707-2016. |
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Dual
Language program at Encanto, Clarendon and Longview
is providing positive learning outcomes for students. Students
participating in the program must first demonstrate fluency in
English; however, they do not need to be fluent in Spanish. Dual
Language students are instructed half of
the time in English and |
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Petting Zoo Comes to Preschool and Headstart
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Encanto Preschool and
Headstart students had a special opportunity to have
a petting zoo visit for a day. Students were able to
observe and hold chicks, ducklings, kids, and
rabbits. They were also able to brush and pet
llamas, sheep and geese. Students were very
intrigued with the animals- studying webbed feet,
feathers, wings and fur. |
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Reading Pillows for Encanto Third Grade Classroom
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Students in Renee Hamill’s third grade completed their
‘Reading Pillows’ and started off the week quietly reading
with their new pillows- a nice transition after the
Thanksgiving weekend. Students were draped about the
classroom reclining on colorful pillows reading silently
alone or in pairs. With the help of volunteer Lynn Bolen,
students sewed individual pillows to take home and use as
their reading pillows. They chose two pieces of precut
fabric, learned to use a sewing machine, and stuffed their
pillows. Hamill’s objective was to provide an
incentive for students to practice reading nightly. This
project also lent itself to a number of other literacy
objectives: students will write thank you notes to the
volunteer and will also be writing “How to Make a Pillow”
directions. Innovative and caring teachers like Renee Hamill
are part of the reason Osborn students shine. Data indicate
that the longer students attend Osborn schools, the better
their learning; as indicated by improved test scores when
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Students break-in their Reading Pillows in
Mrs. Hamill's class |
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compared to peers who have transferred
into the district from other US schools. |
Working on the ABCs at the New Encanto Preschool
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Preschooler practices letters in
Mrs. Epley's class
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Encanto School now offers a Preschool program for young
students. Encanto has had Preschool on its wish list for
many years. This year, with help from a private donation to
the Osborn Educational Foundation, Encanto’s dream became a
reality. Eighteen students now enrolled are taught by
Encanto’s former speech therapist for four years, Karen
Epley, assisted by Rosa Rodriguez. Encanto continues to
offer Head Start for young students of low income. The new
preschool allows parents who may not be able to afford
private preschool to have their children in a high quality
program. Half of the students attend in the morning and half
in the afternoon. The preschool is an inclusion program,
meaning that Special Education students are taught alongside
the other students. The small group allows
each student to receive the attention they need while they
learn vocabulary, classroom behavior, and social skills.
Special Education, Speech Therapists and itinerant
instructors also have regular visits to the classroom to
provide needed services. |
Encanto Welcomes Child Author to Kids Read
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| Precocious young author Jolie Vanier of Scottsdale came to
Encanto on Valentines Day to read excerpts from her first
book, Puwaii Adventures with Joliea and Friends, and to
speak with fellow third graders about writing, illustrating
and publishing books. A third grader herself, Jolie
Vanier studied travel videos and did research on the internet
in order to write about places she’d never been and aquatic
life she’d never seen. She also built three dimensional
models of many characters in her book, which were photographed
by her cousin in NY. All third graders who attended the Kids
Read event with their parents were given a signed copy of her
book.
Kids Read, founded by Eileen Bailey-Driscol, is celebrating
its 11th year. For more information, visit the Osborn
Educational Foundation website. |
Young Author with Book
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